As we discussed these chapters last night we were reminded of a few points. The land the Lord is giving to Abraham's descendants is Canaan. What do we remember about Canaan? It was more than just the name of the land . . . Canaan was the son of Ham who was the son of Noah. Not only was Ham his son, but he was the one who dishonored Noah - then Noah cursed him - he cursed him through his son, Canaan. See Genesis 9:21-27 for a reminder. So . . . this land of "Canaan" is filled with "Canaanites" (the story continues . . . )
Our text pointed us to Genesis 17:16 (page 157) where Abraham is told "I will surely give you a son by her." If we read this out of context we might be confused by who the "her" is - is it Hagar, Sarah's handmaiden OR is it Sarah herself? If you read Genesis 17:15-16 you will understand that God is referring to Sarai (who the Lord renamed Sarah). IF it was Hagar and NOT Sarah - then Jesus would not be the offspring / descendant listed in the genealogy in the Bible (Matthew 1:1-16). This is a bone of contention between the Christians and the Muslims (who believe God meant Ishmael and not Isaac). However, when in doubt . . . read the Scriptures.
A main point in this week's study was focused on the Scripture in John 8:53, 56 where Jesus was asked "Are you greater than our father Abraham?" and Jesus answered, "Your father Abraham rejoiced that he would see my day. He saw it and was glad". We know, that Abraham was described as the father of faith, the friend of God yet he had his heart set on a day out into the future - this was based on promises God made to him. We know this through Jesus' answer above AND we know that the longing was put into Abraham's heart on the day that God came to him while he was living in the land of Ur. God gave him a command AS WELL AS a series of promises. (Genesis 12:1-3): The Lord had said to Abram, “Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you. “I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth
will be blessed through you.” Then in Genesis 12:7, God says, "To your offspring I will give this land."
Hmmm - Abram (not yet called Abraham) is 75 years "young", has no children, his wife Sarai (not yet called Sarah and not a spring chicken either) has been barren throughout their marriage, are going to have children AND be given the land of Canaan where the Canaanites already live. God further clarifies and EXPANDS upon his promise as follows in Genesis 13:14-15: "Lift up your eyes and look from the place where you are, northward and southward and eastward and westward, for all the land that you see, I will give to you and to your offspring forever." (The bold lettering is mine for purpose of emphasis of the expanded promise).
Now we head over to Hebrews 11:12 for the good news: "Therefore from one man, and him as good as dead, were born descendants as many as the stars of heaven and as many as the innumerable grains of sand by the seashore" . . . which is followed by the bad news in Hebrews 11:13 "These all died in faith, not having received the things promised."
When Abraham died, the only land he "owned" was a cave where he buried Sarah . . . and even though the children of Israel took possession of the land (we learn this in the book of Joshua), it was constantly under siege / invaded / overtaken by their enemies.
THIS is why Abraham rejoiced to see Jesus' day. He understood that everything God promised to him would ultimately be fulfilled through the promised offspring.
- Jesus is the offspring promised to Abraham that the birth of Isaac pointed toward . . . Galatians 3:29
- Jesus is the head of a great nation made up of "disciples of all nations" (Matthew 28:19) because he died "to gather into one the children of God who are scattered abroad" (John 11:52)
- Jesus is "King of the nations" (Revelation 15:3), the one through whom all the families of the earth are eternally blessed or eternally cursed based on their response to him.
- Jesus is the one who has gone to prepare a place for us (John 14:2), a "homeland", a "better country, that is, a heavenly one" (Hebrews 11:14, 16)
So the message here for us is . . . "Clearly the land Abraham looked forward to and longed for most was not a piece of Middle Eastern real estate but the place Jesus has gone to prepare for us. Certainly no descendant of Abraham by faith will enter this heavenly land and think that God has not lived up to all of his promises to his people."
There are so many other "nuggets" in this chapter in the book - if you haven't obtained one - it is not too late and you won't regret it! Be blessed, bless others - forgive yourself, forgive others - love your Lord your God with all your mind, heart, body and soul AND love others. Have a blessed week.