Abraham was nearing the end of his life and Isaac didn’t have a wife yet. Abraham did not want his son to marry a Canaanite woman. It was customary for parents chose the spouses for their children and Isaac had waited patiently but he was nearly forty years old. While it was common practice to marry within a family group, it was an added advantage for Abraham as Isaac would not be marrying a pagan. Abraham wanted to be obedient to God, not only in who Isaac married but in where she came from. Abraham did not want Isaac to leave to go search for wife himself. He needed Isaac to stay where he was. So, Abraham entrusted the task to Eliezer, a life-long servant of Abraham’s.
Tag: Abraham
FINALLY, A PLACE OF MY OWN, SORT OF
Abraham was in a foreign land, looking for a place to bury his wife. The Hittites knew Abraham. To them he was a great and wealthy prince, a prince of God. They had a lot of respect for him. They offered any of their choicest burial spots to him. While Hittites didn’t share Abraham’s belief or values but they appreciated that he lived by those values.
Share this:
THIS IS A TEST, THIS IS ONLY A TEST
I don’t know how many of you have watched Star Trek. But one episode is about the Kobiashi Maru. It is training exercise for Starfleet cadets to see how they manage a crisis aboard a Starfleet vessel. The good thing is that it weeds out the weak leaders from the strong. The bad thing is that it is a no-win situation. Fortunately, for the cadets, it was only a test. A real-life situation like this would have been catastrophic. But that is often what some of us face. A real-life, no-win situation. But I have to say, nothing in life is really no-win if you have Jesus in your life.
Share this:
OH, I REMEMBER THAT PLACE
We can have a place like Beersheba, either in our hearts or even a particular place special to your heart. It is the place where your burden of sin was lifted. It is a place where you can call on the Name of the Lord and He will be there. Where we can go for peace, for healing, for help or just to be with the Lord. Jesus had a place. It was in the mountains. There are a number of places in the Scripture where Jesus went into the mountains to be by Himself to pray. Our place can be ours alone or shared with others.
Share this:
OOPS! I DID IT AGAIN
Abraham moved from the mountains overlooking the destroyed cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, staying for a time in different places. Then, he pitched his tents in Gerar, the land of the Philistines. Word got around about the beautiful woman in Abraham’s company and the king asked about her. Obviously, Abraham forgot what he learned in Egypt, and he lied again about Sarah’s relationship to himself. And Sarah was taken, again, into the harem of a king.
Share this:
REALLY I DIDN’T LAUGH
Have you ever overheard other people talk and heard something so preposterous that you just wanted to laugh out loud? Then you had to try to keep from laughing too loud because you didn’t want anyone to know that you were eavesdropping. Or have you ever gotten the giggles in church? That is the worst. You have to keep your mouth shut and try not to let anyone know you’re laughing.
Share this:
FATHER OF A MULTITUDE BUT NO KIDS
God didn’t just promise Abraham a son, He promised him a nation, He promised ownership of land, a forever home, a place to put down roots and grow. God also promised to be their God down through the generations. God’s only demand was that Abraham, and his descendants, keep their part of the covenant.
