A Great Commander defers to a little girl – 6 June 2021, Anno Domini

                                                              

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UT with righteousness shall he judge the poor, and reprove with equity for the meek of the earth: and he shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked. 5 And righteousness shall be the girdle of his loins, and faithfulness the girdle of his reins. 6 The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them.   (Isaiah 11:3-6)

 

            In the days of the prophet Elisha, Syria was perhaps the mightiest power of the known world. Her armies were dreaded and feared, and her seat of power in Damascus boasted of opulent palaces and formidable defenses. There lived in Damascus a great commander of the armed forces of Syria named Naaman – highly regarded by the people and held in great regard by the king. Naaman wore robes of silk and shining armor in his daily duties as the top military leader of the land; but Naaman had a problem that he tried to keep secret.  . . . but he was a leper.  (2 Kings 5:1) The ‘BUTS’ of Holy Scripture are profound reversals in the narrative. That problem grew more and more difficult to hide as it grew more serious day by day. Naaman was a leper. It is likely that only Naaman’s immediate family and the king were aware of that fact.

 

Leprosy, like sin, is difficult to cover up. It emits a horrible odor and disfigures the body in morbid ways. It forces its victim into isolation from all other ‘respectable’ citizens. Sin likewise separates its proponents into clans apart from the righteous. Like unrepented sin, it grows until it kills its victim. Both sin and leprosy lead to death, and only God can quicken the dead. Only God could cure the leprosy of Naaman as well.

 

            Naaman’s army had captured many inhabitants of Israel and carried them off as the chattels of war. One such captive was a young girl whom Naaman presented to his wife as a servant. Regardless of wealth, fame, or power, there remains an enemy common to the race – death – and this specter faced Naaman every moment of his waking hours. The young girl, being party to the inner circle of Naaman’s home life, was aware of Naaman’s affliction and pitied the good master. She opined to her mistress, Would God my lord were with the prophet that is in Samaria! for he would recover him of his leprosy. (2 Kings 5:3) This word having reached the ears of the king, Naaman was sent to the king of Israel with letters of introduction and gifts of great value requesting that Naaman be cured of the leprosy according to the word of the young girl.

 

The king was terrified believing that the Syrian king was trying to provoke a war by asking the impossible, but Elisha the prophet sent for Naaman to come to him for healing. Elisha lived in very common circumstances and was a man of plain and simple quarters. Naaman arrived before Elisha’s door with a large entourage fitting a great field commander. And Elisha sent a messenger unto him, saying, Go and wash in Jordan seven times, and thy flesh shall come again to thee, and thou shalt be clean. 2 Kings 5:10) Now, Naaman had perhaps seen the antics of too many TV evangelists in their fake healings. Naaman took umbrage at this simple and informal approach. He said, Behold, I thought, He will surely come out to me, and stand, and call on the name of the LORD his God, and strike his hand over the place, and recover the leper. (2 Kings 5:11) Moreover, the little Jordan River was nothing to compare to the mighty rivers of his homeland; but his aides insisted that there could be no harm in trying this simple counsel. Naaman acceded to obey Elisha. He bathed in the Jordan seven times and, not until he emerged the seventh time was his leprosy cured. 

 

He returned to Elisha offering elaborate gifts, but Elisha was the servant of God and not of any man, so, he refused the gifts. This might be a rare quality in men who claim the call of God in their lives today. 

 

But the story of Naaman is one of God’s simple solution[1] of God over man’s elaborate and ceremonious antics. The solution to the cure of the deadly case of leprosy started with the counsel of a young girl and ended in an unimpressive bath in the Jordan Waters. God’s answer is always the simple solution but the one and only solution rejected by modern man. Biblical truth, whether uttered from the lips of a child or an aged sage, is truth nonetheless.

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[1] One often hears there are no simple solutions to complex problems.  The fact is most solutions that work are simple, people just do not want to hear them.

