Image Credit:  Free Bible Images

In Genesis 25, we learned how Esau traded his birthright to Jacob in exchange for a bowl of soup.  Now, we are going learn how Jacob takes Esau's blessing before his father's death.  We will find this story in Genesis 27.  

Jacob Takes Esau's Blessing

Isaac is now an old man whose eyes have grown weak so that he can no longer see.  Isaac believes he will not live much longer so he calls his oldest son, Esau, to him so that he can give Esau his blessing.  Isaac instructs Esau to go hunting to bring back food to prepare it the way he likes it.  Then when he has eaten the food he likes, he will give Esau his blessing.

Image Credit:  Free Bible Images

Rebekah, upon hearing the conversation between Isaac and Esau, waits for Esau to leave for the hunt.  Then she tells Jacob about the conversation.  She send Jacob after two goats so that she can prepare a meal as Isaac likes it.  She tells Jacob to take the food she cooks to Esau before Esau returns so that Isaac will offer Jacob the blessing instead.

Image Credit:  Free Bible Images

Jacob brings up the obvious differences between the two brothers.  Esau is a hairy man while Jacob has smooth skin.  He knows that if Isaac touches him, his father will know that he is Jacob and not Esau.  This would bring a curse on him rather than a blessing.

Rebekah tells Jacob to let the curse fall on her.  He is to do what she tells him.

Jacob brings back the goats.  Rebekah cooks the meat the way Isaac likes it.  Then she takes Esau's best clothes and gives them to Jacob to wear.  She covers Jacob's hands and his neck with goat skins so that he will appear as if he is Esau.

Jacob takes the food Rebekah has cooked to his father, Isaac.  He tells his father that he is Esau.  He tells Issac that he has brought him the food he asked for.  He tells Issac to eat the food and then to give him his father's blessing.

Image Credit:  Free Bible Images

Isaac wants to know how he found the food and cooked it so quickly.  Jacob tells him that God provided it.

Isaac asked Jacob to come closer so that he can touch him to make sure he is actually Esau.  Isaac notices that Jacob's hands are hairy like Esau but he hears the voice of Jacob. 

Isaac obviously has his doubts but he asks, "Are you really my son, Esau?"

Jacob lies again with is response, "I am."

NASB Life Application Study Bible

Get your copy of the NASB Life Application Study Bible here.

In spite of Isaac's doubts, Jacob manages to successfully trick his father into believing he is Esau.  Isaac asks Jacob to bring him the food so that he may eat it and then give his blessing.  After eating, Isaac asked Jacob to come kiss him.  When Jacob kisses his father, his father smells Esau's clothing so he offers Jacob the blessing that would have been Esau's blessing.

"Ah, the smell of my son is like the smell of a field that the Lord has blessed.  

May God give you Heaven's due and earth's richness and abundance of grain and new wine.  

May nations serve you and peoples bow down to you.  

Be lord over your brothers and may the sons of your mother bow down to you.  

May those who curse you be cursed and those who bless you be blessed."

When Isaac finishes his blessing, Jacob barely has time to leave when Esau comes in.  Esau had prepared food for Isaac as he had been asked to do and brought it to his father.  Like his brother had just done, Esau asks Isaac to sit up and eat the food he has prepared for him so that he will then offer his blessing.

Image Credit:  Free Bible Images

Isaac asks, "Who are you?"

Esau tells Isaac that he is his son, Esau.

In Genesis 27:33, we are told that Isaac trembled violently asking, "Who was it then that hunted game and brought it to me.  I ate it just before you came and I blessed him - and indeed he will be blessed."

Esau does not take the news well.  He cries for Isaac to bless him as well.  Isaac tells Esau that his brother, Jacob, had come in and deceitfully taken Esau's blessing. Esau tells Isaac that this is the second time Jacob has taken advantage of him.  He first took Esau's birthright and now he has taken Esau's blessing.  Esau again asks Issac if there is any blessing he has reserved for him?

Isaac tells Esau about the blessing he had unknowingly given to his bother, Jacob.

I have made him lord over you and have made all his relatives his servants, and I have sustained him with grain and new wine.  So what can I possibly do for you, my son?

