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Génesis 21

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1 Y visitó el SEÑOR a Sara, como había dicho, e hizo el SEÑOR con Sara como había hablado.

2 Y Sara concibió y dio a luz a Abraham un hijo en su vejez, en el tiempo que Dios le había dicho.

3 Y llamó Abraham el nombre de su hijo que le nació, que le dio a luz Sara, Isaac.

4 Y circuncidó Abraham a su hijo Isaac de ocho días, como Dios le mandó.

5 Y era Abraham de cien años, cuando le nació Isaac su hijo.

6 Entonces dijo Sara: Dios me ha hecho reir, y cualquiera que lo oyere, se reirá conmigo.

7 Y añadió: ¿Quién dijera a Abraham que Sara había de dar leche a hijos? Que le he dado a luz un hijo en su vejez.

8 Y creció el niño, y fue destetado; e hizo Abraham gran banquete el día que fue destetado Isaac.

9 Y vio Sara al hijo de Agar la egipcia, el cual ésta le había dado a luz a Abraham, que se burlaba.

10 Por tanto dijo a Abraham: Echa a esta sierva y a su hijo; que el hijo de esta sierva no ha de heredar con mi hijo, con Isaac.

11 Este dicho pareció grave en gran manera a Abraham a causa de su hijo.

12 Entonces dijo Dios a Abraham: No te parezca grave a causa del muchacho y de tu sierva; en todo lo que te dijere Sara, oye su voz, porque en Isaac te será llamada descendencia.

13 Y también al hijo de la sierva pondré en gente, porque es tu simiente.

14 Entonces Abraham se levantó muy de mañana, y tomó pan, y un odre de agua, y lo dio a Agar, poniéndolo sobre su hombro, y le entregó al muchacho, y la envió. Y ella fue, y se perdió en el desierto de Beerseba.

15 Y faltó el agua del odre, y echó al muchacho debajo de un árbol;

16 y se fue y se sentó enfrente, alejándose como un tiro de arco; diciendo: No veré cuando el muchacho morirá; y se sentó enfrente, y alzó su voz y lloró.

17 Y oyó Dios la voz del muchacho; y el ángel de Dios llamó a Agar desde el cielo, y le dijo: ¿Qué tienes, Agar? No temas; porque Dios ha oído la voz del muchacho en donde está.

18 Levántate, alza al muchacho, y tómalo de tu mano, porque en gran gente lo tengo de poner.

19 Entonces abrió Dios sus ojos, y vio una fuente de agua; y fue, y llenó el odre de agua, y dio de beber al muchacho.

20 Y fue Dios con el muchacho; y creció, y habitó en el desierto, y fue tirador de arco.

21 Y habitó en el desierto de Parán; y su madre le tomó mujer de la tierra de Egipto.

22 Y aconteció en aquel mismo tiempo que habló Abimelec, y Ficol, príncipe de su ejército, a Abraham diciendo: Dios es contigo en todo cuanto haces.

23 Ahora pues, júrame aquí por Dios, que no faltarás a mí, ni a mi hijo, ni a mi nieto; sino que conforme a la misericordia que yo hice contigo, harás conmigo y con la tierra donde has peregrinado.

24 Y respondió Abraham: Yo juraré.

25 Y Abraham reprendió a Abimelec a causa de un pozo de agua, que los siervos de Abimelec le habían quitado.

26 Y respondió Abimelec: No sé quién haya hecho esto, ni tampoco tú me lo hiciste saber, ni yo lo he oído hasta hoy.

27 Y tomó Abraham ovejas y vacas, y dio a Abimelec; e hicieron ambos alianza.

28 Y puso Abraham siete corderas del rebaño aparte.

29 Y dijo Abimelec a Abraham: ¿Qué significan esas siete corderas que has puesto aparte?

30 Y él respondió: Que estas siete corderas tomarás de mi mano, para que me sean en testimonio de que yo cavé este pozo.

31 Por esto llamó a aquel lugar Beerseba; porque allí juraron ambos.

32 Así hicieron alianza en Beerseba; y se levantó Abimelec y Ficol, príncipe de su ejército, y se volvieron a tierra de los filisteos.

33 Y plantó Abraham un bosque en Beerseba, e invocó allí el nombre del SEÑOR Dios eterno.

34 Y moró Abraham en tierra de los filisteos muchos días.

   

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Prophecies About Jesus

Durch New Christian Bible Study Staff

By Meister des Ludwig-Psalters [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons. Currently at Bibliothèque Nationale de France.

For Christians, Christmas time is one of the most sacred, most joyous celebrations of the year. What about for people who are thinking about it, but who aren't sure about the whole "reason for the season"? What do we really know about what happened in Judea, 2000 years ago?

We're going to try to approach this topic from a neutral standpoint, and see where that leads us.

