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Voddie Baucham - The Rest of Abraham’s Legacy · Voddie Baucham Sermons

• 0:01
  Speaker 1: Well, we've come to chapter 25 in the book of
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  Speaker 1: Genesis as we've come back and rejoined Genesis to look
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  Speaker 1: at the life of the patriarchs and particularly to look
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  Speaker 1: here at the life of Isaac. And as we said before,
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  Speaker 1: we started in what could be considered an unusual place
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  Speaker 1: to look at the life of Isaac going back and
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  Speaker 1: beginning with chapter 23. which is really sort of the
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  Speaker 1: culmination of the life of Sarah and now the culmination
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  Speaker 1: of the life of Abraham. But hopefully, as we've done this,
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  Speaker 1: things have begun to sort of meld together for you
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  Speaker 1: and you realize why it's important to go here in
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  Speaker 1: order to understand who Isaac is. It's interesting. If you
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  Speaker 1: want to understand who a person is, there are varying approaches.
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  Speaker 1: And those approaches varied throughout history. Those approaches also vary,
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  Speaker 1: for example, from person to person. Men and women, for example,
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  Speaker 1: get to know people differently. If a man wants to
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  Speaker 1: get to know another man, there's just a few things
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  Speaker 1: a man wants to know. What do you do? Who
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  Speaker 1: do you do it for? Are you any good at it?
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  Speaker 1: Man gets answers to those questions and he feels like
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  Speaker 1: he knows the other guy. He can know the guy
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  Speaker 1: for years and never go beyond those questions. That's it.
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  Speaker 1: What do you do? Well, I'm a whatever. That's great.
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  Speaker 1: I know you pretty well now. Who do you do
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  Speaker 1: it for? Well, I work for thus and such or
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  Speaker 1: I'm self-employed. It's wonderful. Now I really know you. You
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  Speaker 1: any good at it? In other words, you make a
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  Speaker 1: lot of money. You know, I do all right. That's great.
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  Speaker 1: You and I best buds. You are my brother from
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  Speaker 1: another mother. We know each other now, okay? And your
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  Speaker 1: wife's going, I don't get that. I don't understand that.
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  Speaker 1: Is he married? I don't know. Never asked him. How
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  Speaker 1: could you not ask him that? I figured if he
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  Speaker 1: wanted me to know, he'd tell me, you know? We're going,
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  Speaker 1: why do I need to know that? Do you have
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  Speaker 1: any kids? I don't know. The guy has kids. But
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  Speaker 1: you know him. Yeah, I know what he does. I
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  Speaker 1: know who he does it for. And I know how
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  Speaker 1: successful he is at it. I know him. Women, on
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  Speaker 1: the other hand, are sitting there going, you don't know
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  Speaker 1: him at all. Because the man wants to know, what
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  Speaker 1: do you do? Who do you do it for? Are
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  Speaker 1: you successful? Women want to know, where do you come
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  Speaker 1: from and who are you connected to? That's their questions.
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  Speaker 1: If I know where you come from and who you're
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  Speaker 1: connected to, then I know you. That's why I'll go
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  Speaker 1: places and I'll, you know, preach somewhere and I'll be
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  Speaker 1: introduced and some man will stand up and tell stuff
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  Speaker 1: about me. And the man will stand up and tell
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  Speaker 1: stuff about, you know, what I do, who I do
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  Speaker 1: it for, and whether or not I'm successful. He'll give
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  Speaker 1: stuff like where I went to school and all this
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  Speaker 1: kind of stuff and he'll give that stuff and the
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  Speaker 1: men in the audience are going, that's great, we know him.
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  Speaker 1: Go for it, brother. And I finish and women come
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  Speaker 1: up to me and they go, so are you married?
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  Speaker 1: Got any kids? Because the guy who introduced me felt like, whatever,
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  Speaker 1: you don't need to know that. You know, we do
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  Speaker 1: ourselves a disservice if we try to get to know
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  Speaker 1: people the way most men try to get to know people.
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  Speaker 1: And we do ourselves a disservice because if we tried
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  Speaker 1: to get to know Isaac by just asking, what do
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  Speaker 1: you do? Who do you do it for? And are
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  Speaker 1: you successful? Bible introduces Isaac to us by introducing Abraham
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  Speaker 1: to us. In 23, 24, 25, we get to know Isaac. Why?
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  Speaker 1: Because we see him at the death of his mother
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  Speaker 1: We see him in his marriage, and now we see
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  Speaker 1: him in the death of his father. You want to
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  Speaker 1: know who Isaac is for the rest of Isaac's life.
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  Speaker 1: Here's what you need to know. You need to know
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  Speaker 1: who raised him, how they raised him, who he's married to,
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  Speaker 1: and what springs forth from that marriage. You know that,
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  Speaker 1: you know Isaac. You don't know that, and I don't
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  Speaker 1: care how much you know about what he does or
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  Speaker 1: who he does it for, and how successful he is,
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  Speaker 1: you don't know Isaac or anyone for that matter. You
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  Speaker 1: do not have a deep and abiding relationship with another
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  Speaker 1: human being if all you know is what they do,
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  Speaker 1: who they do it for, and how successful they are
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  Speaker 1: at doing it. You know nothing. You know window dressing.
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  Speaker 1: You want to know somebody. Find out where they come from.
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  Speaker 1: Find out who raised them. Find out how they were raised.
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  Speaker 1: Find out about their relationship with those who raised them.
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  Speaker 1: Then find out about who they're connected to now. Find
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  Speaker 1: out about the offspring that comes forth from that union.
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  Speaker 1: That'll give you a picture that is far more accurate
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  Speaker 1: than anything a man does or whomever he does it
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  Speaker 1: for or how successful he is at doing it. But unfortunately,
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  Speaker 1: in the era in which we live, we've got this
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  Speaker 1: completely backwards. We think the measure of a man is
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  Speaker 1: what he does. Sort of like, you know, in England
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  Speaker 1: in the 13th century, nearly a third of everybody in England,
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  Speaker 1: all the men in England were named John, Richard, or William.
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  Speaker 1: Nearly a third of the entire population. That was a
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  Speaker 1: bit problematic. Had to figure out who these guys are.
