This week’s “Wednesday Word” is a summary of an exposition of Psalm 22 Dr. Wellum from Sunday July 13, 2008.

The opening line of Psalm 22 is familiar to anyone who has read the crucifixion narratives in the gospels. Perhaps a lesser-known fact is that this psalm is also quoted in Hebrews 2:12. Before considering the New Testament use of Psalm 22, it must be considered in its own context.

Psalm 22 is about suffering, trusting God, and vindication and victory. It can be broken down into two parts. Part 1, consists of verses 1-21, and it is a cry of lament with elements of trust interspersed throughout. Part 2 consists of verses 22-31, and it has the themes of vindication and victory. This is a psalm of David, and though it is not possible to assign it to a specific instance of suffering in the life of David, it no doubt reflects on the many things that he suffered throughout his life at the hands of Saul and others.

Three different aspects of suffering are taken up in the first part of Psalm 22. First, in verses 1-2, the lament is made that God is far away. This lament is reminiscent of other sufferers in the Old Testament, especially Job. Yet, the psalmist follows this lament with trust in verses 3-5. He reminds himself of the character and position of God. He is holy, and He is enthroned with power. He also reminds himself of how God has delivered His people in the past. Second, in verses 6-8, David complains that the people are against him. He has become a social outcast. Again in verses 9-11, there are elements of trust among the laments. Third, strong metaphors are used to describe the physical wasting away of the psalmist in verses 12-18. The picture brings to mind a dying man in a desert wasteland among his enemies. Again a plea of trust comes in verses 19-21. It is a cry for God to come near and rescue him.

The second part of the Psalm can be seen as an answer to the prayer in verse 19-21. The Lord brings vindication and victory. Now the psalmist will lead the people in praise. In verse 27-28, the promise to Abraham concerning the nations is developed. They will come and bow before the Lord as well. All peoples will praise the Lord. When we read this and other Psalms that describe the suffering king as a part of the book of Psalms, certain themes emerge. God’s chosen ruler in Psalm 2 is understood more fully. He is a suffering servant. These themes help us interpret the suffering of Jesus Christ in the New Testament. What does the messianic king look like? He will be one who suffers before entering His glory.

It is no mistake that Jesus quoted this Psalm on the cross. He was indeed forsaken by the Father as he bore our sin on the cross. Through His suffering, He enters into glory. This becomes more apparent when we look at Hebrews 2:12. Psalm 22:22 is quoted. The author of Hebrews explains that Jesus, the author of our salvation, was made perfect through suffering. When he quotes this part of the Psalm that begins with the king leading the congregation in the praises of God, we must think of the Psalm in its entirety. Jesus fulfills Psalm 22 as the suffering King who is ultimately vindicated and victorious.

When we suffer, we can learn from the psalmist. We should look upon God recognizing His holy character and position of power to save us. We should remember how He has delivered those who trusted Him in the past. We should call out to Him when He is far off. As those who live in the light of the New Testament, we have an even greater hope. Jesus, who suffered to enter His glory, saves us. We can trust him as he leads us to praise God. God is able to deliver us when we suffer. Even if we suffer unto death we know that King Jesus has won the victory over death and the grave and will lead us in His glory.

Audio from this week’s lesson: Psalm 22

~TWM

This week’s “Wednesday Word” is a summary of an exposition of Psalm 24 by student teacher, David Schrock, from Sunday July 7, 2008.

The tension of a dual kingship runs throughout the psalter and specifically here in Psalm 24. Though David rules over Israel as king, he only does so on the basis that he has been established as such by Israel’s true king, the Lord God himself. As David writes, he is clearly aware of the source of his own seat of power.

In verses 1 and 2, David harkens back to the beginning of time, recalling the words of Moses from Genesis 1 in order to celebrate the Lord God as the creator of all that exists. This creation theme is picked up throughout the rest of the psalter, acknowledging that God will redeem that which he has created (Psalm 89:8).

