Posts Tagged ‘ Isaac ’

Tweets & Rants 4 March 2013: Matthew 22:15-33; Romans 3; Psalm 51; Numbers 7-8

believes this is an astonishing teaching, but Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob live as do all who have faith in Christ! Mat 22:31-33 @WeeManWest

is thankful for the abundant love and mercy of God that a sinner like himself can be washed and cleansed of his sin. Psa 51:1 @WeeManWest

Matthew 22:20 Whereas Caesar’s inscription and likeness were on the roman currency and therefore the currency was Caesar’s, God’s inscription and likeness are on every man and we owe God all that we are, our entire being belongs to God.

Matthew 22:31 Jesus is teaching something very interesting here in regard to this question. He begins with, “as for the resurrection of the dead” then goes on to say, “I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob? He is not God of the dead, BUT OF THE LIVING.”

Jesus is teaching here that the resurrection is not as it was and still is commonly understood. Yes, indeed at the last day Christ will return and the dead will be raised. However, a first resurrection, a first fruits must occur. The resurrection of a man from his dead works to life everlasting in Christ.

This is why the crowd was astonished. Christ was saying clearly that Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob were living! Yes, they were physically dead but they shared in the first resurrection by faith in Christ so they live and the live still today.

Romans 3:6 Hence we see a common argument that is made. If sin glorifies God and is used by God to further His purposes how then can God inflict His wrath on sinful men? The argument takes the concept of predestination at its root by arguing that men do not have free will to choose sin that instead sin is chosen for them by God.

We are free moral agents and yet God predestines. How hard the two are to interlink in our minds!?

Yet, I take the cop out on this one. I beleive both are true because the Bible teaches that both are true. Yet, I don’t fully understand how they can both be true, nor can I stretch my arm into heaven to mark where the line exists that separates the two in the mind of God. Such is not for mortal man to comprehend, it is God’s.

Romans 3:10 We must comprehend this one truth of the Bible if we are ever to be of any use at all to our Creator. Not a single one of us lives without sin in full righteousness before God. Righteousness is a God thing. Any righteousness we are or that we will have will come from God for His own purposes and glory.

All of mankind has a common need, it is only a matter of us becoming aware of our need. We’re all worthless for the purposes for which God designed us. We don’t naturally look for God but for everything but God. We’ve made a mess of this world and yet are prideful enough to blame God for the mess. What a wretched people we are before a holy God!

Romans 3:20 One of the most difficult conversations to have is the one that explains to a lost soul that no amount of their own good works is sufficient to save them. No one is saved by the Law, or by their good works, for both together are instructive. They make man aware of his own sinfulness.

When we read the Law we become aware of all of the unlawful activities in which we have participated. When we do a good work we remember all the times in which we had the best of intentions and yet lacked the follow through to do the work.

Romans 3:26 God has divinely passed over our sins in the blood of Christ. He does this so that He is just and justifier. Just in that His law has been fulfilled in Christ’s life and in His sacrificial death of atonement. In other words, He doesn’t have to compromise His Law in order to save mankind. He is justifier in that He makes us just by faith in Christ. He knows our hearts. He makes us just by our faith in who Christ is and in what He has done.

Faith no longer looks to one’s ability to keep the law or one’s ability to do good works for their justification. Faith looks to Christ, God Himself, as the only one in history who kept the Law and did the works necessary to bridge the gap between God and man.

Romans 3:31 Faith doesn’t teach a lawless existence but rather an existence in which the requirements of the Law were met, once for all, for all mankind, in Christ Jesus.

Psalm 51:1 The purpose of our salvation is not for our own prideful exaltation but rather that the love of God be exalted in His willingness to show us mercy that we by no means deserve.

Psalm 51:3 We are ever trapped in our sinfulness. Even in forgiveness the stains of our past continue to mar us as we walk into our future. We don’t forget our sinfulness.

