TheologyNow

The faith of Isaac

Much as been written (as rightfully so) about the faith of Abraham, but Isaac himself showed that he also had faith in the book of Genesis. Isaac was the only son of Abraham and Sarah and he was the son of promise, as the Messiah would eventually be born from Issac's lineage.

Genesis 22:17-18
I will indeed bless you and make your offspring as numerous as the stars in the sky and the sand on the seashore. Your offspring will possess the gates of their enemies. 18 And all the nations of the earth will be blessed by your offspring because you have obeyed My command."

Genesis 22 is typically used to detail Abraham's faith and obedience and it does indeed show that, but we must not forget about Issac's obedience in this chapter as well.

Genesis 22:1-14
22 After these things God tested Abraham and said to him, "Abraham!"
"Here I am," he answered.
2 "Take your son," He said, "your only son Isaac, whom you love, go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains I will tell you about."
3 So early in the morning Abraham got up, saddled his donkey, and took with him two of his young men and his son Isaac. He split wood for a burnt offering and set out to go to the place God had told him about. 4 On the third day Abraham looked up and saw the place in the distance. 5 Then Abraham said to his young men, "Stay here with the donkey. The boy and I will go over there to worship; then we'll come back to you." 6 Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and laid it on his son Isaac. In his hand he took the fire and the sacrificial knife, and the two of them walked on together.
7 Then Isaac spoke to his father Abraham and said, "My father."
And he replied, "Here I am, my son."
Isaac said, "The fire and the wood are here, but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?"
8 Abraham answered, "God Himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son." Then the two of them walked on together.
9 When they arrived at the place that God had told him about, Abraham built the altar there and arranged the wood. He bound his son Isaac and placed him on the altar, on top of the wood. 10 Then Abraham reached out and took the knife to slaughter his son. 11 But the Angel of the Lord called to him from heaven and said, "Abraham, Abraham!"
He replied, "Here I am."
12 Then He said, "Do not lay a hand on the boy or do anything to him. For now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your only son from Me." 13 Abraham looked up and saw a ram caught by its horns in the thicket. So Abraham went and took the ram and offered it as a burnt offering in place of his son. 14 And Abraham named that place The Lord Will Provide, so today it is said: "It will be provided on the Lord's mountain."

While we see here that Abraham trusted in God explicitly and believed that God would raise up Isaac we must not lose site of Isaac. Many scholars believe Isaac was in his late teens to early twenties during this passage. This is based on the context of the preceding chapters and the fact he's able to carry the wood that Abraham hoisted upon him. If that was the case, and I believe it so, we can assume Abraham was around 120 years old. Clearly Isaac was quite capable of stopping and overpowering Abraham if he really wanted too. Yet he allowed himself to be tied up, placed on the alter and seemingly let the knife be plunged into his chest.

Another example of Isaac's faith is in Chapter 25 of Genesis

Genesis 25:21-22
Isaac prayed to the Lord on behalf of his wife because she was barren. The Lord heard his prayer, and his wife Rebekah conceived.

And also chapter 26 is another example of Isaac obeying God

Genesis 26:1-6
26 There was another famine in the land in addition to the one that had occurred in Abraham's time. And Isaac went to Abimelech, king of the Philistines, at Gerar. 2 The Lord appeared to him and said, "Do not go down to Egypt. Live in the land that I tell you about; 3 stay in this land as a foreigner, and I will be with you and bless you. For I will give all these lands to you and your offspring, and I will confirm the oath that I swore to your father Abraham. 4 I will make your offspring as numerous as the stars of the sky, I will give your offspring all these lands, and all the nations of the earth will be blessed by your offspring, 5 because Abraham listened to My voice and kept My mandate, My commands, My statutes, and My instructions." 6 So Isaac settled in Gerar.

While all of the attention is directed to Abraham, we would be remiss to note how Abraham's walk of faith inspired his son's obedience and walk of faith. Isaac believed his father that God would provide a sacrifice, and was obedient to the point of death, he also was shown as one who prayed. He was married at age 40 and 30 years had transpired but God had listened to his prayer and Rebekah conceived. Likewise when the Lord spoke to him, he obeyed, and instead of heading down to Egypt, he stayed in the land of Canaan.

