Q8. Wasn't God Cruel to Test Abraham by Asking Him to Sacrifice Isaac?

Abraham attempting to sacrifice Isaac.

One of the Bible passages I struggled a lot with was the story in Genesis 22, whereby God told Abraham to sacrifice Isaac as a way to prove to God that he loved God.

I recall reading an article that appeared in the Sunday Times more than a decade ago whereby the writer made reference to the abovementioned portion of Scripture and said that she would never believe in a God who would be so cruel enough as to test a person's faith by asking him to give up a child that he had waited so many years for.

If one were to put himself in Abraham's shoes, one must have agonised over the situation.  Here was the promised son that took 100 years to come to pass.   In a modern day Singapore context, it was as though that dream bungalow or dream sports car one had to slog 20 years to get, was suddenly going to be taken away overnight.

To understand why God asked Abraham to do the above (and also the significance of many other seemingly confusing events that are recorded in the Old Testament), one has to again use that "scarlet thread" to "connect the dots".  (See the blog entry entitled "Connecting the Dots Via the Scarlet Thread")

There is this saying that "The Old Testament is in the New revealed.  The New Testament is in the Old concealed."  In other words, the Old Testament contains hidden truths that get uncovered and unveiled when one reads the New Testament passages that make reference to those Old Testament passages.

Another way of putting this is that the Old Testament contains types and shadows that point towards the antitype and substance, which is the person of Jesus Christ and His finished work on the cross.

A good example of this was used by Jesus Christ Himself.  We are all familiar with the verse John 3:16.  But let's look at the context of that verse:

"14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, 15 that whoever believes in Him should not perish but[b] have eternal life." (John 3:14-15)

Jesus was having a conversation of Nicodemus, a Pharisee who was very familiar with the Old Testament.  He made reference to the event that took place in Numbers 21, whereby the Israelites were bitten by snakes in the wilderness.  The cure was for them to look at a bronze serpent on a pole that God had asked Moses to make.  Jesus was in essence telling Nicodemus that He was just like that bronze serpent!

That bronze serpent being the solution to the Israelites' snake bites in the wilderness was the "type and shadow" which pointed to the antitype and substance, which is Jesus on the cross being the solution to mankind's sins.

Now back to Abraham and Isaac.  Abraham being willing to sacrifice his son would be a picture of God the Father being willing to sacrifice God the Son. God had told Abraham in Gen 22:2 to "take his son, his only son, the son that he loved" was an indication that He would in time to come take His son, His only son, the Son that He loved.

While Abraham was willing to give up his son, he eventually did not have to do so because Jehovah Jireh provided a ram. While Abraham and Isaac had made their way up one side of the mountain, God's provision had made its way up the other side.

So, Abraham giving up Isaac was something that pointed to Daddy God giving up Jesus Christ. Note that no one else in the Scriptures, be it Jacob or David or Solomon or Peter was asked to make such a sacrifice.

So was God cruel to ask Abraham to sacrifice Isaac?  Not if we understand that Abraham's sacrifice of Isaac was but a type and shadow of the ultimate sacrifice that took place on the cross 2,000 years ago.  While Isaac was ultimately spared, Jesus was not.

Q7. Why did God Not Punish Abraham for Lying about his Wife?

Let's continue to look at events happening in the Bible which reflect the battle between good and evil following God's prophesy that an offspring of Eve will crush the devil's head, and use the "scarlet thread" to "connect those dots".  (See the blog entry entitled "Connecting the Dots Via the Scarlet Thread")

Let's recap the score so far, which is God 2, Satan 0.

Round 1:
Satan inspires 1st born Cain to kill 2nd born Abel.
God raises a 3rd born Seth to carry the line.
--> God wins Round 1.

Round 2:
Satan sends his followers to take on the form of men to marry human women, so that mankind is blemished.
God preserves the only unblemished man Noah and his family, keeping them safe in the Ark, while the others perish in the flood.
--> God wins Round 2.

Let's now move onto the story of Abraham (previously called Abram).

Abraham is considered to be a great man of faith, so much so that his name appears in the Hall of Faith in Hebrews 11.

But did he consistently trust in the Lord? The answer is no. Let's examine three separate occasions when Abraham showed a lack of faith:

Abraham passing off Sarah to Abimelech as his sister
Source: http://bibleblender.com/main/wp-content/uploads/image6.png

In Gen 12:10-20 Here we read how Abraham and Sarah had to go to Egypt to avoid a famine. Fearing for his life, he asked Sarah to pretend to be his sister.

