Introduction:
A. A college student had come to take his final exam in his ornithology class (the study of birds).
1. It had been a tough class with a tough professor.
2. The exam consisted of 25 pictures of birds’ feet and he had to identify which birds they were based solely on their feet.
3 The exasperated student said; “I’m not going to do this. Nobody could pass this test!”
4. The professor replied; “Then I will have to fail you.”
5. Defiantly, the student said. “So fail me!”
6. The angry professor replied, “Okay, what’s your name?”
7. The student took off his shoes and socks and said, “You tell me.”
B. None of us like hard tests, do we?
1. But as with walk with God through life, we will realize that faith is always tested and sometimes those tests are very hard!
2. God is, of course, omniscient, which means God knows everything, so God knows the future as well as He knows the past.
3. Therefore, God doesn’t put people to the test so He can see how well their faith responds under fire; He knows already knows; rather, He prepares tests of faith to show us where we are in our faith development.
4. Whether we pass or fail, we learn about ourselves.
5. Through the tests we face, we learn where we need to improve, or we discover how spiritually strong and mature we have become.
C. And so today, as we continue to examine Abraham’s story, we see that it was time for God to put Abraham through another test.
1. Since leaving the Ur of the Chaldeans, so many years earlier, Abraham had come a long way – not just in miles, but in faith development.
2. Abraham had endured many tests, some he had passed with flying colors and others that had gotten the best of him.
3. And now at around age 115, Abraham was about to face one of life’s hardest tests.
4. Having enjoyed a season of peace and quiet with Sarah and Isaac, for about 15 or 16 years, Abraham had his faith put to the test with an unusual and unexpected request from God.
5. Let’s see how Abraham responded to the test and learn how we can face life’s hardest tests.
I. The Story
A. The Bible says: Some time later God tested Abraham. He said to him, “Abraham!” “Here I am,” he replied. Then 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.” (Gen. 22:1-2)
1. Abraham recognized God’s voice – they have talked many times over the years.
2. God’ request is actually quite a shocking one – here God asked for a human sacrifice.
3. There was nothing leading up to this account which would have prepared Abraham or us readers for such a request.
4. Child sacrifice was not an unusual thing in the period of the patriarchs and even all the way into the book of Kings, but God and His people were always against it.
5. So certainly, in general, Abraham should have been shocked by the request, but more specifically the request must have been so confusing after having waited so long for this son of promise to be born.
B. Notice the phrases God used in His instructions describing what Abraham was to do and to whom – “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.”
1. God was making it very clear who he was talking about and He was putting His finger on the fact that Isaac was everything to Abraham.
2. And perhaps that was part of the problem, because God alone should be everything to him.
3. Perhaps God was saying, “We’ve walked together for many years and now you have the son you’ve longed for. Tell me, Abraham; is this son more important to you than your relationship with me?”
C. Every detail of the story is significant, beginning with the location.
1. Mount Moriah is to be a special place in God’s relationship with His people beginning here with Abraham.
2. Later, King David would purchase Mount Moriah as a site for the temple his son, Solomon, would later build for the Lord (1 Chron. 21, 2 Chron. 3).
3. That temple would be destroyed by the Babylonians, but would then will be rebuilt and be in place when Jesus came to become the final and ultimate sacrifice for the sins of the world.
D. The three simple words – take, go, sacrifice – must have taken Abraham’s breath away.
1. I want us to notice that God gave no explanation; just an expectation that Abraham would obey this staggering command.
2. Sometimes we are not given reasons either, because God just wants us to faithfully follow Him.
3. Trials and obstacles are much easier to bear when we can understand the reason for them.
4. But when we are forced to endure suffering and catastrophes that seem meaningless and illogical, then life seems unfair - that is when our faith is really put to the test.
E. It appears that when Abraham received this tough test of faith, he didn’t argue with God nor did he discuss it with others.
1. Not one word of objection is recorded in the entire text.
2. The account doesn’t describe Abraham’s feelings – It doesn’t need to.
3. We don’t need Abraham’s anguish spelled out to us to know how he was feeling.
4. We can imagine the anguished questions that must have run through Abraham’s mind.
a. “Why must I give up my only son?”
b. “How will Isaac produce descendants, as promised by God, if he’s dead?”
c. “How can God require a human sacrifice like the detestable pagan gods of Canaan?”
