JANUARY 13, 2010
WOMEN’S BIBLE STUDY
GENESIS 25: 20-28
Looking at a few similarities in the life of Isaac and the other patriarchs:
Isaac, like Esau (26:34), was forty years old when he took Rebekah (v.20). Like Sarah (11:30), Rebekah was barren. Like Abraham (20:17), Isaac prayed for his wife; and the Lord answered, and she bore two sons. The concentration on the barrenness of Sarah and Rebekah, as well as Rachel (29:31) and Leah (29:35), enables the writer to reiterate the point that the promised blessing through the chosen seed of Abraham is not to be accomplished merely by human effort. The fulfillment of the promise is only possible at each crucial juncture because of a specific act of God.
Reversals of the “young serving the older”
God’s Blessing was not a natural right, as a right of the first born son would be. Rather, God’s blessing is extended to those who have no other claim to it. They all received what they did not deserve. Mal. 1: 1-5, Romans 9: 10-13.
Genesis 26
There are similarities between the events of this chapter and those in the life of Abraham (12:10-20; 20: 1-8).
o First famine 12:10 forced Abraham to go to Egypt.
o 2nd famine Isaac went down to Gerar to Abimelech and was actually on his way to Egypt v.2 Then the Lord appeared to him and said “Do not go down to Egypt; live in the land of which I shall tell you.”
o The same promised given to Abraham was given to Isaac: His seed would be great in number 12:2, the land would be his 12:7, and all the nations of the land would be blessed in him 12:3
o AND the Lord added a remarkable note: “Abraham kept my requirements, my commands, my decrees and my laws.”
o The Sinai covenant - Deut. 11:1 “Love the Lord your God and keep his requirements, his decrees, his laws and his commands.
Did Abraham know the law? No laws of the Pentateuch or of any oral tradition mentioned. Abraham’s character throughout the book acted in accordance with the law, particularly Deuteronomy.
In chapter 14 Abraham fought with the kings, his actions followed Deuteronomy 20. READ
Abraham obeyed the law from the heart the ideal picture given in Deuteronomy 30:6 “And the Lord your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your descendants, to love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul that you may live.” Note: may live doesn’t mean you will die if you didn’t. Explain “dying to self.”
Thus, Abraham is an example of one who shows the law written on his heart (Jer. 31:33)
Abraham the man, who lived in faith, could be described as one who kept the law.
Deuteronomy 30: 11-14 (READ) is the view of faith and the law.
· Promised Land border – Genesis 15: 18-19 (READ)