Abraham Isacc and Jacob: Pilgrims in the Promise Land
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Intro: We move from Gen 1-11, which is the story of the world. We are told how our world came into being, why our world is in chaos, we learn of God judging the world, and how their came to be some many tribes languages and nations. Towards the end of Genesis 11 we are introduced to the family of Abram.
Intro: We move from Gen 1-11, which is the story of the world. We are told how our world came into being, why our world is in chaos, we learn of God judging the world, and how their came to be some many tribes languages and nations. Towards the end of Genesis 11 we are introduced to the family of Abram.
Now these are the generations of Terah. Terah fathered Abram, Nahor, and Haran; and Haran fathered Lot. Haran died in the presence of his father Terah in the land of his kindred, in Ur of the Chaldeans. And Abram and Nahor took wives. The name of Abram’s wife was Sarai, and the name of Nahor’s wife, Milcah, the daughter of Haran the father of Milcah and Iscah. Now Sarai was barren; she had no child.
Terah took Abram his son and Lot the son of Haran, his grandson, and Sarai his daughter-in-law, his son Abram’s wife, and they went forth together from Ur of the Chaldeans to go into the land of Canaan, but when they came to Haran, they settled there. The days of Terah were 205 years, and Terah died in Haran.
In the book, Making of a Leader, Robert Clinton talks about the process God uses to develop leaders. The first phase of leadership development is Sovereign Foundations, you have nothing to do with this. In this phase God does the work, places you in your family, where you will live, your upbringing, your gifts and talents you are born with, your personality.
Look hat Paul says in Acts 17:26-27
And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place, that they should seek God, and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him. Yet he is actually not far from each one of us,
God places us where he wants us to be so that we should seek God. God places Abram here because God plans to call this man known as Abram, he placed in the family of Terah, and we do not know much about his life before Gen 12, but we know God has sovereignly been shaping his life for what is about to come. In Acts 7:2 we read
And Stephen said:
“Brothers and fathers, hear me. The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, before he lived in Haran,
God appears to Abram, when he was in Ur, he most likely tells his family, and instead of leaving them in Ur, they come along for the ride. For whatever reason they set up camp in Haran until Terah, Abram’s father dies. Most likely what we find in Gen 12 is God’s second calling to Abram to go.
Have you ever had this experience? When you know the right thing to do, but don’t do it or maybe half way do it. Sometimes our faith is weak and we get stuck just being busy about life, we forget what God has asked commanded us to do. If this has happened to you take heart, it is the life of Abram, who is known later has a man of faith because he believed God. Will you continue to believe God as you walk in faith in Christian Discipleship?
Abraham Gen 12 - 25
Abraham Gen 12 - 25
The Call of Abram
The Call of Abram
Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”
God called Abram, there is nothing special about Abram, when we read the book of Joshua, Joshua says this about Abram
And Joshua said to all the people, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘Long ago, your fathers lived beyond the Euphrates, Terah, the father of Abraham and of Nahor; and they served other gods.
Abraham wasn’t serving the Lord, he was a polytheist, he served the gods of his country, he didn’t serve the only true God. He was a sinner, an idolater, yet the Lord tells him go to a land I will show you.
Look at the fourfold promises the Lord gives Abram.
A place - Leave the land of your family, of your heritage and go to a land I will give you.
A People - Leave your extended family and I will make you a great nation.
A Protector - Leave your security and trust that I will be your protector, “I will bless those who bless you, I will curse those who curse you.”
A Plan - Leave your plans behind and Go because through you “all the families of the earth will be blessed”
It makes no sense why God would choose a man whose wife can’t have any children and tell him to leave everything and go to a place I will show you. But what does Paul tells us 1 Cor 1:27
But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are,
The call of God is unexplainable, without the explanation of grace. The call of God is the Lord’s grace to us. We were no different than Abram when the Lord’s grace found us, yet his grace found us and compelled us to come and follow him.
In Gen 12 we see the second prophetic look forward to the Gospel, while Gen 3:15 spoke of the one to come will crush the head of the serpent, he will judge the serpent. This prophetic word speaks of blessing, “in you all the families of the earth will be blessed.”
just as Abraham “believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness”?
Know then that it is those of faith who are the sons of Abraham. And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, “In you shall all the nations be blessed.” So then, those who are of faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith.
Listen to the words of Paul, God preached the gospel to Abraham by saying “in you shall the nations shall be blessed.” You know what Abram believed, and responded to God in faith.
We see Abram’s obedience he, obeys what the Lord says. We see he takes all that he has including Lot and they leave Haran. God said go, Abram said ok, he believes and he obeys. We read of God’s grace calling, Abram believing and obeying. Calling, belief, obedience leads to worship.
Abram passed through the land to the place at Shechem, to the oak of Moreh. At that time the Canaanites were in the land. Then the Lord appeared to Abram and said, “To your offspring I will give this land.” So he built there an altar to the Lord, who had appeared to him. From there he moved to the hill country on the east of Bethel and pitched his tent, with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east. And there he built an altar to the Lord and called upon the name of the Lord. And Abram journeyed on, still going toward the Negeb.
