Genesis 22:20-24 Bible Study | Episode #291

November 21, 2022

Hope Alive: Applying God’s Word to Your Daily Life

Genesis 22:20-24 Bible Study | Episode #291

I am Chad Harrison, and I am the teaching pastor of Lake Community Church and had been serving as a pastor for 25 years. I'm also a practicing attorney. This podcast is designed to help you study God's word and find God's will for your life. The purpose of studying scripture is that you might know the character of Jesus Christ, and that you might see the world from the Father's perspective. That you gain wisdom that changes your life. I pray in the name of Jesus right now that God would open His word to you and allow you to see Him and to know Him. To know His will, that you might glorify Him and that you might walk in faith and power each day, especially today. In Jesus name.

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Transcript

This is Chad Harrison, and you're listening to Hope Alive, Applying God's Word to your daily life.

Hi, this is Chad Harrison and I am the teaching pastor of Lake Community Church and have been serving as a pastor for 25 years. I'm also a practicing attorney. This podcast is designed to help you study God's word and find God's will for your life. I pray in the name of Jesus right now that God would open up his word to.

And allow you to see him and to know him, and to know his will, that you might glorify him, and that you might walk in faith and power each and every day, especially today in Jesus' name. Good morning. Welcome to Late Community Church. Morning Bible study. We're in the end of Genesis and nobody loves them genealogy.

Nobody likes that. It's not one of those things that we just really want to do at all. And this is not a long genealogy at all. It's a short one. It, it's just really a layout. Of a family, and it's Abraham's family, and it's Abraham's extended family.

It's his brother's family. And you go why does that really matter? Interestingly enough is you're, as you're studying the book of Genesis, there's this little section here at the end of chapter 22, and it goes on to chapter 23, and then it culminates in chapter 24 and. It's almost like a passing of the torch.

It's almost like one of those situations where where God steps in and he shows you something and it's strange because more. Effort and time and energy are spent on on the death and burial of Sarah and and Isaac taking a wife or a bride. As a result of that more effort is spent on that.

As far as verses and and just actual volume of the book, of the Bible more is spent on that than almost any other death in the Bible. It's far more than Moses. Noah's not even his death is just mentioned. It's not really dealt with in great detail. There is a little bit of detail about Moses' death in the sense that there was an argument between Michael and get and Lucifer over the body.

Moses there's not gonna be a great deal of volume of scripture that deals with that deals with the death of Abraham. David's death is dealt with probably a little bit, but not a lot. In fact in fact of the Old Testament Saints, The death and burial and the consequences and all that comes from the death of Sarah is the most important.

And you go why is that? And that's the whole point. Whenever you see something that's doesn't of fit or comport with the rest of scripture, and when I say comport, I don't mean it's outta line. I'm just saying that it's not the normal, it's not what you would expect.

Anything in scripture, Pops up and it's not something that you would naturally expect from what you know. You need to pay attention to it. And the reason you need to pay attention to it is cause, cause God's showing you something oftentimes in my life when I'm walking around and God says, Go over there and watch that or listen to this.

Listen to this, listen this and uh, God will do that with me. In my heart, he just draw me to something. And sometimes it's something that really is not all that big a deal, but God draws me to things. And when he draws me to things, usually because it has some kind of importance, it's got something of importance out there that I need to focus my heart and my mind on, I need to see because he's gonna use it.

Teach me something. He's gonna use it to reveal something about himself. He's gonna use it to show me something that's new and different. The same thing is going on. The same thing is really interestingly going on here because Sarah is a picture of, she's a woman of face. She's the wife of Abraham, and Abraham and her left left the land that they that they grew up in.

And Earl the Calians. And they go to a place that God tells 'em to go and they leave their whole family and they leave their family behind. And that's a picture of all kinds of things. It's a picture of following Christ and Leav. Leaving your family behind him. We talked about that with Jesus' with Jesus' words to those who were trying to figure out how to follow him and yet hold on to the past.

And you just can't do that. You can't follow Jesus and hold on the past. You're not fit to follow him. And what does that mean? Does that mean you're supposed to go to hell Mo? That just means that you're not you're not fit to follow. In regard to, you're not you're you're, you have to be totally committed to the kingdom in order to experience all that.