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  Speaker 1: So we have this interesting thing that comes forth called
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  Speaker 1: surnames or last names, as we would call them. Interestingly enough,
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  Speaker 1: a lot of these last names go directly to the
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  Speaker 1: issue of what do you do? For example, Baker, Weaver, Miller, Brewer, driver, butler, singer, cook, washer, hunter, fisher, rider, gardener, carpenter, shepherd,
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  Speaker 1: and smith. All names directly related to what do you do?
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  Speaker 1: There's some others that are related to what you do,
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  Speaker 1: you may not even think of them this way. Leech.
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  Speaker 1: By the way, that's the name given to doctors. Leech, Daly,
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  Speaker 1: Daly is a name given to individuals who were day laborers. Bailey,
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  Speaker 1: given to bailiffs. Carver, given to sculptors. Kellogg, given to
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  Speaker 1: those who killed hogs. Sawyer, a sawyer of wood. Ward,
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  Speaker 1: a watchman. Fletcher, one who made arrows. Hooper, Hooper was
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  Speaker 1: a man who fitted hoops on top of barrels. And Chandler,
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  Speaker 1: was a candle maker. Again, all of these are very
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  Speaker 1: familiar surnames, are they not? And they go directly to
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  Speaker 1: the issue of, what do you do? But there was
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  Speaker 1: another group of surnames that were far more meaningful, far
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  Speaker 1: more important during a different period. And they were names
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  Speaker 1: like Richard Sun, Robin Sun, William Sun. Those names meant
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  Speaker 1: who you connected to. I am the son of William.
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  Speaker 1: I am the son of Robert. I am the son
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  Speaker 1: of John. How do you get to know a person?
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  Speaker 1: By what they do? Or to whom they're connected? Well,
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  Speaker 1: the Bible gives us a picture of Isaac. And it's
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  Speaker 1: not based on what he does. The Bible gives us
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  Speaker 1: a picture of Isaac. And it's based on to whom
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  Speaker 1: he's connected. We've seen in 23 his connection to this
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  Speaker 1: great woman, Sarah. We saw in 24 his connection to
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  Speaker 1: the right woman in his marriage. His father says, my
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  Speaker 1: son's not going to marry just anybody. This is important
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  Speaker 1: because no matter what he does in life, if this
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  Speaker 1: is about a multi-generational vision, it's very important that he's
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  Speaker 1: connected to the right person. Do not let my son
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  Speaker 1: marry someone from one of these pagan nations around here.
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  Speaker 1: I'll tell you where to go. I'll tell you what
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  Speaker 1: to look for. Because his connection is of extreme importance.
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  Speaker 1: And now we see the death of his father. which
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  Speaker 1: I can attest to personally as a formative moment in
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  Speaker 1: the life of any man. As we look at the
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  Speaker 1: death of Abraham, I want to give you this picture
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  Speaker 1: of Isaac based on seven promises. Seven promises that shaped
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  Speaker 1: Isaac's life and Isaac's character. Seven promises from God that
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  Speaker 1: we see here in the first 18 verses of chapter 25.
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  Speaker 1: that absolutely shaped who Isaac is and who Isaac became.
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  Speaker 1: Look with me, if you will, these first 18 verses.
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  Speaker 1: Abraham took another wife whose name was Keturah. Now, as
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  Speaker 1: we read this, just pause here for a moment. There's
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  Speaker 1: some degree of controversy about that first phrase. There are
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  Speaker 1: some who argue that Abraham had taken Keturah as a
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  Speaker 1: wife during the life of Sarah. Therefore, these are their
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  Speaker 1: offspring that we're about to read about. Nothing in the
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  Speaker 1: text that says that. People who make that argument base
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  Speaker 1: it on Abraham's age. The text couldn't mean that after
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  Speaker 1: Sarah died that Abraham took another wife as old as
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  Speaker 1: he was, and then had six more sons. Just the
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  Speaker 1: sons with her. Of course, those on the other side argue, well,
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  Speaker 1: if God has rejuvenated Abraham for the purpose of bringing
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  Speaker 1: forth Isaac, nobody says that there was just momentary rejuvenation.
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  Speaker 1: Could have taken another wife in his old age. We
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  Speaker 1: don't know. This is complicated further by the fact that
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  Speaker 1: in 1 Chronicles chapter 1 and verse 32, Keturah is
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  Speaker 1: not referred to as a wife, but as a concubine.
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  Speaker 1: So that complicates things. That's a discussion for another time.
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  Speaker 1: What's important here is that there's another woman in the
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  Speaker 1: picture and there are other children in the picture. Look
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  Speaker 1: with me if you will. Verse 2, she bore him Zimram, Jokshan, Midan, Midian,
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  Speaker 1: that name ought to sound familiar, Ishbak, and Shua. Jokshan
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  Speaker 1: fathered Sheba and Dedan. The sons of Dedan were Asherim, Ledishim,
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  Speaker 1: and Leumim. Those of you out there looking for names
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  Speaker 1: for your upcoming children. The sons of Midian were Ephah, Ephur, Hanak, Abedah,
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  Speaker 1: and Eldah. All these were the children of Keturah. Abraham
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  Speaker 1: gave all he had to Isaac, but to those sons
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  Speaker 1: of the concubines, Abraham gave gifts. There's that name used interchangeably.
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  Speaker 1: She's called wife, and then there's a reference to concubines.
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  Speaker 1: So again, 1 Chronicles 1 refers to her as concubine,
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  Speaker 1: but that doesn't preclude the idea that he actually married
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  Speaker 1: this woman, and we don't know when the marriage took place.
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  Speaker 1: That's not what this passage is about. Complicated, and it's
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  Speaker 1: great for discussion. Don't get bogged down there. While he
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  Speaker 1: was still living, he sent them away from his son
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  Speaker 1: Isaac eastward to the east country. That's also very important.
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  Speaker 1: They're going eastward to the east country. These are the
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  Speaker 1: days of the years of Abraham's life. 175 years. Abraham
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  Speaker 1: breathed his last and died in a good old age.
