Category: Abraham

Israel: The Miracle Nation #3

Saturday, February 5, 2022

“But Sarai was barren; she had no child” (Genesis 11:30 KJV).

How will the LORD God prove Israel is His miracle nation?

At age 100 years, Abraham finally saw the birth of Isaac, the son God freely promised him (Genesis 21:5). Sarah was 90. The writer of Hebrews penned the following commentary: “Through faith also Sara herself received strength to conceive seed, and was delivered of a child when she was past age, because she judged him faithful who had promised. Therefore sprang there even of one, and him as good as dead, so many as the stars of the sky in multitude, and as the sand which is by the sea shore innumerable” (Hebrews 11:11,12).

However, Ishmael (the product of Abraham’s flesh) clashed with his younger half-brother Isaac (the result of God’s grace). With teenager Ishmael teasing little Isaac—the conflict between Hagar and Sarah now transferred to their respective sons—Abraham is forced to evict Hagar and Ishmael so Isaac can grow up in peace (Genesis 21:8-13; cf. Galatians 4:21-31). Again, works-religion (man’s efforts) and grace (God’s efforts) cannot coexist. The situation of Ishmael and Isaac is clear proof of this transdispensational (across the Bible timeline) truth. Had the LORD not enabled Abraham’s elderly body to produce seed, and Sarah’s aged womb to use that seed to bear a child, there would be no Isaac… and, thus, no Israel. Israel is God’s miracle nation.

Let us fast-forward several decades. Isaac is now 60 years old (Genesis 25:26), and he and his wife Rebekah have been childless for 20 years. (Does this not sound familiar?!) “And Isaac intreated [asked, pled] the LORD for his wife, because she was barren: and the LORD was intreated of him, and Rebekah his wife conceived” (Genesis 25:21). Yet, something is noticeably different here: Isaac did not repeat his parents’ folly. Whereas Abraham and Sarah connived, Isaac prayed because he depended on God’s grace! The LORD works, and twins Esau and Jacob are born to Isaac and Rebekah (verses 22-26), Jacob becoming the next heir of the Abrahamic Covenant (Genesis 28:10-15). Jacob is the latest patriarch of Israel, and he too must learn Israel will result from God’s work not his own….

Israel: The Miracle Nation #2

Friday, February 4, 2022

“But Sarai was barren; she had no child” (Genesis 11:30 KJV).

How will the LORD God prove Israel is His miracle nation?

Taking matters into their own hands, Abram and Sarai schemed to “help” God do what He apparently failed to do! Using Hagar as a surrogate mother for Abram’s son seemed like a good idea—until they all began suffering the complicated problems resulting from their sin. Firstly, pregnant Hagar fought most bitterly with childless Sarai (Genesis 16:4-11). Abram fathering Ishmael meant Abram could still work in his flesh, perform and strive—and this system of law conflicted with God’s grace. Ishmael, the son of the bondwoman, is not God’s promised child and not the fulfillment of the Abrahamic Covenant.

In chapter 17, some 13 years later, Abram is now 99 years old (verse 1). Having waited at least 25 years (but possibly as many as 50 years!) for the promise, Abram (like Sarai) is now unable to reproduce. Will this be a difficulty for the LORD? Of course not! Here, the LORD appears to him with a message. Abram is renamed “Abraham:” he was “high/exalted father,” but now he is “father of a multitude” (verses 4,5). God orders him to be physically circumcised, signifying his righteousness he has had by faith since chapter 12, and also denoting his cutting off from his flesh or abilities to “help” God (see Genesis 17:6-14; cf. Romans 4:9-22; Galatians 4:21-31).

With Sarai barren, and Abraham sterile, neither party can “assist” the LORD now! Having intentionally delayed until they are reproductively powerless, God in His grace intervenes (Genesis chapter 17): “[15] And God said unto Abraham, As for Sarai thy wife, thou shalt not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall her name be. [16] And I will [grace!] bless her, and [I will] [grace!] give thee a son also of her: yea, I will [grace!] bless her, and she shall be a mother of nations; kings of people shall be of her…. [19] And God said, Sarah thy wife shall bear thee a son indeed; and thou shalt call his name Isaac: and I will [grace!] establish my covenant with him for an everlasting covenant, and with his seed after him.”

Yet, Abraham’s flesh will again disrupt God’s plan for him….

Israel: The Miracle Nation #1

Thursday, February 3, 2022

“But Sarai was barren; she had no child” (Genesis 11:30 KJV).

How will the LORD God prove Israel is His miracle nation?

The Bible says in chapter 12 of Genesis, verses 1-3: “Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto a land that I will shew thee: And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.” Sometime back in chapter 11, God had directed Abram to leave his homeland (Ur of the Chaldees; cf. Genesis 11:27-32; Acts 7:2-4).

