I was thinking today, at the eve of the Fourth of July how many men and women have sacrificed themselves for our freedom. It seems fitting that tomorrow we will be dealing with Genesis 22. From the first sacrifice, when God sacrificed an animal for skins to cover the nakedness of Adam and Eve, we have had sacrifice in this world. Adam and Eve’s one act of disobedience has affected us from that time on. We will see sacrifices to cut covenant, sacrifices to God, sacrifices to atone for sins, sacrifices to give thanks, and satan’s imitation – sacrifices to idols.

Let’s take Passover – where a lamb was required for a household (or two if the families were small). The lamb, innocent – young -sweet – pure, was brought into the house for a period of days and carefully examined for defects. In this period of time bonding with the lamb probably occurred (think of a puppy or a cat in a house with kids). At the time of the sacrifice many tears were probably shed for the life of this lamb, and people realized the deadly consequences of their sins – sin kills.

For a sin offering, the person who sinned laid his hands on the head of the animal and participated in the sacrifice, his hands were bloodied by the death of the animal, and again it was brought home that sin kills.

On the day of atonement, when the priest went into the Holy of Holies, again a sacrifice was required, and blood shed. The sad thing about all the above sacrifices is that they had to be repeated over and over because the shed blood of an animal was a temporary covering, it did not completely atone for the sins we committed.

Then God did a remarkable thing, He sent His only son, pure, unblemished, holy, sin-free, to die for our sins and make a complete atonement for our sins. His death perfectly covered our sins, and if we accept His gift, lovingly given, his sacrifice, then we are righteous IN CHRIST JESUS. It is not something we did on our own, it is something He did for us.

The death of Jesus was also a bloody process. He was beaten until His skin hung off of His back, a crown of thorns on His head, nails piercing His hands and feet, the spear piercing His side. He was bruised beyond recognition. And it is brought home to us that He was innocent and died for us, for me, for you.

In Genesis 22 we are going to see a picture of the sacrifice to come with Isaac and Abraham, when Abraham is told to take his son, his only son (no mention of Ishmael), and offer him as a sacrifice. We will see the substitutionary offering presented, just as Jesus was the substitutionary offering for us.

One of our church members spoke on this chapter and he presented an image that has stuck in my mind. He walked up to the altar with a hunter’s knife and a sharpening stone, and we could hear the scraping of the knife blade on the stone. He spoke about how a sharp knife would hurt less when you were cutting into something – and that Abraham must have walked up that mountain carefully sharpening his knife, so that no rough edge would cause unnecessary pain. I am glad that the outcome of Chapter 22 did not entail the death of Isaac, and I am also grateful that there was a resurrection, for without resurrection the sacrifice of Jesus would have been for nought.

I thank God for loving us so much, and tomorrow I will start covering Genesis 22.

Heather

Oh my goodness, a thought crossed my mind today that stopped me in my tracks.

Psalm 23:6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life; and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever.

Ok, if I am not feeling goodness and mercy, should I maybe stop and turn around, repent of what is keeping me from feeling goodness and mercy. To repent means to make a 180 degree turn and go in the opposite direction from what takes me from feeling goodness and mercy.

Knock me over with a feather!

Heather

Remember, on the road to Emmaus, Jesus talked with a few disciples and opened up the scriptures to them. The scriptures in those days was what we call the Old Testament – because the books of the New Testament were not written yet. Jesus talked about where the Messiah was pictured in the Old Testament. We have seen some of these places, but one of the most obvious ones is Isaac and Abraham. Today, we are finally going to see God’s promise come true for Abraham and Sarah. After many long years of being childless, of them being too old to, in the natural, bear children, Sarah will hold a son in her arms. This will be a natural born son, not one with an Egyptian maid. It is the son God promised. Sometimes we get impatient when God promises us something and it doesn’t immediately manifest. God promised Abraham a son 25 years ago, and it is just now that this child will be born.  There is often a gap between the promise and the fulfillment of the promise. God seems to take longer than we would like, but we have to remember that God’s sense of timing is not our sense of timing – and He has many things to coordinate.

