First Corinthians 10:11 says, "Now these things happened to them as an example..." The Bible records the history of the Israelites as an example to us. It is for the purpose of our edification. Although there is an outward difference between God's work in the Old Testament and His work in the New Testament, they are the same in principle. The principle of God's work is the same today as it was in the past.
God chose the Israelites to be His people, and He also chose men from among the Gentiles to be His people (Acts 15:14). The Bible says that we are fellow citizens and members of the household of God (Eph. 2:19). It also says that we are the true Jews (Rom. 2:29). Hence, the history of the Israelites is a pattern to us. In this book we will consider the way God deals with His people; in other words, the way God edifies His people. Putting it another way, this book will show the kind of experience we must acquire before we can become the people of God. We will discuss this subject through a consideration of the history of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob because each of these three persons occupies a particular place in the Bible.
The Bible shows us that God's people had two beginnings. The first beginning was with Abraham because God's selection and calling began with Abraham. The other beginning was with the nation of Israel. God told the Israelites that they would be a people to Him among all the nations. They would be a kingdom of priests and a holy nation (Exo. 19:5-6). Hence, Abraham was a definite beginning for God's people, and the nation of Israel was also a definite beginning for God's people. In between these two beginnings, God gained three persons, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. First there was Abraham, then there was Isaac, then Jacob, and then the nation of Israel. From that point on, the nation of Israel became the people of God, and God had a people of His own. Hence, we can say that Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob are the foundations of the nation of Israel. Without Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, there would not be the nation of Israel, and without Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, there would not be a people of God. God's people became His people through the experience of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
It is interesting to note that God said, "I am...the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob" (Exo. 3:6). He said this in the Old Testament, and the Lord Jesus quoted it in the New Testament. "I am the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob" is quoted in the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke (Matt. 22:32; Mark 12:26; Luke 20:37). Furthermore, the Lord Jesus said that we would see "Abraham and Isaac and Jacob..in the kingdom of God" (Luke 13:28), and that "many will come from the east and the west and will recline at table with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of the heavens" (Matt. 8:11). Here, He does not mention anyone else's names, only the names of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. This shows that Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob each occupy a special place in the Bible.