What is a church?

From the Greek word “Ecclesia,” we have arrived at the modern term “Church”

which indicates a meeting or gathering of people who religiously share common beliefs and interests. Some congregations comprise a number of people who are piously interested in being known for doing good works and righting social injustices. Some think of church in terms of a meeting place specifically  designated as a church building or perhaps an ornate cathedral. This is all very nice and commendable but it not related to God’s new covenant with mankind.

When the woman of Samaria met Jesus at the well the following conversation ensued - Our fathers worshiped on this mountain; and you say that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship.” Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. (John 4: 20-21)

For centuries the Jews who worship the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob have met and worshipped in the synagogue where God would meet the chief priest once a year under certain conditions in the Holy of Holies, a room separated from the rest of the congregation by a thick curtain. During this moment the chief priest would sprinkle the blood of a lamb on what was called the mercy seat and on the basis of that blood the sins of Israel would be rolled back for another year. The lamb selected was to be without spot or blemish and was considered by God to represent the blood that the Lamb of God, His own Son Jesus would shed for the sins of all mankind on Calvary.

The conversation with the Samaritan woman continued - Jesus said, “But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for such the Father seeks to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” The woman said to him, “I know that Messiah is coming he who is called Christ; when he comes, he will show us all things.” Jesus said to her, “I who speak to you am he.” (John 4: 23-26)

When Jesus was speaking to his disciples he said -  “If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will pray the Father, and he will give you another Counselor, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him; you know him, for he dwells with you, and will be in you”. (John14: 15-17)

This is what Jesus was also referring to when He spoke to the Samaritan woman at the well, that His Holy Spirit would meet with and dwell within every believer and would later be manifest at Pentecost.

At the time of His death on the cross - “And behold, the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom; and the earth shook, and the rocks were split.” (Matthew 27: 51) This was to signify that there was now a new covenant between God and man, that he would no longer meet them in buildings made by human hands.

The church in historic bible scripture refers to the meeting of those who believe and trust in Jesus the Son of God as Lord and Savior, and may consist of just a few or of many and has little to do with the good works we may do other than as gratitude after the fact for what God through Christ has done for us.

We are admonished not to forsake meeting together - Therefore, brethren, since we have confidence to enter the sanctuary by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way which he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful; and let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near. (Hebrews10: 19-25)

We see that Day drawing near and just as in the first century the persecution of the church by the sons of Satan is increasing daily throughout the world. It may become necessary to meet quietly in homes and in smaller numbers than in the usual great numbers and meeting places. But know this, that you and I are the church! - Jesus said, “For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I in the midst of them.” (Matthew 18:20)

Christians Already Possess the Greatest Thing Ever

We’re all hunkered down in our homes in fear of the death and sickness that will come

both from a new illness and the economic fallout of attempting to combat it.

Atop that, a generation of teenagers is committing suicide under our noses, according to this article in The Atlantic. The reason? Smartphones and social media, a toxic sludge of isolation, dependency, and meaninglessness heaped onto the already fraught ground of adolescence.

Today, young people are sleeping with their phones instead of with each other like the old days. At least the bitterest fruit of the old sins would have been a beautiful new baby, a new life. Now the hypnotic glow of the device draws life out solely unto itself.

We hear the news, meanwhile, that in an Oregon lab scientists have “corrected” faulty genes underlying a heart condition, raising the specter of genetic engineering of human DNA. This is the “Gattica”-esque prelude to designer babies, the scientifically advanced—and obviously superior—species into which humble and mortal homo sapiens can morph itself.

Soon hopeful parents will face the Hobson’s choice of genetically engineering children predesigned, predestined, prepackaged, and artificially developed for what the world deems to be physical and mental perfection, or consigning their pitiful, “natural” kin to a lifetime of subhuman status, kicked into society’s gutters for their disgusting diseases, defects, and obvious inferiorities. Hopefully the parents-to-be will have that choice. Perhaps back-alley abortions will give way to back-alley births.