Genesis 12-33 The Father of Israel

Get your copy of Genesis 12-33 The Father of Israel by John MacArthur here.

Esau cries aloud, "Do you have only one blessing, my father? Bless me too!"

Isaac answers:

Your dwelling will be away from the earth's richness, away from the dew of Heaven above.  

You will live by the sword and you will serve your brother.

But when you grow restless, you will throw his yolk from off your back. 

Esau holds a grudge against Jacob.  He plans to kill Jacob after Isaac dies.  

Someone tells Rebekah what Esau had said.  Rebekah sends Jacob to her brother, Laban.  She tells Jacob to stay there until Esau is no longer angry.  She tells Jacob that she will send for him when it is safe for him to come back.  Rebekah expresses to Jacob that she doesn't want to lose both of her sons in one day.

Rebekah tells Isaac that she is disgusted with Esau's Hittite wives.  She tells her husband that if her son, Jacob, takes a wife from the Hittite women, her life won't be worth living. 

Issac sends for Jacob, blesses him, and then tells him to go to his mother's father's land (where her brother, Laban, still lives.) He instructs Jacob to take a wife from his mother's brother's daughters.

Before sending Jacob on his way, he tells him:

"May God almighty bless you and make you fruitful and increase your numbers until you become a community of peoples.  May He give you and your descendants the blessing given to Abraham so that you make take possession of the land where you now reside as a foreigner, the land God gave to Abraham."

Esau somehow learns how his parents feel about his wives, that they displease Isaac and Rebekah so he goes to Ishmael (Isaac's half brother who was born to Hagar) and marries Mahalath, one of Ishmael's daughters.

You might be wondering, as I did, why Isaac did not somehow void his blessing to Jacob due to deception and give it to his older son, Esau.  You have to consider the culture of the times.  Also, these Old Testament men spoke from divine inspiration.  The Believer's Bible Commentary explains it this way.

When Esau returned and learned of the deception, he sought the blessing tearfully. But the blessing had been granted to Jacob and it couldn’t be retracted (Heb. 12:16, 17). However, Isaac did have a word for Esau, as follows:

Far from rich soil on earth shall you live, far from the dew of heaven on high; you shall live by the sword and serve your brother; but when you grow restive, his yoke you shall break (vv. 39, 40—Moffatt).

This suggests that the Edomites would live in desert places, would be warriors, would be subject to the Israelites, but would one day rebel against this rule. This latter prophecy was fulfilled in the reign of Joram, King of Judah (2 Kgs. 8:20–22). - Believer's Bible Commentary

Life Lesson From This Story:  Deception results in heartache.

Rebekah and Jacob's deception resulted heartache.

*Jacob's brother sought to kill him.

*Jacob had to leave his home and his parents to escape Esau's threat.

*Rebekah had to send her son (her favorite) away.

*Isaac trembled violently because his son had deceived him.

Teach the Kids

The best way to teach your children Biblical history is to read the stories to them straight from the Bible.  Make sure your kids know that these "stories" are not just stories like many other books they might read.  Be sure they know that these stories are actual events in Biblical history.

The Adventure Bible for Kids

Get your child a copy of The Adventure Bible for Kids here.

In addition to reading the Bible, your kids can do the following activities to enhance their learning experience. 

Cathy's Corner:  Jacob and Esau from Bible Fun for Kids

Activities for a Lesson On Jacob and Esau from Classroom

PIN ME!

Jacob Takes Esau's Blessing

Isaac and the Wells: The Oath of Peace

Image Credit - Public Domain Image via Wikimedia Commons

Isaac and the Wells

In Genesis 26, we are introduced to the story of Isaac and the wells, which leads up to his oath of peace between himself and Abimelek.  

The story opens with news of famine in the land, another famine besides the one during Abraham's time. Due to the famine, Isaac travels toward Gerar, which is present-day south-central Israel. God appears to Isaac to tell him not to travel to Egypt. God instructs Isaac to live in the land where God tells him to live. God always keeps his promises. Here, He reminds Isaac of the oath He had sworn to his father, Abraham.

