Skip to content Genesis 20-22: God's Faithfulness Amidst Human Flaws Jan 8 · 14 min ...more
Genesis 20-22: God's Faithfulness Amidst Human Flaws
January 8, 2026 · 14 min
Explore Genesis 20-22, emphasizing God's unwavering promise to Abraham despite human failures.
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Abraham's Fear and God's Protective Intervention 0:09 Good morning, and welcome to stand on the word as we continue our journey looking today at Genesis chapters 20 through 22. Verse 18 of chapter 22. In your seed, all the nations of the earth0:21 shall be blessed because you have obeyed my voice, God's promise to Abraham. Our 3 chapters today cover a period of roughly 25 years beginning of with what appears to be0:33 deja vu. Look at verse 2 of chapter 20. Now Abraham said of Sarah his wife, she is my sister. And Abimelech king of Gerar, took, sent and took Sarah.0:45 Now remember, this was identical to what had occurred 25 years prior when Sarah was 65 years old. Verse 3 chapter 20. But God came to Abimelech in a dream by night and said to him, indeed,0:57 you are a dead man because of the woman whom you have taken, for she is a man's wife. But Abimelech had not come near her and and said, Lord, will you slay a righteous nation also?1:09 Did he not say to me, she is my sister? And she, even she herself said, he is my brother. In the integrity of my heart and innocence of my hand hands, I have done this.1:22 What did Abraham not learn the first time? Now this reveals something in Abraham that must be addressed before he can see the promises of God fulfilled1:34 in his life. And by the way, this is something we're gonna see that really is is passed down from generation to generation. Verse 10. Then Abimelech said to Abraham, what did1:46 you have in view that you have done this thing? And Abraham said, because I thought surely the fear of God is not in this place, and they will kill me on account of my wife. But indeed, she is truly my sister. She is1:58 the daughter of my father, but not the daughter of my mother, and she became my wife. And every time I read this, I think of that that old song, I am my own grandpa. That's a classic dating back to the2:10 19 forties. But, anyway, on a more serious note, we see that Abimelech, who was not a follower of God, as far as we know, had a greater reverence for God2:22 than Abraham. Abraham was operating out of fear of man and what man might do to him rather than a reverence for God and what God had done for him.2:34 Alright. This is the second occurrence where those not associated with God, the God of the Bible that we know of, saw adultery as a problem. Alright? First in Egypt, now2:46 here. Why? Because it is contrary to the moral law of God that is written on the hearts of people. Now this should be seen as a warning when a society has suppressed this universal2:58 moral code that is written on the hearts of man, because it reflects the days of Noah, which Jesus said would be like it was like it was like it would be when he returned.3:10 You know, God had called Abraham out to be separate 25 years before, and he had blessed him and given him a promise, but fear, which cancels out our faith, was keeping him3:22 from the promise. Now this encounter with Abimelech and God's intervention on Abraham's behalf for the purpose of the promise. Alright? It was because God had a promise. He had3:34 a plan, and he was gonna fulfill it. This appears to have been a turning point for Abraham. Now chapter 21 is the child of promise. Look at verse 1. And the Lord visited Sarah, andThe Promise Fulfilled: Isaac's Birth and Family Division 3:46 he's as he had said, and the Lord did for Sarah as he had spoken. For Sarah conceived and bore Abraham a son in his old age at the set time of which God had spoken to him.3:58 And Abraham called the name of his son who was born to him, whom Sarah bore to him, Isaac. Then Abraham circumcised his son Isaac when he was 8 days old, as God had commanded him. Now4:10 Abraham was 100 years old when his son Isaac was born to him. And Sarah said, God has made me laugh, and all who hear will laugh with me.4:21 Isaac is, is a type of Christ pointing to the Messiah coming from the line of Abraham. He was the son of promise, and and this, you know, the Messiah came about 2100 years later, and4:33 and we're gonna actually see the parallel in the next chapter. But first, there's a division in the home. Alright? Verse 9. And Sarah saw the son of Hagar, the Egyptian, whom she had born to Abraham, scoffing.4:45 Therefore, she said to Abraham, cast out this bondwoman and her son, for the son of this bondwoman shall not be heir with my son, namely with Isaac. This is a difficult situation. Alright. Look4:57 at verse 11. And the matter was very displeasing or literally distressing to Abraham, in Abraham's sight because of his son. But God said to Abraham, do not let it be displeasing or distressing in5:09 your sight because of the lad or because of your bondwoman. Whatever Sarah has said to you, listen to her voice, for in Isaac your seed shall be called. Listen to her voice for in Isaac your seed shall be called. Again,5:19 we see the the types in what these point to. Ishmael, which was the result of Abraham's effort to fulfill the promise, represented5:31 the flesh. Isaac was the miraculous provision of God. Man cannot do this. We can't earn it. We can't work to obtain the promise. The promise comes by the grace of5:43 God. It is miraculous. Now here's something to note. God repeatedly now I wanna point this out because I think it's very important, especially what we see happening in the world today or what's been happening, continues5:53 to happen in the Middle East. God repeatedly provides for Hagar and Ishmael and promises to make a great nation out of him. Look at verse 13. Yet I will6:05 also make a nation of the son of the bondwoman because he is your seed. Right? He was Abraham's son, and I can imagine the distress that Abraham had. He loved this6:17 child and having to send him out. Well, if Abraham loved him, so did god. Now this has been a source of great conflict for millennia, but it remains a visible reminder of the consequences of6:29 man's way versus God's way. But, again, don't miss God's promise to the descendants of Ishmael. God loves them. And we see even today6:41 God pouring out his spirit on them, freeing them from the bondage of Islam. Many