Plumbline of God – 4 June 2021, Anno Domini

  

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HUS he shewed me: and, behold, the Lord stood upon a wall made by a plumbline, with a plumbline in his hand. 8 And the LORD said unto me, Amos, what seest thou? And I said, A plumbline. Then said the Lord, Behold, I will set a plumbline in the midst of my people Israel: I will not again pass by them any more.  (Amos 7:7-8)

 

            From the building of the Great Pyramids until today, the plumbline has been the choice tool to make vertical measurements. In fact, I have a plumb bob in my desk that is used to create a plumbline. It is a heavy petard-shaped weight attached to a string. When the string is attached to a high point, the plumbline points directly to the center of the earth. This describes a vertical line by which to construct buildings in perfectly upright state. 

 

            The plumbline is used to construct as well as to destroy. If an edifice is built consistent with the vertical plumbline, it will stand perfectly erect; however, if the foundation becomes unstable, it will no longer conform to the vertical plane established by the plumbline and will likely be destroyed (unless it is in Italy at a town called Pisa). 

            The plumbline of our text describes a coming judgment against Israel. God stands on the Wall of Defense that has preserved the land for many generations, but the wall appears to be bulging and weak. God will certainly measure the defenses and bring judgment in time. The people were disobedient to the Laws of God. They could not be perfect in His sight not more than you and I can be perfect by the measure of the Law of God depicted by the perfectly vertical plumbline. 

 

            I will set a plumbline in the midst of my people Israel. In the fulness of time God did establish a plumbline in the midst of His people by which they could be measured perfect in righteousness. What was that Plumbline? It was the Lord Jesus Christ who was perfectly upright. Instead of a direct line to the center of the world, His person described a vertical line directly to the Father. Being perfect, He was the only intercessor qualified to pay the wages of sin for us which was death on the cross. 21 For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps: 22 Who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth: 23 Who, when he was reviled, reviled not again; when he suffered, he threatened not; but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously: 24 Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed. (1 Peter 2:20-24)

 

            Here are some interesting facts regarding the plumbline: 1) it cannot be fastened to a lower point than the plumb bob; 2) it must be fastened to the highest point available for the plumbline to be vertical; and, 3) the weighted point must not be in contact with the ground.  We cannot place our trust in men or worldly rulers for they are men like unto ourselves. We place our faith and trust in God on High – not any person or thing beneath the heavens. Our faith must be centered on the right object of our faith – Jesus Christ. If our plumb bob is centered on things earthly, we can never be considered righteous in the eyes of the Lord. It is the perfectly vertical and perfectly righteous Plumb Line established by our Lord Jesus Christ and His righteousness by which our lives will be considered righteous. 

 

            The Plumbline, if properly utilized will form a vertical line against the horizontal resulting in the cross upon which Christ – the perfectly righteous – died for us who were of the world of sin. (see illustration):

 

 

Just Because – 4 June 2021, Anno Domini

 

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EREIN is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world. 18 There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love. 19 We love him, BECAUSE he first loved us. 20 If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen? 21 And this commandment have we from him, That he who loveth God love his brother also.  (1 John 4:17-21)

 

               It is a natural law of humanity that a mother and father love their children. When does that love begin? In almost every case, the child is loved while yet in the mother’s womb, and certainly after birth. Unfortunately, even the natural law of God is being held in contempt today by those who advocate the murder of infants in their mother’s womb, but I speak from a historical perspective when life was much more highly valued and morality ruled over passion and mere convenience. 

 

            May I ask a simple question of the reader! Did the infant in the mother’s womb love the mother? Did the newborn infant love the mother and father? Not likely. We are born with only one concern – instant attention and gratification. We scream our lungs out until we get what we want. We create a mess for our mothers who bathe and feed us moment by moment, and tenderly rock us to sleep by some mother’s lullaby. In time, the baby learns to love the mother, but by what means? It is because of the love of the mother for the baby that the baby is able to return that love to the mother. The same is true of God. We can only love Him because He first loved us and has adopted us as His own children to care for and to provide us the provender necessary for the spiritual man. Our love for God is merely an echo of the Love He has generated toward us. 

