In this chapter, I learned many things
that I had not previously realized
or understood.
First,
it’s seems it was common
for famines to occur
in the land of Hebron
where Abraham had lived.
And when famines happened,
it appears the people of the region
typically went down to Egypt
to gain their respite.
But in Chapter 26, verses 2-4
the Lord appeared to Isaac and said,
“Do not go down to Egypt;
live in the land where I tell you to live.
Stay in this land for a while,
and I will be with you and will bless you -
to you and your descendants
I will give all these lands
and will confirm the oath
I swore to your father Abraham.”

The scripture says,
“Isaac went to Abimelek,
the king of the Philistines in Gerar" -
the same king that was told by God
that Abraham had lied to him
when he almost took Sarah to be his wife!

Anyway, Isaac stayed in Gerar,
and he did the same thing his father did -
he lied to the men
and told them Rebekah was his sister
instead of his wife.

I’m so surprised!
Like father, like son!

Had Abraham not told him
the story of how he lied to Abimelek
in the past.
See Genesis Chapter 20
if you want to read more on this.

Scripture says Isaac had been
in Gerar a long time,
when Abimelek, king of the Philistines,
looked down from a window
and saw Isaac caressing Rebekah.

Abimelek summoned Isaac and said,
“She is really your wife!
Why did you say, ‘She is my sister’?”
Isaac answered him and said,
“Because I thought I might
lose my life on account of her.”
Then Abimelek said,
“What is this you have done to us?
One of the men might well have slept
with your wife,
and you would have brought
guilt upon us.”
So Abimelek gave orders
to all the people:
“Anyone who harms
this man or his wife
shall surely be put to death.”
Genesis 26:9-11

That is three times 
the king of Philistine
saved God’s chosen men
and women from death!

And the third time God allowed
the people of Philistine to live -
because they did have to endure
his judgment for sinning against God.

Two of these times the men chosen by God,
Abraham and Isaac,
lied to Abimelek about their wives
because they were afraid the men
would not be able to resist their beauty
which would cause Abraham and Isaac to die.

In both instances,
God used these experiences
for His own good.
He showed himself to Abimelek,
and warned him not to sin against him.

And through those experiences,
Abimelek turned over his goods,
Abraham and Isaac were able to grow
their crops and belongings a hundredfold.

This is how the Lord's blessings
began to unfold.

The third time
Abimelek saved Abraham
and his people
was when Philistine men
tried to take over Abraham’s well.

Abimelek declared
that the well belonged to Abraham
and no one in the land was to touch it,
except the man of God himself.

You can read more about this in Genesis 21,
in the section called,
"The treaty at Beersheba."

Unfortunately,
just as history always plays itself out,
the Philistines came to envy Isaac
and all that God had blessed him with.
We will see this same thing happen in Egypt,
"when the more the Israelites
were oppressed by the Egyptians,
the more they multiplied and spread;
so the Egyptians came to dread the Israelites."
Exodus 1:1-2

The scripture says,
“So all the wells that Isaac’s servants
had dug in the time of his father Abraham,
the Philistines stopped up,
filling them with earth.”
Genesis 26:15

Then Abimelek said to Isaac,
“Move away from us;
you have become too powerful for us.”
So Isaac moved away from there
and encamped in the Valley of Gerar,
where he settled.
Isaac reopened the wells
that had been dug
in the time of his father Abraham,
which the Philistines
had stopped up after Abraham died,
and he gave them the same names
his father had given them.
Isaac’s servants dug in the valley
and discovered a well
of fresh water there.
But the herders of Gerar
quarreled with those of Isaac
and said, “The water is ours!”
Issac named the well Esek,
because they disputed with him."

Esek in Hebrew means Contention.

Then they dug another well,
but they quarreled over that one also;
so he named it Sitnah.

Sitnah in Hebrew means Hatred.

Isaac moved on from there
and dug another well,
and no one quarreled over it.
He named it Rehoboth, saying,
“Now the Lord has given us room
and we will flourish in the land.”

Rehoboth in Hebrew
means Open Spaces.

From there he went up to Beersheba.

That night the Lord appeared to him
and said, “I am the God of your father Abraham.
Do not be afraid, for I am with you;
I will bless you
and will increase the number
of your descendants
for the sake of my servant Abraham.”
Isaac built an altar there
and called on the name of the Lord.
There he pitched his tent,
and there his servants dug a well.”
Genesis 26:25

Meanwhile,
Abimelek came to Isaac from Gerar,
his personal adviser 
and the commander of his forces joined him.

Isaac asked them,
“Why have you come to me,
since you were hostile to me
and sent me away?”

They answered,
“We saw clearly
that the Lord was with you;
so we said, ‘There ought to be
a sworn agreement between us’--
between us and you.
Let us make a treaty with you
that you will do us no harm,
just as we did not harm you
but always treated you well
and sent you away peacefully.
And now you are blessed by the Lord.”

Isaac agreed
and made an oath
with the Philistine King.
Then Isaac sent them on their way,
and they went away peacefully.

That day -
Isaac’s servants came and told him
about the well they had dug.
They said, “We’ve found water!”
He called it Shibah,
and to this day the name of the town
has been Beersheba.”
‭‭Genesis‬ ‭26:31-33‬

Beersheba means "Well of the Oath" -
and some say it is the 7th well
dug by Abraham.

So as I sit here and ponder.
I wonder if an oath will be made
between Israel and the Philistine nation?

Are you ready
to hear a parallel story
between the Ishmael and Isaac,
two half brothers -
the sons of Abraham,
that make up a whole.

Ishmael - the son of Abraham,
was born to Hagar, the slave of Sarah -
after Sarah grew impatient
with Abraham’s desire to grow the nation
that God had promised him.

So Sarah gave Hagar
to her husband, so that Hagar
could conceive his child.
And we all saw
how that decision went bad.
Just as things typically do
when we take matters
into our own hands,
instead of waiting on God.

Isaac was born
to Sarah and Abraham.
He was the creation
that God had promised them,
and he came just at the right time.

Isaac was conceived
“when Abram was 99 years old”
and the Lord appeared to him
and said, “I am God Almighty;
walk before me faithfully
and be blameless.
Then I will make my covenant
between me and you
and will greatly increase
your numbers.
Abram fell facedown,
and God said to him,
“As for me,
this is my covenant with you:
You will be the father of many nations.
No longer will you be called Abram;
your name will be Abraham,
for I have made you a father
of many nations.”
‭‭Genesis‬ ‭17:1-5‬

You see, Isaac was not conceived
until Abram was given a new name -
he and Sarah both.
I suppose that is because
they had to wrestle with God,
before fully submitting to Him.

“As for Sarai your wife,
you are no longer to call her Sarai;
her name will be Sarah.
I will bless her and will surely
give you a son by her.
I will bless her so that she will be
the mother of nations;
kings of peoples will come from her.
Abraham fell facedown;
he laughed and said to himself,
“Will a son be born
to a man a hundred years old?
Will Sarah bear a child
at the age of ninety?”
And Abraham said to God,
“If only Ishmael might live
under your blessing!”
‭‭Genesis‬ ‭17:15-18‬

God made a covenant to himself.
He promised Abraham
and Sarah a son -
a son that would give birth
to many nations, and many kings
who would rule over them.

