SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 11-01-2006
My Worship Time Focus: Isaac & Ishmael
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Genesis 25:9-18
Message of the verse: “9 Then his sons Isaac and Ishmael buried him
in the
10 the field which Abraham purchased from the sons of Heth; there Abraham was buried with Sarah his wife.
11 It came about after the death of
Abraham that God blessed his son Isaac; and Isaac lived by Beer-lahai-roi. 12 Now these are the records of the
generations of Ishmael, Abraham’s son, whom Hagar the Egyptian, Sarah’s maid,
bore to Abraham; 13 and these are the names of the sons of Ishmael, by their
names, in the order of their birth: Nebaioth, the firstborn of Ishmael, and Kedar
and Adbeel and Mibsam 14 and Mishma and Dumah and Massa, 15 Hadad and Tema,
Jetur, Naphish and Kedemah. 16 These are the sons of Ishmael and these are
their names, by their villages, and by their camps; twelve princes according to
their tribes. 17 These are the years of
the life of Ishmael, one hundred and thirty-seven years; and he breathed his
last and died, and was gathered to his people.
18 They settled from Havilah to Shur which is east of
It is interesting that when reading the book of Genesis that you find the genealogies of those who are not believers and then find them who are, and that is the case in these verses, for in them we find out about the sons of Ishmael and then the story goes on to talk about Isaac. It is also interesting to find Ishmael at the funeral of his father Abraham, for it seemed that there had been a lot of trouble between the two of them in the past, however not everything is recorded in the Bible about this and so there must have been some relationship between Isaac and Ishmael.
Verses 11-18 give some of the history of Ishmael’s family as to who was born and where they ended up settling. It is important to remember that Ishmael had twelve sons and was the father of the Arabs, but it is all important to remember that Ishmael’s family and Isaac’s family have always been enemies to each other, even until this day.
There are some differences between these two brothers that need to be looked at. Ishmael pictures the “natural” or unsaved person, (see 1 Cor. 2:14), who is outside the faith and hostile to the things of God. But Isaac pictures those who have trusted Jesus Christ and experienced the miraculous new birth by the power of God, (see 1Peter 1:22-23). “Now we, brethren, as Isaac was, are the children of promise” (Gal. 4:28) Ishmael was born a slave, but Isaac was born free (4:21-31’ 5”1-2); and Ishmael was born poor, but Isaac was born rich. As believers in Jesus Christ we all share the riches of Him, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ,” and we are part of Christ’s glorious inheritance, “also we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to His purpose who works all things after the counsel of His will, I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you will know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints.” (Eph. 1:3, 11, 18)
Spiritual meaning for my life today: Life is all about choices, and it is important to make the right choices in order to live a life that is pleasing to God. I know that there are many times when I do not make the right choices, but the fact remains that I am a child of God, I am like Isaac and not like Ishmael, and this is because of God’s grace, and because of this important fact I am able to make the right choices in my life, and when I don’t I need to confess that to the Lord and then pick up and begin again.
I am thankful for the wonderful riches that I have as being a believer in Jesus Christ and am learning that the spiritual riches that I have in Jesus Christ are much, much more important than any physical riches that I can gain in this life here on earth. Isaac got most of Abraham’s riches, and got all of his spiritual riches, and those spiritual riches are still going even today, but those physical material riches have long since vanished.
The Word of God had been convicting and challenging to my heart as I read and studied God’s Word this morning.
My Steps of Faith Today: Continue to trust the Lord with all of my heart and lean not upon my own understanding, but in all of my ways acknowledge Him and He has promised to direct my path. Continue to ask the Lord to teach me contentment, that I may be content in all aspects of my life.
No comments:
Post a Comment