1. Abraham was 75 years old when he left Haran and came to Canaan and Sarah was ten years younger than Abraham (Gen. 17:17). Therefore, Sarah was over 65 years old when the king of Egypt found her so beautiful that he took her to be his wife. Ages were certainly a little longer then, but still, for her age, she must have been an incredibly beautiful woman.
2. Abraham lied. Yes, the father of the Israel nation and the spiritual father of all Christians fell prey to fear and thought the best way to save his life was to lie. It was a sin of weakness. Abraham was never rebellious, but he had similar weaknesses that all men and women suffer. However, as Genesis 15:6 states, “Abraham believed God and it was accounted him for righteousness.” Salvation was not and is not based on perfection. It is based on trusting the Lord for forgiveness. Indeed, we must obey Him, but no one will see heaven based on perfect obedience.
3. This story has many similarities to a future conflict between the offspring of Abraham and another Pharaoh. The Pharaoh of Abraham’s time had taken one of God’s own to be his just as the future Pharaoh took God’s “firstborn” nation to be his. In both cases, God plagued the Pharaohs and commanded that they release that which was not theirs to own. But the Pharaoh of Abraham’s time was different from the Pharaoh of Moses’ time. This Pharaoh feared God, released Sarah, and rebuked Abraham for putting him in such a precarious situation with God. The scripture is filled with these kinds of repeating scenes. Ultimately, the Son of God would flee to Egypt to escape another wicked king. And again, God would call His own out of Egypt, this time to the salvation of all mankind.
4. Scripture typically treats Egypt as a place of bondage and sin. But it was not always so. In these early years, the Egyptians at least to some degree feared Jehovah. Later, 200 years before Christ, the Septuagint (Greek translation of the Old Testament) was translated in Egypt. And in the first few hundred years after Christ, Christianity flourished in Egypt. Since about the seventh century, Islam has been predominant. But the gospel of Christ knows no boundaries. Who knows, maybe the knowledge of God will again flourish among the Egyptians.

This parable has commonly been called “the Parable of the Prodigal Son.” It is not hard to see why. We are all somewhat amazed and comforted by the love a father who receives back his son who had wasted his possessions on sinful living. That is what stands out to us above all else. But from the point of view of Jesus’ purpose in telling the parable, it is not really about this sinful younger son. Let me tell you the story…

As we follow Luke’s account in this part of his letter, we see Jesus telling a number of parables in which He tries to penetrate the hearts of the outwardly religious of the day. He told a parable of the Great Supper and then warned the crowds following Him that if they wanted to come to Him they would have to hate family, their own life, forsake all they have, take up their cross and follow Him. The result? We read in 15:1 that his offer sounded good to the tax collectors and sinners – that is, the most notable sinners of the day. One would not need to go further to find a great lesson – the challenge of Jesus to give up all, is attractive to the sinner.

But 15:2, the Pharisees & scribes complained about Jesus association with these sinners, and their complaining & murmuring is what motivated Jesus to tell the parable. And please note, it is just one parable (vs. 3). Yes, it has 3 parts, but it is still one parable.

Jesus begins by asking questions. First it is about sheep. A man has 100 sheep and one has gone astray. As sheep do, it just wandered off eating grass wherever it could find it and suddenly the lamb was lost. The shepherd did what any good shepherd would do. He was not satisfied that he had lost only one out of a hundred and further, as anyone would do who does not want to see an animal suffer, he left the 99 safe in the sheepfold and went hunting the lost sheep. Again, Jesus is making an appeal here. Which one of you Pharisees would not do the same? To not do it would be unheard of. And when he finds it? Well, he throws a party! Jesus says that’s the way heaven is when a sinner repents. Heaven throws a party.

Jesus continues with another question, this time about a woman who had 10 coins and lost one. The coins were valuable (worth about 2 weeks wages each) and losing even one was a devastating loss. There is no way the Pharisees could miss the point of why such a woman would tear her house apart looking for the coin. The woman simply will not rest until she finds it. And what does she do when she does find it? She throws a party. And Jesus says, when a sinner repents, the angels are likewise throwing a party.

Jesus continues with a man who has two sons. One hundred sheep, 10 coins, & now 2 sons. One of his sons, the older one, was a dutiful son. He was one of those kids you could always count on to do the right thing. A son like that makes a parent think that raising kids is a piece of cake. That kind of son makes a parent want 10 more. Well, this father just had one more and he wasn’t at all like his brother. No, this younger son wanted to live. Dad’s house was boring to him and working in the field was certainly not the life for him. So he asked his father for his 1/3 share of the estate that he had coming to him. The father gave it to him and also gave his oldest son his share.

