An eternal view

Genesis 25: 24-28: “And when her days to be delivered were fulfilled, behold, there were twins in her womb. And the first came out red, all over like an hairy garment; and they called his name Esau. And after that came his brother out, and his hand took hold on Esau’s heel; and his name was called Jacob: and Isaac was threescore years old when she bare them. And the boys grew: and Esau was a cunning hunter, a man of the field; and Jacob was a plain man, dwelling in tents. And Isaac loved Esau, because he did eat of his venison: but Rebekah loved Jacob.”

Jacob was born trying to take his brother’s place. Even though the boys were twins the firstborn had rights while the second born had none. These brothers struggled before they were born and they fought as they grew older. Jacob was jealous of Esau and the rights that he had; he tried every trick that he could devise to take his brother’s place in the bigger scheme of things. However, in Hebrews 11: 20, 21 (“By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau concerning things to come. By faith Jacob, when he was a dying, blessed both the sons of Joseph; and worshipped, leaning upon the top of his staff.”) Jacob is commended for his faith while Esau is not. In Hebrews 11: 16  we read “But now they desire a better country, that is, an heavenly: wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God: for he hath prepared for them a city”. This reminds us that Jacob understood the importance of eternal matter while Esau was only interested in immediate matters. It is the people who realise the importance of the eternal and trust in God who have faith. Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ gives us everlasting life and nothing else can save us. Not even the privileges of birth.

(The view expressed in this blog are my own and should not be taken as inspired in any way.)
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By faith alone

Genesis 25: 22, 23:And the children struggled together within her; and she said, If it be so, why am I thus? And she went to enquire of the LORD. And the LORD said unto her, Two nations are in thy womb, and two manner of people shall be separated from thy bowels; and the one people shall be stronger than the other people; and the elder shall serve the younger.”

Whenever there is a personality clash in Christian work we can be sure that it is part of the great spiritual battle that goes on behind the scenes. Satan is determined to destroy everything that gives glory to the Lord so that he can take that glory for himself. Rebekah had to wait for her child to be born even though she trusted the Lord and went with a strange man to a strange place to marry someone she had not met. She trusted the Lord and did what He asked her to do. However, after the waiting she was now pregnant and ready to bear the child of promise. There was still one last struggle as the twins fought with each other while they were still in her womb. These children had not yet been born and they hadn’t done anything that could be called sin. They were not sufficiently developed to make a conscious decision about sinning. The Lord made the promise that the younger son would be the leader while the younger would be the servant. This actually happened when king David conquered the Edomites and they served Israel. Later the Idumeans (Edomites) were forcibly integrated into the Jewish nation. (Herod was an Idumean who took great pride in being the King of the Jews). This reminds that God does not reward us according to our sin but He does reward us according to His grace (Psalm 103: 10 “He hath not dealt with us after our sins; nor rewarded us according to our iniquities.”) That is still true today. Everyone is a sinner but everyone who believes in the Lord Jesus Christ as their own personal Saviour has everlasting life.

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(The view expressed in this blog are my own and should not be taken as inspired in any way.)

A relationship

Genesis 25: 19-21“And these are the generations of Isaac, Abraham’s son: Abraham begat Isaac: And Isaac was forty years old when he took Rebekah to wife, the daughter of Bethuel the Syrian of Padanaram, the sister to Laban the Syrian. And Isaac intreated the LORD for his wife, because she was barren: and the LORD was intreated of him, and Rebekah his wife conceived.”

We live in a day of remote controls and microwave ovens. We expect everything to happen quickly. Fast food is called fast food because it is designed to be eaten fast. Fast food restaurants have a twenty minute parking limit because they expect that you will order your food then be served and eat it in less than twenty minutes. This is exactly the opposite of developing relationships. Relationships take time and are meant to last a lifetime if they are worthwhile. This is especially true of our relationship with God. This is a relationship that requires time. When God delays an answer to our prayers it is because He is graciously giving us time to develop our relationship with Him by praying more and more. Isaac saw that Abraham had a lifelong relationship with God and now God was inviting Isaac to have a lifelong relationship with Him. Isaac, wisely took the opportunity and spent time in prayer. We know that this relationship did last a lifetime. We can learn the same lesson and spend as much time as we can in prayer then we will have a lifetime relationship with God. Every time we pray, giving thanks and praise we are practising for heaven because that is what we will be doing there.

