I am hoping that this series on the subject will open our understanding to the Holy Scriptures and how it applies to us this day.

THE FOUNDING FATHERS

The stories of Abraham, Jacob and Joseph had been handed down by word of mouth in Israel for generations. Before their written formulation, these stories went through a process of selection and interpretation, which aimed at setting in the clearest possible light the essential truth of the events through which God worked out His plan in human history. The traditional stories of the patriarchs are more than mere biographies; rather, they articulate the faith of the people of God, they personify the basic relationship of the chosen people to the God who had chosen them. I will like to align the patriarchs of old with our present day and in the Mystical Order of Spiritual Baptist.

If Abraham is a historical individual, he is also the personification of faith. His faith stands as a constant reminder to the people of God that faith establishes them in their most basic relationship to God. The Apostle Paul views Abraham in this way when he calls him the father of all those who believe in God (Romans 4:16). Jacob, on the other hand, symbolises Israel’s consciousness of her own moral shortcomings, which play a constant counterpoint to her comforting realisation of God’s patient forbearance and saving goodness. In Joseph, finally, the people of God express what they think the love of God is like. Abraham, Jacob and Joseph thus personify man’s basic relationship to God. (Joseph, however, also personifies God’s saving covenant love for His people.) While reading this passage and formulating what should be written I had to compare scripture with our Patriarch Sir Darrindel. Are there similarities? I leave that decision to you.

The call of Abraham is an event of supreme importance in both Old and New Testament history. Just how the relationship between Abraham and his personal God began, and in what it consisted, remains mysterious. But the Bible leaves no doubt that it was personal and not shared by his kindred (Joshua 24:2). Genesis does not present us with a distillation of the heroic exploits of Abraham but rather stresses the initiative, the actions and the purpose of God in His choice of the patriarch. It is God who calls and God who makes the covenant. It is Abraham who responds in faith to the divine initiative. But this relationship of the election, covenant and responsive faith is remembered not only for what it was, but also for what it continued to be. The people of God read of themselves in the stories of the patriarch. They understand the terms of their own existence, and its essential meaning, in the relationship between God and Abraham.

TO BE CONTINUED ………..

Sir Godfrey Gregg

Divisional Patriarch