Sunday Night, January 6, 2019 PM

The Promise Is Through Isaac, Not Ishmael

Offering of Isaac on the altar. We also took a look back just a little bit more at a pattern that we're in the middle of from Genesis 19 to Genesis 23. There is a bit of a pattern of parallels that move inward that meet in the story where Hagar is sent away and where Abraham meets with Abimelech.

And the reason why that's at the middle of everything, really, on either side of story is that it's Isaac, not Ishmael. That's the critical information that even though Ishmael was Abraham's firstborn, he was not legitimate.

He was not the seed that God promised. You imagine how confusing that might be to have the promise to Abraham that he would have an heir and that this heir would be the chosen seed, the most important one, to follow that lineage through.

And you imagine just how confusing that would be when Abraham and Sarah, in the efforts of their own flesh, trying to make things happen their way instead of being patient for God's way, Abraham takes Hagar to himself and she bears him a son, Ishmael.

And so there has to be this critical moment where it's clear that it's not Ishmael, it's Isaac. And so Ishmael and Hagar are sent away. And God is seen as gracious in all of this and sovereign in all of this as he assures Abraham, and he follows through on it, that Ishmael will become a great nation because he is of Abraham.

And God said that Abraham's descendants would be blessed. Abraham and Sarah's efforts by the flesh has caused no end of great confusion on the world stage. You know what I'm saying? Yeah, so when we think of Abraham as known as God's friend, and we took a look at the way that Jesus talked to his disciples as his friends, and the way that he addressed his disciples as friends, all the earmarks of what that means is also true of Abraham and his encounter with Christ in Genesis 18.

And why does James call Abraham the friend of God? Well, because the way that he and God dealt with one, the way that God dealt with him and the way that Abraham responded to him, it was the exact same thing with the disciples in Jesus Christ.

Now, when we look at how did God communicate with Abraham, when we read through the stories of Abraham, we'll see things like, well, sometimes there is just all of a sudden it says, the Lord said to Abraham, now do this and sometimes we read the word of the Lord came to Abraham in a vision.

Sometimes we have that, but it's a pretty realistic vision as the word of the Lord comes to Abraham and he speaks to Abraham and says, come on outside the tent, we're going to look at something out here now.

I mean, it's a very personal kind of encounter with the word of the Lord. When we read in, of course, there's the vision of when God makes a covenant with Abraham and he sees the smoking oven and the flaming torch passing between the pieces of the sacrifices.

We also have Genesis 17, the Lord appeared to Abraham and said to him, we're not given, we're not said this is a vision, we're not said this is a dream. He just appeared to Abraham and talks to him. Genesis 18, the Lord appeared again and this time he's walking by and Abraham knows who it is.

I mean, he's been talking to the Lord for a while now. How many times has he met the Lord and spoken with him? And so he knows who it is who's coming by his tent in Genesis 18. That's why he says, please stop and I'll serve you a meal.

And he does. What we remember is Abraham dealing with God in a way that's face to face, that's personal in that way. We remember what is said in the gospel of John that no one has seen God at any time.

The only begotten God who was in the bosom of the father, he has explained him. So anytime we have in the scriptures, someone meeting with God and they tend to be surprised at the end that they're still alive.

Because no man may see his face and live. The reason why they're still alive is because they met with a mediator. They met with a mediator and there's only one mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus.

So Christ, before he was incarnate, Christ, the second person of the Godhead, God the Son, appeared to mankind in a variety of ways to communicate with him. So that's how Abraham is dealing. And that's why Abraham is a prophet.

And undoubtedly, Moses wrote this down, but whatever writings were made and handed down, whatever stories were codified and told, it comes back to Abraham because he was actually the one who was there.

So it's a very personal kind of conversation. Christ coming to speak with Abraham. And so this is who he was believing on, by the way, and Abraham was justified by faith. Abraham believed the Lord and it was accounted to him for righteousness.

Some people say, well, he was believing in God but had no idea who Christ was, had no idea about the gospel. He was just believing in God and hoping it would all work out. Paul says in Galatians, the scriptures preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham.

He knew the gospel and so he trusted in Christ and he was justified by faith in Christ. Christ had not come in human form. He had not died upon the cross. He had not been risen from the dead. So the gospel was there in Bud, but it had not yet fully bloomed, but it was still there.