He wasn't perfect and he also picked up his father's penchant of lying.He wasn't perfect and he also picked up his father's penchant of lying.

Genesis 26:7-8
7 When the men of the place asked about his wife, he said, "She is my sister," for he was afraid to say "my wife," thinking, "The men of the place will kill me on account of Rebekah, for she is a beautiful woman."

Clearly this very act occurred to his father two times beforehand. It also illustrates that while both Abraham and Isaac were righteous, they were not perfect or sinless. It should server as motivation for modern day believers to trust in God and understand that we are a work in progress. We all have short comings but with faith in God we can deal with them.

To summarize, Abraham was faithful to God, and without hesitation about to sacrifice his one and only son. Yet Isaac was not some little child, but rather a young man quite capable of stopping this whole trial, but he didn't. We also see that Isaac demonstrated prayer and faith in the subsequent chapters. While it seems Isaac's life in the book of Genesis is a parenthetical hold over to get from Abraham to Jacob, there's no denying the fact he had faith and trusted in God.

Revelation 12, the dragon, woman and child

Chapter 11 finishes up with the final trumpet blowing. Unlike the other trumpets and judgements that preceded the 7 thrumpet the actual judgment is not immediately foretold but rather we again see the 24 elders who are seated before God fall on their faces and praise God. Additionally we see the temple open up and the ark of the covenant is shown. This of course is the actual ark, not the early ark that was modeled after the heavenly model. Not much else can be written about this passage, other then what was written.

 

Revelation 11:15-19
15 The seventh angel blew his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven saying:

The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom
of our Lord and of His Messiah,
and He will reign forever and ever!

16 The 24 elders, who were seated before God on their thrones, fell on their faces and worshiped God, 17 saying:

We thank You, Lord God, the Almighty, who is and who was,
because You have taken Your great power and have begun to reign.
18 The nations were angry, but Your wrath has come.
The time has come for the dead to be judged,
and to give the reward to Your servants the prophets,
to the saints, and to those who fear Your name, both small and great,
and the time has come to destroy those who destroy the earth.

19 God's sanctuary in heaven was opened, and the ark of His covenant appeared in His sanctuary. There were lightnings, rumblings, thunders, an earthquake, and severe hail.

Chapter 12 opens up and introduces us to the main characters to the tribulation

Revelation 12:1-6
12 A great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and a crown of 12 stars on her head. 2 She was pregnant and cried out in labor and agony to give birth. 3 Then another sign appeared in heaven: There was a great fiery red dragon having seven heads and 10 horns, and on his heads were seven diadems. 4 His tail swept away a third of the stars in heaven and hurled them to the earth. And the dragon stood in front of the woman who was about to give birth, so that when she did give birth he might devour her child. 5 But she gave birth to a Son--a male who is going to shepherd all nations with an iron scepter--and her child was caught up to God and to His throne. 6 The woman fled into the wilderness, where she had a place prepared by God, to be fed there for 1,260 days.

I like what the Bible Knowledge Commentary has to say about this passage and it does a better job of explaining these verses then I can

The woman symbolized Israel, as indicated by Genesis 37:9-11, where the sun and the moon referred to Jacob and Rachel, Joseph's parents. The stars in the woman's crown clearly related to the 12 sons of Jacob and identified the woman as Israel fulfilling the Abrahamic Covenant. J.B. Smith cites Isaiah 60:1-3,20 as proof that the sun refers to Israel's future glory (A Revelation of Jesus Christ, p. 182).

Many commentaries are so intent on attempting to identify Israel as the church that they ignore these plain indications that the woman is Israel. Robert H. Mounce, for instance, makes the woman "the messianic community, the ideal Israel...the church (Revelation 12:17). The people of God are one throughout all redemptive history" (The Book of Revelation, p. 236). While there is a unity of the people of God, this does not wipe out dispensational and racial distinctions.
(from Bible Knowledge Commentary/Old Testament Copyright © 1983, 2000 Cook Communications Ministries; Bible Knowledge Commentary/New Testament Copyright © 1983, 2000 Cook Communications Ministries. All rights reserved.)

