Blessed Hope Bible-Presbyterian Church
500 Upper Bukit Timah Rd, Singapore 678106
2 Kings 4:18-37 (KJV)
18 And when the child was grown, it fell on a day, that he went out to his father to the reapers.
19 And he said unto his father, My head, my head. And he said to a lad, Carry him to his mother.
20 And when he had taken him, and brought him to his mother, he sat on her knees till noon, and then died.
In Genesis 17:19 (KJV), God said to Abraham, 19 … Sarah thy wife shall bear thee a son indeed; and thou shalt call his name Isaac: and I will establish my covenant with him for an everlasting covenant, and with his seed after him.” God will cause Sarah’s barren womb to be opened in her old age to bring forth this son of the covenant. Even the name of this child was given by God. This is the son Isaac through whom will fulfil God’s covenant with Abraham. At that time, Abraham had another son Ishmael who came from the womb of Sarah’s handmaid Hagar. Ishmael was not the son of promise. He came because Abraham and Sarah did not trust God and with impatience sought to “help God” fulfil His promise. God clarified with Abraham that Ishmael is not the son of promise that will bring forth the Messiah but Isaac.
Abraham’s true son shares Abraham’s faith. He trusts Abraham’s God. As we survey Abraham’s life, we observe the birth of Isaac according to God’s promise came 25 years after God gave the promise when he was 100 years old. Although Abraham had other children until then and after that, Isaac would inherit all the spiritual promises that God gave Abraham. Isaac would be the son by whom Messiah would come. He was the fulfilment of God’s promise to Abraham. A child that came at Sarah’s old age, way past the age of child-bearing.
The Apostle Paul seeks to enlighten the believers in Rome and all Christians concerning the predicament of the Jewish people. Though they have rejected their Messiah and crucified Him, this has not nullified God’s promise to Israel as His chosen nation and His representative to the world. There is yet a remnant in Israel that are His true children.
Matthew 27:27-44 (KJV)
27 Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the common hall, and gathered unto him the whole band of soldiers.
28 And they stripped him, and put on him a scarlet robe.
29 And when they had platted a crown of thorns, they put it upon his head, and a reed in his right hand: and they bowed the knee before him, and mocked him, saying, Hail, King of the Jews!
Trusting in God’s Mercy (Psalm 13)
In Psalm 13, the psalmist felt that he had been forgotten by His God.
Psalm 13:1-2 “How long wilt thou forget me, O LORD? for ever? how long wilt thou hide thy face from me? How long shall I take counsel in my soul, having sorrow in my heart daily? how long shall mine enemy be exalted over me?”
The fears and doubts in the psalmist’s heart were articulated in his prayer in the opening verses to his LORD.
The heaviness of the Apostle Paul’s heart for the Jewish people, his kinsmen, is likened to Nehemiah’s grief (Neh. 1) when he saw the desolation that had befallen the returnees in Jerusalem after 70 years of Babylonian captivity. The walls of Jerusalem were broken. It is likened to the burden in Daniel’s heart when he sought the Lord in prayer and fasting to know the future for His people in the 69th year of their captivity (Daniel 9-12) in Babylon.
This new section is focused upon the Jewish people. The Apostle Paul explains his burden for the salvation of his people, the Jews. He explains why the Jews seemed to have been set aside by God and yet they are not. God is not finished with the Jews yet. He has a great spiritual burden for the salvation of the Jews. They were his kinsmen. Whichever city he was sent to preach the gospel, he would reach out to the Jews first.
The Apostle Paul testifies he is convinced that Christ’s love for him triumphs overall. There is nothing that stands in-between that relationship. Jesus was born into human history more than 2000 years ago, lived a perfect life, died on the cross as man’s substitute to reconcile man with the living and true God. Jesus rose from the dead the third day victorious over sin and death. Jesus gives to every man who would believe in Him eternal life. We, by faith, appropriated this salvation. It is the ultimate blessing of His love!
There is nothing that shall be able to separate us from the love of God in Jesus Christ our Lord. This is the conviction borne out of a clear understanding concerning the unfailing power and desire of God to protect His people under His care. The Apostle Paul speaks of Jesus Christ’s continual intercession for His people at the right hand of the Father in heaven. He speaks of the indwelling Holy Spirit that prays and enables the believer to have the strength to do God’s will for his life. He tells us that we are a privileged people chosen by the Father called out from sin unto holiness, purchased by the Son for an intimate fellowship with God and a protected people sealed by the Holy Spirit –destined for heaven!