God of Abraham,Isaac and Jacob...miracle nation pt 2

https://billrandles.wordpress.com/2015/12/29/god-of-abrahamisaac-and-jacob-miracle-nation-pt-2/ ^ | 12-28-15 | Bill Randles

[pastorbillrandles]

And when the Lord saw that he turned aside to see, God called unto him out of the midst of the bush, and said, Moses, Moses. And he said, Here am I. And he said, Draw not nigh hither: put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground. Moreover he said, I am the God of thy father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. And Moses hid his face; for he was afraid to look upon God.(Exodus 3:4-6)

And God said moreover unto Moses, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, The Lord God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, hath sent me unto you: this is my name for ever, and this is my memorial unto all generations” (Exo. 3:15).

I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob? God is not the God of the dead, but of the living.(Matthew 22:32)

It is an incredible thing that the God of the Bible has incorporated into His Holy name, the names of three fallible men, Abraham,Isaac and Jacob. Furthermore He has incorporated the name given to Jacob, into His own name, for He is called “The God of ISRAEL”more than 200 times in the text of scripture.

The Nation of Israel came into being by a miracle of God, who chose a man named Abram and his wife Sarai to bear a son in their aged barrenness.

Abram actually had two sons; Ishmael, his firstborn son, through an Egyptian servant woman,Hagar, and Isaac, the child of promise, born of a miracle.

As human custom dictates, Abram would have chosen Ishmael, his firstborn,the “excellency of his strength” to be the heir of the promise of God.

But God chose Isaac, the second son.God’s choice always supersedes man’s choice.

Ishmael was thirteen when Isaac was born.Humanly speaking, he was the presumed heir, his was the right of the firstborn, and he was the sole object of his Father Abraham’s affection, for thirteen years.

Hagar, Ishmael’s mother, boasted against Sarai and together they persecuted Isaac, until Abraham was forced to put them out of his camp, driving them into the deadly wilderness.They would have died there had God not intervened by an Angel,

And Abraham rose up early in the morning, and took bread, and a bottle of water, and gave it unto Hagar, putting it on her shoulder, and the child, and sent her away: and she departed, and wandered in the wilderness of Beersheba. And the water was spent in the bottle, and she cast the child under one of the shrubs. And she went, and sat her down over against him a good way off, as it were a bow shot: for she said, Let me not see the death of the child. And she sat over against him, and lift up her voice, and wept. And God heard the voice of the lad; and the angel of God called to Hagar out of heaven, and said unto her, What aileth thee, Hagar? fear not; for God hath heard the voice of the lad where he is. Arise, lift up the lad, and hold him in thine hand; for I will make him a great nation. And God opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water; and she went, and filled the bottle with water, and gave the lad drink. And God was with the lad; and he grew, and dwelt in the wilderness, and became an archer.(Genesis 21:14-20)

Ishmael would become a great nation.Today there are 366 million Arabs, spread out over more than 5 million square miles.Arab culture has been imposed on 57 nations of the world through the spread of Islam.

But the most High, is the God of Abraham, and Isaac, not the God of Abraham and Ishmael.This is because as He chose Abraham, God also chose Isaac to be the conduit through which the seed would come who would save the world.

Isaac’s wife,Rebecca had been barren , but in answer to prayer, she became pregnant with twins. The pregnancy was turbulent, so she sought God for an answer.

And Isaac intreated the Lord for his wife, because she was barren: and the Lord was intreated of him, and Rebekah his wife conceived. And the children struggled together within her; and she said, If it be so, why am I thus? And she went to enquire of the Lord. And the Lord said unto her, Two nations are in thy womb, and two manner of people shall be separated from thy bowels; and the one people shall be stronger than the other people; and the elder shall serve the younger.(Genesis 25:21-23)

The first-born twin was named Esau, the second Jacob.When Esau came ut of the womb, Jacob’s hand reached out to grab Esau’s heel, as of they were each striving to emerge first. Esau means”red” and Jacob means “heel grabber”.

Isaac favored his first Son Esau, and would have committed the Patriarchal blessing to Him, though he was profane and godless.

Isaac chose Esau, but God chose Jacob.

When the time came to pass on the blessing to his son, Isaac summonsed Esau, and sent him out to the field to hunt for the venison which Isaac so loved.

Rebbecah, who had received the prophecy that “The elder would serve the younger…” sprang into action, disguising Jacob as Esau and sending him into his nearsighted Father, to receive the blessing, Isaac had intended for Esau.

By the time Esau had returned from the field, Jacob had received the blessing in his place. Isaac had been tricked into blessing Jacob and not Esau.

But the Scriptures do not condemn Jacob or Rebecca for doing what they did, because they were fighting to retain a legitimate blessing. God had chosen Jacob, not Esau.

Esau condemned Jacob for stealing his inheritance, so also did his wicked uncle Laban, but God never does so.

To this day, the world condemns Jacob, and even a good portion of the church does so , because they do not understand this story, but God doesn’t, and neither did Isaac.

When Esau returned from hunting and found out the blessing had already been given to his brother, Isaac didn’t renounce what happened, declaring the previous blessing invalid. Instead he recognized that it was God who had intervened, setting forth his own choice, over the choice of man. This is why Isaac told his son Esau,

…where is he that hath taken venison, and brought it me, and I have eaten of all before thou camest, and have blessed him? yea, and he shall be blessed...(Genesis 27:33)

God has chosen to bring salvation to the world, through the seed of Abraham,Isaac and Jacob…thus He is called the God of Abraham,Isaac and Jacob, not the God of Abraham,Ishmael and Esau. Jesus told us , “Salvation comes through the Jews”.