–Judges 13:18(HCSB)
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               “His name is Wonderful, His name is Wonderful,
               His name is Wonderful, Jesus my Lord….”
                         –Audrey Mae Mieir

Wonderful–how this word has evolved in meaning, like so many other words.  The Oxford Dictionary defines it this way, “inspiring delight, pleasure, or admiration; extremely good; marvelous.”  So when we say that the name of Jesus is “wonderful” are we meaning “inspiring delight or pleasure”?  When used the way it is now there is some removed from the original, literal meaning.
      Merriam-Webster says that the “frequent use of ‘wonderful’ led to a dilution in the literal meaning ‘full of wonder.’  I like the term “dilution.”  The meaning is still there, just watered down.  Let’s look at the following verses:

               “You asked, ‘Who is this who hides counsel without knowledge?’  Therefore I have uttered what I did not understand, things too wonderful for me, which I did not know.”  –Job 42:3
               “Then the LORD will make thy plagues wonderful, and the plagues of thy seed, even great plagues, and of long continuance, and sore sicknesses, and of long continuance.”  –Deuteronomy 28:59
               “A wonderful and horrible thing is committed in the land.”  –Jeremiah 5:30

Now put the dictionary definition to the word in the verse.  Job, “things too inspiring…things extremely good.”  The verse in Deuteronomy, “thy plagues are inspiring…thy plagues are extremely good.”  Hmmm.  Now to the words of Jeremiah, “an inspiring and horrible thing…an extremely good and horrible thing.”  Wait a minute.  Plagues are good?  What is happening in the land is “extremely good”?
       Let’s go back to see the original meaning.  All the instances of wonderful in the King James Bible are used to mean “astonishing.”  They are not extremely good nor always inspiring.  Wonderful is something that is extraordinary.  Someone has said that “wonder invites us to be surprised by God’s mystery, to let God be big…”  Think for a moment on the awesome power of God.  It is indeed “wonderful”, but more than that; it is astonishing and extra–ordinary.  The thought of God’s omnipresence is a mystery of which we only can partially understand.  The concept is wonderful; it astounds us that God is in the past, in the present, and also already in the future.  He is with me, and with you, and with a believer over in Armenia.  
       His name is ASTONISHING, His name is EXTRAORDINARY, His name is a MYSTERY.  Does that make us want to worship Him more than to just say, His name is extremely good, or His name is inspiring?
       One glance at the New Testament word–wonder.  The New Testament teaches that “signs and wonders” shall follow those who believe.  What then are those wonders?  Vine states, (teras) “something strange, causing the beholder to marvel.”  He explains further, “A sign is intended to appeal to the understanding, a wonder appeals to the imagination.”  Another word for wonder is (thambos) and means “amazement.”

               “He’s the great Shepherd, the Rock of all ages, Almighty God is He;
               Bow down before Him,
               Love and adore Him,
               His name is Wonderful, Jesus, my Lord.”

His name goes beyond inspiration; it goes further than simply something extremely good.  His name is astonishing!  One more example of the astonishing, awesomeness, and extraordinary name…
               “Now I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse.  And He who sat on him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and makes war.  His eyes were like a flame of fire, and on His head were many crowns.  He had a name written that no one knew except Himself.  He was clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God….  And He has on His robe and on His thigh a name written:  King of Kings and Lord of Lords.”
                         –Revelation 19:11-13,16 (NKJV)

                    –Romans 13:8 (NKJV)
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               “He paid a debt He did not owe
               I owed a debt I could not pay,
               I needed someone to wash my sins away.”
                         –Ellis J. Crum

