A genealogy of Jesus Christ, a descendant of David and Abraham.

Abraham was the father of Isaac, Isaac of Jacob, Jacob of Judah and his brothers,

So the whole number of generations from Abraham to David is fourteen; from David to the Exile to Babylon fourteen; and from the Exile to Babylon to the Christ fourteen.

And do not think that you can say among yourselves 'Abraham is our ancestor,' for I tell you that out of these very stones God is able to raise descendants for Abraham!

Yes, and many will come in from East and West and take their places beside Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, in the Kingdom of Heaven;

'I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob'? He is not the God of dead men, but of living."

As to the dead, and the fact that they rise, have you never read in the Book of Moses, in the passage about the Bush, how God spoke to him thus--'I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob'?

(As he promised to our forefathers) For Abraham and his race for ever."

This was the oath which he swore to our forefather Abraham--

Let your lives, then, prove your repentance; and do not begin to say among yourselves 'Abraham is our ancestor,' for I tell you that out of these very stones God is able to raise descendants for Abraham!

Jacob, Isaac, Abraham, Terah, Nahor,

But this woman, a daughter of Abraham, who has been kept in bondage by Satan for now eighteen years, ought not she to have been released from her bondage on the Sabbath?"

There, there will be weeping and grinding of teeth, when you see Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and all the Prophets, in the Kingdom of God, while you yourselves are being driven outside.

After a time the beggar died, and was taken by the angels to be with Abraham. The rich man also died and was buried.

In the Place of Death he looked up in his torment, and saw Abraham at a distance and Lazarus at his side.

So he called out 'Pity me, Father Abraham, and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am suffering agony in this flame.'

'Child,' answered Abraham, 'remember that you in your lifetime received what you thought desirable, just as Lazarus received what was not desirable; but now he has his consolation here, while you are suffering agony.

'They have the writings of Moses and the Prophets,' replied Abraham; 'let them listen to them.'

'But, Father Abraham,' he urged, 'if some one from the dead were to go to them, they would repent.'

'If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets,' answered Abraham, 'they will not be persuaded, even if some one were to rise from the dead.'"

"Salvation has come to this house to-day," answered Jesus, "for even this man is a son of Abraham.

As to the fact that the dead rise, even Moses indicated that, in the passage about the Bush, when he calls the Lord--'The God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.'

"We are descendants of Abraham," was their answer, "and have never yet been in slavery to any one. What do you mean by saying 'you will be set free'?"

I know that you are descendants of Abraham; yet you are seeking to put me to death, because my Message finds no place in your hearts.

"Our father is Abraham," was their answer. "If you are Abraham's children," replied Jesus, "do what Abraham did.

But, as it is, you are seeking to put me to death--a man who has told you the Truth as he heard it from God. Abraham did not act in that way.

"Now we are sure that you are possessed by a demon," the Jews replied. "Abraham died, and so did the Prophets; and yet you say 'If any one lays my Message to heart, he will never know death.'

Are you greater than our ancestor Abraham, who died? And the Prophets died too. Whom do you make yourself out to be?"

Your ancestor Abraham rejoiced that he would see my day; and he did see it, and was glad."

"You are not fifty years old yet," the Jews exclaimed, "and have you seen Abraham?"

"In truth I tell you," replied Jesus, "before Abraham existed I was."

The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of our ancestors, has done honor to his Servant Jesus--him whom you gave up and disowned before Pilate, when he had decided to set him free.

You yourselves are the heirs of the Prophets, and heirs, too, of the Covenant which God made with your ancestors, when he said to Abraham--'In your descendants will all the nations of the earth be blessed.'

And, upon that, Stephen spoke as follows: "Brothers and Fathers, hear what I have to say. God, who manifests himself in the Glory, appeared to our ancestor Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, and before he settled in Haran, and said to him--

On this, Abraham left the country of the Chaldaeans and settled in Haran; and from there, after his father's death, God caused him to migrate into this very country, in which you are now living.

God's words were these--'Abraham's descendants shall live in a foreign country, where they will be enslaved and ill-treated for four hundred years.

Then God made with Abraham the Covenant of Circumcision; and under it Abraham became the father of Isaac, and circumcised him when he was eight days old; and Isaac became the father of Jacob; and Jacob of the Twelve Patriarchs.

And their bodies were removed to Shechem, and laid in the tomb which Abraham had bought for a sum of money from the sons of Hamor in Shechem.

As the time drew near for the fulfillment of the promise which God had made to Abraham, the people increased largely in numbers in Egypt,

'I am the God of your ancestors, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.' Moses trembled, and did not dare to look.

Brothers, descendants of Abraham, and all those among you who reverence God, it was to us that the Message of this Salvation was sent.