It's well-established that Jesus existed. He was physically, historically real. There is voluminous evidence from Christian sources, of course. Jesus Christ was also mentioned in non-Christian historical documents that have survived from that period. He's referred to twice by Josephus, the Jewish historian, in his work "Antiquities of the Jews" published in 93-94 AD. Tacitus, the Roman historian, writing in around 116 AD, also refers to "Christus" being put to death by the Romans under Pontius Pilate.

Was Jesus special? Even skeptics would need to wonder why and how this man from a small village in Galilee could launch a religion which would become the biggest, most influential one for at least the next two millennia of human history.

One of the intriguing things about Jesus is that his birth and life seem to have fulfilled prophecies from the Old Testament, which date back to the time of Moses - at least 1500 years BC, and to far older stories in an oral tradition. Those prophecies existed in texts written long before the Christian Era started.

What were some of those prophecies? There are many of them! Swedenborg lists some in Doctrine of the Lord 6. In this article, we're just going to focus on a few of them.

In this very early prophecy, it's indicated that the Messiah would be born as the son of a woman:

"And Jehovah God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, cursed art thou above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life, and I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed: he shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel. Genesis 3:14-15. This is confirmed in the story in Matthew 1:20.

In Micah, much later in the Bible, we read that the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem, in Judea:

"But thou, Beth-lehem Ephrathah, which art little to be among the thousands of Judah, out of thee shall one come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth are from of old, from everlasting." Micah 5:2.

This is confirmed in the story in Matthew 2:1, and Luke 2:4-6.

In Isaiah, we read that the Messiah would be born to a virgin:

"Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel." Isaiah 7:14. This is confirmed in the story in Matthew 1:22-23, and in Luke 1:26-31.

Lineage was an important factor, too. At least 5 forefathers of the promised Savior are named. First, he was prophesied to come from the line of Abraham, the progenitor of many of the peoples of the modern Middle East, including the Jews, the Arabs, the Lebanese, the Druze, and others. See Genesis 12:3, and Genesis 22:18. This prophecy is confirmed in Matthew 1:1, and Romans 9:5.

In the next generation, prophecy stated that the Savior would be descended from the line of Isaac, one of Abraham's two sons. See Genesis 17:19, and Genesis 21:12. This is confirmed in Luke 3:34.

For the third generation, the Word states that the Messiah would be a descendant of Jacob. It's prophesied in Numbers 24:17, and confirmed in Matthew 1:2.

For the fourth generation, attention focuses on the tribe of Judah, who was one of the twelve sons of Jacob (whose name was changed to Israel). See Genesis 49:10, and then Luke 3:33, and Hebrews 7:14.

Many generations later, in the second book of Samuel, and again in Isaiah, there are prophecies that the Messiah would be heir to King David's throne. Read 2 Samuel 7:12-13, and Isaiah 9:7. Then see Luke 1:32-33, and Romans 1:3.

There are many more prophecies, and we will look at more of them in a future article. But, to summarize these ones that we've just listed, what would Old Testament readers in the time of Caesar Augustus be expecting?

In Bethlehem, a virgin would bear a son. He would be descended from Abraham, through the line of Isaac, Jacob, Judah, and David. That's the way the story runs, in the Gospels.

It's clear that the Old Testament wasn't altered to suit the "facts on the ground". The prophecies are already there in pre-Christian scrolls. That leaves two possibilities:

1) Scenario A: The New Testament could have been written to twist the facts to match the old prophecies. Faithful Jews were awaiting the Messiah; they would have wanted to find matching stories. In this scenario, Jesus could have been just a regular man, but a standout leader and teacher and healer. He was so inspiring that his apostles endured hardship and death to spread what became a global religion. The stories about him were exaggerated or modified to help match the prophecies.

2) Scenario B: The Old Testament text contains deep inner meaning, and its prophecies were actually prophetic and true. The facts of Jesus' birth and life and ministry actually did match and fulfull the prophecies. In this scenario, Jesus was truly a miracle baby.

Which scenario is right? In both, there's a recognition that the teachings of Jesus contained wisdom, and that there is great value in them. In New Christian thought, the choice is for Scenario B -- that Jesus really was the Christ, the long-awaited Messiah, or Savior.

This of course requires some level of belief in miracles - prophecy, fulfillment, the virgin birth, angels bearing tidings, healings, feeding the multitudes. Can miracles really happen? Is it scientifically possible? Maybe they can... maybe as science advances, we will begin to understand those boundaries better.

At some level, don't most of us believe in miracles -- in the miracle of the very existence of the universe, and of living organisms that can reproduce, and of human life, and of love?

How to end this article? The whole subject of miracles needs more thought. And, here it is, December 22, and... instead of getting more analytical, I find that right now I just want to "be" in the holy days of Christmas.

If you're feeling skeptical, have a look at Arcana Coelestia 2568, and Arcana Coelestia 2588. They offer an interesting perspective!

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One source for this article was "100 Prophecies Fulfilled by Jesus: Messianic Prophecies Made Before the Birth of Christ", by Rose Publishing.

(Verweise: Teachings about the Lord 6)