Genesis 39:9 - For Righteousness Sake

There is none greater in this house than I; neither hath he kept back any thing from me but thee, because art his wife: how then can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?

How then can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God? There is a marked resemblance between Joseph's reason for not sleeping with Potiphar's wife and that of King Abimelech's reason for not sleeping with Sarah, Abraham's wife (Genesis 20:6). In both cases, sin was avoided for the sake of righteousness, gained through divine awareness. Man's righteousness is not only the result of human motives, for we also suffer for the sake of doing what is right.

Genesis 35:11 - Adam, Noah, and Jacob

And God said unto him, I am God Almighty: be fruitful and multiply; a nation and a company of nations shall be of thee, and kings shall come out of thy loins;

God appeared and made himself known as God Almighty only to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob (Genesis 17:1, Genesis 48.3, Exodus 6:3) ; but of the three, only Jacob (joining the company of Adam and Noah Genesis 1:28, Genesis 9:1) received the blessing: be fruitful and multiply.

Genesis 34:10 - To Keep The Peace

And ye shall dwell with us: and the land shall be before you; dwell and trade ye therein, and get you possessions therein.

the land shall be before you - To deal with the crisis at hand between the families, Hamor was offering Jacob's family the land of their choice in the same way that Abraham offered Lot the land his choice (Genesis 13:9).

Genesis 28:4 - Jacob inherits the blessing of Abraham

And give thee the blessing of Abraham, to thee, and to thy seed with thee; that thou mayest inherit the land wherein thou art a stranger, which God gave unto Abraham.

The blessing of Abraham is to make his name great by multiplying his seed into a large and great nation and by obtaining its own land possession (Genesis 12:2; 22:17).

Genesis 27:29 - The blessing of God's chosen.

Let people serve thee, and nations bow down to thee: be lord over thy brethren, and let thy mother's sons bow down to thee: cursed be every one that curseth thee, and blessed be he that blesseth thee.

cursed be every one that curseth thee, and blessed be he that blesseth thee:This is the blessing that God bestowed upon Abraham, the patriarch of God's chosen family (Genesis 12:3) and it carries through to all the generations of Abraham (Numbers 24:9).

Genesis 27:23 - Bringing good out of evil.

And he discerned him not, because his hands were hairy, as his brother Esau's hands: so he blessed him.

Through the providence of God, this deception (Genesis 27:16) was part of the divine plan (Job 12:16) to preserve Abraham's seed for Esau had sold his birthright and had married strange wives (Genesis 25:34; 26:34). In addition, the LORD told Rebekah that Esau shall serve Jacob, Genesis 25:23.

Genesis 26:5 - The way to pleasing God.

Because that Abraham obeyed my voice, and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws.

It's not enough to just follow God's laws; to please God, you must also do the will of God by obeying his voice. Abraham obeyed God's voice by showing that he was willing to offer his only son as a sacrifice (Genesis 22:16).

Genesis 25:27 - Favoring the ordinary over the extraordinary.

And the boys grew: and Esau was a cunning hunter, a man of the field; and Jacob was a plain man, dwelling in tents.

As a man of the field, Esau relied on his extraordinary hunting skills to provide as needed; on the contrary, as a tent dweller, Jacob was an ordinary shepherd (Genesis 46:34) having the faith that God would provide as needed. Jacob's way of life was like that of Isaac, the heir of God's promise to Abraham (Hebrews 11:9).

Genesis 24:56 - Business before pleasure.

And he said unto them, Hinder me not, seeing the LORD hath prospered my way; send me away that I may go to my master.

An angle was sent forth with Eliezer to accomplish God's will of finding a wife for Abraham's son, Isaac (Genesis 24:40). Eliezer said Hinder me not because he was putting God's business before the pleasure that he was enjoying as Laban's guest of honor.

Genesis 24:7 - Abraham's decision making process.

The LORD God of heaven, which took me from my father's house, and from the land of my kindred, and which spake unto me, and that sware unto me, saying, Unto thy seed will I give this land; he shall send his angel before thee, and thou shalt take a wife unto my son from thence.

which took me from emphasizes Abraham's decision making process. God didn't force Abraham to leave his father's house, it was God's command (Genesis 12:1). But for Abraham, evidently, there was no alternative but to follow God's command.

Genesis 24:4 - Staying within the family.

But thou shalt go unto my country, and to my kindred, and take a wife unto my son Isaac.

In following God's command, Abraham lived in Canaan outside the country of his homeland (Genesis 12:1). And just as Abraham sought a wife for his son Isaac from the country of his kindred, Isaac also instructed Jacob to find his wife from the same place, from Padanaram (Genesis 28:2).

Genesis 24:2 - In the name of God's covenant with Abraham.

