The conflict between Jacob and Laban continues and will come to a head. Laban’s animosity towards Jacob begins to grow. In more deceit Jacob sneaks away from Laban. Laban pursues and overtakes him and the two finally come to terms with each other. Yet, Jacob’s prosperity, protection and preservation are not a result of Jacob’s cleverness, wit or strength, but a result of the Lord’s intervening work.  

Jacob has completed his fourteen years of work for Laban and now he is ready to go back to his home and family. However, Laban recognized the benefits of having Jacob around. Not wanting to let Jacob go, both the cunning Laban and Jacob the deceiver will enter a duel of attempting to outsmart one another through tactics of deceit and trickery. Yet Jacob will prevail at the expense of Laban. Not because he outsmarted Laban, but because of the Lord’s grace and the Lord being faithful in fulfilling his promises to Jacob. 

A major theme in the life of Jacob is conflict, conflict with his brother Esau, his father-in-law Laban and now we will see conflict surrounding his two wives. Two rival sisters competing with one another over their husband’s affection, utilizing their power to conceive and using every scheme possible to gain the upper hand. What is the Lord doing in all this dysfunction? We will learn that when sin is rampant, God does His greatest work. 

Jacob receives a taste of his own medicine, when his uncle Laban takes advantage of him and deceives him.  Over time the Lord would use this painful experience to expose and remove his sin and mold him into a man that is both humble, submissive and dependent on the Lord. We learn that the Lord is committed to transforming His people. 

Jacob is a fugitive on the run, and the Lord in His grace revealed Himself in a dream and gives him wonderful promises. Yet Jacob is “backwards” in his dealing with the Lord. Instead of believing and trusting the Lord’s promises, he bargains with the Lord and sets the conditions for trusting the Lord. Yet the Lord is gracious to him and will begin the work of transforming unworthy Jacob the deceiver to worthy Israel who is totally dependent on the Lord.  

In today’s message, we see that God’s will is always accomplished even in spite of our sins. God’s covenant blessing is from God, fulfilled by God, to bless His people and we can trust in Him .

A theme in the life of Isaac is that the Lord protects and provides in adversity. Isaac must learn to trust the Lord in adversity, and at times he will stumble in fear, but the Lord will remain faithful in providing and fulfilling His covenant promises. 

In our text today we will be introduced to Isaac whose life is filled with struggles, the struggle to conceive, the struggle between two brothers and the struggle for the birthright. In these struggles, the text is pointing us to look ahead in how God is working in fulfilling His covenant promises and how God in His sovereign grace is choosing His covenant people. 

As we come to the end of Abraham’s life, the account of his death and burial is in between two “rejected genealogies”. The genealogy of Keturah’s sons and Ishmael. Twice we will be reminded that Isaac is the one blessed by God, who will inherit the covenant promises. The natural questions are, what is the purpose of mentioning these “rejected genealogies”? What makes Isaac so special? What is the Lord revealing about Himself? 

As we turn to scene 3, the author transitions us from the well to the family’s house of Rebekkah. The question is would Rebekah answer the call. Would she trust the Lord, and leave her family, country and all that she knows to go to a land where the Lord will show her and become the wife of a man she had never met and become part of the family of God? 

As Abraham reaches the end of his life, he needs to find a wife for Isaac, so that the Lord will fulfill his covenant promises. The task of finding a wife for Isaac was so important that he sent his most trusted servant under an oath.  What we learn is that both Abraham and the servant’s confidence and actions were rooted in the covenant promises of the Lord. 

After the death of Sarah, Abraham looks for a burial plot to bury his wife. Amazingly though, Abraham doesn’t return to his homeland of Ur of the Chaldeans, but instead rests in God’s promises that one day his descendants will inherit the land he is currently a sojourner in. As such, he stays and buys a plot of land in Canaan to bury Sarah in, that one day his entire family will also utilize, showing how God’s promise of Abraham’s descendants inheriting the land comes true. Likewise, it shows us today how we should trust in God’s promises, as those who place their faith in Christ will also one day receive the inheritance of the Kingdom of God!

God’s command that Abraham should sacrifice his son is highly unusual. This narrative raises many questions that remain unanswered. But what becomes very clear in the beginning of this narrative that behind this command, God is testing Abraham. Does Abraham truly trust God in fulfilling his promises to him? What we will discover in this test is the outcome of the matter that reveals as much about God as it does about Abraham.  

A constant theme of Genesis 20-21 is the Lord’s provision, protection and presence in accordance with His divine promises. That did not mean Abraham was passive, but rather Abraham had to learn to trust in the Lord’s provision, protection and presence.  As a sojourner the Lord was teaching Abraham to rely on and trust Him. Just like Abraham, we too are sojourners, learning to trust in the Lord’s provision, protection and presence. How do we live as sojourners today? 

God’s covenant promise comes true as Abraham and his wife Sarah joyously conceive their only child Isaac. Their joy quickly turns to distress though, as Abraham’s young teenage son Ishmael from his servant Hagar, who was conceived in trying to circumvent God’s covenant, begins harshly ridiculing Isaac. As a result, Abraham is forced to send away Hagar and Ishmael into the wilderness trusting God’s promises to care for them, to which God miraculously does as He shows how He is the ultimate promise-keeper!

Again, Abraham fails to trust the Lord for protection and resorts instead to deception.  Despite Abraham’s failure, God preserves the covenant line of promise, just as He had in Egypt. The preservation of Sarah and the blessings from the Gerarites illustrate again the surprising grace of God, who ensures that the promise will come to pass. 

After the Lord rescued Lot, we to come to the end of Lot’s life in a dark cave hiding in fear with his two daughters.  With good intentions they want to preserve their father’s line, but with deplorable means of incest. How do we make sense of the story, and why does Peter refer to Lot as righteous? We will discover that the Lord can redeem from the darkest cave. 

After the Lord revealed His plan to Abraham, we see the unfolding of the Lord’s plan in rightfully judging the evil cities, and in His mercy rescuing Lot from the coming destruction of the evil cities. As we look at the story, there are two questions we need to answer from our text: Why does God destroy the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah? Why does God rescue Lot? 

After Abraham hosted the Lord, the Lord revealed His plan of dealing with the wickedness of Sodom and Gomorrah. Abraham would serve as an intercessor appealing to the Lord’s justice and mercy, where he would learn from first-hand experience the Lord’s justice and mercy. 

While Abraham and Sarah are struggling to trust the Lord and His promise of a son. The Lord appears to them in visible form, giving them assurance for keeping His promise. In Sarah’s pain and disappointment behind closed doors, the Lord saw her, heard her, and knew exactly what was going on in her heart and in His grace told her that nothing was impossible for Him.