Tag Archives: isaac

Bible Study – Abraham’s Greatest Test of Faith

Leave a reply

God never tempts anyone to sin (that is the province of Satan) but He does test  the faithful.  After all that has gone before –  Abraham leaving Ur of the Chaldees, and journeying to the Promised Land in faith, the Covenant,  and the extraordinary birth of the son of promise – Isaac –  when Abraham was 100 years old. 

It was now time for Abraham to be tested – the ultimate test – to prove Abraham – and to portend the future.  We must always hold God first in our lives.  Please consider that since the LORD is omniscient – He already knows the outcome of this test! 

Isaac carries the wood

GENESIS 22:1-14

22 And it came to pass after these things, that God did tempt Abraham, and said unto him, Abraham: and he said, Behold, here I am.

2 And He said, Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of.

HERE IS THE TEST – DID ABRAHAM LOVE HIS SON MORE THAN HE LOVED GOD? ON “ONE OF THE MOUNTAINS” TELLS US THAT GOD HAD A PARTICULAR PLACE AND A PARTICULAR MOUNTAIN – MOUNT MORIAH!  THE SAME PLACE WHERE SOLOMON’S TEMPLE WOULD LATER BE BUILT AND THE SAME PLACE WHERE JESUS WOULD OFFER HIMSELF AS THE LAMB OF GOD!!!!!

3 And Abraham rose up early in the morning, and saddled his ass, and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son, and clave the wood for the burnt offering, and rose up, and went unto the place of which God had told him.

4 Then on the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes, and saw the place afar off.

5 And Abraham said unto his young men, 

Abide ye here with the ass; and I and the lad will go yonder and worship, and come again to you.

6 And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering, and laid it upon Isaac his son; and he took the fire in his hand, and a knife; and they went both of them together.

7 And Isaac spake unto Abraham his father, and said, My father: and he said, Here am I, my son. And he said, Behold the fire and the wood: but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?

8 And Abraham said, My son, God will provide Himself a lamb for a burnt offering: so they went both of them together.

9 And they came to the place which God had told him of; and Abraham built an altar there, and laid the wood in order, and bound Isaac his son, and laid him on the altar upon the wood.

10 And Abraham stretched forth his hand, and took the knife to slay his son.

the sacrifice

11 And the angel of the Lord called unto him out of heaven, and said, Abraham, Abraham: and he said, Here am I. 

12 And He said, Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou any thing unto him: for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son from Me.

13 And Abraham lifted up his eyes, and looked, and behold behind him a ram caught in a thicket by his horns: and Abraham went and took the ram, and offered him up for a burnt offering in the stead of his son.

14 And Abraham called the name of that place Jehovahjireh: as it is said to this day, In the mount of the Lord it shall be seen.

JEHOVAHJIREH = THE LORD WILL PROVIDE

BOTH ABRAHAM AND GOD THE FATHER OFFER SONS ON ALTARS – THIS IS KNOWN AS BIBLICAL TYPOLOGY

  • Isaac carried his own wood/Jesus carried His own cross
  • God provided the lamb/Lamb
  • Isaac was held by ropes/Jesus was held by iron nails
  • Isaac gave no resistance/ Jesus gave no resistance
  • Abraham’s son was spared/ God spared not His own Son
  • In the mount of the Lord/ Christ died on Mt Calvary
  • Ram caught in thorns was offered/ Christ was crowned with thorns
  • Isaac was heir to everything  Abraham had /Jesus Christ is the heir to everything  of God the Father’s – all power, all wealth, all glory, all kingdoms, the universe, all praise, all honor, all eternity, all judgment, all righteousness, all truth, all Lordship, all love, all mercy, all grace.

MORE SONGS AND WORDS HAVE BEEN WRITTEN ABOUT CALVARY THAN ANY OTHER PLACE ON EARTH!

Please consider the Lord’s omniscience – in knowing what Abraham would do – but Abraham himself, did not know what he would do!  These are the deep things of God, beloveds.

Bible Study – Death and Burial of Abraham

Leave a reply

Genesis 25:7-11

7 And these are the days of the years of Abraham’s life which he lived, an hundred threescore and fifteen years.

8 Then Abraham gave up the ghost, and died in a good old age, an old man, and full of years; and was gathered to his people.

Please note that Abraham, God’s faithful friend, was not taken to heaven!  He “was gathered to his people.”  The faithful were  not able to access heaven until Jesus Christ, Abraham’s penultimate descendant,  was sacrificed  and rose from the dead.   All believers were assigned to a division of hell, known as “Abraham’s bosom,” where it can be determined, they received comfort from Abraham himself. . . but. . .were not in torment!

Luke 16:21-23

21 And desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man’s table: moreover the dogs came and licked his sores.

22 And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham’s bosom: the rich man also died, and was buried;

23 And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.

Many, many believers labor under the unscriptural belief, that the saints of the Old Testament went to heaven based on the Law and faith.  This simply is not found anywhere in the Bible.  There is only one way, and it has always been the only way, from before the dawn of time.  Please see this study on the two Gospel quandary.

John 14:6

Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by Me.

