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Sunday, January 25 2009
The LORD's promise to Abraham that an actual son, rather than one of his adopted servants, would be his heir:
"15:3 And Abram said, Behold, to me thou hast given no seed: and, lo, one born in my house is mine heir. 15:4 And, behold, the word of the LORD [see 'Before Abraham Was, I AM'] came unto him, saying, This shall not be thine heir; but he that shall come forth out of thine own bowels shall be thine heir. 15:5 And he brought him forth abroad, and said, Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them: and he said unto him, So shall thy seed be." (Genesis 15:3-5 KJV)
Abraham later had children with other women, but the LORD plainly identified the son of Abraham and Sarah [see Abram and Sarai], Isaac, as the promised one:
"21:1 And the LORD visited Sarah as he had said, and the LORD did unto Sarah as he had spoken. 21:2 For Sarah conceived, and bare Abraham a son in his old age, at the set time of which God had spoken to him. 21:3 And Abraham called the name of his son that was born unto him, whom Sarah bare to him, Isaac." (Genesis 21:1-3 KJV)
"By faith Abraham, when he was tried, offered up Isaac ... Accounting that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead"
Then one day, the LORD delivered unto Abraham a heartrending command:
"22:1 And it came to pass after these things, that God did tempt Abraham, and said unto him, Abraham:And he said, Behold, here I am.
22:2 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." (Genesis 22:1-2 KJV)
Despite the grief that he was no doubt experiencing, Abraham obeyed the LORD's command - until the LORD told him to stop.
"22:3 And Abraham rose up early in the morning, and saddled his ass, and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son, and clave the wood for the burnt offering [see Burnt Offerings], and rose up, and went unto the place of which God had told him. 22:4 Then on the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes, and saw the place afar off. 22:5 And Abraham said unto his young men, Abide ye here with the ass; and I and the lad will go yonder and worship, and come again to you.22:6 And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering, and laid it upon Isaac his son; and he took the fire in his hand, and a knife; and they went both of them together. 22:7 And Isaac spake unto Abraham his father, and said, My father: and he said, Here am I, my son.
And he said, Behold the fire and the wood: but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?
22:8 And Abraham said, My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering: so they went both of them together.
22:9 And they came to the place which God had told him of; and Abraham built an altar there, and laid the wood in order, and bound Isaac his son, and laid him on the altar upon the wood. 22:10 And Abraham stretched forth his hand, and took the knife to slay his son. 22:11 And the angel of the LORD called unto him out of heaven, and said, Abraham, Abraham: and he said, Here am I.
22:12 And he said, Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou any thing unto him: for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son from me.
22:13 And Abraham lifted up his eyes, and looked, and behold behind him a ram caught in a thicket by his horns: and Abraham went and took the ram, and offered him up for a burnt offering in the stead of his son. 22:14 And Abraham called the name of that place Jehovahjireh: as it is said to this day, In the mount of the LORD it shall be seen.
22:15 And the angel of the LORD called unto Abraham out of heaven the second time, 22:16 And said, By myself have I sworn, saith the LORD, for because thou hast done this thing, and hast not withheld thy son, thine only son: 22:17 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; 22:18 And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice.
22:19 So Abraham returned unto his young men, and they rose up and went together to Beersheba; and Abraham dwelt at Beersheba." (Genesis 22:3-19 KJV)
Fact Finder: Abraham's willingness to sacrifice his son Isaac is recognized as an act of faith in the LORD. But specifically, was it faith in something that the LORD would do, someday, if not then? Was it faith in a resurrection?
Hebrews 11:17-19; see also Resurrections
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This Day In History, January 25
1327: Edward III became the English king after Edward II was removed.
1533: King Henry VIII of England married his second wife Anne Boleyn in defiance of Rome.
1554: Thomas Wyatt gathered an army in Kent and rebelled against Queen Mary.
1579: The Dutch Republic was established by the Union of Utrecht. Holland, Zeeland, Utrecht, Gelderland, Friesland, Groningen and Overyssel formed the alliance against Spain.
1787: Small farmers in Springfield, Massachusetts led by Daniel Shays revolted against tax laws. Federal troops broke up the protesters of what became known as Shay’s Rebellion.
1791: Quebec was divided into "Upper and Lower Canada" by Royal proclamation.
1802: Napoleon was elected president of the Italian (Cisalpine) Republic.
1846: The Corn Laws, which taxed imported oats, wheat and barley, were repealed by the British Parliament.
1858: Mendelssohn's "Wedding March" was first played, at the wedding of Queen Victoria's daughter to the crown prince of Prussia.
1878: A Turkish steamer became the first ship to be sunk by a torpedo, fired from a Russian boat.
1904: Two-hundred coal miners were entombed in an explosion in Pennsylvania.
1915: Alexander Graham Bell in New York called Thomas Watson in San Francisco; transcontinental telephone service inaugurated.
1919: The League of Nations was founded.
1949: The first general election held by the new state of Israel. Number of seats: Labor parties 57, Center-Right parties 31, Religious parties 16.
1949: US-born "Axis Sally," who broadcasted Nazi propaganda to U.S. troops in Europe, stood trial in the United States for war crimes.
1950: U.S. State Department official Alger Hiss was found guilty of perjury after he had concealed his membership in the communist party.
1959: Pope John XXIII proclaimed his plan to hold a Second Vatican Council.
1961: The first U.S. presidential news conference that was televised live took place with John F. Kennedy.
1971: A coup in Uganda made Idi Amin self-proclaimed president.
1971: Charles Anon and 3 women followers were found guilty of the killings of actress Sharon Tate and 6 others.
1981: Moa's widow Jiang Quing and other "Gang of Four" members convicted of crimes during China's "Cultural Revolution."
1990: Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto gave birth to a girl, the first-ever head of government to give birth while still in office. Bhutto was assassinated in 2007.