We want to carefully note how emphatically the first-person singular pronoun appears during the ratification of the Abrahamic Covenant. Almighty God speaks: “…a land I will shew thee: And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and [I will] make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: And I will bless them that bless thee, and [I will] curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.” At the heart of the Abrahamic Covenant is what the LORD God will do for Abram—not what Abram will do for the LORD God. Again, the issue is grace (God’s efforts) as opposed to law (man’s efforts). Be quite sure to understand that.

Via the Abrahamic Covenant, God (!!!!) will form a “great nation” through Abram. Of course, this is the origin of Israel. The LORD claimed Abram would father a multitude of people, but there is one glaring problem. Abram’s wife Sarai is “barren” and childless—not only without offspring but physically unable to have them (today’s Scripture). After waiting for at least a decade, Sarai and Abram gave up on God’s promise. In chapter 16, Sarai decided and encouraged Abram to use her slave girl, Hagar, as her surrogate. Relying on human wisdom (secular advice, not Divine revelation!!!!), and performing in his flesh (law!!!!), Abram fathered Ishmael. Grace has been forced aside in favor of law….

God’s Perfect Timing

Friday, December 17, 2021

“But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons” (Galatians 4:4,5 KJV).

As today’s Scripture indicates, the birth of Jesus Christ was no accident—God planned its exact moment from eternity past.

When God placed the first man, Adam, on earth, He purposed that man would “subdue [control] it,” to “have dominion” over it and everything on it (Genesis 1:28). Nevertheless, Adam sinned by joining Satan in his rebellion against God. Because of sin, man was now unable to accomplish on earth what God originally created him to do. God left the human race a promise, however, that there would come a Man, who would do what Adam failed to do. Instead of cooperating with God’s adversary like Adam had, this “seed of the woman” would “bruise [Satan’s] head” (Genesis 3:15).

Traveling up through the Scriptures, we see how God lays the groundwork for that seedline. In Genesis 12:1-3, or 2,000 years after Adam’s sin, we read God’s covenant with Abraham, that through Abraham a nation, Israel, will be born, and salvation and blessing will flow to the Gentiles through Israel. The seed of the woman becomes the seed of Abraham (Galatians 3:16).

In 2 Samuel 7:12-16, and 1,000 years after Abraham, we read of God’s covenant with King David, that “his seed” will inherit his throne and reign forever. The seed of the woman and of Abraham becomes the seed of David.

About 1,000 years after David, Matthew 1:1 speaks of Christ’s birth, and declares, “…Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.” This is exactly what God had promised for thousands of years!

Jesus Christ’s birth was not some haphazard event of nature. God the Father had preplanned the exact moment of the incarnation of His Son, Jesus Christ (today’s Scripture). Over a period of some 4,000 years, the three members of the Godhead worked to bring about the birth of man’s Redeemer, a plan they had even before man was created! Amazing!

A Better Biography #3

Sunday, November 14, 2021

“For the love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead: And that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again” (2 Corinthians 5:14,15 KJV).

How can the truths of today’s Scripture lead us to have better biographies?

According to the Bible, the Law of Moses was not God’s original agreement with Israel. Galatians chapter 3: “[16] Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ. [17] And this I say, that the covenant, that was confirmed before of God in Christ, the law, which was four hundred and thirty years after, cannot disannul, that it should make the promise of none effect. [18] For if the inheritance be of the law, it is no more of promise: but God gave it to Abraham by promise. [19] Wherefore then serveth the law? It was added because of transgressions, till the seed should come to whom the promise was made; and it was ordained by angels in the hand of a mediator.”

The Law was “added because of transgressions” (verse 19). In the Abrahamic Covenant, given over four centuries earlier, God had promised to do some things with Abram (Abraham). Genesis 12:1-3: “Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto a land that I will shew thee: And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and [I will] make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: And I will bless them that bless thee, and [I will] curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.” The LORD is working to make a people for Himself—Abraham is not working to form this nation! So Israel would learn she could not be God’s people based on her performance, but solely on the LORD’S performance, He introduced the Law Covenant. By failing under the Law, she would come to better appreciate the grace of the Abrahamic Covenant….

Purity or Compromise? #2

Saturday, October 16, 2021

“Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths. Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the LORD, and depart from evil. It shall be health to thy navel, and marrow to thy bones” (Proverbs 3:5-8 KJV).

Will we be pure and thus purified? Or, will we compromise and thus be compromised?

In Genesis 11:1-9, the Gentiles gathered in pagan idol (Devil!) worship at the Tower of Babel, concluding 18 centuries of all nations having equal access to the one true God (unappreciated). With the LORD giving these nations over to the Satan worship they preferred (see Romans 1:17-32), He set apart one man from them and began a new nation (Genesis 12:1-3). This man was Abram—later changed to “Abraham” in chapter 17—and this nation was Israel.

