Faith and Fulfillment: God's Promises and Abraham's

Welcome to The Glory Team Bible Reading plan. In Chapters 21-23 Isaac is born, fulfilling God’s promise. Hagar and Ishmael are sent away but remain under God’s care. Abraham demonstrates faith in God through his willingness to sacrifice Isaac.

Genesis 21: Details the fulfillment of God's promise to Abraham and Sarah as they finally give birth to a son named Isaac in their old age; however, Sarah's jealousy over Hagar, the mother of Ishmael, leads her to demand that Abraham send them away. Though initially distressed, Abraham obeys God's assurance to care for Ishmael, and Hagar and her son wander the wilderness until God provides for them. The chapter concludes with Abraham making a covenant with Abimelech, the Philistine king, solidifying his presence in the land.

Genesis 22: God tests Abraham's faith by commanding him to sacrifice his beloved son, Isaac, on Mount Moriah; Abraham readily obeys, demonstrating unwavering trust in God even when faced with an seemingly impossible task; at the last moment, an angel intervenes, stopping Abraham from killing Isaac and providing a ram as a substitute sacrifice, reaffirming God's covenant with Abraham and promising great blessings to his descendants through Isaac; this story is often referred to as "The Binding of Isaac.". 

Genesis 23: Sarah, Abraham's wife, dies at the age of 127 in Hebron, prompting Abraham to mourn deeply; he then negotiates with the Hittites to purchase a cave called Machpelah as a burial place for Sarah, signifying his claim to the promised land, and buries her there, marking the first piece of property he owns in Canaan. 

Faith and Fulfillment: God's Promises and Abraham's

The purpose of the book of Genesis are to record God's creation of the world and His desire to have a people set apart to worship Him. The author of the Book of Genesis is Moses. There is plenty of evidence that leads to this conclusion:

• The Talmud (The Hebrew Bible, the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and the primary source of Jewish religious law and Jewish theology.) attributes this book to Moses.

• Citations from Genesis show that the Old Testament is part of the Law of Moses (Deuteronomy 1:8; 2 Kings 13:23; 1 Chronicles 1:1)

• Jesus and the New Testament writers attribute Moses as the author of as an essential part of Scripture (Matthew 19:8; Luke 16:29; 24:27)

The original audience of the book of Genesis are the people of Israel and it was written in the wilderness during Israel's wanderings. The setting is primarily the region presently known as the Middle East.

The Key People we will learn about are Adam, Eve, Noah, Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Rebekah, Jacob, and Joseph.

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What is God's Name in these Chapters?

In this portion of our journey we want to dive deep into the character of God described in His name. By identifying who God is, we can further relate to Him personally and build a stronger relationship and connection with Our Father.

Names are important. They give significance to places, people, and things. We identify with so much based off what it's name is. This is considerably notable when it comes to the names of God.

The book of Genesis establishes fundamental truths about God, including His role as the Creator, His holiness, His hatred of sin, His love for mankind, and His willingness to provide for our redemption. 

Elohim - God, The Strong Creator

Jehovah - Lord, The Self-Existing One

El Elyon - The Lord God Most High

Adonai - Lord, Master

El Roi - God who sees me

El Shaddai - God Almighty

Jehovah Jireh - The Lord will provide

When God reveals Himself, He combines His name Jehovah with another name that reveals something more about Him. He does this to reveal Himself on a personal level hence the name Jehovah. The root word for Jireh means "to see", but when put together with Jehovah we get the meaning "to provide". So when we see God in this role we see the combination of God seeing and God providing moving to provision. Provision means to supply something for it's future use. In order to complete receive the benefits of Jehovah Jireh, there must be a sacrifice. You have to trust Jehovah to provide and if you don't let go of the security of what you provided for yourself to trusting that Jehovah Jireh will provide for you.

In Genesis Chapter 21, Jehovah is depicted as a faithful and covenant-keeping God, fulfilling his promise to Abraham and Sarah by miraculously enabling Sarah to conceive and give birth to Isaac in her old age; despite the seemingly impossible situation, Jehovah demonstrates his power and grace by providing the promised child at the appointed time, while also showing compassion towards Hagar and Ishmael by providing for them in the desert, even after they are sent away from Abraham's household. 

In Genesis Chapter 22, Jehovah is depicted as a demanding and testing God, pushing Abraham to the limits of his faith by asking him to sacrifice his beloved son, Isaac, demonstrating a desire for complete obedience and unwavering trust, ultimately revealing a merciful nature by stopping Abraham at the last moment and providing a substitute sacrifice, reaffirming his covenant with Abraham through this extreme test. 

In Genesis Chapter 23, Jehovah is portrayed through the generous offer of the Canaanites to Abraham, and through the promise that Abraham's name would be made great.