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  Speaker 1: An old man full of years and was gathered to
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  Speaker 1: his people. What an incredible statement. By the way, that's
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  Speaker 1: the fulfillment of a promise. that God made in Genesis
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  Speaker 1: chapter 15 and verse 5. The exact same phrase, that
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  Speaker 1: he would die filled with years and be gathered to
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  Speaker 1: his people. That's a blessing, folks. That's a blessing. We
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  Speaker 1: don't think of it as a blessing because we want
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  Speaker 1: to live forever. Don't believe me? Look at all the
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  Speaker 1: commercials that say you don't have to get old. If
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  Speaker 1: you can't say amen, you ought to say ouch. All
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  Speaker 1: the commercials, take this and you won't have to get old. Newsflash.
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  Speaker 1: You're going to get old. You can dye your hair
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  Speaker 1: all you want to. It's gray. No, it's not. Yes,
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  Speaker 1: it is. You got something on top of it, but
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  Speaker 1: it's gray. We get old. We can't do what we
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  Speaker 1: used to do. Men, please keep that in mind when
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  Speaker 1: we have activities with our sons. But he was full
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  Speaker 1: of years. He was an old man. He lived a
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  Speaker 1: long time. Then he breathed his last, and he was
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  Speaker 1: gathered to his people. That's glorious, folks. That's glorious. Then
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  Speaker 1: we read, Isaac and Ishmael, his sons, buried him in
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  Speaker 1: the cave of Machpelah, in the field of Ephron, the
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  Speaker 1: son of Zohar the Hittite, east of Mamre. the field
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  Speaker 1: that Abraham purchased from the Hittites. There Abraham was buried
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  Speaker 1: with Sarah, his wife. After the death of Abraham, God
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  Speaker 1: blessed Isaac, his son, and Isaac settled at Be'er Lahairoi.
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  Speaker 1: That name ought to sound familiar, and you'll see why
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  Speaker 1: in just a moment. Be'er Lahairoi. Verse 12. These are
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  Speaker 1: the generations of Ishmael, Abraham's son, whom Hagar, the Egyptian,
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  Speaker 1: Sarah's servant, bore to Abraham. These are the names of
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  Speaker 1: the sons of Ishmael, named in the order of their birth. Nebaioth,
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  Speaker 1: the firstborn of Ishmael, and Kedar, Abdeel, Midsum, Mishma, Duma, Masa, Hadad, Tema, Jator, Naphish,
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  Speaker 1: and Kedema. These are the sons of Ishmael, and these
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  Speaker 1: are their names by their villages and by their encampments.
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  Speaker 1: 12 princes according to their tribes. These are the years
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  Speaker 1: of the life of Ishmael, 137 years. He breathed his
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  Speaker 1: last and died and was gathered to his people. They
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  Speaker 1: settled from Havilah to Shur, which is opposite Egypt in
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  Speaker 1: the direction of Assyria. He settled over against all his kinsmen. Amen.
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  Speaker 1: There it is. What do you mean? I didn't see
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  Speaker 1: seven promises in there. We didn't look hard enough. There
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  Speaker 1: are seven promises in there that shape the life of
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  Speaker 1: young Isaac. I also want you to notice this. Notice
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  Speaker 1: that there is a frame that's created. The first paragraph,
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  Speaker 1: really the first half of the first paragraph, those first
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  Speaker 1: four verses, it's about whom? Keturah and her descendants. The
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  Speaker 1: last paragraph, 12 through 18, that's about whom? Ishmael and
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  Speaker 1: his descendants. sandwiched in the middle of that, the little
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  Speaker 1: old Isaac. That's an important piece to the puzzle. Here
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  Speaker 1: are those seven promises. Number one, God promised to give
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  Speaker 1: barren Abraham offspring. Turn back with me and look at
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  Speaker 1: chapter 15. Look at the first six verses. After these things,
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  Speaker 1: the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision.
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  Speaker 1: Fear not, Abram. I am your shield. Your reward shall
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  Speaker 1: be great. But Abram said, O Lord God, what will
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  Speaker 1: you give me? For I continue childless, and the heir
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  Speaker 1: of my house is Eliezer of Damascus. And Abram said, Behold,
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  Speaker 1: you have given me no offspring, and a member of
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  Speaker 1: my household will be my heir. And behold, the word
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  Speaker 1: of the Lord came to him. This man shall not
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  Speaker 1: be your heir. Your very own son shall be heir.
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  Speaker 1: And he brought him outside and said, look toward heaven
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  Speaker 1: and number the stars if you are able to number them.
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  Speaker 1: Then he said to him, so shall your offspring be.
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  Speaker 1: And he delivered, I'm sorry, and he believed the Lord
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  Speaker 1: and he counted it to him as righteousness. Got no child, God.
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  Speaker 1: How's all this stuff gonna come to pass? And I've
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  Speaker 1: got no child. I have no heir. I have no son.
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  Speaker 1: Eleazar of Damascus, evidently the son of one of his servants.
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  Speaker 1: That's the firstborn male of my whole clan, of my
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  Speaker 1: whole household. I have no son. I'm barren. I'm old,
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  Speaker 1: very old. Paul says in Romans that his body was
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  Speaker 1: basically dead He didn't function in that way. God says,
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  Speaker 1: I'm going to give you an offspring. This is how
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  Speaker 1: Isaac came to be because of this very promise. So
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  Speaker 1: we see here in the birth of these children to Keturah,
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  Speaker 1: even here in these first four verses, he takes another wife.
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  Speaker 1: There are six other sons. God has made a promise
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  Speaker 1: to Abraham. Abraham is able to bring forth children. But
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  Speaker 1: how does this shape the character and the life of Isaac?
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  Speaker 1: This makes Isaac a miracle baby. It seals his place
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  Speaker 1: in history. Forever shapes his self-perception. Can you imagine that?
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  Speaker 1: Everywhere you go, people whisper, there he is. Who, him? Yeah, him.
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  Speaker 1: You know Abraham, right? Yeah, Abraham, 100 and something years old. Yes,
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  Speaker 1: that's his baby. For the rest of his life, he's
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  Speaker 1: shaped by that. His self-perception is shaped by that. And
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  Speaker 1: I know we often use the word miracle when referring
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  Speaker 1: to the birth. of children, but trust me, this is different.
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  Speaker 1: Children are born every day, which by definition is not miraculous.
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  Speaker 1: It can be explained in great detail how they get here,
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  Speaker 1: which is by definition not miraculous. It's awe-inspiring, but it's
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  Speaker 1: not miraculous. Abraham and Sarah, that's a miracle baby. Amen?
