Abraham (Abram)
Abraham is recorded as the ‘founding father’ of the Hebrews. He is the husband of Sarah (Sarai) and the father of Isaac. According to Genesis, the name ‘Abraham’ means ‘father of the multitude’.
Abraham is associated with two important beliefs: the ‘promised land’, and the ‘covenant’.
A covenant is an agreement. Genesis tells us that God calls Abraham to leave his home country and to travel to an unknown land. In return for Abraham’s obedience, God promises him two things: a land that will be his (‘from the river of Egypt to the great river, the Euphrates, the land of the Kenites, Kenizzites, Kadmonites, Hittites, Perizzites, Rephaites, Amorites, Canaanites, Girgashites and Jebusites’ [Gen 15:18-21]), and as many descendants as there are stars in the sky and grains of sand on the beach (Gen 22:17).
Although Abraham is old and childless, he trusts God and does as he is asked, and in time, Sarah gives birth to a son whom they name Isaac.
However, Abraham’s story does not end there. At some point in Isaac’s youth, Abraham is told by God he must offer his young son as a sacrifice. Abraham sets out for Mount Moriah where he makes an altar for God. As Abraham prepares to sacrifice his son, an angel appears to stop him and to provide a ram for the sacrifice instead.
Isaac later marries Rebekah and they have twins, Esau and Jacob. Jacob then goes on to marry Rachel and Leah and to father 12 sons. After Jacob changes his name to
Israel, his sons and their families become known as the 12 tribes of
Israel or the Israelites. Thus the covenant God made with Abraham is fulfilled: he is the father of a great nation with many descendants living in a land promised to them.
The place at which Abraham built his altar to sacrifice Isaac is now the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. It is a sacred place for Jews, Christians and Muslims, all of whom celebrate Abraham as their father in faith.
The story of Abraham and Sarah is recorded in Genesis 11:26-25:10.
Angel
Angels are referred to repeatedly throughout the Bible. In the biblical text, angels are real, living beings. Spiritual and non-physical, some take on a physical appearance for a period of time. A human encounter with an angel is in some sense an encounter with God. On many occasions God chooses to be known through an angel (Ex 3:2). The main activities of an angel are to offer praise and worship of God, to make announcements, to carry messages on behalf of God and to guide and protect people. Angels were deeply involved in proclaiming the birth of Jesus. The book of Hebrews (Heb 1:14) refers to angels as 'ministering spirits sent to serve.'
Augustus (Emperor)
The
Emperor Augustus was the Roman emperor of what was considered ‘all the world’
from 27 BCE to 14 CE. As Emperor, he was entitled to know how many people were
in his empire. The simplest way of doing this was to ask them to return to the
place of their ancestors and to ‘register’ their name. |
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