Isaac

Wilderness Day 9 The Empty Undoing: Digging Deeper

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Digging Deeper Days

Finding the original intent of Scripture and making good application to our everyday lives as we become equipped to correctly handle the Word of Truth!

Yesterday’s Journey Study connects with today’s!
Check out The Empty Undoing!

The Questions

1) What had the Lord promised? (verse 1)

2) Why was the name Isaac significant? (verse 3)

3) What does Sarah’s declaration tell us? (verse 7)

Genesis 21:1-7

21 The Lord came to Sarah as he had said, and the Lord did for Sarah what he had promised. 2 Sarah became pregnant and bore a son to Abraham in his old age, at the appointed time God had told him. 3 Abraham named his son who was born to him—the one Sarah bore to him—Isaac. 4 When his son Isaac was eight days old, Abraham circumcised him, as God had commanded him. 5 Abraham was a hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him. 6 Sarah said, “God has made me laugh, and everyone who hears will laugh with me.”7 She also said, “Who would have told Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? Yet I have borne a son for him in his old age.”

Original Intent

1) What had the Lord promised? (verse 1)
Back in Genesis 17 God and Abraham were having a conversation. God was changing Sarai’s name to Sarah and Abram’s name to Abraham. The name changes were significant because they spoke directly to God’s plan for the couple and for all humanity. Abram meant “exalted father” (Blue Letter Bible), but Abraham means “ the father of many nations”. (Genesis 17:5) Sarai meant Princess (Blue Letter Bible), but Sarah means “noble woman” (Bible Study Tools) This aligned with God’s plan for her, which He laid out in Genesis 17:16, “I will bless her; indeed, I will give you a son by her.  I will bless her, and she will produce nations; kings of peoples will come from her.” Not only did God promise a son, but He gave a timeframe. He told Abraham of His plan to confirm the covenant through this son, to be named Isaac, which Sarah would birth “at this same time next year.” (Genesis 17:21) Even before this exchange, however, God had promised Abraham a son. When we read the passages in our Bibles, it appears God spoke to Abraham practically back to back, in reality, “It took a long time (25 years) for this promise to come to pass”. (Enduring Word) In Genesis 21:2 we see the culmination of that long awaited promise with the birth of Isaac.

2) Why was the name Isaac significant? (verse 3)
Isaac in Hebrew is “yitschâq”, which means laughter. (Study Bible) This is significant for several reasons. “The first time God said, “Hey, I’m going to give Sarah a son”; Abraham just laughed.” (Chuck Smith Commentary) It seemed improbable and I dare say impossible to Abraham since he was one hundred years old. (Genesis 17:17) When the Lord reiterated the promise within Sarah’s hearing, she also laughed, but to herself. (Genesis 18:9) Again, this promise seemed impossible because Sarah was well past child bearing years. Aside from laughter of his parents, there was another reason Isaac’s name was significant. David Guzik explains, “Originally, the name Isaac was meant as somewhat of a rebuke of the laughter of Abraham and Sarah, but God turned a gentle rebuke into an occasion for joy.” (Genesis 17:19) God was proving He could turn any situation around. A childless couple could bear the child who would begin the bloodline of the Messiah. (Matthew 1:1) A rebuke for unbelief could become a reason for praising and rejoicing.

3) What does Sarah’s declaration tell us? (verse 7)
Sarah’s declaration shows us God is faithful. While Sarah and Abraham had waited a long time for this promise, and even tried to “help” God achieve it, He was always going to fulfill what He promised. That is His character as the Faithful One. Isaac’s “birth meant the fulfillment of God’s promise.” (Warren Wiersbe) Sarah’s laughter would echo through the generations to the fields in Bethlehem when the angels would sing of the Messiah’s birth. (Luke 2:13-14) The Messiah, born to a young virgin who, like Sarah, wondered at “Who” would announce such a shocking birth to her as well. (Luke 1:29-38) Sarah’s joy, wonder and praise shows us that what we think impossible is entirely possible for God. Matthew Henry puts it this way, “The thing was so highly improbable, so near to impossible, that if anyone but God had said it we could not have believed it.”. This foreshadows the unlikelihood of complete forgiveness of sins at no cost to us. But praise be to God for Jesus who accomplished this “impossible” work! (John 3:16-17)

Everyday Application

1) What had the Lord promised? (verse 1)
God had promised both Abraham and Sarah numerous offspring, but He specifically gave a promise that Sarah, who was barren, would bear Abraham a son. With both being very old and Sarah beyond child bearing years, this seemed impossible until the impossible arrived in the form of baby boy Isaac. After waiting for a long time and even making a misstep (Genesis 16:1-4), God kept His promise. We frequently become impatient waiting for the Lord. We think our situation is impossible to change. Yet, just like God’s timing for Isaac’s birth was perfect, based on God’s timing, so is everything in our life. I love the way Matthew Henry says it: “God is always punctual to His time; though His promised mercies come not at the time we set, they will certainly come at the time He sets, and that is the best time.” What God has decided for us will come at the perfect time. We hope in the Lord as a promise keeper, because He is faithful to His Word. He promises to be with us and never leave us. (Deuteronomy 31:6) He promises to complete the work He began in us. (Philippians 1:6) Let’s trust Him and wait patiently for Him to show Himself faithful, just as He did with Sarah. 

