The Marriage of Isaac

October 28, 2018 Background Scripture: Genesis 24 Lesson Passage: Genesis 24:12 – 21, 61 – 67 Genesis 24 is a very long chapter. It details the events of Abraham sending his faithful servant into a far country to retrieve a bride for his son, Isaac. Please note that there is no biblical record that Isaac requested a bride be sought for him. His father, Abraham, saw that Isaac was grieving because of the death of his mother and he sent for a bride who would bring comfort to Isaac. This account in the book of Genesis is very much a portrayal of the eastern culture of prearranged marriages. This is not the western culture idea of “Boy meets girl. Boy and girl fall in love. Boy and girl get married and live happily ever after.” In the eastern culture, parents did not leave it up to the inexperienced, and often unwise, young people to make a decision that had such far-reaching implications for the entire extended family and the family’s wealth. Therefore, marriage was considered a family decision that was pursued by the parents of the prospective groom and bride. It was often conducted as a business arrangement between the two families. You can see this by the great amount of wealth the servant of Abraham took on the trip to locate a bride for Isaac. He had a caravan of ten camels laden with a variety of good things from the stockpile of Abraham’s wealth. The goods he carried along would allow the servant to bargain for the best available bride. The arrangements and all of the details for the wedding were all planned by the parents. Sometimes the marriage arrangements were made when the prospective bride and groom were still infants. Remarkably—or not—those arranged marriages often outlasted the ones initiated by the emotional and physical attractions of young adults. Again, sometimes those arrangements were made while the couple were still children. At other times, the arrangements were made when the parents thought the young adults were now of age and settled into careers. In either case, the parents took the initiative to arrange for a marriage to take place—which included selecting who would be the bride and groom. Abraham decided it was time for Isaac to have a wife and his trusted servant was charged with going to the land of Abraham’s family and selecting an appropriate bride. The servant was no doubt influenced by the religious faith of his master. This showed when the servant prayed that God would divinely intervene and make the selection on behalf of the servant. The servant’s prayer was so specific that there was no way to miss that God had answered his prayer and showed him who the bride would be. After God identified Rebekah as the bride, the servant proceeded to the home of Rebekah’s parents to begin the business part of the arrangements. When all was concluded, and Rebekah had consented to the arrangement, the servant of Abraham, his servants, Rebekah, and her maids started out to return to Isaac. Isaac met them in the field and received Rebekah and took her into his mother’s tent. Genesis 24 might seem strange to many westerners, but it would seem quite ordinary to many residents of the Near East and Far East even today. I imagine that easterners might take great pride in the longevity of such a well-protected and honored tradition. This biblical account seems almost an allegory of the ministry of the Holy Spirit. Even today, the Holy Spirit goes throughout the world bearing spiritual gifts in search of those who would become the bride of the Son. There is no biblical record that the Son requested it. But Father knows best. Robert C. Hudson September 5, 2018

The Birth of the Promised Son

October 21, 2018 Background Scripture: Genesis 18:9 – 15; 21:1 – 7 Lesson Passage: Genesis 18:9 – 15; 21:1 – 7 One of the most remarkable promises God made Abram unfolds in today’s lesson. God had told Abram that he would have a son to be his heir. Perhaps out of guilt, Sarai had convinced Abram to father a child by her maid, Hagar. They both consented to it because they believed they were carrying out the will of God. God promised him offspring when he was seventy-five years old, so they conspired to help God ten years later. When he was eighty-six years old, Hagar bore Abram a son, Ishmael. Thirteen years later, God again appeared to Abram and reminded him that he was going to have a son as He had promised previously. Abram begged God to accept Ishmael as that promised son. God told Abram that Ishmael was not the son He had promised. However, God promised to bless Ishmael because he was Abram’s son. But Ishmael was not the son that God promised to give Abram. At this time, God changed Abram and Sarai’s names to Abraham and Sarah. God promised that Sarah would bear Abraham a son and he would be the promised son. This was hard for the two of them to fathom. Sarah would give birth for the first time in her life at the age of ninety years old and Abraham would be one hundred years old when the promised son was born. This was God’s promise and it would require an absolute miracle of God to bring it about. God did not have to perform a miracle for the eighty-five-year-old Abram to father a child by the young maid, Hagar. On the other hand, Sarah had never been able to conceive and bear a child and she was now pass the child-bearing years at the age of eighty-nine. Only God could make it possible for Sarah to conceive at the age of eighty-nine and then give birth to her firstborn child at the age of ninety years old. First, Abraham laughed at the notion of this and then Sarah laughed. But the question was posed to Abraham: Is there anything too difficult for the Lord? In our heads, we know the answer to this question is always no. But, when we are faced with difficult situations, difficult people, difficult decisions, or just plain difficult days, we don’t always feel that the answer to the question is so simple. I believe the lesson in this for us is to resign ourselves to the position of accepting that God can do whatever He chooses to do whenever He chooses to do it. Sometimes, we need to stop looking for a “plan B” and accept that the outcome is in God’s hands. We know He can do it and therefore we should depend on Him to do it. God does not need our help. The more difficult the situation, the more we accept that it is only through the power of God that the outcome will be the seemingly impossible. God could have given Abram and Sarai the child thirteen years earlier when they were trying to help Him. I believe He waited until they had reached a point where they would not even try a “plan B”. Then God would not be competing with anyone or anything for the glory. The outcome would clearly be according to the will and power of the almighty God. While Abraham and Sarah laughed, God was moving their situation from impossible to hopeless. Then, God announced the birth of the promised son. Robert C. Hudson September 5, 2018