Gênesis 22
F.B. Meyer · Citado em PreceptAustin
Gênesis 22
Meyer - God sends us no trial, whether great or small, without first preparing us. Trials are God’s vote of confidence in us. Many a trifling event is sent to test us, ere a greater trial is permitted to break on our heads. We are set to climb the lower peaks before urged to the loftiest summits with their virgin snows; are made to run with the footmen, before contending with horses; are taught to wade in the shallows, before venturing into the swell of the ocean waves. Newman Hall - Temptation is that which puts to the test. Trials sent by God do this. A test is never employed for the purpose of injury. A weight is attached to a rope, not to break, but to prove it. Pressure is applied to a boiler, not to burst it, but to certify its power of resistance. The testing process here confers no strength. But when a sailor has to navigate his ship under a heavy gale and in a difficult channel; or when a general has to fight against a superior force and on disadvantageous ground, skill and courage are not only tested, but improved. The test has brought experience, and by practice is every faculty perfected. So, faith grows stronger by exercise, and patience by the enduring of sorrow. Thus alone it was that “God did tempt Abraham.” Norman Geisler - When Critics Ask - Page 42 - GENESIS 22:2—Why did God tell Abraham to sacrifice his son when God condemned human sacrifice in Leviticus 18 and 20? PROBLEM: In both Leviticus 18:21 and 20:2, God specifically denounced human sacrifice when He commanded Israel, “Do not give any of your children to be sacrificed to Molech” (Lev. 18:21, NIV), and “Any Israelite or any alien living in Israel, who gives any of his children to Molech, must be put to death; the people of the community are to stone him” (Lev. 20:2, NIV). Yet, in Genesis 22:2, God commanded Abraham to “Take now your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.” This appears to contradict His command not to offer human sacrifices. SOLUTION: First, God was not interested, nor did He plan, that Abraham should actually kill his son. The fact that the angel of the Lord prevented Abraham from killing Isaac (22:12) demonstrates this. God’s purpose was to test Abraham’s faith by asking him to completely surrender his only son to God. The angel of the Lord declared that it was Abraham’s willingness to surrender his son, not the actual killing of him, that satisfied God’s expectations for Abraham. God said explicitly, “Do not stretch out your hand against the lad … for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from Me” (Gen. 22:12, NASB). Second, the prohibitions in both Leviticus 18:21 and 20:2 were specifically against the offering of one’s offspring to the pagan god Molech. So it is not strictly a contradiction for God to prohibit offering one’s offspring to Molech and yet asking Abraham to offer Isaac to Him, the only true God. After all, offering Isaac to the Lord is not offering one’s offspring to Molech, since the Lord is not Molech. God alone is sovereign over life (Deut. 32:39; Job 1:21), and therefore He alone has the right to demand when it should be taken. Indeed, He has appointed the day of everyone’s death (Ps. 90:10; Heb. 9:27). Third, Abraham so trusted in God’s love and power that he willingly obeyed because he believed God would raise Isaac from the dead (Heb. 11:17–19). This is implied in the fact that, though Abraham intended to kill Isaac, he told his servants, “I and the lad will go yonder; and we will worship and we will return to you” (Gen. 22:5, NASB). Finally, it is not morally wrong for God to order the sacrifice of our sons. He offered His own Son on Calvary (John 3:16). Indeed, even our governments sometimes call upon us to sacrifice our sons for our country. Certainly God has an even greater right to do so. Norman Geisler - When Critics Ask - page 43 - GENESIS 22:2—How could Isaac be Abraham’s “only son” when he already had Ishmael? PROBLEM: Abraham was told here, “Take now your son, your only son Isaac.” However, Abraham had Ishmael many years before (Gen. 16) and he also had other “sons” (Gen. 25:6). SOLUTION: The other sons of Genesis 25 were probably born later, being mentioned three chapters after Isaac is called his “only son.” Furthermore, they were sons by “the concubines which Abraham had” (Gen. 25:6) and were not counted as heirs of God’s promise. Likewise, Ishmael was conceived in unbelief by a concubine and not counted as heir to the promised inheritance. In addition, the phrase “only son” may be equivalent to “beloved son” (cf. John 1:18; 3:16), that is, a special son. God said clearly to Abraham, “in Isaac your seed shall be called” (Gen. 21:12) Kaiser in Hard Sayings of the Bible (page 95) addresses Ge 22:1 Why Did God Test Abraham? Even though the writer carefully couches his description of God’s command to Abraham as a “test,” many people have puzzled over God’s being involved in what many view as entrapment. How then shall we view this test from God? The term used here for “to test” is used in eight other Old Testament passages where God is said to be the “tester.” In six of these (Ex 15:22–26; 16:4; 20:18–20; Deut 8:2, 16; Judg 2:21–22; 3:1–4), Israel is tested. In 2 Chronicles 32:31 King Hezekiah was tested, and in Psalm 26:2 David appealed to God to test him. In five of the six cases where Israel was tested, the context shows the testing stemmed from concern over the nation’s obedience to God’s commands, laws or ways. That same concern is implied in Exodus 20:18–20, where the issue is the fear of the Lord, just as it is here in Genesis 22:1, 12. Likewise the passages in Psalm 26 and 2 Chronicles 32:31 focus on the matter of obedience and invite God to prove whether David and Hezekiah are not willing to obey God with all their hearts and souls. Therefore, based on these eight passages where God is the subject and author of the testing, we may conclude that God wanted to test Abraham to know his heart and to see if he would obey and fear the Lord who gave him the son he loved so dearly. Just as the queen of Sheba came to “test” Solomon’s wisdom (1 Kings 10:1), so God also tests without any sinister connotations. When the word “test” is used as a term in which man tests or tries God, the meaning is altogether different (Ex 17:2, 7; Num 14:22; Is 7:12). Such a test flows from an attitude of doubt and a sinful heart on man’s part. In this situation, man wants to determine whether God’s power will be adequate, the effect of which is to “tempt” God. But when used of God, there is no connotation of doubt or a desire to trick or deceive the one placed under the test. His testing was only concerned with obedience or with the fear of God, that is to say, an attitude which expressed that same spirit of obedience to God. Deuteronomy 8:2 describes the wilderness wanderings with its particularly harsh experiences along the way as a testing by God—“Remember how the LORD your God led you … in the desert these forty years, to humble you and to test you in order to know what was in your heart.” Such a test demonstrated in action what Abraham claimed: he was willing to trust the God who had provided this son born so late in the patriarch’s life. The old English word for test was prove. In the context of this passage it does not have the sense of exciting to sin or provoking someone to commit an evil. Indeed, James 1:13 states, “God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone.” Temptation or testing in the bad sense always proceeds from the malice of Satan working on the corruptions of our own hearts. God, however, may bring his creatures into circumstances of special testing, not for the purpose of supplying information for himself, but in order to manifest to individuals and others the dispositions of their hearts. In this context, all forms of divine testing, putting to the proof and trying individuals are used in such a way as to leave God’s attributes unimpeachable. But if it is asked, “How could a holy God put his servant through such an ordeal as this?” the answer rests in the special relationship that Abraham and the Lord enjoyed. The relationship of father and son that existed between Abraham and Isaac was exactly the same relationship that existed between God and Abraham. Abraham’s test was