The Father of Nations

I had studied how Judaism had spread during my history class last year so I had kind of an idea of what Abraham's story was about. However, I never expected that Abraham's story would be so different to what I had imagined previously. While I was reading about Abraham and how the sons of Noah created their own nations it came to my attention how important it must have been for men like these to be chosen by God. This is a topic that has caused much discussion in class and only after the class discussions, did I find that it is actually a very important topic. As we move on in the Bible, we will most likely read about Jeese make God's followers even more loyal to him. I don't know if it has to do with Jesus, and Jesus is one of the most important characters in the Bible so it is important to question ourselves, why is Jesus so important? I suppose it's a little premature to be thinking about Jesus right now, but I've come to realize that as much as I need to be understanding the story and the events, I also need to know why it is that those things are happening and what makes their protagonist this person and not that.

As far as I've read I'm leaning towards the fact that most of the men God chooses to be his followers are men that in some ways act like him. In this case, I totally understand God because, just like him, I would also like to have followers with authority and loyalty (anyone who wants anything to get done better think of this before hiring). Also, I've found that God tends to pay back his followers and they tend to make covenants with him as well. "In the same day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates" (Genesis 15:18). I think the covenants are another aspect we will continue to observe as the we continue the Bible. Covenants are also the things that motivate God's followers into satisfying his wishes. For example, Abraham left his homeland and into the "promised land" even though this cost him many years and having children with a woman other than his wife. This was all the result of the covenant. I also think that God is beginning to get a reputation and men now trust him because they know he keeps his word. I think that any God that wishes to have people worshiping him/her must keep his/her word or at least have a reputation for this.