Abram’s Instruction Under Noah and Shem

Abram entered the household of Noah and Shem as a child preserved by providence and set apart for a work known in heaven from the beginning. Though Noah yet lived, it was Shem who now presided as the leading patriarch among the righteous—Noah’s appointed heir in the covenant line and the steward of the ancient records. Shem had passed through both worlds, the one before the Flood and the one after, and he had preserved the covenant in purity while the nations around him embraced idols and kings claimed divine honors. When Abram was brought before him, Shem discerned the spirit upon the boy, perceiving in him the promised “righteous branch” who would rise from their lineage to restore the order first given to Adam Jubilees 10:13, Genesis 9:26.

Noah the eldest of all living men and the patriarch whose authority and testimony reached back to the world before the Flood. His sons—Shem, Ham, and Japheth—had likewise lived in both worlds, but Noah alone had seen the full measure of mankind’s corruption, the rise of the giants, and the judgment that cleansed the earth. From him Abram learned the oldest traditions of the righteous: the order of sacrifice, the laws of purity, the covenants given to Adam, and the pattern of family government established from the beginning Josephus, Antiquities 1.3.1. Noah taught him how the ordinances had been altered before the Flood, how angels rebelled, and how God preserved a single family so the Ancient Order would not perish from among the living Jubilees 4:2–5.

Under Shem’s guidance, Abram was instructed in the patriarchal priesthood that descended from Adam—a household-centered order governed by righteousness, purity, stewardship, and the knowledge of God. Shem taught him the ordinances of sacrifice, the meaning of altars, the laws of clean and unclean, and the responsibilities of a patriarch who walks with God on behalf of his family. He revealed the genealogies of the fathers, the covenant with Noah, and the prophecies foretelling that a chosen seed would arise in the last days to restore Adam’s dominion. In these years Abram learned the Ancient Order not as distant history, but as living law to be practiced, guarded, and passed to future generations Book of Jasher 9:5–7, Pirkei de-Rabbi Eliezer 27.

The patriarchs also preserved the writings of the earliest fathers—records from Adam to Enoch, from Enoch to Methuselah, from Methuselah to Noah—texts describing the heavens, the divisions of the earth, and the rebellions that led mankind astray. These ancient books, forgotten by the nations, were placed in Abram’s hands so he might understand the world he was called to restore Jubilees 4:7, 4:17–18. They strengthened him, revealing that God always preserves a remnant and that the righteous are never left without a witness.

In the tents of Shem, Abram heard the prophecy spoken to Enoch—that a “generation of righteousness” would arise and that God would raise up a leader in the last days to reestablish His ways among men 1 Enoch 91; 93. Learning how Enoch walked with God, how the Watchers fell, and how mankind corrupted the ordinances of heaven, Abram felt within himself a growing resolve that he would not walk in the blindness of Shinar nor serve the idols that ensnared his father’s house.

Shem also taught Abram to read the heavens—the courses of the sun and moon, the fixed order of the stars, and the appointed times and seasons that governed the earth from the beginning. Observing these laws nightly, Abram perceived that the universe was ruled not by idols of wood or stone, nor even by the heavenly bodies themselves, but by a single Creator whose will ordered all things. In contemplation he recognized that the Maker of those lights was the same God who had preserved his life in the cave and guided him to the household of the patriarchs Book of Jasher 9:8–10, Chronicles of Jerahmeel 13.

As Abram matured, his life among Noah and Shem became more than study—it became full participation in the covenant community. He labored in the fields, tended flocks, oversaw herds, and learned the stewardship of land given by God as a trust Jubilees 7:17–39. He observed the seasons of planting and reaping, learned the management of servants, and lived daily within a society ordered after the Ancient Covenant. According to patriarchal custom, young men were expected to marry and raise up seed unto the Lord, a command preserved in the ancient records Jubilees 20:4, Jubilees 21:3–4. Thus, during these years, Abram took covenant women, established a household, and began to raise a posterity in righteousness according to the law preserved from Adam.

The size of Abram’s later household testifies to the fruitfulness of these early years. When he rescued Lot, he commanded three hundred and eighteen trained men “born in his own house,” not counting their wives, children, and extended families Genesis 14:14. Such a multitude could not have arisen had Abram remained unmarried or childless through his youth. Rather, it reveals decades of increase, stewardship, and faithful governance—foundations laid in the household of Noah and Shem.