This section also gives another interesting insight into the book of Genesis. Abraham is, without doubt, the most important character in the book, apart from God, but there is no “these are the generations of Abraham” in the book. This is because Abraham was an active participant and it was left to his sons to compile the record of his life from his memories and their own. The other question is, “Why isn’t there are ‘these are the generations...’ at the end of the book?Joseph was the last character who compiled a record but he was trained in Egypt and used their methodology rather than the Mesopotamian methodology. (One last issue: the book ends with Josephs death so how could he have finished the book?Manassseh his son filled in the last paragraph to make sure his book was complete.)

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(The view expressed in this blog are my own and should not be taken as inspired in any way.)

Ishmael

Gen 25: 12-18: “Now these are the generations of Ishmael, Abraham’s son, whom Hagar the Egyptian, Sarah’s handmaid, bare unto Abraham: And these are the names of the sons of Ishmael, by their names, according to their generations: the firstborn of Ishmael, Nebajoth; and Kedar, and Adbeel, and Mibsam, And Mishma, and Dumah, and Massa, Hadar, and Tema, Jetur, Naphish, and Kedemah: These are the sons of Ishmael, and these are their names, by their towns, and by their castles; twelve princes according to their nations. And these are the years of the life of Ishmael, an hundred and thirty and seven years: and he gave up the ghost and died; and was gathered unto his people. And they dwelt from Havilah unto Shur, that is before Egypt, as thou goest toward Assyria: and he died in the presence of all his brethren.”

This is the end of the next document in Genesis. It starts with “these are the generation of Ishmael” but in verse 19 we read “these are the generation of Isaac”. Ishmael was given an honorary place in this list of authors because Abraham prayed “O that Ishmael might live before thee!” (Gen 17: 18) God honoured Abraham’s prayer and Ishmael was given a place of honour in the documentation of the records of creation until the time that Israel was delivered from bondage in Egypt. Ishmael, however, has played an important part in history from that time to this, also in answer to Abraham’s request. God’s word is always faithful and He controls all things. He knows the end from the beginning (Isaiah 46: 10 “Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure:”) In all history God is the only One Who can promise with complete confidence and we can rely on the veracity of that promise. This includes the promise of everlasting life (John 3: 16). The Lord Jesus Christ was the only Person Who could actually satisfy the two essential elements of that verse: He alone could make the whosoever believeth possible and He alone could make the everlasting life possible.

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(The view expressed in this blog are my own and should not be taken as inspired in any way.)

God blessed his son

Genesis 25: 11: “And it came to pass after the death of Abraham, that God blessed his son Isaac; and Isaac dwelt by the well Lahairoi.”

After Abraham died, God blessed his son Isaac. We saw earlier that Abraham gave gifts to  his other children but Isaac inherited Abraham’s estate. Abraham knew that Isaac was the son of promise even though he was not the oldest son. He was the son of Abraham’s wife Sarah, the wife he married when he was young. God made the promise that Sarah would have a son and this was the son that Sarah bore to Abraham. Even though both Sarah and Abraham suffered crises of hope during the course of their lives they didn’t ever give up their faith and God was true to His word so their faith had substance. The first time that we see the word “blessed” in the Bible is in Gen 1: 22 where were saw that “And God blessed them, saying, Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let fowl multiply in the earth.” Further down in that same chapter we find that God blessed man, whom He had made in His own image and the fruit of being blessed was the same, that is to be fruitful and multiply and replenish the earth and subdue it. The last time that we come across “blessed” in the Bible is in Revelation 22: 14 where we read, “Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city.” It is a special gift to be blessed by the Lord for it means that we can be fruitful and multiply and we have right to the tree of life and enter into the city. Abraham spent many years waiting for his son to be born but Isaac was blessed and he was part of the chain of blessing that led to their descendants being fruitful and multiplying. Not only that, through Abraham’s descendants everyone who believes has the right to the tree of life. If we eat from the tree of life we will live forever. (See Gen 3: 22)