Abram and Sarai had been chosen -
but it took many years -
deep into their old age, for them to gain
the wisdom and trust needed
to completely follow God.

And yet, doubt still occurred.

Abraham asked God
to send His blessing
through the child that he loved,
Ishmael - the child he had made
on his own.

But God had another plan.
“Then God said,
“Yes, but your wife Sarah
will bear you a son,
and you will call him Isaac
(the one who laughs,
or the one who rejoices).
I will establish my covenant with him
as an everlasting covenant
for his descendants after him.
And as for Ishmael, I have heard you:
I will surely bless him;
I will make him fruitful
and will greatly increase his numbers.
He will be the father of twelve rulers,
and I will make him into a great nation.
But my covenant
I will establish with Isaac,
whom Sarah will bear to you
by this time next year.”
When he had finished
speaking with Abraham,
God went up from him.”
‭‭Genesis‬ ‭17:19-22‬

Abraham’s son Ishmael,
went on to have 12 sons,
“Nebaioth was the first son born to him.
Then came Kedar, Adbeel,
Mibsam, Mishma, Dumah,
Massa, Hadad, Tema,
Jetur, Naphish and Kedemah.
These were the sons of Ishmael,
and these are the names
of the twelve tribal rulers
according to their settlements
and their camps.”
Ishmael lived 137 years,
and his descendants settled
in the area from Havilah to Shur,
near the eastern border of Egypt,
as you go toward Ashur 
And they lived in hostility
toward all the tribes related to them.”
‭‭Genesis‬ ‭25:12-18

Ishmael’s descendants
lived exactly as God said they would -
“The angel of the Lord also said Hagar,
‘You are now pregnant
and you will give birth to a son.
You shall name him Ishmael,
for the Lord has heard of your misery.
He will be a wild donkey of a man;
his hand will be against everyone
and everyone’s hand against him,
and he will live in hostility
toward all his brothers.”
‭‭Genesis‬ ‭16:11-12‬

Now Isaac,
the promised son delivered by God -
did not immediately
give birth to twelve sons,
as Ishmael did.

Isaac had to be wed
to the woman chosen by God -
not a woman from the region of Canaan -
where the giants lived.

Abraham sent his oldest servant to Babylon -
the land of Chaldea where he was born.

Abraham told the servant
the Lord would go ahead of him
to prepare the way and lead him
to the woman who would be chosen -
the servant would be able
to identity the future wife of Isaac
because the Lord
would open his eyes and show him.

Rebekah was the bride
that God had chosen.
She left everything,
her home and her family,
to follow the servant to Canaan,
the land the Lord promised to Abraham,
who gave the land to Isaac 
and his descendants.

Rebekah and Isaac met in the field -
“Isaac had come from Beer Lahai Roi,
for he was living in the Negev.
He went out to the field one evening
to meditate, and as he looked up,
he saw camels coming.
Rebekah also looked up
and saw Isaac.
She got down from her camel
and asked the servant,
“Who is that man in the field
coming to meet us?”
He is my master,” the servant said.
So she took her veil
and covered herself.
Then the servant told Isaac
all he had done. Isaac brought her
into the tent of his mother Sarah,
and he married Rebekah.
So she became his wife,
and he loved her;
and Isaac was comforted
after his mother’s death.”
‭‭Genesis‬ ‭24:62-67‬

Isaac and Rebekah
symbolize Jesus and the Church.
The promised Son of God
and the woman chosen for Him -
all according to God’s plan.

Isaac and Rebekah had twins,
Esau and Jacob -
and they were like
two sides of the same coin.

The Lord said to Rebekah
“Two nations are in your womb,
and two peoples from within you
will be separated;
one people will be stronger
than the other, and the older
will serve the younger.”
‭‭Genesis‬ ‭25:23-24

Esau was the impatient one.
He gave up his birthright
when he was very hungry -
for a bowl of soup.
He took the promise for granted -
and was willing to give up
the land the Lord promised to them.

Jacob was second
and he was the deceptive one.
He wanted the blessing that Esau had.
So he and Rebekah devised a plan,
to take the birthright away from Esau,
the wild one.

Jacob went on
to fight for what he wanted.
He married Leah to get to Rachel,
the wife that he desperately loved.

And Jacob went on
to wrestle with
the angel of the Lord,
and when he won
he was given a new name -
Israel.

Jacob, the son of Isaac
(the half-brother of Ishmael)
had 12 sons
before he was renamed Israel.

“When the Lord saw
that Leah was not loved,
he enabled her to conceive,
but Rachel remained childless.
Leah became pregnant
and gave birth to a son.
She named him Reuben,
for she said,
“It is because the Lord
has seen my misery.
Surely my husband will love me now.”
She conceived again,
and when she gave birth to a son
she said, “Because the Lord
heard that I am not loved,
he gave me this one too.”
So she named him Simeon.
Again she conceived,
and when she gave birth to a son
she said, “Now at last
my husband will become
attached to me,
because I have borne him three sons.”
So he was named Levi.
She conceived again,
and when she gave birth to a son
she said, “This time I will praise
the Lord.” So she named him Judah.
Then she stopped having children.”
‭‭Genesis‬ ‭29:31-35‬

Judah was the fourth child
born to Leah -
the woman who was given
in marriage, by her brother,
to a man who did not want
to marry her.

Judah -
finally Leah saw it fit
to praise the Lord
regardless of her situation,
whether her earthly husband
loved her or not.

Leah had two more sons,
Issachar and Zebulon,
and then she gave birth to a daughter
and named her Dinah.

Rachel gave birth
to Jospeh and Benjamin,
and Rachel and Leah’s slaves,
gave birth to Dan, Naphtali, Gad and Asher.

Jacob had 12 sons in total -
born to four different women.
Rachel was the woman he loved,
but could not marry for a long time
because of the trickery of her brother Laban.
We will read more about it very soon.

But do you see -
the parallel worlds created by God?
They are like two sides of the same coin -
that make up a whole.

Where there is good, there is also evil.
Darkness exists
until the Light shines through.

The man said,
“The woman you put here with me -
she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it.”
Then the Lord God said to the woman,
“What is this you have done?”
The woman said,
“The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”
So the Lord God said to the serpent,
“Because you have done this,
“Cursed are you above all livestock
and all wild animals!
You will crawl on your belly
and you will eat dust
all the days of your life.
And I will put enmity
between you and the woman,
and between your offspring and hers;
he will crush your head,
and you will strike his heel.”
‭‭Genesis‬ ‭3:12-15‬

Ishmael and Isaac -
two creations of God,
one was made by the hand of man
and one was promised by God.
One is bad and one is good.
Which one do you choose?
Which nation do you claim as your own?

Did you know that after Sarah died,
“Father Abraham took another wife,
whose name was Keturah -
and she gave birth to six sons -
Zimran, Jokshan, Medan,
Midian, Ishbak and Shuah?”

It appears one of the sons
is the father of Sheba and Dedan.
Part of the nations
who are depicted
in the 38th chapter of Ezekiel
to follow in the wake of Gog -
perhaps wanting to partake in the spoil?
I don’t know.