Men as God

Do you doubt the rising tide? As if to punctuate the point that our modern culture and law lack the moral grammar necessary to grapple with something as basic as human dignity, we heard in recent years that the British courts euthanized—in First Things’ apropos telling—the young child Charlie Gard, superseding his parents’ desperate attempt to save his life because it deemed his pathetic and pain-ridden life not worth living.

It is now taken as assumed in polite society that a stagnant geriatric existence is not worth bothering with, and that we will be better off ending things while healthy and self-satisfied. Better to die with dignity, this wisdom says, than live with Alzheimer’s; the breath of life being no more dignified than the cold corpse. Now, the dawn of a higher life form, the genetically perfected Being, ourselves its loving Creator, while in chorus our omniscient Judgment deems the old, diseased life itself worthy of nothing more than unceremonious, quiet discard. And they say God is dead.

Look around you. Can you not see the coming apotheosis of humanity? We are hurtling towards humanism technologically deified, invested with the raw power to do every conceivable thing. To live forever, to know all things, to eradicate our own suffering, to eliminate the vocabulary of pain. We will be gods capable of all things but one: ἀγάπη.

Agápe, that indefinable love defined by its exclusion of our sinful self-centeredness, that love from the infinitesimal pinpoint of the individual will that rejects itself for the sake of, and only for the sake of, God and his created. To love God with all your heart, and all your soul, and all your mind, and all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself, is agápe. It is also, not incidentally, the only way to be truly alive, to live outside yourself, to taste the joy of God.

These three banal news stories are different currents in the same flooding river. We know this flood well. It sprang from the sinister promise in Eden that man could be like God, and it has ebbed and flowed ever since. The bride of God’s son, Christ, the church, seems powerless in its path.

What about the World Is Part of the Church?

Regarding the church’s ill-advised union with popular politics and culture over the last half century, Rod Dreher put this way: “Too many of us are doubling down on the failed strategies that not only have failed to convert Americans but have also done little to halt the assimilation of Christians to secular norms and beliefs.”

I haven’t yet read Dreher’s book, “The Benedict Option," but it is curious that in discussing the book he seemed at every turn to have to defend himself from the claim that he was “not advocate[ing] complete Christian withdrawal from the public sphere.” Why on earth not? What has the public sphere for the Christian? For the church?

I once read an good interview of a prominent Catholic bishop—I cannot recall who or where. The good bishop bemoaned what Dreher and others call “moralistic therapeutic deism,” a cancerous heresy infecting virtually every sect of Christianity today.

Briefly, MTD is a godless religion without struggle, sacrifice, or a remotely plausible view of reality. More importantly, MTD is a strain of the solipsistic materialism that pervades our world today. The bishop complained that MTD, as a philosophy fundamentally centered on the self, ultimately leads to a worldview sympathetic to abortion, LBGT preferences, and so forth.

How true he may be, but how he misses the mark! The church offers what MTD, materialism, smartphones, modern science and courts and kings and judgments, what nothing, nothing else can offer: ἀγάπη. God. God is ἀγάπη, and ἀγάπη is God.

The Point Is Salvation, Not Winning at Politics

Souls cannot be won at the ballot box or on HBO or in The New York Times; they are washed at the baptismal font and fed at the altar. The church is great not because it saves us from abortion- and LBGT-relativism but because it gives us God. The church is great because at her altar we physically, literally, and tangibly come into material contact with God on earth.

If this sounds like sermonizing, perhaps it is because the church should do less politicking and more sermonizing. If it sounds like mysticism, perhaps it is because the church should be less embarrassed about embracing the mystical union of God and man, particularly in a world where the enemies of God proclaim that men can give birth to children and that we live in an infinite number of parallel universes.

If it sounds rudimentary, perhaps it is because the church should retreat into itself by remembering first precisely what it is. The ark of the church has never been more urgently needed, nor ever raised higher by the waters. A generation lost to smartphones is a generation crying out for purpose. A humanity on the brink of dystopian eugenics needs more than ever the tender mercy of the church to comfort the sick. A culture of death needs an infusion of life.