We need to wait by faith. That little sentence packs a powerful punch for me, because I am not good at waiting by faith. As the old TV commercial says, “I want my Maypo and I want it now!”. So often I stamp my foot and tell God, “I want this to happen now!” Yet, now is not always the right time for something to happen. I have to learn to trust and have faith that God will make things happen in the right time.

ISAAC in Hebrew means Laughter. Remember Sarah and Abraham both laughed with joy when God gave them this promise, even though Sarah denied that she was laughing – God heard her. Just like when Jesus and John the Baptist were born, God gave the name to the child, and the parents obeyed that instruction.

Genesis 21

God gives Sarah her child. Genesis 21:2 “For Sarah conceived and bore Abraham a son in his old age, at the set time of which God had spoken to him.”

Notice, she bore Isaac at the SET TIME – so much of prophesy in the Old Testament is based on a number of years, a number of generations, and if Isaac had been born a few years earlier, or later, then the timing of the prophesies would have been off. God knows what is best and has things all planned out.

Abraham names his son Isaac, and as the covenant stated, he circumcised Isaac when Isaac was 8 days old.  Abraham was 100 years old. (Note, Abraham will, after Sarah dies, marry again and have other offspring. What God did was not a one-time thing, he renewed Abraham completely).  And Sarah finally comes clean about her laughing in verse 6 “And Sarah said, “God has made me laugh, and all who hear will laugh with me.”

Now we are going to see a problem that Abraham will face, and he will do better this time – he will take his problem to God instead of acting on impulse. Just like with us, God is teaching Abraham gradually to rely on Him, and Abraham is learning those lessons. Our mistakes and missing of the mark of God can have a positive outcome if we learn from them, and change our future behavior.

We are going to see in verse 8 that Isaac is to be weaned, and a great feast occurs when that happens. In a spiritual sense it is like Isaac is moving from the milk of the word to the meat of the word. Sarah watched Ishmael (Hagar’s son), scoffing. At this time Ishmael would have been about 17, and we will see that he will become the father of the Arab nations.

We are going to see that often Abraham is torn because he sees Ishmael as his firstborn son – something that God does not see. He is partial to Ishmael and wishes that he could claim some of the same blessings that Isaac receives, but God points out that it is Isaac that is the son of promise. Anyway, Sarah sees Ishmael’s mocking of her natural born son and she tells Abraham to cast out Hagar (this bondwoman and her son), for Ishmael shall not be a heir with MY son, namely with Isaac.

Hold on a bit and remember some history. Who suggested that Hagar (the bondservant brought from Egypt – the world), marry her husband and have a child – to help God produce the offspring? Sarah. Who lived with Hagar and Ishmael for 17 years until her son was born? Sarah. Isn’t that just like us, we ask God something, we settle for something that we decide in our own strength, and we then see the negative fruit of the decision. Then we react to the negative situation with another impulsive decision, and each time we dig a deeper hole, create a new problem. We spend our lives walking around reacting, rather than acting. We are going to see tremendous growth in Abraham because he takes the problem to God BEFORE he acts. All too often I act, then take the problem to God. I am learning to reverse this, but it is tough.

God will give Abraham good advice, even though Abraham was displeased at Sarah’s request because he loved Ishmael. God says, Genesis 21:12 (a prophesy about Ishmael), “But God said to Abraham, “Do not let it be displeasing in your sight because of the lad or because of your bondswoman.” (notice God does not call Hagar Abraham’s wife) “Whatever Sarah has said to you, listen to her voice; for in Isaac your seed shall be called. Yet I will also make a nation of the son of the bondwoman, because he is your seed.”

So God instructs Abraham to listen to Sarah, and yet he promises to make a nation from Ishmael. God honored Abraham, and unfortunately those from the seed of Ishmael are giving Israel grief to this day, and impacting on many other countries of the world. I am certain that was not God’s best for Abraham, but God still honored Abraham and kept the word of His (God’s) covenant.