Abraham could have
split his will amongst his sons,
but he gave everything he owned
to Isaac, God’s promised son.
While Abraham was still living,
he gave gifts to the sons of his concubines
and sent them away from his son Isaac
to the land of the east.

This is interesting.
Why would he send them east?
Was he sending them
to the land he came from?
Was he sending them back to Babylonia?

Abraham lived 175 years,
then he breathed his last breathe.
When he died,
his sons Isaac and Ishmael
buried him in the cave
he had bought for Sarah,
from Ephron son of Zohar,
just outside Mamre.

After Abraham’s death,
God blessed his son Isaac,
who then lived near Beer Lahai Roi.
‭‭Genesis‬ ‭25:1-11‬

Hagar, the mother of Ishmael,
the slave of Sarah,
“gave this name to the LORD
who spoke to her:
‘You are the God who sees me,’
for she said, ‘I have now seen
the One who sees me.’
That is why the well was called
Beer Lahai Roi.”
Genesis 6:13

Beer Lahai Roi literally means
“the well of Him
that lives and sees me”

Hagar named the location
because the Living God
saw her situation and intervened
to give her comfort and hope.
​
May you remember
that God sees our plight.
That is why He promised
the Son of Man to us.

​He has created a living well for us -
a River of Life that can not run out.
He sees you and He sees me.
The question is “Do you see Him?”

Sarah, mother of Isaac
and wife of Abraham,
lived to be 127 years old.
She had Isaac at the age of 91 -
that means Isaac was 36 years old
when he his mother died.

Sarah died in Kirjath, also known as Hebron,
which is located about 20 miles south
of present-day Jerusalem, 
in the valley of Judah.

Hebron was the place
where Sarah and Abraham went
after Lot and Abraham
chose to go their separate ways.
Lot chose Sodom and Abraham went to Hebron.

As Abraham was weeping for Sarah,
at the time of her death,
he went to the city gate
to purchase a burial cave for her.

It always blows my mind -
that in the middle of grieving the dead
we have to worry about
worldly transactions while in the living.

Abraham stood up and spoke
to the sons of Heth,
who are the descendants of Canaan
(the grandson of Noah that was cursed)
who inhabited that land.

For some reason,
which I do not understand,
the sons of Heth were called “Hittites”
in the land.

Although Abraham was a foreigner,
he was rich and well-respected.
When Abraham asked to pay for a burial cave
this is how they responded,

“Hear us, my Lord:
You are a mighty prince among us;
bury your dead
in the choicest of our burial places.
None of us will withhold from you
his burial place,
that you may bury your dead.”
Then Abraham stood up
and bowed himself down to them,
and said, “If it is your wish
that I bury my dead out of my sight,
then hear me, and meet with Ephron
the son of Zohar for me,
that he may give me
the cave of Machpelah which he has,
which is at the end of his field.
Let him give it to me at the full price,
as property for a burial place
among you.”

Ephron, who was there, at the transaction
heard him and said,
“No, my Lord, hear me:
I give you the field
and the cave that is in it;
I give it to you in the presence
of the sons of my people.
I give it to you. Bury your dead!”

Abraham bowed down again,
and he spoke to Ephron
in the hearing of everyone,
“If you will give it, please hear me.
I will give you money for the field;
take it from me
and I will bury my dead there.”

Ephron answered Abraham,
“My Lord, listen to me;
the land is worth 400 shekels of silver.
What is that between you and me?
So bury your dead.”

Abraham listened to Ephron;
and weighed out the silver
which he had been decided
and heard by the sons of Heth,
the inhabitants of the land.

“So the field of Ephron
which was in Machpelah,
which was before Mamre,
the field and the cave which was in it,
and all the trees that were in the field,
which were within
all the surrounding borders,
were deeded to Abraham
as a possession
in the presence of the sons of Heth,
before all who went in
at the gate of his city.
And after this,
Abraham buried Sarah his wife
in the cave of the field of Machpelah,
before Mamre (that is, Hebron)
in the land of Canaan.
So the field and the cave that is in it
were deeded to Abraham
by the sons of Heth
as property for a burial place.”
‭‭Genesis‬ ‭23:1-20‬

After Sarah died, Abraham remarried,
and lived to be 275.

“His sons, Isaac and Ishmael,
buried him in the cave of Machpelah,
which is before Mamre, in the field of Ephron
the son of Zohar the Hittite,
the field which Abraham purchased
from the sons of Heth.
There Abraham was buried,
and Sarah his wife.
And it came to pass,
after the death of Abraham,
that God blessed his son Isaac.
And Isaac dwelt at Beer Lahai Roi.”
‭‭Genesis‬ ‭25:7-11‬

And many years later,
when Isaac’s son, Jacob, had died,
in the land of Egypt -Joseph his son,
who was second in command to Pharaoh,
commanded the physicians
to embalm his father, Israel
(The name given by God to Jacob).

It took 40 days
for the embalming to take place,
and 70 days to mourn him.
Then, Joseph spoke
to the household of Pharaoh, saying,
“If now I have found favor in your eyes,
please speak in the hearing of Pharaoh, saying,
‘My father made me swear, saying,
“Behold, I am dying; in my grave
which I dug for myself
in the land of Canaan,
there you shall bury me.”
Now therefore, please let me go up
and bury my father,
and I will come back.’ ”

And Pharaoh said,
“Go up and bury your father,
as he made you swear.”
So Joseph went up to bury his father;
and with him went up
all the servants of Pharaoh,
the elders of his house,
and all the elders of the land of Egypt,
as well as all the house of Joseph,
his brothers, and his father’s house.
Only their little ones, their flocks,
and their herds they left
in the land of Goshen.
And there went up with him
both chariots and horsemen,
and it was a very great gathering.
Then they came to the threshing floor of Atad,
which is beyond the Jordan,
and they mourned there with a great
and very solemn lamentation.
He observed seven days of mourning
for his father.
And when the inhabitants of the land,
the Canaanites, saw the mourning
at the threshing floor of Atad, they said,
“This is a deep mourning of the Egyptians.”
Therefore its name was called Abel Mizraim,
which is beyond the Jordan.

So his sons did for him
just as he had commanded them.
For his sons carried him to the land of Canaan,
and buried him in the cave
of the field of Machpelah,
before Mamre,
which Abraham bought
with the field from Ephron the Hittite
as property for a burial place.
And after he had buried his father,
Joseph returned to Egypt,
he and his brothers
and all who went up with him
to bury his father.”
‭‭Genesis‬ ‭50:1-14‬

I guess the transaction that took place
between Abraham and Ephron,
was a very successful one.

It was heard and known by everyone,
heavens' watchers and earthly humans -
Everyone knew 
that the children of Yahweh,
the Eternal God, 
​were buried there.

Sometimes I wonder why certain subjects
are shared in the Bible.
For instance, at the end of Genesis, Chapter 22,
after Abraham is about to sacrifice Isaac,
his only begotten son
(the only son promised by God)
the scripture says,
“Some time later Abraham was told,
“Milkah is also a mother; 
she has borne sons to your brother Nahor:
Uz the firstborn, Buz his brother,
Kemuel (the father of Aram),
Kesed, Hazo, Pildash, Jidlaph and Bethuel.”
Bethuel became the father
of Rebekah.
Milkah bore these eight sons
to Abraham’s brother Nahor.
His concubine, whose name was Reumah,
also had sons:
Tebah, Gaham, Tahash and Maakah.”
‭‭Genesis‬ ‭22:20-24
‬
Most would think -
why in the world is this information shared,
especially at this time, 
right after Isaac is spared?

