John 8 begins with a sinful woman who was about to be stoned for adultery. Jesus last words to her was “Go and sin no more”. Jesus did not condemn her for the past but forgave and pointed to the future. Then he got into an argument with the religious powers about his and their ancestry. They claimed to be descendants of Abraham, and they questioned the legitimacy of Jesus. Jesus answered “Before Abraham, I am”. Jesus claimed to be God. This was of course blasphemy, unless it is true.
Genesis 21 tells about the birth of Isaac and when Ishmael made fun of it, Sarah got angry and Hagar and Ismael were sent away to die in the desert, but God protected them. The chapter also features the treaty between Abraham and Abimelech at Beersheba. This was the first treaty between men in the Bible and it was about water rights.
In Genesis 22 Abraham was told by God to offer up his son Isaac to be sacrificed on Mount Moriah, the same mountain where Jesus was crucified. Obeying God he did what he was told, but at the last moment God provided a substitute sacrifice in the form of a ram.
These three chapters are significant. Read them through twice and ponder their importance: Jesus claiming deity, The birth of the Ishmaelite nation, later becoming the Islamic nations, the importance of water (The Bible begins and ends with water and a healing river in the middle) and Abraham’s faith being severely tested.
Len Bilén's blog, a blog about faith, politics and the environment. 