Vision (12.20.24): We have found water (Genesis 24:32)

 

Note: Devotion taken from last Sunday's sermon on Genesis 26.

Genesis 26:25 An he builded an altar there, and called upon the name of the LORD, and pitched his tent there: and there Isaac’s servants digged a well.

 

Genesis 26:32 And it came to pass the same day, that Isaac’s servants came, and told him concerning the well which they had digged, and said unto him, We have found water.

 

Genesis 26 is focused on events in the life of the Patriarch Isaac. As he sojourned in Gerar, Isaac resolved to dig up the old wells that the Philistines had stopped up and filled with earth (v. 15b), and then to give them their old names (v. 18b: “and he called their names after the names by which his father had called them.”). This led to tension with the herdsmen of Gerar. Isaac abandoned one well calling it Esek (contention) and then another calling it Sitnah (hatred (vv. 20-21). He moved to another place called Rehoboth (Room) (v. 22), and then he arrived at Beersheba (the well of the oath) where his servants set to dig again (v. 23).

 

This account indicates that for God’s people there will be times when the old wells of the fathers must be dug again. There will always be a process of revival, reformation, and retrieval. This is what happened at the time of the Protestant Reformation. The old wells had been filled with earth by the medieval Roman church. Rather than teaching the doctrine of justification by faith, they were teaching justification by works. Rather than pure and simply evangelical worship, they had added the traditions of men.

We must constantly go back to the old wells that supplied the needs of our godly spiritual fathers and call them by the names that those same fathers used.

We might also consider how this passage, with all its descriptions of digging wells and its climactic description of finding water, points us to Christ. A parallel passage that comes to mind is John 4, when Christ encounters the Samaritan woman at the well. This was “Jacob’s well” at Sychar (John 4:5-6).

 

Christ asks the woman to give him a drink and then tells her that he can give to her “living water” (4:7, 10). She takes his words literally and tells him he has no means to draw this living water. Then John says:

John 4:13  Jesus answered and said unto her, Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again: 14 But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.

The woman later leaves her waterpot to go to her city and tell her neighbors of this man she met at the well, saying:

John 4:29 Come, see a man, which told me all things that ever I did: is not this the Christ?

A Christian is simply one who says, after finding the Lord Jesus (or, better, being found by him), “We have found water.”

Grace and peace, Pastor Jeff Riddle

The Vision (12.6.24): The Thing Proceedeth from the LORD

 

Image: Valentin Serov, Abraham's Servant Finds Isaac A Bride, Rebekah (1894)

Note: Devotional taken from last Sunday's sermon on Genesis 24.

“And the man bowed his head, and worshipped the LORD” (Genesis 24:26).

“The thing proceedeth from the LORD” (Genesis 24:50).

Genesis 24 is a rather long chapter (67 verses). The old AV translators divided it into seven sections (vv. 1-6, 7-9, 10-14, 15-28, 29-31, 32-60, 61-67). In the fashion of Hebrew narrative, there is a good bit of repetition in it.

The focus of the chapter is an inspired account of Abraham, in his old age and after the death of Sarah, sending out the godly “eldest servant of his house” back to the country he had left to seek “a wife unto my son Isaac” (vv. 1, 4).

There are various spiritual lessons within this chapter. It has lessons on prayer and worship. This summer the youth of our church looked at a chapter from Peter Masters’ book Steps for Guidance in the Journey of Life which draws lessons from Genesis 24 on courtship and marriage. The overarching lesson of this chapter, however, is upon the providence of the LORD.

The Bible teaches us that there is a sovereign LORD, and he is directing the course of history on both the macro-level (Cf. Romans 13, no civil authority is in place but by his will) and the micro-level (Cf. Proverbs 16:33 “The lot is cast into the lap; but the whole disposing thereof is of the Lord.” And: Proverbs 16:9 “A man's heart deviseth his way: but the Lord directeth his steps.”).