The answer is...
Nothing in scripture
should be taken for granted!
Everything written is for a reason!
Why just need to dig in and find it.

For instance, in Genesis Chapter 6,
it is written,
“the sons of God saw
that the daughters of humans were beautiful,
and they married any of them they chose;
and
“There were giants on the earth
in those days, and also afterward,
when the sons of God 
came in to the daughters of men
and they bore children to them.
Those were the mighty men
who were of old, men of renown.”
‭‭Genesis‬ ‭6:2,4

Really.  We should learn to pay attention,
and believe the Holy Spirit
gave these words for a reason.

I could go on and on about passages
that people tend to skim over,
but have tons of significance
for what was then, what is now,
and what our future holds.

Like “the mystery revealed” in Ephesians 3:10,
“the armor of God” in Ephesians 6-10,
the “new earth and new Heaven” in Revelation 22,
and the words declared by Jesus,
“Do you suppose that I came 
to give peace on earth?
I tell you, not at all, but rather division.”
‭‭Luke‬ ‭12:51‬

This content is there for a reason!
We definitely should pay closer attention?

But this is not the poem
I am writing about today -
I am going down a rabbit hole.

But wait -
since the Lord gave me this thought -
let me just finish what I am saying.
So many "Christians"
(and many pastors and teachers)
fail to read, understand and share the truth in love.

And when they do, they often twist them.
Take for instance what Timothy says about women
remaining silent in ALL things.

Do you think that is really true?

Here I am today, sharing scripture with you.
Do you think the Lord has told me to shut my mouth?

I am a nobody - a woman, completely unworthy; 
teaching on the written Word of God -
spreading the gospel message for all to behold.

Do you believe God wants to shut my mouth
just because I am a woman?

I think not -
because I am only submitting to His call.

Perhaps when reading Timothy,
we should pay attention
to the “female” demonology
that had been ruling and reigning
in Timothy’s time and Timothy’s kingdom.
Ephesus had many female gods to choose from.

If we understood what was happening
in Timothy's culture and his mind,
then we would have wisdom to understand
what Timothy meant.
 
Timothy goes on to say
that they needed to get rid
of old wives tales and ungodliness.

Just as an aside, Timothy said,
“I do not permit a woman to teach
or to have authority over a man,
but to be in silence.”
‭‭I Timothy‬ ‭2:12

Notice the “I” that begins that sentence -
Timothy is the one making that decision
because he has personally experienced
the ungodly deception that has contaminated
the culture of his time.

He has felt the results of ultra feminism
through demonic acculturation.
Much like we see today -
but many lack the wisdom that he had.

Anyway, to understand, Genesis 22,
verses 22-24,
which explain the family of Nahor,
we have to go back to Genesis 11,
and then move forward to Genesis 24.

Genesis 11 says,
“This is the account of Terah’s family line.
Terah became the father
of Abram, Nahor and Haran.
And Haran became the father of Lot.
While his father Terah was still alive,
Haran died in Ur of the Chaldeans,
in the land of his birth.
Abram and Nahor both married.
The name of Abram’s wife was Sarai,
and the name of Nahor’s wife was Milkah;
she was the daughter of Haran,
the father of both Milkah and Iskah.
Terah took his son Abram,
his grandson Lot son of Haran,
and his daughter-in-law Sarai,
the wife of his son Abram,
and together they set out
from Ur of the Chaldeans to go to Canaan.
But when they came to Harran,
they settled there. Terah lived 205 years,
and he died in Harran.”
‭‭Genesis‬ ‭11:27-32‬

Nahor was Abraham’s brother,
who stayed in the land of Ur,
He married Milkah, his niece, Haran’s daughter.

Now we have to jump ahead,
to understand WHY
Genesis 22:22-24 is said.

Genesis 24 gives an account
of the bride that was chosen for Isaac -
after God allowed him to live -
after Abraham expressed his grand faith
by being willing to sacrifice
his only begotten son.
Abraham said to his servant,
“I will make you swear by the Lord,
the God of heaven and the God of the earth,
that you will not take a wife for my son
from the daughters of the Canaanites,
among whom I dwell; but you shall go
to my country and to my family,
and take a wife for my son Isaac.”
‭‭Genesis‬ ‭24:3-4‬

“And the servant said to him,
“Perhaps the woman will not be willing
to follow me to this land.
Must I take your son back to the land
from which you came from?”
‭‭Genesis‬ ‭24:5
‬
“But Abraham said to him,
Beware - that you do not take my son back there.
The Lord God of heaven,
who took me from my father’s house
and from the land of my family,
and who spoke to me
and swore to me, saying,
‘To your descendants I give this land,’
He will send His angel before you,
and you shall take a wife
for my son from there.
And if the woman is not willing
to follow you, then you will be released
from this oath;
only do not take my son back there.”
‭‭Genesis‬ ‭24:6-8‬

You see - God did not want Isaac
to go and choose a wife for him.
God had already chosen Rebekah.

If she responded, then she would be
the one he would marry and procreate with.

“Then the servant
took ten of his master’s camels
and departed, for all his master’s
goods were in his hand.
And he arose and went to Mesopotamia,
to the city of Nahor.”
‭‭Genesis‬ ‭24:10‬

Notice -
the land was named after him.
This is the same way
we got the land of Israel.

“Then he said, “O Lord
God of my master Abraham,
please give me success this day,
and show kindness
to my master Abraham.
Behold, here I stand
by the well of water,
and the daughters of the men
of the city are coming out to draw water.
Now let it be that
the young woman to whom I say,
‘Please let down your pitcher
that I may drink,’
and she says, ‘Drink, and I will also
give your camels a drink’ -
let her be the one You have appointed
for Your servant Isaac.”
Genesis 22:12-14

“And it happened,
before he had finished speaking,
that behold, Rebekah, 
who was born to Bethuel, son of Milcah,
the wife of Nahor, Abraham’s brother,
came out with her pitcher
on her shoulder.”
‭‭Genesis‬ ‭24:14-15
‬
“Then the man bowed down his head
and worshiped the Lord. And he said,
“Blessed be the Lord God
of my master Abraham,
who has not forsaken His mercy
and His truth toward my master.
As for me, being on the way,
the Lord led me to the house
of my master’s brethren.”
‭‭Genesis‬ ‭24:26-27‬

“Then Laban (Rebekah’s brother)
and Bethuel answered and said,
“The thing comes from the Lord;
we cannot speak to you either bad or good.
Here is Rebekah before you;
take her and go, and let her be
your master’s son’s wife,
as the Lord has spoken.”
‭‭Genesis‬ ‭24:50-51‬

“Now Isaac came from the way
of Beer Lahai Roi
(the place that Hagar had named)
for he dwelt in the South.
And Isaac went out to meditate
in the field in the evening;
and he lifted his eyes and looked,
and there, the camels were coming.
Then Rebekah lifted her eyes,
and when she saw Isaac
she dismounted from her camel;
for she had said to the servant,
“Who is this man
walking in the field to meet us?”
The servant said, “It is my master.”
So she took a veil and covered herself.
And the servant told Isaac
all the things that he had done.
Then Isaac brought her
into his mother Sarah’s tent;
and he took Rebekah
and she became his wife,
and he loved her.
So Isaac was comforted
after his mother’s death.”
‭‭Genesis‬ ‭24:62-67‬

The promised son
and the chosen virgin
would give birth to two sons -
twins named Esau and Jacob.