 

            We read from the Psalms: The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: a good understanding have all they that do his commandments: his praise endureth for ever.    (Psalm 111:10) Fear of the Lord is not the end of wisdom, but only the BEGINNING. When I entered the first grade of elementary school, I bore a deathly fear of my teacher on the first day. I did my best to please her and answer every question she asked to the best of my ability. My older sister had told me that the teacher would give me a paddling if I even glanced in the wrong direction. Slowly, seeing that my teacher actually cared for me and wanted me to do well for my own sake, I began to love her – and still do as she still lives in Dalton, Georgia. As we fear the Lord and begin to study His purposes for our lives, we begin to see the great love with which He loved us, and gave Himself for us. Our fear of God begins to be tempered by love. Instead of a fear of damnation and judgment, our fear changes to the fear of disappointing our beloved Savior. 

 

This again reflects the parent/child relationship in the natural world. Knowing of the great love our parents have for us, we no longer fear physical punishment as much as we fear disappointing their love for us. As we realize that we are actually chosen and elected as the adopted children of the Living God, our greatest desire is directed to pleasing Him in every way within our means. It is a love that has been generated at first by the very primal Source of all LOVE!

 

BECAUSE is a word used in other sense as well. The love of God is a two-sided coin. The one side bearing the image of Christ is the personification of love. The opposite side bears the legal authority of the issuing power. We may choose either love as a means to God, or the Law under which no man can merit salvation. Let no man deceive you with vain words: for BECAUSE of these things cometh the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience. (Ephesians 5:6) Obedience engenders the favor of God, but sin warrants His wrath and disfavor. We fail of love BECAUSE of lack of faith: 17 But with whom was he grieved forty years? was it not with them that had sinned, whose carcases fell in the wilderness? 18 And to whom sware he that they should not enter into his rest, but to them that believed not? 19 So we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief.  (Hebrews 3:17-19)

 

Which side of the coin do you favor?

Night of the Hungry Lions – 3 June 2021, Anno Domini

  

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HEN the presidents and princes sought to find occasion against Daniel concerning the kingdom; but they could find none occasion nor fault; forasmuch as he was faithful, neither was there any error or fault found in him. 5 Then said these men, We shall not find any occasion against this Daniel, except we find it against him concerning the law of his God.  (Daniel 6:4-5)

 

            In our modern society, Marxist propaganda in America has reached such levels in education, religion and politics that the innocent face accusation and punishment for their obedience and loyalty to God and His Commandments. This is not a new thing in the history of nations and peoples. Remember the first prophet, Abel was murdered by his brother, Cain – not for any cause except that of Abel’s righteousness. 

 

Daniel is the focus of this brief devotion today. Daniel was a man whose heart was devoted to God, and that devotion was reflected in the courage he demonstrated in his worship of the Lord. He was an exile of Israel and privileged to serve in the court of the king. The story of Daniel’s night in the lion’s den is a tribute to that courage. In 1976, I had the opportunity to visit the City of Persepolis of ancient Persia. The ruins of that fabulous city of kings of Persia give one a totally awe-inspiring feel for Holy Scripture and those kings mentioned therein. Towering over the city is the Mountain of Mercy in which are carved the stone tombs of King Darius, Xerxes and Artaxerxes. A few miles away is a place called Pasargardae – the home of Cyrus the Great where I stood in the ruins of the very temple from which Daniel once prophesied. The tomb of Cyrus is perhaps fifty yards away from that temple.

 

Daniel was a true hero of the faith. There are heroes that arise from a momentary flash of courage, and others, such as Daniel, whose lives are ongoing examples of heroism.