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  Speaker 1: That's a miracle baby. And that promise is the reason
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  Speaker 1: that Isaac came to be. And that promise would have
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  Speaker 1: shaped Isaac's self-perception for his entire life. He would have
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  Speaker 1: been known as that promised son to Abraham, doted over
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  Speaker 1: by his ancient parents. Not great grandparents, they were old
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  Speaker 1: enough to be his great, great grandparents, but they were
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  Speaker 1: his parents. The second promise, God makes a promise to
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  Speaker 1: Abraham that he will be the father of many nations.
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  Speaker 1: Verses one through four and also 12 through 18 here
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  Speaker 1: in this passage. In one through four, we see Keturah
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  Speaker 1: and we see some names that are very familiar to us.
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  Speaker 1: For example, we see the name Midian. That name Midian
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  Speaker 1: automatically makes us think about whom? Well, first of all,
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  Speaker 1: it makes us think about Moses. Moses goes to Midian,
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  Speaker 1: and that's where he finds his wife. His father-in-law is
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  Speaker 1: a priest of Midian. Now, interestingly enough, I was watching,
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  Speaker 1: we were watching the Ten Commandments not long ago. You know,
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  Speaker 1: the old movie, the Ten Commandments, watching Ten Commandments long ago.
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  Speaker 1: And here is Moses in the tent of Jethro, the Midianite.
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  Speaker 1: And interestingly enough, Cecil B. DeMille misses it completely. He
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  Speaker 1: misses it completely because he has the father-in-law of Moses
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  Speaker 1: identify himself as a descendant of Ishmael, which he's not.
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  Speaker 1: He's his descendant of Midian. Completely different clan, completely different tribe,
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  Speaker 1: completely different nation. All connected to Abraham, but different nations altogether.
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  Speaker 1: By the way, this gives Isaac a vision that impacts
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  Speaker 1: his future. His self-perception is shaped by the fact that
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  Speaker 1: he's a miracle child, but he's got a vision for
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  Speaker 1: his future. Why? Because God has told my father that
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  Speaker 1: he is going to be great, his name is going
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  Speaker 1: to be great, and that he's going to be the
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  Speaker 1: father of many nations for his entire life. Isaac thinks
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  Speaker 1: about himself, not just as a man, but as the
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  Speaker 1: progenitor of a great nation. Talk about vision. I am
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  Speaker 1: the progenitor of a great nation. There's going to be
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  Speaker 1: a great nation to come forth from me. But do
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  Speaker 1: you think maybe that was difficult for Isaac to believe? Probably.
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  Speaker 1: But whenever Isaac found it hard to believe that God says,
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  Speaker 1: I'm going to be the progenitor of a great nation,
• 23:00
  Speaker 1: all he had to do was look at his hundred
• 23:01
  Speaker 1: and something year old mother and father. I believe that
• 23:06
  Speaker 1: would have taken away his doubt. Amen? Is this too
• 23:10
  Speaker 1: hard for God? Just look at his parents. No, I
• 23:14
  Speaker 1: think not. That would have shaped his life. Look with me,
• 23:18
  Speaker 1: if you will, at Genesis chapter 37, beginning in verse 18.
• 23:34
  Speaker 1: Genesis 37, verse 18. Remember, that second promise that shapes Isaac,
• 23:40
  Speaker 1: shapes who Isaac is, shapes Isaac's life, shapes Isaac's destiny,
• 23:45
  Speaker 1: is this promise that God made to Abraham that you're
• 23:47
  Speaker 1: going to be the father of many nations. We're going
• 23:51
  Speaker 1: to see two of them right here in Genesis chapter
• 23:53
  Speaker 1: 37 that shaped the life of Isaac and his descendants.
• 23:58
  Speaker 1: Beginning at verse 18. They saw him from afar. This
• 24:01
  Speaker 1: is Joseph and his 11 brothers. Joseph's being told to
• 24:05
  Speaker 1: go check on his brothers. They saw him from afar.
• 24:08
  Speaker 1: He came near to them and they conspired against him
• 24:11
  Speaker 1: to kill him. They said to one another, here comes
• 24:14
  Speaker 1: this dreamer. Come now, let us kill him and throw
• 24:18
  Speaker 1: him into one of the pits. You think they didn't
• 24:21
  Speaker 1: like him? Here comes our brother. Really? Let's kill him
• 24:26
  Speaker 1: and throw him in that hole right there. Then we
• 24:34
  Speaker 1: will say that fierce animals devoured him and we will
• 24:38
  Speaker 1: see what will become of his dreams. But when Reuben
• 24:42
  Speaker 1: heard it, he rescued him out of their hands saying,
• 24:45
  Speaker 1: let us not take his life. And Reuben said to them,
• 24:49
  Speaker 1: shed no blood, throw him into this pit here in
• 24:52
  Speaker 1: the wilderness, but do not lay a hand on him
• 24:57
  Speaker 1: that he might be rescued. or that he might rescue
• 25:00
  Speaker 1: him out of their hands and restore him to his father.
• 25:04
  Speaker 1: So when Joseph came to his brothers, they stripped him
• 25:07
  Speaker 1: of his robe, the robe of many colors that he wore,
• 25:10
  Speaker 1: and they took him and threw him into a pit.
• 25:13
  Speaker 1: The pit was empty. There was no water in it.
• 25:16
  Speaker 1: Then they sat down to eat, and looking up, they
• 25:20
  Speaker 1: saw a caravan of Ishmaelites coming. Wonder who they're descendants of.
• 25:29
  Speaker 1: Ishmael from Gilead with their camels bearing gum, balm, and
• 25:34
  Speaker 1: myrrh on their way to carry it down to Egypt.
• 25:37
  Speaker 1: Then Judah said to his brothers, what profit is it
• 25:41
  Speaker 1: if we kill our brother and conceal his blood? Come,
• 25:46
  Speaker 1: let us sell him to the Ishmaelites and let not
• 25:49
  Speaker 1: our hand be upon him. For he is our brother,
• 25:53
  Speaker 1: our own flesh. He's our own flesh. Let's don't kill him.
• 25:56
  Speaker 1: Let's sell him into slavery. What a great group. His
• 26:04
  Speaker 1: brothers listened to him. Then Midianite trailers. Well, will you
• 26:10
  Speaker 1: look at that? Wonder who the Midianites are descendants of.