Do not go down to Egypt.  Live in the land where I tell you to live. Stay in this land for a while and I will be with you and will bless you.  For to you and your descendants I will give all these lands and will confirm the oath I swore to your father, Abraham.  I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and will give them all these lands, and through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed, because Abraham obeyed me and did everything I required of him, keeping My commands, my decrees, and my instructions.  So Isaac stayed in Gerar. - Genesis 26:2-6

While there, Isaac tells Abimelek the same lie his father, Abraham, had told. Just as Abraham had told Abimelek that Sarah was his sister, Isaac tells Abimelek that Rebekah is his sister, not his wife. Isaac is afraid the men in the area will kill him for Rebekah because Rebekah is so beautiful. As with Abraham, Abimelek realizes that Isaac has lied. Abimelek goes to Isaac with the same concern that he encountered with Abraham.  

"What is this you have done to us?  One of the men might well have slept with your wife and you would have brought guilt upon us." - Genesis 26:10

Isaac explains that he lied because he was afraid for his life because of Rebekah's beauty.  Abimelek orders his people to not harm Isaac or Rebekah.  Anyone who harms either of them will be put to death.

Isaac stays and plants crops. God blesses Isaac so that he reaps 100 times what he had planted. Isaac becomes wealthy with many flocks, herds, and servants. The Philistines grow jealous of Isaac and send him away. Abimelek tells Isaac that he has become too powerful for them.

Isaac doesn't fight the situation.  He moves, but he doesn't go far.  He remains in the Valley of Gerar.  After Abraham died, the Philistines stopped up the wells that Abraham had dug there, so Isaac unstopped them and renamed them the same names that his father, Abraham, had named them.

Isaac's servants dig as well and discover a well of fresh water, but the herders in Gerar fight for the well, claiming that it belongs to them.

Isaac's servants dig another well, but the herders in Gerar claim that well also.

Isaac's servants dig a third well.  This time, the herders in Gerar leave him alone.  Isaac names the third well, Rehoboth, saying that the Lord has given them room so they will now flourish in the land.

From Gerar, Isaac goes to Beersheba.  The Lord appears to Isaac and says:

I Am the God of your father, Abraham.  Do not be afraid for I am with you.  I will bless you and will increase the number of your descendants for the sake of My servant, Abraham. - Genesis 26:24

Isaac does as his father, Abraham, had done.  He builds an altar and calls on the name of the Lord.  He pitches a tent there and his servants dig another well.

Now, Abimelek comes to Isaac along with Ahuzzath, Abimelek's personal advisor, and Phicol, the commander of Abimelek's forces.  

Isaac asks them why they have come to him since they had sent him away.

They tell Isaac that they clearly see that the Lord is with Isaac, so they want to make an oath of peace with Isaac.  

Isaac prepares a feast for them. Early the next morning, they swear an oath of peace, and Abimelek and his men go away in peace.

Isaac's servants report to them that the fourth well is a success.  They found water.

Teach the Kids

Here is a short video that is great for teaching this story to kids.

 

What lessons do we learn from Genesis 26?

1.  God always keeps his promises.  

2.  God blesses obedience and faithfulness.

3.  It is a good thing if we can settle our differences peacefully.

PIN ME!

Isaac and the Wells

Image Credit:  FreeBibleImages.org

In Genesis 24, Abraham requires his top servant to make an oath that he will bring Isaac a wife from Abraham's native land.  Isaac was not to take a wife from Canaan.  Abraham wanted a wife for Isaac who worshipped God.  This oath is a serious oath so Abraham's servant asks what he should do if no woman agrees to come back with him.  He asks Abraham if, in that case, he should take Isaac back to Abraham's homeland.  Abraham's response reflected his great faith in God who always keeps His promises.  His response also reflected his character as a fair man when dealing with others.

Image Credit:  FreeBibleImages.org

Beware that you do not take my son back there!  The Lord, the God of Heaven who took me from my father's house and from the land of my birth, and who spoke to me, and who swore to me saying, "To your descendants I will give this land," He will send His angel ahead of you, and you will take a wife for my son from there.  But if the woman is not willing to follow you, then you will be free of this oath of mine, only do not take my son back there. - Genesis 24:6-8

Isaac Gets a Wife

Abraham's servant then takes ten camels and other good things and sets out for the land of Abraham's brother, Nahor.