Only one son
would be fervent for the Lord.
Only one son
would wrestle with the angel of the Lord.
Only one son
would give birth to twelve more sons
who would sit on the Throne of God.

His name was Jacob,
before God gave him a new name -
the he became the land of Israel.
​

If you had to define love,
what would you say?
Would it include the word “sacrifice”
or “to trust and obey”?

When I first got married, at age 23,
I defined love totally different than I do today.

Love used to have a selfish motive -
it was totally about me.
But then I learned about love the hard way -
I experienced adultery.

I learned about love,
by overcoming hate.

I learned the power of repentance,
the power of forgiveness
and how to die to self.
I learned love was not easy.
It was all I could do to breath.
I had to focus on Christ,
and wait for him to provide the Way.

Eventually, the Lord gave me a new name.
Much like Abraham and Sarah, and Jacob
- after wrestling with God. 

Love is messy!
Especially when you don’t walk into a relationship
knowing what love really is.
Love is about endurance
even when you want to quit.

Love is not about a “dream boat”
or a “shining prince;”
Love is not about a possession
or “scoring a hot chick.”

Love is not about lust or romance
or buying a house with a picket fence;
Love is not about competition,
or proving who can be the best.

No. That’s not it!
That is not love at all.

Love is about commitment
and the journey between life and death.

Love is what Abraham does in Genesis 22.
Love is about faith in action,
trusting God all the way through!

The scripture says,
“Some time later God tested Abraham.
He said to him, “Abraham!”
and Abraham replied, “Here I am.”
God said, “Take your son, your only son,
whom you love - Isaac -
and go to the region of Moriah.
Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering
on a mountain I will show you.”

"Early the next morning Abraham got up
and loaded his donkey.
He took with him two of his servants
and his son Isaac.
When he had cut enough wood
for the burnt offering,
he set out for the place
God had told him about.
On the third day - Abraham looked up
and saw the place in the distance.
He said to his servants,
“Stay here with the donkey
while I and the boy go over there.
We will worship
and then we will come back to you.”
Abraham took the wood
for the burnt offering
and placed it on his son Isaac,
and he himself carried the fire
and the knife.
As the two of them went on together,
Isaac spoke up
and said “Father?”
“Yes, my son?” Abraham replied.
Isaac said,
“The fire and wood are here,”
but where is the lamb
for the burnt offering?”
Abraham answered,
“God himself will provide the lamb
for the burnt offering, my son.”
And the two of them went on together.
When they reached the place
God had told him about,
Abraham built an altar there
and arranged the wood on it.
He bound his son Isaac
and laid him on the altar,
on top of the wood.
Then he reached out his hand
and took the knife to slay his son.
But the angel of the Lord
called out to him from heaven,
“Abraham! Abraham!”
“Here I am,” he replied.
“Do not lay a hand on the boy,”
he said. “Do not do anything to him.
Now I know that you fear God,
because you have not withheld
from me your son, your only son.”
Abraham looked up
and there in a thicket
he saw a ram caught by its horns.
He went over and took the ram
and sacrificed it as a burnt offering
instead of his son.
So Abraham called that place
The Lord Will Provide.
And to this day it is said,
“On the mountain of the Lord
it will be provided.”
The angel of the Lord
called to Abraham from heaven
a second time and said,
“I swear by myself, declares the Lord,
that because you have done this
and have not withheld your son,
your only son, I will surely bless you
and make your descendants
as numerous as the stars in the sky
and as the sand on the seashore.
Your descendants will take possession
of the cities of their enemies,
and through your offspring
all nations on earth will be blessed,
because you have obeyed me.”
Then Abraham returned
to his servants, and they set off
together for Beersheba.
And Abraham stayed in Beersheba.”
‭‭Genesis‬ ‭22:1-19‬

It’s hard to believe
that true love is not about self at all -
but about suffering, sacrifice
and working your way through.

Dear friends, love comes from God.
Everyone who loves has been born of God
and knows God.
Whoever does not love, does not know God,
because God is love.
This is how God
showed his love among us:
He sent his one and only Son
into the world
that we might live through him.
This is love: not that we loved God,
but that he loved us and sent his Son
as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.
1 John

One day, God is going to call our name.
He is going to say, “
“Who do you say I am?”
He will know if you believe
He is the Son of Man.

Jesus said to his disciples,
“If anyone wants to come after Me,
he must deny himself
and take up his cross daily
and follow Me.”

You see, love is about total intimacy.
It requires the deepest vulnerabilities.
It requires to trust and obey
the Great I Am every step of the way!

“Love is patient and kind;
love does not envy or boast;
it is not arrogant or rude.
It does not insist on its own way;
it is not irritable or resentful;
it does not rejoice at wrongdoing,
but rejoices with the truth.”
“Love bears ALL things,
believes ALL things,
hopes ALL things,
endures ALL things.
Love NEVER ends.”
1 Corinthians 13:4-8

Jesus - He is the purest expression
of God’s perfect love.
Jesus - the ONLY WAY back to God.

I was going to move onto Genesis 22,
but the Lord would not let me -
the “Treaty at Beersheba” keeps tugging on my heart.
In my spirit, I feel like this oath is extremely significant,
maybe even having some great significance for today -
but I do not know why.

Google says,
Beersheba was deemed strategically important
due to its location with a reliable water supply
and at a major crossroads,
northwest to Hebron and Jerusalem,
east to the Dead Sea and al Karak,
south to Aqaba, west to Gaza
and southwest to Al-Auja and the border with Egypt.

Beersheba is in the Negev -
a desert region in southern Israel,
so how can a water source run through this land?

Google says,
The Beersheba Valley has been populated
for thousands of years, as it has available water,
which flows from the Hebron hills in the winter
and is stored underground in vast quantities.
The main river in Beersheba is Nahal Beersheva,
a wadi that floods in the winter.

So it appears most of the water runs underground,
but on the surface
it may not look like much is around.

The Desert of Beersheba -
is place that Hagar went
when she and Ishmael were sent out.

It is the place
that God opened Hagar eyes,
and suddenly she saw a well.

Beersheba, in Genesis 21, is also the place
where Abraham and Abimelek 
made an oath of protection.

Do you remember Abimelek,
the King of Gerar who took Sarai
with an intent to lie down
until God came to him, in a dream
and told him she was a married to Abraham,
and that he should not touch her at all!

Abimelech was mad.
He wondered why Abraham had lied -
and put him and his kingdom in a position
that went against Abraham’s Most High God.

Now in Genesis 21,
we see Abraham and Abimelech
having a conversation that sounds like this -

“Abimelech and Phicol,
the commander of his forces, said to Abraham,
“God is with you in everything you do.”
Now swear to me here before God
that you will not deal falsely with me
or my children or my descendants.
Show to me and the country
where you now reside as a foreigner
the same kindness I have shown to you.”