In verse 3 the psalm shifts from the ends of the earth to the focal point of Mt. Zion. David asks, “Who shall ascend the Hill of the Lord? And who shall stand in his Holy Place?” The answer is clear: only he who has clean hands and a pure heart. Clearly, if one seeks to travel this path, his life must be marked with obedience. Indeed, all of humanity will fail to achieve this righteous standard. Only in Christ is the type of perfect obedience sought after here in Psalm 24 made possible. King Jesus will ascend the hill of the Lord, and by his grace a trail of his captives will follow behind him (Ps 68:18).

The psalm closes remembering the Exodus, the deliverance of the people of Israel from the land of Egypt by the mighty hand of the Yahweh. In the past, He has proved himself faithful to deliver his people, and on this basis, all of humanity shall anticipate his future deliverance. This King of Glory who has created all that exists, who has redeemed his people in the past, will assuredly redeem the rest of humanity and the rest of his creation.

Audio from this week’s lesson: Psalm 24

~TDG

This week’s “Wednesday Word” is a summary of an exposition of Psalm 8 by Dr. Wellum from Sunday June 29, 2008.

This “Psalm of David” (see superscription) praises Yahweh the Lord for His creation in general and for the role He has given man in particular. The reason for this role given to “man” and “the son of man” is said to be “Because of Your adversaries/To make the enemy and the revengeful cease” (2b). For David, it is this exalted status of the “son of man” over creation and over God’s enemies that causes him to declare (both at the beginning and end of the song), “Yahweh, our Lord,/How majestic is Your name in all the earth” (vv. 1 and 9). As those redeemed for the purpose of being God’s true humanity (something they never quite lived up to), Israel was to rule over creation as a new Adam, and they were to rule over God’s enemies as well. In performing these tasks the name of Yahweh was made great among the nations.

For those weeping by the rivers of Babylon (see Psalm 137) in exile, however, it did not seem as if Yahweh’s name was being made much of in all the earth. In fact, the names Baal and Marduk (Babylonian gods) were probably on the ascendancy. The words of Psalm 8, then, would have been sung in bitter-sweet anticipation of redemption and the restoration of a proper world order; one in which “the enemy and the revengeful cease” (v. 2) and “the son of man” is seen once again as he who is crowned “with glory and majesty” (v. 5). This hope is precisely what is seen in a similar song of Asaph, when he pleads, “Let Your [the Lord’s] hand be upon the man of Your right hand,/Upon the son of man whom You made strong for Yourself./Then we shall not turn back from You;/Revive us, and we will call upon Your name./Yahweh God of hosts restore us;/Cause Your face to shine upon us, that we may be saved” (80:17-19).”

Israel had to wait many years before the creation and God’s enemies began to be placed once again under the feet of the “son of man.” Even after the return of a remnant to the land under Ezra and Nehemiah, they were still under the rule of an enemy nation (Persia). In many ways, we still today (as the author of Hebrews states after quoting a large section of Psalm “do not yet see all things subjected to him [that is, man/the son of man]” (Heb. 2:8). But, as the author goes on to say about Psalm 8’s fulfillment, what we “do see” is “Him…namely Jesus” (v. 9). In Jesus there is one son of man—the Son of Man—who even now is crowned with glory and honor, and who is even now “waiting…until His enemies be made a footstool for His feet” (Heb. 10:13).

Jesus is humanity as it was meant to be, and more. And beyond that, He plans to “bring many sons to glory” (Heb. 2:10). Take courage sons of men, “The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet” (Rom. 16:20).

Audio from this week’s lesson: Psalm 8

~DGG

This week’s “Wednesday Word” is a summary of an exposition of Psalm 2 by Dr. Wellum from Sunday June 21, 2008.

Like all scripture, Psalm 2 should be interpreted with a view to its immediate context, its place in the unfolding plan of God, and its place in the canon of scripture. After analyzing these three areas, applications can be drawn from the Psalm.

