December - People Of The Bible
Bible Character: Isaac
Scripture References: Luke 7:11-17
Theme: Greatest Love of All
At Home Preparation
Gather family photos or albums that contain photos of your children from
babies to present age. Have a pair of scissors close by, but out of reach of
little hands.
Mark these scripture readings in your Bible: Genesis 18:10-15, Genesis
21:1-7, Genesis 22:1-22, Luke 1:26-38, Luke 2:1-7, John 3:16
Introducing the Character
(Excerpt from Biblegateway.com “All The Men of the Bible- Isaac)
Isaac is one of the few cases in the Bible in which God selected a name for
a child and announced it before he was born. In the Old Testament we
have Isaac, Ishmael, Solomon, Josiah, Cyrus and Isaiah’s son; in the New
Testament, John the Baptist and Jesus.
Isaac’s beautiful and suggestive name, “he laughed,” commemorates the
two laughings at the promise of God—the laughing of the father’s joy and
the laughing of Sarah’s incredulity which soon passed into penitence and
faith (Gen. 21:6). Isaac was the child of the covenant, “I will establish My
covenant with him.” To three patriarchs in succession was this covenant
specifically given: to Abraham, as he left Chaldea (Gen. 12:3); to Isaac,
when in Canaan during the famine (Gen. 26:4); to Jacob, at Bethel (Gen.
28:14). Isaac, however, was the first to inherit the covenant, and to him
God gave the whole inheritance of Abraham (Gen. 24:35).
We have no record of Isaac’s early life apart from the fact that he was
circumcised when eight days of age (Gen. 21:4). Doubtless as a lad he
became God’s child in heart and life, ever mindful of the covenant he was
heir to. When, according to Josephus, Isaac was twenty-five years of age,
he was taken from Beer-sheba to the land of Moriah, where, as the burnt
offering, Abraham presented him to God. While we have Abraham’s
unquestioning faith in his submission to the divine command to offer up his
only son, we must not forget Isaac’s supreme confidence in his father and
also his willing consent to become the victim (Gen. 22:12; 26:5; Heb.
11:17). Thus in Isaac we have a type of Him who gave Himself for our sins.
From the day of his surrender to death, Isaac became a dedicated man.
“The altar sanctified the gift.”
Making the Connection
*Spend some time looking through pictures together and remembering
special moments. Make sure to let your children know how much you love
them and how you have enjoyed watching them grow.
Let’s read about another baby who was long awaited for and much
loved.
*Read the passages from Genesis 18:10-15 and Genesis 21:1-7.
Genesis 18:10-15 (NIV)
10 Then one of them said, “I will surely return to you about this time next
year, and Sarah your wife will have a son.”
Now Sarah was listening at the entrance to the tent, which was behind him.
11 Abraham and Sarah were already very old, and Sarah was past the age
of childbearing. 12 So Sarah laughed to herself as she thought, “After I am
worn out and my lord is old, will I now have this pleasure?”
13 Then the Lord said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh and say, ‘Will I
really have a child, now that I am old?’ 14 Is anything too hard for the Lord?
I will return to you at the appointed time next year, and Sarah will have a
son.”
15 Sarah was afraid, so she lied and said, “I did not laugh.” But he said,
“Yes, you did laugh.”
Genesis 21:1-7 New International Version (NIV)
21 Now the Lord was gracious to Sarah as he had said, and the Lord did
for Sarah what he had promised. 2 Sarah became pregnant and bore a son
to Abraham in his old age, at the very time God had promised him.
3 Abraham gave the name Isaac to the son Sarah bore him. 4 When his
son Isaac was eight days old, Abraham circumcised him, as God
commanded him. 5 Abraham was a hundred years old when his son Isaac
was born to him.
6 Sarah said, “God has brought me laughter, and everyone who hears
about this will laugh with me.” 7 And she added, “Who would have said to
Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? Yet I have borne him a son in
his old age.”
Can you imagine your grandma having a baby? Sarah was old and
wrinkled when she gave birth to her son, Isaac! It was a miracle that
someone that old could have a baby.
In the New Testament, a new baby is on his way at the beginning of Luke.
Let’s read a few excerpts from Luke.
Luke 1:26-38 (NIV)
26 In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel
to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, 27 to a virgin pledged to be married to a
man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary.
28 The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored!
The Lord is with you.”
29 Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of
greeting this might be. 30 But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary;
you have found favor with God. 31 You will conceive and give birth to a
son, and you are to call him Jesus. 32 He will be great and will be called
the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his
father David, 33 and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his
kingdom will never end.”
34 “How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?”
35 The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power
of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be
called[a] the Son of God. 36 Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a
child in her old age, and she who was said to be unable to conceive is in
her sixth month. 37 For no word from God will ever fail.”
38 “I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May your word to me be
fulfilled.” Then the angel left her.
Luke 2:1-7 (NIV)
2 In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be
taken of the entire Roman world. 2 (This was the first census that took
place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) 3 And everyone went to their
own town to register.
4 So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to
Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line
of David. 5 He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be
married to him and was expecting a child. 6 While they were there, the time
came for the baby to be born, 7 and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son.
She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was
no guest room available for them.
Jesus was a miracle baby too! God placed His Son to grow inside of Mary.
Introducing the Character
•
What did Isaac’s name mean? (laughter)
•
What did the name Jesus mean? (Son of the Most High)
•
Think about all of those pictures you just looked at together. How
do you suppose Abraham and Sarah felt about their son, Isaac?
(they loved him very much)
• How do you suppose God felt about His only son that He sent to live
on earth? (He loved him!)
*** Get the scissors and pretend you are going to start cutting up the
photos.
