Genesis 21 & 22: Will You Obey God?
Verse of the Day: (22;18) And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice.
1. Open (21:1-34)
And God opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water; and she went, and filled the bottle with water, and gave the lad drink. (21:19)
God blessed the faith of Abraham and Sarah and blessed them with their firstborn son, Isaac, at their ripe old age. (Hebrews 11:11). However, Abraham and Sarah had to make Hagar, their Egyptian handmaid, together with her son, Ishmael, born with Abraham, to leave them, and wandered in the wilderness of Beersheba. Both Hagar and Ishmael almost died as they had finished all their water in the hot desert, when God opened Hagar eyes and miraculously gave them a well of water to drink and survive. God promised Hagar that her son, Ishmael, shall be a father of a great nation. God is good all the time, as He not only blessed Isaac but also Ishmael and made them fathers of great nations!
2. Offer (22:1-14)
And he said, Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of. (22:2)
God tested Abraham by commanding him to offer his only son, Isaac, whom he loved, as a burnt offering. Though Abraham could not fully understand why God’s command of him to offer his son when He had promised him that he shall be a father of a great nation, he obeyed. However, God sent His angel to stop Abraham from almost slaying his son, and provided a ram from the wild as a burnt offering instead of his son. Indeed, God shall provide for all our needs. Though in my life, God allowed my younger son, Benjamin, to be offered to Him, and there was no ram to substitute his death, yet God took him straight to heaven like Enoch and Elijah to be with Him forever! (Genesis 5:24, 2 Kings 2:11)
3. Obey (22:15-24)
That in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies; (22:17)
God blessed Abraham as a father of many nations because he obeyed God and did not refrain from offering his only son to God. This was the prophecy to the people during the Old Testament period, that one day, God, the heavenly Father, shall offer His only begotten Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, to come to this earth to die for the sins of the whole world, and the third day He rose again conquering death, and whoever believes in Him shall never perish in fiery hell, but have everlasting life with God in heaven. (John 3:16)
Prayer of the Day:
Dearest God, please help me to obey You even if I do not fully understand Your will.