What then, it may be asked, are we to say about Abraham, the ancestor of our nation?

For what are the words of Scripture? 'Abraham had faith in God, and his faith was regarded by God as righteousness.'

Is this blessing, then, pronounced upon the circumcised only or upon the uncircumcised as well? We say that-'Abraham's faith was regarded by God as righteousness.'

As well as father of the circumcised-to those who are not only circumcised, but who also follow our father Abraham in that faith which he had while still uncircumcised.

For the promise that he should inherit the world did not come to Abraham or his descendants through Law, but through the righteousness due to faith.

That is why all is made to depend upon faith, that all may be God's gift, and in order that the fulfillment of the promise may be made certain for all Abraham's descendants-not only for those who take their stand on the Law, but also for those who take their stand on the faith of Abraham. (He is the Father of us all;

As Scripture says-'I have made thee the Father of many nations.') And this they do in the sight of that God in whom Abraham had faith, and who gives life to the dead, and speaks of what does not yet exist as if it did.

With no ground for hope, Abraham, sustained by hope, put faith in God; in order that, in fulfillment of the words-'So many shall thy descendants be,' he might become 'the Father of many nations.'

Now these words-'it was regarded as righteousness'-were not written with reference to Abraham only;

Nor, because they are Abraham's descendants, are they all his Children; but-'It is Isaac's children who will be called thy descendants.'

This means that it is not the children born in the course of nature who are God's Children, but it is the children born in fulfillment of the Promise who are to be regarded as Abraham's descendants.

I ask, then, 'Has God rejected his People?' Heaven forbid! For I myself am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin.

Are they Hebrews? So am I! Are they Israelites? So am I! Are they descendants of Abraham? So am I!

It is just as it was with Abraham--'He had faith in God, and his faith was regarded by God as righteousness.'

You see, then, that those whose lives are based on faith are the Sons of Abraham.

And Scripture, foreseeing that God would pronounce the Gentiles righteous as the result of faith, foretold the Good News to Abraham in the words--'Through thee all the Gentiles shall be blessed.'

And, therefore, those whose lives are based on faith share the blessings bestowed upon the faith of Abraham.

And this he did that the blessing given to Abraham might be extended to the Gentiles through their union with Jesus Christ; that so, through our faith, we also might receive the promised gift of the Spirit.

Now it was to Abraham that the promises were made, 'and to his offspring.' It was not said 'to his offsprings,' as if many persons were meant, but the words were 'to thy offspring,' showing that one person was meant--and that was Christ.

If our heritage is the result of Law, then it has ceased to be the result of a promise. Yet God conferred it on Abraham by a promise.

And, since you belong to Christ, it follows that you are Abraham's offspring and, under the promise, sharers in the inheritance.

Scripture says that Abraham had two sons, one the child of the slave-woman and the other the child of the free woman.

It was not, surely, to the help of the angels that Jesus came, but 'to the help of the descendants of Abraham.'

When God gave his promise to Abraham, since there was no one greater by whom he could swear, he swore by himself.

And so, after patiently waiting, Abraham obtained the fulfillment of God's promise.

It was this Melchizedek, King of Salem and Priest of the Most High God, who met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings, and gave him his blessing;

and it was to him that Abraham allotted a tithe of all the spoil. The meaning of his name is 'King of Righteousness, ' and besides that, he was also King of Salem, which means 'King of Peace.'

Consider, then the importance of this Melchizedek, to whom even the Patriarch Abraham himself gave a tithe of the choicest spoils.

Those descendants of Levi, who are from time to time appointed to the priesthood, are directed to collect tithes from the people in accordance with the Law--that is from their own Brothers, although they also are descended from Abraham.

But Melchizedek, although not of this lineage, received tithes from Abraham, and gave his blessing to the very man who had God's promises.

Moreover, in a sense, even Levi, who is the receiver of the tithes, has, through Abraham, paid tithes;

for Levi was still in the body of his ancestor when Melchizedek met Abraham.

It was faith that enabled Abraham to obey the Call that he received, and to set out for the place which he was afterwards to obtain as his own; and he set out not knowing where he was going.

It was faith that enabled Abraham, when put to the test, to offer Isaac as a sacrifice--he who had received the promises offering up his only son,

For he argued that God was able even to raise a man from the dead--and indeed, figuratively speaking, Abraham did receive Isaac back from the dead.

Look at our ancestor, Abraham. Was not it the result of his actions that he was pronounced righteous after he had offered his son, Isaac, on the altar?

And that in this way the words of Scripture came true-- "Abraham believed God, and that was regarded by God as righteousness," and "He was called the friend of God."

as Sarah did, who obeyed Abraham, and called him master. And you are her true children, as long as you live good lives, and let nothing terrify you.