'Forefather' in the Bible
and do not presume to say to yourselves [as a defense], ‘We have Abraham for our father [so our inheritance assures us of salvation]’; for I say to you that from these stones God is able to raise up children (descendants) for Abraham.
He will be great and eminent and will be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David;
Your father Abraham [greatly] rejoiced to see My day (My incarnation). He saw it and was delighted.”
who by the Holy Spirit, through the mouth of our father David, Your servant, said,‘Why did the nations (Gentiles) become arrogant and rage,And the peoples devise futile things [against the Lord]?
And he answered, “Brothers and fathers, listen to me! The God of glory [the Shekinah, the radiance of God] appeared to our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, before he lived in Haran,
What then shall we say that Abraham, our forefather humanly speaking, has found? [Has he obtained a favored standing?]
And not only that, but this too: Rebekah conceived twin sons by one man [under the same circumstances], by our father Isaac;
for Levi was still in the loins (unborn) of his forefather [Abraham] when Melchizedek met him (Abraham).
Was our father Abraham not [shown to be] justified by works [of obedience which expressed his faith] when he offered Isaac his son on the altar [as a sacrifice to God]?