Abraham man of faith

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Shilo

Shilo

Senior Member
#1
Aug 31, 2011
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#1
God tested Abraham many times

1st leave family and all that he knew and follow God- ties that bind

2nd Famine in the land -circumstances lie

3rd Sarah is brought to Pharaoh. patience

4th fighting between his herdsmen and the herdsmen of Lot. confrontation

5th go to war to save lot and his family - courage

6th The King of Sodom offered to "reward - covetousness, greed

7th His wife with Hagar - works of the flesh - 8th God tells him to circumcise himself and his household - courage

9th The king of Gerar takes Sarah for a wife - patience - lie

10th God tells him to send Hagar and Ishmael away.- ties that bind

11th tells him to sacrifice his dear son Isaac upon an altar. ties that bind

It looks to me that whenever Sarah is involved Abraham is a little more unsteady in his faith. Why do you think that is.
 
KohenMatt

KohenMatt

Senior Member
#2
Jun 28, 2013
4,021
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#2
Shilo said:
It looks to me that whenever Sarah is involved Abraham is a little more unsteady in his faith. Why do you think that is.
Click to expand...
Because that's what women-folk do.;)
 
Huckleberry

Huckleberry

Senior Member
#3
Aug 25, 2013
1,698
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#3
Sarah seemed to be the epitome of unsteadiness.
She couldn't become pregnant, so she threw a fit and told Abraham to have her maid.
The maid gets pregnant, Sarah threw a fit and despised the maid.
The child mocks Isaac, Sarah throws a fit and has them exiled.
She was what you call "CrazyLady".
 
D

DragonSlayer

Guest
#4
#4
Huckleberry said:
Sarah seemed to be the epitome of unsteadiness.
She couldn't become pregnant, so she threw a fit and told Abraham to have her maid.
The maid gets pregnant, Sarah threw a fit and despised the maid.
The child mocks Isaac, Sarah throws a fit and has them exiled.
She was what you call "CrazyLady".
Click to expand...
You should be careful about what you say here. Sarah was certainly not a " CrazyLady ".
After all, she waited almost all her life to get a child, and that was only when she get very old, and she was realizing death was very near for her, that in great despair she told Abraham to beget a child with her maid.
Sarah was not the one beginning to despise anyone; it was the maid Agar who began to despise Sarah because Abraham beget Ismael with her. So Agar began to consider Sarah as a lesser wife of Abraham.
And you rightfully told so, that Ismael mocked Isaac too. Sarah didn't " throw a fit ". She just protected herself and her family, and she was right doing so. And God approved her by sending Agar and her son Ismael to the desert.

If Agar and her son Ismael were respectful towards Sarah and her son Isaac,
Sarah would have never asked for them to leave, and
God would never have sent them in exile to the desert.

The guilt is on their head, not on the head of Sarah.
 
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C

Conotocarious

Guest
#5
#5
Genesis 12:11-13 See now, I know that you are a beautiful woman; and when the Egyptians see you, they will say, 'This is his wife' and they will kill me, but they will let you live. Please say that you are my sister so that it may go well with me because of you, and that i may live on account of you.

Abraham deceives. Sarai obeys.

Genesis 16:2 So Sarai said to Abram, "Now behold, the LORD has prevented me from bearing children. Please go in and to my maid; perhaps I will obtain children through her." And Abram listened to the voice of Sarai.

Abraham bends to unwise council.

So often we lead each other to sin. Man and woman. Woman, man.
 
K

Kerry

Guest
#6
#6
Doe's your wife call you Lord? Abraham is a man of faith and His wife saw that and called him Lord. Abraham beleived God and it was accounted to him as righteousness. Can law do that for you?
 
W

wordsponge

Banned
#7
Nov 13, 2013
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#7
John.8
[56] Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day: and he saw it, and was glad.

Abraham rejoiced but the RULERS were angry and wanted to kill hm.

What is wrong with that picrure... :)
 
crossnote

crossnote

Senior Member
#8
Nov 24, 2012
30,707
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#8
Huckleberry said:
Sarah seemed to be the epitome of unsteadiness.
She couldn't become pregnant, so she threw a fit and told Abraham to have her maid.
The maid gets pregnant, Sarah threw a fit and despised the maid.
The child mocks Isaac, Sarah throws a fit and has them exiled.
She was what you call "CrazyLady".
Click to expand...
Maybe Sarah wouldn't be so 'crazy' if Abraham would have 'manned up' instead of compromising in helping God out thru Hagar.

Hebrews 11:11 Through faith also Sara herself received strength to conceive seed, and was delivered of a child when she was past age, because she judged him faithful who had promised.
 
K

Kerry

Guest
#9
#9
What man could dream of a wife like Sarah. Saying take this girl and I will impute to you nothing it will be as you have slept with me. She called Him Lord and gave him her maid. where do you find a women like that.
 
C

Conotocarious

Guest
#10
#10
Kerry said:
What man could dream of a wife like Sarah. Saying take this girl and I will impute to you nothing it will be as you have slept with me. She called Him Lord and gave him her maid. where do you find a women like that.
Click to expand...
I have difficulty understanding what you are trying to say.

You would prefer to have a woman who would rather worship you than trust the word of God?

A woman who would submit herself to humiliation due to a lack of faith?