“I am the way, the truth, and the life,” says Christ. God promises his people will find him if they seek him. “But you,” the Almighty promises his church, “take courage! Do not let your hands be weak, for your work shall be rewarded.”

Take courage. The church need not fear being marginalized, victimized, humiliated, or downtrodden. It should not fear what is inevitable. Ride the storm with conviction and love, with open doors for those flailing in the waters, but remain courageously in the ark. Your work shall be rewarded.

The Federalist

The Enigma of Time

In the first two chapters of the Bible, the very first chapter of Genesis states that all of creation took place in six days and on the seventh day the Creator rested. 

“And on the seventh day God finished his work which he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had done. So God blessed the seventh day and hallowed it, because on it God rested from all his work which he had done in creation.” (Genesis 2: 2-3)

Six days, and from these verses sprung some of the most prideful and contentious arguments in recent history. Bible expositors we’ll refer to as “The Creationists” believe in six literal days referring to the twenty four hour period of daylight and darkness. It is entirely possible that Almighty God could have created everything over six twenty four hour periods, however the following passage was specifically intended to clarify the cycle of the rising and setting of the sun.

“And God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light. And God saw that the light was good; and God separated the light from the darkness. God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, one day.” (Genesis 1: 3-5)

On the other hand those who disbelieve the biblical narrative and who we will refer to as “The Evolutionists,” contend that it all evolved over a period of millions and maybe trillions of years and that what are now know as human beings initially sprung from a single celled life form that emerged from a primordial sludge pond. Some of what they say makes sense as we know for certain there has been an evolutionary process involved in the creation. 

Almighty God the Creator of heaven and earth is eternal and exists beyond the confines of time, there is no past and no future beyond the fourth dimension only the eternal present. It’s difficult for humans to wrap finite minds around infinity, however all lives are governed by time, a beginning and an end to life and all living things. It was not always so, but the confines of time entered the world as sin and death at the fall of man in the Garden of Eden. In the following passage Peter, the Apostle of Christ brought to mind that God is an infinite being which is intended to indicate that God is infinite and His days and years are immeasurable in human terms.

But do not ignore this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. (2Peter 3: 8)

The six days of creation were more than likely completed over a period of tens of thousands of years years humanly speaking. Thus we have a convergence in both the Biblical version of creation and the evolutionary theory of the origin of the world and of all life, fostered by the finite and often times contentious and obtuse minds of man. But that is not all there is to the story and how mankind became a captive of time or of the means used by the Creator to remedy man’s problem.

“The Lord God formed man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being. And the Lord God planted a garden in Eden, in the east; and there he put the man whom he had formed. And out of the ground the Lord God made to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food, the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.” (Genesis 2: 7- 9)

“Now the serpent was more subtle than any other wild creature that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree of the garden’?” And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden; but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.’” But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not die. For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate; and she also gave some to her husband, and he ate.” (Genesis 3: 1- 6)

God created Adam and Eve the original man and woman immortal but they listened to the voice of Satan and failed to follow the Lord’s simple command and sin and death entered the world, they were expelled from the Garden and relegated to the confines of a world governed by time where they eventually died. There is much to be read about in previous commentaries concerning all that transpired and how God remedied mankind’s problem and provided a means of redemption through the death and resurrection of Christ which occurred over two thousand years ago.

“But what God foretold by the mouth of all the prophets, that his Christ should suffer, he thus fulfilled. Repent therefore, and turn again, that your sins may be blotted out, that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord.” (Acts 3: 18-19)

“If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. For the Scripture says, ‘Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.’ For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him. For ‘everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.’ (Romans 10:9-13)

“First of all you must understand this, that scoffers will come in the last days with scoffing, following their own passions and saying, “Where is the promise of his coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all things have continued as they were from the beginning of creation. The Lord is not slow about his promise as some count slowness, but is forbearing toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. ” (2 Peter 3: 3 -4 & 9) 

“And on the seventh day God finished his work which he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had done.” (Genesis 2:2)

The seventh day will arrive when God himself returns and sets up His kingdom on earth.