It comes from the kingdom. In fact, if you're not, if you're not totally committed to the kingdom, oftentimes you're just playing a role and it feels empty to fall Christ. And that's just not gonna work. And so God says we're to set our hearts on him, take up a cross and follow him.

And. We leave what is behind us? Behind us, and we press onto what is a hit. And a lot of times what happens is you don't leave what's behind you and you keep all the shame and you keep all the condemnation of the past and you never, ever walk in the fullness of who you really are. And you never, ever really see yourself as who you really are in the kingdom.

That's not what Sarah did. Sarah didn't do that. Sarah Sarah. Presented as the Woman of Faith, even though she laughed at the idea of having a child at hundred years old. In fact, Isaac's name has something to do with that laughter. Who wouldn't laugh a little bit?

Who wouldn't think it? Humorous a hundred year old woman having a child. We all would. And it does have some humor with it, and that's why God didn't punish her at all because God is in the business of doing that type of stuff. And By the way the picture of John the Baptist John the Baptist father and mother were astonished that they were gonna have a child.

And John the Baptist is the last Old Testament saint. And it seems like God's trying to give us a pattern here. And what is the pattern? The pattern is this Sarah represents in many ways the Jews. The Jewish nation, but she also represents something more important in my opinion. And that is the Old Testament.

That is the that's the old covenants of the Old Testament and they're very valuable. They're not that doesn't diminish her at all. In fact, that increases her. They're very valuable. The Old Testament is my dad used to say it and he says it all, said it all the time. You can't understand the New Testament until you know the Old Testament, and that is absolutely true.

The Old Testament is of great value. The Bible, the New Testament calls their calls the Old Testament, our school master, and what does that mean? It's to teach us the ways and the nature of God so that when we have the plan of God, Fulfilled in Jesus Christ. We can marry that up with the nature and the plan of God at work in the world.

And and It's important that you see that. And when we're dealing with, when we di dealing with Sarah, we understand that when the new covenant comes, the old covenants are not destroyed. The old covenants are are they? They are wrapped up. And they are consumed by the new Covenant.

What does that mean? The new Covenant doesn't end those covenants in the sense of the promises and all the good things that come from the new covenant the new covenant covers those things, but it advances the ball so much farther down the road. The relationship so much farther down the road that the old covenants are they're just in.

To cover what God is doing it. It doesn't, they don't totally fulfill everything that God is planning and doing. And the old the five old, the Old Testament covenants, the five Old Testament covenants that God made with his people are the best way for me to say is they're grafted in to the complete and full new covenant of God God's plan through Jesus Christ.

And so that's that is how God does it and that's how things work. And I know I'm giving you a lot of just history and giving you a lot of understanding, sometimes we just gotta sit back and say, What is going on here? What in the world is going on here and you know when something weird or different is out there?

We have to ask that question and. What's going on here is God saying that the Old Testament is real important and the passing of the Old Testament to the New Testament in the sense of the covenant and the plan of God is still of great importance. And so if Sarah is a picture of that Old Testament revelation, and remember women have great value in the.

Especially in symbolism a young maiden a a Virgin Maiden is a picture of the New Testament Church. An older woman of faith is a picture of the Old Testament or the old covenants, or. Or Israel, really. And then the harlett is a picture of false religion. And so those are important pictures in the Bible.

And anytime you see one of them you will see, you'll see that God's God's at work. Now is the harlett, always the harlett? No. There, there's rehab. And there is there, and my mind just went blank. But I always forget the lady who who was in Jericho who was a prostitute, who was say there they're not rayhab either.

My mind just went totally blank. But any, Anyway, there are two they're two ladies of Ill Reput in the old Testa. Who are grafted in and are actually in the line of Christ. And and the reason is because God can take those who who are worshiping other gods, and he can change their heartening, bring them in line with him.

If he couldn't, then that then his whole work of Jesus Christ would be limited. And it's not limited. It is not limited. And So we see that even the worst of the female figures in the Bible can be can be a woman of faith and importance and a picture of the New Testament Church.

Even even Ruth was a Gentile woman who whose husband was not a person who acted in faith throughout his life. And she was redeemed. She was redeemed by. By God. And she was taken care of through the plan of God and through the man boas.

And so God's always at work, but women have an important role to play both in scripture but also. In the symbolism of scripture and Sarah is definitely one of those women because her life of walking in faith with Abraham is important. She walked with Abraham in faith and all that. Abraham became as a man and all that Abraham became as the promises of God.