Image Credit:  FreeBibleImages.org

At the time of day when the women of Nahor go out to draw water from the well, Abraham's servant had the camels lay down by the well just outside the city.  The servant prays the God will allow him success in finding a wife for Isaac.  So that he would know which woman to take back to Isaac, he made a plan as he prayed to God.

Image Credit:  FreeBibleImages.org

Behold, I am standing by the spring and the daughters of the men of the city are coming out to draw water; now may it be that the young woman to whom I say, "Please let down your jar so that I may drink; and who answers, "Drink, and I will water your camels also," - may she be the one whom You have appointed for Your servant Isaac; and by this I will know the You have shown kindness to my master. - Genesis 24:13-14

Before Abraham's servant could even finish praying, Rebekah shows up.  Rebekah is Nahor's granddaughter born to Bethuel, the son of Milcah and Nahor.  Rebekah comes out carrying her jar on her shoulder.  She fills her jar with water.  Abraham's servant asks her for a drink from her jar.  Rebekah gave him a drink and then offers to give his camels water as well.  

Image Credit:  FreeBibleImages.org

Abraham's servant is careful.  He watches her closely to make sure this woman, Rebekah, is God's chosen wife for Isaac.  

This servant sure didn't want to mess this up!

When the camels finish drinking, the servant gives Rebekah jewelry.  He asks her who her father is and whether or not her family has room enough for him to spend the night with her family.  She tells him who her family is and offers the servant a place to stay with her family for the night.

The servant, realizing Rebekah is the woman God has chosen for Isaac, prays a prayer of gratitude.

Blessed by the Lord, the God of my master Abraham, who has not abandoned His kindness and His trustworthiness toward my master; as for me, the Lord has guided me in the way to the house of my master's brothers. - Genesis 24:27

Rebekah runs to tell her family what the servant has told her.  Rebekah's brother, Laban, welcomes the servant into the house.  Laban shows great hospitality to the servant, preparing him and his camels for the night and bringing him food.  The servant tells Rebekah's bother, Laban, that he will not eat until he says what he needs to say.  Laban prompts the servant to speak what he needs to speak.

Image Credit:  FreeBibleImages.org

Abraham's servant tells the whole story, starting from the oath he made with Abraham, the plan he made by the well so he would know which woman was the woman God has chosen for Isaac, and how Rebekah fulfilled that plan.  The servant gives all the details to Rebekah's family.

When the servant finishes his story, Rebekah's father and brothers basically say - "This is obviously from God so we can't argue with you.  Here is Rebekah.  Take her!" 

Then Laban and Bethuel replied, "The matter has come from the Lord; so we cannot speak to you bad or good.  Here is Rebekah before you, take her and go, and let her be the wife of your master's son, as the Lord has spoken." - Genesis 24:50-51

The servant gives Rebekah and her family precious valuable gifts.  The next morning, the servant requests to leave with Rebekah to return to Abraham and Isaac.  Rebekah's family requests that she stay a little longer, perhaps 10 days, but the servant insists that they leave immediately.  Rebekah's family checks with Rebekah again to see if she still agrees to go with the servant.  Rebekah says she will go.  

Rebekah leaves with the servant taking her nurse and other female attendants.  She also leaves with her family's blessing.

Image Credit:  FreeBibleImages.org

By Genesis 24:62, the servant is returning with Rebekah.  Isaac had gone out to meditate in a field when he saw the camels.  Rebekah sees the man, dismounts from her camel, and asks the servant who the man is.  The servant explains that the man she sees is his mister, Isaac.  Rebekah covers herself with her veil.

The servant tells Isaac all that had happened.  Isaac takes Rebekah into his mother's tent and marries her.  Genesis 24:67 tells us that Isaac loved Rebekah and he was comforted after his mother's death.

Image Credit:  FreeBibleImages.org

Then Isaac brought her into his mother Sarah's tent, and he took Rebekah, and she became his wife, and he loved her; so Isaac was comforted after his mother's death. - Genesis 24:67

Teach the Kids

It is important to teach our children Biblical truths from the Bible as early as possible.  Here is a list of resources for teaching the story of Isaac and Rebekah to your children.

