READ IT! - Introduction to Genesis 22-28

Readings for this week

Monday: Genesis 15

Tuesday: Genesis 16

Wednesday: Genesis 17

Thursday: Genesis 18

Friday: Genesis 19

Saturday: Genesis 20

Sunday: Genesis 21

Introduction to Genesis 22-28

Genesis 22

In chapter 22, God tells Abraham to take his son Isaac to the region of Moriah and to sacrifice him on a mountain there as a burnt offering.

Abraham is about to stab his son when the angel of the LORD begins shouting his name, saying, “Don’t lay a hand on the boy. Do not do anything to him. Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son.”

Suddenly, Abraham spots a ram caught by its horns in a thicket, and Abraham sacrifices it in the place of Isaac.

Abraham then names the place Adonai (YHWH) Yireh, meaning, “The LORD Will Provide.”

Throughout history, the Jews would quote a saying that said, “On the mountain of the LORD it will be provided.”

So Several things are going on here:

1. God is testing Abraham’s faith and obedience, but He is also proving Himself to be a faithful God even in the midst of confusing and difficult circumstances where He seems like He's not as faithful as we would like Him to be.

2. God is actually condemning the child-sacrifice that took place in the neighboring Canaanite cults by distinguishing himself from the ways of those other gods.

3. God is fulfilling his promise from his covenant with Abraham that He himself would take on the consequences of the sins of Abraham and his children.

4. Animal sacrifice is now seen as a way of reminding both God and humans that God has promised to bear the punishment of sin upon Himself.

5. The Mountain of Moriah is the location of what would later become Jerusalem, which is where Jesus (God as a human) was put to death for the sins of all people.

Genesis 23

So after this event, The text says that Sarah lived to be 127 years old and then she died and Abraham mourned for her.

But Abraham didn’t own any land on which to bury her, so he went to the Hittites and bought a field with a cave in it from them and there he buried his wife.

Genesis 24

Isaac was now forty years old, and he was very sad and lonely after his mother’s death, so Abraham sent his servant to go look for a wife for Isaac among his relatives in Paddan Aram.

The servant arrived at the well of Paddan Aram and began to pray for God’s help.

He prayed for a sign that a girl would come to the well and give him a drink and then offer to water his camels as well… and then he would know that she was the one for Isaac.

And A girl arrived at the well and did just that.

The girl’s name was Rebekah.

Her brother was named Laban …but we’ll hear more about him later.

So the family arranged the marriage, celebrated, and sent Rebekah off with the servant.

Back in Canaan, Isaac is sitting in a field meditating, when he sees in the distance his father’s servant returning with Rebekah.

And Isaac and Rebekah were married, and he loved her, and she was a friend to him after his mother’s death.

Genesis 25

Sometime After the death of Sarah, Abraham had another wife named Keturah who bore him many sons.

The text says that Abraham gave gifts to them all and sent them off to live in the lands of the East far away from Isaac.

And when Abraham died at the age of 175, his entire inheritance was given to Isaac.

And together, Isaac and Ishmael buried him in the cave next to Sarah.

Now, Isaac’s wife Rebekah was barren.

So Isaac prayed for her, and God allowed her to get pregnant.

But Later, Rebekah complained to God because the baby inside of her was constantly jostling.

And The Lord said to her:

“Two nations are in your womb,

and two peoples from within you will be separated;

one people will be stronger than the other,

and the older will serve the younger.”

Later, Rebekah gave birth to twin boys.

The first boy was covered with red hair and named “Esau.”

…which sounds like the word for “hairy.”

When the second boy came out, he was holding on to his brother’s heel and was named “Jacob.”

“Jacob” means “heel grabber.”

The text says when the boys grew up Esau became a skilled hunter and Jacob stayed among the tents.

Esau = stereotypical “dumb jock.”

Jacob = stereotypical “momma’s boy.”

One day, Esau comes in from hunting half-starved.

And Jacob gets Esau to trade his birthright for some “red stew.”

The text says that this event was one of the reasons that Esau came to be known as “Edom.”