The Bible speaks in many places concerning debts.  Debts to others, debts because of loans or bills, and that debts are to be paid back in full.  However, there is a debt we could never pay back, a debt that we could not even pay–that is the debt of justice.  It was/is impossible for us to pay that debt, the debt of God’s justice.  We all have broken His commandments and therefore are debtors to His justice which we are not able to pay.  We need someone to pay that amount for us.  Let me borrow from Charles H. Spurgeon, “But of the Christian it can be said that he does not owe God’s justice anything, for Christ has paid the debt His people owed; for this reason the believer owes the more to love.”
       However, we are still debtors.  Spurgeon continues, “I am a debtor to God’s grace and forgiving mercy; but I am no debtor to His justice, for He will never accuse me of a debt already paid… we are debtors to God’s justice no longer.”  Stop, think on that, praise the Lord for that.  We are debtors to His grace and mercy.  We cannot fathom that, we accept it.  We do not deserve it, but He loved us and paid our debt.  WOW!
       But there are still debts that we owe.  Borrowing again from Spurgeon, “What a debtor thou art to divine sovereignty!  How much thou owest to His disinterested love, for He gave His own Son that He might die for thee.  Consider how much you owe to His forgiving grace, that after ten thousand affronts He loves you as infinitely as ever.  Consider what you owe to His power; how He has raised you from your death in sin; how He has preserved your spiritual life; how He has kept you from falling; and how, though a thousand enemies have beset your path, you have been able to hold on to your way.  Consider what you owe to His immutability.  Though you have changed a thousand times, He has not changed once.  Thou art as deep in debt as thou canst be to every attribute of God.  To God thou owest thyself, and all thou hast–yield thyself as a living sacrifice, it is but thy reasonable service.”
       As Christ has forgiven us, we are to forgive others.  Remember the words from the Lord’s Prayer, “And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.” (Matthew 6:12, NKJV)  Hmmm, do we really want to pray that?  Do we really mean that when we pray?  What would it be like if God forgave us the same way that we forgive others?  Ah, but that is the subject for another Echo.  Right now, consider the debt you have.  Paul writes, “Therefore, brethren, we are debtors–not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh.  For if you live according to the flesh you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.”  (Romans 8:12-13, NKJV)  No longer, get that–no longer are we debtors to the flesh, that debt has been paid by the precious blood of Jesus Christ.  However, we are to put to death the deeds of the flesh.  We are to give our bodies, our lives, as living sacrifices to the Lord (Romans 12:1-2)  .We are debtors to Him–“to obey Him with all our body, and soul, and strength.” (Spurgeon)

                    –Elmer Kelton  (The Far Canyon)

       “Therefore, brethren, stand fast and hold the traditions which you were taught, whether by word or our epistle.”

                    –2 Thessalonians 2:15 (NKJV)
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          “Then Abraham breathed his last and died in a good old age, an old man and full of years, and was gathered to his people.  And his sons Isaac and Ishmael buried him in the cave of Machpelah…”  –Genesis 25:8-9 (NKJV)

     I have often wondered about Isaac’s and Ishmael’s relationship in later years.  Ishmael must not have lived too far away for he was able to come and help bury Abraham.  There is nothing said negative in the narrative, so could we gather that they were at least cordial to each other.  I do doubt that they had a close relationship or had any bond.  Ishmael lived to be 137 and there is a verse that says, “He died in the presence of all his brethren.”  Barnes seems to think that he died among Isaac and the sons of Keturah, while others lean toward the meaning of it being Ishmael’s own family.  Interesting, a good novel for someone to write.
     It is not clear where Isaac was living after his marriage to Rebekah.  Some seem to think that he stayed with Abraham, while others believe that he moved away when Abraham married Keturah.  Was it his doing, or that of Rebekah if this was the case?  So far, in the life of Isaac, we have seen very little after his willingness and faith in being the sacrifice.  It seems he lived a very ordinary life, much like most of us–the ordinary, common life of existence.  We know he was the child of promise, and that he was blessed for Abraham’s sake.  But from what we know he did not take anything to excess.
     However, he was concerned that Rebekah was barren.  He knew of the promise.  He must have had a relationship with the Lord for the Bible says, “Now Isaac pleaded with the LORD for his wife, because she was barren; and the LORD granted his plea, and Rebekah his wife conceived. (Genesis 25:21, NKJV).  We have to be careful with the types, but here again we see “two.”  The conflict first between Ishmael and Isaac, and now the conflict with the sons of Isaac:  Esau and Jacob.  Could it be a shadow of the conflict between Satan and Jesus?  A thought, but I don’t want to take it too far.
     Right from the beginning, in fact, in the womb at birth there is conflict.  The Lord told Rebekah that there was fighting in the womb.  As the boys grew, as is not uncommon, one leaned toward his mother, the other toward the father.  Genesis 25:28 states, “And Isaac loved Esau because he ate of his game, but Rebekah loved Jacob.” (NKJV)
Not wanting to spend time with the conflict of Esau and Jacob, I do want to show that right off the get-go they fought, and connived, and sought their own selfish ways.  They both did their own thing and we do not see anywhere in their early lives that they sought after God.  Did Isaac not lay out a good example?  We do not read in Scripture of Isaac worshipping like Abraham or building altars.
     “Thus Esau despised his birthright” (Genesis 25:34, NKJV)  What a terrible statement!  What a shame!  Was he not proud of his heritage, of Isaac and Abraham?  Did he not understand the importance of the birthright and the idea of the promise?  Of course, we know that Jacob was to be the one to pass on the Messiah’s seed, but to despise the meaning and the heritage of one’s family shows the self-centeredness of Esau.  In the depiction of Genesis 25:29-34, we also see the covetousness of Jacob and how he was the deceiver.  Interesting thought, Satan is the deceiver.  He used deception in the Garden to lure Eve and that continues to be his foray.  Here we see Jacob, and not only here, to be a deceiver.  Jacob’s life will change later, when he is given a new name.  It reminds me of the song, “for there’s a new name written down in glory…”  Paul writes, “That you put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, and be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness.” (Ephesians 4:22-24, NKJV)