September 11, 2016 - God Keeps His Promise to Abraham

TONY & MICHELLE PAWLAK

MEMORY VERSE
Jesus replied, “What is impossible with man is possible with God.”
Luke 18:27

What is a promise? Have you ever made a promise? Has anyone ever made you a promise?  Have they broken that promise?  It hurts when someone breaks a promise to us, doesn't it?  Do we ever have to worry about God breaking His promises to us?  What if the promise God made seems impossible?  It then can become hard to trust.

God had made a promise to Abraham that he would have a son and that through his descendants, the whole Earth would be blessed.  The problem was that Abraham was 75 years old when he received the promise and his wife was 65.  If that wasn't bad enough, they waited 24 years and God still hadn't given them the son He promised! Abraham was then 99 years old and he and his wife Sarah had not had a child. would you find it hard to trust God then? Abraham and Sarah did...

One day, three strangers were passing by Abraham's tent.

 Somehow, Abraham knew that these were angels from God. Some think that one of them was Jesus!  Abraham convinced the men to stay and he fed them while Sarah stayed inside the tent and listened.  One of the men then told Abraham that by the same time the next year, he and Sarah would have a son.  Sarah, who was now 89 years old, thought that the idea of having a child at their age was so silly that she couldn't help but laugh.  The man

then asked her, “Why did Sarah laugh and say, ‘Will I really have a child, now that I am old?’ Is anything too hard for the Lord? I will return to you at the appointed time next year, and Sarah will have a son.”  (Genesis 18:13-14) Sarah, embarrassed at being caught, denied laughing but the man said, "Yes, you did laugh."  Not long after, the three strangers left.  

A year later, true to His word, God gave Abraham and Sarah

a son.  Abraham named him Isaac which means "laughter." Abraham was so happy to have a son that he had a great feast to celebrate. Abraham was 100 years old and Sarah was 90 years old when Isaac was born. Abraham loved his son Isaac very much.

One day, God came to Abraham to test him.  He said to Abraham,  “Take your son, your only son, whom you love—Isaac—and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on a mountain I will show you.” (Genesis 22:2) 

Now Abraham knew that God had promised that, through Isaac, God would give Abraham many descendants so Isaac could not die before he had any children of his own.  Abraham believed God so he thought, "If God tells me to kill Isaac, then God will have to bring Isaac back to life to keep his promise!" (ref. Hebrews 11:19) 

So the next morning, Abraham took Isaac, two servants, and a donkey to carry the wood and set off on a three day journey to where God sent him.  When the place was in sight, Abraham and Isaac went ahead and left the servants and the donkey behind telling them that they would be back after they worship God. 

Isaac who was carrying the wood, looked at his father and asked, “The fire and wood are here, but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?” Abraham simply assured him that God would provide the lamb. Isaac didn't know that he would be the one sacrificed that day. 

After they got to the site and built the altar, Abraham tied

Isaac up and placed him on it.  He pulled out his knifed and prepared to sacrifice him but the Angel of the Lord said from Heaven, “Abraham! Abraham! Do not lay a hand on the boy. 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.” (Genesis 22:11-12) 

So, Abraham passed God's test and God kept his promise to Abraham.  Afterwards they all went home to live...for a while.  Abraham and Sarah were both very old when Isaac was born.  When Isaac was 37, his mother Sarah passed away.  Abraham both a cave

in Hebron and the field that went with it in to bury Sarah in.  It was the first land that Abraham owned in the land God had promised to him and his descendants.