Would you like to support this ministry? Please click this link: http://jamesmcnaught.blogspot.com/ and then click “Follow” and encourage all your friends to follow as well. You could also visit http://jamesmcnaught.com and consider buying Gulf or Reclaiming the Bible from the “Enlightened”. (http://www.youtube.com/user/jamesmcnaught1)

(The view expressed in this blog are my own and should not be taken as inspired in any way.)

Buried him in the cave

Genesis 25: 9- 10: “And his sons Isaac and Ishmael buried him in the cave of Machpelah, in the field of Ephron the son of Zohar the Hittite, which is before Mamre; The field which Abraham purchased of the sons of Heth: there was Abraham buried, and Sarah his wife.”

This cave was the only part of the Promised Land that Abraham actually owned. Strictly speaking, the Lord kept His promise to Abraham precisely. The Lord told Abraham (Gen 12: 1-3) to go to a land that He would show him. The Lord did show Abraham the Land. The Lord told Abraham that He would make a great nation from Abraham and the Lord did make a great nation from Abraham. During the time of kings Solomon and David, Israel was the superpower of the age. In Genesis 15 the Lord promised Abraham that his descendants would be strangers in a foreign land and then they would escape with great substance. This is precisely what happened. Abraham also died in peace. When God makes promises He always keeps them. If God didn’t keep His promises to Abraham, as some suggest today, then can we be confident that He will keep the promises that He had made to the church. For example, John 3: 16 “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life” or “John 14: 1-3 “Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.” We have an eternal interest in the fact that God keeps all of His promises and it is important not to forget that.

Would you like to support this ministry? Please click this link: http://jamesmcnaught.blogspot.com/ and then click “Follow” and encourage all your friends to follow as well. You could also visit http://jamesmcnaught.com and consider buying Gulf or Reclaiming the Bible from the “Enlightened”. (http://www.youtube.com/user/jamesmcnaught1)

(The view expressed in this blog are my own and should not be taken as inspired in any way.)

Our first priority

Genesis 25: 1-8 “Then again Abraham took a wife, and her name was Keturah. And she bare him Zimran, and Jokshan, and Medan, and Midian, and Ishbak, and Shuah. And Jokshan begat Sheba, and Dedan. And the sons of Dedan were Asshurim, and Letushim, and Leummim. And the sons of Midian; Ephah, and Epher, and Hanoch, and Abida, and Eldaah. All these were the children of Keturah. And Abraham gave all that he had unto Isaac. But unto the sons of the concubines, which Abraham had, Abraham gave gifts, and sent them away from Isaac his son, while he yet lived, eastward, unto the east country. And these are the days of the years of Abraham’s life which he lived, an hundred threescore and fifteen years. Then Abraham gave up the ghost, and died in a good old age, an old man, and full of years; and was gathered to his people.”

Abraham spent a long and productive time with Sarah but he got on with the rest of his life after his wife died. The apostle Paul suggested that a person is better not to get remarried (1 Cor 7: 39, 40) after they are widowed but it is a matter of personal choice. The big issue here is that Abraham maintained faith with God but allowing the “promised son” to inherit everything while he gave gifts to his other sons and sent them away. It is always good for us, as Christians, be be generous and compassionate but trusting the Lord should always be our first priority.

Would you like to support this ministry? Please click this link: http://jamesmcnaught.blogspot.com/ and then click “Follow” and encourage all your friends to follow as well. You could also visit http://jamesmcnaught.com and consider buying Gulf or Reclaiming the Bible from the “Enlightened”. (http://www.youtube.com/user/jamesmcnaught1)

(The view expressed in this blog are my own and should not be taken as inspired in any way.)