So that's who he was dealing with and that's how he was learning. Think about Melchizedek, he just kind of comes out of the blue. How did he know? How was he a priest of God most high? So there's, it's a good question.

Abraham and Lot as a Study in Contrasts

The pattern that we're in the middle of is somewhat of a contrast between Lot and Abraham. Not only is that the center of this pattern, the contrast between Ishmael and Isaac, it's Isaac, not Ishmael, we get that, but in the broader pattern is a contrast between Lot and Abraham.

In Genesis 19, we hear several things. We hear about how it was that Lot ended up with his offspring and it was through incest with his daughters. We also, on the other side of the pattern, hear about how it is that Abraham, let's see, Lot's whole offspring was at risk.

His whole line was about to die out and what was done? Well, it was great, great sin. On the other side of it, in Genesis 22, we have Abraham's lineage at risk. Isaac's on the altar. Ishmael's already been sent away.

Isaac is his only heir, it's very clear. Now Isaac's on the altar and things are at risk, but yet God provides and it's one of the clearest pictures in all the Bible of the gospel. On Genesis 19, we hear about the way in which Lot was engaging with the people of the land.

What did the people of the land think of Lot? How did the men of Sodom speak to Lot? How did they relate to Lot? Did they hold him in high regard? No. They despised him. They saw the weakness of his character and they despised him.

On the other side of it, here in Genesis 23, we're going to hear about how Abraham deals with the people of the land. It couldn't be a starker contrast between the way that Lot deals with the people of the land and the way Abraham deals with the people of the land and their interactions.

Also, in contrast, we have the story of how Lot's wife died and what kind of end she had. On the other side of it, we have the way Abraham's wife, Sarah, died and how her end was dealt with. This whole section is about contrast.

Lot versus Abraham and Ishmael versus Isaac. These studied contrasts are all right here in the middle of Genesis. So that's where we're at in Genesis 23. We have to read this according to the structure of the book.

We have to read this as in parallel contrast to Lot and his wife, what happened there. Now we read about Abraham and his wife, what happened to her. So being in verse one of Genesis 23, now Sarah lived 127 years.

These were the years of the life of Sarah. Sarah died in Kiriath Arvah, that is Hebron, in the land of Canaan. And Abraham went in to mourn for Sarah and to weep for her. Then Abraham rose from before his dead and spoke to the sons of Heth saying, I am a stranger and a sojourner among you.

Give me a burial site among you that I might bury my dead out of my sight. Abraham is a stranger and a sojourner among the Canaanites. What was Lot? Permanent resident. He was sitting in the city gate.

He was part of the establishment and he was in favor of it. He was helping run it. So there's a deep contrast here. Abraham is still a pilgrim. He's still a sojourner, still a stranger. And he recognizes that, he confesses that.

Interesting too, you see how when Lot joined the establishment and we know that he was vexed, we know that Lot was vexed. We know that Lot was, at his core, righteous. That's what the Bible says in the New Testament, righteous Lot, which always gives us a head shake.

You know, I don't know, you know, it doesn't look right to me. But he, you know, but he was, he was compromised. He had compromised to try to join. He joined with the system because, you know, he's going to make it better, right?

Didn't work, did it? How many compromises did he make to be accepted in the city gate, to get to that position? And then what effect did he have? None at all. Okay. Now we'll look at the effect that Abraham has by remaining the pilgrim and the sojourner.

And so he has this great sorrow. Sarah has died, but she dies in the land of Canaan. This is the land that's promised. And so Abraham was ready to bury her. But he has to ask the people, the sons of Heth, for a burial site.

Verse 5, the sons of Heth answered Abraham, saying to him, hear us, my lord, you are a mighty prince among us. You know, he said, I'm, you know, I'm just a wanderer. I'm a nomad. I'm just kind of, you know, and they said, you are a mighty prince.

You know, he's been doing what God called him to do, not perfect at it, but he's been doing what God has called him to do. He's been walking the length and the breadth of the land that God has said, I'm going to give this to you and your descendants.

He's been surveying the land that his descendants won't possess for another 400 years. But he's surveying it in anticipation and faith. This is all going to be my descendants' land. And he has been living in such a way that it is clear who he is about.

He says, hear us, my lord, you are a mighty prince. In fact, another way of translating it is you are a prince of God. You are a prince of God among us. What kind of witness is he having? They know who he is.