• 26:14
  Speaker 1: They're descendants of Midian. Midianite traders passed by and they
• 26:20
  Speaker 1: drew Joseph up and lifted him out of the pit
• 26:23
  Speaker 1: and sold him to the Ishmaelites for 20 shekels of silver.
• 26:28
  Speaker 1: They took Joseph to Egypt. You think Isaac's future was
• 26:37
  Speaker 1: not shaped by this promise that God made to his
• 26:41
  Speaker 1: father Abraham to make him many nations? There in one
• 26:47
  Speaker 1: paragraph and in one event, we see three of those
• 26:52
  Speaker 1: nations interacting with one another. Number one, the nation that
• 26:55
  Speaker 1: is Israel. and the 12 tribes of Israel, the 12
• 26:59
  Speaker 1: sons who would eventually become the 12 tribes of Israel,
• 27:05
  Speaker 1: selling one of their own into slavery. That's one nation
• 27:08
  Speaker 1: that came forth from Abraham. Another one is the Midianites
• 27:12
  Speaker 1: who eventually get Joseph out of the pit. The other
• 27:15
  Speaker 1: one is the Ishmaelites to whom the Midianites sell Joseph
• 27:18
  Speaker 1: so that the Ishmaelites then sell him to Egypt. By
• 27:21
  Speaker 1: the way, Ishmael's mother was from where? Egypt. Egypt. This
• 27:31
  Speaker 1: is a promise God made to Abraham that ultimately shaped
• 27:35
  Speaker 1: the life and the future of Isaac. Thirdly, God promised
• 27:39
  Speaker 1: to give Abraham the promised land. Chapter 17, verses 7
• 27:43
  Speaker 1: and 8. I will establish my covenant between me and
• 27:46
  Speaker 1: you and your offspring after you throughout their generations for
• 27:50
  Speaker 1: an everlasting covenant to be God to you and to
• 27:53
  Speaker 1: your offspring after you. And I will give to you
• 27:56
  Speaker 1: and to your offspring after you the land of your sojournings,
• 27:59
  Speaker 1: all the land of Canaan for an everlasting possession, and
• 28:03
  Speaker 1: I will be their God. God says, I'm going to
• 28:05
  Speaker 1: give you this land. This promise shapes the life of Isaac. Why?
• 28:12
  Speaker 1: His mother dies. And it's in his mother's death that
• 28:15
  Speaker 1: they get the first fruits of the land. Secondly, his
• 28:18
  Speaker 1: father dies. And what do he and Ishmael do with
• 28:21
  Speaker 1: their father? They take him to the same cave and
• 28:24
  Speaker 1: they lay him there in the first fruits of the
• 28:27
  Speaker 1: promised land right next to Isaac's mother. That promise that
• 28:37
  Speaker 1: God made to Abraham shaped Isaac's life. gave him boundaries,
• 28:44
  Speaker 1: and it also gave him direction and purpose. Not only
• 28:47
  Speaker 1: does Isaac know, I'm going to be a great nation,
• 28:50
  Speaker 1: but Isaac also knows all of this land is going
• 28:53
  Speaker 1: to be possessed by the great nation that I am
• 28:56
  Speaker 1: to become. This gives him great vision. Number four, God
• 29:01
  Speaker 1: promised to make Ishmael the father of a great nation.
• 29:06
  Speaker 1: We see this in verses 12 through 18. It doesn't
• 29:09
  Speaker 1: make any sense. This is about the life of Isaac, right?
• 29:11
  Speaker 1: Why is this paragraph in 12 through 18 devoted to Ishmael?
• 29:17
  Speaker 1: In chapter 17 and verse 20, as for Ishmael, I
• 29:20
  Speaker 1: have heard you. Behold, I have blessed him. By the way,
• 29:23
  Speaker 1: this is before Isaac is born. Abraham goes off. He
• 29:27
  Speaker 1: takes Hagar. Ishmael is born. Abraham says, come on, God,
• 29:32
  Speaker 1: just use this one. I got one, right? A son
• 29:35
  Speaker 1: is a son is a son. I got a son.
• 29:38
  Speaker 1: And I'm old. This was, this was. big stuff here.
• 29:41
  Speaker 1: This may never happen again. Use this one. And God
• 29:44
  Speaker 1: says to him, I have blessed him and will make
• 29:47
  Speaker 1: him fruitful and multiply him greatly. He shall father 12
• 29:51
  Speaker 1: princes and I will make him into a great nation.
• 29:53
  Speaker 1: How about that? Ishmael will be the father of 12 princes.
• 30:01
  Speaker 1: We just read their names in chapter 25. And I'm
• 30:06
  Speaker 1: going to make him a great nation. How does that
• 30:11
  Speaker 1: impact Isaac? Gives Isaac an example of unfaithfulness and the
• 30:19
  Speaker 1: price that you pay for sin. We read in Galatians
• 30:25
  Speaker 1: chapter 4, for example, that Ishmael persecuted Isaac from the
• 30:29
  Speaker 1: time the boy was born. Isaac's entire life was marked
• 30:35
  Speaker 1: by his father's sin and this other kid who didn't
• 30:39
  Speaker 1: get to be the promise, who despised him because he
• 30:44
  Speaker 1: was the promised seed. And he saw, because of his
• 30:49
  Speaker 1: father's faithlessness toward God, And see, oftentimes we got to
• 30:55
  Speaker 1: be real careful because you look at this and you say, well,
• 30:57
  Speaker 1: of course, you know, I mean, I mean, you know, absolutely.
• 31:00
  Speaker 1: God does this and Ishmael needed to be born because
• 31:03
  Speaker 1: God says he's going to be the father of many nations.
• 31:06
  Speaker 1: And how do you get to be the father of
• 31:07
  Speaker 1: many nations unless there are many women? Newsflash. Isaac gets
• 31:12
  Speaker 1: to be the father of multiple nations. Same woman, same birth.
• 31:18
  Speaker 1: Jacob and Esau formed two separate nations and they're twins.
• 31:23
  Speaker 1: Abraham did not have to sin in order for multiple
• 31:27
  Speaker 1: nations to come forth. God is not the author of sin.
