And the LORD said unto her, Two nations are in thy womb, and two manner of people shall be separated from thy bowels; and the one people shall be stronger than the other people; and the elder shall serve the younger. Genesis 25:23

Genesis Chapter 25 is actually a busy chapter. We see Abraham has died  and gave everything to Isaac. We also see God blessed Isaac  (25:11) and not Ishmael, because remember Isaac was the promised Son from God, Ishmael was not

Isaacs wife Rebekah then conceived twins, they will be Jacob and Esau. This is where things get interesting as Esau is technically the firstborn however Jacob will get the blessing from his father

And Jacob said, Sell me this day thy birthright. And Esau said, Behold, I am at the point to die: and what profit shall this birthright do to me? Genesis 25:31-32

Jacob knowing that he wasn’t technically the firstborn, gets Esau to sell him his birthright. Now you could do all kind of sermons with this, such as is there anything that you are selling your birthright with God? Is there any sin in this world that is worth losing your soul over?

It says that “Esau despised his birthright” (Genesis 25:34) Esau never appreciated his position as being the firstborn to begin with, he had a heart issue. Much like the people who reject Christ, they don’t value their salvation, they don’t value their position with God

As it is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated. What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? God forbid. For he saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. Romans 9:13-15

As the Apostle Paul is teaching here, God is displaying his sovereignty and predestination, as Jacob he has chosen and Esau he didn’t. Just as Isaac was the chosen son and Ishmael wasn’t. Now there are factors that go into consideration, as God is the only one who can read hearts and minds.

However regardless of what our opinion, God is in complete control and we are not. As he told Moses, he will have mercy on who he wants , its not up to us. As we work through Genesis we will see how Gods plan plays out and leads us to the Messiah

The LORD God of heaven, which took me from my father’s house, and from the land of my kindred, and which spake unto me, and that sware unto me, saying, Unto thy seed will I give this land; he shall send his angel before thee, and thou shalt take a wife unto my son from thence. Genesis 24:7

The time has come for Isaac to find a wife. Sarah has passed away (Genesis 23) and Abraham is now nearing the end of his life. Isaac will be the future seed that will fulfill Gods promise of making them a great nation (Israel) But Abraham wants to first find Isaac a wife before he passes away

But Abraham doesn’t just want any wife for his son, he wants a wife that was chosen by God. Currently Abraham and his family was living among the Canaanites who were wicked people. Abraham didn’t want Isaac to take one of them for his wife, so he sent his servant back to his homeland to find a suitable wife

And he said, O LORD God of my master Abraham, I pray thee, send me good speed this day, and shew kindness unto my master Abraham. Genesis 24:12

Notice before the servant pursued finding someone for Isaac, he prayed to God to help him. He wasn’t trying to fix the issue on his own he was asking God for wisdom and guidance, we should always do the same!

And it came to pass, before he had done speaking, that, behold, Rebekah came out, who was born to Bethuel, son of Milcah, the wife of Nahor, Abraham’s brother, with her pitcher upon her shoulder. And the damsel was very fair to look upon, a virgin, neither had any man known her: and she went down to the well, and filled her pitcher, and came up. Genesis 24:15-16

Even before the servant finished his prayer, Rebekah showed up at the well. The Bible says she was very beautiful and she showed great kindness and hospitality to the strangers. God answered the servants prayer

And Rebekah lifted up her eyes, and when she saw Isaac, she lighted off the camel. For she had said unto the servant, What man is this that walketh in the field to meet us? And the servant had said, It is my master: therefore she took a vail, and covered herself. And the servant told Isaac all things that he had done. And Isaac brought her into his mother Sarah’s tent, and took Rebekah, and she became his wife; and he loved her: and Isaac was comforted after his mother’s death. Genesis 24:64-67

Isaac and Rebekah it was love at first sight. They got married and Rebekah comforted Isaac upon his mothers death which he took very hard. This is the continuation of Gods great promise of the blessed seed that would become the great nation of Israel which would lead to the Messiah

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. Genesis 22:1

This chapter is probably the most difficult chapter in the entire Bible to read and understand. Here God is going to tempt Abraham but requesting him to sacrifice his Son. Now when we read this we obviously become very emotional. We feel the sorrow for Isaac and Abraham, we feel anger that God would request this. Do we feel the same way when we think of Jesus?