In Gen 16:1-5 Here we read how Sarah convinced Abraham to have relations with Hagar, from which came forth Ishmael. They took things into their own hands instead of believing that God would provide in His perfect time.

In Gen 20:1-18 Here we read (again) how Abraham feared for his life, so he (again) asked Sarah to pretend to be his sister.

Let's now see the events in the light of the battle between good and evil and the fulfillment of Gen 3:15.

Round 3:
Satan, having heard that Abraham would be the one to carry the line, caused a famine, put fear into Abraham's heart to the extent he was willing to give up his wife Sarah's dignity on two occasions -- with the Pharaoh of Egypt in Gen 12, and with King Abimelech in Gen 20.
God responded by preventing both the Pharoah and King Abimelech from defiling the one whom He had chosen to carry the offspring. Not only did these kings return Sarah untouched, they even gave Abraham their possessions so that he would keep away from them!
--> God wins Round 3

Round 4:
Satan, knowing that Sarah was the one to carry the line, closed her womb. He also instigated Abraham and Sarah to use their own self-efforts to create an Ishmael, instead of relying upon God.
God's timing is always perfect, and He blesses them with Isaac, from whom the patriarchs Jacob and Judah came forth.
--> God wins Round 4.

Round 5:
Satan was simultaneously adopting a parallel attack in getting mankind to go against the first commandment of man "being fruitful and multiplying" when he made the inhabitants of Sodom and Gomorrah to prefer their own gender.
To prevent this from becoming a bad influence on Abraham (who was to be a father of many nations), God had to destroy those cities with brimstone and fire.
--> God wins Round 5.

Score so far: God 5, Satan 0.

So why did God punish the heathen kings instead of Abraham?  That's because those kings were inspired by the evil one to corrupt the seed.  Abraham did wrong too, but God spared him because he was to be part of Jesus' genealogy.  Ultimately, all those wrongdoings of Abraham were imputed to Jesus, and Jesus paid the full price for them on the cross.

Q6. Why Was Noah Spared the Flood?

Imagine that you pick up the New Paper one day to read the following headline:

"FATHER OF THREE FOUND NAKED BY SONS IN DRUNKEN STUPOR.
FATHER WAKES UP AND CURSES HIS YOUNGEST SON FOR EXPOSING HIM."

What impression would you form about this father and his son?

Now let's read Gen 9:20-24...

20 And Noah began to be a farmer, and he planted a vineyard. 
21 Then he drank of the wine and was drunk, and became uncovered in his tent. 
22 And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father, and told his two brothers outside. 23 But Shem and Japheth took a garment, laid it on both their shoulders, and went backward and covered the nakedness of their father. Their faces were turned away, and they did not see their father’s nakedness.
24 So Noah awoke from his wine, and knew what his younger son had done to him. 25 Then he said:
“Cursed be Canaan; A servant of servants, He shall be to his brethren.”

One of the most familiar stories in the Bible is regarding Noah and the flood.

What may not have been expounded in detail, however, was the event leading up to the flood (as well as the above event that happened after the flood).

I remember my Sunday School teachers telling us very simplistically that Noah was spared from God's judgement because the entire world was wicked and evil, whereas only he, his three sons Shem, Ham and Japheth and their wives were good and upright.

Yet we read in Gen 9 about how Noah got drunk one day and lay naked, and his youngest son Ham ratted on him. When Noah woke up, he placed a curse on the descendants of Ham.

This doesn't seem like the behaviour of persons who were good and upright, does it?

Noah was unblemished, just like those animal sacrifices.

So why then did God spare him and his family, yet everyone else had to perish in the flood?

For that, we need to read the account leading up to the flood.

In Gen 6:9, Noah was described as a "perfect man". The original Hebrew word is tamiym תָּמִים (Strong's 08549), which means "without blemish" or "unadulterated".

This same word is also used to describe the condition of animals that were acceptable to be offered unto the Lord under the Levitical customs.

Earlier in the same chapter, we also read about "unholy unions" between fallen angels and humans.

Gen 6:1-3 (Contemporary English Version)

More and more people were born, until finally they spread all over the earth. Some of their daughters were so beautiful that supernatural beings came down and married the ones they wanted.

What resulted from those unholy unions were gigantic freaks (or what some versions refer to as Nephilim).

Now why would these fallen angels want to do that?

For that, we have to go back to that first prophecy that took place in the Garden of Eden in Gen 3:15, where God said that Eve's seed would one day defeat the devil.

In response, Satan first tried to stop the seed by inspiring Cain to kill Abel.  Well, he failed to do so, because Adam and Eve went on to have other children, Seth being one of them.

