Latest / Cumberland Trace Church of Christ (Formerly Lehman Ave Church of Christ) / Equipped 2026: "Abraham and Isaac (Gen. 20-25)" by Chance Hicks

Transcript

Equipped 2026: "Abraham and Isaac (Gen. 20-25)" by Chance Hicks · Cumberland Trace Church of Christ (Formerly Lehman Ave Church of Christ)

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  very, very quickly.
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  It's a section that's going to draw our attention to both Abraham and Isaac.
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  And we're going to see some interesting things about Abraham.
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  Abraham we're going to find is a prophet of God.
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  Abraham will become a father again with the birth of Isaac.
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  Abraham will be a worshiper who goes to the mountain of Moriah to offer his son in response
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  to the command of God.
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  Abraham will be a widower who mourns over the loss of the love of his life.
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  Abraham will be a father who's searching for a wife for his son.
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  And Abraham will be one who knows the blessing of God and shares that and gives all that
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  he has to his descendants.
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  But the section isn't really about Abraham and Isaac.
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  It's a section of the book of Genesis that is about the friend of Abraham.
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  It's a section of the book of Genesis that helps us to know our God.
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  You think about the words of James in James chapter 2, Abraham was called the friend of
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  God.
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  But God was also the friend of Abraham.
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  And so it's a passage, yes, where we'll interact with Abraham and Isaac, but it's a passage
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  in a section of the book of Genesis that allows us to interact with and know the friend
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  of Abraham that helps us to know the God of Abraham that you and I might be drawn to friendship
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  with God, closeness with him, intimacy with him.
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  It's interesting how Genesis 20 begins.
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  We have been in the book of Genesis from Genesis 12 through 25, the life of Abraham, but it
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  really is divided into two sections.
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  And it has been interrupted briefly with the account of Sodom and Gomorrah, and now
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  in chapter 20 we pick up the life of Abraham again, and it's interesting that it begins
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  in a very similar way to how Genesis 12 began, with Abraham journeying.
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  And he will go south and he'll go into the region of Gerar, and again, as Abraham has
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  done earlier in his life, Sarah will say, I'm his sister, and we'll have this awkward
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  interaction between Abraham and Sarah and a foreign king.
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  And it's in this section that we learn so much about God.
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  The first thing we'll pick up in Genesis chapter 20 is that the friend of Abraham, our God,
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  is the pursuing God.
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  Genesis 20 begins with Abraham journeying south, and he goes into the region of Gerar,
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  and here it will be where Sarah will say she is Abraham's sister again.
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  But why is it that Abraham is journeying south?
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  Abraham journeys Genesis chapter 12 because God says to him, I want you to leave your
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  kindred, I want you to leave your homeland, I want you to go to a land that I'll show
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  you.
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  Abraham journeys Genesis chapter 12 into the land of Egypt because there's famine.
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  But there is nothing in the text of Genesis chapter 20 that says Abraham is journeying
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  because.
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  We aren't given a specific reason why Abraham is heading south.
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  It seems in our passage, Abraham is heading south because Abraham is having some struggles
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  and some difficulty with his faith.
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  Have you ever had struggles and difficulty with your faith and your relationship with
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  the Lord?
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  I think that seems to be what's happening in Genesis chapter 20 and why Abraham's like,
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  you know what?
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  I think it might be time for me to just move on.
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  Abraham has prayed to God, and you know what God's answer was?
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  No.
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  Genesis chapter 17.
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  Oh, can't it just be Ishmael?
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  Can't he just be the heir, the one that you've promised me?
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  And God says, no, Sarah will have a son.
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  Abraham has just prayed, Genesis chapter 18, for Sodom and Gomorrah, and he thinks the
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  answer to his prayer has been yes.
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  If there are 10, will you spare it?
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  Yes, I'll spare it for the sake of 10.
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  Abraham goes home, I think, confident that there are 10 righteous there, and the answer
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  to his prayer is yes, and Sodom and Gomorrah are going to be spared.
