BOOK 2 - GENESIS 25-50

Transcription

1 BOOK 2 - GENESIS 25-50

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3 MEETING OUR MAKER STUDIES IN GENESIS Last term and over the break, we ve worked through the story of Abraham. But as we ve seen, it s not so much the story of Abraham as it is the story of Abraham s GOD - the Creator of Heaven and Earth, our Maker, and his plan to save the world from the sinful mess we ve made of it, through Abraham and his offspring. This plan which God develops through the whole Bible. This is the plan which culminates in Abraham s offspring Jesus. This term, the last of 2014, we re focusing on the stories of those crucially important offspring: Abraham s son Isaac, his son Jacob, and his sons Joseph and Judah. We ll cover it in larger sections, but the stories develop largely the same themes. It took God time, and much patient work, to get Abraham to finally trust him and his plan. Will that also be the case for Abraham s offspring? Will that also be the case for us? As we work through Genesis together in Term 4, I pray that the more deeply you get to know God as he reveals himself in Genesis, the more deeply you ll grow to trust him. Jeremy Wales Assistant Senior Pastor 10/10/2014 3

4 Genesis THE GOD OF ABRAHAM, ISAAC & JACOB Preparation: Read Genesis 25:19-26:18 As we move on from Abraham to follow his offspring, it might help to have a quick recap and overview first. Watch the Bible Project video overview of Genesis 12-50: STARTER Share an opportunity you missed, which you ve always regretted. DEJA VU As we follow Abraham s son Isaac, in many ways he seems eerily familiar. Read Genesis 25:19-26:18 1. List all the things about Isaac that remind you of Abraham: 25:21 Barren wife (11:30), granted a child only by God (21:1-2) 25:23 Sons in conflict, the younger one chosen by God against the cultural norm (16:12, 17:20-21, 21:9-10) 26:1-2 Flees from the promised land due to famine, plans to go to Egypt (12:10) 26:3-4 Promised blessing (12:2), land (12:7, 13:15, 15:7, 17:8), offspring (15:5, 22:17), channel God's blessing to every nation (12:3, 18:18, 22:18) 26:7 Out of fear, lies that his wife is his really just his sister (12:13, 20:2) 26:10 Needs the same Gentile King, Abimelech, to tell him how wrong that is (20:9) 26:12-14 Nevertheless, greatly blessed by God materially (13:2, 24:1,35) 26:16 So blessed that he can no longer dwell with others (13:5-9) 26:18 Redug the same wells his father dug, gave them the same names. 4

5 2. Which resemblances are negative? Isaac makes exactly the same mistakes as his father, failing to trust to God. 3. Which resemblances are positive? God is just as committed to blessing the world through Isaac as he was to doing so through his father, so no matter how unfaithful Isaac is, God will still be faithful, just like he was with Abraham. DEJA VU ALL OVER AGAIN In that culture, it was always the oldest son who d inherit his father s land. But Isaac succeeds Abraham as inheritor of the land God promised, instead of his older brother Ishmael. In the same way, Isaac's son Jacob is younger than his brother Esau, yet God chooses him to succeed Isaac anyway. And there s a reason why In 25:34, what is Esau s biggest problem? Esau despised his birthright. He didn't care about inheriting the land God promised as much as he cared about quickly filling his stomach! 5. How do you feel about Jacob s actions here? At the very least, how is his attitude to the inheritance better than his brother s? Jacob is opportunistic and manipulative as he grabs his brother's right to inherit. But at least he values the right to inherit! He ll do anything, even resorting to underhand tactics, to get the land God promised his fathers. Having opportunistically grabbed Esau's inheritance of land, in chapter 27 Jacob then deceitfully grabs his blessing, tricking his blind father Isaac into thinking that he s actually Esau so that he'll get the blessing his father intended for Esau. 6. Once again Jacob seems like a selfish, deceitful scoundrel. On the bright side, how does his attitude to God's promises differ from Esau's? However terribly Jacob behaves, deceiving his own father, cheating his own brother, at the very least the aim of it all is to GET GOD S BLESSING, at any cost, not to find alternatives to it like Esau does. Jacob craves God's blessing above all else, and will do anything to get it. 5

6 STARTING FROM SCRATCH When Esau finds out Jacob's trick, he plans to kill him. So Jacob flees from the promised land to find safety with his uncle back in Haran. This is exactly like Abraham and Isaac - whenever they got into trouble, they fled the promised land, instead of trusting the God who d promised to protect them there. Haran is the place where God first called Abraham (11:31). It really is like God has to start again with Jacob from scratch! Read Genesis 28: From God's promise in 28:13-15, which parts sound familiar? Promise of land (12:7, 13:15, 15:7, 17:8, 26:3), offspring like the dust of the earth (13:16, 26:4), and to be the channel of God's blessing to every nation (12:3, 18:18, 22:18, 26:4). It's the same promise made to Abraham, then to Isaac, now to Jacob. 8. From Jacob's dream in 28:12 and his response in 28:17, what's so important (and fantastic!) about the promised land? The promised land is the 'stairway to heaven', the place where you can live with and get to know God. 9. From Jacob's vow in 28:20-22, what does Jacob still need to learn? Everything in his vow is prefaced with IF God will... He knows he WANTS God's blessing, but he still hasn't learnt that he CAN trust God to give it to him. LEAVING IT TOO LATE In God s mercy, he s often prepared to start from scratch with us, like he does with Jacob. But at some point, if we keep finding our satisfaction and security in things other than God and his promises, it will be too late for us. That s what we see with Esau. He despised his right to inherit the land God promised, and it looks like it s too late for him now (though follow the next two studies for updates!). Speaking of Jesus, the author of Hebrews says, How shall we escape if we ignore so great a salvation? (2:3) 10. What kind of things can we value more than God and his promises to us in Jesus? In our society: career, children, financial security, acknowledged success, etc. 11. What would it look like to leave it too late with Jesus? Those things can become so consuming you don t even think about where you re at with Jesus anymore. There s also the literal deadline of death, the timing of which none of us knows. 6

7 12. How can you come to value God and his promises to you in Jesus above all else? By reflecting of what God actually offers us in Jesus. As we saw last term, God's already provided his Son Jesus for us, his death for our sins and his resurrection to give us new life with him forever. If we can remember that, then we won t say like Jacob IF God will... In Jesus, he's already guaranteed our eternal blessing. Pray for each other about these things 7