indeed a qualifying test that had as much evidential value for Abraham as it had for the Lord who issued the test. The point is that the test was not a temptation to do evil or a test that was meant to trap the hapless patriarch. Instead, it had the opposite purpose: it was intended to strengthen him and to build him up, as did the numerous tests in the desert. As used here, the ideas of tempting, testing or trying are religious concepts. It is God’s testing the partner of the covenant to see if he is keeping his side of the agreement. God never tests the heathen; he tests his own people exclusively. Thus the test is ever a test of God’s own in order to know whether they will love, fear, obey, worship and serve him. Testing, finally, is one of the means by which God carries out his saving purposes. Often people do not know why they were tested until after the test is over. Only after they have been preserved, proved, purified, disciplined and taught can they move beyond the situation, strong in faith and strengthened for the more difficult tasks ahead. See also comments on GENESIS 2:16–17 An Unfair Test? - Page 59; JAMES 1:13 on page 651 Does God Tempt Anyone? Giving Up Today’s Reading: Genesis 22:1–18 Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. -2 Corinthians 9:7 The late Kobe Bryant is considered one of the greatest basketball players ever. In his drive to become the best, he reportedly slept only about four hours each night. He said, “There’s a choice that we have to make as people, as individuals. If you want to be great at something . . . there are sacrifices that come along with that.” Sacrifice helps us to accomplish not only our major life and career goals but also contributes to our hopes of pleasing God. When God asked Abraham to sacrifice his son, instead of questioning Him, Abraham prepared to do as God called him to do. As he was about to slay his son, an angel of God stopped him and said, “‘Do not lay a hand on the boy,&rsuo; . . . ‘Do not do anything to him. Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your son” (Genesis 22:12). Abraham honored God’s command to sacrifice what he had waited so many decades to receive, the son Sarah had born, the child of the promise Abraham cared so much about. God saw Abraham’s heart of faith and blessed him. Although God asked Abraham to sacrifice something he treasured, God didn’t leave him hanging. God provided a ram to sacrifice in the place of Isaac. We can be comforted by the fact that God always has our backs. Anything that we sacrifice for His will can be restored and is small in comparison to what God has provided for us. —Nia Caldwell What sacrifices are you making right now in order to obey God? Dear God, I don’t want to miss out on what You have planned for me due to my inability to give things up. Open my heart to give what You call me to so that I can live according to Your truth. David Roper - In This Place (From Teach us to number our days BORROW) Being born is the front end of our troubles. —Mister Rogers As a young man I was led to believe that the end of life would be easier than its beginning, but as I’ve aged I’ve come to the conclusion that some of the hardest tests are farther along. Take Abraham, for example. After enduring a lifetime of difficulty, the old patriarch finally retired to a life of ease and affluence near the wells of Beersheba. He and Sarah enjoyed good old age with Isaac, their love and laughter. They were in their “golden years.” One night Abraham put his head on his pillow, thanked God for His goodness, and went to sleep, only to be jolted awake in the middle of the night by a voice beckoning him. “Abraham!” “Here I am,” Abraham replied. “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.”39 Isaac was the son of Abraham’s old age, the promised child through whom God pledged to make him great. Abraham knew that the gods of the Chaldeans and Canaanites demanded human sacrifice. Was his God now demanding this of him?40 Why? Indeed, we ask when life is sweet and then turns bitter, “Why?” Did Abraham tell Sarah? I don’t know. The ancient rabbis thought so, and said that Sarah held Isaac all that night, and that the ordeal contributed to her death.41 But, for myself, I think Abraham told no one. This was a matter he had to work out with God alone. Early the next morning Abraham packed up and started his terrible journey to Mount Moriah. There, the two—Abraham and his son—began their ascent to “the place” that God had revealed.42 Isaac turned to his father and spoke: “Father, the fire and wood are here, but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?” Abraham replied, “God himself will provide.” With those words he rested his case. You know the story: “Abraham looked up and there in a thicket he saw a ram caught by its horns. He . . . took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering instead of his son.”43 Thus “Abraham called that place The Lord Will Provide,” a saying that has been preserved to this day as a proverb and a promise: “On the mountain of the Lord it will be provided.” So, what of Abraham’s stern “test”? What does it mean for me? It comes to this: Can I endure the loss of anything I deem essential to life and believe that “in this place” of death and grief my God can and will provide? I think of this as I stare in stark unbelief at what God is asking some of my friends to endure: critical illness, crippling infirmity, isolation and dislocation, the inability to use the talents and abilities with which they hoped to serve God to the end of their days. “Is this what He is asking of me?” my heart cries out. Yet I know that there is love and logic in all God will ask of me. My losses—whatever they may be— are to the end that He may use me in a greater way to bring glory to His name and salvation to the world. Thus God swore to Abraham: “Because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, 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, and through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed me.” Now, God said to Abraham, the fruitfulness of your life will be manifest. When you and I come to “the place” where we offer up all that we are and have to God—even the best gifts He has given us—then we will become a blessing to everyone we touch. This is the record of all whose lives have counted for God. Is this not what Jesus meant when He promised, “Whoever loses his life for my sake will find it”?44 An afterthought … I cannot leave this story without mentioning that David purchased Moriah from Aravnah the Canaanite to mark the place where Abraham offered up Isaac. It was there that Solomon built the temple. Moriah is not a single peak, but an elongated ridge that begins at the junction of the Kidron and Hinnom Valleys and rises to its summit just northwest of the present Damascus Gate. There is sound archeological evidence to suppose that Jesus was crucified there on the summit, “on that place.” And I fail to see how anyone reading about old Abraham, leading his dear son up the flanks of Mount Moriah, binding him to the altar while his heart breaks within him, can fail to miss the parallel with God leading His own Son to that same mountain centuries later “to the place of the Skull” (John 19:17). There He made the provision upon which all other provisions are based. Did Abraham know? Perhaps this is what Jesus meant when He said, “Abraham rejoiced at the thought of seeing my day; he saw it and was glad” (John 8:56). 39 Genesis 22:1–2. The text draws particular attention to the fact that it was “the God” who spoke to Abraham. The very God who had been so good to him now delivers this awful line: “Take your son . . . your only son . . . the son you love” and put him to death. 40 It would be over six hundred years later that God registered His opposition to the practice of human sacrifice when He gave the Law to Moses (Leviticus 18:21; 20:2 Deuteronomy 12:31; 18:10). 41 Sarah’s death came soon after (Genesis 23:1–2). 42 See Genesis 22:3–19. 