Learn the condition of the Gentiles in this segment of human history (known as “time past” in Ephesians 2:11,12). “This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord, that ye henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk, in the vanity of their mind, Having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart: Who being past feeling have given themselves over unto lasciviousness, to work all uncleanness with greediness” (Ephesians 4:17-19). God, having introduced the “but now” (Ephesians 2:13), expected these Gentiles who have come to Him through Paul’s Gentile ministry, to not repeat their old ways.

While the nations in “time past” were “suffered [allowed, permitted] to walk in their own ways” (Acts 14:16); conducting themselves among pagan idols in accordance with their darkened souls and dead spirits (Acts 17:24-31; Romans 1:21-26,28); God intended the nation Israel to be an “island of truth” in the midst of a “global sea of error.” The Jews had His wisdom, the Hebrew Bible, our Old Testament (Deuteronomy 4:1-10; Psalm 147:18-20; Romans 3:1,2). Unlike the Gentiles or non-Jews living around them, the Israelites, as per today’s Scripture, were not to trust or rely on their sinful hearts for spiritual light, or their sinful understanding for spiritual truth. To do otherwise was “evil,” a compromise that would lead to them being compromised….

Seven Men Named Before Birth #5

Friday, August 6, 2021

“A good name is rather to be chosen than great riches, and loving favour rather than silver and gold” (Proverbs 22:1 KJV).

Who are the seven noteworthy men in Scripture named before their births?

As we have seen now, in each of these situations, man’s sinful flesh is at work but God’s faithfulness overcomes it. Abraham (and especially) Sarah schemed to have a child their way (through Hagar) instead of God’s way (through Sarah). Then, Hagar was punished because of the ensuing domestic conflict; regardless, God blessed Abraham’s child through Hagar, Ishmael, for the LORD “heard” (took notice) of her dire predicament.

When joyous Abraham and skeptical Sarah finally did have a son, Isaac was appropriately named because of the “laughter.” The Abrahamic Covenant now had an heir. Although King David had illicit relations with Bathsheba, and that resulting child died, the LORD was faithful in giving them another son, Solomon, whose alternate name Jedidiah meant “beloved of JEHOVAH.” It was through this boy that God would achieve the Davidic Covenant: a son of David would reign over Israel forever. King Jeroboam of the Northern Kingdom was a pagan idolater; he caused the 10 northern tribes to stumble in heathenism. A son of David, King Josiah, destroyed Jeroboam’s religious system and instituted spirituality “founded of JEHOVAH.”

Though idolatrous Israel deserved her Babylonian Captivity, the LORD used Cyrus King of Persia to “possess the furnace” (overthrow Babylon), thereby freeing the Jews and letting them return to the Promised Land. Father God sent John the Baptist to announce the entrance of His Son: He had not forgotten His covenants with Israel, but would “favor” them according to His grace and fulfill those promises despite the nation’s rank unbelief. Finally, Jesus Christ Himself took upon human flesh, to shed His blood and become “JEHOVAH-Saviour”—first and foremost of Israel, but ultimately for the whole world!

One final note worthy of our consideration. Looking at the list another way, we can read the following message: “Being heard of God results in laughter, JEHOVAH has beloved and founded, the furnace/oppressor is possessed/conquered, for JEHOVAH is gracious and Saviour.” These are certainly descriptive of Jesus Christ’s ministry—what He will do especially for Israel.

Paul, the Viper, and the Barbarians #5

Thursday, July 22, 2021

“And when Paul had gathered a bundle of sticks, and laid them on the fire, there came a viper out of the heat, and fastened on his hand. And when the barbarians saw the venomous beast hang on his hand, they said among themselves, No doubt this man is a murderer, whom, though he hath escaped the sea, yet vengeance suffereth not to live. And he shook off the beast into the fire, and felt no harm” (Acts 28:3-5 KJV).

What is the Holy Spirit teaching through this bizarre passage?

The LORD God dealt with the world through Israel from Genesis chapter 12 (Abraham) into the early Acts period. Whether the 20 centuries prior to Christ’s earthly ministry, or Matthew through John, or the opening of Acts, Israel overwhelmingly refused to believe God’s words to her. Her people did not want to be His kingdom of priests in the Earth: they declined their privilege to go to the Gentiles. Eventually, they killed their King (Jesus Christ) and remained in unbelief into Acts. Having blasphemed (spoken) against God the Son in Matthew through John, they were forgiven; however, they were not forgiven when they blasphemed (spoke) against God the Holy Ghost in Acts chapters 1–7 (cf. Matthew 12:31,32). In Acts 7:55,56, as they are about to stone Stephen to death, he sees Christ standing—no longer sitting—at the Father’s right hand. Second Coming wrath, which should have occurred here (Psalm 110:1; Acts 2:34-36), was delayed!