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  And the last time we see Abraham, the end of Genesis 19, he's going up to the place
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  where he has talked with God, and he looks out over the plain, and Sodom and Gomorrah
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  are going up in smoke.
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  And I think Abraham's faith is struggling.
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  And so he goes.
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  He travels.
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  He heads south.
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  And the one who is supposed to be the one that God will fulfill the promise through
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  Sarah, he's willing to put her at jeopardy.
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  Look, just say you're my sister.
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  Like there is no fear of God in this place anyway.
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  I'm afraid they're going to kill me.
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  I'm afraid we'll die.
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  You just say this to protect my life.
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  He isn't fully trusting in God as his shield, protector, and deliverer.
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  He's taking some of those things on his own shoulders because I think his faith is struggling.
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  In fact, look in our text down at verse 13 and listen to how he talks to Abimelech and
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  to the language he says, and it came to pass when God caused me to wonder from my father's
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  house that I said to her, this is the kindness that you should do for me in every place wherever
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  we go, say of me, he is my brother.
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  Listen to how he is describing what we know as the life and journey of Abraham to this
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  point.
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  And he's like, listen, God caused me to wonder.
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  And the term he uses is something like to reel, to stagger.
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  God's got me out here just staggering around like a drunk man and I don't know what's happening.
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  Abraham's faith is shaken and he's trying to walk away.
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  But guess where his God is?
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  His God is pursuing him.
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  The text says in verse 1, Abraham journeys.
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  But notice what verse 3 says, but God came to Abimelech.
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  Abraham's thinking about walking away and God is in hot pursuit of his prophet Abraham,
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  trying to bring him back to a great deep faith in the Lord.
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  As you read through the events of Genesis chapter 20, this interaction between Abraham
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  and Abimelech, what we learn is God is pursuing not just Abraham.
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  God is also pursuing Abimelech and he's interested in the people of Gerar.
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  And so they show up there.
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  Sarah is a beautiful woman and so the king takes her, but God has intervened.
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  And he appears to Abimelech in a dream and he's like, hey, the one you have taken is
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  this man's wife.
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  And he's like, whoa, I did this in the integrity of my heart.
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  I have not sinned against her, haven't been involved with her in any way.
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  And the Lord's like, yes, I know.
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  I have intervened.
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  I have been involved in this situation and I have kept you from doing that.
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  And it's in this saying that God says, he is my prophet.
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  Not when Abraham is on the mountain of Moriah offering Isaac, God saying, there he is, that's
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  my prophet.
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  And it's when Abraham's faith is shaken and he is in the midst of this crazy scene that
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  God says, he's my prophet.
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  He's the one who belongs to me.
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  And so a period of time goes by because God has closed up all of the wombs in the city
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  of Gerar and all of the women are unable to produce children.
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  And so some period of time has gone by where they have discovered this.
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  And God says to Abimelech, you're going to have my prophet pray for you.
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  And the wombs will be opened.
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  What's happening?
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  God is pursuing and showing to himself, showing to Abimelech and to the people of Gerar who
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  he is and what his power is like.
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  That they might stand in awe of the God of Abraham.
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  That they might stand in awe of Jehovah.
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  Abraham will pray for the people of Gerar.
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  That the Lord would open their wombs.
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  And you know that's what he's been waiting for, for nearly 25 years now.
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  For God to do just that in his family with his wife.
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  And I think when Abraham sees the power of God closing and opening wombs in the city
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  of Gerar, it helps to rebuild his faith.
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  It helps to strengthen his confidence and trust that God will indeed keep his promise.
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  Here is God's servant whose faith is struggling and where is his God?
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  Not letting him walk away.
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  Supporting him with everything that he has, drawing him to his side, strengthening his
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  faith.
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  Our God is the pursuing God who seeks people to respond to him in faith.
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  How do we know that our God is a pursuing God?
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  Look no further than Jesus.
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  For the Son of Man has come, not just to save that which is lost, but the Son of Man has
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  come to seek and to save that which is lost.
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  Our God is a God of pursuit and when he finds us struggling in our faith as his people,
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  guess where he is?
