True faith is always tested:
• For it is only through testing that we discover what kind of faith we have.
• Tests of faith are opportunities for growth and victory.
Ill:
Sport: Squash you only improve if the game is difficult.
Tests of faith are opportunities for growth and victory.
• Satan tempts us to bring out the worst in us,
• But God tests us to help bring out the best.
• Abraham has experienced many tests by the time chapter 22 opens,
• But none of them compare to what he is about to face.’
Quote: Warren Wiesbe:
Abraham had his share of tests right from the beginning………..
First was the “family test,”:
• When he had to leave his loved ones and step out by faith to go to a new land,
• Chapter 11 verse 27 to chapter 12 verse 5.
Next there was the “famine test,”:
• Which Abraham failed because he doubted God and went down to Egypt for help,
• Chapter 12 verse 10 to chapter 13 verse 4.
Once back in the land, Abraham passed the “fellowship test”:
• When he gave Lot first choice in using the pastureland,
• Chapter 13 verses 5-18.
He also passed the “fight test”
• When he defeated the kings
• Chapter 14 verses 1 to 16.
And the “fortune test”
• When he said no to Sodom’s wealth
• Chapter 14 verse 17-24.
But he failed the “fatherhood test”:
• When Sarah got impatient with God and suggested that Abraham have a child by Hagar
• Genesis chapter 16.
When the time came to send Ishmael away, Abraham passed the “farewell test”;
• Even though it broke his heart
• Chapter 21 verses 14-21.
So Abraham:
• Has experienced many tests by the time chapter 22 opens,
• But none of them compare to what he is about to face.
• This test would make demands on Abraham,
• And these demands would run contrary to human reason and to God’s promise.
Ill:
• Passenger on an airplane;
• When suddenly the reverse thrust of the engines is used to bring the plane to a halt.
• Abraham was about to experience a major shock,
• Everything that God had promise to him was about to be put into reverse gear.
• After all those years of looking forward to the birth of Isaac,
• It now seemed he was about to lose him.
This test would make huge demands on Abraham:
• These demands would run contrary to human reason,
• And to God’s promise.
(1). Gods command (verses 1-2).
Verses 1-2:
“Some time later God tested Abraham. He said to him, “Abraham!”
“Here I am,” he replied.
2Then God said, “Take your son, your only son, Isaac, whom you love, and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains I will tell you about.”
(a). It was a personal test for Abraham
• Notice he was called by name.
• As far as we know this was a one off.
• It never happened before,
• And it would never happen again.
(b). It was a lonely test:
• Abraham received his instructions from God,
• And they were not even for sharing with his wife Sarah.
• She was of course the mother of Isaac,
• But she was to play no role in this test, Abraham would bear the full force of it.
(c). It was a confusing test.
• Although the command from God is clear.
• It was also confusing.
• As mentioned already this did not make sense from a human perspective,
• And it did not make sense to Abraham from a heavenly perspective.
Notice the threefold description given to Abraham (verse :
• “Your son”, “Your only son”, “Isaac , whom you love”.
• The threefold description rules out any possibility of misunderstanding.
Note :
• It is important to remember that faith is not reckless,
• This was not Abraham’s idea to prove a point.
• This was a clear command from God,
• So Abraham’s has an agonizing choice to make.
• Does he do what God asks him to do,
• Or does he choose to ignore Him, refuse to obey?
True to say that:
• There are times in life when your future seems to balance on a single decision?
• Abraham is at that point.
Ill:
• Whether you look at Joseph in prison,
• Moses and Israel at the Red Sea,
• David in the cave,
• Or Jesus at Calvary,
• The lesson is the same:
• We live by promises, not by explanations.
(e). It was an emotional test.
At this point in time:
• Abraham the proud father has a special relationship with his son.
• Remember Isaac was the child of his old age, the laughter of his life.
• Both Abraham and Sarah had built their whole future around him.
• Nothing else in the circumference of their lives, compared to Isaac.
We know with hindsight of course,
• God did not want Isaac’s life; he wanted Abraham’s heart.
