11. God’s Special interventions

We have seen God’s activity throughout Genesis. Was Jesus involved? How do we know it was Jesus? What message does He communicate on those occasions?

In this journey...

We:

  • Understand Christ’s role throughout the Bible
  • Understand the significance of Christ’s special appearances in Genesis and today
  • Learn from what He is saying to us today through those special appearances
  • Continue to be sensitive to His voice and leading

God’s Special Interventions

God’s special interventions refers to a physical form of God visible to humans – pointing to the appearances of God’s Son (Jesus) in the Old Testament.

We look at biblical evidences from the Old and New Testament pointing to the fact that this is in fact, the Son of God (Christ)

The apostle John says, “No one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son, who is himself God and is in closest relationship with the Father, has made him known”. (John 1:18)

In the New Testament, Jesus came as God in human form. In the Old Testament, whenever God appeared in a visible form, from the verse above, we conclude that that was Jesus, son of God.

We see examples below…

Who walked with Adam?

No one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son, who is himself God and is in closest relationship with the Father, has made him known. (John 1:18)

Gen 3:8.9 – Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden. The Lord God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them.

But the Lord God called to the man, “Where are you?

Who walked with Adam?

 Gen 3:22,23 -And the Lord God said, “The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil. He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live forever.” So the Lord God banished him from the Garden of Eden to work the ground from which he had been taken.

Who is the seed?

And I will put enmity

Between you and the woman,

And between your seed and her seed;

He shall bruise you on the head,

And you shall bruise him on the heel.”3:15

Who is Melchizedek?

Genesis 14:17 After Abram returned from defeating Kedorlaomer and the kings who were with him, the king of Sodom went out to meet Abram in the Valley of Shaveh (known as the King’s Valley). 18 Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine. (Now he was the priest of the Most High God.)

Who is Melchizedek?

Genesis 14:19 He blessed Abram, saying, “Blessed be Abram by the Most High God, Creator of heaven and earth. 20 Worthy of praise is the Most High God, who delivered your enemies into your hand.” Abram gave Melchizedek a tenth of everything

Who is Melchizedek?

Hebrews  6:19 We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain, 20 where our forerunner, Jesus, has entered on our behalf. He has become a high priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek.

Hebrews 7:2b His name first means king of righteousness, then king of Salem, that is, king of peace. 3 Without father, without mother, without genealogy, he has neither beginning of days nor end of life but is like the son of God, and he remains a priest for all time. 4 But see how great he must be, if Abraham the patriarch gave him a tithe of his plunder

Who comforted Hagar?

Why did God protect and provide for Hagar and Ishmael?

20 And as for Ishmael, I have heard you: I will surely bless him; I will make him fruitful and will greatly increase his numbers. He will be the father of twelve rulers, and I will make him into a great nation. 21 But my covenant I will establish with Isaac, whom Sarah will bear to you by this time next year.”(Genesis17:20,21)

God is keeping His promise to Abraham.

Who comforted Hagar?

 Gen 16:10 Moreover, the angel of the Lord said to her, “I will greatly multiply your descendants so that they will be too many to count.” 11 The angel of the Lord said to her further,

“Behold, you are with child,

And you will bear a son;

And you shall call his name Ishmael,

Because the Lord has given heed to your affliction.

12 “He will be a wild donkey of a man,

His hand will be against everyone,

And everyone’s hand will be against him;

And he will live to the east of all his brothers.”

13 Then she called the name of the Lord who spoke to her, “You are a God who sees”; for she said, “Have I even remained alive here after seeing Him?”

Who spoke to Abraham?

Genesis 18:13 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.”

Who spoke to Abraham?

 Genesis 18:17 Then the Lord said, “Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do? 18 Abraham will surely become a great and powerful nation, and all nations on earth will be blessed through him. 19 For I have chosen him, so that he will direct his children and his household after him to keep the way of the Lord by doing what is right and just, so that the Lord will bring about for Abraham what he has promised him.”

20 Then the Lord said, “The outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is so great and their sin so grievous ..”

Who stopped the sacrifice?

Do you see a connection between Abraham’s sacrifice and Christ’s? Refer Gen 22.

 

Genesis 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.”

Who stopped the sacrifice?

