Isaac

We will be looking at the testing by God of Abraham. First though, I would like to briefly look at a temptation and testing of the Apostle Peter in order to examine some of the factors that come into play in the testing of anyone, including us.

We must all realize that God already knows the outcome of all of the events that face us in our life. Let’s see if we can look at Peter’s challenge and discover some of the purposes to be satisfied when we face temptations and testings. 

Luke 21:22

Simon, Simon (Peter), listen! Satan has asked excessively that [all of] you be given up to him [out of the power and keeping of God], that he might sift [all of] you like grain, [Job 1:6-12; Amos 9:9] But I have prayed especially for you [Peter], that your [own] faith may not fail; and when you yourself have turned again, strengthen and establish your brethren.

If you were to do a study on Satan tempting man you would find that he always requires permission from our Father first in order to initiate any kind of attack on God’s children. What will be tested in us is the reactions that we choose that we believe will help us to cope, and perhaps survive- the temptations we are facing.- They will be based on one of two things working in us: Love or Fear.

Love always results in obedience. “If you Love me you will obey me”. Isn’t that what Jesus told us. Fear (of course) will result in our obedience to the enemy.

Here, in the above scripture, Satan has asked God ‘excessively’ for permission to sift, or test all of Jesus’s disciples. Jesus will handle it this way- He has prayed especially for Peter that Peter’s faith won’t fail and when Peter’s turned again that Peter will strengthen and establish his brethren.

‘When he’s turned again’. That is, when he’s turned from fear to faith. If you watch yourself closely in such a situation you may be able to spot this turning from fear to faith when it (hopefully) occurs in your own life.

Alright. Back to Peter and his reply.

And [Simon Peter] said to Him, Lord, I am ready to go with You both to prison and to death.

Peter, of course, is being honest- He believes that he would go to prison, or whatever because he’s sure he loves Jesus.

If I were to walk up to any believer and ask them if they love Jesus, of course (like Peter) they would reply with a honest yes. They would all claim to love the Lord. I wonder if they could pass Peter’s test.

But Jesus said, I tell you, Peter, before a [single] cock shall crow this day, you will three times [utterly] deny that you know Me.

Doesn’t look like Jesus is as sure about Peter as Peter is.

Then they seized Him and led Him away, bringing Him into the house of the high priest. Peter was following at a distance.

And when they had kindled a fire in the middle of the courtyard and were seated together, Peter sat among them.

Then a servant girl, seeing him as he sat in the firelight and gazing [intently] at him, said, This man too was with Him.

But he denied it and said, Woman, I do not know Him! 

Fear is speaking in Peter instead of faith. Let’s watch further.

And a little later someone else saw him and said, You are one of them also. But Peter said, Man, I am not! 

This is the second time. Fear is ruling Peter now.

And when about an hour more had elapsed, still another emphatically insisted, It is the truth that this man also was with Him, for he too is a Galilean!

Peter encounters his third test.

But Peter said, Man, I do not know what you are talking about. And instantly, while he was still speaking, the cock crowed. And the Lord turned and looked at Peter. And Peter recalled the Lord’s words, how He had told him, Before the cock crows today, you will deny Me thrice.  And he went out and wept bitterly.

Peter has come to realize the truth about himself. He has been disillusioned by the test. None of us appreciate being disillusioned however,it is really a good thing because it means we have lost an illusion that we believed was real. Each time this happens to us it brings us closer to the real truth about ourselves. Never resent it when God disillusions you. Now we see and understand God’s purpose in this temptation and testing. Not that God finds out the truth, He already knows it. But because Jesus really loves Peter and the rest, Peter now knows more of the truth about himself and his love towards Jesus. Remember, ‘we love Him because He first loved us’. It’s OK to admit to Him that you don’t love Him. God does not expect or appreciate it when we try to manufacture love for Him. He will eventually produce the real thing in us. He never reaps where He doesn’t sow.

So then, this is often God’s purpose for us in His tests! That we realize the truth about ourselves.

 

AFTER THESE events, God tested and proved Abraham and said to him, Abraham! And he said, Here I am.  [God] said, Take now your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the region of Moriah; and offer him there as a burnt offering upon one of the mountains of which I will tell you.

That is: after the birth of Isaac, and thr casting out of Hagar. We are watching complete obedience out of the love of God that has been birthed within Abraham from knowing the Lord.

