This transcript was auto-generated. 

We reminded in the last episode that Abraham. Had a son, Isaac. Remember prior to this, God said I’m going to make you the father of many nations. He said that in Chapter 15, and he said it in Chapter 17 and he repeated it again in Chapter 18. He repeatedly said to Abraham, I’m going to make you a father of many nations. Through your wife, Sarah. This chapter has been telling us about the family lines of his son. Last time we looked at the family line of Ishmael, today we are looking at genealogy of Isaac. Abraham, son, that he had with his wife, Sarah. 

We already know from book Genesis that Abraham and Sarah, initially couldn’t have children. The same thing happens here to Isaac and Rebecca, but from a spiritual point of view, this is a test, because he gets married to Rebecca and they have no children. So, this is a test of faith.

There is a sense in which all of life is a test, the test for us is always, are we going to believe God? Are you going to learn from times of testing and grow from the test, or are you going to try to figure it out on your own and ignore the Lord?  It’s a condition we are all in, all the time, whether you are aware of that or not. With your finger in Genesis 25 look at Second Corinthians, chapter one, and look at verse 8, Paul said. 

“We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers and sisters, about the troubles we experienced in the province of Asia. We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired of life itself. Indeed, we felt we had received the sentence of death. But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead. He has delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us again. On him we have set our hope that he will continue to deliver us, as you help us by your prayers. Then many will give thanks on our behalf for the gracious favour granted us in answer to the prayers of many.”. 

(2 Corinthians 1: 8-11)

Do you hear what Paul saying? I want you to know what happened to me, he calls it trouble, saying that he was Under great preasure, “burdened beyond measure” (KJV) at whatever trouble he’s talking about. It was bigger than he could handle, he didn’t have the personal strength to handle it. He says we were in verse eight, “I despaired of life itself”. So even in what feels like a life and death situation, we should not trust in ourselves, but in the God who can raise the dead?  These verses explain why God allows problems to come into your life, so that even if you can’t figure out what is going on and even when things are beyond your means to handle? It’s a test to whether you will to try to figure it out on your own or whether you’re going to trust the Lord. Paul says that very clearly in First and Second Corinthians, the he was in a situation that was beyond his strength. If you’re going to grow spiritually, you’re going to have to learn to trust the Lord, all the more so as the times get harder. If you think about it logically this teaching shouldn’t be a surprise to those who’ve trusted Christ. We trust him to get us to heaven. The issue here is, are you going to trust him to get you through life? And that’s the big question. 

So back in Genesis Chapter 25. Isaac had a problem in his life because God made this promise that he was going to become a great nation which means he has got to have a son. They had been trying for 20 years at this point. I’ve known couples that had difficulty and gone for five or ten years, 20 years that’s a long time. People usually give up by that time. Who else had this problem? Abraham, and he failed the test.  Instead of trusting the Lord to give him a son through his wife Sarah, he spent one night in a tent with a hand maid and that produced the Arabs and the Jews. There have been at it ever since. All because Abraham spent one night attempt with a servant girl.Here, Isaac has the same problem is he going to follow in the footsteps of your father? What is he going to do?