When was the last time you used a funnel? We use funnels to pour oil into our car or to put a large amount of liquid through a small opening. But imagine a funnel with the open end representing the curse God made to the serpent in Genesis 3, "her seed will crush your head, but you will bruise his heel."

Its a vague curse or promise depending on which side you're standing on, right? As God makes that promise about Eve's seed, we don't know who that seed will be, when he will live, or how he will crush the head of the serpent. Last week we saw in our study of Abraham that God promised to give his descendants the land of Canaan, to have more descendants than can be counted, to make his (Abraham's) name great, and "through your offspring all nations of the earth will be blessed" (Genesis 22:18).

There seems to be a funnel effect in these prophecies. From the abundant number of Eve's descendants, the statement is narrowed to Abraham - just one family among many. As we pick-up today we will see this narrowed even more. Furthermore, as we left the text last week, we have yet to see any of these promises be fulfilled. Today, we will begin to see some of these promises fulfilled.

In Genesis 17:19-22 we read: Then God said, "Yes, but your wife Sarah will bear you a son, and you will call him Isaac. I will establish my covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his descendants after him. And as for Ishmael, I have heard you: I will surely bless him; I will make him fruitful and will greatly increase his numbers. He will be the father of twelve rulers, and I will make him into a great nation. But my covenant I will establish with Isaac, whom Sarah will bear to you by this time next year." When he had finished speaking with Abraham, God went up from him. (NIV)

 

 

Of the sons of Abraham, to whom does God say he will establish "my covenant"? It was not with Ishmael but with Isaac, yet to be born. But, did you notice God still told Abraham that Ishmael would become the father of twelve rulers?

In chapter 21, Isaac is born (verse 5). Abraham is 100 and Ishmael is 14. Its in chapter 22 that we see God test Abraham by asking him to sacrifice his son. We don't know for sure how long after Isaac's birth this takes place but notice what details we can glean from this passage (22:1-8).

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, Isaac, whom you love, and go to the region Early the next morning Abraham got up and saddled 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. (NIV)

 

of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains I will tell you about."

 

What strikes you as interesting about these verses? How long did Abraham have to think before he followed God's directions (v. 3)? How long did Abraham travel before he came to the right spot (v. 4)? How would you describe Abraham's faith at this point? Would you say he trusts God? Notice verse 5, again, 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 has faith he and the boy are coming back together!

Now consider Isaac in all of this. How old do you think Isaac is at this point? The text does not tell us. But, how old does he need to be to first of all reason, "The fire and wood are here," Isaac said, "but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?" He is old enough to think abstractly and conclude that two of three necessary elements of a sacrifice are present, but the third is missing. Also, did you notice who carried the wood upon which Isaac would be sacrificed? That's right, Isaac carried it. How much wood do you think that was? To burn a person or animal would require a pretty good amount of wood. So Isaac is old enough to think abstractly and to carry a fairly good load of wood. Many people speculate that he could not have been younger than a preteen; he was perhaps anywhere from 10-14. Again the text does not say.

 

But, if Isaac is able to make these conclusions and play such a significant role in this event, how much trust of his dad did he have? How much is he able to realize and internalize? How do you think this event would impact his faith in God? Now notice how Abraham responds to Isaac's question (Genesis 22:8-18).


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. 10 Then he reached out his hand and took the knife to slay his son. 11 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." (NIV)

How committed would you say Abraham is to this sacrifice? On the one hand, he tells his son, "God will provide." Yet, he raises the knife ready to strike. As you read this, do you get the sense that God was going to let Abraham sacrifice his son? Wasn't this the son that God had said, "I will establish my covenant with him."? What do you think Isaac might have been thinking as he hears his father say, "God will provide" then hears the angel stop the sacrifice as a test followed by the appearance of the ram? Would that strengthen your faith in knowing that God fulfills promises?

Notice the promises God reiterates to Abraham in front of Isaac. "I will bless you." "...make your descendants as numerous as the stars.." "Your descendants will take possession of the cities of their enemies..." and the last great promise: "and through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed." How similar are these to the promises God made to Abraham way back in Genesis 12 when Abraham was 75 (at least 30-35 years before the sacrifice event)?

He had promised land (12:1, 7)
He had promised to make him a nation (descendants) (12:2)
He had promised to bless him (12:2)

He had promised "all nations will be blessed through you" (12:3)

At the end of Genesis 22, however, which of these have occurred? He doesn't have the land of Canaan or a nation of descendants, does he? He has been blessed one might say, but is his name great (12:2?). Have all the nations been blessed through him? Yet the one thing we have seen up to this point is the narrowing of the funnel if you will from Eve to Abraham to Isaac. Notice what happens after this event.