            The political enemies in the court of Darius conspired against Daniel, whom Darius loved, to have him killed by the lions. Then the presidents and princes sought to find occasion against Daniel concerning the kingdom; but they could find none occasion nor fault; forasmuch as he was faithful, neither was there any error or fault found in him. Then said these men, We shall not find any occasion against this Daniel, except we find it against him concerning the law of his God. (v4,5) They convinced Darius to issue an edict that any man who prayed to God for the next thirty days would be cast into the den of lions. It was the royal custom of the kings of Persia to never dispute any royal decree issued by them. The conspirators knew of Daniel’s custom of praying three times daily to his God. 

 

How did Daniel respond once he knew of the decree? Now when Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he went into his house; and his windows being open in his chamber toward Jerusalem, he kneeled upon his knees three times a day, and prayed, and gave thanks before his God, as he did aforetime. (v10)  Daniel remembered his God and his heritage in Israel. Nothing would stop him from praying to His Lord. Nothing changed in Daniel’s heart, and nothing should change in the heart of a Christian. He opened his windows facing his homeland, kneeled and prayed three times daily. The culprits were watching and reported to the king. Darius was heart-broken when he realized he had been duped. He could not annul the royal decree he had made, so he had Daniel cast into the lion’s den. These beasts were kept hungry for such occasions. King Darius said to Daniel: Thy God whom thou servest continually, he will deliver thee. (v16) The king fretted all that night of trial and wonder. Then the king went to his palace, and passed the night fasting: neither were instruments of musick brought before him: and his sleep went from him. Then the king arose very early in the morning, and went in haste unto the den of lions. And when he came to the den, he cried with a lamentable voice unto Daniel: and the king spake and said to Daniel, O Daniel, servant of the living God, is thy God, whom thou servest continually, able to deliver thee from the lions? Then said Daniel unto the king, O king, live for ever. My God hath sent his angel, and hath shut the lions’ mouths, that they have not hurt me: forasmuch as before him innocency was found in me; and also before thee, O king, have I done no hurt. Then was the king exceeding glad for him, and commanded that they should take Daniel up out of the den. So Daniel was taken up out of the den, and no manner of hurt was found upon him, because he believed in his God.  (v14-17)

 

The courage of Daniel swayed an Empire and Darius: I make a decree, That in every dominion of my kingdom men tremble and fear before the God of Daniel: for he is the living God, and stedfast for ever, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed, and his dominion shall be even unto the end. He delivereth and rescueth, and he worketh signs and wonders in heaven and in earth, who hath delivered Daniel from the power of the lions.

 

Perhaps we could learn to stand courageously as Daniel against the wicked rulings of ungodly government!

One Small, No Account Life – 2 June 2021, Anno Domini

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O to now, ye that say, Today or tomorrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain: 14 Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away. 15 For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that. 16 But now ye rejoice in your boastings: all such rejoicing is evil. 17 Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin. (James 4:13-17)

 

Heading to the airport through the heavy, 7:30 AM traffic of Birmingham yesterday, I saw the sad and pitiful sight of a kitten, perhaps six weeks old, scampering for dear life among the profusion of trucks and automobiles on Interstate 65. Traffic was moving at a speed of about 15-20 miles per hour across the four or five north bound lanes of the expressway. Glancing out my left window, I saw the kitten desperately running from under my front bumper and beneath the car in the furthermost left lane. It was obvious to me that the terrified kitten had little chance of survival, but that fact did not prevent the small animal from fighting valiantly for the small and unimportant life that God had given it – unimportant to all but to him and his Maker. He wanted to keep it at all costs.

