Friday, October 25, 2013

WEEKLY SUNDAY SCHOOL LESSON
An international Sunday school lesson commentary

For Sunday October 27, 2013
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VISION DREAMS
(Respond to GOD’s promises)
(Genesis 28:10-22)

After Jacob, with help from his mother Rebekah, had cheated his brother Esau out of his blessing, Esau sought an opportunity, by which he could kill Jacob. Knowing that their father Isaac was near death, Esau had planned to use that occasion to exact his revenge on his hated brother (Genesis 27:1-40). Word of Esau’s plan got back to Rebekah and she advised Jacob to flee to Paddan-aram to stay with his uncle Laban, until his brother got over his anger, and while he was there, maybe he could find him a wife from her brother’s house (Genesis 27:41-46).
In Genesis 28:1-9, Isaac gives Jacob the pure and legitimate blessing that had been previously passed on to him by his father Abraham. He reiterated to him, the blessing that Abraham had received from GOD, pertaining to prosperity and the land, and, he also urged Jacob, as Rebekah had earlier, to go to Paddan-aram to find a wife.
All those who inherited the “Covenant Blessing”, were not to endanger those blessings, by intermarrying with the Canaanites, who had already intermarried with people, who worshiped other Gods. GOD was, and is, concerned with the maintaining of the “Spiritual Purity”, not “racial purity” of HIS people, through all generations.
We see however, in verses 6-9, that Esau had absolutely no understanding of the “Abrahamic Covenant”, or the “Spiritual” ways and desires of GOD toward HIS people. Here, we see the “un-chosen son” of Isaac, ironically, going off and marrying into the family of the “un-chosen son” of Abraham, Ishmael. Esau was still struggling with trying to live life on the “human level”, and not seeking to rise beyond it to GOD, on the “spiritual level”.
In Genesis 28:10-22, we see Jacob’s spiritual nature begins to rise, to yet another level, as he realizes, perhaps for the first time, that GOD is in more than one place. In the Hebrew, the word “Bethel” means “House of GOD”. It is a “good place”, and, it is sometimes for humans, a “hard place”. It is a place where GOD is always near, and it is a place where GOD is known to have responded.
To Abraham, to Hagar, and to Isaac, the place of GOD’s response was “Beer Lahai Roi”. To Moses it was “Mt. Sinai”, and still, to David, it was in “the pastures of Bethlehem”. One can gather from the lives of the faithful men and women of the Bible, that scripture, without a doubt, implies that “GOD is everywhere”, all the time. HE is near us, whether we want HIM to be, or not, and HE sees all, hears all, and knows all that we do. The whole world then, in that sense, becomes, and is, a “Bethel”, or a “House of GOD”.
Here at Bethel, Jacob’s dream of “the stairway to Heaven” is based purely on GOD’s grace. It is here that GOD appears to Jacob to assure him of HIS promise of blessings, favor, and protection. This event, spurred in Jacob, a wonderful and worshipful response, and vow of loyalty that clearly signaled a change in the way he would walk spiritually, from that day forward. Jacob, now clearly understood, that GOD was present with him, anywhere he went. And, he also understood that GOD would bless, keep, and protect him, all the days of his life.  
Jacob acknowledged this life-changing event with the LORD, and then, made a commitment of his own. He made a vow that the GOD of his fathers, would also be his GOD. And so he placed a stone upright to commemorate the place where GOD had responded to him so gracefully. In addition, he vowed to give back to GOD, a tenth of everything that GOD blessed him with (Genesis 28:20-22). It is a comforting feeling, when we can come to rest in the thought that GOD is near us, and with us, wherever in the world, we may go.

A Sunday school lesson by,
Larry D. Alexander





                                 
                                           LARRY D. ALEXANDER- Official Website



Friday, October 18, 2013

WEEKLY SUNDAY SCHOOL LESSON
An international Sunday school lesson commentary

For Sunday October 20, 2013
_____________________________________________

Over 50,000 readers worldwide
larrydalexander.blogspot.com

SIBLING RIVALRY
(GOD can work through troubled relationships)
(Genesis 16, 21:12-21, & 26:2-5, 12-14)

