The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob – Part 2
The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob – Part 2
[Study Aired March 20, 2023]
In the first part of this topic that was presented last week, it was established that Abraham’s seed and the land are the two prerequisites of achieving God’s purpose. The purpose of God as revealed in His encounter with Abraham is to have a people who express Him, and through them all the families of the earth will be blessed. The seed here physically represents Isaac. However, spiritually, Isaac represents Jesus whose coming is to cause a people to express God’s image and His dominion. This people (a great nation) will later become a blessing to all the nations of the earth. Unfortunately, Abraham did not have a seed and had to believe the Lord even though physically, it was impossible for him to have a seed.
Rom 4:18 Who against hope believed in hope, that he might become the father of many nations, according to that which was spoken, So shall thy seed be.
Rom 4:19 And being not weak in faith, he considered not his own body now dead, when he was about an hundred years old, neither yet the deadness of Sara’s womb:
Rom 4:20 He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God;
Rom 4:21 And being fully persuaded that, what he had promised, he was able also to perform.
Rom 4:22 And therefore it was imputed to him for righteousness.
Rom 4:23 Now it was not written for his sake alone, that it was imputed to him;
Rom 4:24 But for us also, to whom it shall be imputed, if we believe on him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead;
The second requirement for fulfilling God’s purpose is the land. The land is a place for God’s people to live, a place where God’s enemies would be defeated, a place where God will have a habitation and a place where God will build His kingdom. Looking at it from one perspective, the land is our body. In another perspective, the land represents Christ. As the scriptures say, in Him we live, move, and have our being. It is in Christ that we can defeat our enemies and build the kingdom. We can therefore see that both the seed and the land represent Christ!! This is to let us know that everything in this life revolves around Christ, and without Him, nothing flourishes!! That is why Christ coming to us is crucial!!
Heb 1:3 Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high;
Act 17:28 For in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring.
Every kingdom has a territorial domain, and in the case of the elect, our bodies (hearts and minds) are supposed to be the dwelling place of Christ or His throne where His kingdom dwells. Christ has to come and establish His kingdom within us first before the kingdom becomes visible later in another age. Unfortunately, the beast is already occupying the throne of Christ within us when we were born. This was the same with Abraham. When he went to Canaan, the land was fully occupied by Canaanites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Jebusites, etc. That’s why David said the following:
Psa 51:5 Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me.
It took a long time for Abraham to have a seed and for the seed to multiply enough to be able to possess the land – more than four hundred years. In other words, it took a long time for Isaac to be born and for the twelve sons of Jacob to multiply enough to leave Egypt and to possess the land.
Gen 15:13 And he said unto Abram, Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them; and they shall afflict them four hundred years;
Gen 15:14 And also that nation, whom they shall serve, will I judge: and afterward shall they come out with great substance.
This shows the Lord’s patience in dealing with us before we are capable of dealing with the beast to establish the Lord’s kingdom within. We, His elect, must also learn to be patient in dealing with the Lord, our brothers and sisters in Christ, our family and the people of the world.
Heb 10:35 Cast not away therefore your confidence, which hath great recompence of reward.
Heb 10:36 For ye have need of patience, that, after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise.
Heb 10:37 For yet a little while, and he that shall come will come, and will not tarry.
Heb 10:38 Now the just shall live by faith: but if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him.
Heb 10:39 But we are not of them who draw back unto perdition; but of them that believe to the saving of the soul.
In today’s study, we will continue to take a look at Abraham’s life that was written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come.
1Co 10:11 Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come.
Abraham’s Life of Faith – Learning to Walk by Faith
When God came to Abraham and made a promise to him, he was seventy-five years old. It was not until he was a hundred years old that Isaac, the seed, was born. From the time of the promise to the birth of Isaac was therefore a period of twenty-five years!! All of us would have given up on God’s promise, but God was able to sustain Abraham to walk by faith as follows:
Heb 11:8 By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he went out, not knowing whither he went.
Rom 4:18 Who against hope believed in hope, that he might become the father of many nations, according to that which was spoken, So shall thy seed be.