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  He's coming to restore our faith, to build our faith, to strengthen us.
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  And even if we aren't his people, guess what he's doing?
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  He's in pursuit.
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  He wants us to know him and so he has offered to us Jesus that our faith in him might grow.
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  Going into Genesis chapter 21, God is the pursuing God.
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  He is the fulfilling God.
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  It's after Abraham has prayed and seen what happens in Gerar that the Lord visits Sarah
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  and now her womb is opened and God fulfills his promise.
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  There are two scenes of God fulfilling his promise in Genesis 21.
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  The first one is found in verses 1 through 6 and the second one is down in the second
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  half of the chapter.
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  But God fulfills his son promise and then begins to fulfill his land promise.
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  And so we see Sarah being able to become pregnant with Isaac and we see Isaac born and we see
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  the joy that fills the scene.
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  Here's God who has been promising this back from Genesis chapter 12 and now God fulfills
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  the promise of a son and Abraham and Sarah hold Isaac in their arms and they are just
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  full of joy and cheer at the birth of Isaac.
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  But you drop down in chapter 21 to verses 22 and following and there is another odd
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  scene of interaction between Abraham and Abimelech.
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  And they come together and they're sharing a moment together and Abraham's like, hey
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  you know your servants have taken a well away from me and Abimelech's like, what?
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  I didn't know anything about that, what are you talking about?
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  And so they make a covenant together that this well that Abraham has dug will belong
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  to him and there's this exchange of seven new lambs and they call the name of the place
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  Beersheba, the well of seven or the well of oath.
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  And by the end of the chapter, Abraham is also planting a tree and he calls on the name
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  of the Lord, the everlasting God and he stays in the land of the Philistines many days.
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  What is happening?
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  Why is it important that Abraham and Abimelech have a conversation about a well and now suddenly
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  Abraham possesses a well and a tree in Beersheba?
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  That's important because this is God's down payment.
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  It's the beginning of his fulfillment of the land promise.
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  God has fulfilled the promise of a son but God has also promised some other things to
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  Abraham and to his descendants.
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  That they're going to have this land of Canaan, this land that flows with milk and honey and
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  now Abraham finally has some property there, a well.
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  And he has life and provision now but there is something here that's pointing toward the
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  future.
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  He plants a tree.
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  That's not going to be some kind of provision in this moment.
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  It's talking about and looking forward to the future.
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  And so this is a chapter that's all about God being a God who is faithful and trustworthy,
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  a God who fulfills his promises.
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  How do we know God is the fulfilling God?
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  Look no further than Jesus.
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  Paul would write of him in 2 Corinthians chapter 1 and verse 20, all the promises of God in
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  him that is Jesus are yes and amen.
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  He is the seed, Galatians chapter 3 and verse 16, to Abraham and to his seed were the promises
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  made not to seeds as of many but to seed as in one and that seed is Jesus the Christ.
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  Abraham was waiting for a son promise and a land promise.
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  You and I have from God a son promise and a land promise.
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  God has fulfilled the son promise in Jesus.
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  This is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased, hear him.
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  A son who has been given for us that we might be saved from the wrath of God, that we might
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  have life in him.
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  But we're looking forward, aren't we, to God fulfilling a land promise for us?
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  We're looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth wherein righteousness dwells,
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  2 Peter chapter 3 and verse 13.
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  We're looking forward to a land of rest, a land of relief, Hebrews chapter 4 and verse
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  9.
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  And just like Abraham received a down payment, a well, and planted a tree, don't you and
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  I have the promise in the pages of the New Testament of a down payment, a guarantee of
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  our inheritance, 2 Corinthians chapter 1, Ephesians chapter 1.
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  The Holy Spirit of God has been given to us as his people as the guarantee, the down
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  payment of an inheritance that is to come.
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  A land where we dwell together in the very presence of our God.
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  The God of Abraham is the fulfilling God.
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  Staying in Genesis chapter 1 and Genesis chapter 22, you find also that the God of Abraham
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  is the providing God.