• But never forget as we read these verses, Abraham didn’t know that!
So God put him to a supreme test:
• Isaac was dear to Abraham,
• He could have become an idol standing between Him and Abraham.
• It was possible;
• That Abraham was trusting Isaac to fulfill the promises given and not trusting God.
• So God wants to test the authenticity of Abraham’s faith,
• And his teenage son is His best tool.
(2). Abrahams obedience (verses 3-10).
When you think of the size of the task God has asked Abraham to do:
• Amazingly, Abraham chooses to obey God.
• He is literally willing to put God first in his actions as well as words or desire.
There are three wonderful things to note about his obedience.
(1). It was immediate (verses 3-4).
3Early the next morning Abraham got up and saddled his donkey. He took with him two of his servants and his son Isaac. When he had cut enough wood for the burnt offering, he set out for the place God had told him about.
4On the third day Abraham looked up and saw the place in the distance
Abraham did not drag his heels:
• He didn’t try to drag out his obedience to God’s command.
• He didn’t try to bargain, or rationalize, or argue, Abraham instantly obeys.
Just imagine Abraham’s feelings as he made that journey:
• It is about 70 kilometers (45 miles) from Beersheeba to Jerusalem.
• The journey would take them two full days and part of the third.
• Because of his age Abraham rode on an ass,
• The others (2 servants & Isaac) walked.
That meant Abraham had:
• Almost 3 days to ponder and think about this puzzling situation.
• Imagine how Abraham must have felt as he saw the outline of Moriah on the horizon,
• Each moment of the journey, must have weighed heavily on his heart and mind.
• After all, his only son whom he loved was about to killed.
Ill:
We get stressed out or depressed when we are:
• Having to take an exam that we would rather avoid taking.
• Maybe being interviewed for a new job.
• Or called to give evidence in a court of law.
Abraham was about to face the ultimate challenge:
• Yet he doesn’t try to delay or avoid it,
• But simply obeys, quickly and efficiently.
(2). It was based on faith (verses 5-8).
5He said to his servants, “Stay here with the donkey while I and the boy go over there. WE will worship and then WE will come back to you.”
Question: As he climbed Mount Moriah with his son, what could Abraham depend on?
Answer:
(1).
• He certainly could not depend on his feelings,
• He must have experienced a terrible pain within, as he contemplated slaying his son.
(2).
• He could Abraham depend on other people.
• Sarah was at home, and the two servants who accompanied him were back at the camp.
(3). Abraham would rest on God’s promises.
• Abraham would rest on God’s promise,
• Not his feelings and not even on other people, but his God.
• And that was the only thing he needed
• Quote: “Faith does not demand explanations; faith rests on promises”.
Notice what he says in verse 5:
“WE will worship and then WE will come back to you.”
• Abraham did not know how,
• But he was confident that he and Isaac would not only go and worship, but also return.
• Isaac was going to be sacrificed?
• But Abraham had no intentions of bringing back a corpse!
More insight: in the book of Hebrews chapter 11 verses 17-19:
7By faith Abraham, when God tested him, offered Isaac as a sacrifice. He who had received the promises was about to sacrifice his one and only son, 18even though God had said to him, “It is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned.” 19Abraham reasoned that God could raise the dead, and figuratively speaking, he did receive Isaac back from death.
Abraham applied both faith and logic to the situation:
• He knew God had promised him descendants through Isaac.
• And if Abraham had learned anything in life, it was that God keeps His word!
• So, Abraham reasons, if Isaac is to be killed,
• God must be planning to raise him from the dead.
• Abraham knew from personal experience that God would not lie,
• So he rested in His unchanging promises.
Quote:
“Never doubt in the dark what God has told you in the light.”
• In the midst of this incredible test,
• Abraham’s faith never wavers.
• Abraham had no intentions of bringing back a corpse!
• He trusted God to work something out.
verses 6-8:
6Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and placed it on his son Isaac, and he himself carried the fire and the knife. As the two of them went on together, 7Isaac spoke up and said to his father Abraham, “Father?”
“Yes, my son?” Abraham replied.