In Genesis 16 we saw a frustrated Sarah, giving in to the pressures of an aging body, and an aging desire to bear children, and giving her servant Hagar, to her husband Abraham to wed, in order that they might start a family of their own. So Abraham, being 85 years old at the time, agreed to Sarah’s wishes and took young Hagar as his wife, and she became pregnant.
When Hagar knew for sure, that she was pregnant, she began to treat Sarah, her master, with contempt. This angered Sarah very much, and, as a result, she began to blame Abraham. Abraham responded by telling her, that, “since she (Hagar) is your servant, you deal with her in the way you see fit”.
So Sarah began to treat Hagar very harshly, causing her to run away from home. In verse 7 of chapter 16, we see an Angel of the LORD, finding Hagar sitting beside a desert spring, along the road to Shur. After asking her two questions, (where have you come from? And, where are you going?), the angel tells Hagar to return to Sarah and submit herself to her authority. Here, we see the angel delivering two messages from GOD, one “hortatory” (return and submit), and the other “promissory” (she was to give birth to a son).
After Hagar’s encounter with the angel, she refers to GOD as “the GOD who sees me” and she also says, “I have seen the ONE who sees me”. Hagar then names the place of the desert spring “Beer Lahai Roi”, which means “well of the living ONE who sees me”. And Hagar returned home, where she bore Abraham a son, and she called his name “Ishmael” (GOD hears), because the LORD heard her misery.
Throughout Scripture, names provided GOD’s people with a message from HIM. Here, we see GOD speaking in direct revelation, and Hagar, in return, responds in faith. GOD sees our afflictions, and HE also hears, and HE answers us when we seek HIM in earnest, with a desire to accept HIM, as the only wise, living GOD.
In Genesis 21 we see, however, that, after the birth of Isaac, by Abraham’s wife Sarah, who was “the son of the promise”, sibling rivalry begins between the two sons as Sarah sees Ishmael and his mother, Hagar, making fun of Isaac. Sarah then angrily demanded that Abraham send them both away, for she did not want to share the family inheritance with them.
This upset Abraham very much because Ishmael, too, was his son. However, GOD consoled Abraham and instructed him to conform to Sarah’s wishes, because Isaac was really the son through whom his descendants would be counted (Vs. 11-12). God also assured Abraham that HE would also make a nation of the descendants of his and Hagar’s son as well (v.13).
And so Abraham prepared food and water for Hagar and Ishmael and sent them away into the wilderness of Beersheba (v.14), having faith that GOD would do as HE promised and deliver them safely to HIS chosen destination, just as HE had done with him years earlier when he called him to leave the village of Haran (Genesis 12:4), for “a land of promise” in Canaan.
It is while Hagar and Ishmael were traveling aimlessly in the wilderness that they were visited again by “The ANGEL of GOD”, who had heard the cries of Ishmael from Heaven, and HE called to Hagar to comfort her. HE gave her water from a well and she immediately ran and gave some to her son who was, at this time, dying of thirst a hundred yards away. HE also promised to make a great nation of the descendants of Ishmael, and GOD was with him as he grew up in the wilderness of Paran. He became an expert archer, and Hagar arranged a marriage for him to a young woman from Egypt (Vs. 17-21).
In Genesis 26:2-5 the LORD extends the “Abrahamic Covenant” promise to Isaac as HE appeared to him at Gerar. There the LORD instructed Isaac not to go to Egypt, but rather, he must stay there in the land of Canaan. The LORD told Isaac that if he obeyed HIM and remained there, that HE would bless him, and give that land to him and his descendants, just as HE had promised Abraham years earlier. And so Isaac remained there, and as a result of his obedience, his crops were overwhelmingly great. He harvested a hundred times more than he planted and he became a rich man as his crops continued to grow. He also acquired large flocks of sheep and goats, great herds of cattle, and many servants (Vs. 12-14).
And so GOD worked through the sibling rivalry between Isaac and Ishmael, and they both became successful in their own right, because they and their parent trusted greatly in the LORD. And as we look back and contemplate on this story, we can clearly see that the most important thing that either of them had to offer, or pass down to their offspring was not wealth or skill, but rather, it was their “legacy of faith”, through their personal relationship with GOD.

A Sunday school lesson by,
Larry D. Alexander





                                 
                                           LARRY D. ALEXANDER- Official Website


Friday, October 11, 2013

WEEKLY SUNDAY SCHOOL LESSON
An international Sunday school lesson commentary

For Sunday October 13, 2013
_____________________________________________

Over 50,000 readers worldwide
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A PROMISE KEPT
(GOD fulfills HIS promises in surprising ways)
(Genesis 17:15-17, 18:9-15, & 21:1-7)