 

How the less-than-half-grown kitten came to be on this busy freeway, I cannot imagine. There was a stretch of wood on the right of the highway. It is possible that the mother cat had brought the kitten into the light of day in this very patch of wood where the little fellow saw his first sunrise. She may have been off hunting for food, or even abandoned her small charge.  In the divider of the freeway was a concrete wall, so that there was not a chance of the kitten getting all the way across the freeway even if able to miraculously dodge the onslaught of traffic.  I felt strangely overburdened by pity for the little warrior. He had no idea what these huge machines were that seemed intent on his demise. All he could understand was his need to escape the one nearest him. Though impossible, in my view for him to survive, I pray that the very God who so delicately fashioned this fury little creature would work a miracle and give the tiny fellow a second chance. It would have been impossible for the disinterested motorists to stop and save the cat without risking a pile-up on the freeway – though I was tempted. It is possible, too, that the kitten would have rejected my help out of fear of the hand that was trying to save him. He may have been feral as well. If the little hero did not survive, at the very least, he went down with his colors flying and his lights burning brightly.

 

I was reminded of the human condition in that helpless little kitten. Because we have not known the Savior and Redeemer, we wander from lane to lane in life. We find ourselves on the busy thoroughfare that is full of deadly dangers and perils – “Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat:” The Lord who loves us gave warning of that broad freeway of life. We cannot comprehend the enormity of dangers that prevail on that freeway except to know the nearest danger that threatens impending doom. All others on the broad way could care less for our small and unimportant lives. We struggle eagerly by our own power to scamper back to the safety of the Narrow Way, yet no one will help us. But there is One whose Mind and Vision is above the heavily trafficked way. He sees us. If we are not wild with untamed soul, He may reach His mighty Hand down to us and take us up out of danger, and feed us with the Manna of Heaven. But we must not fear Him with inordinate fear who can save us, but with the fear of a child for his Father.

 

I do not know whether the little kitten with “One Small, No Account Life” was saved from destruction or not, but one thing I do know: “With God, all things are possible.” AMEN.

Hymn – Come Thou Font of Every Blessing– 1 June 2021, Anno Domini (In the Year of our Lord)

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 LORD, the hope of Israel, all that forsake thee shall be ashamed, and they that depart from me shall be written in the earth, because they have forsaken the LORD, the fountain of living waters. (Jeremiah 17:13)

 

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ESUS answered and said unto her, Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again: 14 But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.(John 4:13-14)

 

The author of this historical classic hymn was the Rev. Robert Robinson in 1757 at the age of twenty-two. The hymn is based on the doctrine of divine grace as presented in 1 Samuel 7:12,Then Samuel took a stone, and set it between Mizpeh and Shen, and called the name of it Ebenezer, saying, Hitherto hath the LORD helped us. Robinson came from somewhat austere beginnings and even became a gang leader while in his teens. He decided to attend a service of preaching by the great George Whitfield for the purpose of ridiculing the preacher. But he fell asleep in the meeting and was abruptly awakened (in more ways than one) when Whitfield thundered, O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come?  (Matthew 3:7)  Robinson was converted that very evening. The tune, ‘NETTLETON,’ is of unknown origin.

 

Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing

 

Come, Thou Fount of every blessing

Tune my heart to sing Thy grace

Streams of mercy, never ceasing

Call for songs of loudest praise

Teach me some melodious sonnet

Sung by flaming tongues above

Praise the mount, I'm fixed upon it

Mount of Thy redeeming love

 

Here I raise my Ebenezer

Here there by Thy great help I've come

And I hope, by Thy good pleasure

Safely to arrive at home

Jesus sought me when a stranger

Wandering from the fold of God

He, to rescue me from danger

Interposed His precious blood

 

Oh, that day when freed from sinning

I shall see Thy lovely face

Clothed then in the blood washed linen

How I'll sing Thy wondrous grace

Come, my Lord, no longer tarry

Take my ransomed soul away

Send Thine angels now to carry

Me to realms of endless day

 

Oh, to grace how great a debtor

Daily I'm constrained to be

Let that goodness like a fetter

Bind my wandering heart to Thee

Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it

Prone to leave the God I love

Here's my heart, oh, take and seal it

Seal it for Thy courts above

 

Come, Thou Fount of every blessing. Tune my heart to sing Thy grace. Streams of mercy, never ceasing. Call for songs of loudest praise. Teach me some melodious sonnet. Sung by flaming tongues above Praise the mount, I'm fixed upon it. Mount of Thy redeeming love . It is the Lord that puts a song in our hearts. How sad that so many Christians miss out on a love of the great hymns of the church. The only songs left are those cheap and carnal songs of the world. The mercies of God are truly unending. They come in such measure as the rains of summer so as not to overwhelm the soil of the heart. The beauty of a worthy hymn is its divine origins centered on the Word of God and the doctrines the Lord taught us to follow. The mountain of the Lord was a dual peak of Law (Mt. Sinai) and Grace (Mt. Horeb from whence the Rock brought forth floods of water).