Sarah is one flesh with him, and she is every bit a part of that and every bit. Of a primary role to play in making that happen. She was a great woman of faith and she is a picture of the Old Testament revelation of God, of the Old Testament covenants of the Old Testament work of God in the world, in preparation for Jesus to come and fulfill all those things.

So in essence, in many ways, she's a picture of that which Jesus fulfilled. And so knowing that it's very important. She's gonna pass away. And so God's got a plan for that. And God's always had a plan for that. And he gives us a picture of that. And he makes sure that we understand that these two things are running parallel.

You have God's. Work in the Old Testament, God's revelation of himself and his nature in the Old Testament. And then God's promise of complete redemption, complete atonement complete reunifying his relationship with us. You have that going on. In the New Testament in Jesus Christ.

And even in this story, before we get into next chapter, and we're gonna do that this week, we're gonna get into chapter 23 and we're gonna deal with the death of Sarah. But before that, He gives us this this genealogy, which kind of allows us to see that God has got a plan and he teach. He brings a, brings onto the scene, this woman named Rebecca, who we're gonna see in chapter 24 in her fullness.

But she's getting introduced here. Why? Because God's saying, Alright, before Sarah and before this Old Testament covenant, and this old, remember old's not. Old is old, is original, okay? The original covenants before we, we see those pass away and not pass away in that they cease to exist, but before we see them engulfed by the New Testament covenant in Jesus Christ, before all that happens, we're going to have Sarah Sarah's replacement.

As far as the picture of. At working as people in Rebecca, and Rebecca is a picture of the New Testament Church, and I'm gonna show you how she's a picture of the New Testament Church here next week when we deal with chapter 24. But right now he, he just is gonna introduce her and it says in verse 20, it says, Now it came to pass after these things that it was told to Abraham.

Notice Abraham the man of. The original man of faith he's receiving word that indeed Mila also has born children to her brother Naor to your brother Naor. And that means Abraham's brother's wife had born him children. And it goes into who was born. It is Hu, his first born and Buzz. His brother.

Now, I always think it funny when people make their children's names right. And and we got Hu and Buzz here. Those are two names that seem like they could be Southern names. Why? I don't know anybody named Hu or Buzz around here is astonishing to me, to tell you the truth, because these seem like two names that somebody would've pulled out of a.

If they were looking for biblical names Hus and Buzz seemed like they would be definitely Southern names. And I am astonished beyond belief as I sit here right now to know that I have lived in the South for the better part of 50 years, and I do not know, not one single has. Or Buzz, I don't know us has or buzz at all, but their name's rhyme and they are the sons of Mila and Naor.

Who Naor is the brother of Abraham. Just some information for you to know and log back in your brain. Not sure that you'll ever bring that back up to the surface for any reason at all, unless you run. A Hu and Buzz, and if you do, you need to tell them that their name is in Genesis chapter 22. Hu And Buzz his brother Camille, I guess we just couldn't come up with another u Camu.

The father of a and he's a, he's an important person in the scripture. A and then Chei Hao pill dash j. And Beil and none of those names or names that I know of anybody e either in in the south. I don't know. I've never met anybody named any of those names. It's almost like we don't know that this little section of scripture exists here in the south or.

Maybe we need to promote it more. I don't know, but none of these names I don't know anybody named any of this. And so it says, and be who is the last born son of Abraham's brother. Theat, Rebecca, and there she is. She is the picture of the New Testament church. Notice that Isaac's son is going to marry Rebecca.

Now Rebecca is what we would call a first cousin once removed. And you go how does that work? My parents. Their brothers and sisters children are my first cousins. Now my children and their children are gonna be second cousins, but my relationship to their children is I'm first cousin, meaning I, the way I'm connected to them is I am first cousins with their parents, and then they are the children of my first cousins.

So they're once removed and they then their children will. My first cousin se twice removed and their children would be my first cousins three times removed. That's how it works. I don't know if you knew that's how it works, but that's how it works. And so my children and and my cousin's children are second cousins.

And my children's children and my children, their grandchildren, and my grandchildren are third cousins. And that's how it works. And that's how you get to sixth, seventh, eighth, ninth, 10th, 12th, 20th for. 80th cousins. That's how it works. And the truth is, we're all cousins cuz we all come from Abraham.