Rom 4:19 And being not weak in faith, he considered not his own body now dead, when he was about an hundred years old, neither yet the deadness of Sara’s womb:
Rom 4:20 He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God;
Rom 4:21 And being fully persuaded that, what he had promised, he was able also to perform.
Rom 4:22 And therefore it was imputed to him for righteousness.
Rom 4:23 Now it was not written for his sake alone, that it was imputed to him;
Rom 4:24 But for us also, to whom it shall be imputed, if we believe on him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead;
This is to show us that it takes time for God’s promises to come to fruition. This is demonstrated clearly by the parable of a man traveling into a far country who delivered his goods to his servants and took a long time to come back for reckoning. Thus, it is necessary for us to learn to walk by faith if we are to receive the reward as our father Abraham did. For without faith, it is impossible to please God. In the case of Abraham, the scriptures say that, against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and became the father of many nations. Against all the odds, we must still believe that the Lord will intervene in our circumstance!! Even this belief is not our work. It is the faith of the Lord Jesus Christ that operates within us according to His measure.
The Two Women: Hagar and Sarah – Representing the Physical and the Spiritual Experience of the Elect
Sarah was the legitimate wife of Abraham while Hagar was the concubine. The prolonged delay in the birth of Isaac made Abraham fall into the temptation of depending on his own strength to have a child called Ishmael with Hagar, a handmaid of Sarah. However, Ishmael was rejected by God as the seed. This is to make us understand that in this relation with God, it is what God has promised that counts. Our efforts are useless in fulfilling God’s purpose. We do not choose to serve the Lord. It is God that chooses us. As the scriptures clearly state, it is not of him that will or of him that runs but of God that shows mercy.
Gen 16:1 Now Sarai Abram’s wife bare him no children: and she had an handmaid, an Egyptian, whose name was Hagar.
Gen 16:2 And Sarai said unto Abram, Behold now, the LORD hath restrained me from bearing: I pray thee, go in unto my maid; it may be that I may obtain children by her. And Abram hearkened to the voice of Sarai.
Gen 16:3 And Sarai Abram’s wife took Hagar her maid the Egyptian, after Abram had dwelt ten years in the land of Canaan, and gave her to her husband Abram to be his wife.
Gen 16:4 And he went in unto Hagar, and she conceived: and when she saw that she had conceived, her mistress was despised in her eyes.
Gen 16:5 And Sarai said unto Abram, My wrong be upon thee: I have given my maid into thy bosom; and when she saw that she had conceived, I was despised in her eyes: the LORD judge between me and thee.
Sarah represents the church of the elect, or Jerusalem which is above, while Hagar symbolizes the physical churches of this world (Babylon) or Jerusalem which is in bondage with her children. As we indicated earlier, we start our walk as carnal and therefore we are more attracted to Hagar, since we can see the immediate result in signs and wonders which seemingly makes Jerusalem, which is in bondage, more productive than the New Jerusalem whose husband is Christ. However, in the fullness of time, the bride of Christ, the church of the firstborn, shall have more children than Jerusalem which is.
Gal 4:22 For it is written, that Abraham had two sons, the one by a bondmaid, the other by a freewoman.
Gal 4:23 But he who was of the bondwoman was born after the flesh; but he of the freewoman was by promise.
Gal 4:24 Which things are an allegory: for these are the two covenants; the one from the mount Sinai, which gendereth to bondage, which is Agar.
Gal 4:25 For this Agar is mount Sinai in Arabia, and answereth to Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children.
Gal 4:26 But Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all.
Gal 4:27 For it is written, Rejoice, thou barren that bearest not; break forth and cry, thou that travailest not: for the desolate hath many more children than she which hath an husband.
Famine in the land – A famine of hearing the word of God
Gen 12:9 And Abram journeyed, going on still toward the south.
Gen 12:10 And there was a famine in the land: and Abram went down into Egypt to sojourn there; for the famine was grievous in the land.
When we start our journey in Christ, we experience famine as Abraham went through famine when he started his journey with the Lord. This famine is not the lack of food or water, but of hearing the words of the Lord as shown in the scriptures below:
Amo 8:11 Behold, the days come, saith the Lord GOD, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the LORD:
Amo 8:12 And they shall wander from sea to sea, and from the north even to the east, they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the LORD, and shall not find it.