Psalm 51:5 We are each infused with a sin nature. Just as Adam was made in the image and likeness of God, so Seth was born in the image and likeness of Adam. Adam passed his sin nature on to his lineage.

Psalm 51:6 Honesty with God in the deepest, darkest, recesses of our being is truly the best policy. Such a level of honesty with God will indeed develop an intimacy with God that is unmatched among any intimacy in this world.

Psalm 51:7 Yes, the very hyssop of the Passover feast, but also the same hyssop of the leper’s cleansing. Sin is a leprosy to our very souls that must be cleansed with hyssop.

Psalm 51:10 We must receive a new heart from God. Our heart is eaten away with leprosy and the decay of our sinfulness. God gives us a new heart in Christ Jesus.

Psalm 51:17 God’s desire is not that we offer enough animals or money to Him in pennance for our sins. God’s desire is that we come to Him in brokenness over our sinful and wretched existence seeking the transformed heart and life that He alone can provide in us through faith.

Are we really broken about our sin today? Does our sinfulness really bother us at all or do we excuse it as just who we are? May we be broken over our sinfulness and come to God for cleansing today.

Numbers 7:11 The altar was to be dedicated to the Lord with 12 rounds of offerings being made to the tabernacle.

Numbers 7:89 The voice of God would speak to Moses from the mercy seat between the two cherubim.

Numbers 8:2 The purpose of the lampstand was to give light…so also is our spirit-filled purpose in Christ!

Numbers 8:11 The Levites were to be offered as a wave offering from among the people of Israel. They were to be set apart to the service of the Lord.

Numbers 8:22 The Levites were assigned tabernacle duty instead of all the firstborn of the Israelites. They were given the ministry of the tabernacle to guard it, keep it, build it, and care for it. They were the keepers of the tabernacle.

2013
03/04
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Tweets & Rants 16 January: Matthew 5:33-48; Acts 8:1-25; Psalm 13; Genesis 25-27

wishes politicians would begin practicing this passage, maybe they would stop making a bunch of false promises. Mat 5:33-37 @WeeManWest

is really struggling with the application of this passage, it will change everything about faith in our culture. Mat 5:38-42 @WeeManWest

believes the goal of the Gospel is to restore mankind to the image and likeness of God, we lost in the Fall. Mat 5:48, Gen 5:3 @WeeManWest

must daily seek to move forward with Christ and be on guard against moving backward in his walk of faith. Gen 27:43 @WeeManWest

Matthew 5:33-37 Really wishes that politicians would read this and begin applying it to their campaigns. Yet, I understand the principle that we don’t have the power to make anything happen and that there is no need to invoke a higher power to our answer. Our answer is either yes or no. We will do or we will refuse to do.

Invoking an oath adds nothing to our answer of yes or no. The oath merely binds things to our yes or no that do not need to be bound to it, especially with as recklessly as we answer with our mouths. Such a practice would inhibit us from making rash oaths which Jepthah made (Judges 11:30-40) and followed through with in offering his own daughter as a burnt offering.

Matthew 5:38-42 How difficult for human flesh is the law of Christ’s kingdom?! If we are struck we are to turn for another, if sued we shouldn’t defend ourselves but give more than sued for, if driven by force we should go further, if begged we should give, if asked we should lend. How cripplingly humbling and convicting are these verses?!

Does God limit these things or do we continue ad finitum unto our own destruction? How many slaps must we endure before we retaliate? What if we have no tunic to give when sued? What if we have nothing to give when begged and nothing to loan when asked?

Maybe God’s principle here is endurance and flight. We are a stand and fight kind of people, but Jesus tells us that we are not to fight, but rather to endure and to flee if possible. How transformational is this passage for faith in an American culture?

Matthew 5:43-47 We naturally hate our enemies and seek vengeance against those who have harmed us. Yet Christ tells us that His law in His kingdom is to love our enemies and pray for them. Did not Jesus model this for us as He hung on the cross. Indeed He loved His enemies enough to pray for them (Luke 23:34) that they would be forgiven for what they had done.