Issac Gets a Wife Coloring Flip Book by ME.  :).  I just created a cute little flip book for your kids to color, bind together, and read.  

Isaac Gets a Wife Coloring Flip Book for Young Children

This flip book is a condensed version of the Bible story for younger children so be sure to read the actual historical account with your child.  You'll find it in Genesis 24.  As your child colors the pages, talk to him or her about the story and remind your child that God promised Abraham many children and grandchildren.  God chose Rebekah as a wife for Isaac because God always keeps His promises.  

Your child can ALWAYS trust God and His Word.

Download a copy of Isaac Gets a Wife for your child here.

More Ways to Teach Your Kids the Story of How Rebekah Became Isaac's Wife

Isaac and Rebekah Coloring Pages from Best Coloring Pages for Kids

Genesis:  Isaac and Rebekah from Bible Fun for Kids

Isaac and Rebekah Kids Bible Lesson from Share Faith 

A Bride for Isaac:  A Free Bible Lesson Outline for Kids from Bible Baton

Rebekah:  A Toddler Devotion Practicing Pouring Skills from Baby Devotions

A Wife for Isaac from Bible Wise

This Isaac and Rebekah Bible story book is available here.

This post is part of my Coloring Through Genesis Series featuring my Beautiful Word Coloring Bible.  You'll find all the posts in this series here.

PIN ME! 

Image Credit:  FreeBibleImages.org

Abraham's Great Test of Faith: The Story of Abraham and Isaac

Image Credit:  FreeBibleImages.org

As I mentioned in a previous post, Abraham is one of my favorite people from Biblical history.  He wasn't perfect as we have already established, but he was faithful.  He was faithful and obedient whenever God told him to do something.  In the book of Genesis, between the story of the birth of Isaac, Hagar's and Ishmael's banishment, and Abraham's great test of faith, there is a small passage about a covenant between Abraham and Abimelek.  Let me briefly cover that and then we'll move forward to Abraham's great test of faith.

Abimelek and Phicol (Abimelek's army commander), speak to Abraham.  They tell Abraham that the know God is with him in all that he does.  Abimelek wants Abraham to promise that he will not deal falsely with him or his children.  Abimelek tells Abraham that he has been kind to him so in return he wants Abraham to show him the land where Abraham lives.  Abraham says he will promise that but then he brings up a matter to Abimelek concerning a water well.  Abimelek's servants had seized a water well that belonged to Abraham.  Abimelek tells Abraham that he didn't know this had happened.  The two men settle up in a covenant of friendship.

So Abraham took sheep and oxen and gave them to Abimelech, and the two of them made a covenant. But Abraham set seven ewe lambs of the flock by themselves. Then Abimelech said to Abraham, “What do these seven ewe lambs mean, which you have set by themselves?”  He said, “You shall take these seven ewe lambs from my hand so that it may be a witness for me, that I dug this well.” Therefore he called that place Beersheba, because there the two of them took an oath.  So they made a covenant at Beersheba; and Abimelech and Phicol, the commander of his army, got up and returned to the land of the Philistines.  Abraham planted a tamarisk tree at Beersheba, and there he called on the name of the Lord, the Everlasting God.  And Abraham resided in the land of the Philistines for many days. - Genesis 21:27-34

One thing we can learn from the scripture passage about the covenant between Abraham and Abimelek is that Abraham was not only faithful and obedient to God, but he was also a man that dealt fairly with others.  Look at the highlighted verse above.  Abraham "called on the name of the Lord, the Everlasting God."  Calling on the name of the Lord was something Abraham did often. 

Abraham's Great Test of Faith

If you grew up in church, the next passage of the Bible will be familiar to you.  In Genesis 22, God asks Abraham to do something that reaches far beyond my ability to even begin to imagine.

Image Credit:  FreeBibleImages.org

Now it came about after these things, that God tested Abraham, and said to him, “Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” Then He said, “Take now your son, your only son, whom you love, Isaac, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I will tell you." - Genesis 22:1-2

Can you imagine?  Abraham waited so long for God to give him a son.  He was 100 years old when Isaac was born.  Now that God has given him a son, He is asking him to offer his beloved son up as a sacrifice?  What?

But the story goes on . . .