Psalm 2:7 says, “I will proclaim the decree of the Lord: He said to me, ‘You are my Son; today I have become your Father.’” The early church interpreted this as a statement made by God the Father to God the Son in eternity. However, when the psalm is compared to the Davidic Covenant in 2 Samuel 11 and 1 Chronicles 17, the similarity in the language makes a strong argument for viewing Psalm 2 as a reflection on the promises to David and his lineage in the covenant. Therefore, this Psalm would remind the reader that God had promised to make David’s house great and establish him as His chosen king.

When we consider that the book of Psalms was compiled under inspiration after the exile and that Psalm 2 serves along with Psalm 1 as an introduction to the Psalter, our reading of the Psalm becomes more full. In this post-exilic time, there was no Davidic king ruling on the throne. Therefore, this Psalm must be seen as a Psalm of hope and trust in the promises of God. The Israelite community reading the book of Psalms would be reminded that God would keep His promises to David. They could look to the future with a hopeful faith in the promises of God.

Psalm 2 ultimately finds fulfillment in the New Testament in the coming of Jesus Christ. Psalm 2 is quoted directly four times in the NT, Acts 4:25-26, Acts 13:33, Hebrews 1:5, and Hebrews 5:5. The common theme in these texts is the appointment of Jesus as King. Jesus is Lord by virtue of who he is (the eternal second person of the trinity) and by what he does (his victory on the cross) (cf. Rom. 1:3-4). This Psalm and the Davidic covenant could only be fulfilled by Jesus Christ in its fullest sense, for only a king who lives forever can have a kingdom and a throne forever (2 Sam. 7:16).

Having examined Psalm 2 in these three contexts, we can understand how we should apply it today. Acts 4:25-26 helps us understand one application of this text. When the early church faced threats and persecution, they prayed quoting this Psalm and asked for boldness to share the faith in the face of persecution. We too can read this Psalm and take confidence as we share our faith. Also, this Psalm is a strong missions text. As we go out to the nations, we can have confidence that the rule of Christ will be realized over all peoples.

Audio from this week’s lesson: Psalm 2

~TWM

This week’s “Wednesday Word” is a summary of an introduction to the book of Psalms by Dr. Wellum from Sunday June 15, 2008.

The book of Psalms, like any other book of the Bible, must be interpreted with a view to its place in the overarching storyline of Scripture if one is to grasp its full significance. While each Psalm is, in a sense, a self-contained literary work, the book of Psalms is not merely a collection of disparate poems, strung together without rhyme or reason. Neither is the book itself without particular salvation-historical significance in relation to the other books of the Bible.

A study of the Psalms reveals that the book was given its final and canonical form during the post-exilic era. Included are songs as early as that of Moses (Ps. 90) and as late as that of the exiles who “sat down and wept” “by the rivers of Babylon” (Ps. 137:1). The latter reveals the book’s post-exilic arrangement, meaning that the first people to actually use the Psalter to which we now have access were those who were either suffering in exile at the hands of the Babylonians, or by those who had returned to Judah under Persian rule (making them in effect exiles in their own land). When this is understood, the strong Messianic overtones of the Psalms may be read with a greater sense of the urgency with which they were first sung. Post-exilic Jews were anticipating God’s return to His people, His defeat of their enemies, His reestablishment of the Kingdom of Israel, and His reinstatement of Israel’s Davidic king. It is no wonder, then, that these themes dominate the Psalter.

That these themes are important for the book as a whole may be seen in the fact that they appear in the first two Psalms, songs that serve as a programmatic introduction to the book. Psalm 1 distinguishes between the righteous and the wicked. There is “the assembly of the righteous” (v. 6, a reference to Israel) and there are “sinners” (v. 6, a reference to enemy nations and those within Israel who rebel against Yahweh). Psalm 2 then asserts God’s sovereignty, His choosing of Israel, and a warning to the nations to pay homage to Israel and Israel’s God lest they be destroyed by the true King.

In singing through the Psalter, a post-exilic Jew would recount the glory days of the Kingdom under David and Solomon and God’s deliverance in times past. He or she would also sing of their present distress and need for deliverance in the present, and look with great anticipation to the day when God would, once again, place His King on Israel’s throne. It should come as no surprise that when this King arrived, His followers appealed to these songs frequently as testimony to the fact that God’s promises were being fulfilled. The One of whom Israel sang had appeared. The Son of David had come. The object of Israel’s praise had taken on flesh and blood.