43 This is the first mention of a substitutionary atonement in the Bible. The Hebrew word tahat clearly means “instead of.” 44 Matthew 10:39 A Test of Faith - When I was a boy, I disliked the story of Abraham going to Mount Moriah to sacrifice his son Isaac. Why would God tell Abraham to do such a thing? I was an only son, and I didn't want that happening to me! My parents assured me that God was testing Abraham's faith. And he passed that test. Even with the knife in his hand, Abraham believed God (Gen. 22:8, 9, 10). He had learned that the Lord could be trusted. It is easy to make a profession of faith. But the real test comes when God asks us to lay our dearest treasures on the line. As with Abraham, the issue becomes one of obedience. A businesswoman lost a high-paying job because she wouldn't compromise her standards. And a pastor was driven from his church when he obeyed God's Word and spoke out about racism in his congregation. Shouldn't these people have been rewarded when they did the right thing? Faith meets its toughest test when we feel that the Lord has not rewarded our faithfulness. Be still, my soul—the Lord is on thy side! Bear patiently the cross of grief or pain; Leave to thy God to order and provide— In every change He faithful will remain. —von Schlegel Faith is the ability to see God in the dark. Genesis 22:1-2 ABRAHAM OFFERS ISAAC God tested Abraham, and said to him, ... "Take now your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering" Genesis 22:1-2 In Charles Dickens's David Copperfield, the character Traddles lent his good name to Mr. Micawber's money-making scheme. After Copperfield expressed concern, Traddles reassured himself and Copperfield by saying, "He told me, only the other day, that it was provided for. That was Mr. Micawber's expression, `Provided for.' Like Traddles, we want assurance that we have been provided for. We even rely on slogans like "You're in good hands with Allstate." Somehow these deceive us into believing that someone will provide for us. Our need for reassurance reveals our uncertainty about whether God can truly meet all our needs. By providing a ram for the sacrifice, God taught Abraham and future generations that he could provide when life itself was on the line. If God was concerned about one person's lifeblood, then He must take notice of all humanity's lifebeat. The people of Christ's day missed the point of Isaac on the altar; they could only strengthen their faith when their sacrifice preceded God's provision. They certainly were not going to offer themselves; they wanted the glory and power of an earthly kingdom, not an-other gruesome sacrifice. But God gave them what they needed, not what they wanted. He put an end to their kingmaking passions by sacrificing the King. We can be certain that God will freely give His children all good things—in His unexplainable, unexpected, but all-wise way. Cyril Hocking - FAITH TESTED OUR READING records the last reported testing in Abraham’s life. It was undoubtedly the severest. When God spoke to him, Ge 22:2, He left Abraham in no doubt as to what He wanted. Every detail was explicit; God left no loopholes. He told Abraham when to obey. “Now”—not at some unspecified time in the future, or when he had many more children; cf. Ge 25:1, 2. God told him whom to take. “Thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest”. Each word sank as a knife, deeper and deeper, into the heart of the aged patriarch. Ishmael had been sent away some time before, 21:14, it was unlikely that Sarah would have any more children now, and, in any case, God’s promise and covenant centred in Isaac, Ge 17:19; 21:12. God told Abraham where to go. “The land of Moriah … upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of”; cf. 2 Chron. 3:1. Finally, God told him what to do. “Offer”. Abraham was not only to slay Isaac but to reduce his body to ashes! Abraham therefore knew when, whom, where and what. The only thing he was not told was “why”. No word of explanation was given. The man had already proved that he could trust God when he did not know where, Heb. 11:8, and when he did not know how, Gen. 15:5, 6. Could he trust God when he did not know why? Often in the past he had raised questions with the Lord when he had felt it necessary, Ge 15:2, 8; 18:23. Now he remains silent and, with tremendous faith, meekly submits to the will of the God he loves. His obedience was complete, Ge 22:3. God had said, “now”; so Abraham “rose up early in the morning”; see Ps 119:60. Note that though his obedience was prompt, it was not shortlived. He continued a three day journey without turning aside, Ge 22:4. God had said, “Isaac”; so “Isaac his son” he took. God named “Moriah”; so he “went unto the place …”. God demanded that he “offer” Isaac; so he “clave the wood”. His trust in God was total. He believed that both he and Isaac would return, v. 5, accounting that God was able to raise Isaac from the dead, Heb. 11:19. In the event, he was not required to slay him, Gen. 22:12. God wanted, not the offering of a human sacrifice, but the surrender of a human will. And this He had. Does He have mine? TODAY IN THE WORD Hebrews 11:1 Genesis 22:1-19 Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. - Hebrews 11:1 The Bible is full of mystery. Of course we’ve got our theologians and pastors to untangle some of the knots, but certain stories seem to defy what we know and understand about who God is and how He works in this world. Today’s narrative of Abraham’s willingness to sacrifice Isaac has been described as one of the Bible’s most challenging passages. In Eugene Peterson’s words, “God seems to us to behave outrageously out of character.” For all of our shock, surprise, and even outrage as readers, Abraham himself seemed to have no hesitation when God asked him to sacrifice his son. Although it seemed utterly at odds with everything that God had yet revealed of Himself and His plans, Abraham obeyed, making thorough preparation for an unthinkable act. The narrative is remarkably tight-lipped. We don’t know Abraham’s thoughts; we hear only one simple exchange between Isaac and Abraham. But what is clear is the cost of the sacrifice. Four times, in a single sentence, it crescendoes: “your son, your only son, whom you love—Isaac” (v. 2). Abraham must give up, indeed must kill, the person whom he loves most. It’s not simply that Abraham loved Isaac. It’s that Isaac embodied the very promises of God. God had promised to bless Abraham and to build him a family through Isaac. What would now become of the promise? What if God meant for Isaac to die? What if the promise failed? What if God failed? Fear is faith’s hungry predator. Fear threatens to devour our resolve to trust God and to risk obeying Him. For Abraham, the stakes were infinitely high. He had already forsaken his native land and sacrificed time and again before he began the climb up Mount Moriah. Was it for nothing? Abraham models for us what it means to fear the Lord: we readily obey and willingly sacrifice. We reject the “what ifs” of fear, and we keep on believing that God is good even when life doesn’t make sense. APPLY THE WORD Fear is an opportunity for each of us to grow a deeper, more persevering faith. The question underneath our fears is simply this: who is God? Is God big enough, good enough, and faithful enough to handle what I fear? Are His intentions towards me ultimately for my good? Will I continue believing the promises of God, or will I believe somehow that He’s failed? Our battle with fear requires us to be deeply rooted in the truth of Scripture. TODAY IN THE WORD Hebrews 11:1; Genesis 22:1-14; 35:27-29 Believe it or not, engineers are spending hundreds of hours attempting to improve the design of a humble tool that has been around for ages--the hammer. These revisionists have tweaked the handle and experimented with shock-damping systems. Why all the fuss? The boom in home renovation has tool manufacturers tinkering with this tried-and-true product, and marketers report that some of the new designs are catching on with consumers. Leave it to the folks in marketing to fix what isn't broken! The hammer is unspectacular, to be sure. But it gets the job done, even while surrounded by fancier, costlier and more potent tools such as power saws. If the patriarchs of Israel were likened to tools, Isaac would probably be the hammer. Sandwiched between a dad who was the ""father of the faithful, the friend of God,"" and a son who bore the namesakes of the twelve tribes of Israel, Isaac tends to disappear in our memories. Ask the average believer to name three events from