And Abraham said unto his eldest servant of his house, that ruled over all that he had, Put, I pray thee, thy hand under my thigh:

Put, I pray thee, thy hand under my thigh This form of binding an solemn oath is only mentioned twice in the bible, initiated both times by Abraham (Genesis 24:2; 47:29). This oath binding ceremony has been found to used by the Babylonians. However, given area of where the hand is placed, some believe that the oath has relevance to the covenant of circumcision regarding the promised seed of the patriarch, Abraham.

Genesis 23:20 - To make sure the possession of land.

And the field, and the cave that is therein, were made sure unto Abraham for a possession of a buryingplace by the sons of Heth.

A more detailed example of how land was purchased and made sure is given in Jeremiah 32:10:

And I subscribed the evidence, and sealed it, and took witnesses, and weighed him the money in the balances.

And I subscribed the evidence is the writing of the deed to record the details of the transaction. and sealed it the deed was rolled, tied and sealed to be kept as the permanent record. and took witnesses refers to those that witness the negotiations of the transaction; in the case of Abraham's purchase, they were the sons of Heth. And weighed him the money in the balances because coined money was not yet used, the silver was weighted out on a scale.

Genesis 23:17 - The cave of Machpelah.

And the field of Ephron which was in Machpelah, which was before Mamre, the field, and the cave which was therein, and all the trees that were in the field, that were in all the borders round about, were made sure

This cave within the field of Machpelah was purchased by Abraham as a family sepulchre. It is the resting place for Abraham and his wife Sarah, his son Isaac and his wife Rebekah, his grandson Jacob and his wife Leah (Genesis 25:9; 49:31; 50:13), and perhaps others. The location of the cave is believed to be below the Haram el Khalil mosque, also called Abraham's mosque.

Genesis 23:11 - Beware of gifts, for nothing is free.

Nay, my lord, hear me: the field give I thee, and the cave that is therein, I give it thee; in the presence of the sons of my people give I it thee: bury thy dead.

Abraham was interested in only buying the cave of Machpelah; however, Ephron the Hittite offered to give him the cave, plus the field as well. Likewise, Araunah the Jebusite offered King David more than what he wanted to buy, all at no cost (2 Samuel 24:22). Both Abraham and King David refused to accept the gift and paid the fair market value of the offer. Solomon addresses the evils of gifts with the following proverbs:

• He that is greedy of gain troubleth his own house; but he that hateth gifts shall live, Proverbs 15:27.
• Many will intreat the favour of the prince: and every man is a friend to him gifs, Proverbs 19:6.
• The king by judgment establisheth the land: but he that receiveth gifts overthroweth it, Proverbs 29:4.

Genesis 23:6 - Abraham's success in Canaan.

Hear us, my lord: thou art a mighty prince among us: in the choice of our sepulchres bury thy dead; none of us shall withhold from thee his sepulchre, but that thou mayest bury thy dead.

Hear us, my lord: thou art a mighty prince among us: indicates how great Abraham was in the land of Canaan, for God blessed Abraham with both riches and honor (1 Chronicles 29:12). Abraham was very rich in cattle, precious metals and servants (Genesis 13:2, 24:35); and although Abraham did not own land, he was given his choice of sepulchres to bury his dead because he was highly respected.

Genesis 22:12 - Why God favored Abraham.

And he said, Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou any thing unto him: for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son from me.

What does the LORD require of thee? Abraham is the perfect example of what the LORD expects. God stopped Abraham from sacrificing Isaac as commanded because Abraham proved that he would obey God's commandments at any cost, even if it required killing is only son (Genesis 26:5).

Genesis 22:1 - Temped by God.

And it came to pass after these things, that God did tempt Abraham, and said unto him, Abraham: and he said, Behold, here I am.

To "tempt" generally implies the means used to persuade or entice someone to sin. However, God uses temptation to try or prove a person's character. God temped Abraham to try his faith (Hebrews 11:17).

Genesis 19:27 - Where Abraham communed with the LORD.

And Abraham gat up early in the morning to the place where he stood before the LORD:

And Abraham gat up early shows how eager Abraham was to see the result of Sodom and Gomorrah. the place where he stood before the LORD refers to the place where Abraham communed with the LORD the preceding day just after the angles left to overthrow Sodom and Gomorrah, Genesis 18:22.

Genesis 19:12 - Delivered on behalf of another.

And the men said unto Lot, Hast thou here any besides? son in law, and thy sons, and thy daughters, and whatsoever thou hast in the city, bring them out of this place:

Just as Noah's family was spared from the destruction of The Flood (Genesis 7:1) and Rahab's family was saved during the invasion of Jericho (Joshua 6:22), Lot's family was offered deliverance from the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah. It is good thing being akin to those that God favors. The only reason Lot was rescued was because God remembered Abraham (Genesis 19:29).