9 And his sons Isaac and Ishmael buried him in the cave of Machpelah, in the field of Ephron the son of Zohar the Hittite, which is before Mamre;

10 The field which Abraham purchased of the sons of Heth: there was Abraham buried, and Sarah his wife.

Pro-Palestinians and Islamist’s should note – that this land was purchased by Abraham to bury Sarah – not Hagar!

When Abraham gave his son to God, Abraham gained back his son.  God does not require anything nearly so dramatic from believers today.  But, it is true without doubt, that when we give of ourselves to God, we gain far, far more than we ever gave.  If we do not grow in faith and continue in infantile Christianity, we will eventually lose a great deal, because as baby Christians, the tendency is towards selfishness and far too much introspection – AKA – naval gazing!

We see in the following verse, God’s continuing plan for the Salvation of mankind.  Though Ishmael was the first born, and natural heir,  The Lord knew these men before they were even conceived.  He chose the second born – Isaac – for His purposes, just as we choose Him, over our own natural man – who is our first born man.

11 And it came to pass after the death of Abraham, that God blessed his son Isaac; and Isaac dwelt by the well Lahairoi.

Easton’s Bible Dictionary

I.e., “the well of Him that liveth and seeth me,” or, as some render it, “the well of the vision of life”, the well where the Lord met with Hagar (Genesis 16:7-14). Isaac dwelt beside this well (24:62; 25:11). It has been identified with `Ain Muweileh, or Moilahhi, south-west of Beersheba, and about 12 miles W. from Kadesh-barnea.

Bible Study – Isaac Gets a Bride – Part 1

Leave a reply

Abraham has buried his beloved wife, Sarah, in the cave of Macpelah – which later became the family burial place for Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.  Not Ishmael and Esau!!!

Genesis 24  And Abraham was old, and well stricken in age: and the Lord had blessed Abraham in all things.

2 And Abraham said unto his eldest servant of his house, that ruled over all that he had, Put, I pray thee, thy hand under my thigh:

3 And I will make thee swear by the Lord, the God of heaven, and the God of the earth, that thou shalt not take a wife unto my son of the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I dwell:

Here the very aged Abraham, is adjuring his most trusted servant, to journey to the land of his birth, to find a bride for the son of promise.  His instruction to place the hand under his thigh, is deep in covenant meaning.  The thigh area is generalized in the Old Testament to mean the area of sexual reproduction, also playing significantly into the symbol of circumcision.  It refers to the importance of the son of promise and his progeny – from which the Messiah would come.

Abraham also, in choosing the Gentile bride for Isaac portrays our heavenly Father choosing  a Gentile Bride – the church – for His Son – the Christ.     If Abraham had chosen a Canaanite bride for Isaac, imagine how differently things would have happened!

4 But thou shalt go unto my country, and to my kindred, and take a wife unto my son Isaac.

5 And the servant said unto him, Peradventure the woman will not be willing to follow me unto this land: must I needs bring thy son again unto the land from whence thou camest?

6 And Abraham said unto him, Beware thou that thou bring not my son thither again.

This is a strong caution to the unnamed servant!

7 The Lord God of heaven, which took me from my father’s house, and from the land of my kindred, and which spake unto me, and that sware unto me, saying, Unto thy seed will I give this land; he shall send his angel before thee, and thou shalt take a wife unto my son from thence.

8 And if the woman will not be willing to follow thee, then thou shalt be clear from this my oath: only bring not my son thither again.

The son of promise, Isaac, is not to be brought to that land under any circumstances!

9 And the servant put his hand under the thigh of Abraham his master, and sware to him concerning that matter.

Remember – the hand under the thigh refers to the blessed progeny of Abraham, through his covenant with God!

THE UNNAMED SERVANT IS THE PRINCIPAL CHARACTER OF GENESIS 24 –

Luke 16:10

 He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much: and he that is unjust in the least is unjust also in much.

Why is the servant nameless?  Because God chose for him to be nameless.  A faithful servant never cares about promoting himself, his interest is solely in serving his master.  The Holy Spirit never promotes Himself, but always exalts the Son of God.

10 And the servant took ten camels of the camels of his master, and departed; for all the goods of his master were in his hand: and he arose, and went to Mesopotamia, unto the city of Nahor.

11 And he made his camels to kneel down without the city by a well of water at the time of the evening, even the time that women go out to draw water.

12 And he said O Lord God of my master Abraham, I pray thee, send me good speed this day, and shew kindness unto my master Abraham.

This is very significant.  The unnamed servant does not rely on his own perspicacity to find a bride for his master’s son.  He relies on the God of heaven to do it all!

13 Behold, I stand here by the well of water; and the daughters of the men of the city come out to draw water:

14 And let it come to pass, that the damsel to whom I shall say, Let down thy pitcher, I pray thee, that I may drink; and she shall say, Drink, and I will give thy camels drink also: let the same be she that thou hast appointed for thy servant Isaac; and thereby shall I know that Thou hast shewed kindness unto my master.

The unnamed servant states right here that if God is providing the bride, that God is showing kindness to Abraham – not the servant himself!

THE SERVANT (THE HOLY SPIRIT) SEEKS THOSE WILLING TO BELIEVE HIS MESSAGE (THE GOSPEL) EVEN THOUGH THEY HAVE NEVER SEEN THE BRIDEGROOM (CHRIST).