In today's readings, we watch as God directs a divine drama of the gospel. The actors cast for these leading roles? Abraham and Isaac. But it didn't seem much like a beautiful drama at the time; to father and son it must have seemed like a horror story.
More on this in a little, but first I want to make a clarification from yesterday's blog just to be sure I didn't confuse anyone. I've learned that what I mean and what I say can come across as two different things (the down-side to us not being able to do this face-to-face), so please ask if you are ever unsure. I probably don't even need to explain this, but I'd rather err on the side of doing so.
When I referred to having Joshua circumcised on the eighth day of his life, I want to be clear that we did not do that for spiritual or religious reasons. Circumcision is no longer a requirement for God's people--it falls under the old covenant of the Old Testament. Jesus ushered in a new covenant with His death and resurrection, and physical circumcision has no place in the new covenant. We will learn much more about this at the end of the year when reading Paul's letters, because he and the apostles get into quite a discussion over the whole issue. For our purposes today, circumcision is strictly a health-based decision, as well as a stigma-based one (boys' locker room kind of stuff here--ask your husband or your brother for more details if you like, because that's as far as I'm taking it). Many people choose not to circumcise their sons today, and that is perfectly normal and acceptable.
Now, I want to reiterate the really amazing lesson for us in all of this, which is why I shared it yesterday in my post. Our sovereign God, who created our intricate bodies and knows every single detail of how they function, knows that vitamin K will be most fully present in the male body on the eighth day of life. Read this excerpt from an article by Apologetics Press:
On the eighth day, the amount of prothrombin present actually is elevated above one-hundred percent of normal—and is the only day in the male’s life in which this will be the case under normal conditions. If surgery is to be performed, day eight is the perfect day to do it. Vitamin K and prothrombin levels are at their peak. The chart below, patterned after one published by S.I. McMillen, M.D., in his book, None of These Diseases, portrays this in graphic form.
Dr. McMillen observed:
We should commend the many hundreds of workers who labored at great expense over a number of years to discover that the safest day to perform circumcision is the eighth. Yet, as we congratulate medical science for this recent finding, we can almost hear the leaves of the Bible rustling. They would like to remind us that four thousand years ago, when God initiated circumcision with Abraham....Isn't our God so amazing?! What I pray you grasp here, dear sister, is that God's commands are always for our good. They are our hedge of protection in life. When we are living within the boundaries of God's commands, we are sheltered under His Almighty protection. But if we choose to step outside that boundary, we face the unknown on our own like a child running away from home. God really does have a reason for everything He says and does. Oh that we would learn to believe Him!
Abraham did not pick the eighth day after many centuries of trial-and-error experiments. Neither he nor any of his company from the ancient city of Ur in the Chaldees ever had been circumcised. It was a day picked by the Creator of vitamin K (1984, p. 93). ApologeticsPress.org
Now for a man who "believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness." (Rom. 4:3)
As you read ch. 20, did you want to slap your hand to your forehead and say, "Are you kidding? Didn't Abraham already make this mistake and learn his lesson?" Well, let me ask you...do you always get it right after you are reprimanded and called to task when you've done wrong? Or are you as likely as I am to make the same stupid mistakes numerous times before learning your/my lesson? Notice that God doesn't give up on Abraham, though, and He does't give up on you or me either.
- Who suffered the consequences of Abraham's deception this time, and what was that consequence? (see vv. 17-18).
- Look carefully at verse 17--what did Abraham do to correct the wrong he had caused?
- How did Abraham come out of all of this, and how does this support the promise God gave to him when He first called him in Genesis 12?
- In Genesis 21:1, what do you find comforting?
- Just so you know, in biblical times children were usually weaned around the age of three. Compare Genesis 16:16 and Genesis 21:5. How old was Ishmael when Isaac was born? Add 2-3 years, and you know how old they are as the feast in ch. 21 takes place.
- What instruction did God give Abraham concering the family feud in Gen. 21:10-12? What was the result of this (vv. 14-21)? Did God keep His promise to Abraham regarding Hagar and Ishmael?
- What did Abraham call God in Gen. 21:33?
- In verse 1, what do we learn God is doing?