Say, “Even though Abraham and God loved their only sons, they were
willing to sacrifice them. Can you imagine me taking my scissors and
cutting up these pictures right now if God told me to cut them up?
How would you feel if I told you God said to cut up all of these
pictures?
Let’s read about an even more difficult situation Isaac was faced with when
he had to trust his father, Abraham.
*Read Genesis 22:1-18.
Genesis 22:1-18 New International Version (NIV)
22 Some time later God tested Abraham. He said to him, “Abraham!”
“Here I am,” he replied.
2 Then God said, “Take your son, your only son, whom you love—Isaac—
and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on a
mountain I will show you.”
3 Early the next morning Abraham got up and loaded his donkey. He took
with him two of his servants and his son Isaac. When he had cut enough
wood for the burnt offering, he set out for the place God had told him about.
4 On the third day Abraham looked up and saw the place in the distance.
5 He said to his servants, “Stay here with the donkey while I and the boy go
over there. We will worship and then we will come back to you.”
6 Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and placed it on his son
Isaac, and he himself carried the fire and the knife. As the two of them went
on together, 7 Isaac spoke up and said to his father Abraham, “Father?”
“Yes, my son?” Abraham replied.
“The fire and wood are here,” Isaac said, “but where is the lamb for the
burnt offering?”
8 Abraham answered, “God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt
offering, my son.” And the two of them went on together.
9 When they reached the place God had told him about, Abraham built an
altar there and arranged the wood on it. He bound his son Isaac and laid
him on the altar, on top of the wood. 10 Then he reached out his hand and
took the knife to slay his son. 11 But the angel of the Lord called out to him
from heaven, “Abraham! Abraham!”
“Here I am,” he replied.
12 “Do not lay a hand on the boy,” he said. “Do not do anything to him. Now
I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your
son, your only son.”
13 Abraham looked up and there in a thicket he saw a ram caught by its
horns. He went over and took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering
instead of his son. 14 So Abraham called that place The Lord Will Provide.
And to this day it is said, “On the mountain of the Lord it will be provided.”
15 The angel of the Lord called to Abraham from heaven a second time
16 and said, “I swear by myself, declares the Lord, that because you have
done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, 17 I will surely
bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky
and as the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will take possession of
the cities of their enemies, 18 and through your offspring all nations on
earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed me.”
Exploring the Text
Wow! Just cutting up your beloved baby pictures would be hard for me to
do. Abraham was asked to sacrifice his only son, born from Sarah.
Isaac was about twenty-five years old when he allowed his dad to place
him on the altar and tie him up.
How would you feel if this was you?
Why do you think Abraham obeyed God, even though it didn’t make
sense? (Perhaps he trusted God to provide a way for his son to live. See
Genesis 5:5 “...We will worship and we will come back to you.”)
Why do you think Isaac trusted his dad to let him put him on the altar
as a sacrifice? (Perhaps his father had always proven himself loving and
trustworthy. Perhaps Isaac had watched his father obey God in the way he
lived, so he trusted that God would provide a sacrifice.)
Ultimately, God provided a sacrifice for the altar in the form of a ram caught
in the thicket. He never intended for Isaac to die. He only wanted to see if
Abraham loved God more than even his own son. Abraham showed God
how much he loved and trusted him by offering son as a sacrifice.
However, God did offer His one and only son, Jesus, as a sacrifice for our
sins.
In John 3:16, it says:
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that
whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
God loved Abraham enough to provide a sacrifice so his son would not die.
God loved us enough to send his only son to die for our sins, so that we
could live forever with him.
Jesus knew his mission on earth was to live a perfect life and become the
living sacrifice for the sins of all people. He trusted his Father’s plan
because he knew God loved him and the world. He knew that God had a
plan to raise him from the dead to show that He had power over death. He
knew that this was the only way for all of us to have eternal life.
God loved his son. He watched him grow, and learn, and play. He
watched him live a perfect life. Can you imagine how hard it was for
God to allow His son to experience such pain?
But God did that for us. Jesus followed his Father God’s plan, FOR US!
• Seeing the Big Picture
Let’s think about what Isaac and Jesus had in common:
• God chose their names for them ahead of time.
• They were both asked by their fathers to be a living sacrifice.
• They both willingly offered themselves as sacrifices.
• Isaac and Jesus were miracle babies.
• God provided a way for each of them to live. A ram for Isaac and
resurrection (being raised from the dead) for Jesus.
• The descendants of Abraham were blessed because of Isaac and
Abraham’s obedience to God.
• All of earth is blessed because Jesus died on the cross for our sins.
Making a Plan
The stories of Isaac and Jesus are true. They were real babies, who were
held and loved by their parents. They made memories with their families,
just like we have. They didn’t have picture albums back then, but if they
did, they surely would have been filled with photos of special memories.
They were loved by their parents and obeyed their fathers, even when the
world would say it didn’t make sense.
As we celebrate Christmas this year, let’s remember what we are
celebrating. We are celebrating that God loved us enough enough to send
His only son as a sacrifice for our sins. We are celebrating that we will live
forever with God if we believe Jesus is God’s son and accept him as Lord
of our lives.
Making it Count
How will you celebrate Jesus this Christmas? Have you accepted Jesus as Lord of your life?
If you haven’t, would you like pray to accept him as your Savior now?
If you have, would you like to pray a prayer of thanks for the sacrifice
he made for you?
Let’s make this Christmas also a time of continued thanksgiving for
the great love of God and the obedience and sacrifice of his son,
Jesus.
Take some time to pray and thank God for showing us people who loved
God enough to obey Him even when it didn’t make sense to the world. Ask
God to help us to live like that and remember what Jesus did for us, as we
celebrate this Christmas season.