So what did Satan do next?  He summoned his followers to corrupt the seed of Eve, hoping that it would prevent that prophesy from coming to pass!

But thankfully, God was again one step ahead of the evil one. Noah and his family were the only ones left who remained unblemished as pure human. He was asked to build the ark and take pairs of each kind of animal with him. The workings of the devil in trying to corrupt the seed of Eve came to an abrupt end when all the products of the unholy unions perished in the flood.

It was important for Jesus to be fully-man, in order that He could be a kinsman-redeemer to the human race.

Hence, if we "connect the dots" using the "scarlet thread", we will understand not only why God spared Noah and his family, but also why He had to send the flood to wipe out everyone else.

[See the blog entry entitled "Connecting the Dots Via the Scarlet Thread"]

In other words, Noah was spared not because he was without sin, but because he was the only unblemished specimen of mankind left on earth!

By the way, the genealogy of Noah is recorded for us in Genesis 5.

Adam
Seth
Enosh
Kenan
Mahalalel
Jared
Enoch
Methusaleh
Lamech
Noah

Note the hidden message in there, which is that "At the appointed time, the blessed God shall come down as a mortal man, acquaint Himself with sorrow and teach us that His death shall bring the despairing rest/comfort."

We see the genealogy of Jesus being preserved through the flood.

The lineage from Noah to Abraham as recorded in Gen 11:10-32 is as follows:

Noah
Shem
Arphaxad
Cainan
Shelah
Eber
Peleg
Reu
Serug
Nahor
Terah
Abraham

There is not much mentioned about the patriarchs between Shem and Abraham.

However, Abraham was told specifically by God that he would become a father of many nations. The devil heard this and hence began his dirty deeds in earnest again.

Next up, I will blog about what he tried to do to Abraham and Sarah to prevent the first prophecy from happening, and how God continued to outsmart him.

Q5. Why did God Punish Some People yet Allow Others to Get Away Scot-Free?

Source: http://kevingriggs.files.wordpress.com/2011/07/unfair.png

Ok, having explained yesterday about "Connecting the Dots via the Scarlet Thread", let us now discuss one of, if not *the* most common question every Christian would have asked at some stage of our journey, and that is "why did God punish some people yet allow others to get away scot-free?" or some variation of that question.

Here are just some examples listing down those who appear to have gotten away relatively scot-free, and those who were punished or appear to have been unfairly treated:

S/N (Link)	Got Away Relatively Scot-free	Punished / Unfairly Treated	Scriptural Reference
01	Noah	Those who perished in the flood	Genesis 9:20-27; Genesis 6:9-8:22
02	Abraham	Pharoah, Abimelech	Genesis 12; Genesis 20
03	Jacob	Esau	Genesis 25 - 27
04	Judah and Tamar	Er and Onan, Reuben	Genesis 35:22; Gen 38
05	The Israelites (between Egypt and Mt Sinai)	The Israelites (after Mt Sinai)	Exodus 1-18; Exodus 19 onwards
06	Rahab	Achan	Joshua 2; Joshua 7
07	Gibeonites	All other inhabitants of Canaan (ie. Jericho, Ai, Jerusalem, etc)	Joshua 9; Joshua 6, 8, 10, 11-13
08	Gideon	Jepthah	Judges 8:30-31; Judges 11:31
09	Ruth	Naomi's family (husband Elimelek, and sons Mahlon and Kilion)	Ruth
10	David and Bathsheba	Uriah the Hittite	2 Samuel 11
11	Gomer (Hosea's wife)	Hosea	Hosea

Over the next few days, we will go through each of the cases in turn, using that scarlet thread to join the dots :-)

Q1. Is Paradise the Same as Heaven?

Dearly beloved

I had wanted to start discussing the 5 questions mentioned in my previous post, but a brother wanted me to share my thoughts about paradise and heaven, hence this will be the first topic instead :-)

This brother tells me that he is of the opinion that paradise and heaven are 2 different things.  Well, his view is indeed biblically correct!

Back in the 1980s, there was a popular song entitled "Heaven is a Place on Earth". This is of course not scriptural, because we know that heaven is where we as believers will go to after we pass on from this earth.

But what if I were to tell you that Paradise and Heaven were indeed 2 different places?  Not only that, what if I told you that Paradise was a place in hell? Would you be surprised or offended? Read on…

Jesus tells the thief about paradise
Source: http://www.testimoniesofheavenandhell.com

In Matt 12:40, Jesus said, “For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of a huge fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.”

Here, Jesus was telling the scribes and the Pharisees that He would spend three days and three nights in hell. We of course know that He was referring to the time just after He would be crucified.