2) Why was the name Isaac significant? (verse 3)
Isaac means laughter, but the first hint of laughter in this story was one of disbelief and cynicism from Sarah. Despite her unbelief, God knew His plan. He knew what Sarah thought impossible was absolutely possible for Him. (Luke 18:27) He turned that cynical laughter to joyful laughter. When we think of the things we are waiting for God on, and we get an inkling He will give it to us, do we respond with trust or cynicism like Sarah? We should be more like Mary when she got news that she’d have a virgin birth. She said, “See, I am the Lord’s servant,” said Mary. “May it happen to me as you have said.” (Luke 1:38) Just think back to all the other times God has shown His faithfulness, mercy, and lovingkindness. He is unchanging. If He has provided laughter, joy and relief before, He will again. 

3) What does Sarah’s declaration tell us? (verse 7)
One of the biggest takeaways from Sarah’s declaration is the reliability of God. Revelation 19:11 tells us Jesus is called “Faithful and True”. He always has been and always will be that. “The name Faithful and True expresses the total trustworthiness, reliability, and constancy of Jesus Christ. The title reveals His character and makes known His words and works.” (Got Questions) We can take God at His word when we read His promises. When we place our faith in Him as faithful, true, reliable, and dependable, He empowers us to hold on and wait for Him. Even if what we get looks different from what we imagined, or we only see the beginning of it, we can still trust Him. After all, Abraham did not live to see all his descendants, namely all generations since Isaac, but he saw the seed of the Promise. Just as Abraham trusted that God would still ultimately fulfill His promise, so must we. We can be joyous and praise the Lord for what we do see, knowing that He is the Promise Keeper for what we cannot yet see.

What do YOU think?! Share Here!
Missing the connection to our other Journey Study?
Catch up with The Empty Undoing!

Digging Deeper is for Everyone!

1) Take this passage (or any other passage).
2) Read it, and the verses around it,
several times
3) Write down your questions
as you think of them.
4) Ask specific culture related questions and be ready to dig around for your answers. Google them, use www.studylight.org, or look them up in a study Bible and read the footnotes (click on the little letters next to a word and it will show you
other related verses!). (www.esvbible.org)
5) Check your applications with other trusted Christians that you are in community with and embrace the fullness of God
in your everyday!

Digging Deeper Community

Share What You’ve Learned!
Pray Together!
Join us in the GT Facebook Community!

Our Current Study Theme!

This is Wilderness Week Two!
Don’t miss out on the discussion!
Sign up to receive every GT Journey Study!

Why Dig Deeper?

Finding the original meaning is a huge deal when we study Scripture and can make all the difference in our understanding as we apply God’s truths to our everyday lives.

In our modern-day relationships, we want people to understand our original intention as we communicate; how much more so between God and humanity?!

Here’s a little bit more on why we take Digging Deeper so seriously.

Study Tools

We love getting help while we study and www.studylight.org is one of many excellent resources, providing the original Hebrew (Old Testament) or Greek (New Testament) with an English translation.

Want to know more about a specific word in a verse? Click on “Strong’s Interlinear Bible” then click the word you’d like to study. Discover “origin”, “definition” and hear the original pronunciation – That Is Awesome!

Want more background? Click “Study Tools”, then pick a few commentaries to read their scholarly approach, keeping in mind that just because a commentary says it, doesn’t mean it’s true. (just like the internet :-))

Memorize It!

Download this week’s verse and make it your phone’s lockscreen!
Tap and hold on your mobile device to save.

The GT Weekend! ~ Advent Week 3

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The GT Weekend!

At Gracefully Truthful, weekends aren’t for “checking out”.
Use this time to invite the Almighty’s fullness into you life in a deeper way!
Saturdays and Sundays are a chance to
reflect, rest, and re-center our lives onto Christ.
Don’t miss the opportunity to connect with other women in prayer,
rest your soul in reflective journaling,
and spend time worshiping the Creator who
longs for intimacy with each of us!

Worship Through Journaling

Worship Through Journaling

1) On Monday, Rebekah reminded us what Advent truly is about. Are you like me and need this reminder? Or are you one of those who truly doesn’t become caught up in the hustle and bustle, carefully drawing boundary lines on your time and budget? With a large family and a love for all things Christmas, I confess many years of struggling to focus on spiritual things rather than material busyness. Pursuing things of far less value than the One True God makes us more like the shepherds who received the prophet Ezekiel’s chastisement instead of the humble shepherds who were first notified of Christ’s birth. Rebekah’s Journey Study illuminated that the Good Shepherd was born that night. As all of Israel waited and prepared to welcome the Messiah, so we wait and prepare our own homes and hearts for the Christmas season. In what ways are you intentional about keeping Christ at the center of your everyday focus in the Christmas season? What’s one thing you can implement this weekend to shift your focus onto the Savior? Take time to identify the biggest culprits of stealing your heart’s focus; pray over these as you surrender to Christ!

