Week 4 of coursework. We were to read Genesis 12-26 and to respond to the question "How shall we compare Ishmael and Isaac?"

i am tragically late posting this. look for a new topic tomorrow!

big love,

anna

The most striking statement I read this week came from Brueggemann (p153): “Biblical faith is never cerebral. It is always lived and acted…. Only the children of free gifts and open promises can enter the Kingdom.” This passage is the crux of our faith as known by us Lutherans. We are saved by grace through faith. Our good works have value, but salvation comes only from God.

This is where Ishmael fails (through no fault of his own). Ishmael is conceived through faulty reasoning by Abraham and Sarah. They rationalize (the cerebral thought that brings humans so much grief) that perhaps they are to assist God fulfill God’s promise. Therefore, they concoct a plan to give Abraham and heir through a slave and to “help” God on God’s way. Ishmael is born of worry and mistrust.

Conversely, Isaac is a gift. No work, no worry, no anxiety is needed for him to be called into existence by God. Isaac is blessed and called to bring forth a great nation…to be a blessing to Israel.

This brings to mind the text in Matthew 26 “…indeed your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But strive first for the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” This is a repetition of the promise to Abraham, that we will be given more than we can imagine if we have faith.

The blessing of Ishmael is a comfort to me. God does not turn from the outsider. However, God is unwilling to change his original promise because of the work of Abraham. God still provides an heir in the form of Isaac, but the timing is God’s time: thoughtful, planned, and intentional. The blessing of Isaac fulfills God’s promise to Abraham and brings the covenant anew.