365 Reflections

One of the hardest tests in life is the test of prosperity. Most people turn to God easily when they have nothing left. Rock bottom often cracks even the toughest nuts. But prosperity is different. It's much more potent in the heart of those who have been called by God to trust Him alone. Isaac exemplifies a struggle with prosperity and how not letting go only delays God's best. Isaac has moved to Gerar in the land of the Philistines because of a famine in the land. That alone was probably enough to mess with him. If God is here, why is there no food? He departs for greener pastures and he ends up doing quite well for himself in a foreign land. Genesis 26:12–14 (ESV) And Isaac sowed in that land and reaped in the same year a hundredfold. The LORD blessed him, 13 and the man became rich, and gained more and more until he became very wealthy. 14 He had possessions of flocks and herds and many servants, so that the Philistines envied him. His success breeds the contempt o...

So far in Genesis we have seen the active grace of God through Abel, Noah, Abraham and Isaac. Now we come to the infamous story of Jacob and his older brother Esau. Now we going to understand God's grace in a deeper way. God chose Abraham out of Ur where he worshipped idols (See Joshua 24:15). God chose Isaac over Ishmael as Isaac was the son of God's promise while Ishmael was the son of the flesh. But now God is going to turn the fabric of our sensibilities upside down. He's going to chose Jacob over Esau. Two characters that preach God's grace without even realizing they are. Esau had everything going for him. He was first born. He was his father's favorite, he was a man's man. He had it all. Genesis 25:28 (ESV) Isaac loved Esau because he ate of his game, but Rebekah loved Jacob. But before all that, God had set Jacob apart.  Romans 9:10–11 (ESV) And not only so, but also when Rebekah had conceived children by one man, our forefather Isaac, 11 tho...

Genesis 25:21 (ESV)   And Isaac prayed to the Lord for his wife, because she was barren. And the Lord granted his prayer, and Rebekah his wife conceived. What an immense detail we run right by in this passage. For Isaac was newly married to Rebekah at the age of 40. Eventually (and usually quickly in those days) they found out she was not able to have children. So what does Isaac do? He prays. And she conceives. Simple right? Not so fast.  Look at five LONG verses later: Genesis 25:26 (ESV)   Afterward his brother came out with his hand holding Esau’s heel, so his name was called Jacob. Isaac was sixty years old when she bore them. That means this man prayed for 20 YEARS for his wife to conceive. Now think of his father Abraham. He would have heard the stories. How long did Abraham wait for the son of promise? He left Ur at age 75, and Isaac was born when he was 100. That's 25 years of waiting. Perhaps that helped Isaac stay devoted in prayer.  I...

Genesis 25:7–11 (ESV) These are the days of the years of Abraham’s life, 175 years. 8 Abraham breathed his last and died in a good old age, an old man and full of years, and was gathered to his people. 9 Isaac and Ishmael his sons buried him in the cave of Machpelah, in the field of Ephron the son of Zohar the Hittite, east of Mamre, 10 the field that Abraham purchased from the Hittites. There Abraham was buried, with Sarah his wife. 11 After the death of Abraham, God blessed Isaac his son. And Isaac settled at Beer-lahai-roi. Abraham started this journey all the way back in Genesis 12, which according to the account of his age, spans an interval of 100 years. He has finished his race here in Genesis 25 and his death is significant for some interesting reasons. After 100 years of trusting the Lord, the only "land" that belonged to Abraham was the grave he purchased from Ephron, the Hittite. That's all. He never would see the battle of Jericho, or witness the d...

Genesis 24 is the longest chapter in the book. It's about a wife for Isaac and how Abraham's servant goes about finding the woman God would give to his master's son. What I find striking is the incredible servant heart of this nameless man who goes to great lengths and dedicates his quest in the Lord to find the right woman God would have. He worked diligently. He loaded ten camels and traveled far to seek out the right woman. He prayed specifically. He offered God the opportunity here to reject his prayer. The prayer made was for an astounding act on Rebekah's part to water 10 camels. Some ask for a sign in their prayers but they ask for simple things that could be coincidence. He asked for something only God could provide. Genesis 24:14 (ESV) Let the young woman to whom I shall say, ‘Please let down your jar that I may drink,’ and who shall say, ‘Drink, and I will water your camels’—let her be the one whom you have appointed for your servant Isaac. By this I shall...