“Edom” means “red.” And Esau was the founder of the Edomites.

Genesis 26

Genesis 26 is a very similar story to what we see happening in Genesis 20. In both stories the hero and his wife trick King Abimelek (again?) into thinking that the wife is the hero’s sister in order to gain protection and property. But the king finds out about the trick (when he catches Isaac getting handsy with his wife) and tells them to knock it off.

They then forge an agreement about some wells around Beersheba that they had a dispute over in a story that’s pretty much the same as what happened back in Genesis 21… but with Isaac instead of Abraham.

Genesis 27

Sometime later, Isaac prepared to give Esau the blessing of the firstborn.

The text also notes that Isaac had gone blind at this point, and While Esau was out hunting, Rebekah had Jacob dress up as Esau in order to trick Isaac into giving him the blessing.

And Isaac fell for it, giving Jacob the blessing of the firstborn son.

When Esau returned and found out, he wept and begged for a blessing of his own.

So Isaac also blessed him, but said that he would be Jacob’s servant for a very long time before he was free again.

So Esau made up his mind to kill Jacob after his father had died.

Rebekah realized that their plan had backfired on them, and she got Isaac’s permission to send Jacob away to go live in Paddan Aram and find himself a wife there.

Genesis 28

As Jacob was fleeing from Esau, he stopped to rest and had a dream.

He saw a stairway connecting heaven and earth with angels coming and going on it.

God spoke to Jacob, promising:

I will give you and your descendants the land on which you are lying.

Your descendants will be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread out to the west and to the east, to the north and to the south.

All peoples on earth will be blessed through you and your offspring.

I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go.

I will bring you back to this land.

I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.

When Jacob awoke, he exclaimed, “God was here, and I didn’t know it!”

Jacob then set up a memorial stone and named the place “Bethel,” which means “house of God,” and he makes a vow, promising to make this God his God if he will have his back.

Read Genesis 22

Some time later God tested Abraham. He said to him, “Abraham!”

“Here I am,” he replied.

Then God said, “Take your son, your only son, whom you love—Isaac—and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on a mountain I will show you.”

Early the next morning Abraham got up and loaded his donkey. He took with him two of his servants and his son Isaac. When he had cut enough wood for the burnt offering, he set out for the place God had told him about. On the third day Abraham looked up and saw the place in the distance. He said to his servants, “Stay here with the donkey while I and the boy go over there. We will worship and then we will come back to you.”

Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and placed it on his son Isaac, and he himself carried the fire and the knife. As the two of them went on together, Isaac spoke up and said to his father Abraham, “Father?”

“Yes, my son?” Abraham replied.

“The fire and wood are here,” Isaac said, “but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?”

Abraham answered, “God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.” And the two of them went on together.

When they reached the place God had told him about, Abraham built an altar there and arranged the wood on it. He bound his son Isaac and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. Then he reached out his hand and took the knife to slay his son. But the angel of the Lord called out to him from heaven, “Abraham! Abraham!”

“Here I am,” he replied.

“Do not lay a hand on the boy,” he said. “Do not do anything to him. Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son.”

Abraham looked up and there in a thicket he saw a ram caught by its horns. He went over and took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering instead of his son. So Abraham called that place The Lord Will Provide. And to this day it is said, “On the mountain of the Lord it will be provided.”

The angel of the Lord called to Abraham from heaven a second time and said, “I swear by myself, declares the Lord, that because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, I will surely bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will take possession of the cities of their enemies, and through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed me.”

Then Abraham returned to his servants, and they set off together for Beersheba. And Abraham stayed in Beersheba.

Some time later Abraham was told, “Milkah is also a mother; she has borne sons to your brother Nahor: Uz the firstborn, Buz his brother, Kemuel (the father of Aram), Kesed, Hazo, Pildash, Jidlaph and Bethuel.” Bethuel became the father of Rebekah. Milkah bore these eight sons to Abraham’s brother Nahor. His concubine, whose name was Reumah, also had sons: Tebah, Gaham, Tahash and Maakah.