The God of the Bible is Jehovah-Jireh (the LORD provides) (Genesis 22:14). In Genesis 24 the LORD, in his good providence, brings about the union of Isaac and Rebekah, and the keeping of his covenant with Abraham (Genesis 12:1-3). This theme is perhaps best stated in v. 50 when Laban and Bethuel (not exactly theologians!) declare, “The thing proceedeth from the LORD.” It is God’s will.

It is also noteworthy, that the godly servant of Abraham constantly prays to and worships the LORD as he seeks the fulfillment God’s providential plans. Before he sets off on his journey he prays (24:12: “O LORD God of my master Abraham, I pray thee…send me good speed”). In the midst of seeking a bride for Isaac, he worships (24:26: “And the man bowed down his head, and worshipped the LORD”). Having secured the agreement with Rebekah and her family, he worshipped (24:52: “when Abraham’s servant heard their words, he worshipped the LORD, bowing himself to the earth”). He worshipped before (v. 12), during (v. 26), and after (v. 52) the providential works of the LORD.

Let us be like that godly servant. Let us trust that the LORD is working all things for his glory and for the good of them that love him. And let us pray to and worship him, before, during, and after his accomplishment of all things.

Grace and peace, Pastor Jeff Riddle

The Vision (11.29.24): Seven Lessons from the Death and Burial of Sarah (Genesis 23)

 

Image: Camelia, "Pink Perfection," Lee County, NC, November 2024.

Note: Devotion taken from last Sunday's sermon on Genesis 22:20--23:20.

Between the binding of Isaac (Genesis 22:1-19) and the marriage of Isaac (Genesis 24), there is Genesis 22:20—23:20. It provides a much less well-known episode related to the death and the burial of the matriarch Sarah. It reports to us the death of a godly woman.

Here are seven practical applications that flow from this passage:

1.     We are reminded that the God of the Bible is a God of providence, who is working all things to His glory and our good.

Genesis 22:20-24 reveals the providential work of God in history. It tells us that God was raising up Rebekah from the line of Abraham’s brother Nahor to be a wife for Isaac after the death of Sarah. He is Jehovah-Jireh, the LORD who provides (Genesis 22:14). We should remember that “God is at work all around us,” even when it seems we are surrounded by frowning providences.

2.     We are reminded that God will keep his Word.

God was at work to keep his promise to Abraham (Genesis 12:1-3). He spared Isaac and will provide through Isaac’s union with Rebekah the raising up of a great nation from Abraham. He will keep his promises to his people.

3.     We are reminded of the shortness and the preciousness of each life.

Genesis 23:1b says, “these were the years of the life of Sarah.” Should Christ tarry we will each have both a birthday and a death day. As Moses prayed, “So teach us to number our days, that we might apply hearts unto wisdom” (Psalm 90:12).

4.     We are taught that the proper response to death is godly grief and sorrow and even tears.

We see this in Abraham’s response to Sarah’s death: “And Abraham came to mourn for Sarah, and to weep for her” (Genesis 2:2b). The Christian sees death as a consequence of sin (Romans 6:23: “The wages of sin is death”), and so it calls for grief and sobriety.

5.     We are shown by example that the proper way to dispose of the body at death is burial in the ground in hope of the resurrection from the dead.

Genesis 23:19: “And after this, Abraham buried Sarah his wife…”

6.     We are taught that the land promise was fulfilled to Abraham, but an even greater promise is yet to be fulfilled.

Abraham was indeed “a stranger and a sojourner” (Genesis 23:4), but we move toward “a better country” the “heavenly” country, the city God hath prepared for us (Hebrews 11:16).

7.     We are told that a godly woman is to be praised and honored even in her death.

As with all fallen men, Sarah was a sinner. She had concocted the plan to have Hagar serve as a surrogate. She had deceived Abimelech. She had laughed when God promised her a son. She was also, however, by God’s grace, a godly woman. God’s love for her in Christ covered a multitude of sins.