In Genesis 15:1-6, we saw Abraham accepting GOD’s divine promise of a son, to be born of his flesh, even though it seemed physically impossible for him and Sarah in their old age (100 years old and 90 years old respectively). Also, in this passage, one should note that, at this time, Abraham had not yet been circumcised as a sign of his covenant with GOD, and the Law, which was delivered by Moses, was still some 400 years away. Therefore, neither circumcision, nor, Abraham’s strict obedience to the law, accounted for GOD’s declaration of Abraham’s righteousness (Genesis 15:6). It was his trusting faith in GOD that afforded him with the gift of Salvation.
In the Old Testament Hebrew, the word used for “covenant” is “briyth” (ber-eeth), and specifically, it is a compact made by passing between two pieces of flesh, in the same sense as “cutting” with a knife. We saw in Genesis 15, verses 9-10, GOD making a covenant with Abraham by ordering him to bring to HIM, a three-year old heifer, a three-year old female goat, a three-year old ram, a turtledove, and a young pigeon, all except the birds, to be cut down the middle, and the halves laid side by side, as a sign of that covenant.
Here in Genesis 17, GOD now reveals to Abraham, more details of that previously promised covenant (Genesis 12:1-3 & Genesis 15). Here GOD tells Abraham, who was to this point, still called “Abram”, to serve HIM faithfully and live a blameless life, and HE, in return, would make a covenant with him that would guarantee to make him father of a mighty nation, and in fact, HE would make him “father of many nations”.
After hearing this, Abram knelt down prostrate, face to the ground. It was then and there that GOD informed that HE was changing his name to “Abraham”, which means “father of many nations”. And so, from that day on, every time Abraham heard his name called, he was reminded of GOD’s covenant promise with him.
In Genesis 17:9-14, GOD reveals yet another confirming sign to Abraham, only this one was to apply not only to him, but in fact, was to apply to all males who share the Jewish promise of the everlasting covenant. Here GOD Almighty institutes the ancient ritual of “circumcision” into the Jewish doctrine. Circumcision involves the cutting away of the foreskin from the tip of a male’s penis. This procedure was to be performed on every Jewish male child on the eighth day of his life. It is intended;
·         To serve as an everlasting reminder, from generation to generation, of GOD’s sacred covenant with HIS chosen people.
·         It would also serve as a “cutting” reminder (if I may pun on words) that symbolized how GOD wished for them to lay aside the impurity of their nature, and remain loyal to the family of GOD.
·         It would serve to remind them that all mankind is dependent upon GOD for the reproduction of life.
·         And that anyone who refused to be cut in this way would be cut off from his people, because of his disobedience to GOD’s command.
Sarai, Abraham’s wife, also underwent a name change, as well as a life change, and her name was changed by GOD, to “Sarah”, as she would become “the mother of many nations”. At the ripe old age of 90, she gave birth to Abraham’s son, who would be heir to the promise.
Scripture tells us that Abraham laughed to himself in disbelief when GOD informed him of this miraculous deed that would befall he and Sarah, and when Sarah later heard the news, she too, laughed in disbelief. And to show you that GOD too, has a sense of humor, HE instructed the aging couple to name their son “Isaac”, which means, “He laughs”. It would serve as a lasting reminder that they laughed at the Word of GOD.  
In Genesis 18:9-15, we see the appearance of a “Theophany” (an appearance of GOD to man) to Abraham, that is believed by most Theologians, to be CHRIST HIMSELF, with two of HIS angels. This time HE gives Abraham and Sarah a precise time frame for the birth of their son Isaac, and HE reminded them, while Sarah laughed to herself, that nothing is impossible for GOD. GOD works with us and our limitations and imperfections when we have faith in HIM, and, believe in HIM, to a point of knowing.
And finally we see in Genesis 21:1-8, GOD’s promise to this faithful couple, being realized at the appointed time. And Sarah’s laughter, that resulted from her once, unbelieving spirit, is now turned into “a laughter of joy”, that can be shared by her friends and family. It was made possible, because she finally, in her old age, turned herself over to GOD, through faith. This story serves to remind and assure each of us, that, the seemingly impossible things in life, are put there, only to serve as proof that all things become possible for those who believe in the SOVEREIGN GOD, WHO created and controls, all things.
GOD knew that Sarah was barren, when HE made the promise to her and Abraham, that “a countless number of descendants would be theirs”. But Sarah chose not to wait on that promise, and decided to take matters into her own hands. She displayed an “inadequate view of GOD”, and therefore, had to learn the lesson that all Christians, sooner or later, must learn. That we must wait on GOD to fulfill HIS promises, no matter how long we think it should take. GOD has no respect for “time”, as we understand “time”. To GOD, time is irrelevant, because HE is the master and owner of all “time”, and therefore, has all the time in the world to do HIS bidding, and HE also understands that we don’t. We must have faith that GOD will do for each of us, what HE promises HE will do, and HE will only do it when the time is exactly right for us to receive, and maximize, HIS wonderful blessings.

