Abraham had children by 3 women: Hagar, Sarah and Keturah. The Scriptures tell us mostly about Abraham’s descendants by Sarah’s son, lsaac. lsaac’s son Jacob, name was changed to lsrael. To Abraham the Lord said: “to your descendants I will give this land.” Genesis 12:7 Interestingly enough, the world has been trained and made to think the other children, at a birthright. Abraham’s marriage to Sarah did not negate the birthright’s. Abraham lived in the area, but he never got, totally, control of all his land. The rights to it were inherited by his descendants. Amongst the Jewish people there was a concept called a “birthright.” What this meant and to whom it referred in ancient times is not totally agreed upon because most people have not been taught what the birthright entailed. Deuteronomy 21:15-17: “suppose a man has two wives, but loves one and not the other, both have given him sons. When this man divides his inheritance, he may not give the larger inheritance to his younger son, the son of the wife he loves, as if he were the firstborn son. He must
recognize the rights of his oldest son, the son of the wife he does not love, by giving him a double portion. He is the firstborn son of his father’s, and the rights of the firstborn belongs to him.” This has to mean that when a man’s property was divided between his sons, the portion of the firstborn son was 2 times larger than what each of his brothers would receive. lf there were 12 sons for instance, the inheritance was divided into 13 parts. 11 of the sons received a 13th part, but the firstborn son received 2/13 parts.
The birthright then was the firstborn son’s right to a special share, when the inheritance was divided. This brings us to the study of Abraham and of course the Jewish people who have not considered the other sons and daughters of Abraham to the inheritor’s. The most famous of which is Esau. We all know that he sold his birthright to Jacob. Genesis 25:29-34. Esau and Jacob were twins, but Esau was born, first. The double portion that was given to Esau, Esau did not respect or appreciate. As things went, the inheritance from Jacob came to consist of the land of Canaan, which in most places is called “the promise land.” ln the days of Joshua, Jacob’s descendants began to take the land of Canaan. Most think
they were taking what didn’t belong to them when in fact what they were taking was what was promised them. Among Jacob sons, Ruben was the oldest. When Ruben slept with Jacob’s wife, his inheritance was taken away from them and given to Jacob’s favorite son, Joseph. l Chronicles 5:1 But what did Esau’s sons receive as an inheritance? They been completely left out of people’s minds, To them also was the promise. This was received “in Christ.” There was another tribe did not see receive a land promise, that tribe was Levi. All the descendants of Levi received were small parcels around towns, this was changed because of the golden calf. The tribes of Ruben and Gad, half of the tribe of Manasseh had already settled on the east side of the Jordan River, outside the actual promise land, and
did not receive any land on the other side of Jordan. Again the tribe of Juda h received more land than they needed, and so the descendants of Simeon were placed amongst the descendants of Judah and shared their lot. Joshua 14-19 Ephraim was not Joseph’s firstborn son! The inheritance which Manasseh and Ephraim received, through Joseph, consisted of a part of the land of Canaan. Those who teach that Ephraim had a birthright are incorrect in their study, Ephraim was not owed, one, After the reign of King Solomon, lsrael was divided into 2 nations. The southern part of lsrael came to be called Judah are Judea, from whence we get the word Jew, the capital city of their land was Jerusalem. The 10 northern tribes, called lsrael, capital, was Samaria. “What changed things?” Read
Genesis 25:1-4