Yet, we also read in Luke 23:43 a verse that is often quoted at funerals. Jesus told one of the thieves, “I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise.”

If Jesus had spent three days and three nights in hell, and yet also told this thief that he would be with Him in paradise, then the logical conclusion is that paradise was a place in hell!

Before someone shouts “Heresy!”, please let me continue…

Jesus also said in John 14:6 that He is the Way, the Truth and the Life, and that no one got to the Father except through Him.

This is no problem for the believer today. Once a person accepts Jesus, He is guaranteed life eternal in heaven, where God the Father resides.

But how about the patriarchs of old such as Adam, Noah, Abraham or David, etc? When they were alive, Jesus was not yet made available to them, so to speak.

When they died, their spirits went to the "holding place" called paradise, located in hell, and they were there waiting in eager anticipation for Jesus to finally come and bring them up to heaven!

That place was also known as Abraham’s bosom or Abraham’s side, as described in the parable that Jesus told about the rich man and the beggar in Luke 16:19-28. Even though paradise and Sheol were both located in hell, we read in that parable that there was a great chasm that divided them, and no one could cross over from one place to the other.

Jesus died for all our sins, past, present and future. While the cross stands outside the dimension of time, we humans are bounded by time, hence the “past” sins that Jesus died for would refer to those that were committed by those patriarchs, and Jesus died for each and every one of them too.

So what exactly did Jesus do during those three days and nights in the depths of the earth?

(1) He went to get the keys of death and Hades back from the devil.

As a result of the first Adam's sin, man had to die. The keys of death were effectively handed over to the devil. But the second Adam conquered death and Hades and redeemed mankind back unto the Lord. Consider the following verses:

Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might destroy him who holds the power of death--that is, the devil. (Heb 2:14)
I am the Living One; I was dead, and behold I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades. (Rev 1:18)

(2) He proclaimed His victory over the fallen angels who during the time of Noah, had tried to corrupt the human race by procreating with the daughters of Eve

Satan had heard God prophesy in the Garden of Eden that a seed of Eve would crush his head. So he tried to prevent that from happening by getting his fallen angels to appear in human form to procreate with humans in order to corrupt the human race.

This extent of this corruption was so widespread that only 8 persons were purely human: Noah, his three sons and their wives.

Through whom also He went and proclaimed to the spirits in prison who disobeyed long ago when God waited patiently in the days of Noah while the ark was being built. In it only a few people, eight in all, were saved through water (1 Pet 3:19-20)

I can imagine Jesus saying to those fallen angels "nani nani poo poo", because God outwitted the devil by sending the flood to destroy them. We read in Jude 1:6 that "these angels who did not keep their own domain, but abandoned their proper abode are now kept in eternal bonds under darkness for the judgment of the great day." 


(3) He went to "Abraham’s bosom" to release all those who were there and took them up with Him

Consider the following passage of Scripture

Matthew 27:50 - 53
50 Jesus, when he had cried again with a loud voice, yielded up the ghost.
51 And, behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom; and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent;
52 And the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints which slept arose,
53 And came out of the graves after his resurrection, and went into the holy city, and appeared unto many.

Verse 53 is very interesting – it says that these saints appeared to many. Can you imagine how those in Jerusalem must have felt when they saw right before their very eyes their forefathers like Abel, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob or David in flesh and blood before them.

So was there anyone the other side of the cross who went to heaven without having to spend time in this holding area?

Based on Scripture, there seems to be 3 persons: Enoch, Elijah and Moses.

Enoch and Elijah did not taste death but were raptured. We read in Gen 5:24 that "Enoch walked with God; then he was no more, because God took him away", and also in 2 Kings 2:11 that "suddenly a chariot of fire and horses of fire appeared and separated the two of them, and Elijah went up to heaven in a whirlwind.".

The third person to have gone to heaven was Moses. Unlike Enoch and Elijah, Moses tasted death, but Jude 1:9 records that "But even the archangel Michael, when he was disputing with the devil about the body of Moses, did not dare to bring a slanderous accusation against him, but said, "The Lord rebuke you!"

Here we see that Michael the Archangel and the devil fought over Moses' body, each probably laying claim to why he should have it. Satan's argument was that he had the power over death at that stage, but the fact that Moses appeared in glory next to Jesus at the Mount of Transfiguration shows us the outcome of this "Holy War".

So there you have it.  Paradise is not the same as heaven, because the former was a holding area located in hell, for the saints who passed away before the cross.  For us this side of the cross, we can go straight up to heaven.  Amen?