Abraham again believes and obeys God. He gets up EARLY (how often I wait to obey and do not do it immediately – Abraham obeyed immediately and really trusted that God would provide for Hagar and Ishmael). He gives her bread and a skin of water, and also gives Hagar the boy and sends her away.  Considering how rich Abraham is it is surprising that all he gives them is bread and water – perhaps this is a sign of how much he trusts God, or that all we need is the bread of life (Jesus) and the water of the word. I do not know why, but part of me is surprised that he did not give her some cattle, or some riches to tide her over. Hagar and Ishmael leave and wander in the wilderness of Beersheba. It was a dry and rocky desert area.

BEERSHEBA means well of the seven fold oath.We will see this well in other places in the old Testament – Abraham, Hagar, Isaac, Elisha among others will tarry by this well, and oaths will be made.

Anyway, Hagar and Ishmael are in a tough situation. Their waterskins are empty, and Hagar is sure that she and her son will die. She puts her son (17 years old) under a shrub and sits across from him at a distance, saying to herself. Verse 16 “Let me not see the death of the boy.” Hagar lifts up her voice and weeps.

What I find interesting is that in verse 17 it says that “God heard the voice of the lad.” What interests and puzzles me is why, if Hagar is the one lifting up her voice and weeping, is it the lad that God hears. Perhaps the promise is to the Lad, to Ishmael. Or perhaps it is to let us know that God hears our cries, even when they are not apparent outwardly. Whatever the reason God will come to the aid of Hagar and Ishmael.

We, as Christians, sometimes feel that we belong to an exclusive club, that God will speak to us, and we will then dispense His words of wisdom. But here we will see that God also speaks to pagans, if they choose to listen to what He says. And their lives will be changed by obeying God.

In Verse 17, the angel of God called out to Hagar and asks her what ailed her. Do you think that God didn’t know what ailed Hagar? He knew, but sometimes God wants us to articulate our problem, to bring it to Him, so that we know what we need. Sometimes when I pray to God about a situation, and then pray some more at a later time, the facts of the situation become clearer to me. God says something to Hagar that I often need to hear, and that He says to many in the Bible and today, “FEAR NOT”. Oh how easy it is for me to sink into massive fear, to wonder what is happening. To let circumstances guide my emotions. But God puts a stop to that with two simple words, FEAR NOT.

The angel (it is not a capital “A” in angel, so it is not a pre-incarnate visitation from Christ, but just an angel). And the angel assures Hagar that “God has heard the voice of the lad where he is.” I find that comforting – God is not expecting Ishmael, or us, to go searching for Him when we need help, He hears us where we are. He found us when we were filled with sin, if we are in despair He finds us. Of course, He will not let us stay in those places, He will help us to move from our points of despair, but He finds us.

God instructs Hagar to lift up the lad and hold him for God will make him a great nation. We know that God keeps his word, and He had already told Hagar that promise in Genesis 16:10 that this would happen, but Hagar, like most of us, forgets the promises of God when we find ourselves in a tough situation. God reminded her of that previous promise and then Genesis 21:19-21 Then God opened her eyes and she saw a well of water. And she went and filled the skin with water, and gave the lad a drink. So God was with the lad; and he grew and dwelt in the wilderness and became an archer. He dwelt in the Wilderness of Paran and his mother took a wife for him from the land of Egypt.

PARAN means beauty or glory, and alas, Hagar finds a wife for Ishmael from Egypt. It was also prophesied by God in chapter 16 that he would be a wildman (lives in the wilderness of Paran), and his hand shall be against every man.

We can really see many ways Isaac is like Jesus – here are a few 1) a product of a miracle (Jesus was born of a virgin, Sarah was very old) 2) He was part of the seed promised in Genesis 3, 3) there was an interval between the promises – Sarah waited many years for the birth of Isaac, It was 4000 years before the promise to Eve occurred. 4) there was an annunciation of the promised birth. 5) the name of the child was given before birth, 6) they two boys are their father’s delight – God and Abraham, and 7) they never left the land of Israel.

 Genesis 21:22-34

You know, if someone came to me and told a lie, was caught in the lie, I would be dubious about making a covenant with them – although God was with Abraham, so maybe Abimelech felt that it was safe because of God.

I love the words that begin verse 22 “And it came to pass”, I know that it means that it happened, but it also has the added meaning that it will pass, not to stay.

