Abraham was not a Jew by birth — he was a Syrian from Ur of the Chaldees whom God declared the father of the Jewish race.
Les Feldick teaches that Abraham came from 'one of the other nationalities' and that his relatives, such as Nahor and Laban, were Syrians. The Jewish race began when God separated Abram out of his family in Ur of the Chaldees and gave him the covenant. So Abraham's significance as father of the Hebrew nation came from God's calling and decree, while his bloodline remained Syrian.
Genesis 11:31 — Records Abram's family leaving Ur of the Chaldees — his original homeland before the call.
Genesis 12:1 — God's command to Abram to leave his country and kindred — the act by which the Jewish race began.
Deuteronomy 26:5 — The nation of Israel confessed its patriarch as 'a Syrian ready to perish,' affirming the family's Syrian origin.
Scripture shows that Abram came out of Ur of the Chaldees. Genesis 11:31 records that Terah took Abram, Lot, and Sarai from Ur of the Chaldees toward the land of Canaan. When God called Abram, He told him to get out of his country, from his kindred, and from his father's house into a land He would show him (Genesis 12:1). Abram is first called 'the Hebrew' in Genesis 14:13. In the confession of Deuteronomy 26:5, Israel declared, 'A Syrian ready to perish was my father' — acknowledging the patriarch's Syrian/Aramean line before God made them a nation.
Les Feldick explains that the Jewish race did not exist when Abraham was born. Abraham was part of the mainstream of humanity until God 'put the finger on him' in Ur of the Chaldees and brought him out to be the father of a whole new race — the nation of Israel (Clip 2). Les stresses that Abraham came from one of the other nationalities and that God, by His decree and sovereignty, declared Abram the father of the Jewish race (Clip 1). The Syrian connection is clear from Abraham's family: Isaac and Jacob got their wives from the Syrians, who were the offspring of Abraham's brother and father — Nahor and Laban. They were Syrians, but relatives of Abraham back there as they came out of Ur of the Chaldees (Clip 7). Laban was still a Syrian (Clip 1). So Abraham's genetic background did not change when he was called; the change was in God's declaration and covenant. Les says that if you want to be real technical, the first real Jew would be Isaac, the son of promise. Nevertheless, God refers to Abraham as the father of the Jewish people even though he came from one of the other nationalities (Clip 1). The nation of Israel began when God called Abraham out of Ur, out of idolatry, and gave him the covenant promises (Clips 3, 5).
Not by birth. Les says Abraham came from 'one of the other nationalities' (Clip 1). The Jew begins when God separated Abram out of his family in Ur of the Chaldees (Clip 1). God declared Abram the father of the Jewish race, even though Abraham himself was not Jewish by ancestry (Clip 1).
According to Les, 'if you want to be real technical, the first real Jew then would be Isaac.' Isaac was the first son born after God separated Abram out of his family and declared him the father of the Jewish race; Abraham came from one of the other nationalities (Clip 1).
Abraham came out of Ur of the Chaldees (Clips 1, 2, 5, 7). Les notes that he migrated from Ur of the Chaldeans up into northern Syria (Clip 4). His relatives in Syria — the family of Nahor and Laban — were Syrians and were the ones Isaac and Jacob married from (Clips 1, 7).
By virtue of God's decree and God's work of sovereignty, God declares that Abram is the father of the Jewish race (Clip 1). God promised that out of Abraham He would bring a nation of people totally different from any other race on earth and gave him the covenant (Clip 4). So Abraham's role as the father of the Hebrew nation came from his calling and covenant relationship, not from a change in his ethnic background.
What's the Difference Between Believing God and Believing in God?
out of one group and into another. We're just here to teach the book, and I'm so thrilled that we can get letters from all different backgrounds that they're learning. And after all, that's the only reason we teach, is that we want folk to be able to study and read their Bible and understand it.
Abraham's Non-Jewish Origin
Les says Abraham came from one of the other nationalities and that God by decree made him the father of the Jewish race — while the first real Jew by birth was technically Isaac.
A New Race Out of Humanity
Abraham was part of the mainstream of humanity until God put his finger on him in Ur of the Chaldees, making him the father of a new separated race, the nation of Israel.
Israel Began at Ur
The nation of Israel began when God called Abraham out of Ur of the Chaldees out of idolatry and gave him the covenant promises; even Arabs are considered Gentiles.
Ur and Northern Syria
Abraham came out of Ur of the Chaldeans and migrated into northern Syria; God promised to make a nation from him totally different from any other race.
Beginning of the Jew
God took one man, Abraham, out of an idolatrous civilization, and that was the beginning of the nation of Israel commonly called the Jew.
Abraham's Broader Descendants
Abraham's children branched out beyond Israel — Ishmael began the Arab nations — showing that not all his physical descendants were Jewish.
Abraham's Syrian Relatives
Isaac and Jacob married Syrians who were Abraham's relatives — offspring of his brother Nahor and his father — showing Abraham's own family was Syrian though they came out of Ur of the Chaldees.
Genesis 11:31: And Terah took Abram his son, and Lot the son of Haran his son's son, and Sarai his daughter in law, his son Abram's wife; and they went forth with them from Ur of the Chaldees, to go into the land of Canaan; and they came unto Haran, and dwelt there.
Shows Abram's family leaving Ur of the Chaldees — his homeland before God's call.
Genesis 12:1: Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will shew thee:
God's command to Abram to separate from his country and family — the beginning of the Jewish race.
Genesis 12:2: And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing:
The covenant promise that from Abram God would make a great nation.
Genesis 14:13: And there came one that had escaped, and told Abram the Hebrew; for he dwelt in the plain of Mamre the Amorite, brother of Eshcol, and brother of Aner: and these were confederate with Abram.
First mention of Abram as 'the Hebrew' — a new designation after his separation.
Deuteronomy 26:5: And thou shalt speak and say before the LORD thy God, A Syrian ready to perish was my father, and he went down into Egypt, and sojourned there with a few, and became there a nation, great, mighty, and populous:
Israel's confession that the patriarch was 'a Syrian,' directly addressing the family's ethnic background.
No, not by birth. Les Feldick teaches that Abraham came from one of the other nationalities, and the Jew begins when God separated Abram out of his family in Ur of the Chaldees. By God's decree Abraham became the father of the Jewish people, but he was not Jewish by ancestry.
Les says that if you want to be real technical, the first real Jew would be Isaac, the son of promise. Abraham came from another nationality, but Isaac was the first son born after God declared Abraham the father of the Jewish race.
Abraham came out of Ur of the Chaldees. His relatives — the family of Nahor and Laban — were Syrians, and Isaac and Jacob married wives from that Syrian family.
Because God declared it. By virtue of God's decree and sovereignty, God declared Abram the father of the Jewish race when He separated him out of Ur of the Chaldees and gave him the covenant. Abraham's significance comes from that calling, not from a change in his bloodline.
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