My prayer is that you read and study these devotionals with an earnest desire to seek the Lord
¨¨¨ These devotionals are much easier to read on-line ¨¨¨
THE THOUGHT FOR THE DAY
Surround yourself with like-minded Christians
“He that walketh with wise men shall be wise: but a companion of fools shall be destroyed.”
Proverbs 13:20 (KJV)
Genesis 21
All in God’s timing
Genesis 21:5 (KJV), “And Abraham was an hundred years old, when his son Isaac was born unto him.”
Narrative: If anything, this should remind us that God always has our best interest in mind. It is impossible to fathom how God sees us today, tomorrow and in the future but He will always put us in a position to bring out our very best.
God creates two great nations
Genesis 21:12-13 (KJV), “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. 13 And also of the son of the bondwoman will I make a nation, because he is thy seed.”
Genesis 21:17-18 (KJV), “17 And God heard the voice of the lad; and the angel of God called to Hagar out of heaven, and said unto her, What aileth thee, Hagar? fear not; for God hath heard the voice of the lad where he is. 18 Arise, lift up the lad, and hold him in thine hand; for I will make him a great nation.”
- Narrative: God’s promise to Abraham was Israel.
- Genesis 12:7 (KJV), “And the Lord appeared unto Abram, and said, Unto thy seed will I give this land [Canaan]: and there builded he an altar unto the Lord, who appeared unto him.”
- The first recorded time in the Bible where Canaan is referred to as Israel.
- 1 Samuel 13:19 (KJV), “Now there was no smith found throughout all the land of Israel: for the Philistines said, Lest the Hebrews make them swords or spears.”
- And where did the name Israel come from?
- Genesis 32:28-30 (KJV), “And he said, Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel: for as a prince hast thou power with God and with men, and hast prevailed.”
- Narrative: God’s promise to Hagar and Ishmael
- Throughout the Bible, “Ishmaelite” is a collective term for nomads living in the wilderness, east of Canaan
- Is he the father of the Arab nations? No where in the Bible is Ishmael referred to as the father of the Arab nations
- Genesis 17:20 (KJV), “And as for Ishmael, I have heard thee: Behold, I have blessed him, and will make him fruitful, and will multiply him exceedingly; twelve princes shall he beget, and I will make him a great nation.”
- Genesis 21:12-13 (KJV), “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. 13 And also of the son of the bondwoman will I make a nation, because he is thy seed.”
- Joseph being sold by his brothers
- Genesis 37:25 (KJV), “And they sat down to eat bread: and they lifted up their eyes and looked, and, behold, a company of Ishmeelites came from Gilead with their camels bearing spicery and balm and myrrh, going to carry it down to Egypt.”
- From this we learn that Ishmaelites are camel-riding caravan tradesmen, who travel from the northeast through Israel, heading southwest to Egypt
- Descendants from Ishmael’s twelve sons could have settled in lands where now are commonly Arab nations
- Genesis 25:12-14 (KJV), “12 Now these are the generations of Ishmael, Abraham’s son, whom Hagar the Egyptian, Sarah’s handmaid, bare unto Abraham: 13 And these are the names of the sons of Ishmael, by their names, according to their generations: the firstborn of Ishmael, Nebajoth; and Kedar, and Adbeel, and Mibsam, 14 And Mishma, and Dumah, and Massa”
What is the significance of Beersheba?
Genesis 21:14 (KJV), “And Abraham rose up early in the morning, and took bread, and a bottle of water, and gave it unto Hagar, putting it on her shoulder, and the child, and sent her away: and she departed, and wandered in the wilderness of Beersheba.”
According to the Hebrew Bible, Beersheba was founded when Abraham and Abimelech settled their differences over a well of water and made a covenant
Genesis 21:29-31 (KJV), “29 And Abimelech said unto Abraham, What mean these seven ewe lambs which thou hast set by themselves? 30 And he said, For these seven ewe lambs shalt thou take of my hand, that they may be a witness unto me, that I have digged this well. 31 Wherefore he called that place Beersheba; because there they sware both of them.”
Abimelech’s men had taken the well from Abraham after he had previously dug it so Abraham brought sheep and cattle to Abimelech to get the well back.
Beersheba was a sacred shrine. “Abraham planted a tamarisk tree in Beer-sheba, and called there on the name of Yahweh, the Everlasting God”
Genesis 21:33 (KJV), “And Abraham planted a grove in Beersheba, and called there on the name of the Lord, the everlasting God.”
Narrative: Beersheba can be seen as symbolizing those events in our lives that cause us to call upon the name of the Lord. Tragedy strikes, heartaches happen, and the Lord shows Himself strong on our behalf. The date or place where we experienced a turning point becomes a memorial in our hearts, much as Beersheba’s altar, well, and tamarisk tree were to Abraham and Isaac. When God reveals His will to us or rescues us in some way, we can create a personal “Beersheba” in our hearts. Then, when times of doubt or conflict come, we can return there over and over in our hearts for assurance that God is fulfilling His plan.