Abimelech knew that God was with Abraham in all that he did, so he wanted to make sure of Abraham and asks Abraham in verse 23 “Now therefore, swear to me by God that you will not deal falsely with me, with my offspring, or with my posterity; but that according to the kindness that I have done to you, you will do to me and to the land in which you have dwelt.”

I know that it is something that we often do, we promise, we swear something. We have to be careful what we swear and promise, for God will hold us to our word. Jesus tells people to let their yes be yes, their no be no, not to swear a vow. Abraham swears what Abimelech asked him to promise, and we will see that this area will be preserved, even in the end time days.  This area is an area south of the Gaza strip.

Abraham will then rebuke Abimelech because of a well of water that Abimelech’s servants seized. Abimelech was not aware of this dispute over the well of water. Remember this is an arid land and water was a commodity that was as precious as gold for a shepherd with his flocks.

They cut covenant and then Abraham gives Abimelech 7 ewe lambs as a witness that Abraham had dug the well. He calls the place Beersheba – (means well of the oath, or well of the seven), and we will see that this is oath number two – Hagar had been by this well previously. Abimelech leaves with his commander to the land of the PHILISTINES – does that name ring a bell? Oh, Abraham, before you swore an oath, you should have asked God first. He didn’t.

Here, we learn a new name of God. in verse 33 “Then Abraham planted a tamarisk tree in Beersheba, and there called on the name of the LORD, the Everlasting God.” (EL OLAM) Abraham will stay in the land of the Philistines many days.

I am posting this today because I really can’t wait to get to chapter 22, my heart is full over all that I want to share with that chapter and I want to take time to write it out to the best of my ability.

I have to tell you that much that I share comes from many sources, it is not just my own thoughts, but teachings that I have heard or read over the years, notes in the margin of my Bible form many sources, notes from Bible studies, my memory, and what God shares with me as I read and study. I am so grateful that you are accompanying me on my journey. A lot of why I type out these notes is to more fully put the ideas in my mind by dwelling on them. I thank you for being a blessing to me and allowing me to write on these things.

Hoping you are having a blessed day. Jim has taken the kids fishing, I am hoping he catches bluefish, porgies have too many bones to my liking. But then again, I am happy with any fish, and it gives the kids such pleasure to bring fish home. Praying they have a fun time. For me, I am thrilled, I get a day or so of precious alone time – a rare commodity for me. I am hoping to spend a lot of quality time with God, uninterrupted by life issues of kids or husband.

Heather

Katherine came back from camp, she had some high adventure. The camp was near a town that got flooded out, and she talked about one group of kids having to evacuate their cabin, wade across waist high water and come to another cabin. In fact, at one point I called the camp when I saw on the news that in a nearby town a 15 year old girl was killed in a house that was swept away. Roads were still closed when we drove to pick Katherine up this morning. The floods here in the east were incredible.

 Because it was an environmental camp they did all the outdoor activities even in the rain. She is happy, proud of surviving and tired. I am glad she is home. For awhile I was thinking, because of all the rain we had, 11 inches in two days, that she might be building an ark and collecting species two by two as her environmental activity.

Are you ready for what blew me away yesterday from Pastor Don Moore’s Friday Bible study?

Isaiah 41:15-16 Behold, I will make you into a new threshing sledge with sharp teeth; you shall thresh the mountains and beat them small, and make the hills like chaff. You shall winnow them, the wind shall carry them away, and the whirlwind shall scatter them; you shall rejoice in the LORD, and glory in the Holy One of Israel.

At times mountains are considered to be problems in life – remember that Jesus told us to speak to the mountain, and it will be removed and cast into the sea. We are all in some phase of our ministry. It could be a beginning phase or it could be pretty finalized. And every step of our path we will at times encounter mountains, obstacles. But we have God and the Holy Spirit to help us with our challenges.

A wheat berry is first beaten to loosen the chaff. (That is like the problems, the challenges we face, and the hurts). Then comes the wind to carry away the chaff. Often in the Bible the wind is the Holy Spirit, or God breathing life into something – like when God breathed life into Adam. So when we have our problems that cause bruising and hurting, God comes in and breaths life to us, blowing away the chaff. (Heather’s note: that in itself is cool).