 

Here I raise my Ebenezer. Here there by Thy great help I've come. And I hope, by Thy good pleasure Safely to arrive at home. Jesus sought me when a stranger. Wandering from the fold of God. He, to rescue me from danger. Interposed His precious blood. The great prophets of the Bible are our Ebenezer which, in Hebrew, means, “Stones of Help or Remembrance.” It is important for our memories to be reminded of from whence we have come. The workers of evil from the beginning have constantly tried to erase our memories of God and Country in order to establish totalitarian control over us. The same is true with those who manipulate the Word of God through presumed new versions of the Bible that lend themselves to political correctness and irreverence for biblical truth. We were all strangers to the Kingdom of God before our hearts were searched out by the inner workings of the Holy Spirit after which the strangers became adopted sons and daughters. The day of your awakening to the call of Christ from the tomb of death and sin is your Ebenezer – mark it well!’

 

Oh, that day when freed from sinning. I shall see Thy lovely faceClothed then in the blood washed linen How I'll sing Thy wondrous grace Come, my Lord, no longer tarry Take my ransomed soul away Send Thine angels now to carry Me to realms of endless day. If we learn nothing else regarding our salvation from Holy Writ, let it be that we are saved by grace and not any works of our own doing. Though we be saved by grace and washed clean of our sins, we are yet to be perfected in complete Holiness until the day we are called forth to be with the Lord forever. The saint of God should pray constantly for the soon coming of the Lord to do away with evil and sin. And does not the saint receive a heavenly escort at the moment of death?

 

Remember the Rich Man and Lazarus? How different were their destinies at the moment of death? None says it better than our dear Lord Jesus Christ: 19 ¶ There was a certain rich man, which was clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day: 20 And there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, which was laid at his gate, full of sores, 21 And desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man’s table: moreover the dogs came and licked his sores. 22 And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham’s bosom: the rich man also died, and was buried; 23 And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.

 

Oh, to grace how great a debtor. Daily I'm constrained to be. Let that goodness like a fetter. Bind my wanderingheart to Thee. Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it. Prone to leave the God I love. Here's my heart, oh, take and seal it. Seal it for Thy courts above. The Seal of our God mentioned in the Book of Revelations:And I saw another angel ascending from the east, having the seal of the living God: and he cried with a loud voice to the four angels, to whom it was given to hurt the earth and the sea, Saying, Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads. (Revelations 7:2-3) Note, the Seal of God is not some UPC code ON the forehead, but IN the forehead – the seat of reason, logic and belief. The NIV, ESV, and other modern apostate Bibles translate the passage to read ON THE FOREHEAD. If you are held down and branded on the forehead, that is not a sin for which you must answer. You receive the Seal of God or Mark of the Beast IN the forehead as the Received Text correctly points out. We have been set free from the rags and fetters of sin for our Lord Jesus Christ has fulfilled His mission and purpose in every respect:The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, 19 To preach the acceptable year of the Lord.(Luke 4:18-19)

A Shadow of Christ – 1 June 2021, Anno Domini

 

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ND God said, Sarah thy wife shall bear thee a son indeed; and thou shalt call his name Isaac: and I will establish my covenant with him for an everlasting covenant, and with his seed after him. 20 And as for Ishmael, I have heard thee: Behold, I have blessed him, and will make him fruitful, and will multiply him exceedingly; twelve princes shall he beget, and I will make him a great nation. 21 But my covenant will I establish with Isaac, which Sarah shall bear unto thee at this set time in the next year. (Genesis 17:19-21)

