Genesis 25:1-6
Long before Viagra came on the scene the Lord God was in the business of restoring the (ED) erectile dysfunction, in His friend Abraham. Henry M. Morris gives this opinion of what God did in Abraham’s life, on page 406-407 in the Genesis Record. “When God heals, He heals completely, restoring the injured member or diseased organ back to full soundness again. In order to father a son in his old age, Abraham’s reproductive system had to be rejuvenated. The one-hundred-year-old man became as a man of thirty or forty again, in that respect at least.”
Abraham was 140 when Isaac married and Abraham took a concubine named Keturah, and had six sons by her and he lived for thirty-five more years. Verses five and six give this account; “Abraham gave all he had to Isaac. But to the sons of his concubines Abraham gave gifts, and while he was still living he sent them away from his son Isaac, eastward to the east country.” Once more questions or observations fill my mind; why are those two women Abraham fathered sons by called concubines and not his wives? I do not have a good answer for this, but it is clear that Sarah is the only one God considered as the wife of Abraham. It is of interest that in Genesis 17:4, God gave this promise to Abram, “Behold my covenant is with you, and you shall be the father of a multitude of nations.” And out of these men came many nations, and after thousands of years, archaeologists tell us that they have become the modern-day Arabic peoples.
Do you ever look at the wisdom of God and marvel? Only God would put into the heart of a father to send his sons away from the one of promise. God knew that Isaac would need to be free of the customs and traditions of his step-brothers, He knew that they would return to the gods of their mothers, so he sends them away.
Hundreds of years after Abraham had taken this action, Jesus encounters some Pharisees who were very religious and were wondering why his disciples did not live according to the tradition of the elders. This was Jesus reply; “Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you hypocrites; as it is written: “ ‘These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. They worship me in vain; their teaching are but rules taught by men.’ You have let go of the commands of God and are holding on to the traditions of men.” (Mark 7:6-7) And it was years after that message to the chosen people of God, that the apostle Paul wrote in a letter to some Christians at Colosse, look at Colossians chapter two verse 8, “See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ.
It is of the utmost importance, that we read this “love letter” called the Bible, it will teach us the ways of God and keep us from the empty life passed down from the deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world, rather than on Christ. For years I was blind to the traditions of the Baptist Church, but like all Churches they have many rules based on human tradition. Most of them came about from some good-hearted person trying to play God, and keep us on the straight and narrow road, but they pull us away from Christ and lead us to independent living. The bottom line is, it is easier to follow a rule, than to walk by faith in a God you cannot see, but the “rule life” is void of the power of the living God.
From the Back Porch,
Bob Rice
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