Sarah was a good woman. But the qualities you focus on befuddle me as to their quality.
 
W

wordsponge

Banned
#11
Nov 13, 2013
537
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#11
Abraham combined FAITH with PARTNERSHIP through obedience.
Abraham's children have FAITH in Christ and OBEY his simple rules, (non- grievious commandments)
that the Apostles taught to them.

Gen.18
[19] For I (the LORD Jesus) know Abraham,
that he will command his children and his household after (to follow) him,
and they shall keep the way of the LORD (the Father),
to do justice and judgment (goodness);
that the LORD (the Father) may bring upon Abraham that which he hath spoken of him.

Gal.3
[7] Know ye therefore that they who are of (the obedience to the faith) faith,
the same are the children of Abraham....
 
oldhermit

oldhermit

Senior Member
#12
Jul 28, 2012
9,143
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#12
By oldhermit

[FONT=Times New Roman, serif]I. The Hagar Option
[/FONT][FONT=Times New Roman, serif]A. The discontinuity dilemma – Abraham's and Sarah's decision in this matter is an attempt to fill a gap or void in the logical sequence of their situation.

[/FONT][FONT=Times New Roman, serif]1. What is the given expectation? It is the promise of God - “You shall have an heir out of your own body.” [/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman, serif]2. What is the logical sequence for producing an heir? Abraham and Sarah + fertility +time = desired result – an heir.
[/FONT][FONT=Times New Roman, serif]3. What are the discontinuities in this logical sequence?
[/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman, serif]a. They are too old. He is 85 and she is 75.
[/FONT][FONT=Times New Roman, serif]b. Sarah is too barren, 11:30 - [/FONT][FONT=Times New Roman, serif]These two factors represent a physiological discontinuity.
[/FONT][FONT=Times New Roman, serif]c. Time is against them – This is a discontinuity of physics. We have a tendency make the same mistake in measuring the promises of God against the metric of time. [/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman, serif]
4. What is the only element of continuity? It is the power of God to overturn the limitations of the physics and their physiology.

[/FONT][FONT=Times New Roman, serif]B. Time as a contingency element
[/FONT][FONT=Times New Roman, serif]Quite often I think, we expect God to respond to our desires within our perception of time. We tend to hold God accountable to time and regard the faithfulness of God as time contingent. “If he hasn't answered my prayer by now, he isn't going too.” This certainly appears to have been Abraham's reasoning. God has not acted on the matter so he feel it is up to him to act. [/FONT]

[FONT=Times New Roman, serif]1. Time has relevance only within the human analysis of the situation. [/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman, serif]2. Time is a function of God. God is not accountable to time. God responds in time but not to time. Time responds to the will of God.
[/FONT][FONT=Times New Roman, serif]3. Man, on the other hand, responds to time independently of the will of God. This is what Abraham and Sarah did. Because of the perceived limitations of the time element they interject into the situation, they attempt to manipulate the promise of God in such a way that it will harmonize with their understanding of physics and physiology. They then operate on the basis of the consistency of these two fields of discourse constraint. Time + physics + physiology = a discontinuity between the word of God and the circumstances. They then respond to the discontinuity through human resolution. Why does Hagar seem to satisfy the human resolution? Because she fills the gap in the logical sequence. [/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman, serif]
a. She is young enough for child bearing.
[/FONT][FONT=Times New Roman, serif]b. She is not barren
[/FONT][FONT=Times New Roman, serif]c. The time factor is satisfied – they can have the child now. [/FONT][FONT=Times New Roman, serif]But, this does not satisfy the demands of faith. Control of the situation is NEVER allowed to reside within the human arena. God always reserves the right of contravention – to act against all limitations of physics and physiology. [/FONT]
 
Shilo

Shilo

Senior Member
#13
Aug 31, 2011
1,974
102
63
#13
I think in Sarah there is a picture of the old man of Abraham. He took her from Haran with him. This makes her a part of his old nature because he took her into the promise land. Proverbs 27:19 As water reflects the face, so one's life reflects the heart.

Abraham went through so many test but this is a test he went through 2 times before he could get the victory. Some of our old nature must be put through the fire many times for us to win the victory.

Genesis 12:11-13 See now, I know that you are a beautiful woman; and when the Egyptians see you, they will say, 'This is his wife' and they will kill me, but they will let you live. Please say that you are my sister so that it may go well with me because of you, and that i may live on account of you.

Genesis 20 Now Abraham moved on from there into the region of the Negev and lived between Kadesh and Shur. For a while he stayed in Gerar, [SUP]2 [/SUP]and there Abraham said of his wife Sarah, “She is my sister.” Then Abimelek king of Gerar sent for Sarah and took her.
 
C

CRC

Guest
#14
#14
Sarah was a faithful woman of old who had a balance viewpoint. Although the Bible speaks of her physical beauty when she was over 60 years of age, it draws attention principally to her fine qualities—the secret person of the heart. (Genesis 12:11; 1 Peter 3:4-6) She showed a gentle and mild spirit, and she submissively obeyed her husband. Sarah was not unduly concerned about how others viewed her. Though she came from a wealthy background, she willingly lived in tents for more than 60 years. She meekly and unselfishly supported her husband; she was a woman of faith. That was what made her a truly beautiful woman.—Proverbs 31:30; Hebrews
 
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