Author: cackywalker@yahoo.com

The young woman ran home to tell her family everything that had happened. Now Rebekah had a brother named Laban ,who rant out. to meet the man at the spring. (vv. 28-29, NLT)

So the man went home with Laban, and Laban unloaded the camels, gave him straw for their bedding, fed them, and provided water for the man and the camel drivers to wash their feet. Then food was served. But Abraham’s servant said, “I don’t want to eat until I have told you why. have come.”

“All right,” Laban said, “tell us.”

“I am Abraham’s servant,” he explained.

“And the Lord has greatly blessed my master; he has become a wealthy man. The Lord has given him flocks of sheep and goats, herds of cattle, a fortune in slver and gold, and many. male and female camels and donkeys.”

“When Sarah, my master’s wife, was very old, she gave birth to a son, and my master has given him everything he owns. And my master made me take an oath. He said, “Do not allow my son to marry one of these local Canaanite women. Go instead to my father’s house, to my relatives, and find a wife there for my son.” (vv. 32-38, NLT)

“O Lord, God of my master, Abraham,” he prayed [Abraham’s servant]. “Please give me success today, and show unfailing love to my master, Abraham. I am standing here besides this spring, and the young women of the town are coming to draw water. This is my request. I will ask one of them, ‘Please give me a drink from your jug.’ If she says, ‘Yes, have a drink, and I will water your camels, too!’-let her be the one you have selected as Isaac’s wife. This is how I will know that You have shown unfailing love to my master.”

Before he had finished praying, he saw a young woman named Rebecca coming out with her jug on her shoulder. She was the daughter of Bethuel, who was the son of Abraham’s brother Nahor and his wife, Milcah. Rebecca was very beautiful and old enough to be married, but she was still a virgin. She went down to the spring, filled her jug and came up again. Running over to her, the servant said, “Please give me a little drink of water from your jug.”

“Yes, my lord,” she answered, “have a drink.” And she quickly lowered her jug from her shoulder and gave him a drink. When she had given him a drink, she said, “I’ll draw water for your camels, too, until they have had enough to drink.” So she quickly emptied her jug into the watering through and ran back to the well to draw water for all his camels. (vv. 12-20, NLT)

When Sarah was 127 years old, she died at Kiriath-arba (now called Hebron) in the land of Canaan. There Abraham wept for her.

Then leaving her body, he said to the Hittite elders. “Here I am , a stranger and a foreigner among you. Please sell me a piece of land so I can give my wife a proper burial.”

The Hittites replied to Abraham, “Listen, my lord, you are an honored prince among us. Chooses the finest of our tombs and bury her there. No one will refuse to help you in this way.” (vv 1-6, NLT)

So Abraham bought the pof of land belonging to Ephron at Machpelah, near Mamre. This included the land itself, and the cave that was in it, and al the surrounding trees. It was transferred to Abraham’s as his permanent possession in the presence of the Hittite elders at the city gate. Then Abraham buried his wife, Sarah, there isn Canaan, in the cave of Machpelah, near Mamre (also called Hebron. So the field and the cave were transferred fro the Hittites to Abraham for use as a permanent burial place. (vv. 17-20, NLT)

When they arrived at the place where God had told them to go, Abraham built an altar and arranged the wood on it. Then he tied his son , Issac, and laid him on the altar on top of the wood. Abraham picked up the knife to kill his son as as a sacrifice. At that moment the angel of the Lord called on him from heaven, “Abraham! Abraham!”

“Yes,” Abraham replied. “Here I am !”

“Don’t lay a hand on the boy!” the angel said. “Do not hurt him in any way, for now I know that you truly fear God. You have not withheld from me even your son, your only son.”

Then Abraham looked up and saw a ram caught by its horns in a thicket. So he took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering in place of his son. Abraham named the place Yahweh-Yire) (which means ” the Lord will provide”). To this day, people still use that name as a proverb: “On the mountain of Lord it will be provided.” (vv. 9-14, NLT)

Some tine later, God tested Abraham’s faith. “Abraham!” God called.

“Yes,” he replied. “Here I am.”

“Take your son, your only son-yes, Isaac, whom you love so much-and go to the land of Moriah. Go and an sacrifice him as a burnt offering on one of the mountains, which I will show you.”

The next morning, Abraham got up early. He saddled his donkey and took two of his servants with him, along with his son, Isaac. Then he chopped wood for a fire for a burnt offering and set out for the place God had told him about. On the third day of their journey, Abraham looked up and saw the place in the distance. “Stay here with the donkey, ” Abraham told his servants.”The boy and I will travel a little farther. We will worship there, and we will come back down.

So Abraham place the wood for the burnt offering on Isaac’s shoulders, while he himself carried the fire and the knife. As the two of them walked on. together, Isaac turned to Abraham and said, “Father?”

“Yes, my son?” Abraham replied.

“We have the fir and the wood, the boy said, ‘but where is the sheep for the burnt offering?”

“God will provide a sheep for the burnt offering, my son,” Abraham answered. And they both walked together. (vv. 1-8, NLT)

The Lord kept His word and did for Sarah exactly what He had promised. She became pregnant, and she gave birth to a son for Abraham in his old age. This happened at just the time God had said it would. And Araham named their son Isaac. Eight days after Issac was born, Abraham circumcised him as God had commanded. Abraham was 100 years old when Isaac was born.

