How did Abraham and Moses shape the history of the Hebrews and Israelites?

Answer 1

A:

There has to be a religious answer and a historical answer to a question like this. The religious answer, based on biblical tradition, is that Abraham, as the first of the Patriarchs and ancestor of the Hebrew people, received a covenant from God, promising that his descendants would inherit the Promised land. The biblical tradition is that Moses led the Israelites out of bondage in Egypt and received the Ten Commandments from God. Many believes say that Moses actually wrote the first five books of the Old Testament. Finally, Abraham and Moses are credited with being the founders of Judaism.

Historians say that the biblical account of Abraham conflicts too much with what we know about history, and that the available evidence is that he was purely mythical, not a historical person. Almost all scholars say that there was no Exodus from Egypt as described in The Bible, therefore the story of Moses is another unhistoric legend. The consensus is that the first five books of the Old Testament were actually written during the first millennium BCE, centuries after the time attributed to Moses. The historical answer is therefore that neither Abraham nor Moses has shaped the history of the Hebrews and Israelites, although the existence of the legends that surround them has had a very real influence.

Answer 2

Abraham is considered the founding patriarch of the Israelite people, as he made a covenant with God that his descendants would inherit the land of Canaan. Moses played a crucial role in leading the Israelites out of slavery in Egypt and receiving the Ten Commandments from God, establishing important laws and religious practices. Both figures are central in the cultural and religious identity of the Hebrews and Israelites.

Answer 3

This was an unconditional covenant. It means that God swore fidelity to His promises and placed the obligation of their fulfillment on Himself alone. There are many passages in scripture relating to what this meant to and how it guided their lives.

Reassurance: Genesis 50:24 "And Joseph said to his brethren, I die: and God will surely visit you, and bring you out of this land which He sware to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob".

God's faithfulness: In spite of the many failures and sins of the patriarchs, Joseph declares that the covenant is still in effect in Exodus 2:24 "And God heard their groaning, and God remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob".

Some three hundred years after Joseph, God made it clear that the covenant was still in force, even though Israel had not remained faithful to the Lord but had been involved in significant idolatry; "Not for thy righteousness, or for the uprightness of thine heart, dost thou go to possess their land: but for the wickedness of these nations the Lord thy God doth drive them from before thee, and that he may perform the word which the Lord sware unto thy fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob"(Deut.9:5). This declaration given by God immediately before the Israelites entered the land of Caanan points out with great clarity that it is not the faithful obedience of Israel that is the reason for God's blessing. The blessing of the covenant will come about because God is faithful. "For the Lord thy God is a merciful God: He will not forsake thee, neither destroy thee, nor forget the covenant of thy fathers which he sware unto them (Duet. 4:31).