Well, the younger boy went off and had a blast with the money. He was one of those kids who didn’t think very long about tomorrow or consequences; he just wanted to live for the here and now. And live he did, until the money was gone.

But when the money was gone, all his friends left him too. In fact, as fate would have it, a famine arose in the land and he couldn’t find food anywhere. He finally got a menial job feeding pigs (for a Jew, as low as you can get), but it wasn’t enough to sustain him and he found himself wishing he could eat the carob pods being fed to the pigs. But no one would even give him pig food.

One day, he came to his senses. (And I’ve just got to stop here and say, this boy would have never come to his senses if there had been some government program to bail him out or if his father had of been sending him money). You see, this boy has now discovered how good he had it back home. He left to find fun and wealth & to get away from boring old Dad, the boring old field work, and the boring old house. But now in his pitiful state of poverty, he realizes that the true wealth, the true enjoyment in life, was all in the Father’s house. But how could he return? He had shamed his father’s name & was not worthy to be called his son. So, he thinks, “I could be one of Dad’s servants! That would be wonderful! How much better off I would be as just a hired hand.” Finally, he knows what he will do; he will confess to his father what a bum he has been and just ask to be a servant. So he heads back home.

Now this boy’s father had been in pain ever since he left. I’m telling you, nothing is more painful. Every free moment that father had he would find a vantage point from which he could see way down that road leading to his house. Everyday he looked and hoped and prayed and everyday the road was empty. Then one day he saw him. He was a way far off, but this father would know that walk even from such a distance and even in tattered clothes and barefoot. Well, the father couldn’t wait. I don’t know how long it had been since that father had run, but this day he ran. This old man pulled his robe up into his belt and started running like he never run before. And when he got to his son he threw his arms around him and started kissing him.

Well, the son started blubbering out his confession and asking to be made a servant. But the father ignored the request and started giving orders right and left. “Bring the best robe, put a ring on his finger, give him sandals, kill a calf! Let’s have a party! My son was dead and is alive!!!! – Do you like happy endings? I do, and I would like this story to end right there. That is a happy ending. But that is not where the Lord left it.

You see the other brother wasn’t around when all of this was happening. Do you know where he was? He was out in the field. Yep, remember, he’s that son that Dad never had to worry about. And he is out in the field doing his work. The dutiful son, never transgressed his father’s commandment and out working hard. Well, when he came in out of the field and found out what all the partying was about, he was angry and refused to go in the house. His Dad didn’t reprimand him, he just pleaded with him – he went out to him and pleaded with him. That’s the end of the story and it’s not a good ending. At that point, Jesus is looking at these scribes and Pharisees and hoping that His story of the dutiful son reminds them of someone they know.

Lessons
This is not the parable of the prodigal son, this is the parable of the “dutiful son.” There are dutiful sons and daughters in every church. They’ve been there from childhood, they are good people, and they do good works. But there is something in which they do not share.

Did you notice what was going on in each part of this parable? First there is great concern & agony of heart for that which is lost. The shepherd leaves to find the one sheep. The woman turns her house upside down. And the father beats a path to the top of a hill hoping to catch a glimpse of his son returning.

And then there is rejoicing. Rejoicing in heaven. Angels rejoicing, & the Father throwing a party. Look at what all the hopes and dreams of God’s heaven are about!

But these are the things that the “dutiful sons & daughters” of our churches do not share. They do not share in the agony; they do not share in the seeking; and they do not share in the rejoicing…but they are dutiful sons, and this is the Parable of the Dutiful Son. I am impressed with the way the father goes about pleading with his dutiful son (vs. 32) – “this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.” That’s the second time the father said it. He said it first in verse 24. Have you thought about that word DEAD when it comes to a living human being? “Dead,” without God, without hope, without direction, without knowledge, without forgiveness, to whom is “reserved the blackness of darkness forever” (2 Pet. 2:17). But dutiful sons and daughters do not really care to be around people like that – there’s no agony, no seeking, no rejoicing. But they are dutiful sons.

Those of us who have been Christians for a long time have a strong tendency in this direction. It is easy for us to become self-absorbed and think that all we do here is just about us and our group. We forget about leaving the 99. We forget about the grief of our Father.

And it’s easy for us to complain. That was the first word of this text. Jesus is doing something that was quite unorthodox for His day, and the “dutiful sons” complained. And that is the same thing that causes us to complain. Something is not just the “way it has always been.” And then there are always those reaching out to the nameless faces of the world and not seeming to care about US here and what WE want and what WE need and what makes US comfortable.