5. We can also well imagine that Satan may have suggested a number of doubts for Abraham.
a. “Your God demands too much of you! And this command makes no sense!”
b. “No person should ever be asked to do what God is asking of you!”
c. “And what about your wife, Sarah? What will she say when you return from the mountain without your son? How will you face her and explain what you have done?”
F. Abraham must have agonized over his decision to obey the Lord, yet we see no indication of hesitation, or of bargaining, or of pleading, or of delay whatsoever!
1. Instead, Abraham practiced immediate obedience.
a. Why was Abraham in such a hurry?
b. My friend, Derrick Tuper, in his sermon on this text said, “I don’t know if it was a rip the band-aid off type of thing where he felt it was best just to hurry up and get this over with.”
2. The Bible says: Early 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. (vs. 3)
3. Would you have gotten up early and gotten right to that “to do list?”
a. Donkey, check. Two servants, check. One son, check. Enough wood, check. Fire and knife, check, check.
4. Amazingly, Abraham got up early, he saddled his donkey, he took two servants, he got Isaac ready, and he cut wood for the offering.
5. By being prepared Abraham couldn’t get to the mountain and say, “Oh, no, I don’t have any wood, I guess I can’t make the sacrifice.”
6. You know, preparation is part of obedience - we need to be prepared for worship, and prepared for service, and prepared for giving.
G. Once Abraham had everything ready for the trip and the sacrifice, he began the journey to the place.
1. The Bible says: On the third day Abraham looked up and saw the place in the distance. He 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.” Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and placed it on his son Isaac, and he himself carried the fire and the knife. (vs. 4-6a)
2. The journey to Moriah covered about 50 miles and took three days to get there.
a. The biblical narrative omits any conversation on the journey – I doubt that Abraham wanted to engage in any small talk.
3. When they closed in on their destination and Abraham saw the place of sacrifice looming above them, he told his servants to stay with the donkey.
a. He didn’t want them with him to talk him out of what he knew he needed to do.
b. This is what we might call the “principle of separation.”
c. Sometimes we need to get away from those who will lead us down the wrong path and keep us from obeying God.
4. Then Abraham expressed belief that both he and Isaac would return after they worshiped!
a. In this first use of the word “worship” in the Bible, we are informed of the true definition of worship.
b. At its heart, worship involves a willingness to surrender all to God, holding nothing back.
c. It is obediently giving God what He wants and trusting Him to provide whatever we need.
5. So how did Abraham have the assurance that Isaac will return with him?
a. Hebrews 11:17-19 fills in the blanks for us: “By 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, even though God had said to him, ‘It is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned.’ Abraham reasoned that God could raise the dead, and figuratively speaking, he did receive Isaac back from death.”
6. It didn’t make sense to sacrifice his son, but he was prepared to do it because God said so.
a. He figured that God would somehow work it out to maintain His promise to bless the world through Isaac, even if he had to raise him from the dead.
b. What is stunning about Abraham’s declaration of faith is that in the previous 21 chapters of Genesis, there is no mention of resurrection.
c. Somehow Abraham knew that God could do this, even though it had not been done before.
7. Abraham then took the wood and put it on Isaac’s shoulders and like a condemned man Isaac walked to the hill of sacrifice – Jesus also carried wood on his shoulders up the same mountain to the place of sacrifice.
H. It’s amazing how children – especially as they get older – gain the uncanny knack of putting a finger on the very issue you hope to avoid – Isaac called attention to the obvious.
1. The Bible says: As the two of them went on together, Isaac 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?” (vs. 6b-7)
2. Oh, how those words must have sliced right through a devoted dad’s heart.
3. The Bible says: Abraham then answered, “God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.” (vs. 8)
a. Abraham’s statement did more than reassure Isaac; it reflected Abraham’s utter confidence that God would do what was right and what was needed.
b. It also foreshadowed the end of this story and the end of God’s story.
c. Abraham’s words point nearly 2000 years into the future when God would indeed provide a Lamb for sacrifice.
d. God’s own son would become the atoning sacrifice to free us from the death we deserve because of our sins.