Isaac's life, and the result may be prolonged silence. Despite this fact, Isaac is important because he was important to God. In today's verses as well as in many other places in Scripture, God identified Himself with Abraham's son of promise. Isaac got off to an excellent start. As in the case of Samson, John the Baptist and Jesus Himself, Isaac's birth was announced ahead of time by heaven (Gen. 17:19-22; 18:10). In Isaac's case, God even came in bodily form to make the announcement Himself! Isaac is also justly famous for being the willing sacrifice in God's monumental test of Abraham's faith. If Isaac was as old as some Bible teachers believe, he likely could have overpowered his aged father when Abraham began tying him up. TODAY ALONG THE WAY Most of us would find it easier to identify with Isaac than with Abraham or Jacob. There's nothing wrong with being an everyday sort of ""Isaac."" God calls very few of His people to bring nations to birth! Besides, as we were reminded earlier this month, the size or scope of our calling is God's business. Obedience to Him is our proper response. Vance Havner - The Crises Of Abraham (from By the Still Waters) As one studies the life of Abraham, the man of faith, he is impressed with several crises in his spiritual experience each of which brought him to a closer walk with God. Each required a surrender and each surrender brought a blessing. The first (Gen. 12:1-3) called him to leave his country, kindred and father's house to journey by faith in a strange land. In Heb. 11:8 we read: "By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he went out, not knowing whither he went." God often calls us to forsake close ties to walk by faith in strange places, but if we obey we shall afterward receive those places, as did Abraham, for an inheritance. Jesus Christ issued such a challenge (Matt. 10:34-37, Luke 14:26). Again, Abraham reached a crisis when it became necessary for him to separate from Lot. He loved Lot and probably had thought of him as an heir. But Lot, though a believer, was not a consecrated man, and God in His wisdom brings about a separation (Gen. 13:5-11). It must have been a disappointment to Abraham. In Genesis 15:1-3 we find him reduced to the prospect of his steward Eliezer becoming his heir. Sometimes God reduces us until our only prospect is an Eliezer, but He has blessings in store when we obey, as He revealed to Abraham (Gen. 13:14-18 and 15:4-21). All" he saw was his, with the promise of progeny as numerous as the stars! Then Abraham had to give up his own preferences and plans about Ishmael. Ishmael was born out of the will of God for Abraham, who had taken the way of flesh instead of the way of faith to provide himself an heir (Gen. 16:1-6). As always, this brought on trouble. Abraham wished that Ishmael might live before God (Gen. 17:18, 19), but God had other plans. Often we want our Ishmaels, our own selfish arrangements and projects, to succeed, but God wants us to fail in ourselves, that we might find the blessing not in the deeds of the flesh, but through faith. Our Ishmaels must fail that our Isaacs may succeed. Finally God called for the sacrifice of Isaac, the son of faith. Ishmael represented the worst thing in Abraham's life, and God took him away and he never came back. Isaac was the best thing in Abraham's life, so God took him but gave him back. It is so in His dealings with you and me. God wants the Ishmaels that He may utterly remove them; the Isaacs that He may restore them to us like Moses' rod, a double blessing. After this great surrender of Abraham's God came to him with great assurance (Gen. 22:15-18). Real victory in things spiritual always follows genuine surrender. Abraham's progress was gradual. He did not learn it all at once. For instance, twice he was involved in lying about Sarah (Gen. 12 and 20). A peculiarity about this lie was, it was a half-truth: Sarah was his half-sister (Gen. 20:12). But God dealt with it as a lie because it was told with the intention to deceive. The development of Abraham required time and testing. While the Christian experience is not, primarily, a matter of giving up things, such crises do bring us to the end of self and cut off all outside interests that our faith might be utterly in God. What's For Dinner? I can hardly imagine inviting special friends over for dinner and then throwing a few leftovers into the microwave to serve up to them. But if I were to do that, it would speak volumes about how I really feel about them. Giving God the leftovers of our lives speaks volumes about His true worth to us. When God asked Abraham to give Isaac back to Him as an act of worship, Genesis 22:1 calls it a test. A test to see if there was anything in his life that he treasured more than God. It’s no different for us. There are times when God requires something really important to get His work done. He’ll ask us to give up our natural instincts to seek revenge so that we can communicate His forgiving love by forgiving our enemies. He may call us to sacrifice portions of our time or money or comforts to advance His cause. Or He may require us to allow our sons and daughters to go to a far-off land to tell others about His saving love. The way we respond to what He requires says volumes about how we really feel about Him. Anyone can offer the leftovers. Only those who love God more than anything else will serve up the very best for Him. “Take up thy cross and follow Me,” I hear the blessed Savior call; How can I make a lesser sacrifice When Jesus gave His all? —Ackley No sacrifice we make is too great for the One who sacrificed His all. Final Exam - Joseph Stowell “God tested Abraham.” Genesis 22:1 In universities everywhere, mid-May brings late-night study sessions, caffeine-fueled writing binges, and ulcer-inducing stress as students are preparing for final exams—those critically important tests to determine how well the student has learned the lessons of the semester. Let’s look at a familiar incident in the life of Abraham through that lens. Genesis 22 begins by saying, “God tested Abraham.” In other words, it’s like Abraham’s big exam. And what is the test? God is about to test Abraham’s allegiance to the one true God in a most stressful way. So let’s review: God called out Abraham to the city of Ur. Ur was an advanced culture and a highly sophisticated town, but it was rampant with idolatry. When God passed out this test to Abraham, Abraham was wandering through Canaan—yet another pagan, idolatrous region. And keep in mind that in pagan idolatry, the highest demonstration of loyalty to one’s god was to offer—you guessed it—your children as a sacrifice. With that in mind, look back at Genesis 22:1. The text actually says that it is the God who tests Abraham. This is in contrast to those lifeless forms of wood and stone that were the idols of the pagan Canaanites. And it’s the one true God who comes to Abraham and gives him the following test. Would the loyalty and allegiance of Abraham to the genuine Creator God match the misplaced loyalty and devotion of the surrounding nations to their false idols? The test is simple yet very demanding: “Abraham,” God says, “Take your son, your only son, Isaac, whom you love . . . and sacrifice him.” That’s the test, plain and simple. It’s a pass/fail exam with no room for grading on the curve. If Abraham obeys, demonstrating his allegiance, loyalty, and trust in the promises of God, he passes the test. If he refuses, he retains control over his son’s destiny, but fails to demonstrate his commitment to following God no matter what the cost. Well, we know the rest of the story. In fact, it’s amplified and explained beautifully in the book of Hebrews where the writer explains that Abraham by faith obeyed, reckoning that even if Isaac died, God could raise him from the dead (Hebrews 11:17-19). So what does Abraham’s test have to do with us? While God won’t ask you to literally sacrifice a child on an altar, He does often require the things in your life that are precious to you. Think about it. Isaac was God’s gift to Abraham. All of God’s promises were wrapped up in that miracle child. How easy it would have been for Abraham to love Isaac more than he loved God. Or to put it another way, to love the gift more than the Giver! The test may be the same for