The book of Genesis offers us so many and vast topics from which to choose a theme hymn. As we are starting at the very beginning, I would like to give praise to our Creator of heaven and earth in singing 
Hymn 320 – Lord of Creation and 
Hymn 2 – All Creatures of Our God and King. The stories that follow creation will lean back toward our amazing God and what He has done for each of us in creation.

Having read through the week’s lesson studies, more than once
Hymn 518 – Standing on the Promises is sung in my mind.

Mount Moriah again shows the 
Amazing Grace – Hymn 108 of our God-given to Abraham, and to us.

Our Biblical faith (Sunday) is “about our capacity to trust Him and to receive His grace while understanding just how undeserving we are”:
Hymn 510 – If You But Trust in God to Guide You,
Hymn 590 – Trust and Obey, and
Hymn 279 – Only Trust Him.

Sunday goes on to show that “the Lord Himself had provided a ram…which itself pointed to his only hope of salvation, Jesus”: 
Hymn 646 – To the Name That Brings Salvation.

Monday brings more to us about salvation showing that 
Jesus Paid It All – Hymn 184.

Just as Abraham and his family were bound for the Promised Land (Tuesday), so are we: 
Hymn 620 – On Jordan’s Stormy Banks. Abraham in his quest to find a  wife of Isaac, ultimately did this in need of the family staying in the Promised Land (Wednesday).

It is with a gusto that we may sing 
O Praise Ye the Lord – Hymn 20 for the grace of salvation (Friday) and the plan of redemption.

God’s abundant blessings this quarter as we study through the first book of the Bible which our gracious God has given. May we be faithful and all say “Come, Lord Jesus, come – very soon” so we are able to go to our new home in Heaven, as 
We Have This Hope – Hymn 214.

To learn unknown hymns, you will find the accompaniment music for each one at: https://sdahymnals.com/Hymnal/

Another great resource is for when there is a hymn you wish to sing, but can’t find it in your hymnal. Go to https://www.sdahymnal.org and in the search bar type a special word in that is in the hymn. I am sure you will be amazed at the help you will be given.

2 Timothy 2:15 KJV – “Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.”

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In Genesis 22:23, we see the report of the birth of Rebekah, which anticipates the future marriage between Isaac and Rebekah (Genesis 24:1-67). Likewise, the report of the death and burial of Abraham’s wife, Sarah (Genesis 23:1-20), anticipates his future marriage with Keturah (Genesis 25:1-4).

Read Genesis 23:1-20. What function does the story of Sarah’s death and burial play in the fulfillment of God’s promise to Abraham?

Image © John Baker at Goodsalt.com

The mention of the death of Sarah after the story of the sacrifice of Isaac suggests that she might have been affected by this incident, which almost cost her son’s life. In some way, Sarah was also involved in the “test” with her husband, just as she was in his travels and his occasional lapses in faith (Genesis 12:11-13).

Though we don’t know how much Sarah knew about the incident after it occurred, we can infer that she probably learned of it eventually. Sarah was not the kind of woman who would keep quiet on matters that were of significance or were disturbing her (compare with Genesis 16:3-5; Genesis 18:15; Genesis 21:9-10). Her absence and her silence, and even the timing of her death following that dramatic event, says more about her relevance to the events than did her physical presence. The fact that Sarah’s old age is mentioned (Genesis 23:1), in echo to Abraham’s old age (Genesis 24:1), shows her importance to the story.

In fact, Sarah is the only woman in the Old Testament of whom the number of her years is mentioned, which could show her involvement in the story even after the fact. The focus on the purchase of Sarah’s burial place (which covers most of the chapter), rather than on her death, emphasizes the connection with the Promised Land.

Already the specification that she died “in the land of Canaan” (Genesis 23:2) underlines the rooting of Sarah’s death in God’s promise of the land. Sarah is the first dead of Abraham’s clan to have died and been buried in the Promised Land. Abraham’s concern about himself, “a foreigner and a visitor” (Genesis 23:4, NKJV), and his insistent argument with the sons of Heth, show that Abraham is interested not just in acquiring a burial place; he is primarily concerned with settling in the land permanently.

<–Monday Wednesday–>

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Read Genesis 22:8, Genesis 22:14, Genesis 22:18. How did God fulfill His promise that He will provide? What was provided?

When Isaac asked about the sacrificial animal, Abraham gave an intriguing answer: God will “provide for Himself the lamb for a burnt offering” (Genesis 22:8, NKJV). Yet, the Hebrew verbal form can actually mean “God will provide Himself as the lamb.” The verb “provide” (yir’eh lo) is used in a way that can mean “provide Himself” (or literally, “see Himself”).