Many of us are willing to accept the atoning sacrifice by Christ, but do we ever weep for Jesus? Do we ever feel the anger that our sin put him on that cross? This story is obviously a foreshadow of Christ to come and save the world

And Abraham said, My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering: so they went both of them together. Genesis 22:8

Now notice, Isaac asks his Father, “Where is the sacrifice”, and Abraham tells him “God will provide the Lamb” , obviously another foreshadow of Christ to come as he is the Lamb of God (John 1:29) But also from Abrahams response we see that he trust God provide a way even though he doesn’t understand it

Why would God test Abraham with this? Obviously it’s a foreshadow of Christ but also he was testing Abrahams heart. Isaac was the only thing Abraham wanted in the world, and it came to a point where he was an idol. God wanted to know was he still first

And the angel of the LORD called unto him out of heaven, and said, Abraham, Abraham: and he said, Here am I. 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. Genesis 22:11-12

Just then a “Messager of Yahweh” told Abraham not to lay a hand on Isaac, was this Jesus? God provided the sacrifice that day and he ultimately provided the sacrifice for us all in Christ Jesus.

Would God really allow Isaac to be killed? No because without Isaac there would be no Messianic Line, this was just a test by God to see Abrahams faithfulness. Is this story shocking and difficult? Yes but we should view what Christ did for us this shocking as well.

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. John 3:16

For Sarah conceived, and bare Abraham a son in his old age, at the set time of which God had spoken to him. Genesis 21:2

The promise of God was fulfilled, it probably wasn’t fulfilled when Abraham and Sarah would have liked, but it was fulfilled in Gods timing. There was many times when Abraham and Sarah had given up on this promise by God, however God would remind them that it will be fulfilled.

We need to understand that God cant lie, and his promises to us are as good as done. They may not happen in the timeframe that we like, but it will happen according to Gods will. Its important we learn to believe in Gods word with true faith and be obedient to his higher calling for our life

Through faith also Sara herself received strength to conceive seed, and was delivered of a child when she was past age, because she judged him faithful who had promised. Hebrews 11:11

The author of Hebrews states Sarah was delivered a child by God, when nobody seemed like it was humanely possible because of her faith. Remember Jesus said its by faith the size of a mustard seed we can move mountains. (Matthew 17:20)

Let the birth of Isaac be a constant reminder to us all.

1.With God all things are possible.

2. God will fulfill his will in his time
3. Your faith makes Gods miracles possible
4. Trust in The Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding

So Abraham prayed unto God: and God healed Abimelech, and his wife, and his maidservants; and they bare children. Genesis 20:17

Even though Abraham was considered righteous before God because of his faith, he was not a perfect man. Here we see as Abraham was travelling through Negev, Abraham lied to King Abimelech that Sarah was his sister and not his wife. Why? Because Sarah was beautiful (Genesis 12) and Abraham feared he would be killed so the King could take his wife. This was not the first time Abraham has done this

So King Abimelech did take Sarah for a wife , as he thought she was just Abrahams sister. However because he did this, it put a curse on the Kings entire family . (Genesis 20:6)

God revealed to the King in a dream that Abraham was a prophet and he should return Sarah immediately to him or his entire family will die. Why was this so important to God? Remember Sarah at this time was pregnant with Isaac , the promised Son (Genesis 18). God probably wanted to preserve the sacred line of Abraham with no corruption

God healed or restored the curse that was put on King Abimelechs family. Notice how God used Abraham as a mediator to request the Kings curse be lifted. This shows a few things

1. Even though Abraham was held in high regard to God, he was not a perfect man. But by his faith in God he was considered righteous (Genesis 15:6)
2. The family line of Abraham was obviously held in high regard by God, to the point anyone who interfered would be cursed. This was because the Messiah (Christ) would eventually come from the line of Israel
3. Notice God made a revelation in a dream to a wicked man like King Abimelech. Gods sovereignty and will is accomplished no matter who God needs to be used

Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. Matthew 6:10