you. God always wants to know that nothing in your life is more important or more valuable than your relationship to Him. It may even be a sinful pattern that for some reason provides temporary kicks, comfort, or security. Do you love Him more than the sin in your life? If by faith you can believe with Abraham that when God takes something from you, God will give something back in even better terms, then you will pass the test and give Him all He demands and all He desires. Whether it’s your money, your possessions, your career, your dreams, or even your children to His service—everything we give to Him is an opportunity to pass the test and in worship prove to Him that nothing in our lives is of greater value than His friendship and fellowship. As you face the tests of this week, know that your Tester loves you deeply and is ready to help you pass, like Abraham, with flying colors! YOUR JOURNEY… What tests are you currently facing? What can you learn from the example of Abraham to help you pass the test with flying colors? James 1:2-4 also addresses the issue of tests. Based on this passage, what is God testing and why? If you’re one of those people who has always dreaded taking exams, ask the Lord to change your perspective about His tests. Think through the reasons that He wants to test you, and trust Him to supply the courage and faith you need to pass the exam in a way that glorifies Him. Life At Its Best - Ge 22:1-14 - Abraham's heart must have pounded as he stood on Mount Moriah with his son Isaac. He had offered many sacrifices during his lifetime, but this one was different. God was asking him to place his promised son on the altar and yet retain his confidence in God's love and integrity. When it was clear that Abraham was ready to slay Isaac, an angel stopped him and provided a ram instead. Abraham had totally surrendered his all to the Lord. And his son Isaac was returned to him. This idea of total submission is illustrated in the animal world. When two wolves fight over a territorial boundary, the conflict ends in an unusual way. When one animal realizes he can't win, he indicates surrender by exposing the underside of his neck to the teeth of his adversary. For some unexplainable reason, the victor does not kill him. Instead, he allows the conquered to go free. All to Jesus I surrender, All to Him I freely give; I will ever love and trust Him, In His presence daily live. --Van de Venter Let God have your life; He can do more with it than you Herschel Hobbs - God Tests the Promise Bearer (Gen. 22:1-2, 7-12) God tested Abraham by telling him to offer up Isaac as a burnt offering. As they proceeded, Isaac asked about the lamb, and Abraham told him the Lord would provide. At the last moment, the angel of the Lord stopped Abraham from killing his son. Genesis 22:1-2: And it came to pass after these things, that God did tempt Abraham, and said unto him, Abraham: and he said, Behold, here I am. 2 And he said, Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of. Did tempt is the Hebrew word nasa, which also can mean “tested” (NIV, NASB). The context shows that this is the meaning here. God does not tempt people to do evil (Jas. 1:13), but He does test them so they may grow spiritually. As in the Book of Job, the reader is told something at the beginning that the main character did not know. Neither Job nor Abraham was aware that he was about to be tested. However, even the readers are left in the dark about why Job and Abraham were tested. Some light is shed on this as each story is told. The test is stated in verse 2. Take... get (“go,” NIV)... offer (“sacrifice,” NIV) are the imperatives. Abraham was told to take... Isaac and offer him ... for a burnt offering. Notice how God described Isaac; thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest. Genesis 22:2 has much in common with 12:1. Both begin with imperatives. The imperatives have three parts, which move from the least to the most intimate. Both call for a faith-response to God’s call. In 12:1 it was to leave for a land that God would show Abram; in 22:2 it was to go to a mountain that God would tell him of. Abraham clearly understood what this meant. Burnt offerings were totally consumed on the altar of sacrifice. Pagan people had the practice of sacrificing their sons as part of their religion. Now God was telling Abraham to offer his son (something the Old Testament later condemned, 2 Kings 16:3). In order to understand why this was such a great test, we need to fill in the highlights of the events between Genesis 12 and 22. God made a covenant with Abraham, in which the Lord promised to give him a son. From a human point of view, this seemed impossible because of Abraham’s age (100 years) and because of Sarah’s age (90 years; 17:17; 21:5). Abraham dared to patiently believe the Lord would keep this promise, and He did. Isaac was the son of promise. In passing we remember that Ishmael was also Abraham’s son; but God had made it clear that Isaac, not Ishmael, was the son through whom the promise would be fulfilled (17:19-21). Isaac thus was Abraham’s hope for the future and also the hope for the fulfillment of God’s promises to Abraham about blessing all nations through him and the child of promise. Thus Abraham was being asked to do something that seemed to contradict all that God previously had told him to do. Thus the test of Abraham’s faith had several characteristics: (1) It was sudden and unexpected. (2) It came at a time when all seemed fulfilled in the life of Abraham. Isaac, the child of promise, had been born. (3) It was an intensely personal test, having to do with offering up his beloved son. (4) It was a severe test, calling on Abraham to do something that seemed contrary to God’s goodness. Many of the tests we face have some or all of these qualities. Tests usually come without warning for reasons we do not understand at the time. They often come when everything seems to be going smoothly. All tests are intensely personal. If you are the one who is on the ash heap like Job, no one but you knows how painful it is. The tests of life often seem to contradict God’s goodness. He seems to allow us to pass through trials that make no sense, that even seem to deny His love and care for us. Abraham is a good model for how to respond to such tests. His feelings must have been in turmoil, but he immediately obeyed (v. 3). When Abraham and Isaac arrived at the mountain, Abraham told his helpers to stay at the foot of the mountain; he and Isaac were to go up the mountain and they would return (vv. 4-5). Then the two of them and all that was needed for a burnt offering, except the sacrificial animal, headed up the mountain (v. 6). Genesis 22:7-8: And Isaac spake unto Abraham his father, and said, My father: and he said, Here am I, my son. And he said, Behold the fire and the wood: but where is the lamb for a burnt offering? 8And Abraham said, My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering: so they went both of them together. We wonder about Isaac’s thoughts during this time. We don’t know his age. Verse 12 refers to him as a lad, but this same word is used of the “young men” servants in verse 5. Isaac could have been an older child, a youth, or a young adult. He was old enough to help carry the equipment up the hill. His only recorded words were a question, Behold the fire and the wood: but where is the lamb for a burnt offering? Abraham’s answer was, My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering. Derek Kidner noted that God will provide “might almost be called his lifelong motto; many have lived by it since.” Abraham’s response to Isaac was immortalized in the name he gave to the place (see on v. 14). But in a greater sense, Isaac’s question sums up the Old Testament; the New Testament answer is John 1:29. Although the text does not say anything specific about Isaac’s trust, it seems to be implied in his response throughout. He accepted his father’s explanation and trusted the Lord to provide. At some point Isaac realized he was the intended sacrifice, but he seems to have accepted this without resisting. The text is clear about the mutual love and respect of father and son. This is seen in the words my father and my son. It is also seen after Abraham had responded to his son’s question in the clause