The Lord appears to Abram at Shechem and says this is the land I am going to give your offspring. What was Abram’s response?
Worship
Abram came to Shechem and some scholars believe this may have been a place of pagan worship because the “oak of Moreh can be translated “oak of the teacher and it could be a pagan sacred spot where they recieved instruction at the teacher tree. But when Abram arrives what does he do, he doesn’t worship at the oak of the teacher, he creates his own altar and worships the Lord unashamedly in a foreign land who worships other god’s. He worships Yahweh only. We see this again when he travels through Bethel, he builds an altar and calls on the Lord. Abram worships.
What is the purpose of an altar? Sacrifice, some commentators suggest when Abram builds an altar, he is coming to God through sacrifice and atonement of an animal. If true Abram was coming to God by means of atonement, sacrifice, by offering another in his place.
In Gen 12:10 -20 we see Abram’s faith is tested. The second phase Robert Clinton talks about in his book the making of a leader is what he calls the Inner Life Growth phase. So somewhere between Phase 1 and Phase 2 the leader becomes a believer and the Lord begins to form and grow the believer. In this phase the leader begins work on the leaders character and the development of integrity. There are obedience test and integrity checks as the Lord is developing reliability, honesty, faithfulness. We see the Lord doing this in Abram.
There is a famine in the land. What is the natural human reaction to difficult times? We need to find a way to get things done, come up with solutions. This is what Abram does, his solution was to go to Egypt. As we travel through the Scriptures, you will begin to discover that Egypt becomes a type for the world, a dependence on earthly wisdom. We see Abram flee to Egypt.
Before going in to Egypt we see Abram tell Sarai to say she was his sister because she was beautiful and he was afraid they would kill him. When we read the narrative Abram’s suspicions were correct because Pharoah takes Sarai but before he could do anything the Lord plagues his whole house. Pharoah returns Sarai to Abram and drives them out of Egypt.Wow! Is this a foreshadow of the Exodus or what?
Do you see the test of Abram’s faith?
God tests him by placing him in a difficult life situation - A famine. Will he trust God or take things in his own hands?
God tests his integrity - Will he be truthful and trust God or will he lie? God did promise to protect him God has a plan, will he trust that plan?
God tests his commitment - Is Abram committed to the plan? Abram puts everything at risk by allowing the Pharoah to take Sarah as his wife.
Here we see Abram fail, how has God tested you in the past? How have you failed the test? How have you conquered the test of faith?
When we conquer, God grows us to become more like him, but when we fail we hinder our growth and those around us are impacted, Pharoah and his household by plagues, Sarai is at risk, he put himself at risk. Yet God was gracious despite Abram’s lack of faith, God is faithful to his promises.
We see this is a continual struggle for Abram because he does it again in Gen 20, we see the same fears the same lie, we see God intervene to protect the promise and by Gen 20 it is the covenant promise of the Lord.
Abram and Lot Gen 13
Abram and Lot Gen 13
We see Abram leave Egypt and where does he go, Bethel to where he built an altar and called on the Lord. We see him return and what does Abram do, he calls on the Lord. Abram returns to worship, seeking the Lord.
Yet another test arises, Abram’s and Lot’s possessions and livestock have grown and their herdsman are fighting. Abram says why should we have conflict, look at all the land before us, you get first pick and whatever you choose I will go the opposite way.
We are told Lot lifted his eyes and saw… but the real problem is Lot lifted his eyes, he really didn’t see the disaster he was about to lead his family into. Gen 13:10-13
And Lot lifted up his eyes and saw that the Jordan Valley was well watered everywhere like the garden of the Lord, like the land of Egypt, in the direction of Zoar. (This was before the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah.) So Lot chose for himself all the Jordan Valley, and Lot journeyed east. Thus they separated from each other. Abram settled in the land of Canaan, while Lot settled among the cities of the valley and moved his tent as far as Sodom. Now the men of Sodom were wicked, great sinners against the Lord.
Here we see two different people and two different paths. When trusts in the in the lust of the flesh, lust of the world and the pride of life. Why does Lot choose the Jordan Valley? because it is beautiful, it has everything we need, it will give him everything he needs, he will prosper there financially. Isn’t that how we judge the blessings of the Lord sometimes? When everything is going well and all is going my way, I am living in the plains of Jordan, life is good, I am living my best life now, just claim it. We love the easy life so much it seduces us into living for our comforts, we do not see the great wickedness that we are living among.
We also see the path of trusting in the Lord. When Abram was in Egypt his faith was lacking, but now Abram’s faith is strong. Lot you choose, whatever you choose I will go the opposite way, I am going to trust in the Lord to take care of me.
Abram trusts the sovereignty of God
Abram trusts in the promise of God we read in verse 10 that Lot lifted his eyes, we read in verse 14
Abram responds in worship to the words of God.
We are in the same position as Abram, Jesus said I go to prepare a place for you. As believers, we are in this world as pilgrims looking forward to the city which is to come. As pilgrims in this world we trust in God’s sovereign rule over our lives, as pilgrims we trust in the promises of God given to us in Christ, as pilgrims we should respond in worship. We are in the same position as Abram.