Amo 8:13 In that day shall the fair virgins and young men faint for thirst.
As verse 12 of Amos 8 indicates, the result of famine causes us to wander from sea to sea. This means we get hooked to all kinds of false doctrines that originate from the sea of flesh, thinking we are spiritually being fed. As a result, we end up being more carnal or worldly, as we continue to faint or thirst for the word of God. This was what happened to Abraham when he came to Egypt as a result of famine and lied about his wife being his sister. In other words, absence of the word makes us carnal, and, in this situation, we cannot please God. We have all been in this situation before, and it is this absence of the word of God that sets in motion our exit from Babylon.
Abraham as a friend of the Lord – The Lord wants to relate to us as a friend.
Abraham’s encounter with the Lord when He visited him in the heat of the day in the plains of Mamre, was a friendly visit. The conversation centered around Sarah and the Lord’s promise of Sarah having a child at the time of life. What was most significant was the fact that when the Lord was leaving, He said that He could not hide what He wanted to do from Abraham. This is what defines friendship – the openness in dealing with one another, and that was what the Lord did. In this relationship with the Lord, He wants us as friends and not servants, as servants do not know the mind of their master. However, we are privileged to know the mind of Christ.
Gen 18:1 And the LORD appeared unto him in the plains of Mamre: and he sat in the tent door in the heat of the day;
Gen 18:2 And he lift up his eyes and looked, and, lo, three men stood by him: and when he saw them, he ran to meet them from the tent door, and bowed himself toward the ground,
Gen 18:3 And said, My Lord, if now I have found favour in thy sight, pass not away, I pray thee, from thy servant:
Gen 18:9 And they said unto him, Where is Sarah thy wife? And he said, Behold, in the tent.
Gen 18:10 And he said, I will certainly return unto thee according to the time of life; and, lo, Sarah thy wife shall have a son. And Sarah heard it in the tent door, which was behind him.
Gen 18:11 Now Abraham and Sarah were old and well stricken in age; and it ceased to be with Sarah after the manner of women.
Gen 18:12 Therefore Sarah laughed within herself, saying, After I am waxed old shall I have pleasure, my lord being old also?
Gen 18:13 And the LORD said unto Abraham, Wherefore did Sarah laugh, saying, Shall I of a surety bear a child, which am old?
Gen 18:14 Is any thing too hard for the LORD? At the time appointed I will return unto thee, according to the time of life, and Sarah shall have a son.
Gen 18:15 Then Sarah denied, saying, I laughed not; for she was afraid. And he said, Nay; but thou didst laugh.
Gen 18:16 And the men rose up from thence, and looked toward Sodom: and Abraham went with them to bring them on the way.
Gen 18:17 And the LORD said, Shall I hide from Abraham that thing which I do;
Gen 18:18 Seeing that Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him?Joh 15:15 Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you.
In this conversation with Abraham, the Lord assured him that at the time of life, Sarah will give birth to a son. There are two instances in the Bible that the phrase “time of life” has been used, and it is all related to the birth of a son. Spiritually, it signifies the time in our lives that the new man (Christ) is born within us, and the old man continues its journey of death.
2Ki 4:16 And he said, About this season, according to the time of life, thou shalt embrace a son. And she said, Nay, my lord, thou man of God, do not lie unto thine handmaid.
2Ki 4:17 And the woman conceived, and bare a son at that season that Elisha had said unto her, according to the time of life.
Abraham Praying for Sodom – the need to intercede for our brothers and sisters.
Gen 18:17 And the LORD said, Shall I hide from Abraham that thing which I do;
Gen 18:20 And the LORD said, Because the cry of Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their sin is very grievous;
Gen 18:21 I will go down now, and see whether they have done altogether according to the cry of it, which is come unto me; and if not, I will know.
Gen 18:22 And the men turned their faces from thence, and went toward Sodom: but Abraham stood yet before the LORD.
Gen 18:23 And Abraham drew near, and said, Wilt thou also destroy the righteous with the wicked?
Gen 18:24 Peradventure there be fifty righteous within the city: wilt thou also destroy and not spare the place for the fifty righteous that are therein?