The Midst Of A Storm

All of humanity is living in a time of great strife and struggle. A monumental battle is ongoing in many of the nations of the world today for the minds, hearts and souls of their respective populations. A battle for control by forces of good against evil and freedom as opposed to oppression. Corrupt political powers striving to assert control through all manner of cunning lies and deceit  contending for the approval of a populace unaware of the nefarious intentions of the end game, total control and domination. Marxist socialism has raised it’s ugly head in nations where free enterprise has prospered. Democrat Progressives versus Conservative Republicans struggle on one hand as Islamic Jihadists murder Jews and Christians in an attempt to conquer the world and assert their demonic beliefs on others. We are living in troubling times!

The apostle John was banished by Rome to the Greek Isle of Patmos for preaching the word of God and the testimony of Jesus when the risen Christ appeared to him and said; “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty. John was then given revelations concerning future events, this is allegorically written and but a part that which speaks of what is currently happening:

Now war arose in heaven, Michael and his angels fighting against the dragon; and the dragon and his angels fought, but they were defeated and there was no longer any place for them in heaven. And the great dragon was thrown down, that ancient serpent, who is called the Devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him. And I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, “Now the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren has been thrown down, who accuses them day and night before our God. And they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they loved not their lives even unto death. Rejoice then, O heaven and you that dwell therein! But woe to you, O earth and sea, for the devil has come down to you in great wrath, because he knows that his time is short!” (Revelation 12:7-12)

Jesus ransomed the world positionally by means of His death and resurrection and will claim it and all who call on Him as Lord and Savior at the time of His return. Meanwhile it has been the will of God to let Satan and his demons remain until that time to test mankind with a choice of either serving Satan through sin and death or of serving the Lord by receiving salvation and eternal life. As this becomes clear to us, we begin to understand the underlying reasons for all that is going on in the world around us today. It can be extremely overwhelming if we focus on all of the horrific world events each day, the following two events on storm tossed waters gives us an example on how to deal with the stress of life and where to set our focus.

And when he (Jesus) got into the boat, his disciples followed him. And behold, there arose a great storm on the sea, so that the boat was being swamped by the waves; but he was asleep. And they went and woke him, saying, “Save, Lord; we are perishing.” And he said to them, “Why are you afraid, O men of little faith?” Then he rose and rebuked the winds and the sea; and there was a great calm. And the men marveled, saying, “What sort of man is this, that even winds and sea obey him?” (Matthew 8:23-27)

And yet at another time after a day of preaching to a large crowd…

Then he made the disciples get into the boat and go before him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowds. And after he had dismissed the crowds, he went up on the mountain by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone, but the boat by this time was many furlongs distant from the land, beaten by the waves; for the wind was against them. And in the fourth watch of the night he came to them, walking on the sea. But when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were terrified, saying, “It is a ghost!” and they cried out for fear. But immediately he spoke to them, saying, “Take heart, it is I; have no fear.” And Peter answered him, “Lord, if it is you, bid me come to you on the water.” He said, “Come.” So Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water and came to Jesus; but when he saw the wind, he was afraid, and beginning to sink he cried out, “Lord, save me.” Jesus immediately reached out his hand and caught him, saying to him, “O man of little faith, why did you doubt?” And when they got into the boat, the wind ceased. And those in the boat worshiped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.” (Matthew 14:27-33)

There in those two remarkable passages we have the answer to all our anxiety, doubts and fears. Instead of focusing continually on the storm set your focus on Jesus, acknowledge Jesus as Savior and Lord, and repent, that is turn away from that which causes you to sin and cling to Jesus because all of our future lives depend on it. 