Hebrews speaks of our predecessors of the promises of God: Hebrews 11:13 (ESV) These all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth. For the first time in his life, Abraham has to face the death of someone close to him. His own wife Sarah. Genesis 23:2 (ESV) 2 And Sarah died at Kiriath-arba (that is, Hebron) in the land of Canaan, and Abraham went in to mourn for Sarah and to weep for her. How will Abraham handle death? It's the first time Abraham is recorded as crying the Bible.  It's also the first time Abraham has to deal with reconciling the promises of God and the ultimate delay of death. For as far as he knew, the land was to be his, but now he has only one son and his wife has passed away. Where are the fulfillments of God's promises from Genesis 12? For most of the next chapter, the Author spends a great deal o...

No one's life is remembered long term for that many moments. Even in the most famous of people, it's one or two key times where they did or said something that changed a lot for many people. Martin Luther King Jr. said, "I have a Dream." Ronald Reagan said, "Tear down this wall." John F. Kennedy said, "Ask not what your country can do for you..." These are what we remember them for. What will be the thing you are remembered for? Abraham's life has a lot of high points but there is one moment everyone knows about for either the sheer inhumanity of it all or the theology behind it. That moment is in Genesis 22, when God asked Abraham to sacrifice is one and only son whom he loved. Genesis 22:1–2 (ESV) After these things God tested Abraham and said to him, “Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” 2 He said, “Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mo...

We haven't had a good relationship. Christians and Government have been growing into mortal enemies of each other lately. Recent Supreme Court decisions and the growing ebb of secularization in our country has led to one of two responses from faithful Christians that we must learn to avoid: The first is hostility . That Christians grow more antagonistic and angry toward their government as they will feel ostracized and demonized by the culture at large. Let's face it, Christianity or Christians have been portrayed as villains of progress in recent decades of American life. So came the moral majority and political action on the part of some... which left even deeper wounds on those far from God or bad memories for those who love Him and seek to love all He has made. The second is withdrawal . To hunker down in our fox holes and holy huddles through non-interaction of all kinds. This too has failed as Christians are called to be lights and salt and do good in front of pagans ...

Genesis 21:11–12 (ESV) And the thing was very displeasing to Abraham on account of his son. 12 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. Sarah wants Hagar and Ishmael out. Her child Isaac has been weaned and the son of the slave woman is laughing and taunting him.  Paul will use this story to illustrate our salvation. Amazingly, he sees this passage as an allegory to compare works righteousness with God's righteousness. Hagar was Abraham's best efforts - his works to secure God's work in his life. But God would not let Abraham come to understand the promises of God depend on man's best effort. No. They are promises of what God will do for us, not what we will do for Him.  When Sarah demand Hagar and son be exiled, it says this was "very displeasing" to Abraham. The word is also translated, "wick...

Genesis 21:7 (ESV)   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.” Sarah seems to reveal her heart in this moment. She has finally given birth to a son for Abraham. The very thing she scoffed at has happened. God's Word has come true for her. Yet instead of extolling the Lord and giving thanks, she expresses some deep seated issues of the heart. It seemed to really bother her that other people knew she was barren and couldn't do what women were supposed to do. Now she is thinking about what they were never going to say and how they will say it now.  Sarah's faith is listed in Hebrews and demands consideration in light of the record of the Genesis account. Notice:  Hebrews 11:11 (ESV)   By faith Sarah herself received power to conceive, even when she was past the age, since she considered him faithful who had promised. Sarah laughed at the Lord's prophecy of a child in Genesis ...