they went both of them together. Genesis 22:9-12: And they came to the place which God had told him of; and Abraham built an altar there, and laid the wood in order, and bound Isaac his son, and laid him on the altar upon the wood. 10And Abraham stretched forth his hand, and took the knife to slay his son.11 And the angel of the LORD called unto him out of heaven, and said, Abraham, Abraham: and he said, Here am I. 12And he said, Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou anything unto him: for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son from me. In verses 9-10, the action seems to be in slow motion in order to emphasize the drama of what was happening. Notice the words that describe in detail step-by-step what Abraham did. Came to the place... built an altar. . . laid the wood in order . . . bound Isaac . . . laid him on the altar . . . stretched forth his hand... took the knife. Then at the very moment when Abraham was ready to kill Isaac, the angel of the LORD stopped him. Abraham had passed the test. He proved that he feared the Lord because he did not withhold his son, his only son, from the Lord. The proof that one fears the Lord is total obedience to Him. Hebrews 11:17-19 gives this explanation of Abraham’s faith: “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” (NIV). What was achieved by this test? Abraham and Isaac were the key links in the chain of God’s redemptive plan. Their faith had to be strong enough to be able to fulfill this strategic role. Abraham would become the father of the faithful. Our spiritual growth is not a steady upward line but a line that sometimes levels off into a plateau and sometimes even moves downward. The upward movement depends on how we respond to the tests of life. If we pass the test, our faith moves to higher ground. God Shows He Will Provide a Way (Gen. 22:13-14) God provided a ram for the offering instead of Isaac. Abraham named the place to commemorate how the Lord had provided. Genesis 22:13-14: And Abraham lifted up his eyes, and looked, and behold behind him a ram caught in a thicket by his horns: and Abraham went and took the ram, and offered him up for a burnt offering in the stead of his son. 14And Abraham called the name of that place Jehovah-jireh: as it is said to this day, In the mount of the LORD it shall be seen. Jehovah-jireh means “the LORD will provide” (NIV). The word “provide” is the same one found in verse 8 when Abraham told Isaac, God will provide. The word appears a third time in the expression In the mount of the LORD it shall be seen or “On the mountain of the LORD it will be provided” (NIV). Raʾa is the Hebrew word for “see”; “provide,” in the sense of “see to it,” is a secondary meaning. In fact, our English word provide (as does our word providence)comes from a prefix meaning “before” or “forward” (pro) and a word meaning “to see” (videre; note our word video). Hence, “to provide” literally is to “see ahead” or “see beforehand.” Thus in saying, “God will provide,” Abraham was expressing his faith that God not only sees but that He also provides; Abraham was expressing his trust in the providence of God. God is good, and He is faithful to provide what He has promised. The provision of the ram foreshadowed the way God provided for human sin. Just as the ram was sacrificed in the stead of Isaac, so the Lamb of God was sacrificed for the sins of the world—in the stead of you and me. God did not demand that Abraham actually sacrifice his only beloved son, but God did give His only beloved Son as a sacrifice for sinners. God’s beloved Son died in our stead so we might not have to die the death that our sins deserve. Several items in Genesis 22 foreshadow Jesus’ death for our sins. (1) Isaac asked, Where is the lamb? (v. 7). The New Testament answer is, “Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world” (John 1:29). (2) Abraham was willing to offer his only son, Isaac. God actually did offer His only Son, Jesus. (3) Isaac was willing to submit to being put to death as a sacrifice. The Son of God submitted Himself to death on the cross. (4) The ram’s death took the place of Isaac’s death. The Lamb of God’s death took the place of our deaths. Indeed, God provided a way—a way for Abraham and Isaac and a way for us. JEHOVAH-JIREH! God Affirms Trustful Obedience (Gen. 22:15-16a, 18) God responded to Abraham’s obedience by reaffirming His promise to make Abraham a blessing to all nations. This would be done through his seed. Genesis 22:15-16a, 18: And the angel of the LORD called unto Abraham out of heaven the second time, and said... 18And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice. In the Old Testament God often spoke through the angel of the LORD. This was true in verse 11, and for the second time in this account in verse 15. The angel of the LORD reaffirmed the promise of Genesis 12:3 with one significant addition. In 12:3 God promised, “In thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.” In 22:18 God used in thy seed instead of “in thee.” Two earlier passages and a New Testament passage help us understand what this means: Genesis 3:15; 17:7; and Galatians 3:16. When we studied Genesis 3:15, we saw that seed can be used figuratively of an individual (either a child or a later descendant) or of a group. Genesis 17:7 tells us that God made His covenant not only with Abraham but also with his seed. At times Abraham’s seed is used collectively of the people of Israel. This is surely true of the passages about the multitude of his seed (see 13:16; 15:5; 22:17). At other times, the child of promise is the seed. In Galatians 3:16 Paul taught that Jesus is the true seed of Abraham who fulfills God’s promise. God used Isaac to continue the line of promise through his son Jacob or Israel, whose 12 sons became the people of Israel. Through this line was born the seed of the woman prophesied in Genesis 3:15 and the seed of Abraham, Jesus Christ. Ultimately Jesus Christ is the One through whom all the nations of the earth shall be blessed. God’s word, Because thou hast obeyed my voice, affirmed Abraham’s obedience to God’s call. The Hebrew word for hast obeyed (samaʿ) literally means “to hear” or “to hearken,” but figuratively it means “to obey.” From the biblical point of view, to hear God’s word is to obey Him. Hearing without obeying is not really hearing Him. Obedience and faith are two sides of the same thing. Sometimes we separate them in order to avoid the misunderstanding that by obeying God’s commandments one can earn salvation. We speak of salvation by grace through faith, not of works (Eph. 2:8-9). But the “works” Paul warned against were different from the “works” James called for (Jas. 2:14-26). Paul was speaking of works of merit designed to earn salvation; James was speaking of the kind of obedience that puts faith into action. Both Paul and James used Abraham as an example. Abraham was justified by faith (Gen. 15:6; Rom. 4:3, 9, 13-16; Gal. 3:6-9), and his faith was expressed by obeying God (Gen. 22:18; Jas. 2:21-24). When Abraham heard God’s call to leave home, he obeyed because he trusted God. When he was told to take Isaac and offer him as a sacrifice, he obeyed because he trusted God. Faith (trust) and obedience are two sides of the same reality. Both are responses to God and His word. Faith is believing in God and trusting Him to keep His word. Obedience is acting on that faith in actions that do what God says to do. When we walk with the Lord in the light of His Word What a glory He sheds on our way! Let us do His good will; He abides with us still, and with all who will trust and obey. Theodore Epp - THE NECESSITY OF TESTING Genesis 22:1-8 The offering of Isaac is recorded in Genesis 22. This chapter sees father and son together in this great test. That they were "together" is one of the keys to this chapter. Verse 6 says, "And they went both of them together." Verse 8 also emphasizes: "So they went both of them together." It is significant that the first record of Isaac's active participation in life had to do with his being willing to offer his life. He willingly surrendered to the will of his father and to the will of Almighty God. Testing and discipline are necessary for the believer because they prove whether or not his spiritual experiences have really become