I. The Bible says: 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. Then he reached out his hand and took the knife to slay his son.” (Gen. 22:9-10)
1. Can you imagine the scene? Abraham, the faithful father, looked at his son, Isaac and calmly said, “Son, I need to tie up your hands and feet.”
a. Isaac likely replied, “But why father?” “Just trust me, son,” Abraham likely said.
b. The narrative doesn’t describe a fight, rather it says that Abraham bound Isaac and laid him on the altar.
c. Surely Isaac had a sense of what was happening, he had witnessed other animal sacrifices, and yet he must have trusted his father implicitly.
2. Abraham took the knife in hand, withdrew it from its sheath and prepared to sacrifice his son.
3. At the very last second, with the knife hovering in the air, the Bible says: But an angel of the Lord called out to him from heaven, “Abraham! Abraham!” (The old man must have froze.) “Here I am,” he replied. “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.” (Gen. 22:11-12)
4. Can you imagine the huge sigh of relief Abraham must have breathed as he heard those words.
5. The Lord had allowed this drama to play out to the very last moment to demonstrate the completeness of Abraham’s faith – both to Abraham and to the world at large.
6. Abraham had passed the test, but he still needed to complete the sacrifice and so just as Abraham had believed, God provided a lamb.
7. The Bible says: Abraham 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. (vs. 13)
J. God’s provision and timing is incredible, isn’t it?
1. Some shepherd lost a sheep that day or the day before, and it somehow wandered over to the exact spot where Abraham would see it, or God had miraculously made it appear that instant.
2. Notice also that it was caught by its horns, meaning that it was not bloodied or beat up.
3. This lamb needed to be without imperfection according to Leviticus 22:21: “it must be without defect or blemish to be acceptable.”
4. Abraham went over and got the ram, killed it and lit the fire to complete his worship.
5. After having passed the test, the Bible says: So 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.” (vs. 14)
K. The story ends with these words: The angel of the LORD called to Abraham from heaven a second time 16 and said, “I swear by myself, declares the LORD , that because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, 17 I 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, 18 and through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed me.” 19 Then Abraham returned to his servants, and they set off together for Beersheba. And Abraham stayed in Beersheba. (Gen. 22:15-19)
1. In response to Abraham’s obedience, God yet again reaffirmed His promises to Abraham.
II. The Application
A. There are many important and needed lessons that we can draw from this episode in Abraham’s journey, but I want to primarily hone in on one – our need to hold on to God above all things.
B. Clutching and clinging are bad habits that many of us struggle with.
1. We love to possess and we love to control. We love to keep our treasures close.
2. And the more valuable the treasure, the tighter our grip, and the more difficult it is to release it.
C. The things we treasure and cling to can be sorted into four categories.
1. First, there are our possessions – tangible and valuable things – a house, a car, a piece of property, a diamond ring, an heirloom pocket watch, or a rare coin.
2. A second category would be our vocation – our work or career or calling – we usually wrap our identity up in our vocation – it is often tied with who we are and why we are here.
3. A third category encompasses our dreams and our interests.
a. Our dreams includes our hopes for the future - the things we hope to accomplish.
b. Our interests includes our hobbies and entertainment interests – camping, scrapbooking, hunting, sports, fantasy sports, video games, music and concerts, etc.
4. The fourth category of treasure involves our relationships – we can treasure people – a parent we depend on, a son or daughter we delight in, a lover we fear losing, or a friend who means the world to us.
5. None of these kinds of treasures are wrong to possess, but all of them can be something we cling too tightly to and sacrifice too much to attain and retain.
6. And any or all of them can threaten to compromise our relationship with God if we treasure them above our relationship with God.
D. Here are two truths to wrestle with as we consider Abraham’s experience with Isaac and our own experience with the tendency to cling to our treasures.
E. First, What we put ahead of God, God will ask us to release.
1. God knows exactly what treasure has captured our hearts.
2. Jesus teaches that we cannot serve two masters.
3. Jesus teaches that whoever wants to be His disciple must love God over and above anything, including, money, family relationships, and even our own lives?
4. God wants us to regularly check our hearts and loosen our grip on anything we are treasuring more than God.
5. Corrie Ten Boom, the Dutch Christian, who suffered so greatly and lost so much after being imprisoned in a Nazi concentration camp for helping Jews escape the holocaust, said, “I’ve learned that we must hold everything loosely, because when I grip it tightly, it hurts when the Father pries my fingers loose and takes it from me.”
6. Three years before he was martyred for Christ in Ecuador, missionary Jim Elliot wrote: “He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.”
