Well, we did it again. The conversation on the New Testament (Hebrews) took up our entire time. We're done with Hebrews for now, so we should be able to get back to making progress in Genesis.

We studied how it was that Jesus was able to secure our forgiveness and redemption acting as both the High Priest and the sacrifice, applying His blood to the altar in the heavenly tabernacle. Good stuff.

We looked deeply at the faith of Abraham - and Isaac! When we say we are saved by faith, Galatians 3:7 infers that it is a faith like Abraham's (sons of Abraham). These passages give us an amazing and complex image of what that faith looks like.

We also learned more about the earthly Tabernacle and how it helps us understand what God/Jesus have done for us.

This week, we got so into our look at a New Testament scripture we never even made it to our Genesis study! We discussed how it is that this new High Priest (Jesus, after the order of Melchizedek) operates on our behalf and how that relates to the Levitical Priesthood and to us.

We look at Abraham's 10th test - God commanding Abraham to sacrifice his only son, Isaac. We learn much about Abraham's character, God's character, and who we should be.

We also began looking at the writer of Hebrew's argument for Jesus as eternal High Priest and what that means for us.

We examined the treaty/covenant between Abimelech and Abraham. We noted Abraham's unconditional agreement to enter the covenant and his later negotiations to secure his water rights.

We also talked through the Jerusalem Council in Acts 15. Why did they meet, what was the decision and what did it mean for the community of Jew and Gentile believers?

We covered the story of Abraham having to send away his first born son, Ishmael. Both Sarah and God seemed to think it was the right thing to do (God promised to care for him). This was a big test for Abraham and he responded quickly and completely.

We also examined the wall of hostility that has been broken down according to Paul in Ephesians 2:11-22.

We see the righteousness of God on full display as He does exactly as He has promised - Sarah conceives and gives birth to Isaac. There is joy all around - or so it seems - for a while.

We also saw how Paul starts his letter to the Ephesians by (v3-14) by making clear distinctions between Israel and the nations through his use of pronouns. This sets up Paul's overall message of distinctions within unity (i.e. Gentile inclusion).

We studied Abimelech's response to God (and Abraham). We also noted that his innocence may not have been as thorough as we first thought. Finally, we noted the parallels with the Abram and Sarah in Egypt story.

We also looked at Peter's vision in Acts 10:1 - 11:18 and how the real message of that story is all about Gentile inclusion in Israel (i.e. the elect assembly) by faith (and has nothing to do with kosher food laws).

We follow Abraham to Gerar where he appears to use Sarah poorly a second time. We learned of consequences for even unintentional sin and we get some indications that Abimelech's innocence may not be as complete as it first appears.

We also learned a little something about Paul's everyday life as a (Jewish) believer.

We cover the end of the story of Sodom and Gomorrah - Lot and his daughters escaping to the hills - and the inception story of the Moabites and the Ammonites.