2) Decades ago when I first read of Abraham sacrificing his son, I doubt I considered how Abraham’s heart may have wrestled with God’s command. Many years of studying Scripture has shifted my perspective to see Abraham’s unswerving faith. He was confident in God’s promise to secure Abraham’s line for generations to come through Isaac, so it was obvious Isaac would survive somehow. (Hebrews 11:19) Abraham’s faith allowed him to follow God in obedience. However, my mother’s heart can’t help but ask, “What on earth?! Why God?!”. For me, I would have been undone had I been in Abraham’s sandals, yet I know there have been many times when I’ve had opportunity to grab hold of God’s faithful promises as I faced seemingly impossible odds. Where have you walked a similar “mountain path to sacrifice”? What specific encouragement can you take from Abraham’s example of faith? Read a few psalms this weekend and make one-word descriptions of God’s character that you discover as you read His word. Cling tightly to these unchanging truths regardless of your circumstance. Be reminded that a crucial aspect of Advent is found in impending sacrifice. Both Isaac and Jesus carried burdens on their backs to the place of sacrifice. Isaac didn’t understand, but Jesus did; He knew His advent was fulfilled by His sacrifice to pay for our sin!

3) Centuries ago, the early church counted down the four weeks before Christmas as a tradition for preparing hearts for the “coming” of Christ. Just as Israel waited for the Messiah, so Christians practiced Advent to celebrate His infant arrival. In yesterday’s Journey Study, Mary pointed out that believers today are between two advents, Christ’s birth and His glorious return. Israel yearned for Messiah’s first advent and we groan for His second appearing. While we live in the “in-between”, we prepare our hearts for another advent through the disciplines of prayer, worship, and reading His Word. How will you wait? What practice of waiting do you want to lean into more fully in the coming year? How we choose to wait has direct implications on the anticipation we feel for Christ’s return. Preparing for Christ’s second advent ushers us deeper into Christ’s presence as we press into “eager anticipation” for all God has for us in Christ Jesus! (Romans 8:19, Ephesians 1:11-12) One practice that reminds us of Christ’s love displayed in coming and returning is regularly confessing our sin. While not as exciting as preparing for Christmas, confessing our sin reminds us that Christ loved us enough to not only pay the sin-debt we owe, but return again to take us Home as His Bride forever!

Praying Scripture back to the One who wrote it in the first place is a great way to jump start our prayer-life! Pray this passage from Philippians 2:7b-8 back to the Lord and
let His Spirit speak to you through it!

And when He had come as a man,
He humbled Himself by becoming obedient
to the point of death—
even to death on a cross.

Prayer Journal
Lord, I know I am eternally blessed because I belong to You. In this love, I see Your hand even the negative and painful things of life. When I am intentional to remember that You are always good, and You will always do good things, You provide peace and assurance whatever my circumstances look like. I confess to You, Lord, that when I shift my focus off Your good character, I slip into fear and anxiety, anger and bitterness as I focus on the challenges in life instead of You. Forgive me of these times of choosing self over You!

Help me to seek You first in all things. Help me to see you in the regular daily rhythms of life. Reflect Your goodness through me to others. Lord, I pray this Christmas season would signal an advent of my own walk with You; a fresh preparation to welcome You as my Kingly Shepherd.

I praise You for choosing to take on flesh and dwell among us. We are Your creation, and you desire relationship with us, but we, – I –, am so very fallible. Remind me to cling to the truth: I am loved, seen, and heard by You.

Worship Through Community

Can we pray for you? Reach Out! We’d love to pray for and with you!
Send us an email at prayer@gracefullytruthful.com

Build community, be transparent, and encourage others:
Share how God spoke to you today!
Comment Here or in our Facebook Community Group!

Worship Through Prayer

Worship Through Music

Advent Day 14 The Carol of Abraham & Isaac: Digging Deeper

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Digging Deeper Days

Finding the original intent of Scripture and making good application to our everyday lives as we become equipped to correctly handle the Word of Truth!

Yesterday’s Journey Study connects with today’s!
Check out The Carol of Abraham & Isaac!

The Questions

1) How could Abraham agree to obey God’s request? (verse 3)

2) What is the nuanced meaning behind “only son”? (verse 2)

3) Why is this particular narrative important?

Genesis 22:1-8

After these things God tested Abraham and said to him, “Abraham!”

“Here I am,” he answered.

2 “Take your son,” he said, “your only son Isaac, whom you love, go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains I will tell you about.”

3 So Abraham got up early in the morning, saddled his donkey, and took with him two of his young men and his son Isaac. He split wood for a burnt offering and set out to go to the place God had told him about. 4 On the third day Abraham looked up and saw the place in the distance. 5 Then Abraham said to his young men, “Stay here with the donkey. The boy and I will go over there to worship; then we’ll come back to you.” 6 Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and laid it on his son Isaac. In his hand he took the fire and the knife, and the two of them walked on together.

7 Then Isaac spoke to his father Abraham and said, “My father.”

And he replied, “Here I am, my son.”

Isaac said, “The fire and the wood are here, but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?”