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  In between these two scenes in Genesis 21 of God providing his son and then God beginning
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  to fulfill the promise of the land, there is a scene where God provides life in the
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  face of certain death, followed by Genesis chapter 22 where God provides life in the
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  face of certain death.
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  And it's interesting how Moses puts this together as he is writing by inspiration this story
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  of Abraham and he paints for us two parallel scenes in which Abraham entrusts both his
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  sons to the care and provision and protection of God.
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  We're familiar, I think, with Genesis 22 and the instruction that Abraham is to take Isaac
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  and he's to go up onto the mountain and he is to offer him there and we learn that God
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  is Jehovah Jireh, the God who sees and the God who provides and he rises early in the
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  morning and he makes the journey and the angel of heaven stops him.
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  But if you'll read Genesis 21, you'll find a very parallel thing happening already between
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  Abraham and Ishmael.
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  Isaac is born and by the time he's weaned, Ishmael is scoffing and laughing at him and
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  Sarah is like, dude's got to go, like we got to get him out of here.
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  And Abraham, the text says, verse 11, is very displeased.
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  He's distressed.
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  Ishmael means something to him.
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  Like a few chapters ago, he was pleading with God for Ishmael to be the son of promise.
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  And so Abraham is struggling with what to do.
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  Genesis verse 12, Genesis 21, God said to Abraham, God's going to give instruction.
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  When we get to Genesis 22, how's the chapter going to begin?
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  God's going to give him some instruction.
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  And so he says, listen to her voice, send the bond woman and her lad away.
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  I will also make a nation of the son of the bond woman because he is your seed.
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  God is saying to Abraham, trust me with Ishmael.
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  Just send them away and trust me that I will make of him a great nation, I'll take care
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  of him.
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  Verse 14, Abraham rose early in the morning.
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  We'll read that again in chapter 22 and verse 3.
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  Abraham took bread and a skin of water and put it on her shoulder.
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  You get to chapter 22 verse 6, he will take wood and he'll lay it on Isaac, his son.
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  What's happening in this scene of chapter 21 verse 16, let me not see the death of the
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  boy.
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  The death of Ishmael is certain in the mind of Hagar.
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  They have run out of water and they're out in the middle of the wilderness and she's
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  like I'm putting you under this shrub and I'm going under this shrub over here and I'm
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  not going to look at you because I don't want to see you die.
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  Death is certain.
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  Verse 17, the angel of God called out of heaven to Hagar.
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  What ails you Hagar, fear not.
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  God has heard the voice, lift up the lad, I will make him a great nation.
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  Verse 19, another parallel, God opened her eyes and she saw a well of water.
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  In Genesis 22, Abraham will lift up his eyes and he will see a ram caught in a thicket
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  by its horns.
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  Two scenes of certain death, Ishmael and Hagar are out in the wilderness, there is no water,
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  there is no provision, my son is about to die.
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  God intervenes from heaven and he provides a well of water for life.
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  God will instruct Abraham, Genesis 22, take your son, your only son, the son whom you
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  love and take him to the mountain of Moriah and offer him there as a burnt offering.
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  It's a scene of certain death.
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  Burnt offering means he's going to be consumed, he will be the offering given to the Lord.
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  It's God's way of saying to Abraham, entrust Isaac to me.
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  I know I have just given him to you, entrust him to me.
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  And Abraham rises up early in the morning, makes the journey and on the third day he
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  says to his servants, you stay here with the stuff, the boy and I are going yonder to worship
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  and we're coming again.
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  And Isaac's like, hey, I see we got the wood, you're holding on to the fire, where's the
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  offering?
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  And you see the progression and growth of Abraham's faith, I think, and Abraham says,
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  the Lord will provide.
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  Can you imagine the conversation as the altar is built and Abraham's like, you know, I said
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  the Lord would provide and he has, the offering is you.
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  I don't know about you, but Abraham's past the age of 100, Isaac's maybe in his 20s,
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  get into a little scuffle, Isaac can get away.
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  I think Isaac is learning something about trusting in God and faith.