Image Credit:  FreeBibleImages.org

True to Abraham's nature, he wasted to time.  As was his custom, Abraham obeyed.  He gets up early the next morning, saddles his donkey, takes two of his men and Isaac, splits the wood, and sets out for the place where God told him to go.

After three days of travel, Abraham can see the land of Moriah in the distance.

On the third day Abraham raised his eyes and saw the place from a distance. Then Abraham said to his young men, “Stay here with the donkey, and I and the boy will go over there; and we will worship and return to you.” - Genesis 22:4-5

There is a word in this verse that I had not thought about until it was recently brought to my attention.  The word "we."  Abraham told his men that "WE," meaning he and Isaac, would return to them.  Some scholars say (and I believe is true considering what we know about Abraham's faith) that Abraham believed that God would provide a different sacrifice.  After all, God had promised Abraham the blessing of descendants too numerous to count.  How could God follow through with this promise to Abraham if he slayed Isaac who had not yet married and had not yet fathered any children?  Abraham had to have believed that God would either provide a different sacrifice or He would raise Isaac from the dead.  

I love the following explanation from the Believer's Bible Commentary.

Perhaps no scene in the Bible except Calvary itself is more poignant than this one, and none gives a clearer foreshadowing of the death of God’s only, well-beloved Son on the cross. The supreme test of Abraham’s faith came when God ordered him to offer up Isaac as a burnt offering in the land of Moriah. Actually God had no intention of allowing Abraham to go through with it; He has always been opposed to human sacrifice. Moriah is the mountain range where Jerusalem is situated (2 Chron. 3:1) and also where Calvary stood. God’s words, “your only son Isaac, whom you love,”must have pierced Abraham’s heart like ever-deepening wounds. Isaac was Abraham’s only son in the sense that he was the only son of promise—the unique son, the son of miraculous birth.

The first occurrence of a word in the Bible often sets the pattern for its usage throughout Scripture. “Love” (v. 2) and “worship” (v. 5) are first found here. Abraham’s love for his son is a faint picture of God’s love for the Lord Jesus. The sacrifice of Isaac was a picture of the greatest act of worship—the Savior’s self-sacrifice to accomplish the will of God.

While Abraham and Issac walk together, Isaac asks a question.

Image Credit:  FreeBibleImages.org

And Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and laid it on his son Isaac, and he took in his hand the fire and the knife. So the two of them walked on together. Isaac spoke to his father Abraham and said, “My father!” And he said, “Here I am, my son.” And he said, “Look, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?” Abraham said, “God will provide for Himself the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.” So the two of them walked on together.

Look at the highlighted verse above.  Abraham told Isaac that God would provide for Himself the lamb.  Abraham believed in God's faithfulness to him.  He knew God would somehow keep His promise to him that through Isaac, Abraham's promised descendants would be born.  Even still, Abraham was prepared to follow through with God's order.  Just as he is about to end Isaac's life, the angel of the Lord calls out.

But the angel of the Lord called to him from heaven and said, “Abraham, Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am."  He said, “Do not reach out your hand against the boy, and do not do anything to him; for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from Me.” Then Abraham raised his eyes and looked, and behold, behind him was a ram caught in the thicket by its horns; and Abraham went and took the ram and offered it up as a burnt offering in the place of his son. And Abraham named that place The Lord Will Provide, as it is said to this day, “On the mountain of the Lord it will be provided.” - Genesis 22:12-14

Image Credit:  FreeBibleImages.org

 

God is faithful!  He was faithful to Abraham.  Abraham remained faithful and obedient to God.  God spared Isaac's life and provided a ram for the burnt offering.  God had more to say to Abraham.

Then the angel of the Lord called to Abraham a second time from heaven,  and said, “By Myself I have sworn, declares the Lord, because you have done this thing and have not withheld your son, your only son, indeed I will greatly bless you, and I will greatly multiply your seed as the stars of the heavens and as the sand, which is on the seashore; and your seed shall possess the gate of their enemies. And in your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice.” So Abraham returned to his young men, and they got up and went together to Beersheba; and Abraham lived in Beersheba. - Genesis 22:15-19

Something else to consider here is Isaac's age.  I had always pictured Isaac as a young boy, perhaps between the ages of 10 and 12, but someone recently brought to my attention that Isaac was much older.  He could have been as old as his late 20s.  Considering that Abraham was already 100 years old when Isaac was born, Isaac would have been much stronger than Abraham.  Isaac must have been a willing sacrifice just as Jesus was a willing sacrifice.  Also notice that it was Isaac who carried the wood just as Jesus carried his cross. 

