[Brother V]

Genesis 22-24

Praise Jesus.

Today we will learn about:

Abraham and Isaac (and the scape goat).

Sarah's death

Rebekah

Genesis 22:1 And it came to pass after these things, that God did tempt Abraham, and said unto him, Abraham: and he said, Behold, here I am.

2 And he said, Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of.

Now remember, don't tempt God. For Him to tempt you, well, that's another story.

Deuteronomy 6:16 Ye shall not tempt the LORD your God, as ye tempted him in Massah.

The LORD says for Abraham to take his son and sacrifice him to Him. Abraham doesn't question this, he just does His will. Which is a good lesson for us all. If the LORD tells you to do something, you do it. Abraham didn't ask why? Abraham didn't protest. Abraham didn't say "that's not morally right" "i won't do it" "WHY?"

As Isaac was preparing the altar with the wood, he asked where the lamb for the sacrifice was, but Abraham said "God will provide", which he already had provided, Isaac.

Abraham binds Isaac to the altar, raises the knife, and just at the last second... an angel calls out for him to stop. Praise Jesus, otherwise the Bible (KJV1611) would probably end there.

The LORD then provides a ram for the burnt offering instead of the child. PRAISE JESUS!!!

This was just a test, a temptation, to see what Abraham loved more, his son, or his God. Abraham passed the test.

12 And he said, Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou any thing unto him: for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son from me.

Wait, what was that last line? It was in verse 2 also.

"thine only son"

What about Ishmael?

Does he not count since Hagar and Ishmael have been sent away, with some water and bread?

Sarah dies.

Genesis 23:1 And Sarah was an hundred and seven and twenty years old: these were the years of the life of Sarah.

Genesis 23 is pretty much entirely Abraham finding a place to bury his beloved wife, the mother of his only son (other than Ishmael).

Abraham bought a cave for 400 sheckels of silver, which is kind of funny, because if you remember yesterday's reading, King Abimelech gave Abraham 1000 pieces of silver just so Abraham would take his lovely 100 year old wife away from him. Abraham made 600 sheckles off the deal.

Genesis 24 the search for Isaac's wife.

Abraham realizes he's old, so he calls in his oldest and favoritest servant to have him go find a wife for his son, because he doesn't want his boy to have to marry a Canaanite. The Canaanites were decendants of Canaan, they were black.

Genesis 24:3 And I will make thee swear by the LORD, the God of heaven, and the God of the earth, that thou shalt not take a wife unto my son of the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I dwell:

4 But thou shalt go unto my country, and to my kindred, and take a wife unto my son Isaac.

Exactly how is this oath sworn?

9 And the servant put his hand under the thigh of Abraham his master, and sware to him concerning that matter.

To Abraham, marrying a cousin would be better than marrying a darkie. The same holds true today. (Remember Abraham had just buried his wife/half sister).

Abraham's favorite servant heads off to Nahor, where he parks his camels, then he asks the LORD of his master Abraham to provide a woman for Isaac.

He comes up with a plan. The first woman/virgin who shows up to get water, and when he asks her for water, if she gives it to him AND his camels, she's the one.

Genesis 25:15 And it came to pass, before he had done speaking, that, behold, Rebekah came out, who was born to Bethuel, son of Milcah, the wife of Nahor, Abraham's brother, with her pitcher upon her shoulder.

Ok, so Rebekah is the daughter of Bethuel, the son of Milcah and Nahor (who is Abraham's brother). Still too confusing.

Terah
|
Abram
|
Isaac & Ishmael

Terah
|
Haran
|
Lot & Milcah

Terah
|
Nahor
|
Bethuel
|
Rebekah & Laban

So Isaac married Rebekah, the daughter of his first cousin.

Genesis 24:16 And the damsel was very fair to look upon, a virgin, neither had any man known her: and she went down to the well, and filled her pitcher, and came up.

Praise Jesus, you don't find any fair virgin's these days. Let alone one who is willing to fill a pitcher, and then give water to a stranger, and the stranger's camels.

Then he's invited in for a feast, and he (on behalf of Isaac) proposes to Rebekah (after retelling the story of how he asked the LORD to provide a girl giving water to him and his camels word for word)

Rebekah accepts and they head back to Isaac.

63 And Isaac went out to meditate in the field at the eventide: and he lifted up his eyes, and saw, and, behold, the camels were coming.

64 And Rebekah lifted up her eyes, and when she saw Isaac, she lighted off the camel.

65 For she had said unto the servant, What man is this that walketh in the field to meet us? And the servant had said, It is my master: therefore she took a vail, and covered herself.

66 And the servant told Isaac all things that he had done.

Isaac's out moping about over the death of him mom in a field. He sees them coming, Rebekah see's him, asks the servant if that's Isaac, he says yes, she seems happy; how happy?

67 And Isaac brought her into his mother Sarah's tent, and took Rebekah, and she became his wife; and he loved her: and Isaac was comforted after his mother's death.

And they all lived happily ever after...

So what have we learned today?

1. God doesn't like to be shown up, He asked Abraham to kill Isaac (his only son (other than Ishmael)) as an offering, later he decides to provide his own son as the LAST offering (but I'm getting ahead of myself).

2. At 127 Sarah finally dies, her burial cave costs 600 pieces of silver less than what King Abimelech gave Abraham.

3. In olden days, oaths were made by swearing while grabbing another guys inner thigh.

4. The Hebrew family tree is very straight. How after the flood Noah's children managed to repopulate the world is beyond my comprehension, especially when people never married further away than second cousins.

5. Getting a wife can comfort someone when their mother dies.

PRAISE JESUS!!!

YIC
V