Genesis 25:11 NASB

 "And it came about after the death of Abraham, that God blessed Issac."

Dr. Dennis Kinlaw likes to point out that all of us are the result of someone else, and that what is true physically is also true spiritually.  None of us is here as a result of our own doing.  Like a parent with their child, someone else had to put a lot of attention into our coming to know the Lord.  One of the most impressive things in the story of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and on, even with its imperfections along the way, was the sure transmission of the knowledge of God from one generation to another.  The beauty in this transmission of truth, from one generation to the next is, as we are faithful to do our part, God is all over it.  As we give ourselves to the salvation of our children, family and friends, we can have the assurance that He will pour Himself into this process, connecting what we have done with who He is.  This is what you see with Abraham and Isaac.  There's an interesting verse in Genesis 25:5 that simply states, "Now Abraham gave all that he had to Isaac".  There's the key spiritually.  Abraham had given his all to someone else.  He had so lived that when he died God didn't die with him, but God had been planted in someone else, and Genesis 25:11 simply records the natural result of this beautiful process:  "And it came about after the death of Abraham, that God blessed Issac."  Salvation comes to others when we become more interested in others than ourselves.  The Apostle Paul nailed down the  tremendous significance of this truth when he wrote to the church at Philippi, "Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind let each of you regard one another as more important than himself; do not merely ("merely" is not in the original) look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others" (2:3-4). Wow!  This lies at the very heart of missions:  OTHERS!  Can you say this?  Someone else's life depends on it.

Genesis 25:8 NASB

"Abraham died in a ripe (good) old age and satisfied with life"

That holds tremendous promise for those of us who are headed down that same road.  And let's never forget it, we are headed down that same road. We just need to be fully aware of the road we travel, never forgetting that death finally takes us all, but it doesn't have to take us all the same. The Psalmist noted the difference when he said, "Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of His godly ones." They don't die unnoticed because God didn't go unnoticed in their lives, down through their lives.  They blessed the name of the Lord their God and God blessed them with His presence, provision and promises.  Life took on significance because the giver of life gave them significance.  No wonder John Wesley said "God's people die well."  Does that mean God's people don't suffer?  Absolutely not!  We have never been promised ease throughout our life, but we have been promised peace throughout our life, in Him.  There is a difference, a huge difference, and it makes a difference.  The promise of God to Abraham, that He would multiply his descendants, proved true many times over, but the constant admonition to these descendants was, "Know the God of your father Abraham".  Jesus angered Abraham's descendants by stressing that this had nothing to do with religion but had everything to do with relationship, and that this had nothing to do with the blood of Abraham but had everything to do with the blood of Jesus.  Know your blood line!  

Genesis 24:7 and 27 NASB

"The LORD, the God of heaven, who took me from my father's house and from the land of my birth, and who spoke to me, and who swore to me, saying, 'To your descendants I will give this land', He will send His angel before you, and you will take a wife for my son from there," (24:7).  "[Upon finding that wife, Abraham's servant] bowed low and worshiped the LORD.  And he said, 'Blessed be the LORD, the God of my master Abraham, who has not forsaken His lovingkindness and His truth toward my master; as for me, the LORD has guided me in the way..." (24:27).


Genesis 24:1 says, "Now Abraham was old, advanced in age; and the LORD had blessed Abraham in every way," but there was still one thing on his mind before he died:  the need for a wife for Isaac.  In his culture, it was the father's place to find his son a wife, and Abraham was intent on the right choice.  With his eye still on the eternal, knowing God's hand was on Isaac for things far beyond the temporal, he aimed to hit the mark of God's plan.  He asked his long time and deeply trusted servant, Eliezer (I'm assuming this servant is the Eliezer of Genesis 15:2), to go back to the land they had come from, and to his Abraham's relatives, to find a wife for Isaac.  Can you imagine?  This would be the extreme blind date.  As Eliezer wondered about the odds of a woman's willingness to leave her land and family and go to someone she had never met, Abraham responds with a seasoned faith, saying, "The LORD, the God of heaven, who took me from my father's house and from the land of my birth, and who spoke to me, and who swore to me, saying, 'To your descendants I will give this land', He will send His angel before you, and you will take a wife for my son from there," (24:7).  God was the author of his life and God knows how to write a story. Filled with the things that make life a true adventure, with wonderful suspense and surprises, God's ways have often caused some to look for easier reading. But, like his master, Abraham, Eliezer stayed with the story. And, like Abraham said, "The LORD, the God of heaven...He will..."  And He always does!  Eliezer, seeing God's hand in this story, and upon his incredible encounter with Rebekah, Isaac's future wife, "bowed low and worshiped the LORD.  And he said, 'Blessed be the LORD, the God of my master Abraham, who has not forsaken His lovingkindness and His truth toward my master; as for me, the LORD has guided me in the way..." (24:27).  The NKJV says, "As for me, being on the way, the LORD led me..."  What a wonderful promise and truth for anyone intent on knowing and doing the will of God.  Just "be on the way", or, if you will, stay with the story. Let God be the author of your life.  This, of course, means we have to first settle the issue of His authority in our life.  Settle it!  Settle it!  Some sad stories come out of unsurrendered lives.