But what a command to Abraham. Isaac is the promised child, The child that every covenant promise from God depends on. In fact, God refers to Isaac as Abraham’s only son and the one Abraham loves. Ishmael doesn’t exist as far as Gud is concerned

Maybe it is intended that we get a small glimpse of the Father giving Jesus as a sacrifice for the sins of the world. Perhaps it hurt God’s heart in someway similar to the pain Abraham must feel at this moment. The things that are racing through Abraham’s mind must almost be intolerable.

So Abraham rose early in the morning, saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him and his son Isaac; and he split the wood for the burnt offering, and then began the trip to the place of which God had told him.

On the third day Abraham looked up and saw the place in the distance.

‘On the third day’ we see this a lot in various places in scripture. It’s always meant to refer us to the three days Jesus was dead. A type of resurrection will follow shortly.

And Abraham said to his servants, Settle down and stay here with the donkey, and I and the young man will go yonder and worship and come again to you. Then Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and laid it on [the shoulders of ] Isaac his son, and he took the fire (the firepot) in his own hand, and a knife; and the two of them went on together. 

Notice that Issac carries the wood. This speaks to us of Jesus, forced to carry the wooden cross that was used to crucify Him.

And Isaac said to Abraham, My father! And he said, Here I am, my son. [Isaac] said, See, here are the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for the burnt sacrifice? Abraham said, My son, God Himself will provide a lamb for the burnt offering.

Issac is getting nervous. I’m sure the enemy is flooding Isaac and Abraham’s minds with everything he can come up with to cause them to doubt the outcome of this situation. Jesus Himself sweated drops of blood in the garden waiting and praying before they finally took Him. More and more this all this looks like a distinct type and shadow of the death and resurrection of Jesus.

So the two went on together. When they came to the place of which God had told him, Abraham built an altar there; then he laid the wood in order and bound Isaac his son and laid him on the altar on the wood. And Abraham stretched forth his hand and took hold of the knife to slay his son. But the Angel of the Lord called to him from heaven and said, Abraham, Abraham! He answered, Here I am. And He said, Do not lay your hand on the lad or do anything to him;

Looking at this (and the rest) we are looking at a type and shadow of salvation, because just as we all deserve to hang on the cross instead of Jesus, we all deserve to take Isaac’s place on Abraham’s altar. But God did not allow death to touch us when we were guilty.

for now I know that you fear and revere God, since you have not held back from Me or begrudged giving Me your son, your only son.

For we also are saved from death because God did not withhold or begrudge giving His only son, the son He loved for us.

Then Abraham looked up and glanced around, and behold, behind him was a ram caught in a thicket by his horns.

A clear type of Jesus who was caught by the thorns and thistles which God said was all that fallen man’s ideas and thoughts could yield out of the cursed ground man was made of. Something Satan believed would rid him of the son of God which he (Satan) can only hate. Satan’s best shot only provided salvation for the children of God because death could not keep Jesus.

And Abraham went and took the ram and offered it up for a burnt offering and an ascending sacrifice instead of his son! So Abraham called the name of that place The Lord Will Provide. And it is said to this day, On the mount of the Lord it will be provided.

And God did provide for you and I.

The Angel of the Lord called to Abraham from heaven a second time And said, I have sworn by Myself,

All the covenant promises made to Abraham when God made a covenant with him in Gen 15 and expanded throughout the birth of Isaac are ours because God swore by Himself to Abraham during the creation of that covenant.

says the Lord, that since you have done this and have not withheld [from Me] or begrudged [giving Me] your son, your only son,

Because Abraham has so glorified (shown who God is) God by his obedience. Those of us who are ‘in Christ’ (see below) the ‘seed’ (singular) of Issac will bless and be blessed.

In blessing I will bless you and in multiplying I will multiply your descendants like the stars of the heavens and like the sand on the seashore. And your Seed (Heir) will possess the gate of His enemies, And in your Seed [Christ] shall all the nations of the earth be blessed and [by Him] bless themselves, because you have heard and obeyed My voice. 

Praying all of you have a great holiday season. More later-

ISAAC Part Two

Of course, Issac was born as The Lord has said.

Not long after, when Issac was weaned, Abraham held a great feast in honor of his son Issac. Sarah had a problem with Hagar the Egyptian, the mother of Ismael.

