With the death of Abraham back in chapter 25, the narrative now shifts to Isaac and his family.

• Covenant confirmed – God confirms the covenant that he made with Abraham with his son Isaac. Again, God will give him the land, many descendants, and God will bless all the nations on earth through his offspring. Though God has certainly blessed the nations through the people of Israel, this final promise is ultimately fulfilled in Isaac’s distant descendant named Jesus. How have you been blessed through Isaac’s offspring?
• God’s presence – Twice God promises that he will be with Isaac (26:3, 24). This is not a promise directed to us. However, we do find it to be a general promise in the Scriptures to God’s people, and this is one example of that general promise. God’s presence was to be an encouragement to Isaac. How is God’s presence an encouragement to you?
• Lies, lies, lies – Like his father before, Isaac lies about his wife. Later his wife leads Jacob to lie to his father. The consequences could have been terrible, but God mercifully protected this family in spite of themselves. Our culture seems much like this family. All around we hear of scandals related to lies and deception. Are you a person of truth and honesty? When are you tempted to be less than honest?

Today, we are reminded of God’s providence:

• God’s leading – God led Abraham’s servant to the woman God intended for Isaac. This is probably not an example of how we should pray or find a wife, but God used it to providentially lead Abraham’s servant. How has God led you?
• God’s power – Rebekah is barren. Sarah too was barren. In both cases, it is God who providentially and powerfully causes these women to conceive. God may not always answer our prayers like we want, but God is powerfully in control. How have you seen his power at work in your life?
• God’s plan – Before Esau or Jacob are born, God has a plan for them – that they will become two nations, that one will be stronger, and that one will serve the other. God has a plan for your life too. Things may or may not be turning out as you thought they would or dreamed they would, but God has a plan for you. Will you trust him?

Isaac is born and Abraham is tested. Observe:

• God’s faithfulness – God had promised a child to Abraham and Sarah, and God kept his promise! God had also promised Abraham many descendants, and Isaac is the beginning of the fulfillment of that promise. God had also promised Abraham the land, and Abraham’s purchase of a piece of land to bury Sarah is the beginning of the fulfillment that promise. God is faithful! How has God been faithful to you?
• God’s test – God tests Abraham by asking him to sacrifice his son! What must have gone through Abraham’s mind? How could he kill the child through whom all God’s promises would be fulfilled? Hebrews 11:17-19 tells us Abraham concluded that God would raise the boy back to life so the promises could be fulfilled. That is faith! What is God asking you to do? Will you trust him and obey?
• Abraham’s choice – How could Abraham kill his son whom he dearly loved? God’s test is not only a test of faith, but a test of love. Will Abraham love his son more than God? Who is first in Abraham’s life? Abraham passed the test. How about you? Who is first in your life? What if God asked you…?
• God’s Son – What God asked Abraham to do, God himself would do 2000 years later. God stopped Abraham, but God would go all the way for you and your salvation. Ponder God’s sacrifice, and how you should respond.

God comes to Abraham to reaffirm his promise that Sarah will have a son. God also tells Abraham that Sodom will be destroyed. Abraham pleads for Sodom, and God shows mercy to Lot. Notice:

• God’s power – Sarah laughs when she hears that she will have a son at age 90. God responds by asking, “Is anything too hard for the Lord?” In what situations in your life do you need to ask the question – “Is anything too hard for the Lord?” What is the answer? Will you believe it?
• Abraham’s prayer – Abraham humbly, yet boldly, intercedes for Sodom. Undoubtedly he is thinking of his nephew Lot. He starts by asking God to spare the city if there are 50 righteous people in it, and then continues to press the Lord down to 10 people. Who are you humbly, yet boldly, interceding for before the Lord? Who do you need to start interceding for today?
• God’s mercy – Tragically, there are not even 10 righteous people in Sodom, so God sends two angels to rescue Lot and his family. Foolishly Lot lingers, so the angels seize him and his family and bring them forcefully out of the city. The Bible explains this action as God’s mercy toward Lot. When has God forcefully shown his mercy to you in spite of your own foolishness?

God has already promised Abram land (12:7, 13:14-15) and numerous descendants (13:16). Abram’s descendants would possess the land as a great nation (12:2). Finally, in him all the nations of the earth will be blessed (12:3). In today’s passage, God formalizes and expands his promises as a covenant with Abram:

• Abrahamic Covenant – God reaffirms his promises of land (15:7, 18-20) and descendants (15:4-5). Abram will not only become a great nation, but is renamed Abraham, the father of many nations (17:4-6). As a sign of the covenant, all males were to be circumcised (17:9-14). Finally, Abraham was to walk blamelessly before God (17:1-2). How is your walk before God?
• Abram’s faith – In response to God’s promises, Abram believes, and it is counted to him as righteousness (15:6). This verse is quoted 4 times in the New Testament (Romans 4:3, 22; Galatians 3:6, and James 2:23). We cannot be righteous on our own, but when we believe God’s promise, God declares us righteous in his sight. God has promised us salvation through Jesus. Have you come to believe God’s promise? If so, you are righteous (pure, clean) in his sight!
• Abram “helps God out” – Since Sarai has had no children, she and Abram come up with a plan to help God out – through Sarai’s servant Hagar. Rather than follow God, they take things into their own hands. Are there areas in your life where you are moving ahead of God rather than following? When are you tempted to help God out?