Our reward, Christ’s kingdom, is found in going further, the extra mile…not just keeping the law but in surpassing the law…becoming like God.

Matthew 5:48 See what I mean. Christ’s desire is that we become like God. Man was made in the image and likeness of God (Genesis 1:26-27; Genesis 5:1) and yet after the fall we see that something has changed. Adam and Eve had Seth (Genesis 5:3) we see that Seth was in Adam’s “own likeness, after his image” instead of in God’s image and likeness.

The whole redemptive plan of the Gospel is to restore to mankind the image and likeness of God. Such is revealed as we honestly seek to understand Christ’s law of His kingdom.

Acts 8:1 Saul approved of Stephen’s execution. I wonder how much this haunted him after he came to Christ.

Acts 8:4 What Satan was using to “attack” the church actually led to its expansion into new places as believers fled.

Acts 8:20 We earn nothing from God. Whether we believe our time reading, praying, helping the poor, giving to the church, or any other pious work we perform earns us special favor with God we are totally wrong. We earn nothing from God. He gives His gifts as He alone sees fit to give them. He does not give them based on our piety but based on His will and His plan.

Psalm 13:1-2 God’s silence is one of the most difficult things for the believer to endure. We must endeavor that during God’s silence we move ourselves closer to Him that we may hear His still small voice.

Psalm 13:5-6 The believer who responds properly to God’s silence will find their trust in Him strengthened once God’s silence ends.

Genesis 25:21 Rebekah is barren, just as Sarai/Sarah was. It seems God may be teaching us a lesson. Maybe He’s showing us that his bride would be barren for many years before the Messiah would come.

Genesis 25:22-23 & Genesis 25:29-34 So we see how different God can make two brothers. They struggled within the womb and then would struggle outside the womb as well, both competing for first place. Yet, God knew both boys in the womb and knew the heart within each. He knew that Jacob would be a man of God and that Esau would be a man of the world.

Esau is so worldly that he sells his birthright, of spiritual value, to Jacob for a bowl of red stew. He earns the nickname Edom. Unfortunately, his lineage would follow him in both despising spiritual things and despising spiritual people.

Genesis 26:5 God was going to be faithful to Isaac for the sake of Abraham. May we all, as fathers, seek utmost the blessing of our lineage instead of the blessing of ourselves.

Genesis 26:9 As Isaac repeats the error of Abraham I can’t help but think of our Christ who was willing to die because of His bride. Just a thought.

Genesis 26:19-22 Isaac’s men had dug two wells and were contended with for them and abandoned them. The third well is uncontested. We are unwilling to be wronged, yet Isaac was willing to be wronged for the sake of living in peace. There may yet be a lesson here for American culture. Maybe our peace will be found in being wronged, instead of in having justice. We must be willing to go where God makes room for us rather than trying to cut out our own place where we think our room should be.

Genesis 26:23-25 We must note that God appears to Isaac and blessed him AFTER he gave up two wells and moved to Rehoboth where God had made him room. God manifests Himself after we’ve obeyed His will.

Genesis 26:34-35 Esau marries Canaanite women who made Isaac and Rebekah bitter. Such will occur when we seek to be unequally yoked to unbelievers. Normally such union brings bitterness, grief, and our own downfall.

Genesis 27:1-25 Isaac was determined to give his blessing to his favorite son Esau, instead of the son God favored, Jacob. Rebekah wants the blessing to go to her favorite son Jacob. Rebekah and Jacob conspire to deceive Isaac into blessed Jacob.

Fathers, it is our responsibility to have our priorities on God’s agenda rather than our own. We may have a favorite but it is God’s will that will be supreme. We don’t choose who is qualified, God does.

