 Till Death Do Us Part
by Whit Sasser
These days, I imagine that the above words send chills, if not
horror, into the ears and minds of many. But it need not be. In
fact, what sounds so negative to many, is actually a statement of
joyful commitment to me. Until death do us part...has a nice ring to
it.
God's commandments are for our good always (Deuteronomy 6:24)
including His instruction that marriage be a life-long covenant
(Romans 7:2). God, who knows us better than we know ourselves, has
in essence said, that it will be best for us when we marry, to stay
married until death do us part.
The intimate knowledge of one another by two people in marriage,
borderlines on something spiritual. The oneness in body begins the
first day, but grows into a oneness in spirit that transcends all
earthly relationships. They grow to think alike (often being able to
read each other's mind without a word being spoken), to view things
alike (developing a similar perspective of many matters) and some
say even to look alike. I believe it! A husband and wife can truly
grow old together gracefully, experiencing a fulfillment that is
almost indescribable.
But the celebrating of a golden anniversary will not come without
effort. No relationship of any closeness gets that way without
hardships along the way. In fact, I have observed that two can be
drawn even closer together by working through their problems. Rather
than driving a wedge between them, it produces another degree of
intimacy in their relationship. They know each other a little bit
better. It is often trials by fire that refine us the most.
The keys to experiencing this joy and oneness in a life-long
marriage is two-fold, assuming by God's grace you live a long life.
First, there will have to be a strong degree of commitment. I know
it may sound superfluous, but the beauties of a life-long marriage
will only come through both partners being committed to making it
work until death separates them. Marriages are far less likely to
dissolve when neither spouse ever entertains the divorce option. In
fact, it just is not an option! They both express the sentiment of
Ruth to each other; "Entreat me not to leave you, or to turn back
from following after you; for wherever you go, I will go; and
wherever you lodge, I will lodge; your people shall be my people,
and your God, my God. Where you die, I will die, and there will I be
buried. The Lord do so to me, and more also, if anything but death
parts you and me." (Ruth 1:16-17)
Second, the marriage is more likely to be a great success when both
parties are unselfish in their love of the other. The man will be
very fulfilled to have someone to die for, to provide and protect,
and to lead. The wife will be very fulfilled to have someone to live
for, to help and support, to love. Both, in their respective,
God-given roles, are providing something to the union that is better
when joined to the other. In other words, one whole is better than
two halves. And speaking of halves, each will think the other is the
better half.
Much more could be said about the joys of a permanent relationship,
including the positive effects that a sustained marriage for life
has on children and grandchildren. But hopefully enough has been
said to make the point... that "till death do us part" is a
beautiful thing. ~
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Isaac:
Son of Promise
by Gene Taylor
"Of whom it was said, 'In Isaac your seed shall be called'" (Hebrews
11:18).
In accordance with the promise that God had made to Abraham and
Sarah, Isaac, whose name means "laughter," was born to them when
Abraham was 100 and Sarah was 90 years old. His birth was miraculous
in that it was physically impossible for Sarah to have had a child
(Gen. 18:11). He was named "Isaac" because of both the command of
God and the reaction of Sarah. After Ishmael, Abraham's son born of
Hagar the handmaid of Sarah, scoffed Isaac, Abraham sent Ishmael
away in accordance with Sarah's wishes and God's instruction.
In Genesis 22, Isaac accompanied his father to the land of Moriah
not realizing that he was going there to be sacrificed. He willingly
laid on the altar Abraham had built waiting for his father's knife
to plunge in him and kill him. But the angel of the Lord stayed
Abraham's hand and Isaac was spared.
Abraham, wanting Isaac to marry someone from his family, sent his
oldest servant to them to get a wife for Isaac (Gen. 24). Outside of
the city of Nahor, he prayed to God to assist him in finding a
proper woman for Isaac. In response to his prayer to God, he met
Rebekah, daughter of Bethuel the son of Nahor, Abraham's brother.
She gave him and his camels water from the well outside the city.
She told him he could lodge at her father's house. Laban, Rebekah's
brother, having heard her tell of Abraham's servant, went to the
well and repeated the invi-tation to lodge with them. The servant
told them of the purpose of his mis-sion and asked that Rebekah
return with him to be Isaac's wife. They agreed.
After her marriage to Isaac, Rebekah was barren so Isaac prayed to
God that she might have children (Gen. 25:20-28). God granted his
plea and she conceived and bore twins. While she was with child, she
thought something was wrong. God answered her fears and told her
that two babies were within her. He also informed her that one would
be stronger than the other and that the older would serve the
younger.
The firstborn was Esau. He was red and hairy. He became a skillful
hunter. Jacob was the younger. At birth he took hold of Esau's heel.
He became a mild man, a dweller in tents. It is said that Isaac
loved Esau but Rebekah loved Jacob.
There was a famine in Canaan which caused Isaac to journey to Gerar
where Abimelech, king of the Philistines lived (Gen. 26). God told
him not to go to Egypt but to sojourn in the land of the
Philistines. God repeated to Isaac the promises He had made to
Abraham (vv. 3-5).
While living in Gerar, Isaac repeated the lie of his father telling
the men of Gerar that Rebekah was his sister for, like Sarah, she
was beautiful and he feared for his life. Abimelech saw Isaac
"showing endearment" to her (v. 8). He chastised Isaac for lying
about her and charged his people not to touch her under penalty of
death.
Isaac prospered in Gerar. He reaped a hundredfold from what he
sowed. He had great flocks and herds and many servants. The
Philistines envied and feared him so Abimelech sent him away.
He redug the wells that his father had dug that the Philistines had
filled with earth. In two instances they were taken from him by the
herdsmen of Gerar but the third well provided him and his flocks and
herds plentifully.
Upon his return to Beersheba, Abimelech came to him. He recognized
God was with Isaac and wanted to have peace with him. They feasted
and made an oath with one another.
In Genesis 27, nearly blind, Isaac desired to bless Esau before he
died. He instructed Esau to provide for him and then he would bless
him. Rebekah overheard and instructed Jacob to deceive his father
into blessing him with the blessing he intended to bestow upon Esau.
She put skins of animals on him so that he would appear to be hairy
like Esau and then prepared food for him to give to Isaac. Isaac
unwittingly bestowed Esau's blessing on Jacob. Esau tearfully
pleaded with his father to revoke the blessing but Isaac would not.
In the blessing he then gave to Esau, Isaac said that he would serve
his brother. Esau was angry with his brother so Isaac sent Jacob to
Laban, Rebekah's brother, so that not only could he get away from
Esau but also could marry one of Laban's daughters instead of a
Canaanite woman.
Isaac died at Hebron at the age of 180 years (Gen. 35:27-29).
Some Lessons and Applications
The Bible has many references to Isaac. In Amos 7:9,16, Israel is
identified as his people. He is used to illustrate the resurrection
of the dead and life after death in both Matthew 22:23-33 and Mark
12:18-27. In Galatians 4:28-31 he is used to illustrate the relation
of the Old Law to the New. His blessing of his sons is cited as an
example of faith in Hebrews 11:20.
While these are important, in his role in the sacrifice in Genesis
22, he, I believe, sets forth his most important lesson. For in it
he is seen as a type of Jesus. Consider the chart below. ~
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