And Sarah declared, “God has brought me laughter. All who heard about this will laugh with me. Who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse a baby? Yet I have given Abraham a son in his old age!” (vv. 1-7, NLT)

Abraham moved south to the Negev and lived for a whle between Kadesh and Shur, and then he moved to Gerar. While living there as a foreigner, Abraham introduced his wife, Sarah, by saying, “She is my sister.” So King Abimelech of Gerar sent for Sarah and had her brought to him at his palace.

But that night God cam to Abimelech in a dream and told him, “You are a dead man, for that woman you have taken is already married!” But Abmelech had not slept with her yet, so he said, “Lord, will you destroy an innocent nation? Didn’t Abraham tell me, ‘She is my sister? And she herself said, ‘Yes, he is my brother. I acted in complee innocence! My hands are clean!”

In the dream, God responded, “Yes, I know you are innocent. That’s why I kept you from sinning against me, and why I did not let you touch her. Now return the woman back to her husband, and he will pray for you, for is is a prophet. THen you will live. But if you don’t return her to him, you can be sure that you and your people will die.” (vv. 1-7, NLT)

[After Abimelech called ro Abraham and asked hin way he did such a thing.] Abraham replied, “I thought, ‘This is a godless place. They will want my wife and will kill me to get her.’ And she is really my siser, for we both have the same father, but different mothers. And I married her. When God called me to leave my father’s home to travel from place to place, I told her, “Do me a favor. Wherever we go, tell the people that i am your brother.” (vv. 11-13, NLT)

Then Abraham prayed to God, and God healed Abimelech, his wife and his female servants so they could have children. For the Lord had caused all the women to e infertile because of what hapened with Abraham’s wife, Sarah.” (vv. 17-18, NLT)

“Oh, no, my lord!” Lot begged. “You have been so gracious to me and saved my life, and you have shown so much great kindness. But I cannot go to the mountains. Disaster would catch up with me there, and I would soo die. See, there is a small village nearby. Please let go there instad: don’t you see how small it is? Then my life will be saved.”

“All right,” the angel said, “I will grant your request. I will not destroy the little village. But hurry! Escape to it, for I can do nothing until you arrive there.” (This explains why that village was know as Zoar, which means “little place.”)

Lot reached the village just as the sun was rising over the the horizon. Then the Lord rained down fire and burning sulfur from the sky on Sodom and Gomorrah. He utterly destroyed them, along with the other cities and villages of the plain, wiping out all the people and every but if vegetation. But Lot’s wife look back as she was following behind him, and she turned into a pillar of salt.

Abraham got up early that morning and hurried to the place where he had stood in the Lord’s presence. He looked out across the plain toward Sodom and Gomorrah and watch as columns of smoke rose from the cities like smoke from a furnace.

BUt God had listened to Abraham’s request and kept Lot safe, removing him from the disaster that engulfed the cities on the plain. (vv. 18-29, NLT)

That evening, the two angels came to the entrance of the city of Sodom. Lot was sitting there, and when he saw them, he stood to meet them. Then he welcomed and bowed with his face to the ground. “My lords,”he said, “come to my home to wash your feet, and be my guests for the night. You may then get up early and be on your way again.” (vv. 1-2A, NLT)

“Meanwhile, the angels questioned Lot. “Do you have any other relative here in the city?” they asked. “Get them out of this place-your sons-in-laws, sons, daughters or anyone else. For we are about to destroy this city completely. The outcry against this place is so great it has reached the Lord, and He has sent us to destroy it.”

So Lot rushed to tell his daughters’, fiances, “Quick get out of the city! The Lord is about to destroy it!” But the youn men thought he was only joking.

At dawn the next morning the angels became insistent. “Hurry,” they said to Lot. “Take your wife and your two daughters who are here. Get out right now, or you will be swept away in the destruction of the city!”

When Lot still hesitated, the angels seized his hand and the hands of his wife and two daughters and rushed them to safety outside the city, for the Lord was merciful. When they were safely out of the city, one of the angels ordered, “Run for your lives! And don’t look back or stop anywhere in the valley! Escape to the mountains, or you will be swept away!.”(vv. 12-17, NLT)

Then the men got up from their meal and looked out toward Sodom. As they left, Abraham went with them to send the on their way.

“Should I hid my plan from Abraham?” the Lord asked. For Abraham will certainly become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth will be blessed through him. I have singled him out so that he will direct his sons and their families to keep the way of the Lord by doing what is right and just. Then I will do for Abraham what I have promised.”

So the Lord told Abraham, “I have heard a great outcry from Sodom and Gomorrah, because their sin is so flagrant. I am going down to see if their actions are as wicked as I have heard. If not I want to know.”

The other men turned and headed to Sodom, but the Lord remained with Abraham. Abraham approached Him and said, “Will you sweep away both the righteous with the wicked? Suppose you find fifty righteous people living there in the city-will you still sweep it way and not spare it for their sakes? Surely You wouldn’t do such a thing, destroying the righteous along with the wicked. Why You would be treating the righteous and the wicked exactly the same! Surely You wouldn’t do that! Should not the Judge of all the earth do what is right?”

And the Lord replied, “If I find fifty righteous people in Sodom, I will spare the entire city for their sake.” (vv. 16-26, NLT)

Finally Abraham said, “Lord, please don’t be angry with me if I speak one more time. Suppose only ten are found there?”

And the Lord replied, “Then I will not destroy if for the sake of the ten.”

When the Lord had finished his conversation with Abraham, He went on His way, and Abraham returned to his tent.” (vv. 32-33, NLT)