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Soon after this, Isaac, the the
child of promise, was born. Ishmael, the son of Hagar, was now
almost grown up, and he behaved very unkindly to his little brother Isaac,
mocking him in his play. This was very wrong, and it grieved and
displeased Abraham and Sarah; and Sarah said, "Cast out the
bond-woman and her son." And God commanded Abraham to do this;
so he rose in the morning, and called Hagar, and gave her a bottle of
water, and bread, and her son Ishmael, and sent them both away: they
went into the wilderness of Beersheba. The water in the bottle was
soon spent; it was very hot, and Ishmael fainted, and his bother cast him
under a bush, and she sat by herself, and wept. But God heard Ishmael cry,
and an angel called to Hagar from heaven, and said, "Hagar, fear not;
God hath heard the voice of the lad where he is. Arise, lift up the
lad, and hold him in thy hand." Then God showed Hagar "a
well of water; and she went, and filled her bottle with water, and gave
the lad drink." And God was with Ishmael, and made him well,
and he grew up, and lived in the wilderness. Afterwards, he had many
children, and they became a great people, as the angel had foretold. God
can take care of us wherever we are; He can keep us when we are ill, and
make us well and strong again. When we are in sorrow, we should pray
to God, and He will hear us; and if we have done wrong, like Hagar and
Ishmael, we must pray for pardon, and ask to be made humble, and gentle,
and holy. All our hearts are full of anger, and disobedience, and
pride; but God will give us the Holy Spirit, if we ask him, to make us
gentle, and obedient, and humble. After
Hagar and Ishmael were gone away, God called to Abraham, and said,
"Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, and offer him for a
burnt-offering, upon a mountain which I will show thee." Did
God wish to make Abraham unhappy, and to kill his son? No, God only
wished to try Abraham's faith; to see if Abraham would be obedient, and if
he loved God more than his dear child. Abraham obeyed directly; for
he knew God's command must be right, and he believed that God had power
even to raise Isaac to life again after he was dead. All God does is
good and right. When He sends us pain, or sickness, or sorrow, He
does it wisely, for good, not for evil; we cannot know why, but God knows;
let us ask Him to make us as obedient to His will as Abraham was. Abraham
arose in the morning, and saddled his ass, and took two servants with him,
and Isaac, and wood for the burnt-offering, and went to the place God
showed him. As they walked along, and Abraham thought what he was to
do to his dear son, his good, obedient child, he must have felt very sad;
but Abraham loved God more than he loved Isaac; and God gave him strength
willingly to obey His command. After three days, they saw afar off
the mountain where Isaac was to be offered. Then Abraham said to his
servants, "Stay here with the ass; and I and the lad will go yonder,
and worship, and come again to you." So the servants stayed,
and Abraham and his son went towards the mountain. As
they walked along, Isaac said, "My father, behold the fire and the
wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt-offering?" For Isaac
did not yet know that he was to be the lamb. Abraham said, "God
will provide a lamb, my son." So they went on, and came to the
place of which God had told Abraham. And then, Abraham built the
altar, and put the wood upon it, and bound Isaac, and laid him upon the
altar, and took the knife to slay his son. But the angel of the Lord
called unto Abraham, out of heaven, and said, "Lay not thy hand upon
the lad; for now I know that thou fearest God, because thou hast not
withheld thy son, thine only son, from him." Then Abraham
looked, and saw a ram, caught in a bush by the horns, and he offered the
ram for a burnt-offering, instead of Isaac. And the angel called
again to Abraham, and said, "Because thou hast done this thing,
blessing, I will bless thee, and multiplying, I will multiply thee; and
all nations shall be blessed in thy seed." The
Lord Jesus Christ was the seed of Abraham, who came to save sinners, to be
a blessing to all people. "God so loved the world, that He sent
His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish,
but have eternal life." John 3:17. Abraham gave
his son to God; God gave his Son for us; "the Father sent the Son to
be the Savior of the world." 1 John 4:14.
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