a part of his life and character. The tests that Abraham had successfully passed prepared him for the greatest test of his life--the offering of Isaac. God's testing of an individual is evidence that He has confidence in that individual. God never tests a person who hasn't the capacity to pass the test. God never tested Lot to the degree He tested Abraham, because Lot never reached a spiritual plane that was high enough to warrant God's testing in his life. Sodom tempted Lot, but it was no temptation to Abraham. By his life Abraham proved he loved God more than the things of Sodom. "There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it" (1Co 10:13). Theodore Epp - TESTING HAS A PURPOSE Genesis 22:1,2; 1 Peter 1:3-7 God wanted Abraham to prove that he loved Him more than the things of this life and more than any other person. For this test God chose the person who was the dearest object of Abraham's life--Isaac. God may sometimes test you this way also. Although the test may be severe and may involve the dearest person or thing in your life, you will be a better person for God as a result of the test. The offering of human sacrifices was a common practice of the heathen in Abraham's time. However, there is no other incident where God tested a believer in this particular way. Human sacrifices were strongly condemned by God in the Old Testament. His people, Israel, were to totally abstain from this heathen practice. But with Abraham, God chose this test to prove whom Abraham loved most. God knew what he would do. When God promised him a son, Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him for righteousness. But, having received the promised son, there was the danger that Abraham would give more of his attention to the gift than to the Giver. He knew that out of Isaac would come the descendants God had promised. Abraham was in danger of concentrating on the fulfillment of God's promise to the exclusion of God Himself, who had made the promise. "Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps" (1 Pet. 2:21). Henry Blackaby - Obedience Step by Step After these things God tested Abraham and said to him, “Abraham!” “Here I am,” he answered. “Take your son,” He said, “your only [son] Isaac, whom you love, go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains I will tell you about.”—Genesis 22:1–2 Our difficulty is not that we don't know God's will. Our discomfort comes from the fact that we do know His will, but we do not want to do it! When God first spoke to Abraham, His commands were straightforward. “Go to a land I will show you” (Gen. 12:1). Then God led Abraham through a number of tests over the years. Abraham learned patience as he waited on God's promise of a son, which took twenty-five years to be fulfilled. Abraham learned to trust God through battles with kings and through the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. The pinnacle of Abraham's walk of faith was when God asked him to sacrifice the one thing that meant more to him than anything else. Abraham's previous obedience indicated that he would have quickly and decisively sacrificed anything else God asked of him, but was he prepared for this? God did not ask Abraham to make such a significant sacrifice at the beginning of their relationship. This came more than thirty years after Abraham began walking with God. As the Father progressively reveals His ways to you in your Christian pilgrimage, you, like Abraham, will develop a deeper level of trust in Him. When you first became a Christian, your Master's instructions were probably fundamental, such as being baptized or changing your lifestyle. But as you learn to trust Him more deeply, He will develop your character to match bigger tests, and with the greater test will come a greater love for God and knowledge of His ways. Are you ready for God's next revelation? Lightning and Thunder - When we see lightning flash across the sky, we expect the roar of thunder to follow. If there were no lightning, there would be no thunder because one causes the other. It's like that with faith. Just as thunder always follows lightning, good works always follow true faith. The relationship between faith and works is explained in the New Testament writings of Paul to the Ephesians, and in a brief letter from James. At first glance, these authors seem to contradict each other. Paul insisted, "By grace you have been saved through faith, … not of works" (Eph. 2:8, 9). But James declared, "A man is justified [declared righteous] by works, and not by faith only" (Jas. 2:24). In context though, James wasn't denying that we are saved by faith. He referred to Abraham, saying that he "believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness" (Jas 2:23+). This belief occurred years before Abraham gave evidence of his faith by preparing to offer his son as a sacrifice (Jas 2:21+). Nor was the apostle Paul denying the value of works, for right after stating that we are saved by faith alone he said that we are saved "for good works" (Eph. 2:10+). DIGGING DEEPER Read Genesis 15:1-6+ and Genesis 22:1-14. Why did God give righteousness to Abraham? How did Abraham prove his faith? We are saved by faith alone, but faith that saves is never alone. James Smith - THE SACRIFICE OF ABRAHAM. Genesis 22:1-14. He who is to be the father of the faithful has to face the father of all the trials of faith. We see the workings of great faith in the actions of Abraham. (1) He reasoned not; he consulted no one. (2) He staggered not under the crushing weight of such a demand. (3) He was prompt; he rose up early in the morning. (4) He was deliberate; preparing the wood beforehand. (5) He was fully determined; bade the young men keep back that they might not hinder him. This is a very fruitful portion. Look at the— I. Father's Sacrifice. "Take now thy son." Think of the preciousness of this son. All the hopes and desires and affections of the father are centred in him. In offering up his son Abraham was giving up his all. He had absolutely nothing left but his God. Yet this is enough for faith. God gave up His Son, although all His affections and purposes were centred in Him. We can never understand the greatness of His sacrifice until we can understand the greatness of His love for His beloved Son. Like Abraham, in giving His Son He gave His all. II. Son's Submission. It is significantly stated that "they went both of them together." In a deep and real sense this was true of Jesus Christ and His Father. In making an atonement for sin "they went both of them together." "I delight to do Thy will, O my God" (Psa. 40:8). The purpose of the Father and of the Son was one. Like the Lord Jesus Christ, Isaac submitted— 1. TO BE BURDENED. "Abraham took the wood and laid it upon Isaac, his son." What a burden in the eyes of the father! It was the cross of sacrifice, the symbol of death. What a picture of the only-begotten Son of God, with the burden of our iniquity laid upon Him, and laid on Him, too, by a loving Father! "The Lord hath laid on Him the iniquity of us all" (Isa. 53:6). He also submitted— 2. TO BE BOUND. "He bound Isaac his son, and laid him on the altar." As a young man, twenty-five years of age, he might have resisted; but he, like our Isaac, was led as a lamb, he opened not his mouth. Love and devotion were the cords that bound the Son of God to the altar of sacrifice. III. Sacrificial Requisites. Isaac carried the wood, while he himself was to be the burnt-offering; but let us not fail to observe what was in the father's hands. 1. THE FIRE. "Abraham took the fire in his hand." There is something awfully solemn about this. "Our God is a consuming fire" (Heb. 12:29). "Who shall dwell with devouring fire?" (Isa. 33:14). Does not this suggest the holy, testing, consuming character of God when approaching the altar of expiation? 2. THE KNIFE. "He took the fire and a knife." If the fire represents the holiness of God, then the knife may well symbolise the sword of justice. "Awake, O sword, against the man that is my fellow" (Zech. 13:7). The knife was quivering in the air when Jesus cried, "My God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?" (Psa. 22:1). In these days men are ready to forget that every sacrifice to God must have to do with the divine knife and fire. 3. THE ALTAR. "Abraham built an altar." Isaac did not make the altar; it was prepared by the father. My soul, tread softly here. This was solemn work for Abraham. In eternity God in His own heart and mind prepared the altar for Christ. He was the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. 