Clearly some commentaries try to state that the woman is the church but that makes no sense, given

verse 5:But she gave birth to a Son--a male who is going to shepherd all nations with an iron scepter--and her child was caught up to God and to His throne.

The church did not give birth to the Messiah, but he was born from Israel. The church did not precede the Christ but rather the Christ created the church after his ressurection on the day of pentacost.  Also don't forget about the symbolism of the sun, moon and stars and how that referres back to Joseph's dreams about Israel.  Clearly this is God telling us about Israel and not the church.  Also the book of daniel details the purification of Israel which the 7 year period, called the tibulation is.

Further along the chapeter, we also get see more details about the players of tribulation, such as the devil.  Here he's called the red dragon here and he swept a third of the starts from heaven, that is a third of the angels decided to follow him in his rebellion against God and thus turning from angels into demons. The 10 horns on the dragon's head represent satan control over the world, in fact more is written about the 10 horns, or rather 10 leaders who follow the antichrist in chapter 13 but this starts laying the groundwork of where the antichrist's comes from. 

What's interesting that through ancent mythology, people have represented a seven headed dragon. I'm not sure what's up with that but its consistent.

Revelation 12:4
12:3. Ancient Mesopotamian myths portrayed seven-headed monsters; later Jewish tradition linked the worship of dragons to Babylon (Bel and the Dragon 23-27). The image of a seven-headed serpent or dragon was also part of Canaanite mythology that the Israelites symbolically turned to better purposes: God's parting the Red Sea was now symbolized as a defeat of the primeval serpent Leviathan or Lotan (Psalms 74:13-15; cf. also Psalms 89:9-10; Isaiah 27:1; 30:7; 51:9; Job 9:13; 26:12-13; Ezekiel 29:3; for the principle see Exodus 12:12. Rahab in some of these texts had become a cipher for Egypt -- Psalms 87:4). The Greek hero Heracles also confronted a seven-headed dragon, the Lernean hydra, in Greek mythology, although the number of heads changed quickly! Serpents were also associated with Asclepius; their association with Athena is less relevant in Asia Minor. Serpent veneration is common in many cultures and prevailed in a *Gnostic sect called the Ophites in the second century.

Jewish people had many stories about the great evil reptile Leviathan, that he would even be killed and served up as part of the course at the *messianic banquet (cf. *2 Baruch and later *rabbis). Here the dragon is identified with the serpent of Genesis 3 and the devil (Revelation 12:9).
(from IVP Bible Background Commentary: New Testament by Craig S. Keener Copyright © 1993 by Craig S. Keener. Published by InterVarsity Press. All rights reserved.)

The beginning verses of chapter 12 is the foundation for detailing some of the characters in the tribulation that will be built upon in coming chapters. The dragon, ie., satan, the woman, Israel and the Christ who satan tried to devour/destroy while he (the Messiah) was on earth. Even in this early chapter we see God's control over everything. While it appears things may be falling apart, he is ordering events according to his will. He foretold the death of Christ but the ultimate victory over death and sin way back in Genesis, he added lots of details in the book of Daniel and now we see how he's ordering events to bring the final fulfillment.

While the end of chapter 11 and 12 offer no details on the forcoming judgements it creates the fondation of how the tribulation is to be, that is the devil through the antichrist will control 10 world governments and it will attempt to destroy God's people, specifically Isreal.God will supernaturally protect them for 3 1/2 years as told in chapter 12:6

Revelation 11 - Two Witnesses

Revelation 11:1-14

11 Then I was given a measuring reed like a rod, with these words: "Go and measure God's sanctuary and the altar, and count those who worship there. 2 But exclude the courtyard outside the sanctuary. Don't measure it, because it is given to the nations, and they will trample the holy city for 42 months. 3 I will empower my two witnesses, and they will prophesy for 1,260 days, dressed in sackcloth." 4 These are the two olive trees and the two lampstands that stand before the Lord of the earth. 5 If anyone wants to harm them, fire comes from their mouths and consumes their enemies; if anyone wants to harm them, he must be killed in this way. 6 These men have the power to close the sky so that it does not rain during the days of their prophecy. They also have power over the waters to turn them into blood, and to strike the earth with any plague whenever they want.

