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Maybe that’s one reason Isaac gets equal billing with his father and son every time God identifies himself as ‘the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob.’” (From the Daily Walk Bible, p. How would you like your epitaph to read: ‘He generally did what God told him to do?’ There’s not a lot of glamour in quiet faithfulness, but as far as God is concerned, it’s more important than just about anything else.
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As the editors of the Daily Walk Bible point out about him, “He generally did what God told him to do. In an amazing display of faith, Abraham walks up Mount Moriah, builds an altar, binds his son, and raises the knife before God says, “That’s enough, now I know that you fear God.” But, what about Isaac? We actually do not have as much information about Isaac, but again, in the record of the Old Testament, God is consistently referred to as the “God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.” I have often described Isaac’s faith as quiet faith. When that son is finally born, God commanded Abraham to offer that son up as a sacrifice to Him. God told him that his descendants would be as numerous as the stars in the skyĪnd sand on the seashore, but at 100 years old, Abraham has no son, let alone descendants as numerous as the stars and sand pebbles. God said, “Get up and go” and he got up and went. As we have seen in recent weeks, the faith of Abraham is amazing. The story of this family including Jacob’s son, Joseph, dominates the remaining chapters of Genesis. For generations, the people of God, when referring to God, would refer to the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. In both English and French, the sign reads, “In God we Trust.” I know one could argue that those are just words, but amazing the timing in light of what has occurred in our city over the last 10 days or so, right? May it be that those words become as it was in the days of Isaac- a place of altar-a place of commemorating our ultimate trust in God. The placement of this sign was voted on back in May. Our City-‐Parish government unveiled a sign at the City-‐Parish Government building. Introduction: Last Tuesday night something happened in our city that has not gotten a lot of attention.
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I will bless you and multiply your offspring because of My servant Abraham.” 25 So he built an altar there, called on the name of Yahweh, and pitched his tent there. He named it Open Spaces and said, “For now the LORD has made room for us, and we will be fruitful in the land.” 23 From there he went up to Beer-‐sheba, 24 and the LORD appeared to him that night and said, “I am the God of your father Abraham. 22 He moved from there and dug another, and they did not quarrel over it. 21 Then they dug another well and quarreled over that one also, so he named it Hostility. 20 But the herdsmen of Gerar quarreled with Isaac’s herdsmen and said, “The water is ours!” So he named the well Quarrel because they quarreled with him. 19 Then Isaac’s slaves dug in the valley and found a well of spring water there. He gave them the same names his father had given them. 18 Isaac reopened the water wells that had been dug in the days of his father Abraham and that the Philistines had stopped up after Abraham died. Text: 17 So Isaac left there, camped in the Valley of Gerar, and lived there. Today, we have come to Genesis 26 and the altar built by Isaac. Last time, we examined the altar that Abraham built by God’s command to offer up his son Isaac. Then, we discovered the altars that Abraham built as he moved from place to place. A recurring phrase in the book is “built an altar.” We are looking at each of these texts as we examine how worship changes us or how we are “Altered by the Altar.” Thus far, we have examined the altar that Noah built after he exited the ark. For example, the last verse of chapter 4 tells us, “At that time people began to call on the name of Yahweh.” (4:26) We ought to be able to learn something about worship from this book of beginnings. Genesis also shows us the beginning of worship. Genesis shows us the beginning of many things- creation, humanity, sin, family, even nations. Steve Horn AugText Introduction: Genesis is the book of beginnings. Altered by the Altar Worship as a Way of Life Genesis 26:17-‐25 Dr.