Yes, this is the Parable of the Dutiful Son. Now how long do you think the Father will stand outside the house and plead for us to come to the party?

So why did God choose Israel? It certainly wasn’t because of their goodness. God made that clear from the beginning (Deut. 9:6). So why Israel? If it was only about bringing Christ, God could have easily raised up Jesus another way. Growing up, I remember people talking about a “pure bloodline” leading to Christ. But there was no pure bloodline either physically or spiritually. The genealogy of Matthew 1 shows that. Let’s give some thought then to what God was seeking in Israel. We can first see this in the promises to Abraham.

Genesis 12:2, 3, 7 give three promises to Abraham: a great nation, the land of Canaan, and “through your offspring (seed) all nations will be blessed.” We often minimize the first two promises, but all three were critical for God’s purposes with Israel. To see this more clearly, note Gen. 22:16-18 (HCSB). You see here that “offspring” is referring to the whole nation, not to one person. I realize you are thinking, “Wait a minute, Paul said the seed was ‘one’ and that seed was Christ.” We will come to that in a moment, but for now you can see plainly that the “seed/offspring” is referring to the whole nation not just to Christ. (“Seed” or “offspring” is the same Hebrew word in all these texts.)

Therefore, here is the point. The nation was to be a blessing to the world. That was God’s promise! Our task is to find out how God worked out that promise. Notice some of the ways that Israel was to be a blessing to the world:
Exodus 19:5 “A treasured possession among all nations” (the idea is that they were chosen for a special purpose, a special mission) Exodus 19:6 “A kingdom of priests” (as priests, they would stand between God and the nations. Through their light the nations could come to the Lord and learn of Him. Exodus 19:6 “A holy nation” (Lev. 11:44 “you shall be holy for I am holy”). As a holy nation they were to “leaven” the world with righteousness and godliness.

Isaiah refers to Israel as God’s servant whose mission was to bring the knowledge of God to the nations and fulfill an evangelistic role (Isa. 41:8-10; Psa. 96:1-3). In fact, as Peter says (1 Pet. 2:9), being God’s “special possession” was for the purpose of “proclaiming the praises of Him…” (Cf. Titus 2:14). And to a degree Israel was somewhat successful in that monotheism had been spread throughout the Greek culture by the time of Christ. Exodus 4:22 refers to Israel as “God’s son,” in fact, God’s firstborn son, and commands Pharaoh to let them go in order to serve Him. And in Isaiah 5, Israel is pictured as God’s vineyard, planted in order to produce fruit for Him.

Physical Israel Failed Their Purpose
Ezek. 36:20-26 tells us that instead of being a light to the nations, Israel profaned His name among the nations. In NT times, Israel boasted of their lineage but had forgotten their purpose. Thus John warned, “God can raised up children to Abraham from these stones” (Matt. 3). They had failed in holiness by turning the temple into a house of merchandise instead of a house of prayer for all nations (Mark 11:15-17). In Matthew 21:33-43 the parable of the Tenants pictures the nation trying to take ownership away from God. In response, God would take the vineyard away from them and give it to a nation who would produce the fruit (mission) for which God had called it.

Romans 9:6 makes this point clear when Paul says, “They are not all Israel who are of Israel.”

Where Israel Failed, Jesus Succeeded
Since Israel failed as God’s servant, Isaiah speaks of raising up the Messiah who is the faithful Servant (Isa. 42:1, 6-7; 49:6. But even more wonderful is the fact that Isaiah also pictures the future “Israel” as His faithful servant (Isa. 44:1-5). Further, this future “servant Israel” would come from east and west, north and south (Isa. 43:5-7).

To contrast further, we learn from Isaiah 48:18-19 that the physical nation failed to receive the promise of an offspring as numerous as the sand of the sea. Instead, that would only be fulfilled in the spiritual nation. As the physical nation was said to be God’s firstborn, so now Jesus is proclaimed to be God’s firstborn (Col. 1:15) and the spiritual nation as well are referred to as firstborn (Rom. 8:29; Heb. 12:23).
In Isaiah, Israel was called God’s vine, but Jesus says, “I am the true vine,” (Jn. 15:1) and the spiritual nation who follows Jesus are branches within that vine. And of course, though Israel was called God’s son, Jesus was proclaimed the true Son of God and those who follow Him are called “sons of God.”