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  And he's willing to comply with Abraham.
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  And it's when Abraham draws the knife that God, as he has done before, calls out of heaven
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  and says, I have provided something else.
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  A ram caught in the thicket by its horns.
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  There are so many beautiful allusions to Jesus in Genesis 22.
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  God is the providing God who provides life in the face of death.
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  How do we see that most clearly and most beautifully?
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  Jesus.
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  God provided water in the face of death.
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  Who is Jesus?
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  John chapter 4 and verse 10.
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  Ma'am, if you knew who I was, you would have asked me and I would give you living water.
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  Who is Jesus?
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  The one offered in our stead.
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  The one who was crowned with the crown of thorns, the lamb, slain so that we might have
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  life.
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  Paul describes it beautifully in Ephesians chapter 2 verses 1 through 6.
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  You who were dead in trespasses and sins, death was certain.
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  He has made alive in Jesus.
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  God has provided for us life in the face of certain death.
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  It's interesting as you think about Genesis 21 and 22, when you think about God being
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  the fulfilling God and God being the providing God, how these two sections are interwoven
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  together.
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  There's a scene of fulfillment, a scene of provision, a scene of fulfillment, a scene
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  of provision because when God fulfills his promises, he provides.
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  And when God provides, what's he doing?
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  He's fulfilling his promises.
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  That's just how our God works on behalf of his people.
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  Moving in Genesis 22 and then into the description of Abraham as a widow mourning over the death
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  of Sarah in Genesis 23, what we find is the God of Abraham who wants to be our friend
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  is the resurrecting God.
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  The scenes of offering Isaac and burying Sarah point to resurrection.
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  How is it that Abraham can entrust Isaac, the son of promise, the son whom he loves,
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  to God?
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  The Hebrew's writer helps us by showing us what he's thinking about, what's in his mind,
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  where his faith is.
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  That's Hebrews 11, 17 to 19, accounting that God was able even to raise him from the dead.
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  What does Abraham believe about the God who is his friend?
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  That he has resurrection power.
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  That if Abraham takes the life of his son, God has the power to raise him to life again.
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  Carry that into Genesis chapter 23.
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  Genesis 23 is a transaction between Abraham and the sons of Heth and a man by the name
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  of Ephron.
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  Because at the age of 127, Sarah dies and Abraham comes to mourn for her.
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  Just read through the chapter and just underline all of the times that there's a reference
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  to bury her or burial place.
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  I mean, it just fills the chapter.
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  It's all about Abraham seeking a place to lay the body of his wife to rest.
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  He begins, though, by confessing that he is a stranger and a foreigner, a visitor in this
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  place.
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  But he wants to buy a certain field and a cave that's in it.
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  The cave of Machpelah and it's on the side, the area of Mamre.
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  It's important from Genesis 18.
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  This is where the Lord and a few of his angels have visited with Abraham and where they have
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  made the promise, hey, this time next year, Sarah's going to give birth.
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  Isaac's going to be born.
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  And so Abraham purchases a burial place.
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  He speaks to Ephron and he's like, hey, I want your field.
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  And Ephron's like, hey, you can have it.
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  And he's like, well, don't give it to me.
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  I will pay for it.
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  And he's like, okay, it's 400 shekels of silver.
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  And he's like, yeah, sure, I'll give you 400 shekels of silver.
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  And so they have this exchange and Abraham buries Sarah there.
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  I think the burial is also about his belief in resurrection.
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  And you find this in Hebrews chapter 11 in the section preceding verses 13 to 16.
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  All these died in faith, not having received the promises.
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  They confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims.
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  Well, that's exactly how Genesis 23 begins.
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  Abraham confessing that he is a foreigner and an alien here.
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  And then the text goes on in Hebrews chapter 11 to say that they were looking for a country.
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  And he says, if it was the one that they had come out of, they would just turn around and
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  went home.
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  They were looking for a better country, a heavenly one.
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  And Abraham buries Sarah in confidence that he serves and is loved by and friends with
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  a resurrecting God who's going to bring her to life again.