Sarah, his wife dies in chapter 23. Isaac marries in chapter 24. But notice the summaries given in chapter 25. Abraham remarries to a woman named Keturah who has 6 sons. Of these six sons, Medan and Midian are the names of nations we read about later in the Old Testament. Another son bears a son, Sheba, who becomes a people group later read about in the Old Testament. Abraham dies in verse 8.

The summaries continue, however, notice the hint of Ishmael's greatness. He has 12 sons (verses 13-15). They are called "twelve tribal rulers" verse 16. Just as God had promised of Ishmael way back in 18:20 or 75 years earlier! At this point in the text, we begin to see the fulfillment of promises God made to Abraham.

He now has many descendants and nations born from his body. In the sense that all these nations call him father, and that he was respected by the nations in Canaan, his name is great. But what about the other promises? Have his descendants "inherited" Canaan? Have all nations been blessed? No, not yet.

Out of all these descendants which offspring would be the one through whom the world would be blessed? We see the promise made concerning Isaac. Notice how God now makes this promise to him directly (Genesis 26:1-6).

Now there was a famine in the land — besides the earlier famine of Abraham's time — and Isaac went to Abimelech king of the Philistines in Gerar. The Lord appeared to Isaac and said, "Do not go down to Egypt; live in the land where I tell you to live. Stay in this land for a while, and I will be with you and will bless you. For to you and your descendants I will give all these lands and will confirm the oath I swore to your father Abraham. I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and will give them all these lands, and through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed, because Abraham obeyed me and kept my requirements, my commands, my decrees and my laws." So Isaac stayed in Gerar. (NIV)

How close does this promise match the one God gave Abraham in Genesis 12? It is essentially the same is it not? Again we see a promise of many descendants. We also see the promise of land. But we also see the promise that "through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed." Does God tell Isaac, when, where, or through whom this will be fulfilled? He (and we at this point in the text) are not told. But we do see the funnel narrow: Eve-Abraham-Isaac. The promise is not made to Ishmael or any of his sons; it's not made to any of the sons of Keturah. It's made to Isaac.

 

If we back up for just a moment to chapter 25:23-26, we see Isaac has two sons, Jacob and Esau. Esau becomes the father of the nation we read about later in the Old Testament, Edom. (That's five nations from Abraham's lineage). God has certainly fulfilled that promise. And, we do have the promises of land and blessing narrowed further between Jacob and Esau. Notice the first time God makes a promise to Jacob (Genesis 28:10-15).
Jacob left Beersheba and set out for Haran. When he reached a certain place, he stopped for the night because the sun had set. Taking one of the stones there, he put it under his head and lay down to sleep. He had a dream in which he saw a stairway resting on the earth, with its top reaching to heaven, and the angels of God were ascending and descending on it. There above it stood the Lord, and he said: "I am the Lord, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac. 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, and I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you." (NIV)

 

Abraham's grandson, Jacob receives promises very similar to what Abraham and Isaac both received. He was promised the land and many descendants. He was also told "...all peoples on earth will be blessed through you and your offspring." The funnel narrows. Finally, notice God changes Jacob's name while also restating a portion of the promises (Genesis 35:9-13).

After Jacob returned from Paddan Aram, God appeared to him again and blessed him. God said to him, "Your name is Jacob, but you will no longer be called Jacob; your name will be Israel." So he named him Israel. And God said to him, "I am God Almighty; be fruitful and increase in number. A nation and a community of nations will come from you, and kings will come from your body. The land I gave to Abraham and Isaac I also give to you, and I will give this land to your descendants after you." Then God went up from him at the place where he had talked with him. (NIV)

What promises do you see? The land, yes. The descendants, yes. This is more elaborate with the phrase "a nation and a community of nations" and "kings will come from your body." The descendants of Jacob will later be known by his new name, Israel. The funnel narrows still: Eve-Abraham-Isaac-Jacob-Israel.

At this point in the text, God has fulfilled some of the promises He made to Abraham back in Genesis 12, hasn't He? Since at least 6 nations call Abraham their forefather, wouldn't that make his name great? Since God said you will have many descendants, is that promise fulfilled in Ishmael, Isaac, the sons of Keturah and their children? What we have not seen is the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob take possession of the land of Canaan. And we haven't seen how all the nations of the earth will be blessed through their offspring.

Next week, we will see one more promise move closer to being fulfilled and perhaps a glimpse of more about this "offspring."

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