Abram was tested and Abram responds in faith, we see Abram is tested again in Gen 14. This time a war breaks out between 5 kings which include Sodom and Gomorrah which is where Lot was living, Lot and others get captured by Chedorlaomer. Abram hears about it by one of Lot’s servants who escaped. We see here the compassion of Abram towards Lot, he gathers 318 of his men, and they go to rescue Lot and he is successful.
Here is where the test comes in, on his way back Abram meets the king in the valley of the kings and we meet this mysterious figure, Melchizedek, here is what we know about him
King of Salem - Which is Jerusalem
He brings Bread and wine - very interesting
He was a priest of the most high God
He blesses Abram
And he blessed him and said,
“Blessed be Abram by God Most High,
Possessor of heaven and earth;
and blessed be God Most High,
who has delivered your enemies into your hand!”
And Abram gave him a tenth of everything.
This is a very interesting interaction, because we see this priest of the Most High God and we know nothing about him. God is always working, moving in places we don’t know about, we may feel alone, but we are not alone. God is always moving, and just when Abram needs it, Melchizedek comes along and gives him the blessing of God. Notice what Abram does, gives him a tithe of everything.
The writer of Hebrews uses Melchizedek as a type of Christ saying Jesus has a greater priesthood than the levitical priesthood, because he is a priest forever in the order of Melchizedek, why does he say this? Because here in Genesis, we are not told where this priest comes form, who is parents were, has no beginning or end, like Jesus he is a priest forever. He goes on to argue that he levitical priesthood was necessary, but like the law it couldn’t bring perfection. We need a better priesthood, we know Jesus was not a levite, so how can he be a priest if he isn’t a levite? Hebrews argues because Jesus is from the order of Melchizedek, which is a better priesthood because Jesus is high priest forever and is also a priest of a better covenant.
The king of Sodom shows up and tells Abram give me the people you rescued and take the possessions for yourself. Again we see the two paths, will I trust in in the lust of the flesh the lust of the eyes and the pride of life or will I trust the Lord, will I choose the easy way or will I choose the Lord’s way? Will i place my hope in the gifts of Sodom or in the bread and wine of Salem?
Genesis 14:22–24 (ESV)
But Abram said to the king of Sodom, “I have lifted my hand to the Lord, God Most High, Possessor of heaven and earth, that I would not take a thread or a sandal strap or anything that is yours, lest you should say, ‘I have made Abram rich.’ I will take nothing but what the young men have eaten, and the share of the men who went with me. Let Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre take their share.”
We see Abram’s faith growing, he is trusting in the Lord, trusting in the Lord’s faithfulness. I will pass on your gifts, I will not submit to your authority, I don’t anyone to get the idea that my blessings come from Sodom, my blessing come from the Lord.
God’s Covenant With Abraham Gen 15
God’s Covenant With Abraham Gen 15
When we move to the next chapter we read ‘after these things”, the Lord speaks to Abram again and says
After these things the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision: “Fear not, Abram, I am your shield; your reward shall be very great.”
The Lord continues to bless Abram and to grow him in his faith, but Abram has questions, it has been several years since Gen 12 and there are still no children. The Lord knows Abram has questions, the Lord knows his struggles better than Abram does. He knows our struggles, our questions, our doubts, and the Lord says “fear not” Dale Ralph Davis points out
Faith of Our Father: Expositions of Genesis 12–25 (Chapter 5: Faith Faces the Passage of Time (Genesis 15:1–6))
This is the concern of this text and it packs good news for God’s wobbly people. It tells us that it is God’s way to meet struggling faith with assurance.
But Abram said, “O Lord God, what will you give me, for I continue childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?” And Abram said, “Behold, you have given me no offspring, and a member of my household will be my heir.” And behold, the word of the Lord came to him: “This man shall not be your heir; your very own son shall be your heir.” And he brought him outside and said, “Look toward heaven, and number the stars, if you are able to number them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring be.” And he believed the Lord, and he counted it to him as righteousness.
God tells Abram, I know you have questions, but trust me, look count them if you can, but your offspring will be like stars in heaven. We already know from Gen 3 that offspring is important because the seed of the woman will crush the head of the serpent, and Abraham’s offspring will be very important theme traced all the way into the New Testament as we will see.
Another theme we see here is faith being counted as righteousness. Abram isn’t blessed by anything he has done he is blessed by faith, by believing the Lord. Which Paul picks up in Romans 4 and says we are not saved by anything we do, we are not saved by keeping the law, we are not saved by circumcision, we are saved by faith Listen to what Paul says in Rom 4:23-25
But the words “it was counted to him” were not written for his sake alone, but for ours also. It will be counted to us who believe in him who raised from the dead Jesus our Lord, who was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification.
Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God.
Just like Abram we are saved by faith in the Lord, faith in Jesus’ death and resurrection for us. Since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God. Rejoice my brothers, rejoice in the hope of the glory of God.
To assure Abraham of the promise God makes a covenant with Abram.
