I would be remiss if I did not start out my post at the end of our first week together by saying how amazing ALL of you women are! Just in the first half of the book of Genesis I have had SO MANY new insights given to me by all of you and I have read through the Bible five times! You all are such a blessing to me and I cannot say enough about how thankful I am to be among such incredible women!! I cannot wait to see how God is going to continue to use this blog to bless all of us as we press on through the Bible.
Honestly, I was really hoping that I would NOT get this part of Genesis because I do find it an EXTREMELY difficult one to understand and to rectify. I have asked myself each time through the Bible (and on other occasions) why in the world would God ask Abraham to sacrifice his one and only son to Him and the son that all of God's promises would come through? If he does in fact go through with the sacrifice, it would nullify all of God's promises made to Abraham thus far. Not to mention the fact that losing a child is the worst thing that could possibly happen to someone on this earth and God was asking him to do exactly that! I have wrestled long and hard with God about this and I have done some research and here is what I have heard God telling me:
1) Abraham had such incredible faith in God that he believed all along that God would provide a way of escape (see verse 8 of chapter 22).
2) Abraham believed that if he killed his son Isaac, God would raise him from the dead.
3) God was showing a foreshadowing of what was to come for Himself. After all, He would sacrifice his only Son for us on the cross to redeem all people from their sins.
Having said all of that, I have to ask myself if I would have been able to do what Abraham did. If you are a mother, you can easily put yourself into the pain that this test of faith would have caused! At the VERY last minute, the angel of the Lord told him not to go through with the sacrifice (I still have the belief that the "angel of the Lord" is Jesus Christ Himself!) and sure enough, just nearby in a thicket, a ram was caught to be used for the sacrifice to the Lord. WHEW!!!! Just in the "nick of time"...right? Let's remember that the Lord is ALWAYS right on time...ALWAYS!!
Also, God did not spare His Son for us. Jesus did get sacrificed for us as the perfect Passover Lamb to redeem ALL sins for ALL people for ALL time! And He did it willingly and lovingly just for YOU and just for ME! So Abraham's act of absolutely amazing faith ensured that God would in fact make Israel a great nation and ultimately bring the Savior into the world through the tribe of Judah. All because of ONE man passing an unfathomably difficult test of faith!
Don't miss the other two chapters! Abraham loses his beloved Sarah and Isaac gets himself a wife. The one thing I want to be sure you do not miss is the fervent and consistent praying by Abraham's servant while looking for a wife for Isaac. God answered his prayers immediately! But notice the servant completely relied on God to provide the wife God wanted Isaac to have. May we follow this example in our prayer lives as well!
Okay...so...how are you all doing? Are you staying caught up with the readings? Is there anything that you just flat out do not understand and would like to ask questions about? PLEASE, PLEASE do not hesitate to post any questions, concerns, or comments you have about our readings! That is what the blog is for! Let me encourage you to press on. Don't give up! You will not believe the incredible blessings you will receive for reading the entire Bible! Do you hear God talking to you? What is He saying? Listen well my dear sisters in Christ!!! You are greatly loved as daughters of The King!!
Ladies - I am so sorry that this is all jumbled together. I am not really sure why it did that because when I was typing the post in, I separated out the paragraphs. I mean, even JAYBRENA could get hers to separate out!!! UGH!!!
ReplyDeleteMIndy, you did a great job or breaking down some WEIGHTY chapters. Man. Weeks of study could go on just on what you covered today. I love that God was showing us, so early on in the beginning, what He was going to have to do to save us. Nothing surprises God. At no point did He go "Man...look what they did! How am I ever going to fix this?" He knew what would happen and what He would have to do for us when he created us. And He still chose to do it. Amazing. I also love how Abraham was so insistent on following God's command. Isaac's wife was NOT to come from the people around him...he went through great lengths to ensure that. He knew God's promises, and he knew that blessings would come from doing as God commanded. May I be that faithful!
ReplyDeleteMindy, what wonderful insight. I'm glad I did not have this chapter!! One thing I saw in one translation that I read and that I had not noticed before that "Abraham placed the wood on Isaac's shoulders" - I had not thought of that before - just as Jesus carried his cross for us!
ReplyDeleteA poem I have had for years, and believe it came from Ruth Bell Graham, I would like to share:
"Each man has his Isaac
(each lesser Abraham);
some "only son"
God says must die:
And so have I.
Yet all the time I wonder,
What if there is no ram?
No staying hand,
No quick reprieve,
To let mine live?"
Hahahhaaa, Mindy! I just happened to get this techno-blog-stuff by accident, I'm sure ;-) We are all learning, friend! Thank you for your time in bringing these points to our attention. And, speaking of time.....you are right, He's always right on time!
ReplyDeleteAMAZINGLY WE HAVE MADE A WEEK TOGETHER AND WE ONLY HAVE 51 LEFT TO GO. AT MY AGE IT WILL FLY BY AND WE WILL ALL THE WISER OR WISH WE KNEW MORE. I LOVE ALL OF YOU.
ReplyDeleteTHE READING WAS EMOTIONAL IN THAT A WIFE AND MOTHER DIES AND IN COMES A WIFE. NOT JUST ANY WIFE BUT ONE THAT GOD CHOSE AND WE ALL WANT THAT FOR OUR DAUGHTERS AND SONS. WE MAY NOT HAVE SILVER BRACELETS AND I DON'T WANT A NOSE RING BUT WE HAVE OUR HERITAGE OF SALVATION. PRAY NOW THAT YOUR CHILDREN FIND A GODLY MATE.
GOOD NIGHT
Mindy, I had problems with spacing too. Sometimes I had to put two blank lines in the editor area, but the "Preview" option (upper left hand corner of the blog editor) was helpful in seeing how the entry would appear when posted :)
ReplyDeleteI have always wondered how Isaac felt and if he was left with some psychological issues knowing that his father almost sacrificed him?
ReplyDeleteWow!! This section of scripture is so rich! I am like Mrs. Barabra, I found it interesting that the wood for the burnt offering was placed on Isaac's shoulders. (Gen 22:6) That makes me pause and remember how Christ carried His own cross for us. What amazing love and sacrifice!
ReplyDeleteAlso in Gen. 24:67 I was moved by how Rebekah was such a comfort to Isaac after the death of his mother. Isaac loved her deeply and the scriptures say that she was a special comfort to him. In my opinion Rebekah demonstrated an amazing picture of a loving and obedient wife. Somtimes as wives we forget how much impact we can have while caring for our husbands especially during difficult times. It is a priveledge we get and we have been equiped by God to do it.