8 Abraham answered, “God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.” Then the two of them walked on together.

Original Intent

1) How could Abraham agree to obey God’s request? (verse 3)
Abraham had a long-standing relationship with Jehovah God. He was familiar with hearing from God directly. He’d also gone back and forth with God as he interceded for the welfare of the cities Sodom and Gomorrah. (Genesis 18:16-33) He asked God for confirmation regarding God’s promise that his future descendants would dwell in the land of Promise. (Genesis 15:8) God told Abraham his descendants would be  as numerous as grains of sand (Genesis 22:17) or stars in the sky (Genesis 15:5). This story detailing God’s command to sacrifice Abraham’s heir appears as if God is revoking His covenant promise. Why didn’t Abraham argue with Jehovah about this as he had previously pleaded for the people of Sodom and Gomorrah? Didn’t Abraham place more value on his son’s life than on a few residents dwelling in wicked cities? Careful, holistic reading of Scripture reveals this particular scene in Abraham’s life is again mentioned in Hebrews’ listing of “Heroes of Faith”. (Hebrews 11:8-12). He had such faith in God he confidently knew God would somehow make it right, even if it meant raising Isaac from the dead. A burnt offering meant that the entire object of sacrifice was to be wholly consumed. This was also a pagan land; child sacrifices were not unheard of, but this went totally against Jehovah. (Jeremiah 7:31) Abraham knew this, even as he saddled his donkey, even as he chopped the wood and placed it on Isaac’s back for the offering. He knew somehow God would provide. As evidenced by his comment to his servants, “We will return.” (verse 5) Unlike New Testament times, no one had been raised from the dead. Abraham’s faith was anchored on what he confidently knew to be true about God. Nothing else mattered.

2) What is the nuanced meaning behind “only son”? (verse 2)
We read this passage and wonder why God specifically instructed Abraham to bring “your only son” in verse 2 when God clearly knew Abraham had two sons, Isaac and Ishmael. (Genesis 17:18-19) God also knew that Ishmael was the result of Abraham’s lack of faith when he listened to his wife, Sarah, and slept with Sarah’s slave, Hagar. While this wasn’t God’s plan for marriage, it was culturally acceptable to have children through a slave woman; any offspring would then belong to the patriarch. God emphasized that Abraham and Sarah’s plan wasn’t His by using the language of “your only son” because Isaac was the only son of promise. He was the one God had promised would be born to Abraham and Sarah; he would be the heir through whom God would fulfill His covenant. (Genesis 17:19) Through Isaac, the “only son”, God would bless all peoples and his descendants would outnumber the stars and sands. Ishmael represented the “work of man” as Hagar and Abraham took God’s promise and decided to accomplish it by their own power. Isaac is the “work of God” for his birth was outlandishly far beyond human ability. No woman is physically able to conceive a child long past child-bearing years, but God allowed it to showcase that His work would faithfully come to pass by His own hand. At the beginning of Abraham’s story, God promises “…all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.” (Genesis 12:3) This was begun with Isaac’s birth and fulfilled when, through Isaac’s lineage, Christ Jesus, the “only Son” of God, was born to save all people from their sin if they turn to Him in faith. (John 3:16) Jehovah God was not going to disregard His promise to Abraham; He is eternally faithful! (Hebrews 10:23)

3) Why is this particular narrative important?
Everything contained in Scripture is beneficial for training us how to follow Christ; through His Words, the Holy Spirit equips us to live out what it looks like in everyday life to love God and love others. (2 Timothy 3:16-17) No story should be overlooked, for these are all the words of God, given to us that we might know Him better and understand ourselves and the world around us more clearly. Abraham’s journey in following God was pot-holed and twisting, yet the Lord never left him or decided not to fulfill His purposes in Abraham’s life. Abraham had connived with his wife to jumpstart God’s plan to birth a son and he lied on multiple occasions to save his own life, even putting his wife in jeopardy. Abraham followed, albeit unfaithfully at several points, but God used his faith and led Abraham to know and trust Him more fully over time. This wasn’t to Abraham’s credit, but to God’s! This scene from Abraham’s life comes decades after he had first trusted God to lead him. The faith we see in this narrative has been built up over significant time. This faith wasn’t new, it wasn’t testing the waters, it was no longer arrogant and self-trusting, it was refined to a humble love and quick obedience. God placed this particular narrative in Scripture to remind us that faith is foundational, but God’s faithfulness will do the work that we cannot. Ultimately, He proved this by dying in our place as the perfect sacrifice for all sin for all time. All we must do is turn to Him with faith that, while it may begin small, God will ensure it grows rich and full over time spent following Him.

