Book of Genesis - Ch. 21, Vs. 20-Ch. 22, Vs. 9 (10/22/2000)

The End of Genesis 21 and the Peace of Beersheba

Chapter 21, verse 20, last time we left off with Hagar and her son Ishmael, and we take it up there again today, and God was with the lad, and he grew, and dwelt in the wilderness and became an archer.

His descendants are well known for their archery. And he dwelt in the wilderness of Paran, and his mother took him a wife out of the land of Egypt. And it came to pass, anytime we see that phrase, it means there has been time gone by, we do not know how much, but sometime later now, that Abimelech and Phicol, the chief captain of his hosts, spake unto Abraham, saying, God is with thee in all that thou doest.

Now therefore swear unto me here by God that thou wilt not deal falsely with me, nor with my son, nor with my son's son. But according to the kindness that I have done unto thee, thou shalt do unto me, and to the land wherein thou hast sojourned.

Abraham said, I will swear. And Abraham reproved Abimelech for a well of water, which Abimelech's servants had violently taken away. Range wars are not anything new to the wild west of this country. Here we find a fight over water rights.

Water in that part of the world, as well as a lot of others, is very scarce. And the wells had to be dug. Abraham reproved Abimelech because of a well. Wells were of great importance to these people. And on the successful operation of sinking a new one, the owner was solemnly informed in person, if, however they were allowed to get out of repair, the restorer required a right to them.

In other words, if you come across a well that had fallen into disrepair, and by that I mean the top had caved in some and access to the water was somewhat restricted, or if it was completely restricted, and you took it upon yourself to clean out the well and restore it to function, then the well belonged to you.

In unoccupied lands, the possessor of wells gave a right of property in the land. And the dread of this had caused the offense for which Abraham had reproved Abimelech. Water wells were about as scarce or as rare in that country as a child of God is in this country.

And Abimelech said, I walked not, for I did not know who hath done this thing, neither didst thou tell me, neither yet heard I of it but today. And Abraham took sheep and oxen and gave them unto Abimelech, and both of them made a covenant.

And Abraham set seven ewe lambs as a flock by themselves. And Abimelech said unto Abraham, What means these seven ewe lambs which thou hast set by themselves? And he said, For these seven ewe lambs shalt thou take of my hand, that they may be a witness unto me that I have digged this well, that it belongs to me.

Wherefore, he called that place Beersheba, because there they swore both of them. Thus they made a covenant at Beersheba. Then Abimelech rose up, Phicol the chief captain of his host, and they returned into the land of the Philistines.

So we see by this that the godly concerning outward things may make peace with the wicked, but do not know the truth of God. And Abraham planted a grove in Beersheba, and called there on the name of the Lord the everlasting God.

The Sacrifice of Isaac as a Picture of Christ

Abraham sojourned in the Philistines' land many days. Now let's open this wonderful chapter of 22. We have before us in this chapter the most beautiful picture of the Son of God as he is offered by his Father as the sacrifice for everything that belongs to God the Father.

Turn to Colossians 1 .20, please. I want to read this, but I want you to follow. And if you have any questions, be sure to ask, because I want you to understand this verse. Colossians 1 .20. And having made peace through the blood of his cross, Greg, the blood of his cross refers to what?

Just as Jesus Christ. Through the blood of his cross, by him and by him alone, to reconcile all things unto himself. Clarence, reconcile means what? To bring back to a former state. So having made peace, past tense, through the blood of his cross, by him, to reconcile all things unto him.

By him, I say, whether they be things in earth or things in heaven. Now who can tell me what is meant by all things, reconcile all things? Does it exempt anything?

John, all right.

So, we see now that he made peace by the blood of his cross. His death on the cross and the shedding of his blood was not just for you and I. It included all things. Not all humans, but all things. Whether they be things in earth or things in heaven.

Now I want you to understand, Jesus Christ came not just to redeem his fallen people, which he did, and the reason he had to come to them is that they were the ones that sinned. We, and I may have the reference here, let me look.

Turn to Romans 8 .22, follow along as I read Romans 8 .22. For we know that the whole creation, now that's the cosmos that Brother David was speaking of this morning. The whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now, and not only they, but ourselves also, which have the first fruits of the spirit, that's you and I.

Even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption to wit the redemption of our body. This picture that we have, the sacrifice of Isaac is where we're headed, but it's a picture of our Lord Jesus, the Christ, and it was by his death on the cross and the shedding of his blood that he reclaimed everything that belongs to the Heavenly Father.

