Toledoths of Genesis (and its characters)

Question 1

What happens in the toledoth of Noah?

Answer 1

At the beginning of this toledoth, Noah and his family are the only godly ones left on Earth, so God told Noah of his plan to flood the Earth, and told Noah to make an elaborately designed and sized ark. He was to bring 7 pairs (male and female) of every clean animal, 7 pairs of every bird, and 1 pair of every unclean animal. So, Noah did as God told him to. After that, for 40 days and nights straight, the Earth was flooded. To check on things, Noah sent out a dove. After a while, it came back with an olive leaf, showing that the flood was over. 3 months later, the Earth was dry, so he went back down, and made an altar for the Lord. That’s when the covenant of the rainbow was made. Once all that was finished, they continued with their lives as normal, and carried out the cultural mandate. One day, years later, Noah got drunk in his vineyard, so his son, Ham, defiled him. Once Noah woke up and found out, he cursed his family line, the Canaanites

Question 2

What happens in the toledoth of Shem?

Answer 2

Shem was Noah’s son. During his time, the tower of Babel situation happened. This is where languages were made and people were manually spread out by God. The tower of Babel was mainly made by Babylonia, but tons of other people were also helping with it. After God spread them out and changed how they spoke, they never tried again, because they thought they were no longer able to

Question 3

What happens in the toledoth of Terah/Abraham?

Answer 3

First, God calls Abraham, son of Terah, to be his servant, and makes him 7 promises. They basically said that he would be the father of his nation, and God would affect the world through his offspring. Then, to avoid famine, Abram and his wife, Sarai, go to Egypt. This is where they have to pretend to be siblings so Abram can avoid being killed for Sarai (something that David actually ends up doing for Bathsheba hundreds of years later). After that, Abram and his nephew, Lot, separate over 2 pieces of land. Lot takes the larger, more lush one, but Abram is assured that the one he is left with is part of God’s plan for him. Eventually, their people grow too big to be contained in these two places, and begin to quarrel. Because of this, Lot decides to pack up and go to Sodom, a very sinful, wicked city. But when that city gets caught up in a middle eastern war and becomes captured, so Abram and his small army go and recover him. After that, Abram and Sarai start to get more and more doubtful that they will have any kids at all, nevermind a nation. God then reassures him that he will, since he already promised him this. God then compares his descendants’ numbers to the stars in the sky. After that, Abram has a son, Ishmael, with his servant, Hagar (because Sarai suggested it). Even though they now had a son, he wasn’t the son God was talking about when he promised him. So God then promises him that he will have a son with Sarai, and that he will be the father of many nations. Because of this, he also renames Abram to Abraham, and Sarai to Sarah. Then, Abraham and Sarah have a son, Isaac, where God ‘plants the seed of redemption’. This is also where the covenant of circumcision is made. Then, Abraham was made aware of God’s decision to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah. Before he does the deed, God sends down 2 angels to scope the place out. Lot offers hospitality to them, so they decide to spare him and his family. Later on, Lot sleeps with his two daughters to extend his lineage. This creates the patriarchs of the Moabites and the Ammonites, who are recurring enemies of the Israelites throughout the OT. Soon later, Isaac is born. He circumcises him as promised. This ends up driving Hagar and Ishmael away, into the desert, where God provides for them. Abraham is then told by God to kill his son (but doesn’t because it was just a test, which he passed). After that, Sarah dies. Then, Isaac is found Rebekah by a servant to marry. Soon later, Abraham dies, and the toledoth ends

Question 4

What happens in the toledoth if Isaac?

Answer 4

Ishmael, the son of Abram and his servant, became the patriarch of Islam. On the other hand, Isaac, Abraham’s son with Sarah, carried the seed of redemption. When his wife, Rebekkah, was childless, he prayed to God, and God answered with Jacob and Esau

Question 5

What happens in the toledoth of Jacob?

Answer 5

Jacob and his older brother, Esau, were pretty different. While Jacob was a simple, skillful cook, Esau was a burly, manly hunter. One day, Jacob tricks/buys his way into Esau, the firstborn’s rightful birthright given to him by their now visually impaired father, Isaac. When Esau and Jacob became fully aware of the mistake they made, Esau got another blessing, though it wasn’t nearly as good. After that, while he’s on his way to his uncle Laban’s to get a wife, Jacob has a hopeful dream where he sees the stairway to heaven, and God promises him that he has the seed of redemption. He then renames the place where that took place ‘Bethel’. When he arrives at his uncle’s, he falls in love with his relative, Rachel. He makes a deal with Laban to work for him for 7 years to marry Rachel. Laban tricks him into marrying Leah, Rachel’s sister, who Jacob didn’t love. He then worked 7 more years to actually marry Rachel. Between Rachel and Leah, Jacob has 12 sons, and one of them he had with Rachel (Joseph) is his favorite

Question 6

What happens in the toledoth of Joseph?

Answer 6

Jacob’s favorite son, Joseph, worked the fields like the rest of his siblings. One day, his siblings got jealous of him for being so dearly loved by their father and because Joseph got recurring dreams of his brother bowing down to him. Because of this, they tricked him and sold into slavery in Egypt. He is thrown into a good spot in jail after his master’s wife accuses him of a crime. One day, he gets the chance to interpret the Pharaoh’s dream, so he takes it, and gets out of jail, and eventually into the #2 spot in Egypt. Around the same time, Israel has a famine, so they go to Egypt for help. This is where Joseph is reunited with his brothers, who now have to bow down to him. They all reconcile, and Israel moves to Egypt so they can escape the famine

Question 7

What 7 promises did God make to Abraham in the toledoth of Terah?

Answer 7

“I will make you into a great nation”
“I will bless you”
“I will make your name great”
“You will be a blessing”
“I will bless those who bless you”
“I will curse those who curse you”
“All the people on Earth will be blessed through you”