The description of a godly woman in Proverbs 31 begins, “Who can find a virtuous woman? For her price is far above rubies” (v. 10). Sarah was a virtuous woman. Peter put her forward as an example in 1 Peter 3:1-6, noting, “whose daughter ye are, as long as ye do well, and are not afraid with any amazement” (v. 6). Proverbs 21:28 says a godly woman’s children and her husband will arise to praise her. Of course, no godly woman lives only for the praise of mere men, but she desires most of all the smile and approval of her God.

Finally, we must also note also that our ultimate hope is not that we would be praised in our death. Our hope is that we will be raised from the dead by the same power that raised the Lord Jesus Christ from the tomb on the third day. Because he lives, we too have the hope of life eternal. In 1 Corinthians 15 Paul asked, “O grave where is thy victory?” (v. 55), declaring, “The sting of death is sin” (v. 56). Yet he concluded, ^“But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ” (v. 57).

Christ is indeed our only comfort and hope in life and death.

Grace and peace, Pastor Jeff Riddle

The Vision (11.22.24): Christ: The New and Better Isaac

Image: The Binding of Isaac, by Bartolomeo Cavarozzi, c. 1593, Piasecka-Johnson Collection, Princeton, New Jersey.

Note: Devotional based on last Sunday's sermon on Genesis 22:1-19.

Christians have long seen the binding of Isaac in Genesis 22 as a type (a shadow, a prefiguring, an anticipation) of the cross of Christ.

Consider these parallels:

Isaac is the son of Abraham (see the title given eight times in Genesis 22:2, 3, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 13). Christ too is “the son of Abraham” (Matthew 1:1), but also “the Son of God” (Mark 1:1).

Isaac is a beloved son of Abraham (22:2: the son “whom thou lovest”). Christ is the beloved Son of God the Father. Cf. at his baptism and transfiguration, “This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased” (Matthew 3:17; 17:5). See also Ephesians 4:6 where Paul said, “he hath made us accepted in the beloved.”

Isaac is the only son (three times in 22:2, 12, 16). Christ is the only begotten Son (cf. John 1:14, 18; 3:16).

Isaac is the servant of his father (22:6 “and laid it upon Isaac his son”). Christ is the Servant of God the Father (Mark 10:45: He came “not to be ministered unto, but to minister.”).

Isaac cried out, “My father” (Genesis 22:7). Christ cried out at Gethsemane, “Abba, Father” (Mark 14:36).

Isaac carried the wood to Mount Moriah (22:6-7). Christ carried his cross to Mount Calvary (Matthew 27:32: “him they compelled to bear his cross.”).

Isaac was told, God will provide himself a lamb (22:8). Christ is the Lamb of God (see John 1:29, 36; and Revelation 13:8: “the Lamb that was slain from the foundation of the earth.”).

Isaac was bound for the sacrifice (22:9: “and bound Isaac his son”). Christ was bound and handed over to Pilate (Matthew 27:2, “And when they had bound him”

God provided a substitute for Isaac (22:13: there was “a ram caught in the thicket by his horns… who was offered “in the stead of his son.”). Christ served as a substitute for elect sinners (Romans 5:8). Christ is both the Lamb and the Ram.

Isaac’s ram was caught in a thicket by his horns (22:13). The sacred head of Christ was encircled by a crown of twisted thorns pressed upon his brow (Matthew 27:29).

Perhaps the apostle Paul had Genesis 22 in mind when he said of God the Father’s offering up of Christ, “He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?” (Romans 8:32).

Here is one writer’s summary of this analogy:

The Lord Jesus “enters his day of suffering  as the new Isaac, the true son of Abraham in the fullest sense, the one who would offer himself wholly up to death, according to the divine foreordained plan, and bring the blessing of forgiveness and eternal life to all who put their faith in him” (Nicholas P. Lunn, The Gospels Through Old Testament Eyes, 183).

Christ is indeed the New and Better Isaac.

Grace and peace, Pastor Jeff Riddle

Vision (10.18.24): Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?

 

Image: Rembrandt sketch, Abraham and the Angel, creative commons.

Note: Devotion based on last Sunday's sermon on Genesis 18:16-33.

“Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?” (Genesis 18:25b).

This is one of the most striking scenes in all of Scripture. Abraham audaciously intercedes with the sovereign LORD on behalf of Sodom and Gomorrah (really for his nephew Lot, and Lot’s household). John Currid observes, “It is one of the most remarkable examples of intercession in the Bible” (Genesis, Vol. 1, 333). It includes the back-and-forth bartering or bargaining that would have taken place in the ancient bazaars or marketplaces and that continues to this day in many places.

Abraham was a man who had amassed great wealth (see Genesis 12:5; 13:2, 5-6; 14:14). He knew “the art of the deal” and, no doubt, was an excellent negotiator, humanly speaking. But what standing did he have to bargain with God?

This account is not put forward, however, to show us how to deal with God. We do not bargain with Him. He knows the end from the beginning (Isaiah 46:10). This interaction is here to show forth the compassion and mercy of God.

Abraham asks, “Wilt thou also destroy the wicked with the righteous?” (v. 23), and then, “Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?” (v. 25). Abraham asks if the LORD will spare the city for fifty righteous, and the LORD graciously agrees (vv. 24, 26). Abraham then asks the same for forty-five, then forty, then thirty, then twenty, and finally ten, and each time the LORD agrees (vv. 26-32).

There is spiritual significance to the number ten. As one observed, “Ten is a round and complete number that symbolizes totality. Ten persons thus constitute the minimum effective social entity” (Currid, Genesis, Vol. 1, 336). There is great mercy and wide compassion in that final statement, “And he said, I will not destroy it for ten’s sake” (v. 32).

When we look at Genesis 19, we will see, sadly enough, that there will not even be ten righteous in that city. Yet, even then, the LORD will provide for four to flee, Lot and his wife, and their two daughters (his sons-in-law take his warning as mocking, 19:14).

He is indeed a God of compassion and mercy. In the days of Noah, eight souls were preserved. In the days of Sodom, four souls were preserved.

Yet, He is also a God of righteousness whose eyes are too pure to look upon iniquity (Habakkuk 1:13). The Judge of all the earth shall indeed do right!

Here is the final good news. For the sake of but one perfectly righteous man, the Lord Jesus Christ, this same God has saved a myriad of men who deserved destruction.

Recall 1 John 2:2, “And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.”

Grace and peace, Pastor Jeff Riddle

The Vision (9.20.24): The Covenant of Circumcision

 

Image: Pear tree, North Garden, Virginia, September 2024.

Note: Devotional article based on last Sunday's sermon on Genesis 17:

This is my covenant, which ye shall keep, between me and you, and thy seed after thee; Every man child among you shall be circumcised (Genesis 17:10).

In whom also are ye circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ (Colossians 2:11).

The external token of circumcision literally marked the descendants and household of Abraham as a special people through whom the LORD was working out his special purposes (cf. Genesis 3:15).

Even before circumcision, Abraham had been justified by faith (Genesis 15:6; Romans 4:3).

Moses, who recorded this life of Abraham in Genesis, would later report the LORD’s exhortation to Israel, “Circumcise therefore the foreskin of your heart, and be no more stiffnecked” (Deuteronomy 10:16).

Of course, one of the greatest controversies of early Christianity was whether or not Gentile converts to the faith needed to be circumcised to be saved (Acts 15:1-2). This controversy erupted in the church at Antioch and was settled when the apostles and elders of the church of Jerusalem determined in counsel that circumcision was not required (see Acts 15:19-20).

The same issue arose in the churches of Galatia. Paul declared in Galatians 5:6, “For in Jesus Christ neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision; but faith which worketh by love.”

The historical Covenant of Circumcision through Abraham, established in the OT with a gracious purpose to distinguish his physical seed as a nation, was eclipsed in the New Covenant through Christ. In Galatians 3:28 Paul claimed there is neither Jew nor Greek, male nor female, slave nor free, but all believers are one in Christ.  He added, “And if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise” (v. 29).

