t1 discussion no. 7 Baliktanaw.pptx.ppt

7/29/2019 t1 discussion no. 7 Baliktanaw.pptx.ppt

1/39

Our Father Abraham


2/39

Objectives:

1. To understand Gods covenant withAbraham and to see how that covenant

is fulfilled in the New Covenant of Jesus

Christ.2. To appreciate key figures and elements

in the Abraham story - Melchizedek,

circumcision, the sacrifice of Isaac - as

they are interpreted in the Churchs

tradition.


3/39

Covenant

In the ancient world, covenants

established family relationships. The

covenants God makes in the Bible dothe same thing. By His covenants, God

establishes a family relationship with

His creatures, the human people madein His image and likeness.


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Through the covenants of the Bible, He

bestows His blessing - a share in His

divine grace and life - upon His people.

By this blessing, He makes us more than

simple creatures. He makes us true

divine heirs and offspring - sons and

daughters.


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ABRAHAM

Abraham is called to reject the ways of

those who would exalt themselves and

try to make a name for themselves. If hefollows God in faith and obedience, God

promises to exalt him - to make his

name great (see Genesis 12:2).
http://www.usccb.org/nab/bible/genesis/genesis12.htmhttp://www.usccb.org/nab/bible/genesis/genesis12.htm


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ABRAHAM

By his faithfulness, Abraham

becomes the father of a new

generation of men and women, ageneration that lives by faith in the

promises of God, as trusting sons

and daughters.


7/39

Big Promises

God's covenant withAbraham has three

parts, and it begins

with three promises:

to make Abraham a

great nation (12:1); to

give him a great name

(12:2); and to makehim the source of

blessing for all the

world (12:3).
http://www.usccb.org/nab/bible/genesis/genesis12.htmhttp://www.usccb.org/nab/bible/genesis/genesis12.htmhttp://www.usccb.org/nab/bible/genesis/genesis12.htmhttp://www.usccb.org/nab/bible/genesis/genesis12.htmhttp://www.usccb.org/nab/bible/genesis/genesis12.htmhttp://www.usccb.org/nab/bible/genesis/genesis12.htm


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God later "upgrades" these three

promises - turning them into divinecovenants. God swears not only to make

Abraham a great nation, He also makes

a covenant in which He promises todeliver Abraham's descendants from

oppression in an alien country and give

them a specific portion of land (seeGenesis 15:7-21).
http://www.usccb.org/nab/bible/genesis/genesis15.htmhttp://www.usccb.org/nab/bible/genesis/genesis15.htmhttp://www.usccb.org/nab/bible/genesis/genesis15.htmhttp://www.usccb.org/nab/bible/genesis/genesis15.htm


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Not only will his name be great, but God by acovenant oath swears to make Abraham "fatherof a host of nations," a royal dynasty - "kings shall

stem from you" (see Genesis 17:1-21). God elevates His third promise by swearing to

make Abraham's descendants "as countless asthe stars of the sky and the sands of the

seashore." In Abraham's descendants "All thenations of the earth shall find blessing" (seeGenesis 22:16-18).
http://www.usccb.org/nab/bible/genesis/genesis17.htmhttp://www.usccb.org/nab/bible/genesis/genesis22.htmhttp://www.usccb.org/nab/bible/genesis/genesis22.htmhttp://www.usccb.org/nab/bible/genesis/genesis22.htmhttp://www.usccb.org/nab/bible/genesis/genesis22.htmhttp://www.usccb.org/nab/bible/genesis/genesis17.htmhttp://www.usccb.org/nab/bible/genesis/genesis17.htmhttp://www.usccb.org/nab/bible/genesis/genesis17.htm


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By these three covenant

oaths, God points our eyes to

the future of salvationhistory.

1. Abraham is made a great

nation in the Exodus, whenby the covenant He makes

with Moses, God makes

Abraham's descendants intoa nation possessing the land

promised to Abraham (see

Genesis 46:3-4).


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2. God's second oath is

fulfilled when David is

made King and

promised with a great

name (see 2 Samuel

7:9) and an everlasting

throne (see Psalm89:3-4; 132:11-12).
http://www.usccb.org/nab/bible/2samuel/2samuel7.htmhttp://www.usccb.org/nab/bible/2samuel/2samuel7.htmhttp://www.usccb.org/nab/bible/psalms/psalm89.htmhttp://www.usccb.org/nab/bible/psalms/psalm89.htmhttp://www.usccb.org/nab/bible/psalms/psalm132.htmhttp://www.usccb.org/nab/bible/psalms/psalm132.htmhttp://www.usccb.org/nab/bible/psalms/psalm132.htmhttp://www.usccb.org/nab/bible/psalms/psalm132.htmhttp://www.usccb.org/nab/bible/psalms/psalm89.htmhttp://www.usccb.org/nab/bible/psalms/psalm89.htmhttp://www.usccb.org/nab/bible/psalms/psalm89.htmhttp://www.usccb.org/nab/bible/psalms/psalm89.htmhttp://www.usccb.org/nab/bible/2samuel/2samuel7.htmhttp://www.usccb.org/nab/bible/2samuel/2samuel7.htm


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3. And finally, these

covenants point us

to Jesus. His New

Covenant fulfills

God's promise to

make the children of

Abraham the sourceof blessing for all

the nations.