Faith of Our Father: Expositions of Genesis 12–25 (Chapter 6: How Do You Spell ‘Assurance’? (Genesis 15:7–21))
Covenant is what God does when he gets formal about a promise. Covenant is the wrapper God puts around his promise to help you to believe it
And he said to him, “I am the Lord who brought you out from Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land to possess.” But he said, “O Lord God, how am I to know that I shall possess it?” He said to him, “Bring me a heifer three years old, a female goat three years old, a ram three years old, a turtledove, and a young pigeon.” And he brought him all these, cut them in half, and laid each half over against the other. But he did not cut the birds in half. And when birds of prey came down on the carcasses, Abram drove them away.
As part of the covenant the Lord began to share his plan with Abram.
As the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell on Abram. And behold, dreadful and great darkness fell upon him. Then the Lord said to Abram, “Know for certain that your offspring will be sojourners in a land that is not theirs and will be servants there, and they will be afflicted for four hundred years. But I will bring judgment on the nation that they serve, and afterward they shall come out with great possessions. As for you, you shall go to your fathers in peace; you shall be buried in a good old age. And they shall come back here in the fourth generation, for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete.”
So what is going on in Gen 15:17-18
When the sun had gone down and it was dark, behold, a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch passed between these pieces. On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying, “To your offspring I give this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates,
God caused a sleep to fall on Abram, and here we a smoldering pot and a torch pass between the pieces. The smoldering pot and torch represent God making a covenant with Abram. if two parties were making a covenant, then both parties would agree to the terms of the covenant, but it is interesting here that the Lord is taking sole responsibility to fulfill the covenant, this is God’s grace on display. God also takes the the curse of the covenant, when the smoldering pot and the torch represent the Lord and when passes between the cut pieces of the animal, he is saying may this curse come upon me if I do not fulfill my covenant with you Abram. The Lord is willing to suffer the curse of the covenant. What does Galatians tell us
Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree”—
Listen to what Dale Ralph Davis says in regards to this passage
Faith of Our Father: Expositions of Genesis 12–25 Chapter 6: How Do You Spell ‘Assurance’? (Genesis 15:7–21)
The marvel is that God not only takes the curse of the covenant upon himself should he break it (that’s Gen. 15), but that in the person of his Son he takes our curse for breaking the covenant upon himself and suffers it for us (that’s Gal. 3). Jesus is destroyed for our covenant-breaking.
Sarai and Hagar
Sarai and Hagar
Abram is tested again, when Sarai and Abram take things in their own hands to help God out in fulfilling his promises. Sarai tells Abram to have a child with her servant Hagar and her son will be the heir of the promise. Now Hagar is Egyptian and many believe they may have acquired her when Abram and Sarai were in Egypt in Gen 14. Abram is faced with the decision and he chooses to go through with Sarai’s proposal.
We know this situation goes from bad to worse because the two women are at odds with each other now because Hagar does indeed get pregnant. This obviously causes marital conflict between Abram and Sarai, and Abram tells Sarai to do whatever she wants with her. Almost as saying she is your problem, deal with it and as a result Sarai sends her off.
God is so gracious, He visits Hagar
The angel of the Lord found her by a spring of water in the wilderness, the spring on the way to Shur. And he said, “Hagar, servant of Sarai, where have you come from and where are you going?” She said, “I am fleeing from my mistress Sarai.” The angel of the Lord said to her, “Return to your mistress and submit to her.” The angel of the Lord also said to her, “I will surely multiply your offspring so that they cannot be numbered for multitude.”
God is so merciful to Hagar, God has no obligation to her, she was the one who was hurt in this situation, she is kicked out to live with no protection, but the Lord intervenes and asks her to return and submit to Sarai and The Lord gives her a promise to multiply her offspring. Then we are given a prophecy concerning Ishmael and his descendants
And the angel of the Lord said to her,
“Behold, you are pregnant
and shall bear a son.
You shall call his name Ishmael,
because the Lord has listened to your affliction.
He shall be a wild donkey of a man,
his hand against everyone
and everyone’s hand against him,
and he shall dwell over against all his kinsmen.”
Ishmael is the father of the Arab nations, and we see this prophetic word continuing to play out on our day.
Abram and the Covenant of Circumcision Gen 17 -Gen 18
Abram and the Covenant of Circumcision Gen 17 -Gen 18
The covenant the Lord started in Gen 15 is confirmed and completed here in Gen 17. The word covenant is used 13 times in this passage so it is the central message and theme. Notice that God is never in a hurry, at the end of Gen 16 Abram is 86, when open Gen 17 Abram is 99. 13 years pass of which we know nothing about.
Gen 17:1-8 - We see a retelling of the promises of God to Abram, in this passage God changes his name to Abraham.
Gen 17:9-14 - God gives the sign of the covenant, circumcision. All the men say ouch. I have often wondered why circumcision? There are a couple of reasons
God is marking out his people. He wants a people to be different than the nations which surround them and this is one of the ways. We will see this again in the law of Moses, were God gives Israel what they can eat what they can’t eat, etc
I heard another reason by Russell Moore, that circumcision involved the organ of generation. Which will act as a reminder to Abraham and all others, that offspring is important, it is part of the promises of God and through the offspring all nations will be blessed, through the offspring we will get one who will crush the serpents head. Every time there is a circumcision ceremony we are reminded of the blessing which will come through the offspring.
