Today’s passage: Genesis 26:1-35

Helpful thoughts:

• God personally commits Abraham’s promised inheritance to Isaac.
  • Isaac has more than just Abraham’s promise.  He also copied his father’s sinful practice of calling his wife his sister…
• The difficulties in verses 6-22 are surrounded on both sides by the promises of God’s blessing on Isaac.  Even Abimelech and his people can’t help but notice this is true and make a treaty with him.
• Isaac had been 40 years old when Abraham provided his wife (Rebekah).  Esau evidently chose not to wait any longer.  He “took” for himself two women from the land Abraham had commanded that Isaac not marry.

Questions to consider:

1. How has Esau continued to act in an impetuous way?  What would Isaac have been ready to do for his favorite son at this time?  What might the fact that Esau got himself not one, but two wives also indicate?
2. Given what we read in this chapter, to whom does the credit belong for Isaac’s blessing and growing wealth?  Who does Abimelech and his people even acknowledge as the one who is blessing Isaac?
3. What does Isaac’s lie and self-protection remind us of concerning God’s grace?  Are God’s people perfect?  Why are we counted as righteous before God (2 Corinthians 5:21)?

Today’s passage: Genesis 25:19-34

Helpful thoughts:

• With the phrase, “These are the generations of” the book of Genesis moves on to the next chapter.
• Once again, the wife in the line of the people of God is barren for a time.  Unlike in the previous generation, conception came within one verse!  We don’t know exactly when Isaac prayed to the Lord for Rebekah to conceive (Or how many times he prayed).
  • We do know they had been married for 20 years.  Verse 26 tells us Isaac was 60 when Jacob and Esau were born.  He was 40 when they married.
• From the womb, Rebekah knew that the younger child among her twins would be the one who carried on the promise.  God made this clear from the beginning.
• Esau’s name refers to his rugged red features.  Jacob was named after his heal grabbing.  Grabbing someone’s heal was a figure of speech referring to deception.
• Many years later, and for a single warm meal, Esau willingly gave up his firstborn status.

Questions to consider:

1. What have we learned so far about Jacob and Esau?  What characteristics are already on display in this first passage about their lives?
2. Esau and Edom are both tied to the word for “Red.”  But, if Esau started being called Edom after the event of selling his birthright, what would he have always thought of whenever people called him Edom?  What all did the name “Edom” remind him of?  What would Jacob be reminding him of every time he used this name?
3. What all did Esau despise when we despised his birthright?  What was tied to the birthright of the son of Isaac, the grandson of Abraham (Hebrews 12:15-17)?

Today’s passage: Genesis 25:1-18

Helpful thoughts:

• In our reading today, Abraham’s journey on this earth comes to an end.
• Abraham had other children with Keturah, a woman he presumably joined together with after Sarah’s death (She is regarded as a concubine, as Hagar had been).  Sarah maintained her status as “Abraham’s wife.”
  • Though we see genealogies from all of Abraham’s other sons, it is made clear to the reader, Isaac remained the inheritor of Abraham’s estate and the promise from God (Verses 5 and 11).
• God keeps every one of His promises.  Verses 12-18 prove that again (See 17:20).

Questions to consider:

1. Which name from the list of Abraham’s other sons jumps out from the rest?  What name have we heard before from other places in Scripture (Here’s a short article with the answer)?
2. In world history (And religious history) why is this passage so important?  Who does it claim as God’s chosen people, the inheritors of His promise?  Given the location of where these other families settled, who would be their descendants today?  What religion would they likely represent?
3. Though we continue to see so much division and hatred in that part of the world today, what (Who) could unite them?  Regardless of whether they are descended from Isaac, Ishmael or any of Keturah’s sons (Or anyone else), who must they look to for their salvation?

Today’s passage: Genesis 24:52-67

Helpful thoughts:

• When Abraham’s servant heard Rebekah would be allowed to come, he put his praise where it ultimately belonged, to the Lord.  God had blessed his journey.
• The family’s blessing of Rebekah fit right into the promised blessing of God for Abraham’s descendants.
• “It was customary for a woman to cover her face with a veil during the period of betrothal.” – Desmond Alexander (ESV Study Bible)

Questions to consider:

1. How might the effort to have Abraham’s servant stay longer foreshadow Laban’s later deceitful actions with Jacob (Genesis 29:23-25)?  Who was involved in asking this question?  How might this have also carried forward to Rebekah’s own relationship with Jacob?
2. In what way does the blessing of Rebekah’s family correlate to God’s promise to Abraham?  In what way would this blessing come true for Israel?  How is it ultimately fulfilled through the offspring, Jesus Christ?

Today’s passage: Genesis 24:29-51

Helpful thoughts:

• Rebekah is the daughter of Bethuel.  Laban is her brother.  It appears (Perhaps due to Bethuel’s old age) that Laban is increasingly becoming the leader of the family.
  • Laban goes out and meets Abraham’s servant and officially invites him to receive the hospitality of their household.  Bethuel becomes involved once everyone enters the house.
• There is a possibility of foreshadowing here where Laban sees the ring and the gold bracelets and embraces the idea quickly of welcoming this visitor into their home.  Rebekah’s son (Jacob) would later experience Laban’s greed.
• Once Bethuel and Laban hear the account of the servant’s mission, they will not deny it is best for Rebekah to go and be married to Isaac.  They believe it is the Lord’s decreed will.