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Beloved Sons

Beginning within the Bible and coming to full

flower in the writings of Church Fathers like St.

Augustine, many have seen deep connections

between the life of Isaac and the life of Jesus.

Isaac's birth is a miracle - coming as it does to

a 100-year-old man and his barren wife.


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There is an even more

profound symbolism in

the awful test that God

gives to Abraham - to

offer his only beloved

son, Isaac, as a sacrifice.

This story has long been

interpreted as

foreshadowing God'soffering of his only

beloved Son on the Cross

at Calvary.


15/39

Isaac is described as the only beloved Son of

Abraham (see Genesis 22:2,12,16). Page

ahead to the New Testament and you'll find

God using these same words - "my beloved

Son" - to refer to Jesus at two crucial points

in His life, in His Baptism and Transfiguration

(see Matthew 3:17; 17:5).
http://www.usccb.org/nab/bible/genesis/genesis22.htmhttp://www.usccb.org/nab/bible/genesis/genesis22.htmhttp://www.usccb.org/nab/bible/genesis/genesis22.htmhttp://www.usccb.org/nab/bible/matthew/matthew3.htmhttp://www.usccb.org/nab/bible/matthew/matthew17.htmhttp://www.usccb.org/nab/bible/matthew/matthew17.htmhttp://www.usccb.org/nab/bible/matthew/matthew3.htmhttp://www.usccb.org/nab/bible/genesis/genesis22.htmhttp://www.usccb.org/nab/bible/genesis/genesis22.htmhttp://www.usccb.org/nab/bible/genesis/genesis22.htm


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Calvary, where Jesus

was crucified, is one of

the hills of Moriah.

And as Isaac carried

the wood for his own

sacrifice, andsubmitted to being

bound to the wood, so

too will Jesus carry Hiscross and let men bind

Him to it.


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Jewish tradition believed that Isaac was

between 27 and 35 at the time of thisevent and that he willingly allowed

himself to be bound and offered by

Abraham. This would suggest an evenfurther parallel between Isaac and Jesus

- both giving themselves up, freely

accepting their own death as an offeringto God.


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Signs of Flesh and Spirit

Abraham believed

that God would give

his only beloved son

back to him. And by

this faith, he upheld

his obligation to the

covenant he entered

into with God.


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God made faith in

His promises the

condition of Hiscovenant with

Abraham. Faith is

likewise thecondition of those

who would enter

into the New

Covenant made in

Jesus.


20/39

The blessings that God promised to

bestow on the world through thedescendants of Abraham come to us

through our faith in the Cross and

Resurrection of Jesus. The sacrifice ofChrist brings to us "the blessing of

Abraham" (see Galatians 3:14).
http://www.usccb.org/nab/bible/galatians/galatians3.htmhttp://www.usccb.org/nab/bible/galatians/galatians3.htm


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God made circumcision to be a sign of His

covenant oath to make Abraham'sdescendants a royal dynasty: "Thus my

covenant shall be in your flesh as an

everlasting pact" (see Genesis 17:1-14). But

as St. Paul teaches, this covenant sign in the

flesh was meant also to symbolize the

spiritual and sacramental sign by which we

enter into the New Covenant, the royalfamily of God.


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Already in the prophets,

"circumcision of the

heart" had become asign of dedication o f

one's whole being to

God (see Deuteronomy10:16; Jeremiah 4:4;

compare Romans 2:25-

29; 1 Corinthians 7:18-

19).
http://www.usccb.org/nab/bible/deuteronomy/deuteronomy10.htmhttp://www.usccb.org/nab/bible/deuteronomy/deuteronomy10.htmhttp://www.usccb.org/nab/bible/jeremiah/jeremiah4.htmhttp://www.usccb.org/nab/bible/romans/romans2.htmhttp://www.usccb.org/nab/bible/romans/romans2.htmhttp://www.usccb.org/nab/bible/1corinthians/1corinthians7.htmhttp://www.usccb.org/nab/bible/1corinthians/1corinthians7.htmhttp://www.usccb.org/nab/bible/1corinthians/1corinthians7.htmhttp://www.usccb.org/nab/bible/1corinthians/1corinthians7.htmhttp://www.usccb.org/nab/bible/1corinthians/1corinthians7.htmhttp://www.usccb.org/nab/bible/romans/romans2.htmhttp://www.usccb.org/nab/bible/romans/romans2.htmhttp://www.usccb.org/nab/bible/romans/romans2.htmhttp://www.usccb.org/nab/bible/jeremiah/jeremiah4.htmhttp://www.usccb.org/nab/bible/deuteronomy/deuteronomy10.htmhttp://www.usccb.org/nab/bible/deuteronomy/deuteronomy10.htm


