Genesis 20-22
Father Abraham
Genesis 20-22 form for us the final major chapter in Abraham’s life. From here he will fade in the story as Isaac rises to prominence, closing with his death recorded in Genesis 25.
But before he goes we enjoy his greatest triumphs. First, there is the birth of the promised son, Isaac. We’ve walked with Abraham through days of doubt and sweated with him through the family tension along the way, until at last we see him receive in faith the promise. His life is a pattern of how we are to follow God by faith and there are two major applications to take with us.
First, living by faith means learning to wait on God. Answers are not always immediate. The flesh does not accomplish the righteousness of God (James 1:20). The power of God’s promise sustains us as we learn to live by God’s timetable.
Second, God’s greatest blessings are to be given back to God. Genesis 22 is the victorious celebration of an amazing man of faith who entrusts the embodiment of all that God has promised, Isaac, back to God. Through his experience he has learned that his God can do the impossible, even raise the dead, and that God is to be trusted with that which is most precious to us. May we learn, as Abraham did, to keep God as God by not letting his blessings become idols in our lives.