Gen 17:15-21 - We receive the promise of Isaac which will come to them a year from this time. It is funny to me that Abraham falls on his face laughing at what God is saying about giving Abraham and Sarah a son. Hear we will see a them traced through Genesis and in other parts of the Old Testament, this them of the younger son receiving the blessing as opposed to the first born son.
Gen 17:22-27 - Abraham obeys God and all the the males get circumcised.
Gen 18:1-15 - The Lord visits Abraham again and they prepare the 3 visitors a meal and the Lord reveals to the promise of Isaac, this time Sarah laughs and she is confronted and tries to lie about it.
I love to see this friendship between Abraham and God, we see them sharing a meal together, 3 times in the scriptures we are told Abraham is a friend of God. We see that friendship here in this passage. We also see the foolishness of God, we have already read that God uses the foolish the weak to confound the wise. We see here God taking over age people and promising them a baby, what is very much an impossibility and foolish, but God brings it to pass.
Faith of Our Father: Expositions of Genesis 12–25 Chapter 9: Faith Faces the Facts of Life (Genesis 18:1–15)
If Yahweh began a people in an impossibility (Sarah bearing a son), then that people can never be eradicated; and if God brought a redeemer of God’s elect into the world through an impossibility (Mary bears Jesus), then the redemption he achieves can never be undone or reversed. It seems that the foolishness of the Lord gives us a firm place to stand.
So there you have it. His friendship for you to enjoy; his foolishness for you to adore.
Gen 18:22 - 19:38 - Here we see Abraham’s 3 visitors have another agenda, the destruction of Sodom and Gomorra. It is interesting the Lord tells Abraham of his agenda, but the intended purpose is to drive Abraham to prayer. Is that your first inclination when faced with news that your receive, whatever that may be? Could the Lord be bringing the news to you to drive you to intercede for the problem. This is what Abraham does, and he gets down to 10 people and the Lord says if there are 10 I will not destroy the city. But we know there is no one righteous, no not one.
When we come to the account, we that Lot no longer has his tents near Sodom but he is at the city gate, many believe this could be an official position of power in the city. Lot no longer on the out looking in, he is a full blown citizen of Sodom. We have to ask ourselves when we look at the life of Lot, what are we sacrificing at the altar of comfort and prosperity? Lot sacrificed everything for the pleasures of this world.
We see the Judgement of God fall on Sodom and Gomorra for their wickedness and perversion and sexual sin. They have reached the point of no return, we can almost hear the whispers of Gen 6:3
Then the Lord said, “My Spirit shall not abide in man forever, for he is flesh: his days shall be 120 years.”
But we cannot say that if some one struggles with same sex attraction and sin they are byond the reach of God, because when Paul list sins in 1 Cor 6, homosexuality is on that list and then he says such were some of you. Homosexuality is a sin, it isn’t unforgivable, the Lord is still in the transforming lives business. But judgemnet is coming, look at what Jesus says
And you, Capernaum, will you be exalted to heaven? You will be brought down to Hades. For if the mighty works done in you had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day. But I tell you that it will be more tolerable on the day of judgment for the land of Sodom than for you.”
Sodom is still facing judgement one day, but who will it be worse for? Those who have had t he chance to see and hear the full revelation of God through Jesus and still refuse him. What we should learn from this is the sinful patterns in the life of others should drive us to pray for them to see the beauty of life in Jesus, we should guard our hearts from pursuing the pleasures of this world and drifting away from God, we should take the warning of Jesus seriously judgement is coming and a more severe judgement will come to those who have heard the truth and rejected it.
Abraham and Isaac 21-27
Abraham and Isaac 21-27
Gen 21 - The promise has arrived!
The Lord visited Sarah as he had said, and the Lord did to Sarah as he had promised. And Sarah conceived and bore Abraham a son in his old age at the time of which God had spoken to him. Abraham called the name of his son who was born to him, whom Sarah bore him, Isaac. And Abraham circumcised his son Isaac when he was eight days old, as God had commanded him. Abraham was a hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him. And Sarah said, “God has made laughter for me; everyone who hears will laugh over me.” And she said, “Who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? Yet I have borne him a son in his old age.”
We see in Gen 21 that God will provide and God will protect.
God provides for Abraham and Sarah the child of promise, who is Isaac. Notice God delivers on his promises to Abraham and Sarah and it is a beautiful 7 verses. God also protects, we see there is conflict between Ishmael and Isaac, Sarah wants Hagar and Ishmael sent away, Abraham isn’t too happy about that, but the Lord agrees and they are sent off.
God provides and protects Hagar and Ishmael, even though they are not the people of promise God still protects and provides for them. God provides and protect Abraham and his family form internal conflict.
We also see God provides and protects form external conflict. Abimelech arrives with the commander of his Army. There has been conflict about some wells between Abraham and Abimelech. God sovereignly grants favor and they make a treaty
We see God’s protection and we see him provide for Abraham, Sarah and Isaac. God continues to fulfill the covenant. God is always working sometimes it is in the forefront and we can see God moving, sometimes it is in the background and we can’t see it, but God is always working to accomplish his purposes on the earth.