Everyday Application

1) How could Abraham agree to obey God’s request? (verse 3)
Have you ever been asked by God to do the impossible? Maybe it’s giving beyond your comfort zone, going overseas or across the street to tell someone about Jesus, or forgiving the one who harmed you. Following God actually is impossible without faith and the work of the Holy Spirit giving us power to follow Him. (Hebrews 11:6, 2 Peter 1:3) Unlike the popular catchphrase, “God won’t give you more than you can handle”, Scripture teaches God will indeed give us more than we can handle. That’s His intent, for when we realize we cannot, we realize HE can! Paul wrote, “But He (God) said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is perfected in weakness.” Therefore, I will most gladly boast all the more about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may reside in me. So I take pleasure in weaknesses, (…) for the sake of Christ. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” (2 Corinthians 12:9-10) When we are faced with a test causing us to rely solely on what we know to be true of God, we are in Abraham’s shoes. New Testament disciple, James, writes, “Consider it a great joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you experience various trials, because you know that the testing of your faith produces endurance…”. (James 1:2) Sometimes, we confuse tests from God with trials and temptations from the enemy. Tests from God will always bring Him glory as He builds maturity in us. Even if we face a difficult temptation to sin, the Lord is faithful to provide a way of escaping sin’s allure. (1 Corinthians 10:13) With surrender to Christ, trusting His ways, we can say with Paul, “I am able to do all things through Him (Christ) who gives me strength.” (Philippians 4:13)

2) What is the nuanced meaning behind “only son”? (verse 2)
Do you feel alone? Unseen? Abandoned? The only one who sins or struggles with doubt? The only one unreachable by God? You are not alone. God created you and God sees you. Just as deeply as Abraham was known and his future was seen by the Almighty God, despite how it may have felt, so is yours. He also sees your sin, your heart (even if it’s dark), and He desires to redeem you and show you Himself, giving you Hope! God the Father’s only son, Jesus Christ, who is Himself God, came to the world incarnate (wrapped in flesh) for the purpose of paying the penalty of our sin, forgiving us, and making us new. We all have sinned and fallen short of God’s glory. (Romans 3:23) But God is faithful. Oh, so very faithful! His faithfulness is sure, certain, and able to withstand the whole weight of our lives today and our eternity stretching forward. Abraham heard God’s command to sacrifice his only son, and God provided a ram for the sacrifice instead. (Genesis 22:13-14) Centuries later, on another hill not far from Abraham’s altar, God sacrificed Himself in our place. He became “Isaac’s ram”, providing perfectly for him, and us. God holds out this providential forgiveness to all of us. To accept this lavish, undeserved gift, we can come to God in faith, trusting Him at His promise to forgive, and repenting (turning away) from the heavy weight of our sin, surrendering our all to the God who Faithfully Provides. When we do this, God gives us Himself both now and for eternity.

3) Why is this particular narrative important?
When we need help in strengthening our faith, we can look to the heroes of the faith who have walked before us. The author of Hebrews tells many stories of people who began as ordinary, but whose faith was cultivated by God’s hand as they surrendered to God one step at a time. (Hebrews 11:1-12:2) Adding to these biographies, who do you know in your own life that truly follows God in full surrender, even if their lives aren’t perfect? Who encourages you to know God more deeply? Reach out, thank that person for their example of faith! At Gracefully Truthful, we’ve studied many whose lives have been set on trusting God. Visit “Previous Journeys” and look for “Sketched” themes! We could read Abraham’s story and leave it categorized as another good biography of a man of faith who lived in total surrender to God, believing unswervingly that God would faithfully fulfill His plan. But this story tells more than simply the faith of one man. We also glimpse Isaac carrying the burden of wood and humbly submitting to being bound to the altar in full trust of his father. Fast forward centuries later to God in the form of man, Himself in total surrender to His Father praying in a Garden, carrying His burden of a cross on His back, and willingly becoming the ultimate sacrifice of the World. One man’s humble obedience pointed forward to the divine Christ, humbly becoming “obedient to the point of death, even to death on a cross” (Philippians 2:8) that we might be rescued forever and covered by His forgiveness! He chose you, will you choose Him?

What do YOU think?! Share Here!
Missing the connection to our other Journey Study?
Catch up with The Carol of Abraham & Isaac!

Digging Deeper is for Everyone!

1) Take this passage (or any other passage).
2) Read it, and the verses around it,
several times
3) Write down your questions
as you think of them.
4) Ask specific culture related questions and be ready to dig around for your answers. Google them, use www.studylight.org, or look them up in a study Bible and read the footnotes (click on the little letters next to a word and it will show you
other related verses!). (www.esvbible.org)
5) Check your applications with other trusted Christians that you are in community with and embrace the fullness of God
in your everyday!

Digging Deeper Community

Share What You’ve Learned!
Pray Together!
Join us in the GT Facebook Community!

Our Current Study Theme!

This is Advent Week Three!
Don’t miss out on the discussion!
Sign up to receive every GT Journey Study!

Why Dig Deeper?

Finding the original meaning is a huge deal when we study Scripture and can make all the difference in our understanding as we apply God’s truths to our everyday lives.

In our modern-day relationships, we want people to understand our original intention as we communicate; how much more so between God and humanity?!

Here’s a little bit more on why we take Digging Deeper so seriously.

Study Tools

We love getting help while we study and www.studylight.org is one of many excellent resources, providing the original Hebrew (Old Testament) or Greek (New Testament) with an English translation.

Want to know more about a specific word in a verse? Click on “Strong’s Interlinear Bible” then click the word you’d like to study. Discover “origin”, “definition” and hear the original pronunciation – That Is Awesome!