Abraham said, “I swear it.”
Then Abraham complained to Abimelek
about a well of water
that Abimelek’s servants had seized.

But Abimelek said,
“I don’t know who has done this.
You did not tell me,
and I heard about it only today.”

So Abraham brought sheep and cattle
and gave them to Abimelek,
and the two men made a treaty.
Abraham set apart
seven ewe lambs from the flock,
and Abimelek asked Abraham,
“What is the meaning
of these seven ewe lambs
you have set apart by themselves?”

He replied, “Accept these seven lambs
from my hand as a witness that I dug this well.”

So that place was called Beersheba,
because the two men swore an oath there.

After the treaty had been made at Beersheba,
Abimelek and Phicol, the commander of his forces
returned to the land of the Philistines.

Abraham planted a tamarisk tree in Beersheba,
and there he called on the name of the Lord, 
the Eternal God.

And Abraham stayed
in the land of the Philistines for a long time.”
‭‭Genesis‬ ‭21:22-34‬

Everything in scripture bleeds into today.
The River of Life runs through
the Valley of the Shadow of Death
even to this day.

An oath was made between a man of God,
and a king who feared him.
Abraham promised to remain kind
and not to falsely accuse Abimelech or his kingdom;
and in turn, Abimelech recognized Abraham
as the owner of the well -
which would prevent anyone else
from trying to make it their own. 

Seven ewe lambs were set apart
to make the oath good.
Seven - the number of perfection
and the completion of God.

“Then I saw a Lamb,
looking as if it had been slain,
standing at the center of the throne,
encircled by the four living creatures and the elders.
The Lamb had seven horns and seven eyes,
which are the seven spirits of God
sent out into all the earth.”
‭‭Revelation‬ ‭5:6‬

Jesus -
one Lamb with 7 horns and 7 eyes,
which are the 7 spirits of God
sent out into all the earth.

Jesus -
the well that was dug by God himself
that leads to the River of Life.

Jesus -
the oath that is made
between us and God.

If we believe that Jesus is Lord,
and recognize that his blood covers our sin
from the east to the west -
then we can be assured that God is just
and has prepared a place for us.

“Then God opened her eyes
and she saw a well of water.”
May He do the same for us.
‭‭Genesis‬ ‭21:19‬

Has anyone else ever felt
that the family dynamics in the book of Genesis 
are a bit dysfunctional?

I mean, really, sometimes when I read the Bible,
I feel like I am instantly teleported
into a Jerry Springer show.
Between the tasteless talk
between babies mommas,
and the secrets lives of incest and adultery,
and all the DNA tests to find out
who is the real daddy -
it’s all kind of fricken crazy!

Do you know what I mean?

I can’t even watch that show -
because it all about "this girl and that guy"
going to and fro!
 
But I have to be in the Bible.
I have to know every detail -
so that I can better understand
who I am and who is My creator is.

So - you may be wondering why.
Why is Cherie comparing Bible stories
to a tasteless talk show?

Well, the answer is
because I am currently reading about
the relationship between Sarah and Hagar;
or put in another way - 
the mother of God’s promised son
and the mother of Islam -
who gave birth to Isaac and Ishmael.

In a nutshell - this is how it goes -

It started with one man going on a journey.
God called Abram out of his hometown, Babylon,
and brought him into the land of Canaan,
the land of the giants.

Along the Way,
the Lord came to him and made many promises
through a covenant.

The promise included a son,
who would go on to father many nations.
But when Sarai was remained barren 
she offered her servant, Hagar, to Abram -
to have sex with him 
so that Hagar could give him
the child he desperately wanted.

But when Hagar was pregnant,
Sarai said to Abram (by the way, these were the names
they had before God transformed them) -
“You are responsible for the wrong I am suffering.
I put my slave in your arms,
and now that she is pregnant, she despises me.
May the Lord judge between you and me.”
Genesis 16:5

Well, Abram brushed aside the responsibility,
and said, “Your slave is in your hands,
do with her what you want.”
Genesis 16:6

So Sarai mistreated Hagar,
and then Hagar fled from her,
and ran into the desert.

But the angel of the Lord found Hagar there,
and said, “Hagar, slave of Sarai,
where have you come from,
and where are you going?”
And Hagar said, “I’m running away
from my mistress Sarai.”
Then the angel of the Lord told her,
“Go back to your mistress and submit to her.”
Genesis 16:8-9

Then the angel of the Lord said,
“I will increase your descendants
so much that they will be too numerous to count.”
You are now pregnant and you will give birth to a son.
You shall name him Ishmael
(meaning God Listens)
for the Lord has heard of your misery.
He will be a wild donkey of a man;
his hand will be against everyone
and everyone’s hand against him,
and he will live in hostility
toward all his brothers.”
Genesis 16:10-12

Hagar gave this name to the Lord
who spoke to her:
Beer Lahai Roi,
“You are the God who SEES me,”
for she said, “I have now seen
the One who sees me.”
‭‭Genesis‬ ‭16:13‬

Isn't that interesting.
The mother of "God Listens"
is the one who named the Lord,
"You are the One who Sees Me"

The mother of Islam saw God, and spoke to Him,
and she submitted herself to His will.

Why doesn’t Ishmael listen,
like his name says?

Perhaps it's because Ishmael was hurt?
Perhaps it's because he felt abandoned?
Perhaps it's because he was mistreated?
He probably felt like Cain -
and wondered why God did not choose him.

In the story, Hagar listened.
She returned to Sarai to pledge her allegiance
and endure the rest of her submission.
Then, when Abram was 99 years old,
and Ishmael was age 13 -
the Lord appeared to Abram again
and gave him and Sarai new names.
Sarah was 89.

The Lord said,
“I am God Almighty;
walk before me faithfully and be blameless.
Then I will make my covenant
between me and you 
and will greatly increase your numbers.”
Genesis 17:1-2

Then the Lord told Abraham
to circumcise the flesh of every male child
who is 8 days old.
He said this act would happen
for all the generations to come,
including those born in his household
and those purchased, and in his possession.
‭‭Genesis‬ ‭17

The Lord also reminded Abraham 
that he would have a son -
the son that He promised him
before he slept Sarah's servant.
When the Lord spoke these words
“Abraham fell facedown;
he laughed and said to himself,
“Will a son be born to a man 100 years old?
Will Sarah bear a child at the age of 90?”
And Abraham said to God,
“If only Ishmael might live under your blessing!”

Then God said,
“Yes, but your wife Sarah will bear you a son,
and you will call him Isaac
(Isaac means the one who rejoices).
I will establish my covenant with him
as an everlasting covenant
for his descendants after him.
And as for Ishmael, I have heard you:
I will surely bless him; I will make him fruitful
and will greatly increase his numbers.
He will be the father of twelve rulers,
and I will make him into a great nation.
But my covenant I will establish with Isaac,
whom Sarah will bear to you
by this time next year.
And when the Lord had finished
speaking with Abraham,
God went up from him.”
‭‭Genesis‬ ‭17:17-22‬

Now, in Genesis Chapter 21,
after Isaac was weaned,
Abraham threw a feast for him.
But Sarah saw Ishmael mocking.