Gen 22 - The Test of Abraham
We come to this test in Abraham’s life, God tells Abram to sacrifice his son as a burnt offering. Abraham had to be confused but he did it anyway.
Genesis 22:1–19 (ESV)
After these things God tested Abraham and said to him, “Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” He said, “Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.” So Abraham rose early in the morning, saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him, and his son Isaac. And he cut the wood for the burnt offering and arose and went to the place of which God had told him. On the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes and saw the place from afar. Then Abraham said to his young men, “Stay here with the donkey; I and the boy will go over there and worship and come again to you.” And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on Isaac his son. And he took in his hand the fire and the knife. So they went both of them together. And Isaac said to his father Abraham, “My father!” And he said, “Here I am, my son.” He said, “Behold, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?” Abraham said, “God will provide for himself the lamb for a burnt offering, my son.” So they went both of them together.
Look at Abram’s faith, he didn’t know what was going to happen, but he says the Lord will provide, he knew that Isaac was the promise, so whatever happens the Lord was going to provide.
When they came to the place of which God had told him, Abraham built the altar there and laid the wood in order and bound Isaac his son and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. Then Abraham reached out his hand and took the knife to slaughter his son. But the angel of the Lord called to him from heaven and said, “Abraham, Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” He said, “Do not lay your hand on the boy or do anything to him, for now I know that you fear God, seeing you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me.” And Abraham lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, behind him was a ram, caught in a thicket by his horns. And Abraham went and took the ram and offered it up as a burnt offering instead of his son. So Abraham called the name of that place, “The Lord will provide”; as it is said to this day, “On the mount of the Lord it shall be provided.”
On the mount of the Lord dit shall be provided. God provided a substitution for Isaac’s life. But if you fast forward some 2000 years, on this very same mountain, the Father gave up the Son. On this very same mountain, the Lord provided salvation through a substitute and his name is Jesus. On the mount of the Lord salvation was provided.
Jesus says in John 8:56
Your father Abraham rejoiced that he would see my day. He saw it and was glad.”
Could it be Jesus was talking about this experience on the mountain, that Abraham saw the salvation of the Lord through a substitutionary sacrifice.
And the angel of the Lord called to Abraham a second time from heaven and said, “By myself I have sworn, declares the Lord, because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, I will surely bless you, and I will surely multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven and as the sand that is on the seashore. And your offspring shall possess the gate of his enemies, and in your offspring shall all the nations of the earth be blessed, because you have obeyed my voice.” So Abraham returned to his young men, and they arose and went together to Beersheba. And Abraham lived at Beersheba.
Again we see the promises of God given to Abraham.
Gen 23 - This chapter is important for 2 reasons, we get a record of the death of Sarah, we are getting near to closing the chapter in the life of Abraham and Sarah, when Sarah dies Abraham buys a cave in Canaan, which becomes the first fulfillment of the promise, that this land will be yours.
Gen 24 - In order for the covenant promise to continue, we need to have a marriage for Isaac, but it could not be marriage to the wrong spouse because that could lead to a disaster. Abraham sends his servant to find a wife for Isaac from his family but he must not take Isaac back with him to Ur/Haran. So much of this process is found in prayer and trusting in the providence of God, which we can read that Abraham’s servant did so.
What is Providence of God?
Piper defines providence this way.
The providence of God is his purposeful sovereignty by which he will be completely successful in the achievement of his ultimate goal for the universe. God's providence carries his plans into action, guides all things toward his ultimate goal, and leads to the final consummation.
Much of our lives is trusting in God’s providence to accomplish his purposes in our lives.
Gen 25 - we see the death of Abraham. and his genealogies.
We also see the continuation of the Abraham’s seed through Isaac. We see Isaac and Rebekah, we see them both going to the Lord, Isaac prying for children, which God grants with twins. The twins are both struggling in the womb and Rebekah goes to the Lord to ask what is going on. The Lord replies to Rebekah
And the Lord said to her,
“Two nations are in your womb,
and two peoples from within you shall be divided;
the one shall be stronger than the other,
the older shall serve the younger.”
The chapter ends with Esau selling his birthright to Jacob for a bowl of soup. What is the birthright?
Genesis, Volume 2: A New Beginning (Genesis 12–36): An Expositional Commentary What Good Is the Birthright?
Jacob said he could have it if he sold him his birthright. We do not have anything quite like a birthright today, but we learn from Deuteronomy 21:17 and 1 Chronicles 5:1–2 that it involved both material and spiritual blessings. The firstborn received twice as much property as each of the other sons, and, more importantly, he became the head of his family and the spiritual leader of his people. (In Jacob’s case, the birthright also involved being in the line that was to produce the Messiah.) Jacob was right to desire the birthright. True, he schemed to get it, when he needed only to wait on God. God had already said that the rights of the firstborn were his. Jacob sought a good thing in a bad way. He is not to be praised for his method. Still, he is to be commended for desiring the birthright and appreciating the honor of possessing it.