Want more background? Click “Study Tools”, then pick a few commentaries to read their scholarly approach, keeping in mind that just because a commentary says it, doesn’t mean it’s true. (just like the internet :-))

Memorize It!

Download this week’s verse and make it your phone’s lockscreen!
Tap and hold on your mobile device to save.

Advent Day 13 The Carol of Abraham & Isaac

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Read His Words Before Ours!

Genesis 22:1-18
Hebrews 12:1-3
John 19:1-42

Advent, Day 13

Genesis 22 begins with the Lord directing His devoted follower, Abraham, to travel to Mount Moriah and offer Isaac as an offering of worship.
Isaac, the long-awaited son of Abraham’s old age.
Isaac, the miracle child through whom God promised to fulfill His covenant with Abraham.
Isaac, to be the first of Abraham’s descendants more numerous than the stars in the sky.

Isaac, to be bound and laid on an altar, his blood spilled by his father’s hand, his body consumed by flames.

Wait . . . what?

At first glance, this story seems to be nonsensical at best, contradictory to everything we believe about God’s character at worst. But dig in, sisters, because today we’re going to see how our good and loving God used Abraham and Isaac’s story to foreshadow the promise of Jesus’ sacrifice and the redemption it would bring.

Dashing through the snow in a one horse open sleigh . . .

While I don’t know the climate of the region through which Abraham and Isaac traveled to reach the site of their offering, I imagine snow probably did not dot the landscape, certainly not the drifts that come to mind when singing this classic Christmas carol. Singing carols of generations past and new lyrics to celebrate the season is a favorite tradition. Suppose we were to consider the threads of ancient biblical biographies as lines to a Christmas carol that all creation has longed to sing in preparation for the coming King?

It came upon a midnight clear, that glorious song of old…

Upon hearing the Lord’s voice, Abraham responded with immediate obedience.
He ensured that when he arrived at the correct location, he would have everything he needed to do exactly what the Lord had commanded. He had the wood, the fire, the knife, and Isaac. (Genesis 22:3)

When they reached the point of leaving the donkey and servants behind, Abraham put the wood on Isaac’s back and they finished the last distance to the burnt offering site, just the two of them. (Genesis 22:4-6)

Is anyone else catching the foreshadowing to Jesus’ sacrifice for us?
No, they weren’t singing songs of celebration, but a chorus of rescue was being woven by the Lord God just the same.

Abraham knew the burnt offering must be accomplished because the Lord had commanded it. God the Father knew Jesus’ sacrifice must be completed in order for us to have eternal communion with Him.

Isaac carried the wood. (Genesis 22:6)
Jesus carried the cross. (John 19:17)

Joy to the world, the Lord has come…

What went through Abraham’s mind as he bound Isaac? Did he wonder if the Lord would provide a substitutionary sacrifice? Did he start to process how the Lord might resurrect Isaac if no physical ram arrived? Did he believe he was truly saying goodbye to his promised heir and beloved son, Isaac?

No matter the answers to those questions, Abraham still raised the knife in preparation to spill Isaac’s blood as required for a true offering. Abraham trusted the outcome of his obedience to the Lord.

God the Father still allowed Jesus to be crucified. At any moment, He could have called down all the force of heaven to stop Jesus’ crucifixion, in His becoming the offering for our sins, but the Father knew the outcome of Jesus’ obedience and saw that it was for our eternal good. God saw the joy on the other side of the sacrifice: eternity with us.

The manger scene wasn’t the beginning of the Christmas carol. Its chords echo all the way back through the prophets, the kings, and one man’s obedience to worship the Lord by offering his only son.

Do you hear what I hear? 

What must Isaac have been thinking when he asked Abraham where the lamb would come from? Did his trust in his father begin to waver at all as his dad bound him and laid him on the altar?

What sense of relief and exaltation must Abraham have felt when he heard the Lord tell him to stop his raised hand from killing Isaac? Did the bleating of the ram evermore become the sound reminding him of God’s faithfulness?

In the Genesis 22 account, we witness how Isaac trusted his father,
and in turn trusted the Lord.

Jesus trusted God the Father as He willingly allowed Himself to be nailed to the cross.

Isaac was spared by the ram in the bush the Lord provided.
We were spared from the cost of our sins by Jesus, the Lamb crucified.

Indeed,
O come let us adore Him . . .
The One who gave Himself that we might be forever rescued from the weight of our sin.
This is a carol, whose vibrancy has been building since time began.

Go, tell it on the mountain that Jesus Christ is born…

Oh Lord, thank You for loving us with such intentionality and intensity! You knew of the sacrifice Jesus would make centuries after Abraham and Isaac lived. You commanded and documented a parallel story to help us see just how long You have been preparing our salvation.

Jesus, thank You for walking out the story to a completion Isaac never could have. Thank You for becoming the sacrifice that became the payment for our sins.

This Christmas, as the air is filled with Christmas songs new and old, may we embrace the Christmas gift the Lord anticipated giving us from the very beginning: Jesus and eternity with Him.

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He Day 7 Yahweh Jireh: Digging Deeper

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Digging Deeper Days

Finding the original intent of Scripture and making good application to our everyday lives as we become equipped to correctly handle the Word of Truth!