Here are at least three distinctions between the Abrahamic Covenant and the New Covenant:

First: The Abrahamic covenant was established by the blood shed by physical circumcision. The New Covenant is established once for all, for the elect, by the shed blood of Christ upon the cross.

Second: The Abrahamic Covenant came by an outward token, the physical marks of circumcision. The New Covenant comes by an inward token, conversion, a supernatural work of the Holy Spirit, regeneration. It is what we call the “circumcision… of the heart,” “the circumcision made without hands,” or being “quickened” (cf. Romans 28-29; Colossians 2:11-13).

Third: The administration of the Abrahamic covenant of circumcision came only upon the physical seed of Abraham, and the servants within his household, and then only upon the males. The administration of the New Covenant, the Covenant of Grace, however, comes upon all who are born again, all who are justified by faith in Christ, all the spiritual seed of Abraham, Jew and Gentile, men and women, slave and free (Galatians 3:28).

The marks of God’s work in a man’s life are not merely being cut in the flesh, but being cut in the heart.

Grace and peace, Pastor Jeff Riddle

The Vision (9.6.24): Abraham believed God

 

Image: Pond in Louisa, Virginia, September 2024

Note: Devotion based on last Sunday's sermon on Genesis 15.

Genesis 15:6 And he believed in the LORD; and he counted it to him for righteousness.

Romans 4:3 For what saith the scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness.

Genesis 15:6 might be one of the most important verses in the Old Testament. It is the first explicit articulation of what the apostle Paul will later teach as justification by faith. Compare:

Romans 4: What shall we say then that Abraham our father, as pertaining to the flesh, hath found?

² For if Abraham were justified by works, he hath whereof to glory; but not before God.

³ For what saith the scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness.

⁴ Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt.

⁵ But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.

Were there Old Testament saints (believers)? The answer is an emphatic “Yes.” Indeed, Abraham was one. How were such persons saved? Were they saved because they were Hebrews? Because of their righteous works? No. Old Testament saints were saved in the same way that men and women in the New Testament were saved, and in the way God continues to save sinners today. By faith alone in Christ alone.

We might say that Abram looked forward to Christ, his cross, and resurrection. While we who live in the time after the incarnational ministry of our Lord look back upon what God has done for us in Christ.

Sola fide (salvation by faith alone) is present in the Old Testament, as is evident in the experience of Abraham.

Grace and peace, Pastor Jeff Riddle

The Vision (8.23.24): Ten Admirable Qualities of Abraham (from Genesis 14)

 

Image: The Meeting of Abraham and Melchizedek, engraving by Adriaen Collaert, 1584-1585, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

Devotion taken from last Sunday's sermon on Genesis 14.

Genesis 14:22 And Abram said to the king of Sodom, I have lift up mine hand unto the Lord, the most high God, the possessor of heaven and earth, 23 That I will not take from a thread even to a shoelatchet, and that I will not take any thing that is thine, lest thou shouldest say, I have made Abram rich.

In last Sunday’s sermon from Genesis 14 I suggested at least ten spiritually admirable qualities of Abram (Abraham) which we might note and follow:

First: Unlike Lot, he did not “pitch his tent toward [align himself with] Sodom,” and so he was spared the temporal distress and humiliation which Lot endured (cf. Genesis 13:12; 14:1-12).

Who knows what pain we are spared by openly aligning with Christ rather than with the world?

Second: He had friends in the world but was not corrupted by them (v. 13).

See 1 Corinthians 5, where Paul told the Corinthians that if they had to stay away completely from worldlings they would need “go out of the world” (v. 10).

Third: He had compassion on Lot his kinsman in his distress (v. 14).

He might well have turned his back upon Lot. Matthew Henry made much of this, writing that Abram provides a model: “Though others have been wanting in their duty to us, yet we must not therefore deny our duty to them.”

Fourth: He used lawful means to defend himself by arming his servants (v. 14b).

What did his arming of his servant say about his relationship with them as their master?

Fifth: He used skill and cunning (marks of wisdom) to overcome a greater adversary and all with the Lord’s help (v. 15).

