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.
The Lord established His covenant with Abraham and provided both a sign of the covenant and an obligation to the covenant for Abraham and his descendants. In our text we will discover that the true people of God are not from natural birth, but from a miraculous birth that comes from the promise of God and the supernatural work of the Holy Spirit.
Thirteen years have passed since the birth of Ishmael and the Lord appeared to Abram again. In the Lord’s appearance, He identifies Himself as God Almighty, gives Abram a command to follow and reconfirms His covenant with a sign and a seal. We learn five truths about the Lord’s covenant with Abram and see how it finds its ultimate fulfillment in Christ.
As we continue to follow the life of Abram, you will notice the “ups and downs” of Abram’s faith. In our text today, Abram’s faith is at an incredible low, where both Abram and Sarai doubted the word of the Lord. Sarai complains, Abram complies, and Hagar ended up a casualty. Yet the Lord in His grace intervened and revealed Himself to Hagar giving her an instruction and a promise.
In our text today, the Lord revealed Himself to Abram in a vision, where the Lord identifies Himself in terms of His relationship with Abram. Reaffirms His promises to Abram and seals His promises with a covenant. Abram responds to these promises, by believing in the Lord to fulfill these promises. As a result, the Lord credited it to Him as righteousness.
In the separation of Lot and Abram we are going to see the foolishness of Lot looking around and seeing the lushness of the land on the other side, not knowing that evil was lurking nearby. In contrast we are going to see the faithfulness of Abram looking up, trusting the Lord, and waiting for the Lord to fulfill His promises to him.
At times Abram displays great faith as He is trusting the Lord to fulfill His promises, but then in our story today Abram displays a lack of trust in the Lord’s protection and provision. Yet, despite Abram’s lack of faith, the Lord remained faithful in keeping his promises. For the Lord’s faithfulness in keeping His promises to Abram did not depend on how Abram behaved, but on the fact that the Lord called Him and made those promises to Him.
In Genesis 3-11, all we have read is God’s curses upon humanity, but now starting in Genesis 12 we read about God’s blessing. We learn that the Lord is the source of this blessing, Abram is both the recipient of, and the conduit of this blessing and the nations are the beneficiaries of this blessing.