Sabbath: The Promise
Image © Pacific Press
Sabbath Afternoon
Read for This Week’s Study: Genesis 22:1-24, Hebrews 11:17, Leviticus 18:21, John 1:1-3, Romans 5:6-8, Genesis 23:1-25:34, Romans 4:1-12.
Memory Text: “Now Abraham was old, well advanced in age; and the LORD had blessed Abraham in all things” (Genesis 24:1, NKJV).
Finally, as God had promised, Sarah bore Abraham a son, “in his old age” (Genesis 21:2), and he named the baby Isaac (see Genesis 21:1-5). But the story of Abraham is far from over, reaching a climactic moment with him taking his son to Mount Moriah to be sacrificed. Isaac, however, is replaced by a ram (Genesis 22:13), which signified God’s commitment to bless the nations through his “seed” (Genesis 22:17-18). That seed, of course, was Jesus (Acts 13:23). Hence, in this astonishing (and in some ways troubling) story more of the plan of salvation is revealed.
Whatever the deep spiritual lessons here, the family of Abraham, nevertheless, must have been shaken by it, and the future of Abraham is not clear. Sarah dies after the sacrifice at Moriah (Genesis chapter 23), and Isaac remains single.
Abraham then takes the initiative to make sure that the “right” future will follow him. He arranges the marriage of his son to Rebekah (Genesis chapter 24), who will give birth to two sons (Genesis 25:21-23), and Abraham himself gets married to Keturah, who will give him many children (Genesis 25:1-6). This week, we will follow Abraham to the end of his life (Genesis 25:7-11).
Study this week’s lesson to prepare for Sabbath, May 21.
(24)
Unfortunately, knowing how a story or situation turns out in the end can colour how we view details during the story - or can even lead us to 'gloss over' such altogether.
Abraham was journeying among the uncertain and the unknown. I believe we are on a very similar journey within the world in 2022. I would therefore invite you to take the time to look more deeply into the details of this week's lesson with 'fresh eyes' to try and see/learn:
*) the realities of what Abraham might have been faced with - both in terms of things within his situation and things within himself
*) how those realities are similar or different to what you are being faced with at present or can see potentially coming up on the horizon.
May God's Spirit guide you as you do this...
I love to read this story about Abraham and his history.
Without the Hebrews scriptures we would be at a great loss of understanding the *eternal covenant* the *fail/safe plan* in the Godhead before our solar time began.
Revelation 13:8 All those who live on the earth will worship it, everyone whose name was not written **before** the **foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who was slaughtered.**
Job: 1:5
Whenever a round of banqueting was over, Job would send for his children and purify them, rising early in the morning to offer burnt offerings for all of them. For Job thought, **“Perhaps my children have sinned, having cursed God in their hearts.”** This was Job’s regular practice.
(Prefigure Wisdom/Christ and his children)
As we read the Hebrew Scriptures we must put on a *pair of Christ glasses* and look to *find* something in those scriptures, as a witness to Christ and his work. As Martin Luther implied or words to this effect *we open the Hebrew Scriptures as the cradle that has CHRIST.
The characters in the old testiment scriptures are only shadows from God, LOOK FOR THE REALITY in those scriptures that point to CHRIST and his great LOVE and SAVING WORK.
Matthew 3:17 (CSB) And a voice from heaven said
**** “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well-pleased.******
Shalom
🙏
Reading over the communications between the participants of this blog and the lessons, I find that there are still truths we need to learn about what guides our relationship with the heavenly Father.
Just like Abraham, we are living by faith, but how this manifests itself in each person’s life is left to God and the person. There are no patterns to observe which we could employ to know how, why, or when God is at work in our life – the full understanding of life is truly based on faith that God is faithful to His Word and to fulfill His promises.
I venture to say that in our studies we are often in danger to not see the forest for the trees. For me, biblical accounts are a story to bring ‘alive/give form', being a shadow of that which is invisible – the spirit of God at work in the life of man.
The spirit of God working in the life of man is used for one purpose only – to reveal the Creator God and that we are His children with which He is establishing a spiritual trust-relationship for the purpose to invite us to walk through the open gates of heaven - open to all who love God and desire to become part of His undefiled Creation.
To become part of this undefiled Creation is His everything-overarching Promise!