• 31:35
  Speaker 1: But because God works with sinful human beings, everything that
• 31:38
  Speaker 1: he does in using secondary causes ends up being a
• 31:41
  Speaker 1: process of taking the sinful actions of men and providentially
• 31:45
  Speaker 1: using them for his purposes. That does not justify the actions.
• 31:52
  Speaker 1: Ishmael came forth in sin. And that shaped Isaac's life
• 31:58
  Speaker 1: and it also shaped Isaac's character. Some of you are
• 32:07
  Speaker 1: part of families where there are illegitimate children who are
• 32:12
  Speaker 1: siblings of yours. Some of you are part of families
• 32:17
  Speaker 1: where there are Mothers and stepmothers and stepfathers and what
• 32:24
  Speaker 1: do I call this person and what do I call
• 32:26
  Speaker 1: that person? That shapes the way you think about yourself.
• 32:31
  Speaker 1: That shapes the way you think about marriage. That shapes
• 32:33
  Speaker 1: the way you think about your future. And you better
• 32:38
  Speaker 1: believe that it shaped Isaac. Promise number five. God promised
• 32:43
  Speaker 1: to set Ishmael against Isaac. Look at Genesis chapter 16.
• 33:08
  Speaker 1: Look at verse 11. Hagar has been sent away. Hagar
• 33:13
  Speaker 1: and her child have been sent away. God tells Abraham,
• 33:16
  Speaker 1: send them away. The angel of the Lord meets her.
• 33:20
  Speaker 1: She's come to the end of herself in the desert.
• 33:22
  Speaker 1: She thinks she's about to die. God meets her. Look
• 33:25
  Speaker 1: at verse 11. The angel of the Lord said to her, behold,
• 33:28
  Speaker 1: you are pregnant and shall bear a son. You shall
• 33:32
  Speaker 1: call his name Ishmael because the Lord has listened to
• 33:36
  Speaker 1: your affliction. He shall be a wild donkey of a man,
• 33:40
  Speaker 1: his hand against everyone and everyone's hand against him, and
• 33:43
  Speaker 1: he shall dwell over against his kinsmen. What do we
• 33:53
  Speaker 1: have in chapter 25? Ishmael settles near Egypt toward Assyria,
• 34:01
  Speaker 1: which is to the north, kind of to the northwest
• 34:05
  Speaker 1: of Egypt, encamped. right between Egypt and Israel. And we've
• 34:13
  Speaker 1: already seen in chapter 37 how the Ishmaelites become a
• 34:17
  Speaker 1: thoroughfare for Israel to eventually get into Egypt by way
• 34:24
  Speaker 1: of Joseph. All in a fulfillment that God made to
• 34:30
  Speaker 1: Abraham in Genesis chapter 16. This makes Isaac's life difficult
• 34:36
  Speaker 1: from the beginning. And that shapes him as a man.
• 34:42
  Speaker 1: That shapes who he is. Promise number six. God promised
• 34:48
  Speaker 1: to make Abraham the father of a great nation through
• 34:52
  Speaker 1: Isaac and not through Ishmael. Look at chapter 25 again.
• 34:57
  Speaker 1: Look at verses 5, 6, and 11. Look at verse 5.
• 35:03
  Speaker 1: Abraham gave all he had to Isaac. But to the
• 35:06
  Speaker 1: sons of his concubines, Abraham gave gifts. And while he
• 35:09
  Speaker 1: was still living, he sent them away from his son
• 35:13
  Speaker 1: Isaac eastward to the east country. Now look at verse 11.
• 35:17
  Speaker 1: After the death of Abraham, God blessed Isaac, his son,
• 35:20
  Speaker 1: and Isaac settled at Be'er Lahairoi. There's that familiar name.
• 35:28
  Speaker 1: Where's that? That's that place in the desert where God
• 35:30
  Speaker 1: met Hagar. It's the very same place. where God made
• 35:36
  Speaker 1: that promise to her. And that's where he settles. Here's
• 35:40
  Speaker 1: what's interesting. Abraham was a man of little faith who
• 35:45
  Speaker 1: didn't get it. But now he gets it. He doesn't
• 35:49
  Speaker 1: hedge his bets anymore. Isaac is the promised seed, not Ishmael.
• 35:54
  Speaker 1: So he gives everything to Isaac. Chapter 17, go there again.
• 36:04
  Speaker 1: Look beginning at 18. And Abraham said to God, Oh,
• 36:19
  Speaker 1: that Ishmael might live before you. God said, No, but
• 36:21
  Speaker 1: Sarah your wife shall bear you a son, and you
• 36:24
  Speaker 1: shall call his name Isaac. I will establish my covenant
• 36:27
  Speaker 1: with him as an everlasting covenant for his offspring after him.
• 36:31
  Speaker 1: As for Ishmael, I have heard you, and behold, I
• 36:35
  Speaker 1: have blessed him, and I will make him fruitful and
• 36:37
  Speaker 1: multiply him greatly. He shall father twelve princes, and I
• 36:40
  Speaker 1: will make him into a great nation. But, verse 21,
• 36:44
  Speaker 1: I will establish my covenant with Isaac, whom Sarah shall
• 36:49
  Speaker 1: bear to you at this time next year. Yes, Isaac
• 36:54
  Speaker 1: will be your son. Ishmael, rather, will be your son. Yes,
• 36:58
  Speaker 1: Ishmael will be a great nation. But let me make
• 37:01
  Speaker 1: one thing clear. The covenant that I made with you
• 37:05
  Speaker 1: back in chapter 12, that runs through Isaac and Isaac alone,
• 37:10
  Speaker 1: not through Ishmael. Ishmael is not the son of covenant.
• 37:14
  Speaker 1: I will use Ishmael. I will bless Ishmael. But he
• 37:19
  Speaker 1: is not the promised seed, nor will he ever be.
• 37:23
  Speaker 1: It is Isaac. It is only Isaac. That shapes Isaac forever.
• 37:33
  Speaker 1: His father is coming toward the end of his life.
• 37:36
  Speaker 1: And there are these eight sons, the six sons of Keturah,
• 37:40
  Speaker 1: the one son of Hagar, and the one promised seed, Isaac.