Theophanies
A theophany is a manifestation of God in the Bible that is tangible to the human senses. In its most restrictive sense, it is a visible appearance of God in the Old Testament period, often, but not always, in human form.
To Hagar
Genesis 21:17 (KJV), “And God heard the voice of the lad; and the angel of God called to Hagar out of heaven, and said unto her, What aileth thee, Hagar? fear not; for God hath heard the voice of the lad where he is.”
To Isaac
Genesis 26:24 (KJV), “And the Lord appeared unto him the same night, and said, I am the God of Abraham thy father: fear not, for I am with thee, and will bless thee, and multiply thy seed for my servant Abraham’s sake.”
To Jacob
Genesis 46:2 (KJV), “And God spake unto Israel in the visions of the night, and said, Jacob, Jacob. And he said, Here am I.”
To Elijah
1 Kings 19:5 (KJV), “And as he lay and slept under a juniper tree, behold, then an angel touched him, and said unto him, Arise and eat.”
Who was Abimelech?
There are actually several men named Abimelech in the Bible
Some of the Philistines kings are called “Abimelech.” For example, the king of Gerar who took Sarah into his harem is called “Abimelech”
Genesis 20:2 (KJV), “And Abraham said of Sarah his wife, She is my sister: and Abimelech king of Gerar sent, and took Sarah.”
Genesis 20:12 (KJV), “And yet indeed she is my sister; she is the daughter of my father, but not the daughter of my mother; and she became my wife.”
The same name is applied to the king of Gerar during Isaac’s sojourn there
Genesis 26:1 (KJV), “And there was a famine in the land, beside the first famine that was in the days of Abraham. And Isaac went unto Abimelech king of the Philistines unto Gerar.”
The king of Gath before whom David played the madman is also called “Abimelech” in the title of Psalm 34
Narrative: Many scholars believe that, among the Philistines at least, Abimelech was a title given the king, rather than a personal name—much as the Egyptians always called their king “Pharaoh.”
Isaiah 8
Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz was a son of the prophet Isaiah
Isaiah 8:3-4 (KJV), “3 And I went unto the prophetess (Isaiah’s wife); and she conceived, and bare a son. Then said the Lord to me, Call his name Mahershalalhashbaz. 4 For before the child shall have knowledge to cry, My father, and my mother, the riches of Damascus and the spoil of Samaria shall be taken away before the king of Assyria.”
Isaiah 8:1 (KJV), “Moreover the Lord said unto me, Take thee a great roll, and write in it with a man’s pen concerning Mahershalalhashbaz.”
Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz can be translated “Speed the spoil and hasten the booty
The significance of Immanuel in Isaiah
Isaiah 8:8 (KJV), “And he shall pass through Judah; he shall overflow and go over, he shall reach even to the neck; and the stretching out of his wings shall fill the breadth of thy land, O Immanuel.”
This refers back to the “Immanuel” prophecy of Isaiah 7:14
Isaiah 7:14 (KJV), “Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.”
The land the Assyrians will invade doesn’t really belong to Judah or to King Ahaz, It belongs to the LORD God, to the coming Messiah, to Immanuel
In Isaiah’s time and right now, we are to seek God’s Word for advice and counseling
Isaiah 8:19-20 (KJV), “19 And when they shall say unto you, Seek unto them that have familiar spirits, and unto wizards that peep, and that mutter: should not a people seek unto their God? for the living to the dead? 20 To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.”
Psalms 8
The praise we should give our Lord every morning when we wake up and every thought we have during the day
Psalm 8:1 (KJV), “O Lord, our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth! who hast set thy glory above the heavens.”
Psalm 8:9 (KJV), “O Lord our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth!”
Out of the mouth of babes
In Matthew 21, Jesus has just arrived in Jerusalem for the final days leading up to His death on the cross. While He was in the temple, healing the blind and the lame, the leading priests and scribes saw Jesus performing miracles
Matthew 21:15-16 (KJV), “15 And when the chief priests and scribes saw the wonderful things that he did, and the children crying in the temple, and saying, Hosanna to the son of David; they were sore displeased, 16 And said unto him, Hearest thou what these say? And Jesus saith unto them, Yea; have ye never read, Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings thou hast perfected praise?”
Psalm 8:2 (KJV), “Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings hast thou ordained strength because of thine enemies, that thou mightest still the enemy and the avenger.”
When you think about the ‘finger of God’ and all that He has created, do you ever wonder why He would take the time to still care deeply about every one of us?
Psalm 8:3-4 (KJV), “3 When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained; 4 What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him?”
Proverbs 13
We need the fear of the Lord in our everyday lives in order to be considered truly righteous
Proverbs 13:5-6 (KJV), “5 A righteous man hateth lying: but a wicked man is loathsome, and cometh to shame. 6 Righteousness keepeth him that is upright in the way: but wickedness overthroweth the sinner. ”
Surround yourself with like-minded Christian men
Proverbs 13:20 (KJV), “He that walketh with wise men shall be wise: but a companion of fools shall be destroyed.”
Grow in the Word of the Lord 