Genesis 27:26-29 Fathers bear the responsibility of blessing their sons. A son can receive no greater thing from their father, aside from Christ Himself, than to have their father’s words reign down blessing and life upon them.

Genesis 27:36 Esau has the entitlement mentality. He was the firstborn and should have the benefits. Yet, we see often in Scripture that God does not choose the firstborn or most qualified son. God chooses the son whom He has qualified. Jacob shouldn’t have aborted God’s timing, but the blessing and birthright do belong to him by virture of God’s choosing.

Esau with tears still found no place. His worldly heart would grow more worldly. Yes, the kindness and generosity was there, but it was there alongside the animosity that would come out in his lineage.

Genesis 27:43-45 Jacob circumvented God’s time in order to take the blessing. God was going to bless Jacob, and probably sooner than later had he and his mother not conspired against Isaac. God may indeed have spoken to Isaac to keep him from blessing Esau.

Now, Jacob will see the delay of God. So it is when we try to prop our plans up and take them rather than wait patiently for the timing of God. We will experience delay. Jacob is heading backward in his faith walk instead of forward. Back to Haran from which Abraham had left. Are we going backward in our faith walk?

2013
01/17
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Tweets & Rants 15 January: Matthew 5:21-32; Acts 7:39-60; Psalm 12; Genesis 24

believes we must answer the question: “What god or belief are we secretly clinging to in hopes that God won’t see?” Act 7:41-43 @WeeManWest

has seen nothing worse than Religious Rage; it is dangerous, murderous and is cause for blights upon Christ’s name. Act 7:54-60 @WeeManWest

is ashamed at the deceitful, flattering, boastful nature of his own tongue, so need Christ to overcome it daily. Psa 12:1-2 @WeeManWest

thinks that we, as a society, exalt the vile; that’s why the news is full of bad things, they cover what we’ll watch! Psalm 12:8 @WeeManWest

Matthew 5:21-22 Murder begins in the heart and ends with the action. Jesus’ law of His kingdom deals with our heart. Anger is in the heart. The Law dealt with murder and the punishment for it. Jesus’ Law deals with anger. His law is a higher law.

Matthew 5:24 Our relationships are of the highest importance in Christ’s kingdom. We will not be legally right before God if we are harboring anger and ill-will toward one another.

Matthew 5:25-26 God knows our hearts and He will have a day of judgment. Our hearts are wicked and corrupt and need daily renewal in Christ.

Matthew 5:27-30 Jesus doesn’t deal with physical adultery in His kingdom. Remember, His law is a higher law than the Law of the Old Testament. Adultery begins with lust in the heart and if you look at someone with even the intention of lusting then you have committed adultery with that person according to Christ’s law.

It is best to cut off from your life the things that are leading you into lust. Lust will destroy your life if you allow it to fester in your heart.

Matthew 5:31-32 Jesus’ law expands the definition of adultery to include those who have divorced for reasons other than sexual immorality. Jesus law is tough, the kingdom of Christ isn’t the easy path.

Matthew 5:21-32 We see the emphasis of Jesus’ ministry is our hearts. All our wickedness is bound up in our hearts and is revealed in our intentions. Christ alone can renew our hearts through His gospel and the work of the Holy Spirit. We are powerless against our own hearts without Jesus. Living under Jesus’ kingdom law is impossible without Christ.

Acts 7:41-43 In case you didn’t quite catch what Stephen was saying, he was quoting Amos 5:25-27 in which God condemns the Israelites for having worshiped false gods in the wilderness. He names two specific gods here which many believe are simply two names for the same god. Moloch was the ancient god to which children were sacrificed. Moloch was believed to be represented by a 6-sided star. Moloch was also said to be Saturn. The question for us: What god or false belief to we secretly cling to thinking we are hiding? Nothing is hidden from God’s sight. He sees and knows all.

Acts 7:48-50 Stephen now answers his “critics” on Jesus’ talk about destroying the temple. The reality is that God doesn’t dwell in temples that men build. Instead, He dwells in men whom He has built, whose hearts He has and is transforming.