Arabs, many of those in the Islamic faith out of that would be traced back to the seed of6:53 Ishmael are coming to Christ. Chapter 21 is a remarkable chapter that foreshadows that, the the sin foreshadows God the father sending7:04 the son, Jesus, to be the sacrifice for the sins of all mankind, written by Moses some 1400 years before Jesus came to the earth. Alright. This stuff wasn't written7:16 after the fact to fill in the blanks. This was a prophetic foreshadowing of what god was going to be doing. Verse 1, chapter 22. Now it came to passThe Ultimate Test: Abraham's Obedience and God's Provision 7:28 after these things that god tested Abraham and said to him, Abraham. And he said, here I am. Always the right answer when god calls. Then he said, take now your son, your only son, Isaac,7:40 whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah and offer him there as a burnt offering on 1 of the mountains of which I shall tell you. Now the land of Moriah was a7:52 journey of 2 to 3 days requiring Abraham to complement, to contemplate this command of God, the whole way. I mean, thinking through this the whole way. Alright?8:05 Now this is also the mountain range of Jerusalem, the same area where Solomon later built the temple and where Jesus was crucified. Verse 3. So Abraham rose early in the8:17 morning and saddled his donkey and took 2 of his young men with him and Isaac his son, and he split the wood for the burnt offering and arose and went to the place of which God had told him. Now we've8:28 taken adequate note of Abraham's flaws, but look here at something that I think is is characteristic of Abraham and is to be, to, I think, serve as a8:40 model. He immediately obeys God. We've seen this before. God says go, and Abraham gets up and he goes. He called him out of the land of Er. He he told him to8:52 to go and sacrifice his son. He didn't sit there and and and contemplate, argue, did did I really hear from god? He acted. Then on the third day, Abraham lifted his eyes and saw the place afar off.9:04 And Abraham said to his young men, stay here with the donkey, the lad, and I will go yonder and worship, and we will come back to you. So Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on Isaac his son, and took9:16 the fire in his hand and a knife, and the 2 of them went together. Now notice who's carrying the wood, just as Jesus would later carry the cross. But Isaac spoke to Abraham,9:27 his father, said, my father, and he said, here I am, my son. Then he said, look, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for the burnt offering? And Abraham said, my son, God will provide for9:39 himself the lamb for a burnt offering. So the 2 of them went together. God will provide, which he did for both Abraham and for us.9:51 Verse 9, then they came to the place of which God had told him, and Abraham built an altar there and placed the wood in order, and he bound Isaac his son and laid him on the altar upon the wood. Now let me10:03 stop there and and point out another parallel that, may not be obvious. The Bible stories that we have heard about Abraham and Isaac should suggest that he is a small boy.10:15 Alright? Which is most likely not the case. Now some Jewish rabbis, say that Isaac was 37 years old. Now he could have been anywhere from his teens10:27 to late twenties, early thirties. I personally would not be surprised if he were 33 years old, old, the same age as Jesus when he died on the cross. But here's the point. He knew he was able to10:39 walk there, so he wasn't a little kid being carried. He was walking. He he was able to ask questions, have these conversations. So he was old enough to understand what was going on. But like10:51 Jesus, Isaac was obedient to the father and willing to obey. And I think that's an important point. Verse 10. And Abraham stretched out his hand and took the knife to slay a son, but the11:03 angel of the Lord called to him from heaven and said, Abraham, Abraham. And he said, here I am. And he said, do not lay your hand on the lad or do anything to him, for now I know that you fear God, since you11:15 have not withheld your son, your only son, from me. Then Abraham lifted up his eyes and he looked, and there behind him was a ram caught in a thicket by its horns. So Abraham went11:26 and he took the ram and offered it up for a burnt offering instead of his son. And Abraham called the name of the place, the Lord will provide. Now remember the mountain range11:38 here, Moriah, same place that Jesus would be later crucified. The Lord will provide as it is said to this day, in the mount of the Lord, it shall be provided. And the11:50 Lord has indeed provided. He provided Jesus Christ as the atonement for my sin and for yours. Verse 18, in your seat in your seat, talking to Abraham again,12:03 all the nations of the earth shall be blessed because you have obeyed my voice. Obedience to God brings a blessing to all. Father, we thank you for your12:15 word, and, Lord, grateful for it. Thankful for the Holy Spirit that is leading us on this journey and enlightening us and giving us understanding of the truth of your word. And I pray, Lord, that12:27 through that same holy spirit that we would be obedient as Abraham was, that when you spoke, he obeyed. May we obey, and may we walk with you, Lord, in in12:38 faith, trusting you with reverence, not a fear of man. So continue to guide us on this journey, Lord. Strengthen us this day to walk with you. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen.12:51 Alright. Thanks for joining me this morning. And let me encourage you to, still there's still time to invite someone else to join us on this journey. So just reach out to them, and they can go to f r c dot o r g slash13:03 bible, and all the information is right there. Alright. Have a great day, and until next time, keep standing on the word.13:12 Today's study comes from the stand on the word bible reading plan available for free at f r c dot o r g slash bible. By following along in just a few minutes a day, you13:24 can read through the entire bible in just 2 years. Learn more and request the free reading guide at frc dot org slash bible.In this video 0:00 Abraham's Fear and God's Protective Intervention3:40 The Promise Fulfilled: Isaac's Birth and Family Division7:22 The Ultimate Test: Abraham's Obedience and God's Provision
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