November 27th

Daily Readings

Genesis 17:19

But God replied, “No—Sarah, your wife, will give birth to a son for you. You will name him Isaac, and I will confirm my covenant with him and his descendants as an everlasting covenant.

Genesis 21:12

But God told Abraham, “Do not be upset over the boy and your servant. Do whatever Sarah tells you, for Isaac is the son through whom your descendants will be counted.

Luke 3:34

Judah was the son of Jacob.
Jacob was the son of Isaac.
Isaac was the son of Abraham.
Abraham was the son of Terah.
Terah was the son of Nahor.

Numbers 24:17

I see him, but not here and now.
I perceive him, but far in the distant future.
A star will rise from Jacob;
a scepter will emerge from Israel.
It will crush the heads of Moab’s people,
cracking the skulls of the people of Sheth.

Matthew 1:2

Abraham was the father of Isaac.
Isaac was the father of Jacob.
Jacob was the father of Judah and his brothers.

(Readings taken from Bible Gateway, https://www.biblegateway.com/ New Living Translation)

Hope for a Nation

Todays reading centres around the prophesied promise to restore humanity through the genealogical line of Isaac and Jacob.  

Yet the character who strikes me as I ponder the scriptures is Sarah.

Sarah is more than a vacant womb for the male patriarch she will carry.

We learn in this ancient book of history that she is seen by God.

Renamed.

Sarai changed to Sarah. Sarah, ‘Princess,’ is named and included in this genealogy of grace.

She is old. Ninety years of age. Living in a culture where the failure to supply an heir is shameful and deeply painful.

How could it be?

Could the disappointment of cycle after cycle, year after year, decade after decade really be restored for this woman?

Surrounded by the children and grandchildren of her servants, could Sarah possibly imagine she might carry life?

What a promise God delivers her!

“You will bear a child”, and that child’s lineage will one day restore more than the years her sadness has stolen.

He will restore all.

Sarah’s long-awaited hope is fulfilled in Isaac.

And the world’s long-awaited hope is fulfilled in Jesus.

It is a reminder that the Hope of Christmas is a hope that has carried God’s people for millennia and continues to carry us today.