Genisis 22: 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”.

Genesis 22:12 He said, “Do not stretch out your hand against the lad, and do nothing to him; for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from Me.” 13 Then Abraham raised his eyes and looked, and behold, behind him a ram caught in the thicket by his horns; and Abraham went and took the ram and offered him up for a burnt offering in the place of his son. 14 Abraham called the name of that place The Lord Will Provide, as it is said to this day, “In the mount of the Lord it will be provided.”

15 Then the angel of the Lord called to Abraham a second time from heaven, 16 and said, “By Myself I have sworn, declares the Lord, because you have done this thing and have not withheld your son, your only son, 17 indeed I will greatly bless you, and I will greatly multiply your seed as the stars of the heavens and as the sand which is on the seashore; and your seed shall possess the gate of their enemies.

Who stopped the sacrifice?

The Offering of Isaac points to the Crucifixion of Jesus [1]
Type (Model) Antitype (Fulfillment)
Abraham offered his only son (Gen. 22:2,12). God offered his only Son (John 3:16).
Isaac carried the wood for the sacrifice (Gen. 22:5). Jesus carried the cross for the sacrifice (John 19:17).
Isaac cried out to his father (Gen. 22:7). Jesus cried out to His Father (Mat. 27:46; Mark 15:34).
Isaac escaped death after three days (Gen.22:4). Jesus rose from the dead on the third day (Mat. 16:21; Mark 16:2-4; Luke 9:22).
Abraham indicated God will provide a lamb for the sacrifice (Gen. 22:8). God provided Jesus as The Lamb for the sacrifice (Isa. 53:7; John 1:2936; Rev. 5:6+7:17+).
God provided a ram, a male sheep, as a substitutionary sacrifice (Gen. 22:13).
God provided a male, Jesus, as a substitutionary sacrifice.
The ram was caught by its horns (head) in a thicket (thorns) (Gen. 22:13). Jesus wore a crown of thorns on his head (Mat. 27:29), a symbol of the sin He bore (Gen. 3:18).
Sacrifice offered at specific location on Mount Moriah (Gen. 22:29). For hundreds of years, sacrifices would be offered from the same spot inside Solomon’s Temple and the Second Temple (2 Chr. 3:1). When Jesus is crucified outside the city walls on the same mountain, the veil within the Temple is rent in two (Mark 15:38).
God’s provision is prophesied (Gen. 22:13-14). Abraham prophetically named the place pointing to the crucifixion where God made the ultimate provision: the sacrifice of His Son for sin (Heb.9:26-28).

Who fought with Jacob?

  • Who initiated the fight between man and Jacob? Why?
  • Why did God dislocate Jacob’s thigh?

Genesis 32:27–30 – And He said, “Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel; for you have struggled with God and with men, and have prevailed. ”Then Jacob asked, saying, “Tell me Your name, I pray.”

And He said, “Why is it that you ask about My name?” And He blessed him there. So Jacob called the name of the place Peniel: “For I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved.”

Highlights – Promises Fulfilled in Christ

Representation

Remarks

Seed

Jesus announces to Adam that he will be second Adam(Gen 3)

Saviour

Jesus, the substitutionary sacrifice -prelude of Calvary (Gen 22)

Son

Shares his heavenly kingdom with us. Sign – Holy Communion (Gen 14:17-20)

Spirit

Perseveres with the saved (Jacob) and unsaved (Ishmael)

Same as God

Jesus demonstrates equality with God – Receives tithes, judges, wins battles, blesses, saves, etc

While man fails, God prevails

What man kills, God rebuilds

God Intervenes….

  • God battles with us while we constantly veer towards Satan’s clutches
  • God never lets his knowledge of the future or the past interfere with his present dealings with an individual
  • God provides opportunities for recovery in the most hopeless of situations and people
  • God continues to work his plans through the current circumstances when his perfect plans are jeopardized.
  • Sometimes God has to hurt and weaken us to bring us to greater dependence on him and greater humility.

Discussion

God is unchanging. Share thoughts/ enact scenarios on how you have personally experienced God the:

  • Father (making you a joint heir) or
  • Saviour (rescuing you),
  • Spirit (encouraging, guiding you)?

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