So, for everyone else, Abraham covers a lot of chapters, and I just wanted to cut it down a little so that ya'll could handle it in 14 mins. So I have shrunk it to chap. 22, but some extra questions for the likes of fun people like Andrea......
1. vs. 1 says that God tempted Abraham, does that mean that God sets us up for failure, aka, He is actually the one doing all that tempting? Is it right for God to tempt at all?
2. How did Abraham know that God was talking to him?
3. Why didn't Abraham question God a little bit like in the Sodom and Gomorrah story? Seems like now is the time to actually bargain with God a little.
4. Everyone always assumes that Issac went along with this whole plan, but where does it say that? all the Bible says is that Abraham bound him.
5. Should you ever believe a Spirit if it says to kill someone else? How could you be sure that it was from God?
6. In vs. 17, what does it mean "thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies"?
Some extra for Andrea, and whoever else if anyone actually reads this:
1. What nationality was Abraham?
2. Why did Abraham stop asking God if he would destroy the city at ten's sake?
3. What does Sodom teach us about the Character of God?
4. What sense does chap. 18 vs. 18 for God's reasoning?
I won't clog up any more time with more questions
I tried posting all my answers, but it didn't work. Maybe it was too long. :) So I sent it to you in a facebook message. Enjoy.
ReplyDelete1. I can't imagine God is the one doing the tempting, but rather allows us to be in a position in which we are tempted. And rather than a "temptation" I think this is more of a "test."
ReplyDelete2. Just like with Noah, Abraham "walked" with God. In other words, he had spent so much time with God that there was no mistaking His voice and command. That would be cool.
3. Ooo, good question. I thought it a little odd, too, that Abraham didn't at least ask "why?", or even that his son hopped right up on the alter and didn't ask the same question! Do you suppose Abraham might have viewed this as a test, not necessarily thinking he would be stopped before killing his son? Because really, there's no other human-understandable reason that God would want his son as a sacrifice. Weird.
4. Well, it could go either way here. Perhaps the Bible leaves out the detail that Isaac was not crazy about this plan and was struggling to get away once he saw the intent. Or, maybe Abraham had raised his son in the way of the Lord, teaching him to blindly trust God's command just as he did. How old was Isaac at this point?
5. Well, fortunately for Abraham, he was intimate enough with God to know without a doubt that it was Him. I, on the other hand, have no clue how to answer this question. I'd like to say God would never wish that I kill or sacrifice anyone. But what makes Abraham's day any different from today? If I ever did get to the point where God and I were walking this closely and say He did tell me to sacrifice someone, I'm pretty sure I would jump in my mind to this story and assume it was a test (like in my answer to #3).
6. My NIV says "Your descendants will take possession of the cities of their enemies." So, basically, your family will rule the planet.
I can't imagine the emotion that was involved in this chapter of Abraham's life. Unquestioning devotion. And here's a person that truly did love God more than any other person on earth. A real MOG!
I'll take a shot at the extras:
ReplyDelete1. Okay, nevermind, I have no idea. What?
2. Is that maybe how many good people Abraham thought were actually down there (like his family members or something)? From how I read it, God finished the conversation at that point. Or maybe Abraham gave up, finally just assuming that there weren't actually any good people in the city, and God knew what He was doing.
3. Hmm, that God is true to His word and does not actually want to kill His people, if they would only love Him. I don't know. I'd probably have to hear your whole sermon on this story to get a good picture of His attitude through this experience. I'm not sure.
4. Not sure what you mean by this question. But it seems to demonstrate God's faith that Abraham is right with Him, and will raise his children to be right with God, and therefore, all of his descendants that will grow to be good, will be that way because of Abraham's original influence.
Phew, these are tough on me!
I think it is interesting to know that When the Isrealites were taken captive in Babylon, they were pretty much going back to where they were originally from. They came from Abraham, and he came from Babylon, I don't imagine them looking all that different. The thought also crossed my mind that maybe they were Egyptian too, which would kind of make them mutts.
ReplyDelete