Galatians 3:16
As we saw from the OT quote, “seed” did not refer to one person, but to “offspring.” In the context of Galatians, the Judaizers wanted to make God’s one true family to be only those who were circumcised from the physical lineage of Abraham. Therefore, they would not only redefine God’s family but would also divide the family into two families, Jew and Gentile. Paul’s argument in the text is that God’s prophecy was for one family not two, and that family would be defined and summed up in Christ. To further demonstrate this, look down in the text to 3:25-29. Who now are Abraham’s offspring? It is those who are in Christ, who are sons of God through faith, having been baptized into Christ. Therefore we, as God’s true Israel, are given the mission that God gave the old nation. Remember what Jesus said in the parable of the tenants? “He will put those wretches to a miserable death and let out the vineyard to other tenants who will give him the fruits in their seasons” (Matt. 21:41).
Therefore…
We are now God’s sons representing Him in righteousness and holiness.
We are now His special treasure “proclaiming the praises of Him who called us.”
We are now a light to the nations fulfilling the evangelistic purpose in which Israel failed.
We are a kingdom of priests standing between God and the world as those who can point the way to salvation.
We have become a well of living water springing up to eternal life, offering this water to all who thirst.
We are the true offspring of Abraham through whom, with Christ as our leader, the world is blessed!
As we see in Galatians 6:16, we talk about physical Israel and spiritual Israel, but we must understand the true Israel. We are not just one people replacing another or replacing one institution with another institution. We must fulfill what Israel did not! Jesus showed the way of being that true fulfillment.

Berry Kercheville

Works Consulted:
Jason Longstreth, 2011 Florida College Lectures, The Role of “Israel” in God’s Plan
Justification, N.T. Wright, IPV Academic

First, we see that the whole earth had one language and the same words (indicating that not only was the language the same but no dialects had developed). Having one language created a unifying effect and a desire to be dominant in the world. Notice they believed that building the tower would give them a reputation in the earth and would be a rallying point so that they would not be scattered away from each other. It has often been taught in Sunday school classes that the people wanted to create a tower so that they could reach up to heaven and see God. But “heaven” in this context is simply referring to the sky or our immediate atmosphere. These people are not so foolish to think that the heaven where God resides is materially so close that they could reach it. Reaching God is not the point. In fact, the point is quite the opposite. They are not interested in God, they are interested in exalting themselves and getting others to be impressed with them. This is exactly the reason God was displeased with them. Instead of God being their focus and rallying point, they created themselves as their own god and desired the world to worship and honor them. The fact that “nothing they propose to do would be impossible for them” indicates the carnal and worldly direction they were headed.

How simply we read that God confused their language so that they could not understand one another’s speech. In other words, God created a number of other languages and immediately and miraculously infused these new speeches into the minds and tongues of a variety of groups of people resulting in dispersing them across the face of the earth. The result was the origin of the name “Babel” (similar to the Hebrew sound, which means “confused”). Therefore, instead of man “evolving” from apes and cavemen who made grunting sounds until they gradually were able to form words and eventually a language, God made His imprint on the whole world through the creation of the original language and then at Babel the creation of numerous languages. From these languages came a variety of nationalities and races of people as they married within their own language base.

To this day mankind still has the desire to make much of themselves instead of honoring God. And just as in the story of Babel, man without God as His focal point, defeats himself and his own purposes.

This chapter, though often overlooked by Bible students, is valuable because we learn the origin of the nations as well as the names of each nation’s “father.” This in turn is needful in a study of the prophets. In prophetic literature the Lord typically refers to a nation by the original father of that nation. “Cush,” for example, is the father of the Ethiopians, but in Isaiah 45:14 the nation is referred to as “Cush.” By having an idea of the key nations in Genesis 10, one is better prepared for a study of the prophets.

All of mankind descended from Noah’s three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth and their wives. Generally speaking, their descendants migrated into three general areas. The descendants of Japheth moved primarily into the northern part of the world and are represented by the European nations including Russia. Shem’s descendants went to the middle part of the world and are primarily represented by the Jews and Arabs. It is believed that Chinese were mostly Shemites. Ham’s descendants migrated to the southern part of the world. Ham had four sons representing four key nations. Cush became Ethiopia. Mizraim became Egypt and one of his sons became the Philistines (10:14). Put became Libya, and Canaan fathered the Canaanite nations.

The fact that all nations, including all the races of people on the earth with their varying distinguishing characteristics, came from three men and their wives shows the great genetic variety found in those original families. In fact, Dr. Gary Parker, writes in Creation: the Facts of Life, that understanding human genetics shows how easily variety in produced in the human gene pool. Just considering skin color, Parker points out that if one human couple, each with medium skin color and recessive genes of both white and black, had sixteen children, on average they would have six children with the skin color of their parents, four children medium white, four children medium dark, one child white with no capability of passing on any other skin color, and one child black with no possibility of passing on any other skin color. This illustrates how quickly the varying human races developed following the dispersion after the Flood.