DAY EIGHT:
Isaac's Birth and Sacrifice
Good morning, friends! God is good! On to Day Eight of our study. Before we dig into today's content I'll briefly cover what we're skipping. Sarai, lamenting her childlessness, presented Abram with her Egyptian servant named Hagar to have a son and thus fulfill God' promise. Sarai told Abram to marry Hagar and have a child with her that Sarai could consider her own. Hagar bore Abram a son, Ishmael, but of course it didn't work out as Sarai planned. But at the age of 86 Abram is finally a father! God changed Abram's name to Abraham. Abram, you'll remember, means "exalted father." Abraham means "father of a multitude." Sarai also received a new name, Sarah, which means princess. In chapter 18 Abraham hosts three mysterious visitors. One of them announces that Sarah will have a baby about that time next year. Sarah was eavesdropping and heard. She burst into laughter at the thought of bearing a child at her age (she would have been 89 years old). One of the visitors asked "Why did Sarah laugh? Is anything too hard for the Lord?" Sarah denied laughing, but she was busted! Then after that we read about God's destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah and how angels led Lot and his family to safety (except for his wife, who looked back and turned into a pillar of salt. And in chapter 20 we see an old dog hasn't forgotten an old trick. Abraham once again passed Sarah, possibly pregnant with Isaac by this time, as his sister- this time to Abimelech, the king of the Philistines. God again protected Sarah, and Abimelech, though very angry with Abraham, allowed him to stay. Again, it seems that Abraham gets away with this outrageous behavior. But really he doesn't. There are always consequences for sin, even if they're not obvious at the time.
OK, we're ready to pick up with today's passage. Just as the mysterious visitors (no doubt angels) foretold, Sarah gave birth to a son! They named him Isaac, which means "he laughs." Very appropriate, given Sarah's reaction a year ago. She said, "God has made laughter for me; everyone who hears will laugh over me. Who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? Yet I have borne him a son in his old age." I can't begin to imagine the joy in Abraham's household! God keeps His promises.
But remember, Abraham has another son, Ishmael, who would have been about thirteen when Isaac was born. He was used to his father's full attention. And Sarah, who resented the child she urged her husband to make with a servant, now resented him even more. The stage is set for conflict, and it's not long in coming. At the feast Abraham gave to celebrate Isaac's weaning Ishmael tormented his little half-brother. Sarah had enough, and told Abraham to get rid of both him and his mother. God assured a heartbroken Abraham that it would go well with Ishmael, that in accord with the promise He would make Ishmael into a great nation, too. But Isaac was the child of promise, and the covenant would go through him.
Then we read about the greatest test of faith a human being ever faced. "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." Did Abraham hear God right? He's waited all this time for a son. And now God wants him to sacrifice that only son, his only hope for that line of descendants that will one day number more than the stars? But yes, he heard correctly. God was quite specific, Abraham had two sons, and he could have sought out Ismael to sacrifice him. But God said it was Isaac, the son whom he loved, who was to be sacrificed. Abraham's faith in God is amazing! If he agonized over this, it wasn't for long. He got up early the next day and headed out with Isaac and a couple of servants for Moriah. We don't know just where Moriah was, but it was a three-day journey. (Some speculate that Moriah was Jerusalem and that Mt. Zion, the future site of the Temple, was where these events took place). When Abraham saw Moriah in the distance, he had the servants stay behind and he and Isaac went on alone. Abraham tied the wood they brought onto Isaac's back and took a little container with coals from their campfire to light the sacrifice. But one thing was missing, and Isaac noticed it. they've got wood and fire, and there are plenty of rocks everywhere for building an altar. But where's the lamb? That's the most important thing, the reason for going in the first place. Abraham said "The Lord will provide the lamb." That had to hurt, because Abraham knew that God had already provided the lamb- his son.
When they got there and set up the altar, Abraham started to tie Isaac up. Now Isaac wasn't a little boy by this time. He was probably a teenager, and Abraham was somewhere around 115 years old. Isaac could have resisted his father and run away. But he didn't. He let his father lay him atop the altar. We talk about Abraham's faith, but what about Isaac's? It's at least as great. Abraham took hold of the knife, ready to plunge it into Isaac's chest. But then, at the last second God stopped him! "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." Whew! That was way too close! Abraham looked up and saw a ram tangled up in some shrubs. He caught it and sacrificed it in the place of his son. God once more affirmed His covenant with Abraham, promising to multiply his descendants and to bless the world through them.
There are so many lessons we can take from the life of Abraham that I don't know where to start. So let's start with this whole concept of faith and belief. The best definition of faith is found in Hebrews 11:1, "Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen." Faith is believing without seeing. It is taking God at His word and trusting Him to move in our lives according to His timetable. Some time ago a wise man told me, "God is never late, but He is seldom early." God is kind of like the wizard Gandalf from The Lord of the Rings: "A wizard is neither early nor late- he arrives precisely when he intends." I've shared that with others to comfort and encourage them. And I've had to remind myself of this truth. The great temptation is to help God along when we think He's too slow. Ishmael was born because Abraham and Sarah despaired of having a child of their own. It caused strife and heartache in there time, and the world has been paying for their impatience ever since. The unrest in the Middle East is a continuation of the conflict between Ishmael (the Arabs) and Isaac (the Jews). Be patient and remain prayerful. God will come through and His answer will always be better than anything we can imagine for ourselves.