Questions to consider:

1. In what way did Abraham’s servant continue to show faithfulness to Abraham and the Lord through this mission?  How did he show this was his primary concern?
2. How did the servant convey what he believed to be true of Rebekah in verse 49?  What was his proposal there and what was he going to do if they rejected it?
3. Why couldn’t Bethuel and Laban speak “either bad or good” when it came to being aware of what God was doing?  In what ways do we sometimes get caught up in rating God’s actions (As if we were responsible to approve or disapprove of them)?  What is the right thing to do when we see what God is doing?

Today’s passage: Genesis 24:1-28

Helpful thoughts:

• The servant’s journey would have taken about three weeks (And three additional weeks to return).  This was quite a task!
• When the servant put his hand under Abraham’s thigh, he was committing his submission to Abraham’s wishes.  He was making an oath to follow through with the plan as long as the Lord would provide the right woman.
• The way Abraham’s servant discerned whether the Lord would help him find a wife for Isaac is descriptive rather than prescriptive.  We should not read this passage and then set up similar tests to go find spouses for our children!  The completed scriptures give us everything we need to know to follow the Lord obediently (2 Timothy 3:16-17, 2 Peter 1:3).
  • God wanted Abraham’s descendants to marry others who would also worship the Lord.  To marry someone who worships other gods (Or worships no god at all) would draw them away from Him (Deuteronomy 7:3-4, 2 Corinthians 6:14, The end of 1 Corinthians 7:39).

Questions to consider:

1. Why would this servant have been so compelled to ask God for these conditions in his prayer?  Did he know the area or the people among whom he was looking?  Did he know what/who he was looking for?  Even though we wouldn’t encourage this kind of searching for God’s will today, why can we empathize with the servant’s prayer?  What did God graciously do with it?
2. It’s really hard to imagine this kind of thing happening in our culture in the 21st century!  But, how would you have felt if you were Rebekah in this moment?  What did she know so far?  Why do you think she ran to tell her family?
3. How can Abraham’s willingness to go to such lengths to find the right kind of wife for Isaac encourage a person hoping to find a spouse today?  How important is it to have a spouse who loves the Lord and follows Christ the same way you do?

Today’s passage: Genesis 23:1-20

Helpful thoughts:

• Two major events occur in this chapter:
  • First, the death of Sarah at the age of 127.
  • Second, the first piece of land that is officially owned by Abraham.  Abraham and his descendants now have a claim to a piece of land in Canaan.
• Abraham made the purchase at the city gate before the elders as was the custom for official business.
  • Abraham asked all the elders first before addressing Ephron.  This gave the leadership of the area the ability to show their approval of the idea of Abraham (A foreigner) to become a land own among them.
  • Ephron and Abraham exchanged great pleasantries, but they were doing business as usual.  Ephron, in offering to give the land to Abraham, also informed Abraham what the lands value was before the elders.  He named his price and Abraham paid it.t
  • Had Abraham accepted the land as a gift, his claim to the land could have been in question.  The purchase made it incontrovertible.

Questions to consider:

1. What seemed to be Abraham’s reputation among the people of Hebron?  What did they call this nomadic wealthy man who often camped near their city?
2. Why might these details be given in the book of Genesis?  Why is it important that Abraham made a legal purchase of land?  Through this purchase, what process has begun?
3. In what way was God beginning to fulfill His promises?  How would this cave continue to be a picture of what Israel would one day become to those who believed the promises of God (Genesis 49:28-33)?

Today’s passage: Genesis 22:1-24

Helpful thoughts:

• At this point in his life, Abraham’s faith is ready to be tested.  This passage is the climax of Abraham’s journey of faith.
  • Abraham’s journey takes him and Isaac to the place where Solomon’s Temple would later be built, Mt. Moriah in Jerusalem (“The mount of the Lord” – Verse 14).
• God provided a substitute for this offering and sacrifice.  Our God is the Lord who provides.
  • Jesus Christ was provided as our substitute, dying on the cross and taking the wrath we deserve for our own sins on Himself.
• The minor genealogy at the end of the chapter indicates Abraham’s narrative is coming to a close.  It also gives the reader insight into what is coming next (Isaac and Rebekah).

Questions to consider:

1. Earlier in Abraham’s life, God knew of his faith and counted righteousness to him.  Now Abraham has shown his faith by his works/obedience.  How does James 2:21-23 use this passage to illustrate the way our actions demonstrate our faith?
2. God’s promises to Abraham had been unconditional (Chapter 15), but in verses 15-19 it sounds like God is crediting Abraham for bringing the blessings of God on his own life.  How might Ephesians 2:8-10 speak to this idea?  When we are rewarded in heaven, to whom will all the praise belong?
3. In what way can Abraham’s willingness to sacrifice his son picture God the Father?  In what way does the ram caught in the thicket picture Jesus Christ?

Today’s passage: Genesis 21:22-34

Helpful thoughts:

• After Abimelech had some time to think about what transpired in chapter 20, he decided to get things further settled with Abraham.
  • The men made a covenant to deal kindly with each other (And posterity) and to be honest.
• The name Beersheba means either “Well of the seven” or “Well of the covenant.”  Both names would make sense given the content of this passage.
• The Philistines had not become established in the region at the time of this event.  The book of Genesis was written in such a way for the original readers to understand where Abimelech had gone.

Questions to consider:

1. Why did Abimelech want to make Abraham swear to not deal falsely with him?  What did Abraham do that brought that about?  What can we learn about the consequences of our actions (And how God can graciously use things for good) through this account?
2. To whom did Abimelech attribute Abraham’s success?  How did Abimelech know this?  Why is it right for all of us to be praising the Lord for the good things we have?
3. What did Abraham call God in verse 33?  How would this name have been an encouragement to him at that time?  How does this attribute of God encourage us still today (And forever!)?