Image © Lars Justinen from GoodSalt.com

What we are being shown here, then, is the essence of the plan of salvation, with the Lord Himself suffering and paying in Himself the penalty for our sins!

Read John 1:1-3 and Romans 5:6-8. How do these verses help us understand what happened at the Cross, which is prefigured in the sacrifice here on Mount Moriah?

There, at Mount Moriah, long before the cross, the sacrificial ram “caught in a thicket by his horns” (Genesis 22:13) was pointing right to Jesus. He is One that is “seen” here, as Abraham explains later, “In the mount where the LORD is seen” (Genesis 22:14, author’s translation). Jesus Himself had pointed to Abraham’s prophetic utterance here, when He said, echoing Abraham’s statement: “Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day, and he saw it and was glad” (John 8:56, NKJV).

“It was to impress Abraham’s mind with the reality of the gospel, as well as to test his faith, that God commanded him to slay his son. The agony which he endured during the dark days of that fearful trial was permitted that he might understand from his own experience something of the greatness of the sacrifice made by the infinite God for man’s redemption.” — Ellen G. White, Patriarchs and Prophets, p. 154.

<–Sunday Tuesday–>

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Read Genesis 22:1-12 and Hebrews 11:17. What was the meaning of this test? What spiritual lessons come from this amazing event?

Genesis chapter 22 has become a classic in world literature and has inspired philosophers and artists, not just theologians. The meaning of God’s test is difficult to comprehend, however. This divine command contradicted the later biblical prohibition against human sacrifices (Leviticus 18:21), and it surely seemed to work against God’s promise of an eternal covenant through Isaac (Genesis 15:5).

Image © Dave OConnell at Goodsalt.com

What, then, was the purpose of God’s calling him to do this? Why test him in such a powerful way?

The biblical notion of “test” (in Hebrew, nissah) embraces two opposite ideas. It refers to the idea of judgment, that is, a judgment in order to know what is in the heart of the tested one (Deuteronomy 8:2; compare with Genesis 22:12). But it also brings the assurance of God’s grace on behalf of the tested (Exodus 20:18-20).

In this case, Abraham’s faith in God takes him to the point that he runs the risk of losing his “future” (his posterity). And yet, because he trusts God, he will do what God asks, no matter how difficult it all is to understand. After all, what is faith if not trust in what we don’t see or fully understand?

Also, biblical faith is not so much about our capacity to give to God and to sacrifice for Him — though that has a role, no doubt (Romans 12:1) — but about our capacity to trust Him and to receive His grace while understanding just how undeserving we are.

This truth was reaffirmed in what followed. All the works of Abraham, his many zealous activities, his painful journey with his son, even his readiness to obey and offer to God the best of himself, however instructive, could not save him. Why? Because the Lord Himself had provided a ram for the intended sacrifice, which itself pointed to his only hope of salvation, Jesus.

Abraham must have, then, understood grace. It is not our works for God that save us, but it is instead God’s work for us (Ephesians 3:8; compare with Romans 11:33), however much, like Abraham, we are called to work for God, which Abraham’s actions powerfully embody (James 2:2-23).

<–Sabbath Monday–>

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Image © Pacific Press

Sabbath Afternoon

Read for This Week’s Study: Genesis 22:1-24, Hebrews 11:17, Leviticus 18:21, John 1:1-3, Romans 5:6-8, Genesis 23:1-25:34, Romans 4:1-12.

Memory Text: “Now Abraham was old, well advanced in age; and the LORD had blessed Abraham in all things” (Genesis 24:1, NKJV).

Finally, as God had promised, Sarah bore Abraham a son, “in his old age” (Genesis 21:2), and he named the baby Isaac (see Genesis 21:1-5). But the story of Abraham is far from over, reaching a climactic moment with him taking his son to Mount Moriah to be sacrificed. Isaac, however, is replaced by a ram (Genesis 22:13), which signified God’s commitment to bless the nations through his “seed” (Genesis 22:17-18). That seed, of course, was Jesus (Acts 13:23). Hence, in this astonishing (and in some ways troubling) story more of the plan of salvation is revealed.

Whatever the deep spiritual lessons here, the family of Abraham, nevertheless, must have been shaken by it, and the future of Abraham is not clear. Sarah dies after the sacrifice at Moriah (Genesis chapter 23), and Isaac remains single.

Abraham then takes the initiative to make sure that the “right” future will follow him. He arranges the marriage of his son to Rebekah (Genesis chapter 24), who will give birth to two sons (Genesis 25:21-23), and Abraham himself gets married to Keturah, who will give him many children (Genesis 25:1-6). This week, we will follow Abraham to the end of his life (Genesis 25:7-11).

Study this week’s lesson to prepare for Sabbath, May 21.

Sunday–>

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