But remember what Jesus talked about in John 12:24 Most assuredly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies it produces much grain.

Since we are likened to kernels of wheat, we must die to ourselves, become the servant that Jesus tells us to become, and then we can be fruitful, producing much grain.Jesus died to His self, and His sacrificial death produced the fruit of our forgiveness and our becoming the Body of Christ.  In Acts, the Holy Spirit comes as a wind and in John chapter 20 verse 22 Jesus breathes on the disciples so that they could receive the Holy Spirit. So when the wind comes, it blows away what is not of God, and the kernel falls to the ground, and produces much fruit with the help of the Holy Spirit.

Isaiah 41:17 – 20 talks about the poor and needy that seek water. They are thirsty, and God will hear them. And another great promise Isaiah 41:17-19 The poor and needy seek water, but there is none, their tongues fail for thirst. I, the LORD, will hear them; I, the God of Israel, will not forsake them. I will open rivers in desolate heights and fountains in the midst of the valleys; I will make the wilderness a pool of water, and the dry land springs of water. I will plant in the wilderness the cedar and the acacia tree, the myrtle and the oil tree; and the box tree together. That they may see and know, and consider and understand together, that the hand of the LORD has done this, and the Holy One of Israel has created it.

There are many trees mentioned here, and Pastor Don said that even the kinds of trees had meaning, but he didn’t go into that. I was trying hard to find out some of the meanings and could only find a few. Cedar is purification, acacia comes from a root that means pierce, scourge, oil is the olive oil tree – and that is anointing and the olive tree also represents Israel, Cypress is noble, stable, material for the temple. Pine means run, dash and gallop. Box is blessed, happy, walking straight. But I am not certain about them all

What an abundant promise, and we will see rivers of living water coming from the throne of God, and the tree of life for the healing of nations in Revelation.

In the mid 90′s there was a misinterpretation of the scriptures, where everywhere that the word “water” was used, it was thought to be the Holy Spirit. While water can symbolize the Holy Spirit, it is also water. God has many levels of meaning in each passage of scripture. During this period there were many movements of the Holy Spirit, and people started looking for obvious signs that the Holy Spirit was there, so you had the laughing churches, barking churches, gold dust, etc. It is true that sometimes these signs and wonders would happen, but we cannot forget that satan can imitate anything that God does. We have to realize that whenever a miracle or effect happens, if it truly is of God, the end goal is always that God is glorified. It is not just the person receiving, but that  God is wanting to pour out clarity on the divinity of His Word. When the Spirit of God and the applied Word of God come together, then the Spirit is increased, and God gets the glory. We should not be looking just to have signs and wonders, but beyond the signs and wonders there needs to be permanent fruit.

Verse 20 is important it is that we may see and know and UNDERSTAND TOGETHER. The purpose of the move of the Spirit is to bring the Body of Christ together and increase our understanding of God. To make us realize that it is God and GOD ALONE who has done this. So often many who are caught in signs and wonders forget that the purpose is unity in the Body of Christ and glorifying God.

Verse 21: “Present your case,” says the LORD. “Bring forth your strong reasons” says the King of Jacob. The king of Jacob is the flesh (remember God called Jacob “Jacob” when he acted in the flesh, Isaiah when he acted in a spiritual manner) - and we so often talk our case over with God. But often our arguments are flesh based, and we forget that God is a BIG God and has many ideas beyond our fleshly limitations.

Verse 22: Let them bring forth and show us what will happen; let them show the former things, what they were, that we may consider them, and know the latter of them, or declare to us things to come. Show the things that are to come hereafter, that we may know that you are gods; yes, do good or do evil that we may be dismayed and see it together. Indeed you are nothing, and your work is nothing. He who chooses you is an abomination.

What a strong indictment against the idols. They cannot predict what will happen, show the former things, or do great things. They are limited, crafted and created by man’s hands and imaginations. God sees idols as an abomination. They are NOTHING – no thing.  (Heather’s note – in fact, any idols that are constructed are constructed using materials that God created, the trees, silver, gold, they are crafted by human hands (humans are created by God)) there is nothing that an idol does that is original.