Gen 18:26 And the LORD said, If I find in Sodom fifty righteous within the city, then I will spare all the place for their sakes.Gen 18:32 And he said, Oh let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak yet but this once: Peradventure ten shall be found there. And he said, I will not destroy it for ten’s sake.
Abraham requesting the Lord not to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah if He were to find a certain number of righteous men was to show us the need to intercede on behalf of the elect. Actually, Abraham had Lot in mind as a righteous man living among a wicked generation. He was not praying for Sodom. On a positive note, Lot here represents the elect.
2Pe 2:6 And turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrha into ashes condemned them with an overthrow, making them an ensample unto those that after should live ungodly;
2Pe 2:7 And delivered just Lot, vexed with the filthy conversation of the wicked:
2Pe 2:8 (For that righteous man dwelling among them, in seeing and hearing, vexed his righteous soul from day to day with their unlawful deeds;)
Abraham’s intercession was based on divine revelation. Our intercession for the brethren must also be based on the Lord’s revelation. We must all have the burden of praying for the Lord’s elect just like Paul. What the Lord has revealed to us to guide our intercession for our brothers and sisters are His words. The following example shows us what we need to pray for:
Eph 1:15 Wherefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus, and love unto all the saints,
Eph 1:16 Cease not to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers;
Eph 1:17 That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him:
Eph 1:18 The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints,
Eph 1:19 And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power,
Eph 1:20 Which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places,
Eph 1:21 Far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come:
All our physical needs are encapsulated in these spiritual blessings that we need to pray for.
Abraham Praying for Abimelech – The “Shameful” Intercession
Gen 20:1 And Abraham journeyed from thence toward the south country, and dwelled between Kadesh and Shur, and sojourned in Gerar.
Gen 20:2 And Abraham said of Sarah his wife, She is my sister: and Abimelech king of Gerar sent, and took Sarah.
Gen 20:3 But God came to Abimelech in a dream by night, and said to him, Behold, thou art but a dead man, for the woman which thou hast taken; for she is a man’s wife.
Gen 20:4 But Abimelech had not come near her: and he said, Lord, wilt thou slay also a righteous nation?
Gen 20:5 Said he not unto me, She is my sister? and she, even she herself said, He is my brother: in the integrity of my heart and innocency of my hands have I done this.
Gen 20:6 And God said unto him in a dream, Yea, I know that thou didst this in the integrity of thy heart; for I also withheld thee from sinning against me: therefore suffered I thee not to touch her.
Gen 20:7 Now therefore restore the man his wife; for he is a prophet, and he shall pray for thee, and thou shalt live: and if thou restore her not, know thou that thou shalt surely die, thou, and all that are thine.
These verses of scripture reveal to us that after several years of walking with the Lord, Abraham was still struggling with the flesh. Even though the process of putting to death the old man has started, he was still overcome by the flesh due to fear of insecurity – being put to death because of Sarah. We, also are going through the same thing as Abraham as the evil one buffets us with all kinds of ailments and circumstances that brings us to our wits’ ends. However, just as Abraham was delivered from Abimelech, we shall also be delivered!! What is insightful here is the fact that in spite of Abraham’s apparent failure, the Lord told Abimelech to ask Abraham to pray for him as the Lord had closed up all the wombs of the house of Abimelech. In fact the Lord told Abimelech that Abraham was His prophet!! The Lord sees the end from the beginning in spite of our apparent failures!! On many occasions when we have failed, we are unable to pray even though no one knows our sins. We can just imagine how difficult it was for Abraham to pray for Abimelech’s family to be fruitful and be preserved. However, Abraham had not seen the fulfillment of his prayer for the Lord to give Sarah a seed.
Gen 20:17 So Abraham prayed unto God: and God healed Abimelech, and his wife, and his maidservants; and they bare children.
The lesson we are to learn from this episode of Abraham is that when we intercede for others, we must forget about our failures and circumstances and believe the Lord will answer our prayers. We must not think that because the Lord has not answered our prayers regarding a particular need, the Lord will not answer our prayer for a brother or sister in a similar situation. We need to learn not to pray according to only our victory. It is easy to pray when we are victorious over the flesh, but we should believe in the Lord that He hears us even in our failures!! Interceding for others does not depend upon our condition. It depends upon our standing with the Lord. That is, it depends on who we are – the prophet of God!!