Yesterday’s Journey Study connects with today’s!
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The Questions

1) Why would God ask Abraham to gruesomely slaughter his son? (verse 10)

2) How does the Lord provide for Abraham? (verse 14)

3) What was required from Abraham before God blessed him? (verses 17-18)

Genesis 22:10-18

Then Abraham reached out and took the knife to slaughter his son.
11 But the angel of the Lord called to him from heaven and said, “Abraham, Abraham!”
He replied, “Here I am.”

12 Then he said, “Do not lay a hand on the boy or do anything to him. For now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your only son from me.” 13 Abraham looked up and saw a ram caught in the thicket by its horns. So Abraham went and took the ram and offered it as a burnt offering in place of his son. 14 And Abraham named that place The Lord Will Provide, so today it is said, “It will be provided on the Lord’s mountain.”

15 Then the angel of the Lord called to Abraham a second time from heaven 16 and said, “By myself I have sworn,” this is the Lord’s declaration: “Because you have done this thing and have not withheld your only son, 17 I will indeed bless you and make your offspring as numerous as the stars of the sky and the sand on the seashore. Your offspring will possess the city gates of their enemies. 18 And all the nations of the earth will be blessed by your offspring because you have obeyed my command.”

Original Intent

1) Why would God ask Abraham to gruesomely slaughter his son? (verse 10)
To be abundantly clear, God had zero interest in ever killing Abraham’s son. The Lord God has always been adamantly opposed to child sacrifice (Leviticus 20:2-5, Jeremiah 32:35) and protects life against all odds all throughout Scripture. (Genesis 21:15-18, Matthew 19:14-15) Even in this passage, an angel of the Lord was sent by God to ensure no harm came to Isaac. (verses 11-12) This recorded incident wasn’t really about Isaac at all, it was about Abraham. God knew Abraham cherished nothing more highly than his beloved only son, Isaac. God Himself had given Isaac to Abraham when both he and his wife, Sarah, were far too old to bear children. Sarah was around 90 and Abraham was 100 years old! (Genesis 21:5) Isaac was the son of God’s promise, the visible, tangible sign of God’s faithful promise to make Abraham into a great nation. God had given this promise when Abraham was only 75 years old (Genesis 12:1-4). For 15 long years, God taught Abraham to keep trusting Him, and Him alone to fulfill His promise that Abraham couldn’t see with his eyes and could only believe by faith. Abraham followed in obedience and humility, albeit not perfectly, but he did consistently choose to trust God over himself. Now that Isaac was here, and several years had passed, Abraham’s love priorities had begun shifting off the Almighty and onto his son, Isaac. (Genesis 22:2) As Abraham’s heart shifted, he became in danger of worshipping an idol, his son, instead of the Lord God who had given Isaac. For Abraham’s good, God commanded Abraham to sacrifice Isaac as an offering to the Lord. Again, this wasn’t about Isaac, God would preserve Isaac’s life, this was about cutting out idol worship from Abraham’s heart.

 2) How does the Lord provide for Abraham? (verse 14)
Abraham, with knife raised, was face to face with death, but it wasn’t death of his son, even though it obviously appeared that way. Abraham, by physically offering up his son, whom he dearly loved, to the Lord God, was slaying his pride on the altar that day. As the angel of God called aloud for Abraham to stay his knife, and both Abraham and Isaac gulped in oxygen in astonished gratefulness, Yahweh Jirah provided a ram for the physical sacrifice to take the place of Isaac. But even before Abraham caught sight of the ram’s horns caught in a thicket, the Lord God revealed the greater way He had provided for Abraham in that moment where life and death had hung in the balance. “Now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your only son from me.” (verse 12) For clarity, God already knew Abraham would choose to follow through in obedience to God’s command of sacrificing Isaac because He is the all-knowing God. This journey up the side of Mt. Moriah wasn’t commanded for God’s benefit, but for Abraham’s. Abraham’s love for Isaac was deep and all-consuming, threatening to overtake his love and devotion for God. As Abraham wrestled with his faith, as he took one more step up the mountain, as he prepared the alter, as he bound his beloved son and laid him on it, as he picked up his knife, each decision led him more firmly to worship the Lord God and release Isaac from the pedestal he had placed him on. God provided the ram for the physical sacrifice, but God provided humility in place of pride in Abraham’s heart.

3) What was required from Abraham before God blessed him? (verses 17-18)
Abraham decided to go all in for obeying God with absolutely no turning back, because, of course, once the knife pierced Isaac’s heart, there was no other choice Abraham could make. This was the point when God stopped Abraham. Total obedience. The Lord instantly spoke truth over Abraham, reassuring him that God saw his heart, and more so Abraham could know his own heart, that he really did fear and honor and love God more than anyone or anything else. But Abraham had to walk through all the wrestling before he could know for himself that yes, he did worship God more than his own pride. It was later, after the ram had been provided, after Isaac had been loosed, after the ram had gladly been slain instead of Isaac, perhaps it was after tears were shed and words of praise flowed freely from aged lips that God spoke again. “Because you have done this thing and have not withheld your only son, I will indeed bless you and make your offspring as numerous as the stars of the sky and the sand on the seashore.” (verses 16-17) Obedience. Total surrender. Faith. Then blessing. Suppose Abraham had never made the trek up the mountain, never wrestled through whether he trusted God more than his own heart, and had never crossed over into total surrender. How miserable would he have been? How distant God would been from him relationally!