Audio from this week’s lesson: Overview of the Psalms.

~DGG

This week’s “Wednesday Word” is a summary of an exposition of Genesis 37-50 by Dr. Wellum from Sunday June 8, 2008.

Before turning from this study of Genesis toward the book of Psalms next week, we conclude the closing 13 chapters (37-50) with a brief summary and analysis of the life of Joseph, a key figure in the history of Israel and in the fulfilling of God’s promises to Abraham.

After telling his brothers of a dream he had in which all of their sheaves bowed down to his sheave, his brothers began to hate him (37:7). A similar dream involving his parents would lead to a rebuke by his father (37:9). The animosity that these events developed resulted in Joseph’s brothers selling him into slavery to Midianite traders who would eventually turn Joseph over to Potiphar (37:46). Once in Potiphar’s hands the Lord would prove to be with Joseph as he found favor in the eyes of this new master, eventually setting him in charge of his entire estate (39:3). His success with Potiphar would not last long, however, after the wife of Potiphar lied in regards to Joseph’s ill-treatment of her (39:17). The lies of his wife would lead Potiphar to having Joseph thrown in jail. Now in captivity a second time, the Lord would prove to be with Joseph yet again, allowing him to find favor in the eyes of the chief jailer, and eventually in the eyes of Pharaoh himself. With the favor of Pharaoh, Joseph was set in charge of the entire land of Egypt (41:41). A famine in the land would eventually place Joseph’s brothers at his service, marking the fulfillment of Joseph’s dreams envisioned in chapter 37. However, Joseph would not subject them to the same treatment with which they had subjected him when they sold him to slavery; rather, he would show them mercy (Gen 50:19-20).

Gen 50:20 serves as a crucial text in the unfolding plan of God. In the person of Joseph exists an individual who had been sold into slavery, slandered, and imprisoned; however, none of these evil events would prove to be his end. Instead, according to Joseph, all that has happened to him, including the evil committed against him by his brothers, was completely in line with the sovereign purposes of the Lord: “As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today” (50:20) Joseph’s rise to power now meant that the nation of Israel would be sustained even through a severe famine in the land. In this closing chapter of Genesis, indeed, it would have been evident to the original hearers that the Lord God alone is responsible for the perseverance of their nation and would serve as a guarantee that He would bring about his promises to Abraham. To us, as well, we who find our identity in Jesus Christ may rest in knowing that the God of the patriarchs is our God as well. The faithfulness he has shown to these of old, he shows all the more today to those who find themselves heirs of Abraham in Christ Jesus.

Audio from this week’s lesson: Genesis 37-50.

~TDG

This week’s “Wednesday Word” is a summary of an exposition of Genesis 28-34 by Dr. Wellum from Sunday June 1, 2008.

The Bible displays the life of Jacob and the patriarchs without cleaning up their faults and shortcomings. This shows that God works through sinful men to bring about his righteous purposes. We continue to look at the life of Jacob this week in Genesis 28-36. A key element in this section of Genesis is the change that takes place in Jacob.

In Genesis 28:20-22 Jacob responds to God’s promises at Bethel without much humility. The heel grabber and deceiver wishes to maintain his control. He basically makes a deal with God by saying, “If God will be with me and will watch over me on this journey I am taking and will give me food to eat and clothes to wear so that I return safely to my father’s house, then the Lord will be my God and this stone that I have set up as a pillar will be God’s house, and of all that you give me I will give you a tenth.” (vs.20-22) However, as Jacob’s story unfolds we will see a change in him.

Chapters 29-30 recount the interesting story of how Jacob works for seven years to earn Rachel, is tricked by his father-in-law receiving Leah, works another seven years for Rachel, and ultimately prospers greatly. The birth of many children is the beginning of God’s fulfillment to make Jacob into a great nation. In Chapter 31-32, Jacob leaves Laban to reenter the land. Upon hearing that Esau is coming to meet him, Jacob prepares for the worst and devises a plan to protect his family.