This recalls Christ’s sending forth of the apostles, telling them to be wise as serpents and gentle as doves (Matthew 10:16)

Sixth: He communed with Melchizedek (v. 18).

This took place when the mysterious king and priest brought forth to him “bread and wine” (v. 18).

Seventh: He was blessed of God (v. 19).

Look at Psalm 1 and see a contrast between the “blessed” man (vv. 1-3) and the “ungodly” (vv. 4-6).

Eighth: He gave tithes to Melchizedek (v. 20b).

Abram was a proper steward of the things in his possession and gave the first and best to the cause of the Lord, embodied in Melchizedek.

Ninth: He was a man of his word and kept his pledge to God (v. 22):

The Lord Jesus himself would teach the importance of this in the Sermon on the Mount (see Matthew 5:37). We need men and women who live with integrity, who keep their word, and fulfill their commitments to God and man.

Tenth: He kept himself unspotted from the world in his promise not to take one thread or shoelace from Sodom (v. 23).

He was committed to holiness, to being set apart from the world. He trust not in the world for material provision, but in God.

Grace and peace, Pastor Jeff Riddle

The Vision (8.16.24): Pitching a Tent Toward Sodom

 

Image: Abraham and Lot Separating, print, Philip Medhurst Collection at St. George's Court, Kidderminster.

Note: Devotion taken from last Sunday's sermon on Genesis 13. 

“Abram dwelled in the land of Canaan, and Lot dwelled in the cities of the plain, and pitched his tent toward Sodom” (Genesis 13:12).

A contrast is drawn in Gensis 13 between godly Abram (later Abraham) and his nephew Lot.

When they returned from Egypt to the land of promise they decided to divide the land. Abram was a peacemaker, generously offering Lot first choice (vv. 8-9).

Lot looked and chose the plain of Jordan. It was lush, well-watered, “even as the garden of the LORD” (v. 10).  

But Moses anticipates what will happen on that plain, telling us this was “before the LORD destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah” (v. 10). All that glittered was not gold. The land looked enticing, but its end would be fire and brimstone and destruction (see Genesis 19:24-25).

Using naturalistic reasoning, it looked outwardly like a very good real estate decision. Abram was left with what seemed the less attractive land. He “dwelled in the land of Canaan, and Lot dwelled in the cities of the plain, and pitched his tent toward Sodom” (v. 12).

There is no doubt spiritual significance in the statement that Lot pitched his tent (oriented his life) toward Sodom. The spiritual problem of Sodom is made clear in v. 13: “But the men of Sodom were wicked and sinners before the LORD exceedingly.”

Lot did not set up in Sodom but directed himself toward it. You might say he got as close to it as he possibly could without entering it, but, in the end, it rubbed off on him and his house. As Solomon would ask, “Can a man take fire in his bosom, and his clothes not be burned?” (Proverbs 6:27).  As we shall see later in the narrative, Lot will barely escape Sodom, but his wife literally will be ruined by it, and his two daughters will fair little better, morally speaking (Genesis 19). It seemed like such a good choice, a no-brainer, humanly speaking, but it would have disastrous consequences for Lot and his household.

As one reads Genesis 13, he might ask whether he will choose the way of Abraham (righteousness) or Lot (unrighteousness). Will he “pitch a tent” (orient his life) to the way of the Lord or the way of the world? As Christ will put it in the Sermon on the Mount, will he choose the narrow way that leads to life or the broad way that leads to destruction (Matthew 7:13-14)?

We must add a caution, however, about simply offering a “moralistic” interpretation of this account.

Our hope rests, in the end, not in our ability NOT to pitch our tent toward Sodom. It rests in the fact that there was one who came as a man, while also true God, and never bent in the direction of Sodom, and never entered it. But who took upon himself all the fire and brimstone, all the wrath that we deserved for our sin, saved us, and clothed us with his righteousness. That, in the end, is indeed our hope.

Grace and peace, Pastor Jeff Riddle