Gen 26 - We see the promises of Abraham given to Isaac in Gen 26:1-5
Now there was a famine in the land, besides the former famine that was in the days of Abraham. And Isaac went to Gerar to Abimelech king of the Philistines. And the Lord appeared to him and said, “Do not go down to Egypt; dwell in the land of which I shall tell you. Sojourn in this land, and I will be with you and will bless you, for to you and to your offspring I will give all these lands, and I will establish the oath that I swore to Abraham your father. I will multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven and will give to your offspring all these lands. And in your offspring all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because Abraham obeyed my voice and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws.”
and in Gen 26:23-25
From there he went up to Beersheba. And the Lord appeared to him the same night and said, “I am the God of Abraham your father. Fear not, for I am with you and will bless you and multiply your offspring for my servant Abraham’s sake.” So he built an altar there and called upon the name of the Lord and pitched his tent there. And there Isaac’s servants dug a well.
We see Isaac repeat the pattern of his father, faith, obedience, worship.
We also see Isaac repeat some of his father mistakes by not trusting in the Lord when there is a famine, lying about his wife. Gen 26:6-11.
Isaac had some of the same conflicts with Abimelech and Phicol. Gen 26:17-33.
We learn that Esau married a Hittite and the fears of Abraham were realized in Esau.
Gen 27 - We are told of the Rebekah and Jacob’s plan to trick Isaac from giving the blessing to Esau to giving it to Jacob. Rather than trust the revelation of God, they took things in their own hands.
May God give you of the dew of heaven
and of the fatness of the earth
and plenty of grain and wine.
Let peoples serve you,
and nations bow down to you.
Be lord over your brothers,
and may your mother’s sons bow down to you.
Cursed be everyone who curses you,
and blessed be everyone who blesses you!”
Then Isaac his father answered and said to him:
“Behold, away from the fatness of the earth shall your dwelling be,
and away from the dew of heaven on high.
By your sword you shall live,
and you shall serve your brother;
but when you grow restless
you shall break his yoke from your neck.”
Esau hates Jacob and Rebekah send him to her brother house, in Padan Aram.
Gen 28 - Isaac and Rebekah bless Isaac as he departs and Esau is angry and bitter and sins even more to spite his parents by marrying and Ishmaelite.
Then we come to Jacobs Dream in Gen 28:10-22
Jacob left Beersheba and went toward Haran. And he came to a certain place and stayed there that night, because the sun had set. Taking one of the stones of the place, he put it under his head and lay down in that place to sleep. And he dreamed, and behold, there was a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven. And behold, the angels of God were ascending and descending on it! And behold, the Lord stood above it and said, “I am the Lord, the God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac. The land on which you lie I will give to you and to your offspring. Your offspring shall be like the dust of the earth, and you shall spread abroad to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south, and in you and your offspring shall all the families of the earth be blessed. Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land. For I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.” Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, “Surely the Lord is in this place, and I did not know it.” And he was afraid and said, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.”
So early in the morning Jacob took the stone that he had put under his head and set it up for a pillar and poured oil on the top of it. He called the name of that place Bethel, but the name of the city was Luz at the first. Then Jacob made a vow, saying, “If God will be with me and will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat and clothing to wear, so that I come again to my father’s house in peace, then the Lord shall be my God, and this stone, which I have set up for a pillar, shall be God’s house. And of all that you give me I will give a full tenth to you.”
We see the Lord give the covenant blessing to Jacob. This is why we read in the Bible the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, because the covenant is given to all three.
Jacob sets up a pillar and i say he bargains with the Lord, if you will do this…then I will… but it sounds like Jacob when you read about him in the Bible. But lets get back to the vision Jacob sees the angels ascending and descending, which indicates movement, God is moving and blessing. When you go to the New Testament in John 1:45-51
Philip found Nathanael and said to him, “We have found him of whom Moses in the Law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.” Nathanael said to him, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Philip said to him, “Come and see.” Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him and said of him, “Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no deceit!” Nathanael said to him, “How do you know me?” Jesus answered him, “Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.” Nathanael answered him, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!” Jesus answered him, “Because I said to you, ‘I saw you under the fig tree,’ do you believe? You will see greater things than these.” And he said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you will see heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.”
What are the angels ascending and descending on? Jesus!
Jesus is the bridge he is the one who bridges the gap between a sinful earth and a holy heaven and if we want to come to the father we must come through Jesus, he is the stairway to heaven.
Gen 29 - 30 - We see what Jacob has sown he begins to reap, because he falls in love with Rachel and agrees to work for Laban for 7 years, but at the end of the 7 years Laban tricks him and he marries Leah, then he works another 7 years for Rachel. We see the birth of his children and the competition between Leah and Rachel for the love of Jacob, they both ask him for more children through their servants. All these children make up the 11 tribes of Israel, Joseph’s two sons will each form half a tribe to make 1.
We see God prosper Jacob, in a very strange way, but like Abraham, Jacob didn’t want Laban to give him anything.
Gen 31 - We see the conflict at Laban’s house gets tense and Jacob decides to pack his bags and leave Laban’s house in a hurry. Laban follows him and overtakes him, but they finally come to an agreement and make peace.
Gen 32 - Jacob fears Laban from his present and Esau from his past who he will run in to because he is heading home. Jacob seeks the Lord help and claims the promises as he heads back, knowing he will have to confront his past.
