Month: February 2020

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“Steadfast Love, Loving Kindness, Covenant Loyalty”

Genesis 24:1-67

The world has been under a curse ever since Adam and Eve sinned, but we are told that God is going to bless the families of the earth through a descendant of Abraham.

Abraham is very old now and Isaac is to be Abraham’s heir.
Isaac, who was thirty-seven when Sarah died at the age of one hundred and twenty-seven, is yet to be married; placing the promise of descendants in jeopardy. Abraham aged one hundred and thirty-seven, instructs his trusted servant to find a wife for Isaac, stating that she must be from his kinsmen back in Mesopotamia and not from amongst the Canaanites.

Abraham was adamant that Isaac should remain in the promised land and not go with his servant to Haran. Abraham is fully convinced of God’s faithfulness and trusts in God’s providence to provide a wife for his son from amongst his father’s house in Mesopotamia.

So the servant departs with a large train of camels loaded with valuable gifts to make the three year return journey. He prays and asks God to intervene, and almost immediately upon arriving at the city of Nahor, finds Rebekah drawing water from the well.  She meets all the requirements and readily agrees to go with the servant to be the wife of Isaac. She leaves her family to travel to a land she doesn’t know, to be the wife of a man she has never met. Just like Abraham when God called him, she steps out in faith and trust.

The servant returns with Rebekah to Isaac’s dwelling place, where he was then living in the Negeb. The servant then told Isaac everything that had been done to secure a wife for him. Isaac took Rebekah for his wife and he loved her and was comforted after his mother’s death.

Today’s sermon was by Steve Messer.

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“Why It Matters How You Are Buried”

Genesis 23:1-20, Genesis 49:29-50:26

A burial place became very important to Abraham after his wife Sarah died at the age of 127 years.

Abraham is described as a sojourner in the land of the Hittites, He had nowhere he could call his own to bury his dead. He was still an immigrant in Canaan even though he had gained rights to the well at Beersheba. 

He was highly esteemed as a prince by the Hittites, and they were willing to give Abraham the choicest of their tombs to bury his dead, but Abraham would not accept land as a gift from men, because it had already been promised to him as a gift from the Lord.

Rather than return to the past and his ancestral home to bury Sarah, Abraham paid Ephron’s asking price for the chosen burial land in Canaan with the interests of his descendants in mind.

This desire to purchase rather than borrow land at Hebron demonstrates that he had no intention of his or his descendants being servants to the Hittites. It also demonstrates Abraham’s growing faith and confidence in the Lord’s promised blessings.

Abraham obtained the new family plot as a pledge of greater things to come. He buried his much loved wife Sarah in a small part of the Promised Land where he would later be buried. This bore witness to future generations of Abraham and Sarah’s faith and hope that the Lord would do so much more, even after their earthly lives were over.

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“The Test”

Genesis 22:1-24, Hebrews 6:12-20 & 11:17-19

It has been approximately forty years since Abram left Haran to this point in the narrative and during that time Abraham has learnt what God is like through many different interventions and the provision of what seemed impossible; a son is born to him at the ripe old age of one hundred.

God now tests Abraham’s faith and his obedience to his commandments. In this passage, God requires Abraham to sacrifice Isaac, the promised (only) son, on an altar.

Abraham’s faith that God would provide is now evident. God had previously made specific promises in regards to Isaac and Abraham trusted God to deliver those promises, even if he were to slay his only son.  Abraham believed God would provide the necessary sacrifice and that he and Isaac would return Gen 22:5.

This passage is a foreshadowing of God’s provision of His only Son, Jesus Christ, the lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world. By faith, like Abraham, we will be saved through faith, by trusting in the perfect sacrifice of our Lord Jesus Christ.

To hear more of the Abraham narrative click here

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“Laughing Concerning Isaac’s Promised Birth”

Galatians 4:20-31, Genesis 21:1-34

The birth of Isaac wasn’t a surprise; God always fulfills his promises.
It was truly astonishing that Sarah bore Abraham a son in his old age; Abraham being one hundred years old when Isaac was born.
Sarah laughs with joy at the birth of her son. Others may have laughed mockingly, but no one could laugh at the fact that what seemed impossible physically had not been impossible for the Lord God to accomplish. God’s purposes required the birth of the promised Isaac.

Ishmael and his mother were cast off from Abraham but God heard the cry of Ishmael and protected and provided for him in the wilderness. He promised Ishmael that he would receive blessings because he was Abraham’s son.

Abimelech understands that Abraham is blessed by the Lord. Abimelech and Abraham swear an oath together which is very significant in the Lord’s plan of redemption and an important step forward regarding God’s pledge of land to Abraham and his offspring.
Abraham is now at peace with Abimelech. He has permanent water rights and a place to dwell in the promised land of Canaan so that he is no longer a nomad.

“Great is Thy faithfulness!”
“Great is Thy faithfulness!”
Morning by morning new mercies I see;
All I have needed Thy hand hath provided-
“Great is Thy faithfulness,”
Lord, unto me!…