7 When they finish their testimony, the beast that comes up out of the abyss will make war with them, conquer them, and kill them. 8 Their dead bodies will lie in the public square of the great city, which is called, prophetically, Sodom and Egypt, where also their Lord was crucified. 9 And representatives from the peoples, tribes, languages, and nations will view their bodies for three and a half days and not permit their bodies to be put into a tomb. 10 Those who live on the earth will gloat over them and celebrate and send gifts to one another, because these two prophets tormented those who live on the earth.

11 But after the three and a half days, the breath of life from God entered them, and they stood on their feet. So great fear fell on those who saw them. 12 Then they heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them, "Come up here." They went up to heaven in a cloud, while their enemies watched them. 13 At that moment a violent earthquake took place, a tenth of the city fell, and 7,000 people were killed in the earthquake. The survivors were terrified and gave glory to the God of heaven. 14 The second woe has passed. Take note: the third woe is coming quickly!

Revelation 11:1-14 gives us more information regarding the first half of the tribulation. First John is told to measure the temple but exclude the outside sanctuary. The outside sanctuary was a place where non-Jews could enter the temple area. John's instructions were to measure the holiest and holiest of holies. Measurements were taken as a consideration before taking possession so it seems that God is preparing to arrive by measuring the temple. God further explains that the holy city (Jerusalem) will be trampled by the nations of world for 42 months, or 3 1/2 years.

God ensures that he will have a presence in his city in if its going to be tramped under for 42 months.To that end, he provides two witnesses dressed in sackcloth. Sackcloth in the old testament is a sign of morning, people wore those when they were repenting before God or mourning over a lost one. Quite a bit of speculation has gone on regarding these two witnesses.  Some postulate that it could be Moses and Elijah since both servants of God did not finish their ministry. Moses did not enter into the holy land, and Elijah had not tasted death but rather was taken up into heaven. An argument can also be made that its Enoch and Elijah since neither person died but was taken up to God. Irregardless of who exactly it is, we can be sure they are witnesses for the Most High and have been granted supernatural power.

Revelation 11:5-6
5 If anyone wants to harm them, fire comes from their mouths and consumes their enemies; if anyone wants to harm them, he must be killed in this way. 6 These men have the power to close the sky so that it does not rain during the days of their prophecy. They also have power over the waters to turn them into blood, and to strike the earth with any plague whenever they want.

We also see that God will be protecting them for the first 3 1/2 years so they can pronounce God's judgment and call to repentence. Like Elijah in the old testament they have the power to shut the sky and cause a drought (another argument that it could be Elijah).

Revelation 11:7-10
7 When they finish their testimony, the beast that comes up out of the abyss will make war with them, conquer them, and kill them. 8 Their dead bodies will lie in the public square of the great city, which is called, prophetically, Sodom and Egypt, where also their Lord was crucified. 9 And representatives from the peoples, tribes, languages, and nations will view their bodies for three and a half days and not permit their bodies to be put into a tomb. 10 Those who live on the earth will gloat over them and celebrate and send gifts to one another, because these two prophets tormented those who live on the earth.

Once their ministry comes to end in 42 months, God lifts the veil of protection and evil seemnigly triumphs as they are killed. God also issues some harsh words against Jerusalem because he likens that city to Sodom and Egypt. Once they are martyred people around the world will view the bodies and celebrate their massacre with gifts and parties. This one verse really shows how low and wicked human heart has sunk into evil. The death of two of God's servants causes the people to give gifts like its Christmas.

Revelation 11:11-14
11 But after the three and a half days, the breath of life from God entered them, and they stood on their feet. So great fear fell on those who saw them. 12 Then they heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them, "Come up here." They went up to heaven in a cloud, while their enemies watched them. 13 At that moment a violent earthquake took place, a tenth of the city fell, and 7,000 people were killed in the earthquake. The survivors were terrified and gave glory to the God of heaven. 14 The second woe has passed. Take note: the third woe is coming quickly!

After 3 1/2 days they rise to their feet and are then carried up into heaven. What a commotion that will create. After celebrating the victory over Gods people (or so they thought) God breathes life back into them and brings up into heaven. As result of their evilness God also shakes a Jerusalem with a massive earthquake killing 7,000 people and destroying a portion of the city.