The seed of Satan does not, never did. The reason he had to come as a human being was that it was the human being that sinned. If it had been a tree, he would have come as a tree. If it had been a rock, he would have come as a rock.

You understand what I'm saying? Now, the entire creation was put under a curse, not willingly, not because the creation wanted to, but because God said that it must be, and it was because of the sin of man.

But the creation, Fred, is waiting on a new body. There will be a new world, a new universe, and it's waiting just like we're waiting for our new body. It will be redeemed. It has been redeemed by the blood of the cross.

Abraham Tested by God and the Meaning of Temptation

Any questions? And it came to pass, after these things, that God did tempt, Brother David, what's a better word here instead of tempt? Test. God tempts no one, Satan tempts everyone. That God did test Abraham, said unto him, Abraham, and he said, behold, here am I.

Bill, tell me, how is every trial a temptation? How is a trial a temptation? Then I think I would be safe in making this statement. It would not be a trial if it was not accompanied by attempting sin or attempting to sin.

There is no trial where there is no possibility for sin. Is that a good statement, David? He's saying yes. So we have Abraham now is going to be tested. When we're tested, along with that comes the possibility of our sinning.

Don't think you're exempt from the sinning. In Matthew 4, 7, it says this, Jesus said unto him, it is written again, thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God. Does God tempt man? Does man tempt God? He tries to, doesn't he?

That's forbidden. For us to not act in a positive way on the opportunities that come is to tempt God. Think about it. He sends nothing for you to ignore. He sends everything as a test, as a trial to improve our spiritual state, to draw us closer to him, and for us to not act on it is a sin.

In one sense of the world, you cannot, one sense of the word, you cannot get by without acting on it. But in another sense, you might consider yourself as not acting. Will the fact that mentally we do not act on the opportunity, will that change the outcome?

What does it change? Our attitude. And he said, take now thy son, oh boy, take thy son. In the eyes of the heavenly father, Isaac is the only son Abraham has. And he has waited a hundred years for this son.

Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac. There is no room for any mistake. Whom thou lovest. So David, he's continually adding thorns along the way. And get thee into the land of Moriah. Now in this land is where Jerusalem and the temple are afterwards to be built.

That's where he's headed now. They're not there yet. And offer him there as a burnt offering upon one of the mountains, which I will tell thee. Now we see no reaction out of Abraham except he just obeyed.

But Marianne, I cannot help but think that here is a man that has waited seemingly a lifetime for his promised son. And he himself grew up in the Ur of Chaldeas, where they practiced human sacrifice. And he abhorred it even then.

And now from God Almighty, he has a direct message to take his most beloved son and kill him. Offer him as a sacrifice. Russell, that's got to affect his mental stability, but he doesn't show it. He heard and obeyed without a murmur.

I believe God put great honor upon Abraham by giving him the opportunity of showing to all successive generations the nature of his unshaken faith in the power, goodness, and truth of God. We never know whether it's big, whether it's little.

But every trial, we do not know the unintended consequences of it. How could anybody ever know that a man that I know, by drinking a Coke at a cooperative program would lead someone to Christ and later to become a deacon?

Just drinking a Coke. But God puts great honor upon us with every trial. And Abraham rose up early in the morning, saddled his ass, took two of his young men with him and Isaac, his son. Now notice he has not informed Isaac as to what he's doing.

And he claimed the wood for the burnt offering. In other words, he cut it and split it and made it ready. Rose up and went into the place of which God had told him. Now he started to it. He's not there yet.

The Targum tells us that these two young men were Eleazar and Ishmael. I don't know. I cannot prove that. Then on the third day, Greg, does third ring a bell with you? Lots of things have occurred, haven't they, on the third day.

On the third day, Abraham lifted up his eyes and saw the place afar off. God leads Abraham straight to the mount where later in history, our Lord himself was crucified. That's the place that Isaac is going to be offered, where Jesus hung on the cross.

The third day, Isaac was to be offered up. So it was the third day Jesus rose from among the dead. Isaac carries the wood. Jesus carried the cross beam of his own cross. The binding of Isaac was in keeping with Jesus being bound.

And it tells us that in Matthew 27 too, that when they had bound him, they led him away and delivered him to Pontius Pilate, the governor. How do you suppose, Bill, how do you suppose that Abraham recognized the place?

He'd never been there before.

I think God probably told him that this is the place.

Well, that possibly could be. It's not recorded. Of course, there's nothing recorded concerning that. I've always thought that he recognized it because of the special cloud that was at the summit of whatever he knew where it was.