Verse 25 talks about one from the north, that will come from the rising of the son and call on God’s name. He will come against princes as a potter treads the clay. This verse is a Messianic verse, but it also had a near prophesy for that time. Many times the prophesies in the Bible have a near fulfillment to the time they were spoken, and a far fulfillment for some time in our future. This is one of the ones with a near and far fulfillment. But we will see more about who this person from the north is in a few weeks when Pastor Don gets to that point in Isaiah. If you want to peek ahead you can find out more about him in Chapter 44 – it is a cool part of a deliverance for the nation Israel. I do not want to spoil Pastor Don’s teaching by going ahead in Isaiah.

God continues to talk against idols and ends in verse 29 Indeed they are all worthless, their works are nothing: Their molded images are wind and confusion.”

Heather’s note – in essence they are a bunch of hot air. God sees idols as worthless, and nothing. I have to concur. As many of you know, I spent 40 years avoiding God and of that time 30 was spent in the occult. Now that I have come to Christ, I realize that what the occult did was to imitate what is true and holy and from God. It is satan’s plan to cause us to turn to a partial truth. Remember, a partial truth, the same as Sarah saying she is Abraham’s sister (when she was his 1/2 sister- see my studies in Genesis of a few days ago) is a lie, and a lie is a lie is a lie. Satan will not come out and appear totally evil in most instances, he will sugar coat the lie, in a lot of words that sound true and holy. The love walk, the three fold law, that what you do comes back to you three fold, you are the master of your destiny, you are god, you are good, if you do enough good works God will surely accept you. This is so contradictory to His word of truth. Satan is smart and he has had thousands of years observing us, he knows how to reach us at our weaker moments, at our points of doubt, at those areas where we can be tempted, in our pride. He will use what it takes to pull us away from God just a little, then he will wedge a greater hole in our relationship by heaping guilt and shame.

As Joy says, when you are in a hole, stop digging – reach out to God, ask for forgiveness, ask for the light of God’s word to illuminate your path, and obey God. If we ask God’s forgiveness and repent He is faithful and just to forgive us. God will then forget as far as the east is from the west our sins, and we will walk righteously IN CHRIST. Do not let satan steal God’s blessing. Stand in the light of the truth, in the light of the Word of God, in the light of the blood of Jesus Christ.

I read somewhere that when a person is learning to detect counterfeit money, they are put in a room and examine minutely real money for hours and hours. They become so familiar with real money that a counterfeit stands out. If we become so familiar with God’s Word, His truth, His love, His way of being with us, we will see the counterfeit in those false voices that appear, those idols that are nothing. I pray that we become good students of the Word so that the lies of satan fall barren to the ground.

Have a blessed Sunday.

Heather

Who says science can’t be fun. Check out this science “experiment”. I saw it on TV the other day and found the link to the site.

http://www.eepybird.com/

Bible Study, Friday June 30, 2006 – Taught by Pastor Don Moore

 

I am excited to share this Bible study with you today because it covers much of what we have been thinking about in Genesis. Pastor Don is an incredible teacher and I love learning about the Word from him. My husband calls him a professor of the Bible.

 

I am smiling because Pastor Don’s Bible topic was Isaiah 44, but guess what, after the background information, we didn’t get to chapter 44 – but what we learned was awesome.

 

He reminded us that these chapters 41-44 have prophetic overtones, and by faith we can apply these promises to our lives. He said that God gave him these passages this morning and they were what he needed to study. As he is always encouraging us to do, when we need to study a particular passage, teach on it for that helps us to learn what we need to learn and will probably help someone else who is also dealing with the same issues. These promises we will discuss are vital when we are struggling in areas of our lives.

 

The length of time that it takes to go through a problem is based on the application of the faith skills that we apply to the problem. The problem will last longer if we are applying doubt and unbelief.