The Birth of Isaac – the Coming of Christ within us
Gen 21:1 And the LORD visited Sarah as he had said, and the LORD did unto Sarah as he had spoken.
Gen 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.
Gen 21:3 And Abraham called the name of his son that was born unto him, whom Sarah bare to him, Isaac.
Gen 21:4 And Abraham circumcised his son Isaac being eight days old, as God had commanded him.
Gen 21:5 And Abraham was an hundred years old, when his son Isaac was born unto him.
Gen 21:6 And Sarah said, God hath made me to laugh, so that all that hear will laugh with me.
Gen 21:7 And she said, Who would have said unto Abraham, that Sarah should have given children suck? for I have born him a son in his old age.
As indicated earlier, Isaac typifies Christ. The birth of Isaac therefore signifies the coming of Christ within us to build His kingdom within us (great nation) and in the fullness of time, this kingdom will be outward as the Lord will use us to bless the whole earth. As we are aware, when the Lord comes into our lives, He starts to deal with all that offends through the judgment of our old man. This coming of Christ is the birth of the new man within us as our old man is dealt with by the Lord.
Joh 2:13 And the Jews’ passover was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem,
Joh 2:14 And found in the temple those that sold oxen and sheep and doves, and the changers of money sitting:
Joh 2:15 And when he had made a scourge of small cords, he drove them all out of the temple, and the sheep, and the oxen; and poured out the changers’ money, and overthrew the tables;
Joh 2:16 And said unto them that sold doves, Take these things hence; make not my Father’s house an house of merchandise.
Joh 2:17 And his disciples remembered that it was written, The zeal of thine house hath eaten me up.2Th 2:7 For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way.
2Th 2:8 And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming:
The goal of Abraham’s calling was to bring forth a seed (Christ). The birth of Isaac was based on a promise. If we are called and chosen, then we also have the promise of Christ coming to our temples to build His kingdom within us. This is the promise we have:
Mal 3:1 Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me: and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in: behold, he shall come, saith the LORD of hosts.
Mal 3:2 But who may abide the day of his coming? and who shall stand when he appeareth? for he is like a refiner’s fire, and like fullers’ soap:
Mal 3:3 And he shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver: and he shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer unto the LORD an offering in righteousness.
Mal 3:4 Then shall the offering of Judah and Jerusalem be pleasant unto the LORD, as in the days of old, and as in former years.
Here in Malachi 3:4, we are told that it is when Christ comes that Judah and Jerusalem will offer a pleasant offering to the Lord. It is when Christ comes that we can offer our bodies as living sacrifices, holy and acceptable to Him. The period of Christ coming into our lives is the time of life – that is, the giving of eternal life to us. This eternal life is knowing the only true God and Jesus Christ.
Joh 17:2 As thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him.
Joh 17:3 And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.Rom 12:1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.
Rom 12:2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.
May the Lord help us to continue to offer our bodies as living sacrifices, holy and acceptable to Him until that day!! Amen!!
Other related posts
- Will Abraham Isaac and Jacob Be in The Kingdom? (January 15, 2012)
- Who Is My Brother? (October 5, 2008)
- Was Abraham Justified By Faith? (November 21, 2015)
- The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob - Part 2 (March 20, 2023)
- The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob - Part 1 (March 13, 2023)
- The Book of Hebrews - Heb 7:5-11 "Whither the Forerunner is for us Entered, Even Jesus" - Part 2 (October 22, 2020)
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- The Book of Hebrews - Heb 11:17-21 "Through Faith we Understand that the Worlds were Framed by the Word of God" - Part 5 (March 11, 2021)
- Replacement Theology (June 12, 2005)
- Prophecy of Isaiah - Isa 45:1-7 I Make Peace and Create Evil: I the Lord do All These Things (August 17, 2019)
- Pro 10:1-5 "He that Gathereth in Summer is a Wise Son" (January 30, 2025)
- Is the Church Always Babylon? (August 19, 2014)
- Gospels in Harmony - Mat 20:1-16 Laborers in the Vineyard (January 27, 2021)
- Foundational Themes in Genesis – Study 74 (December 4, 2014)
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