• 37:45
  Speaker 1: And Abraham, an extremely wealthy man, says, sons, I love
• 37:49
  Speaker 1: you all. Here, this is for you, sons of Keturah, one, two, three, four, five, six,
• 37:53
  Speaker 1: generous gifts. Now please go to the east. This is
• 37:58
  Speaker 1: for you, Ishmael. Now please go to the east. Isaac,
• 38:03
  Speaker 1: everything I have is yours. You are the covenant child.
• 38:07
  Speaker 1: You are the fulfillment of the promise. You are that
• 38:11
  Speaker 1: future great nation that God promised that he would make me.
• 38:17
  Speaker 1: You better believe that shaped the man Isaac. That forged
• 38:23
  Speaker 1: something in him. That mantle that was on his shoulders
• 38:30
  Speaker 1: changed who he was forever. And finally, God promised to
• 38:35
  Speaker 1: bless all nations through Abraham. Listen to chapter 12, verse 3.
• 38:42
  Speaker 1: I will bless those who bless you, and him who
• 38:45
  Speaker 1: dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the
• 38:48
  Speaker 1: families of the earth shall be blessed. Genesis 22, 18.
• 38:54
  Speaker 1: And in your offspring shall all the nations of the
• 38:56
  Speaker 1: earth be blessed, because you have obeyed my voice. This
• 39:00
  Speaker 1: is right after He comes to sacrifice Isaac. Go with
• 39:06
  Speaker 1: me to Acts chapter 3. 24 to 26. This is
• 39:22
  Speaker 1: Peter's great sermon at Pentecost. This is the first time
• 39:27
  Speaker 1: that we see this gospel being preached after the resurrection
• 39:30
  Speaker 1: of Jesus Christ. And listen to what Peter says, beginning
• 39:35
  Speaker 1: in verse 24. And all the prophets who have spoken
• 39:38
  Speaker 1: from Samuel and those who came after him also proclaimed
• 39:42
  Speaker 1: these days. You are the sons of the prophets and
• 39:46
  Speaker 1: of the covenant that God made with your father, saying
• 39:49
  Speaker 1: to Abraham, and in your offspring shall all the families
• 39:53
  Speaker 1: of the earth be blessed. God, having raised up his servant,
• 39:56
  Speaker 1: sent him to you first to bless you by turning
• 40:00
  Speaker 1: every one of you from your wickedness. Who's the him
• 40:04
  Speaker 1: referred to there? The him referred to there is the
• 40:07
  Speaker 1: promised seed of Abraham, who ultimately is the person of
• 40:10
  Speaker 1: Jesus Christ. That's who. That's who. See, Isaac is not
• 40:21
  Speaker 1: significant because he's better than Ishmael. Jacob is not significant
• 40:28
  Speaker 1: because he's better than Esau. Judah is not significant because
• 40:35
  Speaker 1: he's better than Joseph or any of his other brothers.
• 40:39
  Speaker 1: Nor is David significant because he's better than any of
• 40:43
  Speaker 1: his other brothers. All of these individuals find their significance
• 40:49
  Speaker 1: when we finally read in Matthew, in the introduction, the
• 40:54
  Speaker 1: genealogy of Jesus Christ. These individuals are significant because God
• 41:00
  Speaker 1: is pointing like a laser beam through history to one
• 41:03
  Speaker 1: place and one place only. He's not looking for a
• 41:06
  Speaker 1: good man. He's not looking for a strong man. He's
• 41:10
  Speaker 1: looking for the God man who will be born to
• 41:12
  Speaker 1: one line and one line only. He knows exactly what
• 41:15
  Speaker 1: that line is. No man was worthy of being in
• 41:19
  Speaker 1: that line. None. None. And it is only because of
• 41:22
  Speaker 1: the promise that is fulfilled in the person of Jesus
• 41:25
  Speaker 1: Christ that the sins of all of those who came
• 41:28
  Speaker 1: before him can be washed away and the sins of
• 41:31
  Speaker 1: those of us who come after him can be paid for.
• 41:37
  Speaker 1: It's Christ. It's Christ. So when Abraham is squeamish and
• 41:46
  Speaker 1: wanting to grab onto Isaac because one son's as good
• 41:49
  Speaker 1: as the next, isn't he? He doesn't get it. You
• 41:52
  Speaker 1: don't get to Jesus that way. Next week, when Isaac
• 41:57
  Speaker 1: gets squeamish over the next couple of weeks, and there's
• 42:01
  Speaker 1: this Jacob and Esau thing, the one who's supposed to
• 42:06
  Speaker 1: get the blessing is not the one who's supposed to
• 42:07
  Speaker 1: get the blessing. It's supposed to go to the firstborn.
• 42:11
  Speaker 1: Isaac ought to get that, right? No, Isaac doesn't get that.
• 42:15
  Speaker 1: And he's squeamish. He's squeamish. This is not about who's
• 42:20
  Speaker 1: born first. Even when it comes down to Jacob's boys.
• 42:29
  Speaker 1: We talked about this before. Here's the wife that I
• 42:32
  Speaker 1: love so much. Oh, I want her so badly. Seven years, okay.
• 42:40
  Speaker 1: He gets the wrong one, right? No. Judah comes forth
• 42:48
  Speaker 1: from Leah. Not Rachel. Wasn't about what Jacob wanted. It's
• 42:56
  Speaker 1: about what God had promised. This shapes Isaac because it
• 43:00
  Speaker 1: gives Isaac his place in redemptive history. Isaac doesn't know
• 43:05
  Speaker 1: this now. But I ask you, what is significant about
• 43:12
  Speaker 1: this man that we should be talking about him thousands
• 43:17
  Speaker 1: of years later? What did Isaac invent? Nothing. Nothing. What
• 43:27
  Speaker 1: was Isaac the master of? Nothing. What was he so
• 43:32
  Speaker 1: great at that he's revered down to this day? Nothing
• 43:36
  Speaker 1: that we know of. What is it? It's real simple.
• 43:43
  Speaker 1: He's Abraham and Sarah's boy. And he's Jacob's daddy. That's it.
• 43:50
  Speaker 1: But newsflash, that's enough. Why? Because God didn't put Isaac
• 43:59
  Speaker 1: on this earth to be a great inventor. God didn't
• 44:04
  Speaker 1: put Isaac on this earth to be a great performer.