But there's even more at stake here, because Abraham is the one from whom the entire nation of Israel (God's chosen people under the old covenant) will come, as well as all Gentile believers of every nation under the new covenant. Not only is that a great blessing, but a great responsibility as well. Abraham has certainly enjoyed the LORD's favor up to this point. We have seen him conquer kings, be blessed by Melchizadek, save the lives of his foolish family members, and collect quite the number of flocks, herds, servants and peoples. He apparently has a very beautiful wife, or he wouldn't keep lying about their relationship, and kings wouldn't keep taking her as their new wife! He is successful in negotiating deals. Finally, he receives the precious child of promise--Isaac--who will be his heir and from whom all nations on earth will be blessed...from whom will come the Messiah
I have been re-reading a classic book that I highly recommend every Christian read on their faith journey, and the chapter I recently finished illustrates the truth of what takes place in Genesis 22 beautifully...and painfully. The book is Hind's Feet on High Places by Hannah Hurnard. It is a must-read. And it has given me some insight into what God was asking of Abraham in this moment.
You see, God asked Abraham to sacrifice the very promise He had given to Abraham. It was more than just his son Isaac (and that was quite a bit!). It was everything Abraham had staked his entire life on when he followed God's call to leave Ur and go to the land God would show him, that God would make him into a great nation and all people's on earth would be blessed through him. What God was asking Abraham to do in this time of testing was to give it all back to God. If Abraham obeyed, he would be showing his LORD without a shadow of a doubt that God and God alone was the most important thing to him in life--not the promise, not his son, not his wife, not his own life, not his possessions--that God was all he wanted and all he needed, and that he was willing to give up everything in order to have God. (Sounds rather like Jesus' words regarding the cost of discipleship, doesn't it?)
Now I want you to see the beauty of all that takes places during this drama. Read it with these roles in mind: Abraham--plays the part of God the Father; Isaac--plays the part of Jesus his only Son; the ram--substitutionary sacrifice (which is also Jesus). Now read through Genesis 22 and find the following:
- ...words God uses to describe Isaac (vv. 2, 12, 16). Compare these to Matt. 3:17 and John 1:14.
- ...how Abraham describes what he and Isaac are about to do (v. 5)--i.e. what does he call it?
- ...what Isaac carried to the place of sacrifice (v.6). Compare this to John 19:17.
- ...the significance of Abraham's response to Isaac in v. 8. Compare to John 1:29.
- ...what Abraham bound Isaac to (v. 9). What does this foreshadow with Christ?
- ...what God does when Abraham is willing to sacrifice his only son
- ...how God knows Abraham truly fears Him
- ...God's provision for the sacrifice instead of Abraham's son. Contrast this with Mark 15:39. How does it unfold differently for God and His only Son?
- ...the name Abraham gave the place of sacrifice/worship. This is the Hebrew word Jehovah-jireh.
- ...God's response to Abraham's complete and total surrender to Him (vv. 17-18). Who benefited from Abraham's obedience? (look for as many people as you can find in these two verses)
In chapter 23, we read about the death of Sarah and Abraham securing a burial site for her body. This is significant because all of the Patriarchs and their wives will be buried at this same place. In fact, Joseph will even give instructions to his future descendants in Egypt to carry his bones back to Canaan one day so that he might be buried with his fathers on this same site...and Moses will carry them bones all the way home.
Hebrews 11:11-19 (English Standard Version)
11By faith Sarah herself received power to conceive, even when she was past the age, since she considered him faithful who had promised. 12Therefore from one man, and him as good as dead, were born descendants as many as the stars of heaven and as many as the innumerable grains of sand by the seashore.
13These all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth. 14For people who speak thus make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. 15If they had been thinking of that land from which they had gone out, they would have had opportunity to return. 16But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city.
17By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises was in the act of offering up his only son, 18of whom it was said, "Through Isaac shall your offspring be named." 19 He considered that God was able even to raise him from the dead, from which, figuratively speaking, he did receive him back.
17By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises was in the act of offering up his only son, 18of whom it was said, "Through Isaac shall your offspring be named." 19 He considered that God was able even to raise him from the dead, from which, figuratively speaking, he did receive him back.
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