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!!