 

ISAIAH 41: 1-4 Keep silence before Me, O coastlands, and let the people renew their strength! Let them come near, then let them speak; let us come together for judgment. Who raised up one from the east? Who in righteousness called him to His feet? Who gave the nations before him, and made him rule over kings? Who gave them as the dust to his sword, as driven stubble to his bow? Who pursued them, and passed safely by the way that he had not gone with his feet? Who has performed and done it, calling the generations from the beginning? ”I, the LORD, am the first; and with the last I am He.”

 

Isaiah is speaking in this text to the false prophets, challenging them. He is asking them if they know who He (God) is. They should stand before God and ask these questions, not listen to the false prophets.

 

Verses 5-7: The coastlands saw it and feared, the ends of the earth were afraid; they drew near and came. Everyone helped his neighbor, and said to his brother be of good courage. So the craftsmen encouraged the goldsmith; he who smooths with the hammer inspired him who strikes the anvil, saying, “It is ready for the soldering”; then he fastened it with pegs, that it might not totter.

 

Isaiah is talking to those who worship idols, idols made by human hands, which (Heather’s note – will be seen to totter and fall), and some of these idols we still have today, those who worship statues, outward symbols like the Christmas tree have its origin in pagan roots.  We can see this theme repeated in other places in the scripture:

Jeremiah 10:1-7 Hear the word which the LORD speaks to you, O house of Israel. Thus says the LORD: “Do not learn the way of the Gentiles; Do not be dismayed at the signs of heavens. For the Gentiles are dismayed at them. For the customs of the peoples are futile; for one cuts a tree from the forest, the work of the hands of the workman, with the ax. They decorate it with silver and gold; They fasten it with nails and hammers so that it will not topple. They are upright, like a palm tree, and they cannot speak; they must be carried because they cannot go by themselves. Do not be afraid of them, for they cannot do evil, nor can they do any good.”  Inasmuch as there is none like You, O LORD, (You are great, and Your name is great in might), who would not fear You, O King of the nations? For this is Your rightful due. For among all the wise men of the nations, and in all their kingdoms, there is none like You.

 

Here Isaiah is talking about idols, astrology, and what sounds remarkably like a Christmas tree. These are FUTILE, and it is God who deserves his rightful due, not an idol. When we worship idols we take away from God what belongs to Him. Idols cannot move on their own, they have to be carried. We need not fear idols, for there is none like God.

 

Isaiah 40:19-20  The workman molds an image, the goldsmith overspreads it with gold, and the silversmith casts silver chains, whoever is too impoverished for such a contribution chooses a tree that will not rot; he seeks for himself a skillful workman to prepare a carved image that will not totter. And yet, as it says in other passages of scripture, the scrap wood from the image is burned, so the image is not potent, cannot do anything, only God has power.

 

Then in Isaiah 40: 20 it talks about the circle of the earth (Long before Columbus), about the inhabitants being like grasshoppers (imagine the image from an airplane, how small and insignificant we look like from a great height). Idols do not have the power of God.

 

Back to the topic:

 

Isaiah 41:8 But you, Israel, are My servant, Jacob whom I have chosen, the descendants of Abraham, My friend. You whom I have taken from the ends of the earth, and called from its farthest regions, and said to you ‘You are My servant, I have chosen you and have not cast you away:

 

(Heather’s note – Abraham is God’s friend)  Aren’t we glad that we are the spiritual descendants of Abraham? We are a friend of God if we are children of Abraham. Jesus will repeat this phrase about being God’s friend.  When we go to God to talk with Him, we can talk with Him as our friend – that does not negate that we have to treat Him with awe, respect, reverence, but He wants a relationship with us, a friendship. We can take any situation to Him, talk with Him as we might talk with our best friend. God has said to come and let us reason together, reasoning implies a conversation.

 

Where we miss it is that often when we pray to God we expect an instant answer to our prayer, forgetting that God is not limited by our limits of time and space. Just because we do not see a physical answer does not mean that God has not answered our prayer.

Verse 9, when it says that he has chosen us from the ends of the earth, this has not fully happened yet. Will not happen until the last days, and to date, not all the Jews have returned to Jerusalem.