Acts 7:51-53 Stephen wasn’t very politicaly correct and if he was hoping to spare himself this was the wrong way to go about such an endeavor. Instead, he chose to honor God by delivering His message in full. Israel had always rejected the work of the Holy Spirit. The 40 years of wandering, the exile to Babylon, the defeats by the Greeks, the current Roman occupation….all were signs of their own disobedience. So also would be the coming destruction of their beloved city and temple. The land was soon to vomit them out for the second time.

Acts 7:54-60 I’m certain that no rage is so furiously expressed as is religious rage. Such is why so many atheists see no reason for religion at all. Religious rage is dangerous and murderous. We must have zeal and proper anger over sinfulness, but never rage. Rage is of Satan and will be used by him to wield his damage upon the name of Christ Jesus. We should rather be wronged, slighted, abused, or killed than to act in religious rage. Christ can defend His own name. He doesn’t call us to slay the infidels. He calls us to pray for them and bless them!

I can’t help but wonder, if when Paul is struck blind, he recounted what was done to Stephen and the merciful, holy response that Stephen had in the face of his own death.

Psalm 12:1-8 We see the contrast between our own words (Psalm 12:1-2) and God’s words (Psalm 12:6). The point of this psalm is that we should see our own corruption. So often we are liars and flatters and masters of double-talk. The greatest evidence of this is in the leaders we elect. We have representative government in more ways than we want to honestly admit.

God will cut off all of our lying and flattering and boasting. God will provide for those who are oppressed by our falsehoods. We are people who exalt the vile (Psalm 12:8) and if you think I’m kidding just watch the nightly news cast and see just how many of the stories are good and wholesome versus those that represent the vile. A news editor decided those were the stories more people wanted to see. If a crime is committed the reporters are there as quickly as police. If charity is done it is lucky if EVER reported.

Genesis 24 What a beautiful picture of the greater servant, the Holy Spirit!!! Our Father sends the Holy Spirit into the earth to find a bride, the church, for His Son, Jesus Christ just as Abraham sent his servant to his homeland to find a bride, Rebekah, for his son Isaac.

The servant is nameless, and is solely focused on doing the will of his master. The servant brings the bride home to Isaac, just as one day the Holy Spirit will bring us home to Christ.

The description of Rebekah (Genesis 24:16) is exactly how Christ sees His bride, the church. Note that Rebekah served the servant in the exact words that the servant had spoken. We walk in the works that God has prepared beforehand that we should walk (Ephesians 2:10) and honor God in so doing.

Isaac had went out into the field and received Rebekah (Genesis 24:63) just as Christ will one day return to receive His bride.

Isaac and Rebekah were pleased with one another and wed (Genesis 24:67) as also is Christ in His church and should be His church in Him as will happen on that Day!

2013
01/16
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Tweets & Rants 13 January 2013: Matthew 5:1-12; Acts 6; Psalm 10; Genesis 18-21

is thinking, Sarah must have been a knockout, bombshell of a woman to still be getting king’s attention at age 90! Gen 20:1-13 @WeeManWest

is just like Lot’s wife; clings to this life and turns away from God’s will; is unworthy of mercy. Gen 19:26; Luk 17:32-33 @WeeManWest

believes that Jesus is the greater Abraham, interceding for His people and all the nations which He will inherit. Gen 18:22-33 @WeeManWest

Matthew 5:1-12 Jesus lays down the law of His kingdom. The characteristics Jesus describes aren’t bound by a law, nor are they subject to a law, even the OT law. Jesus call is for His followers to be counter-cultural. In basic terms, we should have the opposite of every natural human response.

We aren’t going to be able to manufacture these responses. God’s Spirit works in us to produce them. We will have to rely and depend on God to become a part of His counter-cultural kingdom.