What kind of cousins we are is really unknown. How far that goes out. The Bible seems to indicate it could go out as far as a thousand generations and that's very possible. But. But the the, for right now, it's not near a thousand generations, and we're all cousins because we're all, we all eventually draw our light lineage all the way back to Noah.

And so we're all cousins as the children of Noah. And Noah was the child of Adam. So we ultimately draw our lineage all the way back to Adam. That's just a little genealogy right there. A little bit of fun right there for you to understand and know how cousins work. Your parents siblings, children are your cousins.

Your children and their children are second cousins. And your first cousins once removed from their children and first cousins twice removed from their second children. So Rebecca and Isaac. Our first cousins once removed. Why? Because Isaac is the son of Abraham and Rebecca's father is the son of an AOR and they whore at Abraham are brothers.

And so they are first cousins once removed and so they are going to get married and then all that actual, it is very neat. The Bible tells us several people and that is mentioned. And it is mentioned that first cousins once removed is not uncommon in the Old Testament that they would marry each other.

Numbers 36 11 mentions a whole bunch of people who married. Women who married their grandfather's brother's son which means they were first cousins once removed. And that's how Rebecca is related. Now you go. Why is it important that Rebecca is related. To Isaac and related to Abraham?

It's important because we need to understand that God does not consider us from two different places. The Old Testament Saints and the New Testament Saints, we are considered to be part of the same family of God. And you need to understand that especially in the times we live in in the times we've always lived in, ever since Jesus has come, because there's been a strand or a group of people in Christianity who have always been anti-Jewish.

They've always been they've been, always been what we would call antisemitic and we're. We're not that we believe that God has a plan for the Jewish nation, and we believe that God has a plan for the Jewish people and that plan is important to God. So it's important to us. Why? Because we're cousins with them in a spiritual sense.

We are cousins with them in a spiritual sense, and they're part of the family of God and we're part of the family of God. They're part of the plan of God, and we are part of the plan of God. And we want to make sure that we're always on God's plan and working within the context of his family to bring about.

His glory and his purposes in the world, and therefore we back the Jews, even those who don't trust in God and those don't believe in Jesus Christ and we back Israel even though we may not always agree with either what Israel's doing, we do realize that the hand and the plan of God are at work in that nation and they are a fulfillment of the prophecies of the Old Testament, and they're going to be a fulfillment of the prophecies of the New Testament.

Also they're the fulfillment of that and. They have an importance for us and we need to understand that we are related to them not just in a not just in an actual physical sense, but we are related to them, especially in a spiritual sense because we are part, we're the bride of Christ and Christ is the son of God and they are the children of God.

In another line in another plan, now we take preeminence because we are the bride. Of Jesus Christ. We are his church, but they have a very important role. And that role does not need to be diminished. If that role is diminished, then we're diminished and God does not wanna diminish us because that would diminish his son.

And so understanding that, and I just said that real quick and real fast, but understanding that is of great importance. When you're re, when you're reading and studying scripture, that God has a plan for. And we need to be a part of promoting and supporting that plan and that God has a plan of through women in scripture, they are important pictures of God's work in the world, the older, mature, wise woman of faith.

Is a picture of the Old Testament and a picture of the old covenants of the Old Testament, which God fulfilled ultimately in Jesus Christ. The New Testament is is pictured by a female who is a spotless bride. A young maiden a virgin, and she is, she's important too. And even the harlot the harlot of the Old Testament false religion, even individuals that are involved in false religions can be redeemed out of that.

And that's a picture of God. En grafting us gentiles into his kingdom. And so we don't need to miss out on that either. And God's work through women is really a picture of his revelation to us of his plan in the world. And God takes this moment and he says that Beel bega, Rebecca, and these eight milk a bore to Naor Abraham's brother.

Notice there's eight of 'em, which is a picture of new beginning. Anytime you see that word, eight is a new beginning. So he's mentioning Rebecca in the same context of a new beginning. His coine, whose name was Rayma, also bore Teva Geha. Faha and I hope I'm pronounced all those right.

Again, nobody in the south that I have, I run into that had any of those four names either. Although I did know a team and I do know Aman, but I don't know a.

As you go today, I pray that the Lord will bless you and keep you, that he'll make his face to shine upon you and that he will give you hope and peace today in Jesus name.