Let’s look back at that event-

And Abraham circumcised his son Isaac when he was eight days old, as God had commanded him. Abraham was a hundred years old when Isaac was born. And Sarah said, God has made me to laugh; all who hear will laugh with me. And she said, Who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children at the breast? For I have borne him a son in his old age! And the child grew and was weaned, and Abraham made a great feast the same day that Isaac was weaned.

Now Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, whom she had borne to Abraham, mocking [Isaac]. Therefore she said to Abraham, Cast out this bondwoman and her son, for the son of this bondwoman shall not be an heir with my son Isaac.

Abraham was very upset at Sarah over this but, The Lord spoke to Abraham changing his mind and giving Sarah the freedom to do with Hagar whatever she desired- and Hagar had to leave.

Paul the Apostle has something to say about this event that is very good news for those of us who are born again. Galatians four:

For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by the bondmaid and one by the free woman.

This is speaking of Ismael the son of Hagar the bondmaid and Isaac the son of Sarah the free woman.

But whereas the child of the slave woman was born according to the flesh and had an ordinary birth,

Of course, this would be Ishmael who was born to Hagar according to the desires of the flesh and in the normal way.  Sarah believed this way would fulfill God’s promise.

the son of the free woman was born in fulfillment of the promise.

Isaac, the son of Sarah who was free, was born to her when it was impossible for her to have a child at her age without the miracle birth fulfilling God’s promise.

Now all this is an allegory; these [two women] represent two covenants. One covenant originated from Mount Sinai where the Law was given and bears children destined for slavery; this is Hagar. Now Hagar stands for Mount Sinai in Arabia and she (Hagar) corresponds to and belongs in the same category with the present Jerusalem, for she is in bondage together with her children.

But the Jerusalem above ( the Messianic kingdom of Christ) is free, and she is our mother.

When we were born again, from above, the Jerusalem that exists in the Heavens became our mother.

 As it is written in the Scriptures, Rejoice, O barren woman, who has not given birth to children; break forth into a joyful shout, you who are not feeling birth pangs, for the desolate woman has many more children than she who has a husband.

But we, brethren, are children [not by physical descent, as was Ishmael, but] like Isaac, born in virtue of promise.

We exist and are a child of God because our new birth was promised ‘in Christ’ before the foundation of the world (see Ephesians One). We are ‘ingrafted’ into the covenant, along with it’s promises, of Abraham.  

I will resume with Issac in the next post- hope you will soak this up.

God Bless you all-

ISAAC- THE COVENANT PROMISES OF GOD

We left off when God changed Abram’s name to Abraham. This was because God had made a change in Abraham’s nature, both physically and spiritually. He was now changed from a Father of a great Nation’ (Israel) into ‘ a Father of a multitude of Nations’. While the promise of the birth of Israel was accomplished under the name of Abram it left the multitude of Nations under the name of Abraham yet to be accomplished. We showed you  that the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ gave birth to a spiritual Nation or Nations. True Children of God by faith through God’s born again experience. Perhaps one of God’s Children is reading this post. This was God’s plan as revealed to us to this point. One New Man to be made up off both the Jew and Christian.

But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility  by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility. And he came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near. For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father. So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.

 Let us resume now by looking at the life of Issac and how he fits into the revelation of the Trinity-

And God said to Abraham, “As for Sarai your wife, you shall not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall be her name.  I will bless her, and moreover, I will give you a son by her. I will bless her, and she shall become nations; kings of peoples shall come from her.”  

God has made changes in Sarai also. She is a new being in God’s eyes, hence her name change. God knows exactly who it is that He wants to be the parents of the child to be born. She (like Abraham), is to be extraordinary.

Then Abraham fell on his face and laughed and said to himself, “Shall a child be born to a man who is a hundred years old? Shall Sarah, who is ninety years old, bear a child?”

So we shall see also that neither Sarah or Abraham display any great faith in God’s promise at this point. They are both aware that they cannot cause God’s promise to manifest itself through their efforts. This promise is physically impossible for them to fulfill. 

And Abraham said to God, “Oh that Ishmael might live before you!” God said, “No, but Sarah your wife shall bear you a son, and you shall call his name Isaac.

