The following passages tell of the most ancient period of God's covenant with a select tribe of people. Abraham—whose name was Abram until God changed it—is the founding patriarch of Judaism. It was he whom God chose out of any number of desert nomads to be the "father of many nations." The three great patriarchs of the Jewish tradition are Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (whose name is also Israel). It is their lineage that comes to comprise the Jewish people.
The promise of a great nation—and the covenant relationship implied by it—is tested and threatened throughout the Jewish biblical texts. The tests begin with Abraham, who tries to actualize God's promise on his own by siring a son, Ishmael, with a servant woman named Hagar. God responds by banishing both the child and his mother, whom Muslims view as the Abrahamic ancestors to their great tradition. God himself tests the limits of Abraham's faith in the promise by having him ride for three days toward a sacrificial mountain upon which he is to sacrifice the "son of the promise," Isaac. In the end, God does not require the sacrifice of Isaac. However, the implication of these stories is clear. When God initiates a covenant, he will bring it about in his own way. Human attempts to advance the plan are fraught with problems and border on blasphemy. Most important, God requires obedience from his covenant people. This requirement, however, does not preclude interceding with God to change his plans. As one of the following passages describes, Abraham managed to convince God to save the innocent people of Sodom and Gomorrah. The image of God revealed here is of a great and powerful tribal deity who is quick to judge and destroy, but who can be talked into being merciful as long as the intercessor remains humble and obedient to God.
The Promise to the Patriarchs
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