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. (John 3:16-17)

But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, (John 1:12)

Two Festivals Of Light

Christmas and Chanukah share similarities, these celebrations come at the same time of year and both are marked by either lit menorah’s in Jewish homes or lights on homes and Christmas trees. Both holidays center around historic individuals that brought deliverance to the oppressed. The Maccabees overcame the oppressors of the Jewish people by brute force and the power of their own might and gave them back their temple worship. Generations later came Jesus the Messiah, who through the power of the Spirit paid the price demanded by sin, offering himself as the ultimate sacrifice to save mankind from the oppression that comes from eternal separation from G-d and the final death. 

Here we will put both events into historical context. Both events took place during particularly turbulent phases of Jewish history.

The Land of Israel was thus sandwiched between two of the rivals and, for the next 125 years, Seleucids and Ptolemies battled for this prize. The former finally won in 198 B.C. when Antiochus III defeated the Egyptians and incorporated Judea into his empire. Initially, he continued to allow the Jews autonomy, but backed down in the face of Jewish opposition to his effort to introduce idols in their temples, but his son, Antiochus IV, who inherited the throne in 176 B.C. resumed his father's original policy without excepting the Jews. A brief Jewish rebellion only hardened his views and led him to outlaw central tenets of Judaism such as the Sabbath and circumcision, and defile the holy Temple by erecting an altar to the god Zeus, allowing the sacrifice of pigs, and opening the shrine to non-Jews.

When a Greek official tried to force a priest named Mattathias to make a sacrifice to a pagan god, the Jew murdered the man. Predictably, Antiochus began reprisals, but in 167 BCE the Jews rose up behind Mattathias and his five sons and fought for their liberation.

The family of Mattathias became known as the Maccabees, from the Hebrew word for "hammer," because they were said to strike hammer blows against their enemies. Jews refer to the Maccabees, but the family is more commonly known as the Hasmoneans. Like other rulers before him, Antiochus underestimated the will and strength of his Jewish adversaries and sent a small force to put down the rebellion. When that was annihilated, he led a more powerful army into battle only to be defeated. In 164 BCE, Jerusalem was recaptured by the Maccabees and the temple purified, an event that gave birth to the holiday of Chanukah which is known as the Festival of Lights.

The kingdom of Judaea was independent until 63BC when it was conquered by the Roman General Pompey the Great. After that the Romans made it a client state with kings who controlled domestic life in the kingdom but could not wage war or conduct any other foreign policy efforts without the consent of Rome. They also had to pay taxes and in some cases had to provide troops. In 6 AD Augustus made Judaea a Roman province after one of the kingdom’s leaders was accused of cruelty and breaking Jewish law. This came about around the time of the birth of Jesus.

For to us a child is born,

to us a son is given;

and the government will be upon his shoulder,

and his name will be called

“Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,

Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”

Of the increase of his government and of peace

there will be no end,

upon the throne of David, and over his kingdom,

to establish it, and to uphold it

with justice and with righteousness

from this time forth and for evermore.

The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.   (Isaiah 9: 6-7)

In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be enrolled. This was the first enrollment, when Quirin′i-us was governor of Syria. And all went to be enrolled, each to his own city. And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the city of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, to be enrolled with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child. And while they were there, the time came for her to be delivered. And she gave birth to her first-born son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths, and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.

And in that region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with fear. And the angel said to them, “Be not afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of a great joy which will come to all the people; for to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you will find a babe wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.” And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest,and on earth peace among men with whom he is pleased!”

When the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.” And they went with haste, and found Mary and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger. And when they saw it they made known the saying which had been told them concerning this child; and all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them. But Mary kept all these things, pondering them in her heart. And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them. (Luke 2:1-20)

God Tested Abraham

After these things God tested Abraham, and said to him, “Abraham!” And he said, “Here am I.” He said, “Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Mori′ah, and offer him there as a burnt offering upon one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.” (Genesis 22: 1-2)

It would be normal for one to begin to have their doubts about God or perhaps even their own sanity after hearing such a command, and yet Abraham trusted the Lord to the extent that he was duty bound to comply. Who of us could possibly even begin to understand such trust and faithfulness?