So Sarah said to Abraham,
“Get rid of that slave woman and her son,
for that woman’s son
will never share in the inheritance
with my son Isaac.”

I can only imagine
that Abraham was thinking,
“What the hell have I done?”

Abraham took matters into his own hands
when he took Sarah's servant into his bed.
Abraham and Sarah were both impatient,
and did not put their full trust in God.

So they endured the consequences
of their man-made choices.
And that is why it sounds like the Jerry Springer show.

But Abraham had come to love Ishmael.
If he didn’t, he would not have asked
the Lord to bless him.

God reassured him.

He said to Abraham,
“Do not be so distressed
about the boy and your slave woman.
Listen to whatever Sarah tells you,
because it is through Isaac
that your offspring will be reckoned.”
Genesis 21:12

LOL!
First Sarai gave bad advice,
and told Abram to sleep with her servant.
Now God tells Abraham to listen to Sarah,
and do whatever she says.

Abraham now trusted God,
so he lined up his will with what God said -
"Early the next morning 
Abraham took some food and a skin of water
and gave them to Hagar.
He set them on her shoulders
and then sent her off with the boy.
She went on her way and wandered
in the Desert of Beersheba.
When the water in the skin was gone,
she put the boy under one of the bushes.
Then she went off and sat down
about a bowshot away,
for she thought,
“I cannot watch the boy die.”
And as she sat there, she began to sob.
God heard the boy crying,
and the angel of God called to Hagar
from heaven and said to her,
“What is the matter, Hagar?
Do not be afraid;
God has heard the boy crying as he lies there.
Lift the boy up and take him by the hand,
for I will make him into a great nation.”
Then God opened her eyes
and she saw a well of water.
So she went and filled the skin with water
and gave the boy a drink.
God was with the boy as he grew up.
He lived in the desert and became an archer.
While he was living in the Desert of Paran,
his mother got a wife for him from Egypt.”
‭‭Genesis‬ ‭21:8-21‬

Obviously, Hagar and Ishmael
made their way down
from the Desert of Beersheba
(the Negev in Southern Israel)
to the Desert of Paran
(from the Gulf of Aqaba to the southern shore
of the Dead Sea).

Perhaps Hagar was trying to return
to the land from where she was taken?
The scripture says she was an Egyptian,
and she got Ishmael a wife from Egypt.
I do not know.

So you may be wondering why?

Why did God send His promise
through Isaac and not Ishmael?
The answer is “I do not know.”
Why did God prefer the gift from Abel,
instead of his brother Cain?
Perhaps it has nothing to do with the gift at all,
but the heart of the person that beats inside?
 But who am I to question God
the author and finisher of creation?
All I can say is this -
anyone who believes in Jesus,
as the only begotten Son of God,
is grafted into the tree of life
that grows on the Mountain of Zion.

The Bible says so.

John 3:16 says,
“For God so loved the world
that he gave his one and only Son,
that whoever believes in him
shall not perish but have eternal life.”

You see, there is an order
and a lineage to Jesus.
You can read all about it
in Matthew, Chapter One -
or you can start at the beginning in Genesis One.

The physical seed starts with Adam
and goes from Seth to Noah and Shem to Abram -
upon which he was given a new name.
Abraham sent the seed through Isaac,
the promised son given by God,
and Abraham was willing to sacrifice him,
just like he did with his first son, Ishmael.

The seed moved onto Jacob,
who took the birthright from his older twin.
Then deceptive Jacob wrestled
with the Angel of the Lord, and won
(Israel means Triumphant with God).

Isreal had 12 sons
(just like parallel Ishmael did)
and one was named Judah.

From the tribe of Judah, King David was born,
and from his line Joseph came.

Joseph was scheduled to marry Mary,
the virgin woman
who conceived God's Son by the Holy Spirit,
without intercourse.

You see,
Jesus is the only begotten Son,
fully God and fully human.
The Word of God was implanted
into a virgin woman, betrothed to Joseph,
by God's Holy Spirit.

At first, Joseph did not believe.
He probably responded much like you and me!

“But after Joseph had considered this,
an angel of the Lord
appeared to him in a dream and said,
“Joseph son of David, do not be afraid
to take Mary home as your wife,
because what is conceived in her
is from the Holy Spirit.
She will give birth to a son,
and you are to give him  the name Jesus,
because he will save 
his people from their sins.”
Matthew 1:20-21

All this took place
to fulfill what the Lord had said
through the prophet Isaiah,
“The virgin will conceive
and give birth to a son,
and they will call him Immanuel”
(which means “God with us”).
When Joseph woke up,
he did what the angel of the Lord
had commanded him
and took Mary home as his wife.
But he did not consummate their marriage
until she gave birth to a son.
And he gave him the name Jesus.”
‭‭Matthew‬ ‭1:21-25

Can't you see?
It’s always been about the gene of faith.

We are saved by God’s grace.
We are saved by the blood of Christ.

God’s Word has always been good -
just like in the days of Abraham.

My prayer is that the Jewish people
would hear this message
and know that their Messiah has come.

If you are Jewish, please read Romans 11 -
and read what Paul said to the remnant of Israel.
“Israel has experienced a hardening
in part until the full number
of the Gentiles has come in,
and in this way all Israel will be saved.
As it is written:
“The deliverer will come from Zion;
he will turn godlessness
away from Jacob.
And this is my covenant with them
when I take away their sins.”
Romans 11:25-27

And to the descendants of Ishmael -
I am genuinely sorry for your suffering.
I am sorry that you felt unwanted.
It had to be hard to wander
aimlessly through the desert.
It's truly something we have all had to do.

But the Lord can be your refuge.
He has offered a blessing just for you.

The written Word of God says that
“Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord
will be saved.”
Romans 10:13

Anyone reading this poem -
Jew or Gentile, Man or Woman,
Slave or Free -
All you have to do is believe -
call out to God and repent for your sin.

Now go.  Get off you mat and spread the good news.
Jesus is coming back soon.

I have heard the Lord whisper in my ear,
“I am wringing out My remnant
for one drop of My blood 
covers a multitude of sin.”

None of us are righteous.
Not one person!
It is only by the blood of Jesus,
that we are healed.

I love you.

Man or woman-
if your ears are perked to the Spirit of God,
and you hear this message for what it is -
do not scoff it off
because it is delivered by a woman of God.
I pray the Lord will use this poem
to touch anyone that He wants!
It is time for the church to grow into maturity
and keep Jesus as the main thing.

​There is something to say
about God’s perfect timing.
It’s totally grand and mesmerizing -
and it’s all about keeping Jesus
as the main thing!

God sets the stage
and creates the conditions
to unfold ALL of His plans
on earth and in Heaven.

In his letter to the Ephesians,
Paul explained the great mystery of God.

He said,
“God’s intent was that now, through the church,
the manifold wisdom of God
should be made known
to the rulers and authorities
in the heavenly realms,
according to his eternal purpose
that he accomplished in Christ Jesus.
In him and through faith in him
we may approach God
with freedom and confidence.”
‭‭Ephesians‬ ‭3:10-12‬

You see - God is sovereign.
Paul understood that God created
both the earth and the heavens.
Paul did not operate under deception
by believing that God only cared about humans.
He has many sons in physical and the spiritual realms.