You know, he's doing what God has called him to do. And so they say, bury your dead in the choicest of our graves. None of us will refuse you his grave for burying your dead. That's remarkable. But Abraham doesn't take him up on that offer exactly.

Well, maybe he would have. He certainly had trouble getting his daughter's betrothed out of the city. They wouldn't go with him. His wife was so a part of the Sodom society, she wanted to go back. But here, Abraham has a different idea.

So verse 7, so Abraham rose and bowed to the people of the land, the sons of Heth. He's showing respect. He's giving honor to whom it is due. And he spoke with them saying, if this is your wish for me to bury my dead out of my sight, hear me and approach Ephron, the son of Zohar for me, that he may give me the cave of Machpelah, which he owns, which is at the end of his field for the full price.

Let him give it to me in your presence for a burial site. Abraham was not willing to just bury Sarah in an available grave. Okay. And because then it would be, where is Sarah buried? Oh, she's buried in the family plot of one of the sons of Heth, right?

So she's not, so, but he wants a plot of his own. He wants a piece of land for his own, that it would be, that's right. That's the only piece he owned. And I think it's very significant. So he knows what piece of land he wants.

Isn't this interesting? He knows what piece of land he wants. How does he know what piece of land he wants? He's been, he has been walking the length and the breadth of the land, just like God told him to back in Genesis 13.

He knows the land, like the back of his hand. He knows where, where he wants to bury his dead. He knows who owns that land. It is exactly what he wants. And so he asks for Ephron. Now verse two, now Ephron was sitting among the sons of Heth and Ephron the Hittite answered Abraham in the hearing of the sons of Heth, even of all who went in at the gate of the city, saying, no, my Lord, hear me.

I give you the field. I give you the cave that is in it. In the presence of the sons of my people, I give it to you, bury your dead. And Abraham bowed before the people of the land. He spoke to Ephron in the hearing of the people of the land.

Notice this continual public witness saying, if you will only please listen to me, I will give the price of the field. Accept it from me that I'm going to bury my dead there. Why won't he take the land for free?

Is he too proud for a handout? That's right. He said to the king of Sodom, I'm not going to take even a sandal strap from you lest you go around and say, I made Abraham rich. Then no, we're not going to do it that way.

And he doesn't do it this way either. Even if it was really genuinely his before the witnesses of all the people, he wants in the witnesses of all the people to say, it's not something that's going to be given.

It's not that the Hittites gave us the land, right? When the ancestors of Abraham are going into the land, they're going to be fighting the Hittites. In fact, it was one of the stronger battles. They got to drive the Hittites out.

They've had their chance. They've had the 400 plus years of witness of the gospel from the Kizidek and Abraham. They've had the witness of the mountain called Jehovah Jireh, the Lord will provide. The witness has been there and they have maintained their idolatry for 400 years.

And here comes the judgment in the form of the people of God, the Israelites, and they're going to come in and wipe them all out. They're going to fight the Hittites. When they get there, it's not going to be like this.

The Hittites saying, well, you know, we gave you the land first. Abraham pays for, he wants to pay for this land. He's not going to have the Hittites making him rich or being the source of, he's going to buy it with the blessings that God has entrusted to him.

Okay. So Ephron answered Abraham saying to him, my Lord, listen to me, a piece of land worth 400 shekels of silver. What is that between me and you? All the tact of the ancient Near East. That's 400 shekels of silver.

Go bury your dead. So verse 16, Abraham listened to Ephron. This is wise, very wise. Ephron listened to Ephron. He's persistent. He's persistent. He knows the way in which he should go about doing this.

He's not going to get sidetracked and thrown off. He's just going to be persistent until he gets it. So Abraham listened to Ephron and he weighed out for Ephron the silver, which he had named in the hearing of the sons of Heth, 400 shekels of silver, commercial standard.

What in the world? That's not Hebrew. Current according to the merchant. There we go. That's the more literal term. Commercial standard. Come on. What does the King James have at the current, according to the merchant, current money with the merchant.

Okay. So he's being fair. He's being on the level, exactly what was accepted there. So Ephron's field, which was in Machpelah, which faced Mamre, the field in the cave, which was in it and all the trees which were in the field that were within all the confines of his border were deeded over to Abraham for a possession and the presence of the sons of Heth before all who went into the gate of his city.