“The fire and wood are here,” Isaac said, “but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?”
8Abraham answered, “God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.” And the two of them went on together.
Father & son separate themselves from the servants and press on towards Mount Moriah:
• Isaac carries the wood,
• Abraham carries the instruments of sacrifice (fire & knife).
Verse 7:
• Isaac suddenly realizes that they have forgot something,
• And so he asks his poignant question; “Where is the Lamb?”
Remember at this point in time:
• Isaac is the Lamb, Abraham knew of no substitute and no get out clause!
• Those words from Isaac must have once again tugged at Abraham’s emotions,
Ill:
Parachute jump.
• I had understood all the theory,
• In my head I had it all together, but as each day, hour, minute gets closer.
• The worry of something going wrong,
• Or the actual transferring knowledge into action is never easy.
Abraham:
• With great faith and incredible insight replies:
• “The Lord will provide himself an offering”.
(3). It was thorough and complete (verses 9-10).
9When 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. 10Then he reached out his hand and took the knife to slay his son.
• Verse 10 is almost a succession of snapshots,
• There is a scarcity of descriptive language.
• We are simply given the basic facts,
• We are taken step by step by step until we reach the critical moment.
Ill:
• Snapshot 1: The top of the mountain is reached:
• Snapshot 2: The altar is built,
• Snapshot 3: the wood arranged;
• Snapshot 4: Then last of all Isaac is bound and laid on the altar.
Worth noting:
• Isaac’s role in all of this,
• Nowhere is there record that Isaac argued or even struggled against his father.
• Physically he was stronger and so quite easily ran away from his aged father,
• But instead he submitted.
• He, too, trusted and obeyed.
• This is a profound tribute to a strong father-son relationship.
Verse 6 & 8 is a good summary of their relationship:
• “As the two of them went on together”,
• The fact that these words are repeated twice is quite intentional.
• The writer wants us to know that Abraham did not use force on Isaac.
• Isaac willingly accompanied his father.
(3). Heavens reward (verses 11-14).
(1). Jehovah intervenes (Verses 10-12):
10Then he reached out his hand and took the knife to slay his son. 11But 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.”
This is such a dramatic verse, it is so intense:
• Abraham stands with his arm extended upward over his son,
• Knife poised, ready to plunge.
• And he would have done it as well,
• But just in time God breaks in
Verses 11-12:
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.”
Abraham has passed the test:
• He had already sacrificed Isaac in his heart,
• And he had met God’s requirements exactly,
(b). Jehovah provides (verse 13 and 14):
Obedience always brings a blessing, a reward:
• If we do the one thing God tells us to do,
• He will reveal the next step when the right time comes.
• And so with Abraham;
• His eyes are directed to the lamb caught by its horns in a bush.
Verse 13:
13Abraham looked up and there in a thicket he saw a ram caught by its horns. He went over and took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering instead of his son.”
• God’s answers never arrive a minute too late!
• God supplied a ram just when one was needed.
Verse 14:
14So Abraham called that place The LORD Will Provide. And to this day it is said, “On the mountain of the LORD it will be provided.”
This is why Abraham called the name of the place “Jehovah-Jireh”:
• “The Lord will see to it!” the word “Jireh” means “see”.
• Or as it is more commonly translated; “The Lord will provide”.
• The idea is that the Lord who sees the need,
• Will also see to it that the need is met by his own divine provision.
3 things to note about Gods provision:
(1).
• Question: Where does the Lord provide our needs?
• Answer: In the place of His assignment.
• Abraham was at the right place,
• So God could meet his needs.
• We have no right to expect the provision of God if we are not in the will of God.
• Quote Hudson Taylor: “God’s will done in God’s way, never lacks God’s provision”.
• God is not obligated to bless my ideas or projects,
• But He is obligated to support His work if it is done in His way.
(2).
• Question: When does God meet our needs?
• Answer: When the time is right.
• Sometimes it looks like God waits until the last minute to send help,
• But that is only from our human point of view. God is never late.