God has many sons -
some are angels and some are humans
(men and women)
Some rebel and go against Him,
and some bow down and desire to obey him.

It’s totally a heart condition.

But there Is only One Son who fully reflects Him -
and that is Jesus.

Jesus is God’s beloved Son -
the impregnation of God's conception 
placed into a virgin woman
by God’s Holy Spirit.

The only Son -
fully God and fully human.
The only Son -
fully Lamb and fully Lion.

And through this Son -
who is God’s fullest expression -
the Word of God expresses God's character -
God's love and compassion and his wrath and his anger.

You see - God is sovereign.
Some things are accepted and some are rejected,
but all things are possible through Him -
because He holds ALL wisdom.

And we must have faith to believe
that God has perfect timing,
and a perfect plan -
even if we can't comprehend.

“And we know that in all things
God works for the good of those who love him,
who have been called according to his purpose.
For those God foreknew he also predestined
to be conformed to the image of his Son,
that he might be the firstborn
among many brothers and sisters
(men and women)
And those he predestined, he also called;
those he called, he also justified;
those he justified, he also glorified.”
‭‭Romans‬ ‭8:28-30‬

God carried out his plan 
through Abram and Sarai.
He predestined Abram and Sarai to be man and wife,
then He moved them out of Chaldea,
and brought them into Syria.
Then God called to Abram 
and told him to go to the promised land,
the land of Canaan -
where they would give birth to a son promised to them.
And that is where they were justified
and given a new name:
Abraham and Sarah.

Why Canaan?
Could this have been the land of where the giants lived?
The place where the rebellious sons of God inhabited -
the Valley of the Rephaim?

All things have a reason -
even when we can’t explain it.
And this is where Abraham landed -
when he then met the Angel of the Lord
and Melchizedek, the king of Salem
and a priest of God Most High. 

Listen in -
“Now the Lord was gracious to Sarah
as he had said,
and the Lord did for Sarah what he had promised.”
“Sarah became pregnant and bore a son to Abraham
in his old age, at the very time God had promised him.”

God always keeps His Word when He gives it.

“Abraham gave the name Isaac
to the son Sarah bore him.”

Do you remember what God told Abram
when He renamed him Abraham?

In Genesis 17:18-21, God said, 
“Your wife Sarah will indeed bear you a son,
and you are to name him Isaac.
I will establish My covenant with him
as an everlasting covenant
for his descendants after him.
As for Ishmael, I have heard you,
and I will surely bless him;
I will make him fruitful and multiply him greatly.
He will become the father of twelve rulers,
and I will make him into a great nation.
But I will establish My covenant with Isaac,
whom Sarah will bear to you at this time next year.”

And then, one year later,
when Abraham was 100 years old,
Sarah bore a son -
the expression of God’s promise,
and named him Isaac.

Isaac means laughter.
Even when we are shocked -
God always fulfills His promise.

Sarah said,
“God has brought me laughter,
and everyone who hears
about this will laugh with me.”
And she added,
“Who would have said to Abraham
that Sarah would nurse children?
Yet I have borne him a son
in his old age.”
‭‭Genesis‬ ‭21:6-7

“When Isaac was 8 days old,
Abraham circumcised him,
as God commanded him.”
Genesis 21:4

One year prior, God said to Abraham
“You must keep My covenant -
you and your descendants in the generations after you.
This is My covenant with you 
and your descendants after you, which you are to keep:
Every male among you must be circumcised.
You are to circumcise the flesh of your foreskin,
and this will be a sign of the covenant
between Me and you.
Generation after generation,
every male must be circumcised 
when he is eight days old,
including those born in your household
and those purchased from a foreigner
even those who are not your offspring.
Whether they are born
in your household or purchased,
they must be circumcised.
My covenant in your flesh
will be an everlasting covenant.
But if any male is not circumcised,
he will be cut off from his people;
he has broken My covenant.”
Genesis 17:9-14

“The child grew and was weaned,
and on the day Isaac was weaned
Abraham held a great feast.”
Genesis 21:8

Sisters and brothers in Christ -
this is the message to the church -
the sacrificial body of Christ.
It’s time to grow up!

God is patiently waiting for our maturity.
He is waiting for us to forsake man-made traditions
and doctrines of the wind.

He is waiting for us to keep Jesus
as the main thing.

When will we move on
from what we already know
about the essential doctrines of grace
and not go backwards
into man made rules and regulations
such as those contained in the Mosaic Laws?

When will we stop arguing amongst ourselves
about who is good and who is not?
None of us are just!  Not one of us is right.

When will we stop debating over
who can teach and who can not?
When will we stop squabbling over
who can preach and who can not?

When will we stop making excuses
about why we can not share the Word of God
with anyone that we want?

Do you think in Heaven
the angels stop for one minute
debating over who can worship God
and who can not?

My God -
how far from the truth of God have we come?
Why do people operate in such foolishness?
 
I believe God is eager
for us to identify apostate teachings
when we encounter them.
For there are many wolves among sheep
trying to distract us.

“For though by this time
we ought to be teachers,
we need someone to teach us again -
the basic principles of the oracles of God.
We need milk, not solid food,
for everyone who lives on milk is unskilled
in the word of righteousness,
since he is a child.
But solid food is for the mature,
for those who have
their powers of discernment
trained by constant practice
to distinguish good from evil."
Hebrews 5:12-14

“Then we will no longer be infants,
tossed back and forth by the waves,
and blown here and there
by every wind of teaching
and by the cunning and craftiness
of people in their deceitful scheming.
Instead, speaking the truth in love,
we will grow to become in every respect
the mature body of him
who is the head, that is, Christ.
From him the whole body,
joined and held together
by every supporting ligament,
grows and builds itself up in love,
as each part does its work.”
‭‭Ephesians‬ ‭4:14-16‬

Jesus said,
“This is how we should pray:
“Our Father in heaven
(The father of all creation
currently abides on His throne
in the heavenly realm),
hallowed be your name
(God is omnipresent, omnipotent
and purely set apart
as Ultimate Holiness),
your kingdom come
(Bring Heaven down
into the earth realm -
not the other way around),
your will be done
(God’s will not ours -
we must suppress the flesh
through our love for Him)
on earth as it is in heaven
(while we walk through this valley
of the shadow of death).
Give us today our daily bread
(Jesus is the bread of life)
And forgive us our debts
(Through the blood of Christ)
as we also have forgiven our debtors
(Because He first loved us)
And lead us not into temptation
(Desires of our flesh)
but deliver us from the evil one
(Because that is how Satan tempts us).
‭‭Matthew‬ ‭6:9-13‬

“The child grew and was weaned,
and on the day Isaac was weaned
Abraham held a great feast.”

The seed of the women
that God promised to us
shall crush the head of the serpent.
Genesis 3:15

Through grace alone
by faith alone in Christ alone -
the body of Christ will grow into maturity
that reflects the will of God.

And someday, when we are fully weaned,
our Father in Heaven
will throw a great feast!

Man or woman-
if your ears are perked to the Spirit of God,
and you hear this message for what it is -
do not scoff it off
because it is delivered by a woman of God.
I pray the Lord will use this poem
to touch anyone that He wants!

“Blessed is EVERYONE
​who will eat bread
in the kingdom of God!”
Luke 14:15