In Genesis 32:22-32, after sending his family and possessions across the ford of the Jabbok, Jacob has a life-changing encounter with God. Jacob wrestles with a man until daybreak, and will not let him go until He blesses him. Jacob’s name is changed to Israel, and after the encounter Jacob realizes that he has wrestled with God.

In chapter 33, Jacob meets Esau. Though he dreads meeting the brother who threatened his life years before, the reunion is a happy one. The two are reconciled to one another. It is also clear in this passage that Jacob has changed since he left the land. Three things point to this. First, he goes out first to meet Esau putting himself in the most danger. Second, he makes restitution to Esau by giving him a gift to win his favor. Third, he attributes all that he has, his children and his possessions, to the grace of God.

If chapter 33 is a highpoint for Jacob, chapters 34-35 are a low point for his sons. These chapters explain the remarks that Jacob makes about is sons in Genesis 49. Again, we see in these stories the unlikely people that God uses to bring about his purposes. Genesis 36 gives Esau’s genealogy. Next week, we will turn to the final chapters in the book of Genesis in the narratives about Joseph and his role in the fulfillment of God’s purposes.

At least two things can be learned in the life of Jacob. One, God takes the initiative in fulfilling his purposes and in keeping his promises. This would have given hope to Israel as they prepared to enter the Promised Land, and it gives us hope now in Jesus Christ. We know God is trustworthy. Two, God uses unlikely people to accomplish his purposes. Jacob and the other patriarchs are flawed and sinful. Jacob met God and was changed. Later he could attribute all things to God’s grace. We are also sinful and need to be transformed by God’s grace. Further, we should not count unlikely candidates out of God’s purposes. If we do, we fail to recognize the power of God.

Audio from this week’s lesson: Genesis 28-34.

~TWM

This week’s “Wednesday Word” is a summary of an exposition of Genesis 25-28 by Dr. Wellum from Sunday May 25, 2008.

The account of Jacob and Esau found in Genesis 25-36 puts on display the sovereign grace of the Lord. Just as God chose Isaac over Ishmael as the son of the promise, his sovereign hand will carry through his promises through Jacob instead of Esau. Indeed, it is God who provides, moving his promise forward by his own sovereign hand.

Where as the older son was most commonly the natural recipient of the father’s inheritance, God makes it clear that in the case of Jacob and Esau, the order will be reversed (25:23). When Paul seeks to answer the question as to why Israel had rejected Jesus as the Messiah in Romans 9, it is clear that God’s sovereign choice of Jacob over Esau had nothing to do with Jacob’s winning the Lord’s favor. Instead, before either one of them had done anything good or bad, “in order that God’s purpose according to His choice might stand, not because of works, but because of Him who calls, it was said to [Rebekah], ‘The older will serve the younger’” (Rom 9:10-11). God’s grace alone is seen as being solely responsible for the moving forward of his promise to Abraham. Given the apparently corrupt nature of both Jacob and Esau, it may be said that this promise is moving forward in spite of the moral quality of its recipients—for it is only through Jacob’s deception that he persuades Esau into giving him his birthright, and it is only through Jacob’s deception that he receives the blessing of his father Isaac.

In Chapter 26, the parallels between Isaac and his father Abraham are apparent. Both suffer through a famine in the land (26:1), both deal with King Abimelech (20:2; 26:1), and both lie about their wives in order to protect themselves (20:2, 26:7). Yet, despite all of their difficult circumstances and tendencies toward corrupt behavior, God works in them and through them—all the while protecting them—in order that his promise will be carried forward. God in his grace will accomplish that which he has pledged he will do, and he will do so through an unpredictable and volatile group of people.

As God navigates his promise through these difficult circumstances in Genesis, we are reminded that God’s salvation to us has been accomplished in us by his grace alone apart from any work of our own. Furthermore, as the recipients of the promises of Abraham struggle with disobedience, we are reminded that God can and will accomplish all that he desires despite our own shortcomings and sinful tendencies. Indeed, our only hope is to rejoice together with the apostle Paul, “Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!” (Rom 7:25-25).

