Genesis 22:20-23:20

Do you live as if this world were your home?  Is your heart set on material possessions or on making this life here easier?  

Abraham’s faith in the Eternal God gave him confidence as he began to visit the valley of the shadow of death.  Abraham knew that he was a stranger and pilgrim on the earth (Heb. 11:13) and that he would die without seeing the fulfillment of the promises (Gen. 15:15-16).  But he continued to trust God as he saw the younger generation arise and the older generation pass on.

For example, the clan update from Haran (22:20-24) fits this theme.  This may seem like an aside but in fact it introduces us to Rebekah who will become a key figure in the next generation.

But it is especially seen in the death of his beloved wife Sarah (Ch. 23).  Sarah is the only woman in the Bible whose age, death and burial are mentioned.  She is 127 years old, making Isaac 37 at the time of her death.  Abraham has been living in Beersheba while Sarah has apparently lived at the earlier family home in Hebron.

Certainly this must have been difficult for Abraham, and for Isaac as well (Gen. 24:67).  This is the first mention in Scripture of grief over death and the disposition of dead bodies.  Note that burial …

·       Shows respect for what God has made.

·       Shows respect for the person who lived in that body.

·       Speaks of sleep or rest and the hope of the resurrection.

·       Was the consistent practice of God’s people in Scripture.

But more than a treatise on how we deal with the body, God uses this sad moment to do something wonderful for Abraham in terms of fulfilling the covenant.  Through the purchase of burial land Abraham truly owns a piece of the land promised to him by God.  

When you attend a funeral are you not prompted to think of your own life and your eventual death?  Certainly the death of his wife brought this home to Abraham.  Faith in a faithful God can sustain us in the face of our greatest and last enemy.  

In death we grieve.  But let us not grieve as those who have no hope.  People of faith remember they are citizens of heaven.  We eagerly await the resurrection when our bodies will be transformed into the likeness of Christ’s glorious body (Phil. 3:20-21).

Genesis 22:15-19; Heb. 6:13-20; Gal. 3:15-18

In whom can you trust these days?  Government?  Parents?  Your spouse?  Even at their best earthly authorities can at times let us down.  A better question is, can you (we) trust God?

Heb. 6:13-ff reminds us that God cannot lie.  It’s not that He doesn’t lie; He is not able to lie.  As the God of truth He defines truth.  Everything about Him is true and anything in our lives that is not godly (like Him) is by definition a lie.  Because God never lies we can put our hope in Him and never be disappointed (Heb. 6:19-20).  

To make this clear and emphatic the writer of Hebrews refers to our passage in Genesis today, in v16, when God says, “By Myself I have sworn.”  It is enough that we have God’s word, that He will do unconditionally what He has promised.  But for Abraham’s sake, and ours, He swears to do what He said.  Since there is nothing and no one greater than Him, He swears by Himself.  God confirms the covenant by two immutable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie (Heb. 6:17-18).  Thus we have great consolation, being able to lay hold of our hope with confidence.  In other words, we can trust God!

Remember that the covenant with Abraham was unconditional.  When God says, because you have done this thing (v16) and because you have obeyed My voice (v18), He is not acknowledging Abraham for earning the covenant.  He is acknowledging the completion or perfection of Abraham’s faith by which he has received God’s promise and believed God to be faithful.  He knew before he ever ascended the mountain that he would return with Isaac (22:5); and so he did (22:19).  Abraham’s faith was not dead, and his obedience confirmed this.

Let us count on our God who cannot lie.  He did not lie to the spiritual descendants of Abraham when He promised that Abraham would be a blessing to all nations.  God has done this through the greater promised Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.

Furthermore, God did not lie to the physical descendants of Abraham when He promised they would be a nation.  Jer. 31:34-36 makes Israel’s future existence proof of God’s faithfulness.  It is as sure as the presence of the sun and moon in our universe.

Friend, it is of eternal significance that, like Abraham, you trust God’s word.  He cannot lie.  Thus He has not lied and is not lying to you as you read His word.  Faith obeys His voice.

Genesis 22:1-14 (3)

We have already seen Isaac as a wonderful representation of our Lord Jesus Christ in His birth.  In this passage we see Isaac as a picture of Christ in His death.  Enjoy meditation on these many similarities.  Then meditate on one significant difference.

·       v1: Both were real, historical events.  The Word became flesh (Jn. 1:14) for the suffering of death (Heb. 2:9).

·       v2: Both were the only sons ohttps://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=823321858604748389#editor/target=post;postID=4859121177819853840f their father. By an eternal decree (Ps. 2:7) Christ was the only begotten of the Father (John 1:18; 3:16).

·       v2: Both were loved by their Father.  This is the first use of the term love in Scripture.  It did not first appear in a marriage context but in the relationship of father/son.  (Matt. 3:17)

·       v2: Both were sacrificed in the land of Moriah.  The temple would be built on Mt. Moriah (2 Chron. 3:1).  Christ was crucified nearby in the area around that mount.

·       v2: Both satisfied God’s command.  Christ died according to God’s pre-determined purpose (Ac. 2:23).

·       v4: Both were lost to their father for three days.  (John 20:17)

·       v5-6: Both traveled alone at the last.  As Abraham and Isaac left the servants so Christ’s friends left Him at Gethsemane.

·       v6: Both carried the wood for the sacrifice.  Christ bore the cross on which He would give His life (1 Peter 2:21-25).

·       v7: Both went silently save for discerning the father’s plan. The Lord Jesus is the Lamb silence before His shearers (Isa. 53:7).

·       v9: Both were fully yielded to the father’s will.  The compliance of Isaac is amazing; yet he is the perfect picture of Christ who committed Himself to the One who judges righteously (1 Pt. 2:23).

·       v12: Both experienced a “resurrection”.  Isaac is resurrected figuratively (Heb. 11:19); Christ is resurrected for real.

·       v13: In each situation, God provided the Lamb.  Christ is the Lamb God provided for Himself (Jn. 1:29,36; 1 Cor. 5:7; 1 Pt. 1:19; Rev. 5:12-13; Ac. 8:32.  Jesus is Isaac’s substitution. 

What happened in Gen. 22 on a mountain in the land of Moriah was the very thing Jesus spoke of in John 8:56 when He said that Abraham rejoiced to see the day of Christ.  Give praise today and always for the reality of Christ!