“I say then, Have they stumbled that they should fall? God forbid: but rather through their fall salvation is come unto the Gentiles, for to provoke them to jealousy. Now if the fall of them be the riches of the world, and the diminishing of them the riches of the Gentiles; how much more their fulness? For I speak to you Gentiles, inasmuch as I am the apostle of the Gentiles, I magnify mine office: If by any means I may provoke to emulation them which are my flesh, and might save some of them” (Romans 11:11-14). Israel stumbled at Calvary, but did not fall. She stumbled and fell in Acts chapter 7, and she diminished for the remainder of Acts. Paul’s ministry began in chapter 9, but Israel refused to believe his Gospel message too….

Found Out and Fractured in Twain #13

Thursday, January 21, 2021

“But if ye will not do so, behold, ye have sinned against the LORD: and be sure your sin will find you out” (Numbers 32:23 KJV).

Doubtless, we never want to sensationalize or exaggerate. However, the fact remains, some dark days are ahead for the United States and the rest of the world. What can we Bible-believing Christians do?

Let us review what we have seen thus far. Pride transformed Lucifer into Satan, and sin divided the angelic host. While some angels remained loyal to God, Hell was prepared for the Devil and his angels. Adam and Eve sinned, destroying their relationship with God and each other. Sin divided them; their marriage irreversibly damaged. Cain and Abel, their first two sons, were split because of sin. Unbelieving Cain murdered righteous Abel, further breaking up the human home. Sinful man, under Satan’s control, corrupted the planet increasingly with violence and killing until the LORD finally judged Earth with the Great Flood. Even after the Flood, man was determined to do what he wanted to do in the Earth. The nations assembled around the devilish Tower of Babel, resulting in the languages and scattering of the Gentiles.

Abraham, instead of relying on God’s grace, worked in his flesh to produce a child. That was not God’s child for him. Ultimately, Abraham’s sin broke up his home between two wives and two sons. Centuries later, 10 out of Israel’s 12 spies overwhelmingly denied the LORD would give the Promised Land to the nation. For the next 40 years, that unbelieving generation of Jews died off in the wilderness wanderings. King Solomon became increasingly attached to pagan women—not only marrying them but also worshipping and serving their idols. Israel lost her political might. Finally, the nation was so apostate she ignored her Messiah (Jesus Christ) when He arrived, and then crucified Him in unbelief! She has now set herself up for the Antichrist, who will come and deceive her yet future. The great majority of her people will thus wind up in Hell and the Lake of Fire.

Sin divided angels, and it divided humans. It still disrupts creation’s relationship with its Creator. Wherever sin is found, wherever sin finds out the sinner, disaster is certain. Let us now focus on the current world situation, especially in the United States….

Found Out and Fractured in Twain #10

Monday, January 18, 2021

“But if ye will not do so, behold, ye have sinned against the LORD: and be sure your sin will find you out” (Numbers 32:23 KJV).

Doubtless, we never want to sensationalize or exaggerate. However, the fact remains, some dark days are ahead for the United States and the rest of the world. What can we Bible-believing Christians do?

Exactly 12 spies—representing Israel’s 12 tribes—were sent to scout Canaan (Numbers 13:1-25). Centuries earlier, God had promised that land to their fathers Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Jacob’s 12 sons. However, since that original promise, Israel had been in Egyptian bondage. The LORD faithfully delivered her from Egypt, and now the Jews are headed into the Promised Land!

After 40 days, the spies returned to Moses and Israel: “[31] But the men that went up with him [Caleb] said, We be not able to go up against the people; for they are stronger than we. [32] And they brought up an evil report of the land which they had searched unto the children of Israel, saying, The land, through which we have gone to search it, is a land that eateth up the inhabitants thereof; and all the people that we saw in it are men of a great stature. [33] And there we saw the giants, the sons of Anak, which come of the giants: and we were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight.”

Ten out of the 12 spies contradicted the LORD, claiming Israel could not defeat the Gentiles in Canaan. Therefore, the LORD spoke in chapter 14: “[33] And your children shall wander in the wilderness forty years, and bear your whoredoms, until your carcases be wasted in the wilderness. [34] After the number of the days in which ye searched the land, even forty days, each day for a year, shall ye bear your iniquities, even forty years, and ye shall know my breach of promise. [35] I the LORD have said, I will surely do it unto all this evil congregation, that are gathered together against me: in this wilderness they shall be consumed, and there they shall die.”

Israel’s sin found her out, and fractured her in twain….

Our latest Bible Q&A: “What is the significance of Lot’s wife being turned into a pillar of salt?”