 

            Until the calling of Abraham from Ur of the Chaldees, God’s plan of redemption had been given sparingly to the ancients of man beginning at Adam’s fall at Eden. There were two profound references that revealed a coming Redeemer, but it was not fully comprehended at that stage of man’s spiritual understanding.  Those two references were both uttered in Genesis 3. “And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.  (Gen 3:15) and Unto Adam also and to his wife did the LORD God make coats of skins, and clothed them. (Gen 3:21) In the first reference (probably not comprehended fully by Adam) God is telling us though Satan will sting as a serpent and persecute the coming Son of God, yet, the Seed of the Woman (Jesus Christ) will crush the head of the serpent. Christ was the Seed of no man – only of Mary in the flesh. The second reference was a veiled prophecy of the future sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ in covering our nakedness (sins) on the cross. An innocent animal had to be sacrificed by God to acquire the skins to cover the nakedness of Adam and Eve. 

 

            God promised Abraham to become the father of many nations. That is the interpretation of his name, Abraham, in Hebrew. But Abraham and Sarah grew old and their prospects of having a son grew remote (in their eyes). They tried to help God out by having Abraham impregnate Sarah’s servant girl, Hagar. This violated the plan of God. He had promised a son to Abraham and Sarah in the bonds of marriage, but the son of Hagar, Ishmael, was not born according to the promise of God. Therefore, Abraham’s second son, Isaac, was viewed by God as Abraham’s only son and the child of promise. But my covenant will I establish with Isaac, which Sarah shall bear unto thee at this set time in the next year. (Gen 17:21) There is a significant trend in Scripture of the second son becoming the called and gifted of God. Adam was the first man by whom death and suffering fell upon all his progeny. But Jesus Christ is referred to as the second man by whom eternal life came to those chosen of God. 

 

            The first son of Adam, Cain, was cursed. The second son, Abel, was God’s prophet. The first son of Abraham, Ishmael, was not the chosen one for the promise; it therefore fell to Abraham’s second son, Isaac. In turn, Isaac had two sons – Esau and Jacob. Esau was the elder son, but the blessing came to the second son, Jacob. 

 

            Isaac is a near perfect type of Christ. He came as a result of God’s promise to Abraham. He came by miraculous birth since Sarah was over ninety years old when he was born. Isaac was considered the only begotten son of Abraham. God tested Abraham by commanding him to sacrifice his one and only son on the mountain of Moriah (the same upon which the Temple was built). Abraham had tremendous faith. He undertook to obey God without hesitation. After a three day’s journey, Abraham and Isaac came to the foot of the mountain. Isaac asked a question of his father that must have broken Abraham’s heart: Behold the fire and the wood: but where is the lamb for a burnt offering? (v 7) And how did Abraham answer his son? “My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering. (v 8) If you have a new (per)version of the Bible, you will miss the power of that statement. Abraham is not saying God will provide just SOME lamb, but rather, God will provide HIMSELF as a Lamb for the offering! And in the fulness of time, the Lamb of God died as our Redeemer. 

 

            Isaac now carried the wood for the fire up mount Moriah (the same on which Christ was crucified) just as our Lord Jesus Christ carried His own cross. God stopped Abraham from sacrificing his son, Isaac. So what point was God making? He was demonstrating to Abraham, and to us, the pain and terrible hurt of a father sacrificing his only son. But Isaac did not qualify as a sinless sacrifice. God would not require it of man – instead, God would sacrifice His own only Begotten Son for us. Can you see now how Isaac was a near-perfect type of the Lord Jesus Christ? The seed of Abraham came down through Isaac, and it was a spiritual seed. (Gen 17:19) It is not the fleshly bloodline of Abraham that is the chosen of God, but the spiritual. Know ye therefore that they which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham. (Galatians 3:7)