In this episode we discuss the election of Abraham and its development in Second Temple Literature and the New Testament. God’s choice of Abraham after the Tower of Babel is understood as the antidote for the idolatry and rebellion that had come to define the rest of the world. Rather than modern concepts of election as developed in the Reformation, Second Temple Jews and the apostles of Jesus maintain the native context of God’s choice of Abraham’s descendants in the administration of redemptive history. 

Show notes

• The context of the election of Abraham: the Tower of Babel (Genesis 11; LIB 6:4-5) (4:50)
• The covenant with Abraham: Genesis 15 (Joshua 24:1-2; Apocalypse of Abraham 15) (10:10)
• Israel’s calling to be a light to the Gentiles (Acts 13) (13:30)
• Turning from idolatry (Acts 17) (16:01)
• The “un-election” of Abraham? (Galatians 3; Genesis 17; Sirach 44:19-21) (17:54)
• The Gentiles glorify God for his mercy as a result of the promises to the Patriarchs (Romans 15:8-13) (28:17)

Studies in Torah class from The Ark Network: https://www.thearknetwork.org/studies-in-torah-class/