Prayers Jesus prayed 2,000 years ago (for example John 17) are still being answered! Genesis 25 begins with one final flourish from the fruitful life of Abraham. “Then Abraham breathed his last and died in a good old age, an old man and full of years, and was gathered to his people” (v 8). But […]
Read More… from June 7, 2021 — The Gift That Keeps On Giving
It will be no Stranger who comes to meet us at that rapturous moment. We’ve been learning about Him all along the way. We closed our last study with a stanza from a hymn by Gerhardt Tersteegen, so let’s begin with a little more from the same hymn, based on our portion of Scripture today: […]
Here, try this on. You like it? The blessings we enjoy now are just a sampling of the treasures God has in store. At the well side, Abraham’s servant gave the young woman, Rebekah by name, a few pieces of jewelry (Rebekah means “captivating”). When she arrived home, her big brother Laban noticed the jewelry […]
Rebekah, just like us, had no idea what a quick trip on her daily chores would lead to—the Messiah! It was a long way from the home of Abraham to the land where the servant sought a bride, perhaps 700 miles distant. When his trusted servant with his caravan of 10 camels arrived at the […]
Read More… from June 2, 2021 — The Co-operative Plan At Work
Who actually made the choice? Abraham? The servant? Rebekah? Yes, yes, and yes! The love story in Genesis 24 about a bride who accepts her bridegroom, sight unseen, is clearly an exquisite pattern, carefully cross-stitched into the tapestry of history. Every detail is significant. And lest we miss it, one particular feature is underlined no […]
Here comes the bride! Who doesn’t love a love story? But what’s with this old man leading the search team? As Genesis 24 opens, Abraham is old, “well advanced in age.” When we first meet him in Ur, he is already about 70 years old. At 75, he moves from Haran to Canaan (Gen 12:4). […]
All the patriarchs are buried here, except Joseph (near Shechem) and Rachel (near Bethlehem). You will recall that the Lord had instructed Abraham, “Lift your eyes now and look from the place where you are—northward, southward, eastward, and westward; for all the land which you see I give to you and your descendants forever” (Gen […]
Read More… from May 28, 2021 — Abraham’s Only Real Estate Purchase
Don’t forget Sarah! She too moved hither and yon, living in a tent her whole life. God didn’t forget. Following Abraham’s return to the south, we have recorded some of his extended family. In other words, God’s promise just given, “I will multiply your descendants,” was already coming true! But then we read a significant […]
Every heavenly blessing is to be found just a short distance on the other side of death. After the heart-wrenching experience at Mount Moriah, “the Angel of the Lord called to Abraham a second time out of heaven” (Gen 22:15). But what a different message this time! No longer is it about a son being […]