So Abraham rose early in the morning, saddled his ass, and took two of his young men with him, and his son Isaac; and he cut the wood for the burnt offering, and arose and went to the place of which God had told him. On the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes and saw the place afar off. Then Abraham said to his young men, “Stay here with the ass; I and the lad will go yonder and worship, and come again to you.” And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering, and laid it on Isaac his son; and he took in his hand the fire and the knife. So they went both of them together. And Isaac said to his father Abraham, “My father!” And he said, “Here am I, my son.” He said, “Behold, the fire and the wood; but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?” Abraham said, “God will provide himself the lamb for a burnt offering, my son.” So they went both of them together. (Genesis 22: 3-6) 

Abraham’s action is a picture of a future time when the Creator himself would enter the world in the person of Jesus Christ and he himself would carry a wooden cross upon which to be sacrificed for the sins of the world. Who among us would sacrifice our own son’s life in order to save the life of another? This passage portrays the innocence of this father’s son Isaac, just as God’s son Jesus was innocent and sinless under the law. Abraham was so trusting of God that he said to his son, “God will provide himself the lamb for a burnt offering, my son.” His comment reveals a supernatural faith and it is what God wants us to see in Abraham and try to emulate in our own lives.

When they came to the place of which God had told him, Abraham built an altar there, and laid the wood in order, and bound Isaac his son, and laid him on the altar, upon the wood. Then Abraham put forth his hand, and took the knife to slay his son. But the angel of the Lord called to him from heaven, and said, “Abraham, Abraham!” And he said, “Here am I.” He said, “Do not lay your hand on the lad or do anything to him; for now I know that you fear God, seeing you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me.” (Genesis 22: 9-12)

This was an incredible testing of Abraham’s trust and loyalty to God, which along with Abraham’s acting on God’s command gives us a shining example of what faith is in action. It’s like a stool, without three legs it would be incomplete and would not be a stool. Trust, loyalty and action are the three legs that make faith complete and valid before God. 

And Abraham lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, behind him was a ram, caught in a thicket by his horns; and Abraham went and took the ram, and offered it up as a burnt offering instead of his son. So Abraham called the name of that place The Lord will provide; as it is said to this day, “On the mount of the Lord it shall be provided.” (Genesis 22: 13-14)

As a response to Abraham’s show of trust and loyalty through his action the Lord provided for Abraham’s immediate need at an extremely stressful moment. We should keep that in mind and draw close to the Lord, we are living in very stressful times.

And the angel of the Lord called to Abraham a second time from heaven, and said, “By myself I have sworn, says the Lord, because you have done this, and have not withheld your son, your only son, I will indeed bless you, and I will multiply your descendants as the stars of heaven and as the sand which is on the seashore. And your descendants shall possess the gate of their enemies, and by your descendants shall all the nations of the earth bless themselves, because you have obeyed my voice.” (Genesis 22: 15-18)

This will be the last of this series on Abraham. There was much to be gleaned about what it takes to have a perfect relationship with God as we looked into this incredible man’s life!

Sarah Gives Abraham A Son

This commentary was previously inadvertently posted out of sync with the Bible narrative, I removed, corrected and rewrote it as there is much to be drawn from this event. 

The Lord visited Sarah as he had said, and the Lord did to Sarah as he had promised. And Sarah conceived, and bore Abraham a son in his old age at the time of which God had spoken to him. Abraham called the name of his son who was born to him, whom Sarah bore him, Isaac. And Abraham circumcised his son Isaac when he was eight days old, as God had commanded him. Abraham was a hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him. And Sarah said, “God has made laughter for me; every one who hears will laugh over me.” And she said, “Who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would suckle children? Yet I have borne him a son in his old age.”