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  God's the resurrecting God who gives life beyond the grave.
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  See Jesus at the tomb of Lazarus, John chapter 11.
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  I am the resurrection and the life.
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  Lazarus, come forth.
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  Listen to Jesus in the coast of Caesarea Philippi, Matthew chapter 16.
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  Here's what they're going to do to me and on the third day, I'll rise again.
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  And then the angels are like, hey, what are you doing here?
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  Why are you looking for the living amongst the dead?
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  He is not here.
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  He is risen.
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  And Paul described it in 1 Corinthians 15, the resurrection of Jesus.
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  That's the first fruit of resurrection.
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  Because he is alive again, we have the hope and confidence of living again and it's intended
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  to comfort the hearts of God's people.
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  Who is our God?
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  He's the God of resurrection.
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  Genesis chapter 24 is another interesting chapter in the life of Abraham.
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  Abraham will call his servant and will send him back to his homeland to find a wife for
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  his son Isaac.
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  God want Isaac to have a wife from the Canaanites in whose land we dwell and so he is going
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  to make an awkward covenant with a servant to go back and find a wife.
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  But as you read through the chapter, Abraham says to this servant,
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  God is going to go before you.
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  God is going to be involved in this scene all the way through.
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  He's the one who's going to be guiding and directing and fulfilling his promise.
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  And so just read through Genesis chapter 24 and follow this servant and just mark the
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  number of times that there is reference to the Lord leading or the Lord guiding or the
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  Lord directing or the Lord prospering the way.
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  And so the servant finally makes it to the land of Abraham of where he came from and
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  his family and he prays to God.
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  And he makes a request asking the Lord to bless the journey and he's like, here's what
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  I would like.
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  I'm going to go to the well and when the women are coming out, I'm going to make a request
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  for drink.
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  And may it be Lord that the one who not only provides drink for me but then just turns
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  and says, hey, let me draw for your camels also.
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  Let that be the one that you have chosen for Isaac.
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  And even before he gets done praying, here comes Rebecca coming to the well to draw water.
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  And the servant says, hey, can you draw some water for me?
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  And she's like, sure.
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  She draws him some water and as he begins to drink, she's like, let me draw for your
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  camels as well.
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  And he's like, alarm bells.
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  The Lord might be blessing in this very moment and he learns who she is, belongs to the family
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  of Abraham.
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  And he's like, we have made it.
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  And just read through the chapter and he is constantly saying, the Lord brought me here.
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  The Lord led you here and Rebecca is willing to go because who is God?
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  He's the God who guides his people and leads the way.
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  Don't you see that most clearly in Jesus?
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  He's walking by the Sea of Galilee and he sees two fishermen casting their nets into
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  the sea and he says to them, follow me.
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  He sees Matthew sitting at the receipt of custom and he says to Matthew, follow me.
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  How is Jesus going to describe discipleship?
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  If any man will come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.
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  I am the way, the truth and the life.
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  No man comes unto the Father but by me.
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  Who is Jesus?
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  He is the pioneer of our faith.
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  He is the trailblazer, Hebrews 2 and verse 10, the captain of our salvation, the one
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  who has paved the way that we might follow behind him.
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  Hebrews chapter 6 and verse 20, he's the forerunner who has entered into the veil that
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  we might follow behind him.
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  The same God who was guiding the servant of Abraham is the same God who continues to lead
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  and guide his people.
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  Just think about the words of David in Psalm 23, the Lord is my shepherd and he just lets
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  me wander wherever I want to go and he has no care and concern.
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  So the Lord is my shepherd and he leads me into green pastures and still waters.
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  He leads me in the way of righteousness for his namesake.
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  When I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I'll fear no evil because you're
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  with me.
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  Your rod and your staff are comforting.
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  He's the shepherd who goes before leading the way and when difficulty comes, he's the
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  shepherd who is by our side and he's even the shepherd who follows behind.
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  That's how the psalm ends.
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  Surely goodness and mercy will follow me all the days of my life.
