January 7, 2015 - Genesis 21:8-21 - 24 The day finally arrived and Sarah gave birth to a healthy baby boy and named him Isaac. After repeated promises, a visit by two angels, and the appearance of the Lord himself, Sarah finally cried out with surprise and joy at the birth of her son. Because of her doubt, worry, and fear, she had forfeited the peace she could have felt in God’s wonderful promise to her. The way to bring peace to a troubled heart is to focus on God’s promises. Trust him to do what he says. But this happy time was overshadowed by the consequences of Abraham and Sarahs impatience, and disobedience... When Isaac grew up and was about to be weaned, Abraham prepared a huge feast to celebrate the occasion. But Sarah saw Ishmael—the son of Abraham and her Egyptian servant Hagar—making fun of her son, Isaac. So he turned to Abraham and demanded, “Get rid of that slave woman and her son. He is not going to share the inheritance with my son, Isaac. I won’t have it!” This upset Abraham very much because Ishmael was his son. Genesis 20:8-11 We are told that this upset Abraham very much, and rightfully so. Because of his impatience this situation existed and now he had to say goodbye to his firstborn son. Although Abrahams heart is broken, God reassures him that He will provide for Ishmael.... But God told Abraham, “Do not be upset over the boy and your servant. Do whatever Sarah tells you, for Isaac is the son through whom your descendants will be counted. But I will also make a nation of the descendants of Hagar’s son because he is your son, too.” Genesis 20:12-13 What happened to Ishmael, and who are his descendants? Ishmael became ruler of a large tribe or nation. The Ishmaelites were nomads living in the wilderness of Sinai and Paran, south of Israel. One of Ishmael’s daughters married Esau, Ishmael’s nephew. The Bible pictures the Ishmaelites as hostile to Israel and to God. Continuing on we read that the Lord tested Abrahams faith. We need to keep in mind that God already knew the outcome of this test, so the test was exclusively for Abrahams benefit; to grow his faith even further.... “Take your son, your only son—yes, Isaac, whom you love so much—and go to the land of Moriah. Go and sacrifice him as a burnt offering on one of the mountains, which I will show you.” Genesis 22:2 Here we see the foreshadowing of the God the Father sacrificing His own Son for us. first of all, the place that God tells Abraham to go is the land of Moriah. Moriah appears later on in the bible. It is on that very same mountain range that Jesus is crucified. Next, Notice that their journey took 3 days. For those 3 days Issac was as good as dead in his fathers eyes. He had obediently committed to giving him up as a sacrifice. Another striking picture is when he places the wood that he intends to burn Issac on, on Issacs shoulders for him to carry up the mountain. The parallels in this story are amazing! Another thing I wanted to point out is the word fear in the verse 12: “Don’t lay a hand on the boy!” the angel said. “Do not hurt him in any way, for now I know that you truly fear God. You have not withheld from me even your son, your only son.” I think it is important to understand the term the fear of the Lord I will try my best to explain it. Over the years people have misinterpreted this phrase and some have even used it to manipulate people. The word fear here means: to hold in awe, or to understand the greatness of. God doesnt want people to fear him in the sense that we understand the word. He does however want us to understand that He is God and we are not. We should have this healthy fear of the Lord because he is amazing, because of his amazing grace towards us, because there is no human on earth that could ever love us the way he does. Finally, our reading brings us the point where Abraham realizes that he will soon be dying, and wants to be assured that Isaac finds a proper wife and remains in the land that the Lord has promised to his family. He sends his servant back to the land of his relatives to find a wife for Isaac. Once again the Lord comes through and through a series of providential events, Abrahams servant encounters Rebekah who winds up being the perfect candidate. She is not only from Abrahams family, but she proves to be kind and selfless, as we see when she offers to provide water for the servants camels. She also agrees to leave her family and travel back to a strange and new land to be married to Isaac. It is important for us to see that God has given us these accounts to show us that His hand is always working in our lives. From the original promise of the child he made to Abraham, to the provision he gave to Ishmael, to providing Isaac with a wife. The Lord came through every time. This teaches us that If we put our trust in Him, we cant go wrong. This might be a good time to look back over your own life and see if you can recognize the Hand of God working to bring you to this very time. https://youtube/watch?v=6s9ldacroHM
Posted on: Wed, 07 Jan 2015 03:13:07 +0000
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