And the child grew, and was weaned; and Abraham made a great feast on the day that Isaac was weaned. But Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, whom she had borne to Abraham, playing with her son Isaac. So she said to Abraham, “Cast out this slave woman with her son; for the son of this slave woman shall not be heir with my son Isaac.” And the thing was very displeasing to Abraham on account of his son. But God said to Abraham, “Be not displeased because of the lad and because of your slave woman; whatever Sarah says to you, do as she tells you, for through Isaac shall your descendants be named. And I will make a nation of the son of the slave woman also, because he is your offspring.” So Abraham rose early in the morning, and took bread and a skin of water, and gave it to Hagar, putting it on her shoulder, along with the child, and sent her away. And she departed, and wandered in the wilderness of Beer-sheba. (Genesis 21: 1-14)

It may seem that Sarah was acting harshly however Abraham showed a kind heart and loyalty toward Hagar and Ishmael, there was something more at play though. Sarah knew early in life that she was barren and that Abraham wanted an heir, and although God had made it plain that Abraham would father a son through Sarah, they both showed distrust in God’s word and she gave her slave woman to Abraham, and Ishmael was born from that union. That event was devoid of faith in God’s promise and was in essence a carnal act of disobedience, not one not of faith but of the flesh as they acted on their own accord outside of the will of God. In today’s world Ishmael would be considered the bastard son and hardly fit to be the heir of God’s promise. As a result the descendants of Ishmael would be forever filled with animosity and murderous envy towards the descendants of Isaac which is in essence a repeat of Cain’s envious murder of his own brother Abel. 

Centuries later the Apostle Paul would use it as an example to instruct the first Jewish Christians who were confused about the law and whether or not they were still required to remain under and observe Jewish law, when Christ himself had paid the penalty for all mankind who have failed under the law.

“Tell me, you who desire to be under law, do you not hear the law? For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by a slave and one by a free woman. But the son of the slave was born according to the flesh, the son of the free woman through promise. Now this is an allegory: these women are two covenants. One is from Mount Sinai, bearing children for slavery; she is Hagar. Now Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia; she corresponds to the present Jerusalem, for she is in slavery with her children. But the Jerusalem above is free, and she is our mother. For it is written,

‘Rejoice, O barren one who does not bear; break forth and shout, you who are not in travail; for the children of the desolate one are many more than the children of her that is married.’ Now we, brethren, like Isaac, are children of promise. But as at that time he who was born according to the flesh persecuted him who was born according to the Spirit, so it is now. But what does the scripture say? ‘Cast out the slave and her son; for the son of the slave shall not inherit with the son of the free woman.’ So, brethren, we are not children of the slave but of the free woman. For freedom Christ has set us free; stand fast therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.”(Galatians 4:21-5:1)

Paul referring to Mount Sinai is pointing out how God gave Moses the law that no man can follow perfectly, which is the requirement for acceptance by God. Failure under the law resulted in sin and the requirement for sin is death and eternal separation from God. He likened it to Jerusalem and living under the Law. “since all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” (Romans 3:23)

It is written: “For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles in one point, he has become guilty of all.” (James 2:10)

There is no one on earth that has ever kept the Ten Commandments perfectly let alone the infinite number of associated laws that were tacked on for the Jews by their Jewish legislators of old. In modern day society we have a vast number if civil laws that spring in essence from those original commandments and we routinely fail under them as well.

Paul goes on and refers to Sarah, a free woman whose son was heir of the promise and through whom Christ the Messiah would come and pay the penalty for the broken laws of all of mankind. He points out that we as believers have positionally cast out the slave, that is our former state, and accepted the freedom provided through Christ. We are to stand fast and not submit again to a yoke of slavery which is sin under the law. 

“But the Jerusalem above is free, and she is our mother.” Here Paul is referring to the union of believers we know as the church, and makes a distinction between the believers and unbelievers implying that the church is the bride of Christ. “For it is written,‘Rejoice, O barren one who does not bear; break forth and shout, you who are not in travail; for the children of the desolate one are many more than the children of her that is married.’ Now we, brethren, like Isaac, are children of promise.”