This passage deserves far more time devoted to it than I will devote this morning. Maybe I will return to it soon. When we understand that Christ’s point was to drive home the fact that our acceptance is a heavenly, age to come, kind of thing we will be able to submit to the injustices of this age and the unfairness of this age.

How often do we sound like children? That just isn’t fair! I agree, it’s not fair, but we must wait by faith for God to set things aright in the age to come.

Matthew 5:5 What does it mean to be meek? I found an online hebrew/greek dictionary tied to strong’s numbers and this was an additional note to its definition. I believe this note sums it up very well. See below:

Meekness toward God is that disposition of spirit in which we accept

His dealings with us as good, and therefore without disputing or

resisting. In the OT, the meek are those wholly relying on God rather

than their own strength to defend them against injustice. Thus,

meekness toward evil people means knowing God is permitting the

injuries they inflict, that He is using them to purify His elect, and

that He will deliver His elect in His time. ( Isa 41:17, Lu 18:1-8 )

Gentleness or meekness is the opposite to self-assertiveness and

self-interest. It stems from trust in God’s goodness and control over

the situation. The gentle person is not occupied with self at all.

This is a work of the Holy Spirit, not of the human will. ( Ga 5:23 )

Matthew 5:6 What do we want from this life? What are the things that drive us or have the ability to take away our happiness. The only hunger and thirst that Christ promises to satisfy is for righteousness. We tend to get so angry at God for not giving us all of our desires, yet, according to Christ, those of us who follow Him should have one motivating desire and that is for righteousness.

God alone can replace all your desire with this one desire, but you have to be willing and submissive to allow Him to do so.

Matthew 5:7 One thing I’ve notice in Scripture is that often times lists will have a centerpoint. In other words, this passage has 9 blessings. This places blessing number 5 right in the center. What do we find in the center of Jesus’ discussion on His new law for His kingdom? Mercy!!!

Jesus’ kingdom’s central theme is mercy. Mercy comes from God alone and flow through us by God alone. We have been shown great mercy and should walk in great mercy. Jesus even told parables that focused on the need for us to both receive and give mercy.

Matthew 5:9 I believe this is one is probably one of the most difficult for Americans. We are, almost by nature, a violent and defensive people. We will vehemently fight for the preservation of our rights. Yet the sons of God are to be peacemakers. I’m sorry, but I struggle to see how bombing people into submission makes us “peacemakers”! I realize that only the Holy Spirit can make true peace within as and between us and our fellow man.

We should be more apt and spend more money sending the Gospel of Jesus Christ into the “enemy nations” so they can be converted rather than to send bullets, bombs, and drones to wipe out people who don’t believe like we do. We, as Americans, have so much innocent blood-guilt on our hands…just as the Romans did.

Matthew 5:12 Herein we see the crux of the matter. In order to live in Jesus’ new law we must have faith to believe that our reward is waiting for us in the age to come. In our fleshly mindset that is a tough pill to swallow. We don’t get ours in this life, in this age. We get ours in the age to come. Unfortunately, we are much more satisfied to have ours in the here and now.

If we read Hebrews 11 we find the common theme among the heroes of faith is the common belief that they were not building a kingdom for this age, but for the one to come.

Acts 6:5 We are introduced to the first deacons. Yet, I’m more drawn to the way Scripture draws out a couple of them from the group.

First, Stephen is drawn out by his description as “a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit”. Then the text mentions five others. Second, Nicolaus is drawn out by his description as “a proselyte of Antioch”. As we read further we will see why these two are important.

Stephen will soon be martyred at the feet of Saul, who will become an apostle. Antioch will soon become the central sending church of the era as it sends Paul and Barnabas out on the first mission trip.

Psalm 10:1 Abandonment is a common human emotion, especially when it seems that those who should care and should be actively involved are instead aloof and distant. I’ve felt like this way too often in my relationship with God. Have you?