23/39

And this happens in Baptism, which is

the "circumcision of Christ" (seeColossians 2:11) and the true

circumcision (see Philippians 3:3). As

circumcision was the sign ofmembership in the people of Abraham,

the "new circumcision" - Baptism - is the

sign of membership in the Church, the

new people of God.
http://www.usccb.org/nab/bible/colossians/colossians2.htmhttp://www.usccb.org/nab/bible/philippians/philippians3.htmhttp://www.usccb.org/nab/bible/philippians/philippians3.htmhttp://www.usccb.org/nab/bible/colossians/colossians2.htm


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Shem's Blessing

God promises to bless

Abraham. And we know that

those blessings come in his

descendants, especially in

Jesus. But during the course ofGenesis, the only actual

blessing that Abraham receives

is from the mysterious king-priest, Melchizedek (see

Genesis 14:18-20).


25/39

Through the faithfulness of Noah, God

renewed his covenant with creation and thehuman family (see Genesis 9:1-17). But the

first-born Noah, like Adam before him, fell

into sin (see Genesis 9:20-22). Still, despiteman's unfaithfulness, God is always faithful

to His covenant promises. So He turns to a

new first-born, Shem, the righteous first-born

of Noah.
http://www.usccb.org/nab/bible/genesis/genesis9.htmhttp://www.usccb.org/nab/bible/genesis/genesis9.htmhttp://www.usccb.org/nab/bible/genesis/genesis9.htmhttp://www.usccb.org/nab/bible/genesis/genesis9.htmhttp://www.usccb.org/nab/bible/genesis/genesis9.htmhttp://www.usccb.org/nab/bible/genesis/genesis9.htmhttp://www.usccb.org/nab/bible/genesis/genesis9.htmhttp://www.usccb.org/nab/bible/genesis/genesis9.htm


26/39

Shem receives a cosmic blessing from

Noah - "Blessed be the Lord, the God of

Shem!" - which marks the first time in

Scripture that God is identified with any

one human being (see Genesis 9:26-27).

God is designated as "the God of Shem"

- a sign of Shem's great righteousness

and stature before God.


27/39

According to a long

tradition - Jewish andChristian - the mysterious

Melchizedek is actually

Shem, the greatpatriarch, the righteous

inheritor of the blessings

promised by God after

the Flood.


28/39

First-Born High Priest

If Melchizedek, a name which means "king of

righteousness" (see Hebrews 7:2), is really

Shem, the great son of Noah, then it means

that the blessing God gave to Noah and Noahin turn gave to Shem is now being passed on

to Abraham. The blessing of the righteous

first-born will pass from Abraham on to Isaac(see Genesis 25:5) and to Jacob (see Genesis

27:27-29).
http://www.usccb.org/nab/bible/hebrews/hebrews7.htmhttp://www.usccb.org/nab/bible/genesis/genesis25.htmhttp://www.usccb.org/nab/bible/genesis/genesis27.htmhttp://www.usccb.org/nab/bible/genesis/genesis27.htmhttp://www.usccb.org/nab/bible/genesis/genesis27.htmhttp://www.usccb.org/nab/bible/genesis/genesis27.htmhttp://www.usccb.org/nab/bible/genesis/genesis27.htmhttp://www.usccb.org/nab/bible/genesis/genesis27.htmhttp://www.usccb.org/nab/bible/genesis/genesis25.htmhttp://www.usccb.org/nab/bible/hebrews/hebrews7.htm


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Melchizedek is a high priest and a king.

If he's also the first-born son of Noah,

then his blessing upon Abraham is a sort

of "ordination," a consecration, by

which Abraham too becomes, not only a

righteous first-born son, but a priest of

God Most High.


30/39

Adam, it appears, is being described as a

first-born priest. Commanded to "befertile and multiply" (see Genesis 1:28),

he is, in effect, being made to be the

father of a priestly people. This is thedestiny of the human race. A destiny

that will finally be achieved in Jesus -

the "first-born" royal Son and priest (seeHebrews 1:6; 5:5-6).
http://www.usccb.org/nab/bible/genesis/genesis1.htmhttp://www.usccb.org/nab/bible/hebrews/hebrews1.htmhttp://www.usccb.org/nab/bible/hebrews/hebrews5.htmhttp://www.usccb.org/nab/bible/hebrews/hebrews5.htmhttp://www.usccb.org/nab/bible/hebrews/hebrews5.htmhttp://www.usccb.org/nab/bible/hebrews/hebrews5.htmhttp://www.usccb.org/nab/bible/hebrews/hebrews1.htmhttp://www.usccb.org/nab/bible/genesis/genesis1.htm


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Age of Patriarchs

Isaac grows up to marry

Rebekah. Like his mother

Sarah, she's barren. But

Isaac, as his father

Abraham had before him,appeals to God to give

them children (see

Genesis 25:21;15:3).