Living under Noah’s patriarchal government required Abram to preside over his own women and children in righteousness. The covenant of the fathers was a family order, and a man learned to lead by first being obedient as a son within the house of his patriarch. In this setting Abram received the lower order of priesthood—officiating at altars, blessing his household, and judging matters of purity and conduct—according to the ancient practices handed down from the beginning Josephus, Antiquities 1.3.1, Jubilees 4:21–22. Thus he grew not only in knowledge but in the living responsibilities of a patriarch, shaping his household after the divine pattern.

After thirty-nine years, Shem discerned that Abram was prepared for a greater work. He was no longer the hidden child preserved from Nimrod’s decree, but a seasoned patriarch whose household walked in righteousness. With Noah’s blessing, Shem declared that the time had come for Abram to return to his father’s house—for the Lord would soon call him to confront the idolatry of Shinar and stand against the kingdoms of men. Thus Abram departed from their tents at forty-nine years of age, carrying the wisdom of the earliest fathers in his heart and leading a household shaped by heaven. The path ahead would bring him into open conflict with Nimrod’s world, but the foundation laid by Noah and Shem ensured that he would not stand alone. Book of Jasher 9:11–12.

Jubilees 10:13 – “And Noah rejoiced that this remedy came from the Lord… that a righteous seed might arise for all generations.”
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Genesis 9:26 (KJV) – “And he said, Blessed be the LORD God of Shem; and Canaan shall be his servant.”
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Josephus, Antiquities 1.3.1 – “Noah, when after the Flood he lived three hundred and fifty years, did not cease to instruct his sons in the laws and ordinances of God, for he had seen the world before it was corrupted.”
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Jubilees 4:2–5 – “And unrighteousness increased in the earth… and the watchers sinned against the daughters of men… And God brought the Flood upon all their works; but Noah was found righteous and perfect in all his generations, and from him the knowledge of the law was preserved.”
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Book of Jasher 9:5–7 – “And when the child began to walk, Terah took him from the cave… and the people heard of the boy, saying: Surely this child shall rise up and teach. And Terah feared because of the king, and said: What shall I do with this child?”
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Pirkei de-Rabbi Eliezer 27 – “And they hid Abram in the house of Noah and Shem, and there he learned the doctrine of the Lord; for Shem and Noah taught him all the wisdom of the fathers and the ways of righteousness.”
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Jubilees 4:7; 4:17–18 – “And he [Enoch] ... wrote in a book the signs of heaven according to the order of their months… And he delivered the books to his son Methuselah. And Methuselah to Lamech, and Lamech to Noah; and Noah taught his sons all that was written in the books which he had received, that they might understand all things.”
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1 Enoch 91; 93 – “And after that shall arise a generation of righteousness, and many shall be the works of righteousness… And afterward there shall arise for them a chosen one from among the righteous, and his generation shall be the light of truth; and he shall restore all the ordinances according to the will of God.”
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Book of Jasher 9:8–10 – “And Abram reasoned within himself, saying: The sun is great, yet it sets; the moon also and the stars run in their courses. If they obey orders, how can they be gods? Surely there is One who rules over them.”
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Chronicles of Jerahmeel 13 – “And Shem taught the boy the knowledge of the heavens and the earth… and Abram understood by contemplation that the Lord who made the lights was with him from his youth and had preserved him from the hand of the king.”
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Jubilees 7:17–39 – “And Noah and his sons were taught in the ways of the earth, to till the ground and to care for cattle… and they taught their sons to walk in righteousness and to observe the appointed seasons of seedtime and harvest… for the land is the Lord’s, and He gives it to the righteous as a trust.”
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Jubilees 20:4 – “And command your children that they love righteousness… and take for themselves wives from among the seed of righteousness, that they may raise up seed unto the Lord.”
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Jubilees 21:3–4 – “And he taught him concerning the law of the Most High… and how a man must order his household in righteousness, and instruct his sons and his servants that they walk in the way of truth before the Lord.”
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Genesis 14:14 (KJV) – “And when Abram heard that his brother was taken captive, he armed his trained servants, born in his own house, three hundred and eighteen, and pursued them unto Dan.”
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Josephus, Antiquities 1.3.1 – “Noah… did not cease to instruct his sons in the laws and ordinances of God, for he had seen the world before it was corrupted, and taught them to walk in righteousness and purity.”
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Jubilees 4:21–22 – “And he [Enoch] was taken from among the children of men, and he taught the children of men the ways of righteousness. And he offered the incense of the sanctuary… and judged all things in purity and truth. And he wrote down the judgments and the ordinances of the fathers for their sons after them.”
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Book of Jasher 9:11–12 – “And Abram spoke all these words before the people, and the servants of Terah heard him. And they went and told it in the city, and the people came and reported it to the elders, saying: The son of Terah speaks against the gods.”
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