• 44:09
  Speaker 1: God didn't put Isaac on this earth to be memorable
• 44:11
  Speaker 1: in a variety of different ways. If that's why God
• 44:15
  Speaker 1: had put Isaac on this earth, then Isaac would have
• 44:17
  Speaker 1: been memorable for all of those things. In fact, what
• 44:19
  Speaker 1: we're going to see in Isaac's life is that it's
• 44:21
  Speaker 1: pretty raggedy. A lot of the same sins from his
• 44:26
  Speaker 1: father's life. Nothing special about this guy. Because Isaac wasn't
• 44:32
  Speaker 1: put here so that we could walk around saying, oh, Isaac, Isaac, Isaac.
• 44:38
  Speaker 1: Thank you, Isaac. No, he was put here so we
• 44:41
  Speaker 1: could walk around saying, oh, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus. Thank you, Jesus.
• 44:45
  Speaker 1: Thank you, Jesus. That's why. And that's it. And that's
• 44:52
  Speaker 1: why for all their flaws and foibles, these men about
• 44:58
  Speaker 1: whom we learn here in Genesis were exactly, exactly what
• 45:07
  Speaker 1: God intended them to be. He redeemed them from their sin.
• 45:14
  Speaker 1: He rescued them from themselves. He used them in spite
• 45:19
  Speaker 1: of themselves. And then his providence brought forth the promised seed,
• 45:25
  Speaker 1: the God-man, Jesus Christ. Born of a woman. Born under
• 45:31
  Speaker 1: the law. But born nonetheless in this very line and
• 45:39
  Speaker 1: for the very purpose of fulfilling these promises. And it's
• 45:45
  Speaker 1: these promises, would shape Isaac's life. See, you go ahead
• 45:51
  Speaker 1: and you ask that of Isaac if you want to.
• 45:54
  Speaker 1: What do you do? Who do you do it for?
• 45:59
  Speaker 1: Are you successful? Because none of that, none of that
• 46:04
  Speaker 1: gets us to redemption. Whatever Isaac did, whomever he did
• 46:09
  Speaker 1: it for, and whether or not he was successful at
• 46:12
  Speaker 1: doing what he did, doesn't get us to redemptive history.
• 46:17
  Speaker 1: But who are you connected to? Who's your daddy? Who's
• 46:25
  Speaker 1: your mother? Oh, you're Abraham and Sarah's boy. I know
• 46:29
  Speaker 1: something about you. Who are your kids? Oh, Jacob and Esau.
• 46:34
  Speaker 1: I know even more about you. And I know all
• 46:38
  Speaker 1: I need to know. Don't care what you do. Don't
• 46:42
  Speaker 1: really care who you do it for. Really not worried
• 46:44
  Speaker 1: about whether or not you're successful at it. I know
• 46:47
  Speaker 1: all that I need to know by knowing about your connections.
• 46:53
  Speaker 1: It's these seven promises that we see shadows of in
• 46:58
  Speaker 1: Genesis chapter 25 that shape the man who would become Isaac,
• 47:06
  Speaker 1: the next link in the chain. And if you want
• 47:08
  Speaker 1: to understand the things that we're going to read about
• 47:11
  Speaker 1: Isaac in the coming chapters, just come back to chapter 25.
• 47:18
  Speaker 1: Just come back to these seven promises. And just come
• 47:21
  Speaker 1: back to the big picture of you and I in
• 47:23
  Speaker 1: desperate need of a redeemer. And you'll get it. And
• 47:29
  Speaker 1: we'll know all we need to know about this man
• 47:31
  Speaker 1: Isaac who doesn't even have a last name. Let's pray. Father,
• 47:53
  Speaker 1: how grateful we are for your goodness toward us. Making
• 48:03
  Speaker 1: provision for our greatest need, which is to be redeemed
• 48:10
  Speaker 1: from our sin. Abraham was a sinful man who desperately
• 48:16
  Speaker 1: needed a redeemer. Isaac was a sinful man who desperately
• 48:21
  Speaker 1: needed a redeemer. I am a sinful man who desperately
• 48:25
  Speaker 1: needs a redeemer. And by your grace and through your providence,
• 48:31
  Speaker 1: you brought forth a redeemer. You brought him through this
• 48:37
  Speaker 1: line of sinful men and yet protected him from this
• 48:41
  Speaker 1: line of sinful men. Being born of a virgin. Recognizing
• 48:51
  Speaker 1: that no one Born from this line, the way that
• 48:55
  Speaker 1: these men were born, would be qualified to redeem your people.
• 49:02
  Speaker 1: But the God man, born miraculously, born of a virgin,
• 49:11
  Speaker 1: born outside of the curse of the first Adam, was
• 49:17
  Speaker 1: the exact and only answer. that our sin problem needed.
• 49:26
  Speaker 1: And it is in the person and work of Jesus
• 49:28
  Speaker 1: Christ that we find our connection, where Abraham is our father,
• 49:39
  Speaker 1: where we are the fulfillment of the promise that you
• 49:41
  Speaker 1: made to him and the great gift that you gave
• 49:45
  Speaker 1: to your son, Jesus. As we bow before you, would
• 49:54
  Speaker 1: you crush in us all desires to be redeemed by
• 49:59
  Speaker 1: the flesh? Would you crush in us all desires to
• 50:05
  Speaker 1: be identified and distinguished by what we do and for
• 50:10
  Speaker 1: whom we do it and how well we do it?
• 50:15
  Speaker 1: And would you once and for all cause us to
• 50:18
  Speaker 1: realize that when we stand before you at the end
• 50:22
  Speaker 1: of our days, the only question that will matter is,
• 50:26
  Speaker 1: are you connected to my son? Remind us that it
• 50:37
  Speaker 1: is that connection and that connection alone, apart from anything
• 50:43
  Speaker 1: that we have ever done or will ever do, that
• 50:48
  Speaker 1: that connection alone can make us right with God. Thank
• 51:03
  Speaker 1: you for reminding us of this truth. Keep it ever
• 51:06
  Speaker 1: before us, we pray. We ask these things because we
• 51:12
  Speaker 1: believe they're in accordance with the will and the nature
• 51:14
  Speaker 1: and the authority of Jesus, who is the Christ, the
• 51:20
  Speaker 1: promised seed of Abraham, the Savior of the world. In
• 51:25
  Speaker 1: his name, amen.