7. We are on the right spiritual track when we hold most tightly to God himself, and keep everything and everyone else in our lives in their proper place in relation to God.
8. For what we put ahead of God, God will ask us to release.
F. A second truth to consider is: What we release, God will replace with something or someone far more valuable.
1. We are sometimes uncomfortable with the risk factor associated with faith, but that is what faith is all about.
2. The biggest tests of faith often have to do with situations when trusting God means obeying Him and releasing our hold on something.
3. For Abraham it was Isaac…would Abraham let go of his control over Isaac’s life and obey God’s command and trust God with the outcome?
4. What about our money and material goods?
a. Will we obey God and give generously, even when we want to cling and hoard in fear that we may not have enough for ourselves for the future? Will we obey God and lend our stuff to others, even if it means the stuff may get broken or not come back to us at all?
5. What about our vocation, our dreams, and our interests?
a. Will we lay our vocation, dreams, and interests before the Lord, and if they are in conflict with God’s Word and God’s Will, which will we choose?
6. What about our treasured earthly relationships?
a. Will we put our allegiance to any person ahead of our allegiance to God?
7. Truth is: If we trust God and put Him first, any treasure we must let go of will be replaced by God with something far better.
a. God delights to surprise us by exceeding our expectations and He rewards our commitment to Him with blessings beyond imagination.
b. When the rich young man turned away and decided not to give up everything to follow Jesus, Peter said to Jesus, “We have left everything to follow you. What then will there be for us?” (Mt. 19:27)
c. Jesus answered, “I tell you the truth, no one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for me and the gospel will fail to receive a hundred times as much in this present age (homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children and fields - and with them, persecutions) and in the age to come, eternal life.” (Mk. 10:29-30)
8. That is true of anything we give up to follow God, whether it is something good or something bad, God will bless us with something to replace it that is far better.
a. Let me take this idea in an unexpected direction – this is also true of sexual pleasure and satisfaction.
b. Anytime we put our sexual satisfaction ahead of our relationship with God we are in great danger and in terrible trouble – that’s true of pre-marital sex, extra-marital sex, same-sex involvement, and any other sexual addiction.
Sam Allberry, an Anglican minister from Great Britain, recently shared about his struggle with same-sex attraction. Allberry wrote: Homosexuality is an issue I have grappled with my entire Christian life…There have been all sorts of ups and downs. But this battle is not devoid of blessings, as Paul discovered with his own unyielding thorn in the flesh. Struggling with sexuality has been an opportunity to experience more of God's grace, rather than less.
But over the last couple of years I have felt increasingly concerned that, when it comes to our gay friends and family members, many of us Bible-believing Christians are losing confidence in the gospel. We are not always convinced it really is good news for gay people. We are not always sure we can really expect them to live by what the Bible says. It is simply not possible to argue for gay relationships from the Bible…God’s Word is, in fact, clear. The Bible consistently prohibits any sexual activity outside of marriage [gay or straight].
As someone who experiences homosexual feelings this is not always an easy word to hear…There have been times of acute temptation and longing – times when I have been “in love”… [But I have learned that] what we give up for Jesus does not compare to what he gives back… For me these include a wonderful depth of friendship God has given me with many brothers and sisters; the opportunities of singleness; the privilege of a wide-ranging ministry; and the community of a wonderful church family. But greater than any of these things is the opportunity… to learn the all-sufficiency of Christ.
My main point is this: the moment you think following Jesus will be a poor deal for someone, you call Jesus a liar. Discipleship is not always easy. Leaving anything cherished behind is profoundly hard. But Jesus is always worth it. (Sam Allberry, “How Can the Gospel Be Good News to Gays,” The Gospel Coalition blog, 1-10-13; www.PreachingToday.com)
G. I believe we will experience exactly what Abraham experienced: what we have put ahead of God, God will ask us to release, and what we release God will replace with something far more valuable.
1. May God help us pass life’s greatest tests – especially the test of putting God first, over and above all things.
2. When we trust God by doing so, we will be blessed – we will not be disappointed – it will be worth it.
Resources:
Abraham – One Nomad’s Amazing Journey of Faith, by Charles Swindoll, Tyndale, 2014.
Friend of God – The Legacy of Abraham, Man of Faith, by Ray Stedman, Discovery House, 2010.
Costly Worship, Sermon by C. Philip Green, SermonCentral.com