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  Whose goodness?
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  Whose mercy?
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  It's the goodness and mercy of our shepherd who guides and leads and directs his people.
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  Our section ends in Genesis 25.
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  The God of Abraham who wants to be our friend is the blessing God.
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  Chapter 25 is God blessing Abraham, Ishmael, and Isaac.
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  Abraham has another wife by the name of Keturah, number of children by her.
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  And so God just continues to bless the life of Abraham.
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  And he turns and he gives all of his inheritance, he gives all of his things to his children.
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  Verse 11 says, the Lord blesses Isaac.
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  And so we expect then at verse 11 where we're learning that God blesses Isaac after the
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  passing of Abraham that we're about to read about God's blessing of Isaac.
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  But the first thing I read about is God's blessing of another son of Abraham by the
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  name of Ishmael.
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  That God keeps his promise to make of Ishmael a great nation.
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  That's what he said when he said to Abraham, listen to the voice of Sarah and send her
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  away.
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  I will make of him a great nation.
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  You entrust me to him, I'll take care of him.
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  And that's what you see in Genesis 25, that God has kept his promise, he's been faithful
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  and he's blessing Ishmael and there are 12 princes that come from him and Ishmael just
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  enjoys God's care and God's blessing.
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  And then the chapter turns, verse 19, to God blessing Isaac.
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  Rebekah has been barren for some time and now finally the Lord listens to the plea of
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  these two and the Lord opens the womb of Rebekah and she doesn't just have a child, a son,
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  there are two sons in her womb.
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  But not just two sons, there are two nations that are in her womb.
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  The first one is born and his name is Esau because he's red and hairy all over.
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  But the second one is right behind him holding to his heel and so he'll be called Jacob,
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  supplanter.
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  And then we just hit the fast forward button quickly in Genesis 25 and suddenly the passage
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  just says the boys grew, but we're jumping like 20 years.
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  And Esau is out hunting, Jacob's home whipping up a pot of gumbo and Esau comes in from the
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  field tired and he's like, that stuff smells delicious.
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  I'd love some of that.
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  And Jacob's like, just give me your birthright, I'll give you a pot, give you a bowl.
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  And they make the exchange.
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  Who is God?
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  He's the God of blessing, isn't he?
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  Look no further than Jesus.
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  Acts chapter 3, the preaching of Peter in the city of Jerusalem, says that God sent
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  Jesus as the chapter ends to bless us.
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  That we have in Jesus, Ephesians 1 and verse 3, access to all spiritual blessings in the
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  heavenly places.
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  But what are we going to do with the blessings of God?
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  Esau's willing to trade them.
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  Esau is willing to hand over the blessings of God for just a taste.
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  Like if you'll just give me just a little bit of that stew to take away my hunger in
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  this moment, I'll just give it to you.
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  But you seem to see in Jacob, one who really wants the blessing of God.
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  Where are we?
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  I mean, think about the statement of Jesus in Matthew 16, 26.
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  What will a man give in exchange for his soul?
• 35:52
  People will trade the blessing of God for just about anything.
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  It's a section of scripture that is about Abraham and Isaac.
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  But it's not just about Abraham and Isaac.
• 36:08
  It's about the God of Abraham.
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  Abraham's friend.
• 36:13
  That we might have a better, clearer picture of who God is, that our heart might be inclined
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  not to trade his blessing in for something that will never fulfill, never satisfy, that
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  will leave us lacking.
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  So that we will see our God as the God who is pursuing us, who wants us to know him,
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  who wants us to come to faith in him, that he might fulfill his promises to us and provide
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  for us everything that we need along the way, promising us resurrection and eternal life.
• 36:48
  Saying on this road, I'll never leave you and I'll never forsake you.
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  I'll guide you and lead you in every path for my namesake.
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  And you can live now in my blessing.
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  And you can live in my blessing for all eternity.
• 37:06
  May the God of Abraham, the friend of Abraham, be our God and our friend as well.
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  Thank you for that wonderful lesson on Abraham and Isaac and God is our friend.