God calls Abram to leave his country and family and go to a land God will show him. God promises to bless him and make him into a great nation. Notice:

• Abram’s faith – Abram believes God and goes. He doesn’t know what the land will be like or how he can become a great nation, but he believes God and obeys. Has God been calling you to do something? Will you trust him and obey? Is your life a struggle? Will you trust God and press on? Are you facing persecution for doing what is right? Will you trust God and continue?
• Abram’s lack of faith – In Egypt, Abram chooses to lie about his wife rather than trust God with his safety. Are there areas in your life where you are failing to trust God?
• Abram’s prayer life – As Abram travels through Canaan, he eventually comes to Bethel. There he builds an altar to the Lord and calls upon the name of the Lord (12:8). Later after a lapse of faith in Egypt, he returns to Bethel and again calls on the name of the Lord. What is your prayer life like?
• God’s blessing – God promised to bless Abram, and he does. God graciously intervenes in Egypt. God delivers Abram’s enemies into his hands when his enemies took Lot captive. How has God been there to help you?

Following the flood, God makes a covenant and gives instructions – instructions which the people of Babel refused to obey in their quest for glory. Observe:

• God’s covenant – God makes a covenant with Noah and his descendants (including us!). He mercifully promises to never flood the entire earth again. He places a rainbow in the sky as a sign of this covenant. Next time you see a rainbow, remember God’s mercy to you.
• God’s instructions broken – God commanded people to fill the earth (9:1), but the people of Babel disobeyed. They began building a city, lest they “be dispersed over the face of the whole earth” (11:4). Search your life. Are there any ways in which you are in active rebellion against God’s commands? This is a dangerous place to be! Take time now to repent and confess your sin to God.
• A quest for glory – The people of Babel wanted to make a name for themselves (11:4). They chose to live for themselves rather than God. Nothing much has changed. People today still want to make a name for themselves rather than honor God. Whose name are you seeking to lift up? Who are you living for?

God sends a flood on the earth, but saves Noah and his family. Consider what we learn about God and Noah, and how we should respond:

• God’s judgment – God hates sin. He sees the evil intentions, thoughts, and actions of mankind, and he purposes to make an end of it. Are you tempted to treat your sins lightly? Remember God hates your sin.
• God’s mercy – God shows favor to Noah (6:8), by making a covenant with him (6:18). In the midst of the flood, God remembers Noah (8:1). And God still shows his favor today by inviting us to enter into a new covenant through faith in Jesus Christ. Have you passed from God’s judgment into his mercy?
• Noah’s walk with God – The passage tells us that Noah walked with God (6:9). What did this walk look like? It was characterized first by faith. Noah believed God’s announcement of the flood and the way of escape. We could reasonably conclude from 5:32 and 7:6, that Noah spent 100 years acting on that faith by building the ark. His faith led to action. Twice we are told Noah did all that God commanded him (6:22, 7:5). His walk with God also gave him a testimony – he was a righteous man, blameless in his generation (6:9). He was not perfect, but he stood out from all the evil going on around him. How is your walk with God? Is it characterized by faith leading to action? How is your testimony among the people you know? How do you need to move forward in your walk with God?

Genesis 3 is the saddest story ever penned, as mankind rebels against their Creator. Notice:

• Satan tempts Eve to question God’s goodness and honesty. When are you tempted to question God’s goodness and the truth of His Word?
• Eve chooses to seek satisfaction (“good for food…delight to the eyes”) in forbidden fruit rather than in her Creator and the good things he gave her. What forbidden fruit tempts you?
• Rather than give glory to God, Eve chooses to seek her own glory (“you will be like God”). Whose glory are you seeking?
• Sin brings misery, not satisfaction. Their perfect relationship with God is broken (they hide from God and are cast out of the Garden). Their perfect relationship with each other is broken (Adam blames Eve; later Cain kills Abel). Pain enters God’s creation (childbearing will be painful). Work which was a joy now becomes toilsome, as creation is cursed with decay and thistles. Separated from the tree of life, Adam and Eve will die, as will their descendants (note the terrible repetition in chapter 5 – “…and he died”). When tempted by sin, remember the consequences.
• And yet in this sad story of our fall into sin, there is a small seed of hope in 3:15. Satan will bruise the heel of the woman’s offspring on a cross many years later. There on that cross, this man will defeat Satan by bruising his head. The penalty for sin will be paid, so that mankind might yet walk with God!