I'll give you a little bit of extra credit reading, if you'd like to learn more about Abraham. The best book I've read on this man's life is Created to Be God's Friend: How God Shapes Those He Loves by Henry Blackaby (I've given the link from Amazon, but you can find it from just about any online source or from a Christian bookstore). An excellent book that will deepen your understanding of what God is doing in your life.
God is so amazing keeping his promises. Abraham's faith in the lord was so strong! Abraham put his trust in the lord ! I need to put more trust in lord! God always comes through for us!
ReplyDeleteFaith is an amazing thing! I'm also learning a lot through our study.
DeleteI am still following, just a little slow. eyes not up to par yet! I have the bible on dvr and watching it and stopping where you stop in the lessons. Thanks for the music today. I would like to know why Abraham kept calling his wife his sister and telling her to call him brother and giving her to other men. Good thing God gave the 10 commandments. Another question I might of missed in previous comments why is it pleasing to God to have sacrificed animals. Does it have a relationship with Christ being crucified on the cross? found it unusual when noah landed the boat and gets off and God wants him to sacrifice animals. how were they suppose to reproduce if they didn't have their mate? (if my spelling is off don't mind because everything is blurry) thanks again Marty very helpful lessons. PS I took and printed (large print of course) to my mom at Crandall and read to her. Wasn't sure if she was absorbing the info but when I asked her a couple questions she snapped off the correct answer. So she was listening. I guess no matter how bad her mind is getting she doesn't forget what she knows about the bible. I am sure that is pleasing to God! G
ReplyDeleteI found this info on internet to one of my above questions.
DeleteQuestion: "Why did God require animal sacrifices in the Old Testament?"
Answer: God required animal sacrifices to provide a temporary covering of sins and to foreshadow the perfect and complete sacrifice of Jesus Christ (Leviticus 4:35, 5:10). Animal sacrifice is an important theme found throughout Scripture because “without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness” (Hebrews 9:22). When Adam and Eve sinned, animals were killed by God to provide clothing for them (Genesis 3:21). Cain and Abel brought sacrifices to the Lord. Cain's was unacceptable because he brought fruit, while Abel's was acceptable because it was the “firstborn of his flock” (Genesis 4:4-5). After the flood receded, Noah sacrificed animals to God (Genesis 8:20-21).
God commanded the nation of Israel to perform numerous sacrifices according to certain procedures prescribed by God. First, the animal had to be spotless. Second, the person offering the sacrifice had to identify with the animal. Third, the person offering the animal had to inflict death upon it. When done in faith, this sacrifice provided a temporary covering of sins. Another sacrifice called for on the Day of Atonement, described in Leviticus 16, demonstrates forgiveness and the removal of sin. The high priest was to take two male goats for a sin offering. One of the goats was sacrificed as a sin offering for the people of Israel (Leviticus 16:15), while the other goat was released into the wilderness (Leviticus 16:20-22). The sin offering provided forgiveness, while the other goat provided the removal of sin.
Why, then, do we no longer offer animal sacrifices today? Animal sacrifices have ended because Jesus Christ was the ultimate and perfect sacrifice. John the Baptist recognized this when he saw Jesus coming to be baptized and said, “Look, the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29). You may be asking yourself, why animals? What did they do wrong? That is the point—since the animals did no wrong, they died in place of the one performing the sacrifice. Jesus Christ also did no wrong but willingly gave Himself to die for the sins of mankind (1 Timothy 2:6). Jesus Christ took our sin upon Himself and died in our place. As 2 Corinthians 5:21 says, “God made him [Jesus] who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” Through faith in what Jesus Christ accomplished on the cross, we can receive forgiveness.
In summation, animal sacrifices were commanded by God so that the individual could experience forgiveness of sin. The animal served as a substitute—that is, the animal died in place of the sinner, but only temporarily, which is why the sacrifices needed to be offered over and over. Animal sacrifices have stopped with Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ was the ultimate sacrificial substitute once for all time (Hebrews 7:27) and is now the only mediator between God and humanity (1 Timothy 2:5). Animal sacrifices foreshadowed Christ’s sacrifice on our behalf. The only basis on which an animal sacrifice could provide forgiveness of sins is Christ who would sacrifice Himself for our sins, providing the forgiveness that animal sacrifices could only illustrate and foreshadow.
Read more: http://www.gotquestions.org/animal-sacrifices.html#ixzz2rAadCRV9
You found a good explanation, Gina. God is both loving and righteous. Love says forgive the sinner but righteousness says the sinner must pay. Innocent animals died in the place of the sinner. This was a vivid reminder that sin is not some trivial thing. It's an offense against a holy God. Those animal sacrifices pointed to the ultimate sacrifice of Jesus on the cross. In theology this is called substitutionary atonement. We'll get into that down the road.
DeleteI like your use of an online resource! I'll work on a list of sites that I use and will post the list.
I used to wear trifocals- three lenses, with the middle lens focused just right for a computer screen. I figured out that it wasn't necessary, as I can enlarge what I'm looking at on the computer. That might help you as your eyes heal.