4. The Cords with which Isaac was bound to the altar, typical of the nails which bound Christ to the Cross. Not the nails, but love bound the Saviour. It was the love of the Father to the Son, the love of the Son to the Father, and the love of both to man—a threefold cord that is not easily broken. IV. Doctrine of Substitution. "He took the ram and offered him in the stead of his son" (v. 13). The scene on Mount Moriah, as typical of the greater scene on Mount Calvary, could scarcely have been perfect without the thought of substitution being made prominent. The figure now changes. The ram becomes the burnt-offering, and the submissive one goes free. You observe this sacrifice was provided by God. We have still Jesus before us, not as the Son now, but as the Substitute of one condemned to die. Man found a Cross for Christ, but it was God who found the Ransom—"Jehovah-Jireh." "He spared not His own Son (like Abraham's), but delivered Him up for us all" (Rom. 8:32). "Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us" (1 Cor. 5:7). Ask Isaac, as he gazes on the ram burning in his stead, if he believes in substitution. "Behold the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world" (John 1:29). John
Gênesis 22
Meyer - Genesis 22:14 Jehovah Jireh; In the Mount of the Lord it shall be provided. (R.V.) Abraham knew it would be. Probably he never told Sarah what God had asked of him till he and the lad were safely back in the tent. What need to trouble her? Her weak faith could not have stood the ordeal. It was with an unfaltering tone that the patriarch told his young men that they two would presently return. Even though he should actually take Isaac’s life, he was sure that he would receive him again from the altar in health. It was only at the very last moment that God indicated the ram as the sufficient substitute. So God’s deliverances always come; they are provided in the mount of trial and sacrifice. When the foe seems secure of victory. — So it was with Israel. Pharaoh, with his hosts, counted on an easy victory, the precipices around, the sea in front. To the eye of sense it seemed impossible to escape: all hope died. It was just then that the Almighty cleft a path through the mighty deep. “In the fourth hour of the night.” — Strength was well-nigh exhausted in long battling with the waves. For hours the disciples with difficulty had kept themselves afloat. It seemed as if they must give in through physical collapse. It was then that the form of Jesus drew nigh unto the ship. On the night before execution. — Thus Peter lies sleeping whilst the Church is gathered in prayer. Tomorrow he will be a corpse. But the angel comes then to open the prison doors. So you may have come to an end of your own strength, and wisdom, and energy. The altar, wood, and fire are ready, the knife upraised, your Isaac on the point to die: but even now God will provide. Trust Him to indicate the way of escape. Loins Girded - It Shall Be Seen Gen. 22:14 When we read the history of Abraham completely, we repeatedly come across this short, but significant remark: “And there he built an altar unto the Lord.”Wherever he came upon his pilgrim journeys, his first work was to built an altar and in this manner his whole career was marked by erected altars as milestones. He always left a holy trace upon his way. Blessed is the man whose course through life still speaks to later generations of prayer and worship and the fear of God. The most holy altar that was built by the father of all the faithful was on Mount Moriah. There his faith was tested in the severest measure, because the Lord demanded his only begotten son from him, after attaching such glorious promises of the Messiah to him. Instead of doubting the Lord’s promises in the least, Abraham held fast to the belief that the Almighty One would fulfil them, even if He had to bring back from the dead his son Isaac, whom he loved, so that he really did receive him back in a kind of resurrection. If anyone would ask him what made him fit for such a hard sacrifice, Abraham himself answered him. In the depth of his soul there was a thought that immediately rose to the surface when Isaac asked him: “Where is the lamb?”because he answered him instantly: “God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering.”And after everything was finished, he transfixed the supporting thought of a providing and caring God in the name of that place: “Moriah,—the LORD shall provide!” We can be sure that He shall do it. He provided for our greatest need when Jesus Christ, Isaac’s Son, climbed upon the mount of sacrifice, bearing the tree to pay for our guilt. If the Lord did not withhold from us that Only One, would He not give us with Him all other things? The LORD shall provide! The Provider - Lehman Strauss (from In God's Waiting Room Learning Through Suffering - Recommended Read) The first important truth of Philippians 4:19 is that God is the Provider. The apostle said that the Lord is "my God." When Paul received the Lord Jesus on his way to Damascus, he was brought immediately into a personal relationship with God. I fear that the belief many persons have in the God of the Bible is merely intellectual and academic, not experiential. They believe God is omnipotent--that He has an ability that knows no inability--but they know nothing of a personal, intimate relationship with Him. Sometimes people inside our churches, as well as those outside, know about God, but they do not know Him. Paul knew Him as the provider of all his needs. In the Old Testament the Hebrew name for God the provider is Jehovah-jireh. It appears in Genesis 22 when Abraham, in obedience to God's command, took his son Isaac to Mount Moriah to offer him for a burnt offering. After father and son had arrived at the designated place and prepared the altar, Isaac said to his father, "Behold the fire and the wood: but where is the lamb for a burnt offering? And Abraham said, My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering" (Genesis 22:7-8). And that is precisely what God did: He provided a substitute to die in the place of Isaac (v. 13). "And Abraham called the name of that place Jehovah-jireh" (v. 14), meaning "the Lord will provide." But keep this fact in mind: Abraham did not experience God's miraculous provision without first giving obedience to God's command. Abraham was not presumptuous; rather, he displayed implicit faith and obedience. He became acquainted with Jehovah-jireh. Do you know who Jehovah-jireh is? He is the God who provides. He is the God of the Bible, and the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is through personal faith in Christ that we gain that experiential knowledge of God. Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me" (John 14:6). Can you say with the apostle that Jehovah-jireh is "my God"? Index of Strauss' Book In God's Waiting Room Learning Through Suffering 1. Great Moments in Marriage, and Then... 2. God Is in Control 3. The Arrows of the Almighty 4. In Time of Need 5. He Cares 6. All You Need 7. A Soft Pillow for Troubled Hearts and Suffering Bodies 8. The God of All Comfort 9. That Strange Love of God Epilogue Joe Stowell…In the Old Testament, one of God’s names is Jehovah Jireh—our provider—and He always lives up to His name. He stands ready to provide abundant grace so that we can bear up until He has finished His work in the trial (2Co 12:7, 8, 9, 10+). He gives us a peace that passes understanding as we trust and rely on Him with a grateful heart (Php 4:6+; Phip 4:7+). He gives wisdom to see our tough times from His point of view (Jas 1:5+). He gives us the assurance that He will stick it out with us and not leave or forsake us, so that we can confidently say, “The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What man can do to me?” (He 13:6+). So, chin up! Our troubles and trials have not escaped the notice of the One who comes alongside to help when it seems like the load is too much to bear. The One who knows your load limit promises to limit your load! C H