Tag: abraham

Abraham’s Advent Christmas Devotional by Lindsey Gallant

Lindsey Gallant has released her devotional Abraham’s Advent in ebook format for a token donation amount.

AbrahamsAdventCover
Click to find out more on Lindsey’s Red Letters Blog

I’m so excited to be announcing this devotional ebook and fundraiser for Preemptive Love Coalition!

Get your beautifully designed copy of the devotional Abraham’s Advent: A Stranger’s Journey to Bethlehem and Beyond. It is now available to download as a PDF or EPUB file for $2.99 (CDN).

This devotional is meant to be a humble companion as you journey through the Advent season. It follows the story of one man who learned to live within the promises of God. But it can be your story too, if you are willing to sit awhile by a Bethlehem fire.

Proceeds from this ebook are going to Preemptive Love Coalition and the amazing, life-changing work they are doing in Iraq and the Middle East. In places of darkness and desperation, they are healing hearts, waging peace, and loving anyway. Find out more here.

Find out more on Lindsey’s Red Letters Blog.

Happy Easter

So the LORD God said to the serpent [in the Garden of Eden], “Because you have done this, “Cursed are you above all the livestock and all the wild animals! And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.”

Continue reading “Happy Easter”

Genesis 22-25 (What’s it like to read the entire bible? How about we find out?)

“35 They built high places for Baal in the Valley of Ben Hinnom to sacrifice their sons and daughters to Molech, though I never commanded, nor did it enter my mind, that they should do such a detestable thing and so make Judah sin.” (Jeremiah 32:35)

Genesis 22

  • The Sacrifice of Isaac
    • The account raises so many questions. Why would God ask that? Would Abraham have followed through? How close was Abraham to following through when the angel interrupted him? Why does it seem Isaac didn’t put up a fight? Are all three actors in this story crazy? How far was far enough into the sacrifice to prove his faith to God? Would God really require human sacrifice? Maybe God would follow through with it in another time and place? What does it say about God’s character that He would think such a thing, let alone ask it?
    • It’s a powerful story and incredible with the fact that Abraham apparently would do as God asked. I can’t imagine going through with it if I were the one asked. Then again, it was a different time, place and culture. Perhaps the whole thinking pattern was different then.
    • Later on we’re going to see that God commands Israel to destroy nations for their consistently abhorrent cultures. One of the things God highlighted was child sacrifice, He says:
      • “35 They built high places for Baal in the Valley of Ben Hinnom to sacrifice their sons and daughters to Molech, though I never commanded, nor did it enter my mind, that they should do such a detestable thing and so make Judah sin.” (Jeremiah 32:35)
      • If it never entered His mind then why did he ask it here?
      • I think it’s safe to say He always was going to provide the sacrificial lamb.
      • …He always was going to provide Jesus.
        • “15 And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.” (Genesis 3:15)
        • I should’ve highlighted this at the time, but this is a foreshadowing of Jesus taking final victory over Satan.
        • I don’t know about you but it’s all these connections and internal references that make me look in awe at God’s Word.

Genesis 23

  • Sarah’s Burial
    • There’s tremendous detail here about Sarah’s burial which boils down to Abraham purchasing some land.
    • Be aware of tracts of text that provide whole bunches of detail for no apparent reason.
    • I’ve said it a few times already but text like this will be critical for constructing the truth out of some issue either in another verse or book or in our study of God’s Word today.

Genesis 24

  • A Wife for Isaac
    • A lovely little story about Abraham sending his servant to get a wife for his son.
    • All through the text it’s clear Abraham and his servant want God to provide the right wife. They don’t just want to find any wife.
    • Even better is when they do find the right girl and seeing how the girl responds.
    • Rebekah, Isaac’s wife to-be, presents herself admirably. Kind, willing to serve, decisive, modest.

Genesis 25

  • Abraham’s Other Wife and Sons
    • After Sarah’s death, Abraham takes a new wife and has more children.
    • He sends these children east, it is written, gives them many gifts.
    • But to Isaac, he gives everything of his own.
    • Abraham lives 175 years.