Quote R.T. Kendell:
“God’s timing is never too early, it’s never to late, it is always right on time”.
• God’s answers never arrive a minute too late!
• God supplied a ram just when one was needed.
(3).
• Question: How does God provide for us?
• Answer: In ways that are usually quite natural.
• God did not send an angel with a sacrifice:
• He simply allowed a ram to get caught in a bush at a time;
• At a time when Abraham needed it,
• And in a place where Abraham could get his hands on it.
• All Abraham needed was one animal,
• So notice that God did not send a whole flock of sheep.
(c). Jehovah rewards (Verse 15-18):
15The angel of the LORD called to Abraham from heaven a second time 16and said, “I swear by myself, declares the LORD, that because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, 17I will surely bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will take possession of the cities of their enemies, 18and through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed me.”
• For a second time the Lord reiterated his blessing on Abraham and his descendents.
• Abraham says nothing, because the experience was too deep for words.
Note:
• This is the last time that God spoke directly to Abraham,
• So he summed up all his previous promises and enlarged on them.
Ill:
Abraham’s testing is very much like an artist painting a great work.
• The pencil sketch is good, and perfect in its own right.
• Yet the finished painting far surpasses the original drawing.
• God could have left Abraham as a good sketch,
• But he wanted to produce something of beauty that would far surpass the original drawing.
(4). A picture of Jesus.
• This event is a wonderful type, a shadow, a picture of Jesus Christ,
• There are at least 10 lovely parallels:
(1). Both Isaac and Christ were promised sons;
(2). Both were born miraculously
• Isaac born when Abraham was 100 years old.
• Christ was born of the Virgin Mary and was sinless.
(3). Both brought joy to the heart of the father;
• Abraham & Sarah Genesis chapter 21.
• Jesus at his Baptism: “This is…..in whom I am well pleased”.
(4). Both were born at the set time.
• Abraham waited over 30 years, for God to say the time is right.
• Galatians chapter 4 verse 4: “When the time had fully come”.
(5). Both were ONLY sons.
(6). Both were obedient unto death.
• Abraham said in verse 5 they were going “to worship”.
• The word translated as worship means “to bow down.”
• In this and in every case true worship is when we bow down to God’s will.
• We worship when we do what God has asked us to do.
(7).
• Christ was crucified between two thieves,
• And the two young men went with Isaac (v. 3).
(8).
• Isaac questioned his father,
• And Jesus asked, “My God, why have You forsaken Me?”
(9). Both died.
• Jesus Christ actually died, physically
• While Isaac was spared, but died symbolically..
• In God’s sight Isaac had “died.” Hebrews 11:19 says that “in a figure”
• (that is, symbolically) Isaac was raised from the dead.
(10).
• Verse 19 indicates that Abraham returned to the waiting servants,
• But nothing is said about Isaac.
• This too is a type;
• For the next time we see Isaac, he is receiving his bride! (24:62)
• Even so Christ gave Himself on the cross and went back to heaven,
• And one day will come forth to receive His Bride, the church.
The prophetic lesson.
(1). This event took place on Mt. Moriah (verse 2),
Question: Why there?
Answer: There is no explanation in the Bible passage we read.
• But there must have been a reason,
• After all God is not capricious, he does things for a purpose.
I think the answer is:
(a).
• God knew that this is the place;
• Where the temple was eventually built (2 Chron. 3:1).
• The place where, year by year,
• Countless animal sacrifices were offered to God to cover up the peoples sins.
And on this very same mountain as you travel down through the centuries of time:
• In the year ad 33 another sacrifice will take place,
• Another “Only son” is not tied to an altar but nailed to a Roman cross.
(b).
• Isaac had asked a question, “Where is the lamb?”
• The ultimate answer to his question came in the Person of Jesus Christ:
• John the Baptist could say; “Behold! The Lamb of God!” (John 1:29)
This Lamb:
• Would not deal with one mans sin, or one families, or even one nation;
• He would bear away the sin of the whole world!!!
Quote: 2 Corinthians chapter 5 verses 18-21:
18All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: 19that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. 20We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. 21God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