Genesis 22:16-17 NASB

 "By Myself I have sworn, declares the LORD, because you have done this thing and have not withheld your son, your only son, indeed I will greatly bless you, and I will greatly multiply your seed as the stars of the heavens and as the sand which is on the seashore; and your seed shall possess the gate of their enemies.  In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice." 

As we view the scene of Abraham's ultimate surrender, a supreme obedience to the voice of God to sacrifice his only son, whom he loved, and as we witness the staying hand of God right at the last moment, intervening with a sacrifice of His own, we see a great God and a grateful man coming together in an awe-inspiring moment.  Heaven has come down to earth. Concerning this moment,  A.W. Tozer writes:  "The old man of God lifted his head to respond to the Voice, and stood there on the mount strong and pure and grand, a man marked out by the Lord for special treatment, a friend and favorite of the Most High.  Now he was a man wholly surrendered, a man utterly obedient, a man who possessed nothing... I have said that Abraham possessed nothing.  Yet was not this poor man rich?  Everything he had owned before was his still to enjoy:  sheep, camels, herds, and goods of every sort.  He had also his wife and his friends, and best of all he had his son Isaac safe by his side.  There is the sweet theology of the heart which can be learned only in the school of renunciation.  The books on systematic theology overlook this, but the wise will understand," (The Pursuit of God).  Because of one man's full surrender, in total obedience to the voice of God, the nations of the earth are blessed.  The same principle holds true in each of our lives.  As Tozer so aptly put it:   "...our whole future will be conditioned by the choice we make," (Ibid).  Richard Foster is right in saying, "This is Tozer at his best calling us to the obedience of the cross life, which he reminds us is 'the blessedness of possessing nothing,'" (Spiritual Classics, 117). Bless you, Abraham! 

Genesis 22:13-14 NASB

"Then Abraham raised his eyes and looked, and behold, behind him was a ram caught in the thicket by his horns; and Abraham went and took the ram, and offered him up for a burnt offering in the place of his son.  And Abraham called the name of that place, The Lord Will Provide; as it is said to this day, 'In the Mount of the LORD it will be provided." 

One of the most gripping stories in all of scripture is the story of Abraham's response to God's call to sacrifice his "promised" son, Isaac.  Though this act could only be fully understood in that time and culture, its emotion can be appreciated in any time and culture.  Galvanized by hard lessons, so great was Abraham's faith, commitment and confidence in his LORD now that, even in the turmoil of unanswered questions, he knew his God would make a way of escape.  Even if it had to be a resurrection!  The writer to the Hebrews says, "By faith, Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Issac; and he who had received the promises was offering up his only begotten son...He considered that God is able to raise men even from the dead..." (11:17-19  NASB).  And, from this gripping act of raw faith, we are blessed with the best of the story, giving us a lesson in the provision of God like we will never forget.  And hundreds of years later, when our Father gave His only begotten Son, we can see and feel the incredible depths of this provision on our own behalf.  Aren't you glad to belong to this God and to a God like this?  Does your faith allow for the best of the story?

Genesis 18:14 NASB

"Is anything too difficult for the Lord?" 

A son had been promised.  God had said it and He kept repeating it, but, if this were to happen through Sarah, both Abraham and Sarah were now way too old.  It seemed that, no matter how often God said it, humanly speaking, this was impossible.  The writer of Genesis puts it matter of fact:  "Now Abraham and Sarah were old, advanced in age;  Sarah was past childbearing" (18:11).   And when Sarah, listening at the tent door, heard some "heavenly" visitors say she would have son by that time next year, she laughed  (the laughter of "justified" cynicism) to herself, saying, "After I have become old, shall I have pleasure, my lord being old also?" (18:12).  Ah!  But this is God's territory and He counters with a dramatic question:  "Is anything too difficult for the Lord?"  Or, "Is anything too wonderful for the Lord?"  What a GRAND question!  One of the grandest in scripture, and the kind of question that inspires comfort courage and commitment in a God with whom all things are possible and nothing is impossible.  A year later, with Isaac in her arms, Sarah would proclaim, "God has made me laugh (the laughter of joyful surprise), and all who hear will laugh with me... Who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children?  For I have born him a son in his old age," (21:6-7).  The night can be long, but joy comes in the morning.  God surprises His people with the things that gladden the heart and cause Him, in your laughter, to laugh with joy. 

Genesis 17:1-2 NASB

"I am God Almighty; Walk before Me, and be blameless.  And I will establish My covenant between Me and you, and I will multiply you exceedingly." 

After struggling with the promise of God, that he and Sarai could ever have a child of their own, much less in their old age, and sometimes trying to manipulate and manhandle the work of God, Abram's faith is stripped of everything but God.  He would learn that the promises of God must carry the clear ring of "It's the Lord!" alone, and that anything else will always prove dangerous to the ways and wonders of God.  And so the LORD appears again to Abram, who is now ninety-nine years old, and says, "I am God Almighty; Walk before me, and be blameless (complete). And I will establish My covenant between Me and you, and I will multiply you exceedingly."  The promises of God cannot be claimed freely, randomly and carelessly.  Promises are not of our own making according to our own whims.  They are not made lightly, but are made by the Almighty God to His people according to His plans and purposes.  Yes! His promises carry the fullness of His power in them, but, like a box car linked to a train engine, they necessitate a clean and complete linkage to Him.  With this kind of linkage, all things are possible.  Take hold of this God!