One thing that is so hard to understand is that sometimes we are victims of evil because God gives us over to the evil to reveal what is in both of our hearts. The righteousness of the righteous will shine in persecution, but the wickedness of the wicked will be exposed in persecution.

We often watch in helpless anticipation as the wicked go seemingly unpunished in this life. Yet, our gaze must be to the age to come and the judgment that is coming in which we trust that God will make things right.

Genesis 18:1-8 Abraham’s hospitality is a testimony to his faith. People of faith will be people of hospitality.

Genesis 18:9-15 Abraham and Sarah learn of their coming child. Sarah laughs, the modern equivalent would be a “yeah, right!”. Maybe she didn’t fully realize whom they were entertaining. I’m certain the realization hit her when the LORD quoted her.

Genesis 18:22-33 Abraham pictures for us what the greater and more perfect Abraham does for us at the right hand of God as Christ sits daily interceding for His people and interceding for the nations. The nations are His inheritance. He prays for them. We should pray for them as well.

Genesis 19:4-10 Note what is pictured here in comparison. Abram was hospitable to these men, Lot was hospitable to these men. The men of Sodom were not but sought rather to have them for their own desires. The sin of Sodom was far greater than a single sin of homosexuality. Sodom piled sin upon sin upon sin. You learn this when you read the prophets as they depict Sodom’s sin Jeremiah 23:14; Amos 4:1-11; Ezekiel 16:49-50 .

Nations/cities/communities/individuals that pile sin upon sin upon sin will eventually reap the harvest of sin.

Genesis 19:14 Lot’s prophetic word was spurned by those he knew. His witness among this people was so damaged that he couldn’t even convince those closest to him to leave. I’m afraid my witness may be closer to that reality than I want to honestly admit.

Genesis 19:16 How often do we, like Lot, try to linger among things that are leading to our own destruction. We play around with sin, walking as close to the edge of the cliff as we can without falling off and then are suprised when our destruction comes.

Genesis 19:18-22 Lot bargains for Zoar, if you recall Zoar was one of the five kings of the first world war (Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, Zeboiim, and Zoar). These five were marked for destruction, yet Lot convinces them only to destroy the four of Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboiim.

Genesis 19:26 Remember Lot’s wife. Jesus said so Luke 17:32-33 . She was a child of Sodom. She wanted to return to Sodom. She wanted to preserve the life she had instead of escaping to the new life she could have. We are so much like this nameless woman in Scripture. Our tendency is to return to the old life. Our tendency is to cling to what we have or have built in this age. God calls us to turn from it and RUN and not look back.

We are collectively and individually so absolutely unworthy of His kingdom.

Genesis 19:30-38 Lot’s daughters engage in a detestable act, brought on by Lot’s fear of Zoar. I only speculating that he left Zoar because he saw the same sin there that he saw prevalent in Sodom. Since he and his daughters were the only survivors of Sodom I would almost deduce that they were persecuted in Zoar.

Moab and Ammon are born from this unfortunate situation.

Genesis 20:1-13 My wife watched the Miss America pageant last night which is a showcase of beautiful women. Yet, I can’t help but wonder what kind of a bombshell Sarah must have been that at the age of 89 she is still so attractive that a young king sought to add her to his herum. WOW!

Genesis 21:4 Abraham makes Isaac the first child of the covenant. The first child circumcised on the 8th day. He is the heir of God’s promises.

Genesis 21:10-14 Herein we see the comparison between Hagar/Ishmael and Sarah/Isaac. Ishmael was the child of a slave woman whereas Isaac was the child of the free woman born fully under the covenant. We see contrasted those who live by law versus those who live by faith according to Paul (Galatians 4:21-31).

Genesis 21:21 Here we see that Ishmael’s descendants are noted to come from his wife, an Egyptian.

Genesis 21:33 We are introduced to God as the Everlasting God. Abraham had seen God’s faithfulness through many years, now in bringing the promised heir.

2013
01/14
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