God is faithful!

God provides!

Teach the Children

This children's Bible is available here.

Check out the following suggestions for teaching this story to your children.

Abraham Prepares to Sacrifice Isaac by Mission Bible Class

Abraham and Isaac by Trueway Kids

The Sacrifice of Isaac Coloring Page by Donuts and Devos

Abraham and Isaac Bible Lesson with Crafts and Activities from 123Homeschool4Me

Abraham Was Tested by Sunday school Zone

*** Parallels of Abraham and Isaac with Christ from Purpose Driven Motherhood  (Pay close attention to this one.  The story of Abraham's test of faith is more than a popular Bible story.  It's a historical event that beautifully foreshadows the sacrifice of Jesus in the New Testament.)

This post is part of my Coloring Through Genesis Series featuring the Beautiful Word Coloring Bible.  I love it.  You can get yours here.

The Beautiful Word Coloring Bible

PIN ME!

Image Credit:  FreeBibleImages.org

 

Do you ever question God's will for you life?  Do you wonder what His plan for you might be?  Are you doing what He has called you to do?  Are you questioning that He has a plan for you at all?  Do  you feel hopeless when it comes to knowing God's plan for you?  Friend, we can be hopeful in God's will for us.  God has a plan for our lives.

For I know the plans that I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope. - Jeremiah 29:11

Image Credit - Yolanda - CCO Public Domain Image - via Pixabay

The following are my notes taken during my pastor's sermon.

Hopeful in God's Will

First, God is the source of our hope. 

Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you will abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. - Romans 15:13

Our focal scripture passage is Genesis, chapter 24.  At this time, Abraham is about 104 years old.  Issac is about 40 years old and is unmarried.  YET, God promised a plan.

This is a beautiful story about how God provided a wife for Isaac, but the principles learned throughout the story can be applied to any other situation when you doubt God's plan for our life. 

It was he to whom it was said, "In Isaac your descendants shall be called. - Hebrews 11:18

Regarding Genesis 24, we find in verses 1-4 that Abraham did not want a wife for Isaac who would turn his heart away from God.

Now Abraham was old, advanced in age; and the Lord had blessed Abraham in every way.  Abraham said to his servant, the oldest of his household, who had charge of all that he owned, “Please place your hand under my thigh, and I will make you swear by the Lord, the God of Heaven and the God of earth, that you shall not take a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I live, but you will go to my country and to my relatives, and take a wife for my son Isaac.” - Genesis 24:1-4

In verses 5-9, God instructed them not to leave the land He had given them.  If Isaac chose to leave the land, it would cause the people to believe that God would not keep His promise.

God's will - His plan - is perfect.  We have to trust him.

Yet, with respect to the promise of God, he did not waver in unbelief but grew strong in faith, giving glory to God, and being fully assured that what God had promised, He was able also to perform. - Romans 4:20-21

 In verses 10-11, Abraham's servant traveled 500 miles on a camel train.  A camel train consisted of about 10 camels.  They traveled for approximately 20 days, maybe more.

Then the servant took ten camels from the camels of his master, and set out with a variety of good things of his master’s in his hand; and he arose and went to Mesopotamia, to the city of Nahor.  He made the camels kneel down outside the city by the well of water at evening time, the time when women go out to draw water. - Genesis 24:10-11

 Now, here is a very important part.  Upon arrival into the city, Abraham's servant prayed.

He said, “O Lord, the God of my master Abraham, please grant me success today, and show lovingkindness to my master Abraham. Behold, I am standing by the spring, and the daughters of the men of the city are coming out to draw water; now may it be that the girl to whom I say, ‘Please let down your jar so that I may drink,’ and who answers, ‘Drink, and I will water your camels also’— may she be the one whom You have appointed for Your servant Isaac; and by this I will know that You have shown lovingkindness to my master.” - Genesis 24:12-14