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Christ in Every Book of the Bible

Christ is the theme throughout the Bible. From Genesis to Revelation, God reveals His Son, Jesus Christ.

Christ is the Seed of the woman Genesis 3:14 , He is the Passover Lamb Exodus 12:3, The Atoning Sacrifice Leviticus 17:11, The Smitten Rock Numbers 20:8, 11, The Faithful Prophet Deuteronomy 18:18, Christ is the Captain of the Lord's Host Joshua 5:15, The Divine Deliverer Judges 2:18, The Kinsman Redeemer Ruth 3:12, Christ is the anticipated as the Anointed One,1 Samuel 2:10, The Son of David 2 Samuel 7:14, The Coming King 1 & 2 Kings, Builder of the Temple 1 & 2 Chronicles (1 Chronicles 28:20), Ezra represents Christ as the Restorer of the Nation Ezra 6:14, 15, Nehemiah shows Him as the Restorer of the Temple Nehemiah 6:15, and Esther portrays Him as the Preserver of the Nation Ester 4:14, Christ is seen as the Living Redeemer Job 19:25, The Praise of Israel Psalm 150:6, The Wisdom of God Proverbs 8:22, 23, The Great Teacher Ecclesiastics 12:11, The Fairest of Ten Thousand Song of Solomon 5:10. Christ is the Suffering Servant Isaiah 53:11, The Maker of the New Covenant Jeremiah 31:31, The Man of Sorrows Lamentations 3:28-30, The Glory of God Ezekiel 43:2, The coming Messiah Daniel 9:25, The Lover of the Unfaithful Hosea 3:1, The Hope of Israel Joel 3:16, The Husbandman Amos 9:13, the Savior Obadiah 21, the Resurrected One Jonah 2:10, the Ruler in Israel Micah 5:2, the Avenger Nahum 2:1, the Holy God Habakkuk 1:13, the King of Israel Zephaniah 3:15, the Desire of Nations Haggai 2:7, the Righteous Branch Zechariah 3:8, and the Sun of Righteousness Malachi 4:2.

The King of the Jews Matthew 2:2, the Servant of the Lord Mark 10:45, the Son of Man Luke 19:10, and the Son of God John 1:1. Christ is the Ascended Lord Acts 1:10, the believer's Righteousness Romans 1:17, Sanctification 1 Corinthians 1:30, Sufficiency 2 Corinthians 12:9, and Liberty Galatians 2:4. He is the Exalted Head of the church Ephesians 1:22, the Christian's Joy Philippians 1:26, and the Fullness of Deity Colossians 2:9. In the Thessalonian epistles Christ is the believer's Comfort 1 Thessalonians 4:16, 17 and Glory 2 Thessalonians 1:12. The Christian's Preserver 1 Timothy 4:10, Rewarder 2 Timothy 4:8, Blessed Hope Titus 2:13, and Substitute Philemon 17. He is the High Priest Hebrews 4:15, the Giver of Wisdom James 1:5, the Rock 1 Peter 2:6, and Precious Promise 2 Peter 1:4. John represents Christ as the Life 1 John, the Truth 2 John, and the Way 3 John, Jude portrays Christ as the Advocate and Revelation shows Him as King of Kings and Lord of Lords Revelation 19:16. The whole Bible is literally all about Christ!

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Questions: Let's expand how these chapters expanded your faith and your relationship with God.

What is the overall theme of Genesis 18-20 of God's character and relationship with humanity?

How does the birth of Isaac demonstrate God’s faithfulness to His promises? How have you experienced God fulfilling His promises in your life?

When Hagar and Ishmael were sent away, God provided for them in the wilderness. How does this story remind us of God’s care during difficult and uncertain times?

Sarah and Abraham struggled with waiting for God’s timing. How can their journey encourage us to trust God’s timing in our lives today?

How did Abraham demonstrate his trust in God when asked to sacrifice Isaac? What does this teach us about surrendering our plans to God?

What does the ram provided by God in place of Isaac signify about God’s provision? How can we see parallels to Jesus as the ultimate sacrifice?

When have you faced a situation where your faith was tested? How did you respond, and what did you learn about God through that experience?

In purchasing a burial site for Sarah, Abraham trusted in God’s promise of the land for his descendants. How do you demonstrate faith in God’s promises even when they seem far off?

What does Abraham’s respect and integrity in negotiating for the land teach us about how to interact with others in our communities today?

How does Abraham’s unwavering trust in God inspire you to live out your faith in challenging circumstances?

In what ways do these chapters reveal God’s unchanging character and His care for all people, regardless of their circumstances? How can this truth bring hope to our world today?

How can Abraham’s obedience and God’s faithfulness encourage you to live boldly for Christ in your daily life?

Reference Guides:

Life Application Study Guide

A Popular Survey of the Old Testament by Norman L. Geisler

The Power of God's Names by Tony Evans