 

Pastor Don told us to circle and star this verse in our Bibles for it is a great promise and comfort in times of trouble. Isaiah 41:10 Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you. Yes, I will help you. I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.

 

It is important to realize that God will only help us with what is right and good, for He is good. Sometimes when we pray to God when we are in trouble, we are looking for a quick fix, and a quick fix is not always a righteous fix. An example could be being in debt, and praying that God will help you win the lottery. That will not be a righteous fix for getting out of debt, and wouldn’t help us to make a life change.

 

Joy, our music minister, shared that the first rule of holes is: When you are in a hole, stop digging. Often we act and react and that causes us to dig a bigger and deeper hole.

 

What we need is a “God idea”, and we get that by stopping and turning our situation over to God. We wait until He shows us what His idea is and then we obey. Only in this way do we escape the hole.

 

The first thing we have to do to quench fear is to admit that we have fear. Fear faced can be fear eradicated. If we do not face our fears honestly they can turn into free-floating anxiety.

 

We can’t “not fear” until we realize that we have fear. The only healthy fear is the fear of God, and that is awe, respect, worship.

 

Flesh based fear is based on the size of the opponent or unknown, the “what ifs”. God is bigger than our “what ifs”.

 

When we have a situation the evokes fear, we need to start quoting BIG GOD scriptures that build up our spirit and remind us that God is God and bigger than our problem.

 

If you enlarge God, your problem becomes smaller. Pray, “I’ve made You too small in my eyes. God, forgive me.”

 

God, our Father, will give us the courage to walk out his bigger plan. If you sit on just what you have in your own power, satan can tear that out from under you piece by piece.

 

When we look at the word “dismayed” in the above passage it does not mean what we think it means. In Hebrew, the word dismayed means looking every which way, looking everyplace else. So in the above passage it is indicating that when we have troubles we must look towards God, who can help us, not elsewhere such as to idols.

 

He will strengthen us so that we don’t fall into circumstances that will tear us apart. He is strengthening our resolve. To strengthen us to be strong to wait on God as Psalm 27 states.

 

When we are given wise counsel from God, from a pastor, elder, trusted friend, we are wise to get busy and follow through. Satan loves to bother Christians who procrastinate. Procrastination will kill you. The Israelites found that out when they refused to go into the Promised Land and ended up wandering around the wilderness for 40 years until a whole generation died off, except Caleb and Joshua.

 

How comforting is the image of God upholding us? Pastor Don says that that image reminds him of the footprints poem.

 

(When we did our closing prayer for this Bible Study, Pastor Don had us meditating on the images of Isaiah 41:10).

 

Pastor Don also told us that sometimes we think that the only way that a problem can be solved is if we do something. That is not always the case. God is an all the time God, and He even can work when we are resting or sleeping. Sometimes a solution will come to us in a dream, in a vision, when we aren’t really thinking about the problem that we turned over to Him. We just have to listen to His voice in the situation.

 

Verse 11 is another good promise. Isaiah 41:11-13 Behold, all those who were incensed against you shall be ashamed and disgraced; They shall be as nothing, and those who strive with you shall perish. You shall seek them and not find them- those who contended with you. Those who war against you shall be as nothing, as a non existent thing. For I, the LORD your God, will hold your right hand, saying to you, “Fear not, I will help you.”

 

So many times in the Bible God instructs us to not be afraid. No matter how big our problem, God can make it a non-existent thing. He holds our right hand, and will help us. How comforting is that? With our Big God holding our hand, what do we have to fear?

 

Verse 14: “Fear not, you worm Jacob, you men of Israel! I will help you,” says the LORD and your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel. The Holy One of Israel is Jesus. Notice that the term Israel and Jacob are used. (Heather’s note, we will see this in Genesis). God wrestles with Jacob (the heel snatcher), and gives Jacob a new name, Israel, which means prince with God. Later every time Jacob responds in a fleshly way, God calls him Jacob. When Jacob acts in a spiritual manner, God calls him Israel.

 

I am going to stop here, but will continue with Isaiah 41 tomorrow, with an exciting revelation that I never saw before in reading this. I will give you a clue – Isaiah 41: 15-16 are the verses that excited me.