So much like us! Abraham still believes that God will somehow use our efforts and grant His promise out of them. He can’t see a way in the natural so he invents one. He cry’s out for Ishmael as a result. God is very clear. God said, “No, but Sarah your wife shall bear you a son, and you shall call his name Isaac. So God names him Isaac.

This is the second person God has named before they were birthed. The first being Ishmael. Understanding  that names can give us great insight into the nature of a person (when they have been named by God). Ishmael is a good example, for God explains his nature- 

Meeting Hagar in the desert after Sarah had told her to leave, He says to her:

“Behold, you are pregnant
and shall bear a son.
You shall call his name Ishmael,
because the LORD has listened to your affliction.

He shall be a wild donkey of a man,
his hand against everyone
and everyone’s hand against him,
and he shall dwell over against all his kinsmen.”

Speaking of Isaac, God says:

I will establish my covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his offspring after him.

God will establish His covenant with Isaac and Isaac’s offspring after him.

Here now, we see two things of Issac that point to Christ:

First, Jesus is named by God before He was born. Second, like Issac then, the children of God to come must be born through Christ who is the path way to the Father.“No one can come to the Father except by me”, I believe is the way Jesus puts it.

As for Ishmael, I have heard you; behold, I have blessed him and will make him fruitful and multiply him greatly. He shall father twelve princes, and I will make him into a great nation. But I will establish my covenant with Isaac, whom Sarah shall bear to you at this time next year.” When he had finished talking with him, God went up from Abraham.

Later, three men visit Abraham and Sarah. One of them is the Lord, we must be seeing the Trinity here.

They said to him, “Where is Sarah your wife?” And he said, “She is in the tent.” The LORD said, “I will surely return to you about this time next year, and Sarah your wife shall have a son.” And Sarah was listening at the tent door behind him. Now Abraham and Sarah were old, advanced in years. The way of women had ceased to be with Sarah. 12 So Sarah laughed to herself, saying, “After I am worn out, and my lord is old, shall I have pleasure?” The LORD said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh and say, ‘Shall I indeed bear a child, now that I am old?’  Is anything too hard for the LORD? At the appointed time I will return to you, about this time next year, and Sarah shall have a son.” But Sarah denied it, saying, “I did not laugh,” for she was afraid. He said, “No, but you did laugh.” 

The LORD visited Sarah as he had said, and the LORD did to Sarah as he had promised. And Sarah conceived and bore Abraham a son in his old age at the time of which God had spoken to him. Abraham called the name of his son who was born to him, whom Sarah bore him, Isaac.

And Abraham circumcised his son Isaac when he was eight days old, as God had commanded him.  Abraham was a hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him. And Sarah said, “God has made laughter for me; everyone who hears will laugh over me.” And she said, “Who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? Yet I have borne him a son in his old age.”

And the child grew and was weaned. And Abraham made a great feast on the day that Isaac was weaned.  But Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, whom she had borne to Abraham, laughing.  So she said  to Abraham, “Cast out this slave woman with her son, for the son of this slave woman shall not be heir with my son Isaac.” And the thing was very displeasing to Abraham on account of his son.  But God said to Abraham, “Be not displeased because of the boy and because of your slave woman. Whatever Sarah says to you, do as she tells you, for through Isaac shall your offspring be named. And I will make a nation of the son of the slave woman also, because he is your offspring.”  So Abraham rose early in the morning and took bread and a skin of water and gave it to Hagar, putting it on her shoulder, along with the child, and sent her away. And she departed and wandered in the wilderness of Beersheba. 

When the water in the skin was gone, she put the child under one of the bushes.  Then she went and sat down opposite him a good way off, about the distance of a bowshot, for she said, “Let me not look on the death of the child.” And as she sat opposite him, she lifted up her voice and wept. And God heard the voice of the boy, and the angel of God called to Hagar from heaven and said to her, “What troubles you, Hagar? Fear not, for God has heard the voice of the boy where he is.  Up! Lift up the boy, and hold him fast with your hand, for I will make him into a great nation.”  

Then God opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water. And she went and filled the skin with water and gave the boy a drink. 20 And God was with the boy, and he grew up. He lived in the wilderness and became an expert with the bow. He lived in the wilderness of Paran, and his mother took a wife for him from the land of Egypt. 

Ishmael and his decedents will give Isaac a lot of trouble. Throughout the ages this trouble between the two will continue and is continuing today in the Middle East.

Thank you. More coming-