Who does Isaac represent?
(Genesis 20-25; Romans 4:1-12; Hebrews 11:17-19) Blog 15-21 May 2022
Prepared by Richard A. Marin: Present Truth PO Box 700, Fallbrook CA 92088-0700 USA
REVIEW: By choosing to eat the forbidden fruit Adam brought guilt and corruption on the entire human race. God immediately stepped in between humanity and death by offering himself in our place. When Cain, rejected God’s Substitute, he found no forgiveness and in anger murdered his brother. A couple thousand years later after warning earth’s inhabitants for 120 years, God destroyed the earth by a flood because of its violent wickedness. Only those who believed the warning and entered the ark survived. After the flood Nimrod and his companions built a God-defying tower that God interrupted by confusing their language. Eventually God called Abraham to be his representative on earth and promised him an heir and great blessing.
Another Detour
1. After Lot fled the destruction of Sodom what people groups did he father through his two surviving daughters? Lot became the father of the Moabites & of the Ammonites (Gen. 19:36-38).
2. Where did Abraham next reveal his human weakness? Abraham journeyed southward to Gerar & again lied about Sarah being his wife causing her to be taken by Abimelech, king of Gerar (Gen. 20:1-2).
3. How did God prevent any harm to Abraham and Sarah in Gerar? God came to Abimelech in a dream, telling him he was as good as dead if he didn’t return Sarah to her husband. God closed the wombs of all the women of Abimelech’s household (Gen. 20:3-7, 17-18).
4. When God told Abimelech that he had kept him from sinning, whom did he say he had protected? God said he had kept Abimelech from sinning against God, himself, showing that what one does to God’s people he does to God (Gen. 20:6).
Baby Laughter
5. When Sarah gave birth to the promised son of Abraham at the time God had foretold, what name did Abraham give him? Abraham gave the promised son the name Isaac (Laughter) which is what God said they should name him (Gen. 21:1-3).
6. What happened at the feast Abraham threw for the weaning of Isaac? Ishmael was seen making fun of baby Isaac & Sarah asked Abraham to send Hagar and Ishmael away (Gen. 21:8-9).
7. Who else told Abraham to cast out the bondwoman and her son whom Abraham loved? God told Abraham to listen to his wife & send Hagar & Ishmael away (Gen. 21:11-12).
8. What should we learn from God’s command to cast out the bondwoman? We should not hope to receive God’s promised inheritance because of something we do, but like Abraham, we can only inherit it by faith in Jesus, God’s promised Son (Rom. 4:1-5; Gal. 3:29; 4:30).
9. What can we learn from God’s care for Hagar and Ishmael? We learn that God rewards our good deeds even though they are not the basis of our eternal inheritance (Gen. 22:13-21; Psa. 19:11; Prov. 11:18; Matt. 10:42; 1 Cor. 3:8).
10. How did Abraham and Abimelech settle a dispute? Abraham & Abimelech settled their differences by making a covenant in which Abraham provided 7 ewe lambs as a token or sign of the covenant (Gen. 21:22-32).
The Final Test
11. What final test did God bring to Abraham while Sarah was still alive? God asked Abraham to take his son Isaac & sacrifice him as a burnt offering on a distant mountain (Gen. 22:1-2).
12. How did Abraham answer Isaac when he asked: “where is the lamb for a burnt offering? Abraham answered: “God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering,” & God himself became our sin offering (Gen. 22:7-8; Isa. 53:10; 2 Cor. 5:21).
13. What happened when Abraham raised the knife to slay his altar-bound son? God stopped Abraham from killing Isaac & provided a ram caught in a nearby thicket as a substitute sacrifice (Gen. 22:10-13).
14. Was God testing Abraham to see if his character was good enough for heaven? No, God was not testing Abraham’s character but rather he was testing his faith, for it is by God’s grace through faith that we are saved (Gen. 22:12; Eph. 2:8-9; Heb. 11:17).
15. What shows the extent of Abraham’s faith? Abraham was willing to carry out God’s instructions for he believed that God was able to raise Isaac from the dead (Heb. 11:17-19).
16. Who does Isaac represent in the journey to Mount Moriah? Isaac represents Jesus, the promised Seed of Abraham, who willingly endured the shame & death of the cross on Mount Moriah, and who was not spared the sacrificial death like Abraham’s “only begotten son” (Gal. 3:16; Heb. 11:17).
17. What did Abraham, the nomad, do when Sarah died at the age of 127 years? When Sarah died Abraham negotiated for a parcel of land in which to bury her (Gen. 23:1-20).
18. After Sarah died what concern occupied Abraham’s mind? Abraham was concerned that a non-Canaanite wife be found for Isaac & he commissioned his servant to make the long journey back to Mesopotamia to find a wife for Isaac from among their kindred (Gen. 24:1-9).
19. How did God bless the mission of Abraham’s servant to find a wife for Isaac? The servant asked God to direct him to the right woman & God did, even to the granddaughter of Abraham’s brother, Nahor, & he brought her home to Isaac (Gen. 24:10-67).
20. If Isaac was 75 years old when Abraham died then which of Isaac’s children would have been 15 years old at that time? Jacob & Esau would have been 15 years old when their grandfather Abraham died (Gen. 21:5; 25:7, 26).