Advent Journey: December 10th

© Michael Livesay-Wright

Questions and Reflections

QUESTION: Isn't it amazing that God does what He promises?

Some people used to believe that there were many gods and that they were somewhat like humans with super powers. They did as they pleased, made mistakes, experienced jealousy, did bad things, etc. But God isn't like that. His word is perfect and He always does what He says He will do. I love this beautiful story of the boy named laughter. Genesis says, "The Lord visited Sarah as he had said, and the Lord did to Sarah as he had promised. And Sarah conceived and bore Abraham a son in his old age" (Genesis 21:1-2, ESV). It seemed impossible, but God did it. And He did it in His own perfect time. What promises of God are you having a difficult time believing today? Pray about them. He is still the same faithful God. Abraham and Sarah had to wait a long time, but God did what He said He would do, even if it seemed impossible.

QUESTION: Do you know what an offering is?

Offerings have been common in many cultures. They were either gifts meant to honor God or symbols of atonement or even appeasement. Usually this offering was food or a dead animal placed on an alter of stone and burned. No, it's not pleasant, but in the Bible people gave offerings because man had sinned and he must do something to make things right, to make amends. This becomes more of an emphasis later in the Old Testament. Arguably the first "sin offering" in the Bible was when God used the skin of animals to make coverings for Adam and Eve. No, it's not technically an offering, but animals had to die in order to provide these coverings and the clothing was only needed because Adam and Eve's perspective on themselves changed. They now saw themselves as naked and were ashamed and that nakedness and shame needed a covering. "And the Lord God made for Adam and for his wife garments of skins and clothed them" (Genesis 3:21, ESV). 

QUESTION: Why would God ask Abraham to sacrifice the son God had promised to him?

This isn't an easy question and it's actually a very difficult story to wrestle with. Some people say it was a test for Abraham. I doubt that myself. In fact, some scholars argue that Abraham didn't actually believe God was going to have him kill his son (Check out the Bible Project's explanation of this story). The most important aspect of this story is the foreshadowing and symbolism in this powerful tale. First, it needed to be clear that a big sacrifice was going to be required in order to vanquish sin. Sin equals death. But God knew and created the deeper truth, that death and sin could both be defeated in one perfect sacrifice. Of course, Isaac wasn't that sacrifice. And God never intended for him to be. But God wanted us to know how big of a sacrifice this would be. And then, as we will learn in tomorrow's reading, God is going to provide another powerful symbol that will echo through the entire Bible.