Audio from this week’s lesson: Genesis 25-28.~TDG

This week’s “Wednesday Word” is a summary of an exposition of Genesis 22 by Dr. Wellum from Sunday May 21, 2008.

In Genesis 24 and 25 the focus of the biblical narrative shifts from Abraham to the child of promise—Isaac. This transition is accomplished by an extensive account of the finding of a bride for Isaac, as well as the account of Abraham’s death and the genealogies of Abraham’s sons. A lesson that is taught throughout these chapters is the way in which God’s sovereign redemptive plan and man’s responsibility to be actively involved in that plan are two truths that work together.

If the promised son, Isaac, was to become a great nation as God had promised (Gen. 12:1ff), then he would need a wife so that the two could multiply and fill the land that God was to give them. Thus, Abraham’s servant is sent to find Isaac a wife. Abraham tells him that he is not to get Isaac a wife from the Canaanites, but rather to go to “my country and to my relatives” (v. 4). The servant recognizes that the distance between his relatives and the land in which Abraham was sojourning might make the process difficult. He states, “Suppose the woman is not willing to follow me to this land; should I take your son back to the land from where you came?” (v. 5). To this Abraham gives the sharp reply, “Beware that you do not take my son back there!” (v. 6). If Isaac was to have a wife, she would have to, in faith, leave her home country and enter the land of promise just as Abraham had done. This is, in fact, precisely what she (Rebekah) does. The servant was led by God to exactly the right place, to meet exactly the right woman. She then leaves her family and homeland to become part of something bigger than she probably ever realized. The account of the finding of Rebekah then ends with Isaac and Rebekah meeting and marrying, and with a description of Isaac’s affections: “and he loved her; thus Isaac was comforted after his mother’s death” (v. 67).

Chapter 25 begins with yet another wedding; this time for Abraham: “Now Abraham took another wife, whose name was Keturah” (v. 1). Through Keturah, Abraham was given even more sons. But, as v. 5 notes, “[A]ll that he [Abraham] had” was given to Isaac.” As Abraham’s sending away of the sons of his concubines and as the genealogy of Ishmael that follows (vv. 12-18) shows, it was through Isaac and Isaac alone that the promised inheritance would come.

One cannot read these stories without a profound sense that God’s providence was governing all the affairs of his covenant partners; something that is especially evident in the servant being led directly to Rebekah. It was God who had made the promise of seed and it was God who providentially provided the means through which this seed would come. What is equally evident in these chapters, however, is the responsibility of the covenant partners to be actively involved in the fulfillment of the covenant promises. Abraham took initiative in finding a wife for his son so that the promise of a multitude of descendants might come about. In a cursed world, the initiatives and ingenuity of God’s partners were not always the wisest (e.g., Abraham taking Hagar to produce the promised seed); but, these initiatives were just as much a part of God’s sovereign plan as the promises themselves.

This theme of the responsibility of God’s people to be active in the fulfilling of God’s redemptive will is developed throughout the canon. Moses was to actively engage with Pharaoh for the deliverance of God’s people. Israel was to actively drive out the pagan nations so that they could inherit the promised land. When God’s people were in exile and the promise of restoration was made (see Ezek. 36-37 and Jer. 31, among other places), it was God’s servant (Isa. 42:1-9; 49:1-13; 50:4-11; 52:13-53:12) who would actively defeat their enemies and bring them back into the land promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Ultimately, this truth is seen in the life of Jesus as well. Jesus was to be “delivered up by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God” (Acts 2:23). But, to carry out this plan Jesus still had to actively “set his face to go to Jerusalem” (Lk. 9:51) and willingly submit His will to the will of the Father (Lk. 22:42).