The 3 woes, which make up the 5th, 6th and 7th trumpets of God's judgment. As a review the fifth trumpet is was the locusts sent out to torment those who rejected God, the second woe is partly made up of the 200 million army crossing the Euphrates to wage war and also the result of the massive earthquake in Jerusalem

The 3rd woe is the final trumpet which is about to come.

The beginning of chapter 11 details that while God is pouring is judgment out on the wicked, he still provides them with an avenue to repent and he provides them with messengers to hear about God's salvation and offers to repent. This is more or less resoundly rejected to the point once they are killed the wicked celebrate the deaths like some perverse holiday by exchanging gifts.

Revelation 10 - A Mighty Angel

Revelation 10

10 Then I saw another mighty angel coming down from heaven, surrounded by a cloud, with a rainbow over his head. His face was like the sun, his legs were like fiery pillars, 2 and he had a little scroll opened in his hand. He put his right foot on the sea, his left on the land, 3 and he cried out with a loud voice like a roaring lion. When he cried out, the seven thunders spoke with their voices. 4 And when the seven thunders spoke, I was about to write. Then I heard a voice from heaven, saying, "Seal up what the seven thunders said, and do not write it down!"

5 Then the angel that I had seen standing on the sea and on the land raised his right hand to heaven. 6 He swore an oath by the One who lives forever and ever, who created heaven and what is in it, the earth and what is in it, and the sea and what is in it: "There will no longer be an interval of time, 7 but in the days of the sound of the seventh angel, when he will blow his trumpet, then God's hidden plan will be completed, as He announced to His servants the prophets."

8 Now the voice that I heard from heaven spoke to me again and said, "Go, take the scroll that lies open in the hand of the angel who is standing on the sea and on the land."

9 So I went to the angel and asked him to give me the little scroll. He said to me, "Take and eat it; it will be bitter in your stomach, but it will be as sweet as honey in your mouth."

10 Then I took the little scroll from the angel's hand and ate it. It was as sweet as honey in my mouth, but when I ate it, my stomach became bitter. 11 And I was told, "You must prophesy again about many peoples, nations, languages, and kings."

Here in revelation 10 we get another breather, and in fact the interlude continues in Chapter 11. While chapter 10 is relatively short, there's a lot of information packed into the verses. First we see a mighty angel descending from heaven. Many commentaries attribute this angel as Jesus because of the rainbow - sign of God's covenant to us, that he'll never flood the earth and enrobed in a cloud. The problem is that in prior chapters, John saw the risen Lord Jesus and stated just that. So when he says he saw an angel, it should not be confused with deity. I believe verses 1-3 illustrate a powerful angel who utters something that cannot be repeated (at least yet). There is a prophesy that God does not want to reveal at the moment, which is why a voice from heaven called down to John to seal what he had heard.

Verse 5 shows him standing in both the water and land, as a sign of his dominion over all creation and he swore an oath to the God in verse 6 which again is more evidence that this is not God but an angel. God swears by himself, where as the angels swear by the one who lives forever and ever.

Genesis 22:15-16
15 Then the Angel of the Lord called to Abraham a second time from heaven 16 and said, "By Myself I have sworn, says the Lord: Because you have done this thing and have not withheld your only son,

A strange request from the angel to eat the book, but it seems the consensus of this action from the commentaries is that the act of eating is ingesting the word of God so he will prophesy on it (as mentioned in verse 11). I'm not sure why it's sweet in the mouth but bitter in the stomach. The best explanation that I've heard is that we see that God is revealing his plan to us, which is sweet and we look forward to that, but then we realize that means judgment on the wicked and that is a painful action. The Lord does not want to see any perish, but we have free will and those who do reject his plan of salvation must face God and the consequences of their actions. Could this be the bitterness in John's stomach? I do not know and to be honest, I've really not heard of any explanation that fits all that well to this passage. I will have to wait till God reveals this passage to us in the course of time, or later in eternity.

Chapter 10 is a strange chapter detailing of a mighty angel descending from heaven, uttering a prophesy that at the moment is sealed up and then giving John a little scroll to consume so he can continue to prophesy.