A Sunday school lesson by,
Larry D. Alexander





                                 
                                           LARRY D. ALEXANDER- Official Website

Friday, October 4, 2013

WEEKLY SUNDAY SCHOOL LESSON
An international Sunday school lesson commentary

For Sunday October 6, 2013
_____________________________________________

Over 50,000 readers worldwide
larrydalexander.blogspot.com

A LASTING INHERITANCE
(GOD always follows through on HIS promises)
(Genesis 15)

In Genesis chapter 15, verses 1-6, we see one of the most defining passages on faith that can be found anywhere else in all of scripture. This passage underscores the argument by the Apostle Paul in Romans chapter 4, where he debates that “Justification” and “Salvation” are imputed to us by GOD, because of our faith in HIM, and, that those gifts from GOD have never been given as a result of our so-called “good works”.
In the biblical Greek, the word “logizomai” (log-i-zom-ahee) is used to describe what takes place when GOD accredits us with righteousness that we could not otherwise earn, just as HE did with Abram in this passage. Logizomai is an accounting term that means “to reckon”, or, “to make an entry in the account book”. The doctrine of “imputation” is taught throughout the Old and New Testaments. To “impute” means “to accredit someone other than the one who is responsible”.
Scripture teaches us that, when we believe GOD, HE, WHO keeps all record books, looks into our accounts and clearly sees that we are not righteous. HE then, through HIS grace and mercy, chooses to accept our faith in HIM, in place of that lack of righteousness. In other words, for those who have faith in HIM (CHRIST JESUS), GOD will stamp the word “RIGHTEOUS” over their accounts, and announce that their debt is covered, or, is paid in full, through the blood of CHRIST JESUS.
Here we see Abram (Abraham), on faith, accepting GOD’s divine promise of a son, to be born of his own flesh, even though it seemed physically impossible for he and Sarai (Sarah) in their old age, which was, at that time, 100 years old, and 90 years old, respectively. Also in this passage, one should note that at that time, Abram had not yet been circumcised as a sign of his covenant with GOD, and, that the Law (The Ten Commandments), which was delivered by Moses was still some 400 years away. Therefore, neither circumcision, nor, Abram’s strict obedience to the Law factored in GOD’s decision to declare him “righteous” (Gen. 15:6). It was only through Abram’s “trusting faith” in GOD that GOD afforded him the distinction of being “righteous”, and, in addition, granted him the gift of eternal life (salvation).
In verses 7-8 of this chapter of Genesis, we find that, after Abram believed in GOD to deliver the seemingly impossible feat of presenting he and his wife Sarai with the birth of a child of their own flesh in their old age, he now, strangely wavers when GOD added the promise that he would also give the entire land of Canaan to his offspring. And actually, that’s not so surprising when we consider the fact that we too, after we’ve exercised great faith in GOD on one occasion, have on a later occasion, failed to show the same measure of faith.
Many of us struggle with maintaining a high level of faith, over a long period of time. Hopefully, through a closer, more personal, experiential relationship with GOD, we can overcome our pattern of inconsistency in trusting in the LORD for all things, just as Abram managed to do later on in his life.
In verses 9-10 GOD instructs Abram in a sacrificial ritual that was known as a “Covenant of Blood”. Abram is obedient to GOD’s instructions, as he gathers up, and cuts into halves, three animal sacrifices; a three-year old heifer, a three-year old female goat, and a three-year old ram. He also brought the LORD two bird sacrifices, a turtledove, and a young pigeon, the two of which, he did not sever in halves. This “Covenant of Blood” was considered to be the most binding of all covenants in Old Testament times, and it was always formalized by GOD’s “passing through” the divided halves of the sacrificial animals, an act which HE apparently used to consummate the deal (v. 17).
In verse 11 we see vultures (birds of prey), which, in this passage represent a “bad omen” for Israel’s near future, and would later turn out to be their enslavement in Egypt. Abram was eventually able to “shoo” these birds away, who were trying to devour GOD’s covenant sacrifices which he had prepared. Satan will always oppose, and try to destroy any of man’s dealings with GOD, however, in the ensuing verses, 12-16, GOD shows Abram in a dream, how Israel would be preyed upon and oppressed by Egypt, but would eventually be rescued, as GOD would “shoo” Egypt away in the end, and they would ultimately come away from Egypt with great wealth (Vs. 13-14).
In the Hebrew, the word used for “believed”, in verse 6 is “aman” (aw-mawn), and it simply means “to be certain”. It is a word that sets our mind on the absolute trust that Abram had in GOD. Abram’s story is perhaps, scripture’s greatest example of a man who possessed a “saving faith” that GOD would always deliver on HIS promises, no matter how impossible it may seem to the human thought process.
Abraham’s righteousness was won by strong faith in GOD, and he was fully persuaded, that GOD would do just what HE said HE would do. He came to know, just as we must all come to know, that GOD’s power is not bound by our understanding, and neither is it bound by our lack of understanding.

A Sunday school lesson by,
Larry D. Alexander




                                 
                                           LARRY D. ALEXANDER- Official Website