And Abraham said unto his young men, Abide ye here with the ass, and I and the lad will go yonder and worship and come again to you. Now, Clarence, that just goes against everything that Abraham's been told.

He was told by the Lord himself, take your son and offer him as a burnt offering. Now, he tells these young men, says, you wait there and we're going to go worship and then we'll come back. How could Abraham in truth make this statement that we will come again to you?

How could he do that, Bill? He'd been told. So this had to show to us the belief and the faith of Abraham that even if he killed Isaac, it was up to God to restore him to life because there was a promise made.

I just wonder, could I do such a thing? Could you do such a thing? Well, we never know. And we cannot reckon our faith before the event because we just do not know. That's right. But he believed just as strongly as we do, I think.

In Hebrews 11 and 17, if you want to follow me over to there, please. 17, 18, and 19. Paul refers to Abraham in the 11th chapter of Hebrews as well as he does most of the other patriarchs. Reading now, beginning at 17, and by faith, Abraham, when he was tried, offered up Isaac and he that had received the promise offered up his only begotten son of whom it was said that in Isaac shall thy seed be called.

Accounting that God was able to raise him up even from the dead from whence also he received him in a figure. The birth of Isaac was a type of resurrection from the dead. Only in that case, it was a dead womb.

It's interesting to... Yes, yes. No, it's not that kind of figure. This is figuratively, he's speaking that the birth of Isaac was a figure of the birth of Christ, the resurrection of Christ, all miraculous.

Isaac, the Wood, and the Lamb God Will Provide

And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering, laid it upon Isaac. As we go through the story of Isaac, I want you to look for parallels with Christ. Laid it upon Isaac, his son, and he took the fire in his hand and a knife, and they went both of them together.

Think about this load of wood. Diane, how much... I know you haven't hauled much wood, but how much wood would it take to consume Isaac as a sacrifice? I think it would take a tremendous load. Even though they had real hot burning wood, it would still take a tremendous load.

Enough to consume the entire sacrifice. Now, Virg, how old was Isaac, at least? He's 33. 33 years old. How long old did that make Abraham? 133. Keep that point in mind. And Isaac spake unto Abraham his father and said, my father.

And he said, here am I, my son. And he said, behold the fire, the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering? So we know that he had not been instructed yet as to what was going on. This alone had to be traumatic for Abraham, of not telling his son.

Now they carried fire with them. John, why? There were no matches yet. But it's symbolic. Do you remember reading any place that fire descended from heaven and consumed the sacrifice? This is symbolic of that.

We're running out of time. And Abraham said, my son. God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering. So they went, both of them, together. Think about that statement. God will provide himself a lamb.

God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering. God will provide himself a lamb. Prophetic, wasn't it? And they came to the place where God had told him. And Abraham built an altar there, laid the wood in order, bound Isaac, his son, and laid him on the altar up on the wood.

Now, as soon as you explain that verse to him, it will stop. They came to the place where it's supposed to be. Abraham goes about unloading the wood and arranging it, and building an altar, probably out of rocks and dirt, so it would be elevated.

Then he arranges the wood on it. Then this 133-year-old man takes his 33-year-old son and ties him with some kind of thongs, I suppose, and lays him on the wood. Could Isaac have resisted? Could he have overcome this 133-year-old man?

Yes. I missed the last point that you made. Oh, wishes we all had a son like that. Well, we might have if you'd try to bind him and lay him on a fire. I think this story is tremendous. This was a test of Isaac as well as Abraham, wasn't it?

Sure. Absolutely. What did the fact that Isaac did not resist, what does that tell you about Abraham as a father? He did a fine job raising his son, didn't he? If we had more like that today, we'd have less problems.

Closing Prayer and Final Remarks

All right, we'll start with verse 10 next week, and I hope you all come back. All right? Isaac carried it. All we know is what the Scripture said. Yes. Well, I know Mesquite burns extremely hot, and there were trees in that country as sure equal or more so.

But I cannot explain exactly how it was done other than Isaac carried the wood. Well, if it had been me, I'd have still been making trips. Well, you did that. Well, we could rationalize and assume a lot of things, It might have been like a burning bush.

Yes, a burning bush. So let's just stick to what Scripture says.

Roger, would you dismiss this, please? Come together, Lord, in true work. We ask God that you will help us to meditate upon these things, that we might apply them to our lives, and that our infrastructure may not be low or sick or waste, as we will continue to keep up these things with one another in prayer, and to bring to us peace before our hearts and minds.

We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen.

Jesse, this belongs to one of your boys.