5-21-22 Who is the promised seed of Abraham Part Two
The Nugget:
Gen 22:2 And he said, Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of.
TK continued this discussion:
Ismael is the promised son to Abraham, Isaac promised to Sarah
Gen 15: God told Abraham about a son and innumerable offspring, and promised vast lands to them. There’s no mention that this son is from Sarah.
Gen 16: Angel informed Hagar she’s pregnant with Ishmael.
Gen 17: God made a covenant of circumcision with Abraham. Ishmael was among the first to be in this covenant.
Gen 17: God promised Abraham a son by Sarah and would establish another covenant with him for his offspring, and for Ishmael a great nation
Gen 18: Visit by 3 Angels who delivered a message that Sarah would bear a son the following year
TK continued:
when God first promised Abraham a son and tonnes of offspring, He did not say a son by Sarah. So why would she lose faith for ever having a son as you and all Christians think?
I replied:
The narrative in Genesis involving Sarai (later renamed Sarah) begins in Genesis 11,
Gen 11:29 And Abram and Nahor took them wives: the name of Abram’s wife was Sarai; and the name of Nahor’s wife, Milcah, the daughter of Haran, the father of Milcah, and the father of Iscah.
Gen 11:30 But Sarai was barren; she had no child.
Abram (later renamed Abraham) took Sarai to be his wife.
In terms of Bible chronology, this event is dated A.M. 2078 = B.C. 1926.
The narrative regarding Sarai’s childlessness continues in Genesis 16,
Gen 16:1 Now Sarai Abram’s wife bare him no children: and she had an handmaid, an Egyptian, whose name was Hagar.
Gen 16:2 And Sarai said unto Abram, Behold now, the LORD hath restrained me from bearing: I pray thee, go in unto my maid; it may be that I may obtain children by her. And Abram hearkened to the voice of Sarai.
Gen 16:3 And Sarai Abram’s wife took Hagar her maid the Egyptian, after Abram had dwelt ten years in the land of Canaan, and gave her to her husband Abram to be his wife.
In terms of Bible chronology, this event is dated A.M. 2092 = B.C. 1912.
At this point, fourteen years later, Sarai is concerned that she was getting too old to bear Abram a son.
Sarai devised what she thought was a solution to her problem. She gave Hagar to Abram to be his wife so she (Sarai) could obtain children by her.
This practice was a part of that ancient culture’s custom. That practice is reflected in what is written at Ruth 4:11,
Ruth 4:11
11 And all the people that were in the gate, and the elders, said, We are witnesses. The LORD make the woman that is come into thine house like Rachel and like Leah, which two did build the house of Israel: and do thou worthily in Ephratah, and be famous in Bethlehem:
King James Version
As for Rachel, see the account in Genesis 30:1-3,
Gen 30:1 And when Rachel saw that she bare Jacob no children, Rachel envied her sister; and said unto Jacob, Give me children, or else I die.
Gen 30:2 And Jacob’s anger was kindled against Rachel: and he said, Am I in God’s stead, who hath withheld from thee the fruit of the womb?
Gen 30:3 And she said, Behold my maid Bilhah, go in unto her; and she shall bear upon my knees, that I may also have children by her.
As for Leah, see Genesis 29:32-35,
Genesis 29:32-35
32 And Leah conceived, and bare a son, and she called his name Reuben: for she said, Surely the LORD hath looked upon my affliction; now therefore my husband will love me.
33 And she conceived again, and bare a son; and said, Because the LORD hath heard that I was hated, he hath therefore given me this son also: and she called his name Simeon.
34 And she conceived again, and bare a son; and said, Now this time will my husband be joined unto me, because I have born him three sons: therefore was his name called Levi.
35 And she conceived again, and bare a son: and she said, Now will I praise the LORD: therefore she called his name Judah; and left bearing.
King James Version
So this practice within that culture is represented in the narratives in the Bible.
But the issue in the case of Abraham and Sarah is who is the “son of promise”?
Clearly, Ishmael is the son of expediency on Sarai’s part: the result of her effort to take a “work around” to apparently help God out since she was to that point barren. Ishmael, therefore, is not the son of promise.
Who is the “son of promise” in fulfillment of the Abrahamic Covenant provision?
Gen 17:15 And God said unto Abraham, As for Sarai thy wife, thou shalt not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall her name be.
Gen 17:16 And I will bless her, and give thee a son also of her: yea, I will bless her, and she shall be a mother of nations; kings of people shall be of her.
Gen 17:17 Then Abraham fell upon his face, and laughed, and said in his heart, Shall a child be born unto him that is an hundred years old? and shall Sarah, that is ninety years old, bear?
Gen 17:19 And God said, Sarah thy wife shall bear thee a son indeed; and thou shalt call his name Isaac: and I will establish my covenant with him for an everlasting covenant, and with his seed after him.
Gen 18:10 And he said, I will certainly return unto thee according to the time of life; and, lo, Sarah thy wife shall have a son. And Sarah heard it in the tent door, which was behind him.
Gen 18:14 Is any thing too hard for the LORD? At the time appointed I will return unto thee, according to the time of life, and Sarah shall have a son.
Gen 21:1 And the LORD visited Sarah as he had said, and the LORD did unto Sarah as he had spoken.
Gen 21:2 For Sarah conceived, and bare Abraham a son in his old age, at the set time of which God had spoken to him.
Gen 21:3 And Abraham called the name of his son that was born unto him, whom Sarah bare to him, Isaac.
Gen 21:4 And Abraham circumcised his son Isaac being eight days old, as God had commanded him.
Gen 21:5 And Abraham was an hundred years old, when his son Isaac was born unto him.
Gen 21:12 And God said unto Abraham, Let it not be grievous in thy sight because of the lad, and because of thy bondwoman; in all that Sarah hath said unto thee, hearken unto her voice; for in Isaac shall thy seed be called.
Gen 22:2 And he said, Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of.
Gen 22:12 And he said, Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou any thing unto him: for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son from me.
Jos 24:3 And I took your father Abraham from the other side of the flood, and led him throughout all the land of Canaan, and multiplied his seed, and gave him Isaac.
There is much more in the Bible that pertains to this issue. But what I have presented from the Old Testament certainly establishes beyond any possibility of doubt that Isaac born of Sarah is the only “seed of promise” recognized by the Bible.