Anointed, Transformed, Redeemed Bible Study

Bible Study meets Monday January 11th at the Otsego Library 9:30-11:15A.M. Anointed Transformed Redeemed If you have taken this study before please feel free to come again. If you had missed any of the lessons drop in on the ones you missed. You will not need a book for this time around. We will have a different format. Tori Jaffas is facilitating this study

There's More To Every Bible Story by Traci Rhoades

Genesis 22:9-12

9 When they reached the place God had told him about, Abraham built an altar there and arranged the wood on it. He bound his son Isaac and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. 10 Then he reached out his hand and took the knife to slay his son. 11 But the angel of the LORD called out to him from heaven, "Abraham! Abraham!"
"Here I am," he replied.

12 "Do not lay a hand on the boy," he said. "Do not do anything to him. Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son."



As a wife and mother, I see things differently now. That includes when I read my Bible. I find myself reading familiar stories and wondering about all the information we are not told in the scripture passages. One example relates to the story we read in Genesis about Abraham offering Isaac up as a sacrifice, per God’s instruction. We are told in the story of Abraham’s complete willingness and obedience. Fortunately for Abraham, and for all of mankind, God stopped Abraham before he committed the deed. In Isaac’s place, a sheep appeared to stand in as the sacrificial lamb.

A touching story of how important our obedience is to God. A story full of symbolism and lessons in listening carefully for God’s voice.

But, my friend, where was SARAH in all of this? Have you ever wondered that? Did Abraham tell her where he was going with her only son? Do you think she had the chance to hear Abraham out on what God had told him to do this time? Were women in the Bible allowed to let their husbands have a piece of their mind in the privacy of their own tent? Although we don’t know the answers to these types of questions exactly, we do know there’s much more to each story than what we read. The lesson for me as I think on these questions regarding Sarah is to seek God’s will in my own marriage communication. And expect there to be times my husband and I won’t be on the same page. When that happens, what would God have us to do?

Reading the Bible between the lines opens up a whole new perspective on the lessons we can learn. The Holy Spirit continues to teach me about so much more than just the literal words on the page, powerful as they are. The Bible is living, breathing and only tells a small part of each story. Soak in the scriptures, imagine the rest of the story and let the Spirit teach you through what we’re told – and what we’re not.