On the way home he has another encounter with the Lord
The same night he arose and took his two wives, his two female servants, and his eleven children, and crossed the ford of the Jabbok. He took them and sent them across the stream, and everything else that he had. And Jacob was left alone. And a man wrestled with him until the breaking of the day. When the man saw that he did not prevail against Jacob, he touched his hip socket, and Jacob’s hip was put out of joint as he wrestled with him. Then he said, “Let me go, for the day has broken.” But Jacob said, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.” And he said to him, “What is your name?” And he said, “Jacob.” Then he said, “Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel, for you have striven with God and with men, and have prevailed.” Then Jacob asked him, “Please tell me your name.” But he said, “Why is it that you ask my name?” And there he blessed him. So Jacob called the name of the place Peniel, saying, “For I have seen God face to face, and yet my life has been delivered.” The sun rose upon him as he passed Penuel, limping because of his hip. Therefore to this day the people of Israel do not eat the sinew of the thigh that is on the hip socket, because he touched the socket of Jacob’s hip on the sinew of the thigh.
Genesis, Volume 2: A New Beginning (Genesis 12–36): An Expositional Commentary The Heavenly Wrestler
Arthur W. Pink writes, “Jacob was not wrestling with this Man to obtain a blessing[;] instead, the Man was wrestling with Jacob to gain some object from him. As to what this object is the best of the commentators are agreed—it was to reduce Jacob to a sense of his nothingness, to cause him to see what a poor, helpless and worthless creature he was; it was to teach us through him the all important lesson that in recognized weakness lies our strength.”
After the man knocked his hip out of joint we see Jacob lose himself and just cling to the man in desperation, in need, I need your blessing. When I look at this I see the grace of God bring Jacob to an end to his self, bringing him to the point of need and in desperation he cries out for the blessing of God.
Gen 33 - We Jacob and Esau reunite and reconcile.
Gen 34 - We see the disaster in this passage and it is sad. The whole chapter is sin piled on sin. We now that Jacob should be going to Bethel but settled in Shechem, and this decision comes back to haunt him because his daughter gets raped and his sons enact vengeance. At the end of this chapter we Jacob in fear of the people for what their sons did.
Gen 35 - We God come Jacob in his fear, God grace and mercy come when we desperately need it.
God said to Jacob, “Arise, go up to Bethel and dwell there. Make an altar there to the God who appeared to you when you fled from your brother Esau.” So Jacob said to his household and to all who were with him, “Put away the foreign gods that are among you and purify yourselves and change your garments. Then let us arise and go up to Bethel, so that I may make there an altar to the God who answers me in the day of my distress and has been with me wherever I have gone.” So they gave to Jacob all the foreign gods that they had, and the rings that were in their ears. Jacob hid them under the terebinth tree that was near Shechem.
And as they journeyed, a terror from God fell upon the cities that were around them, so that they did not pursue the sons of Jacob. And Jacob came to Luz (that is, Bethel), which is in the land of Canaan, he and all the people who were with him, and there he built an altar and called the place El-bethel, because there God had revealed himself to him when he fled from his brother. And Deborah, Rebekah’s nurse, died, and she was buried under an oak below Bethel. So he called its name Allon-bacuth.
God appeared to Jacob again, when he came from Paddan-aram, and blessed him. And God said to him, “Your name is Jacob; no longer shall your name be called Jacob, but Israel shall be your name.” So he called his name Israel. And God said to him, “I am God Almighty: be fruitful and multiply. A nation and a company of nations shall come from you, and kings shall come from your own body. The land that I gave to Abraham and Isaac I will give to you, and I will give the land to your offspring after you.” Then God went up from him in the place where he had spoken with him. And Jacob set up a pillar in the place where he had spoken with him, a pillar of stone. He poured out a drink offering on it and poured oil on it. So Jacob called the name of the place where God had spoken with him Bethel.
We see a recollection of Past blessings in this passage, we see Jacob tell the people to purify themselves and get rid of their idols, we see Jacob commit to God. This what are to do daily in our lives, these principles will help us remain faithful to the Lord. We can not leave with out looking at Hebrews 11 and learn what the Spirit of the Lord has to say about Abraham Isaac and Jacob through the writer of the Hebrews.
By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going. By faith he went to live in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, living in tents with Isaac and Jacob, heirs with him of the same promise. For he was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God. By faith Sarah herself received power to conceive, even when she was past the age, since she considered him faithful who had promised. Therefore from one man, and him as good as dead, were born descendants as many as the stars of heaven and as many as the innumerable grains of sand by the seashore.
These all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth. For people who speak thus make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. If they had been thinking of that land from which they had gone out, they would have had opportunity to return. But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city.
By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises was in the act of offering up his only son, of whom it was said, “Through Isaac shall your offspring be named.” He considered that God was able even to raise him from the dead, from which, figuratively speaking, he did receive him back. By faith Isaac invoked future blessings on Jacob and Esau. By faith Jacob, when dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph, bowing in worship over the head of his staff. By faith Joseph, at the end of his life, made mention of the exodus of the Israelites and gave directions concerning his bones.
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