After this, Abraham buried Sarah, his wife in the cave at the field of Machpelah facing Mamre that is Hebron in the land of Canaan. So the field and the cave that is in it were deeded over to Abraham for a burial site by the sons of Heth.

How many more times do you have to say it? But here is the deed to property in the middle of the book of Genesis. This is an ancient legal document. This is what happened. This is who was here. This was the price.

This is what was paid. This is what it is. And so this was, as we hear from Hebrews, this was the only piece of property that Abraham ever owned in the promised land that God said he would give to Abraham and to his descendants.

But this was the only piece of property that he ever owned in the whole place and it was a grave site. It was a grave site. Well, he didn't take Sarah back to Ur to be buried among her kinfolk, did he?

He buried her there because all the future sons and daughters of Sarah would be buried in that same land. It was an act of faith, right? Saying this is where we're going to be. Even as in the next chapter, Abraham refuses to allow his son to be married to a woman of Canaan.

It's also a very clear act of faith and an example for the later Israelites, who they weren't supposed to intermarry with the Canaanites. And you read the book of Judges to find out, you know, when they didn't obey that, what happened.

But let's look a little bit at Hebrews, just briefly, at the faith of Abraham. So in Hebrews 11, and we've got Abraham being talked about beginning in verse 8. By faith, Abraham, when he was called, obeyed by going out to the place which he was to receive for an inheritance, and he went out, not knowing where he was going.

By faith, he lived as an alien in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, fellow heirs of the same promise. For he was looking for the city which has foundations, whose architect and builder is God.

So he's looking for something else. Jesus said, Abraham rejoiced to see the day of Christ. He was looking to something beyond what was right in front of him. By faith, even Sarah herself received ability to conceive, even beyond the proper time of life, since she considered him faithful who had promised.

Therefore, there was born even of one man, and him as good as dead at that, as many descendants as the stars of heaven in number, and innumerable as the sand which was by the seashore. All these died in faith without receiving the promises.

Strong, but having seen them and welcomed them from a distance, having confessed that they were strangers and exiles on the earth. For those who say such things make it clear that they are seeking a country of their own.

And indeed, if they had been thinking of that country from which they went out, they would have had opportunity to return, whether to Ur or to Egypt. But as it is, they desire a better country that is a heavenly one.

Therefore, God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them. You know, when it says that they died in faith, Sarah died in faith. Sarah died in faith and she did not receive the promises.

But Sarah had seen them and welcomed them from a distance. She had confessed that she was but a stranger and exile on earth, just like Abraham would say. Her burial, you see, Abraham didn't own a scrap of the promised land except for the burial plot.

And the way in which she was buried, the way in which he buried his wife was a sign of faith, as he was looking forward to the promises that would be fulfilled. In a sense, in a sense, the only property you're ever going to own 100 years from now is your burial plot, you know.

And when we're thinking about the way that Sarah died, the way she was buried, it gives us pause to think about what do we do with the last bit of our trajectory, right? The last few steps of our life, what do we do?

How do we orient ourselves? I think we were given instruction by Larry Mock. She wrote it all out. She said, this is how it's going to be. She said, with my, you know, the very last thing I do on this earth, the very last influence I have directly is going to be my funeral, and this is how I'm going to be buried, right?

I think we have an instruction there. Miss Larry is not yet resurrected. Now, she is present with the Lord. All our dear sisters and brothers who have gone on before us, they are not yet resurrected, not yet in the new creation, but they are present with the Lord.

Their body is in the ground, their spirit is with Christ, okay? They've not yet received the promises, but we all, like them, we want to be buried in such a way that says, I'm looking for the promises, you know?

And that little spit of property, that little spit of property became the burial site of those who had faith in the promises of God that long ago, and that's very instructive for us. Any questions or thoughts as we close?

Okay. Chapter 22, verse 11. Okay. The angel of the Lord calling to him, yeah, stopping him in his tracks. Well, it's one of the things that we think about when we read the Old Testament. It seems like every other page, something amazing is happening until it doesn't, and then, you know, we kind of skip through.

But when you think about the times in which God spoke from heaven, or Christ spoke directly face to face with someone, or some great miracle happened, those things tended to be far apart, right? It wasn't happening every other hour.

Yes. Sure. That's pretty good. Well, on that note, let's sing the doxology and we'll be dismissed.