Everyday Application

1) Why would God ask Abraham to gruesomely slaughter his son? (verse 10)
The Lord God was willing to make a big ask of Abraham because He knew Abraham could not experience the fullness of God’s blessing and love on his life if his heart was given over to an idol. God gave this strange command to Abraham because He loved Abraham too dearly to allow him to wreck his life without an alternate course of action provided. Yahweh Jirah is translated “The Lord Will Provide”, and of course, He provided the ram to be killed as an offering of worship instead of Isaac. But what a gift that the Lord provided the opportunity for Abraham to recognize the sin growing in his heart and surrender anew to the One True God, Yahweh! How kind of the Lord to offer renewal and repentance as He saw Abraham beginning to walk away from worshipping God alone; such good-hearted love! How tenderly and sweetly the Lord does the same for us! The Lord jealously guards the hearts of those who have trusted Him for life and salvation because of His great love for us. He wants all other idols violently torn down, not because He is ego-centric, but because He knows that only when our eyes are fixed solely on Him are we in a position to accept His gracious love and abundance in our lives and we are free to walk away from the entanglements of sin. Where is Yahweh Jirah providing opportunity for you to repent from your own idol worship?

2) How does the Lord provide for Abraham? (verse 14)
The dramatic scene that unfolded that day on Mt. Moriah deeply impacted Abraham. God had personally come to set his heart free from worship of any other, but the Lord God. I have no doubt Abraham came down that mountainside a changed man, forever looking at his son a little differently, a little more clearly, because he could see through Isaac to the God who lovingly made Isaac and provided for Abraham. Today, Mt. Moriah is covered by the Temple Dome and the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem. Why should we care? Because this is the location King David chose for the temple to be built where sacrifices would be offered to God for the forgiveness of sin. Again, why do we care? Because it was in this city of Jerusalem, built on the mountain where God had called out Abraham’s sin and provided a ram in place of killing Isaac, that God provided for all humanity by giving up His own dearly loved Son, Jesus. God would not lay a hand on Isaac, but He turned His back on Jesus as He took the punishment for the world’s sin on the cross. When Yahweh Jirah provided for Abraham on a hot, sticky day thousands of years ago, He knew He would one day pour out the lifeblood of His Son as means of providing you and me the pathway to return to right relationship with God. Sin marred Abraham’s worship of God, just as it does ours today. The same God who jealously loved Abraham’s heart also loves ours! How will we respond to such love?!

3) What was required from Abraham before God blessed him? (verses 17-18)
Disobedience always brings distance. Obedience, however, always brings blessing. We won’t all receive Abraham’s blessing for our obedience, because that was given specifically to him, but that doesn’t negate the surety of the blessing. If I could sit across from you, and you gave me permission to yammer on about how God has abundantly provided for me as I followed Him small step by small step in obedience, you’d be stuck at that coffee shop for hours and hours! In simple ways and in significant ones, Yahweh Jirah has oh so faithfully provided His blessing as I chose total surrender. In transparency, scattered all along the way, are plenty of examples of me choosing pride and self or fear and doubt over total trust. The results are always the same. When I push back against the Lord, it’s never a comfortable place of delight and satisfaction. Where does the Lord ask for total surrender in our lives? Here’s the whole truth, every part of it. He doesn’t want to bargain for a section of our lives, or ask for appearances on Sunday while we trash our relationships during the week. He wants the entirety of our selves. The more we surrender, the richer our delight in Him becomes!

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Digging Deeper is for Everyone!

1) Take this passage (or any other passage).
2) Read it, and the verses around it,
several times
3) Write down your questions
as you think of them.
4) Ask specific culture related questions and be ready to dig around for your answers. Google them, use www.studylight.org, or look them up in a study Bible and read the footnotes (click on the little letters next to a word and it will show you
other related verses!). (www.esvbible.org)
5) Check your applications with other trusted Christians that you are in community with and embrace the fullness of God
in your everyday!

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Why Dig Deeper?

Finding the original meaning is a huge deal when we study Scripture and can make all the difference in our understanding as we apply God’s truths to our everyday lives.

In our modern-day relationships, we want people to understand our original intention as we communicate; how much more so between God and humanity?!

Here’s a little bit more on why we take Digging Deeper so seriously.

Study Tools

We love getting help while we study and www.studylight.org is one of many excellent resources, providing the original Hebrew (Old Testament) or Greek (New Testament) with an English translation.

Want to know more about a specific word in a verse? Click on “Strong’s Interlinear Bible” then click the word you’d like to study. Discover “origin”, “definition” and hear the original pronunciation – That Is Awesome!

Want more background? Click “Study Tools”, then pick a few commentaries to read their scholarly approach, keeping in mind that just because a commentary says it, doesn’t mean it’s true. (just like the internet :-))

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