32/39

While her twins are

fighting in her womb,God tells Rebekah

that each will be a

nation, but theyounger of the two,

Jacob, will rule the

older, Esau (seeGenesis 25:23).


33/39

This is another sub-plot in Genesis,

closely connected to what we've talkedabout already concerning the "first-

born." Notice that after the failure of

His first-born in Eden, God seems toprefer the younger son: Abel's offering

is preferred to Cain's.


34/39

Isaac is chosen over

Ishmael. Jacob'syoungest son,

Joseph, becomes

the hero of the later

books of Genesis,

while Reuben,

Jacob's first-born,

fails to defend himagainst his brothers

(see Genesis 37).


35/39

He chooses the young, the weak and the

sinful to show that salvation history isgoverned by His free grace and His love. St.

Paul gives us the general principle when he

says that God chose Isaac over Esau "in order

that God's elective plan might continue, not

by works but by His call...So it depends not

upon a person's will or exertion, but upon

God" (see Romans 9:11-13).
http://www.usccb.org/nab/bible/romans/romans9.htmhttp://www.usccb.org/nab/bible/romans/romans9.htmhttp://www.usccb.org/nab/bible/romans/romans9.htmhttp://www.usccb.org/nab/bible/romans/romans9.htm


36/39

God Himself confirms this in showing

Jacob a ladder into the heavens (seeGenesis 28:10-15). Later, Jesus will apply

this dream to Himself, revealing that in

Him heaven and earth touch, the humanand the divine meet. He is what Jacob

saw as "the gateway to heaven" (see

John 1:51; Genesis 28:17).
http://www.usccb.org/nab/bible/genesis/genesis28.htmhttp://www.usccb.org/nab/bible/john/john1.htmhttp://www.usccb.org/nab/bible/genesis/genesis28.htmhttp://www.usccb.org/nab/bible/genesis/genesis28.htmhttp://www.usccb.org/nab/bible/john/john1.htmhttp://www.usccb.org/nab/bible/genesis/genesis28.htmhttp://www.usccb.org/nab/bible/genesis/genesis28.htmhttp://www.usccb.org/nab/bible/genesis/genesis28.htm


37/39

Joseph and Judah

Joseph is the victim of jealousy and rejection

by His brothers, the children of Israel, and is

sold for the price of a slave (compare Genesis

37:28 and Matthew 26:14-15). Compare thewords of Joseph's brothers to the words of

the evil tenants in the parable of Jesus (see

Genesis 37:20; Matthew 21:38).
http://www.usccb.org/nab/bible/genesis/genesis37.htmhttp://www.usccb.org/nab/bible/genesis/genesis37.htmhttp://www.usccb.org/nab/bible/matthew/matthew26.htmhttp://www.usccb.org/nab/bible/genesis/genesis37.htmhttp://www.usccb.org/nab/bible/matthew/matthew21.htmhttp://www.usccb.org/nab/bible/matthew/matthew21.htmhttp://www.usccb.org/nab/bible/genesis/genesis37.htmhttp://www.usccb.org/nab/bible/matthew/matthew26.htmhttp://www.usccb.org/nab/bible/matthew/matthew26.htmhttp://www.usccb.org/nab/bible/matthew/matthew26.htmhttp://www.usccb.org/nab/bible/genesis/genesis37.htmhttp://www.usccb.org/nab/bible/genesis/genesis37.htm


38/39

Still, both Joseph and Jesus forgive their

brothers and save them from death. ThePharaoh tells his Egyptian servants to do

whatever Joseph tells them. And Mary will

echo these words, telling the servants at the

wedding feast to do whatever Jesus tells

them to do (compare Genesis 41:55 to John

2:5).
http://www.usccb.org/nab/bible/genesis/genesis41.htmhttp://www.usccb.org/nab/bible/john/john2.htmhttp://www.usccb.org/nab/bible/john/john2.htmhttp://www.usccb.org/nab/bible/john/john2.htmhttp://www.usccb.org/nab/bible/john/john2.htmhttp://www.usccb.org/nab/bible/genesis/genesis41.htm


39/39

As Joseph

explains to hisbrother, his story

shows us that

even what menplan as evil, God

can use for the

purposes of Hissaving plan (see

Genesis 50:19-21).

t1 discussion no. 7 Baliktanaw.pptx.ppt

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