In the same way, we (the church) are to actively engage in the plan of God; which is that Christ Jesus would be the firstborn of many brethren from every tribe, and tongue, and nation. We have been promised that Christ will build His church (Matt. 16:18); yet we are commanded to be actively involved in “the building up of the body of Christ” (Eph. 4:12). We have been promised that Christ will indeed be the firstborn of brethren from all peoples; yet we are commanded to be active in taking the gospel “even to the remotest part of the earth” (Acts 1:8). May we be people who delight in God’s promises and trust in God’s sovereign plan, and who also use God-given initiative and ingenuity in seeing that plan accomplished.

Audio from this week’s lesson: Genesis 24-25.

~DGG

This week’s “Wednesday Word” is a summary of an exposition of Genesis 22 by Grant Gains from Sunday May 11, 2008.

Two of the themes that run through Genesis in general and the history of Abraham in particular are the themes of seed and land. God promised Abraham that he would father a great nation and that he would possess a foreign land. In Genesis 23, we learn something about Abraham’s faith and the promise of the land. Abraham finds himself living in a cursed land among cursed men, and yet he faithfully buys a portion of the land that he will inherit.

Genesis 23:1- 2 says, “Sarah lived to be a hundred and twenty-seven years old. She died at Kiriath Arba (that is, Hebron) in the land of Canaan, and Abraham went to mourn for Sarah and to weep over her.” The longevity of Sarah may amaze us, but we must remember that it was a tragically early death because she, just like us, was made to live forever. The fact that Sarah dies is a reminder of the curse that came on mankind and the land that he should have filled and ruled over (Gen. 3). Also, this occurs in the land of Canaan, who had a further curse called down upon himself (Gen. 9:24-25). There is no doubt that Abraham finds himself in a cursed land. Not only is he in a cursed land, but he is among a cursed people. The Hittites were the direct descendants of Ham through his son Canaan (Gen. 10:15-17).

Despite the fact that Abraham is in a cursed land with cursed men, he acts in faith and buys the cave of Machpelah with a portion of the land from Ephron the Hittite in order to bury Sarah. This theme of the land runs throughout scripture. In Genesis 1:28, God blesses mankind and tells them to fill and subdue the earth/land. However, man fails and brings the curse upon himself (Gen. 3). Noah holds promise, but he also fails. God does something interesting with Abraham. He takes responsibility for the covenant and the promises made. When Genesis 23 was written, the Israelites were preparing to enter the cursed land still held by cursed people. Eventually, Israel would enjoy a kind of dominion under the rule of David and Solomon, but that also faded to the point that they were cast out the land into exile because of their sin (Jer. 27). However, there was still hope. In Jeremiah 32, Jeremiah acts in faith the way Abraham does in Genesis 23, he buys a portion of land even though the nation is going into exile.

The hopes of the OT are fulfilled in Jesus Christ. Jesus enters a land that is cursed and under the rule of cursed men as well. However, we soon learn that the real enemy is the serpent of old. In Matthew 4, the serpent tempts Jesus and offers to give him the kingdoms of the world. Throughout his ministry, Jesus wages war on a different front than his followers expect. Jesus does take the land back and defeat his enemies, but he does it by taking the curse on himself (Gal. 3:10-14). Jesus now rules from heaven, and we know that he will take full possession of the land in the future and we will rule with him (Rev. 2:26).

However we have a present focus when it comes to the land as well. How are we to take possession of the land now? We must focus on the seed rather than the land. A story that illustrates and teaches this point is the story of the rich young ruler (Matt. 19). The young ruler would have been a prime candidate for the kingdom agenda if the focus were on land and possessions. However, he goes away dismayed because he cannot sell his possessions. The disciples, however, left everything to follow Jesus, and Jesus promised they would inherit much more (Matt. 19:27-30).

Therefore, we have at least to points of application when it comes to the land and acting with the same kind of faith that Abraham had in Genesis 23. First, our primary focus must be on making disciples and seeing people become part of Abraham’s seed through faith in Jesus Christ. Second, we must forsake taking the land now knowing that we will possess all things later. The faith of Abraham inspires hope in us. We know that the cave that holds Sarah and the grave that will hold us if the Lord does not come first will one day be a small portion of our possession. In Christ, we will have victory over the cursed land.

Audio from this week’s lesson: Genesis 23.

~TWM