GOD’S FRIEND (GENESIS 22)
At 3:00 a.m. one cold morning a missionary candidate walked into an office for a scheduled interview with the examiner of a mission board. He waited until 8 a.m. when the examiner arrived. The examiner said, “Let us begin. First, please spell baker.” “B-a-k-e-r,” the young man spelled. “Very good. Now, let’s see what you know about figures. How much is twice two?” “Four,” replied the applicant. “Very good,” the examiner said. “I’ll recommend to the board tomorrow that you be appointed. You have passed the test.”
At the board meeting the examiner spoke highly of the applicant and said. “He has all the qualifications of a missionary. Let me explain. First, I tested him on self-denial. I told him to be at my house at three in the morning. He left a warm bed and came out in the cold without a word of complaint. Second, I tried him out on punctuality. He appeared on time. Third, I examined him on patience. I made him wait five hours to see me, after telling him to come at three. Fourth, I tested him on temper. He failed to show any sign of it; he didn’t even question my delay. Fifth, I tried his humility. I asked him questions that a small child could answer and he showed no offense. He meets the requirements and will make the missionary we need.” (7,700 Illustrations # 3461)
In Genesis 22, God dramatically tested Abraham’s devotion to Him with the instruction to offer Isaac his son as a burnt offering on a mountain. Abraham had already suffered the loss of his other son Ishmael, who had left the household with his mother Hagar (Gen 21:9-20). Abraham was at a junction, a crossroad and a fork in his life. Sarah, who had conceived Isaac in her old age, would die in the next chapter. Abraham’s life would fade in the background after this and the stage would be occupied by his son Isaac. Abraham faced the most critical test of his life. Passing the test would cement Abraham’s legacy in Jewish history. Stories of faith and courage would be told, Jewish history would be made and Abraham would received the highest and most affectionate accolade God had given man - the friend of God (Jas 2:21-23).
How do believers handle the test of faith, especially when the stakes were high? What motivates a man of faith to surrender to God’s seemingly illogical request? How does testing mature one’s faith?
Place Your Life in God, Who is Sovereign – There in no Fear in Him
22:1 Some time later God tested Abraham. He said to him, “Abraham!” “Here I am,” he replied. 2 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.” 3 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. 4 On the third day Abraham looked up and saw the place in the distance. 5 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.” (Gen 22:3-5)
One summer, a drought threatened the crop in a small town. On a hot and dry Sunday, the village pastor told his congregation, “There isn’t anything that will save us except to pray for rain. Go home, pray, believe and come back next Sunday ready to thank God for sending rain.”
The people did as they were told and returned to church the following Sunday. They wee buzzing, recounting and sharing with excitement at what the pastor had said the previous Sunday. But as soon as the pastor saw them, he was furious and chided them for their indifference, disobedience and faithlessness. He further accused them of living a life of insincerity, hypocrisy and prayerlessness. The people did their best to pacify the pastor, to deflect the criticism and to minimize the uproar.
“We can’t worship today. You do not yet believe,” the pastor said. The people, of course, moaned in disappointment and protested their innocence “But we prayed, and we do believe.” “Believe?” the pastor lashed out. “Then where are your umbrellas?”
Mother Teresa said, “True holiness consists in doing God’s work with a smile.”
Abraham’s hope in God was against all hope (Rom 4:18). He did as he was asked without hesitation, questioning or fanfare. If he was resistant, angry, quarrelsome, emotional or disillusioned, he did not show it, his son did not feel it, his servants did not know it and yet God would not have faulted him anyway. Abraham did not ask for further clarification, bargain for a later date or feign moral disgust at the request. In fact, Abraham did the unexpected - he left early next morning even though time was not stipulated, finished the chores single-handedly even though he had servants with him and kept the appointment even though he had three days on the trip to think it over, change his mind or beg for mercy.
How in the world could a person sacrifice one’s own child, not withstanding the favorite child? The identity of the child was clear. It was not Ishmael, but Isaac that God demanded. The child that Abraham and his beloved wife Sarah had when they were past the age of child-bearing. The task was clear: to offer Isaac, like what a Levitical priest offering a sacrifice to the Lord (Lev 14:20). What would Abraham tell Sarah, the mother of his child? Abraham and Sarah loved the child dearly and they would rather give up their lives than their child’s life. There would, no doubt, be heartbreak, tears and resistance. Isaac was Abraham and his beloved Sarah’s pride, joy and life.
Was Abraham serious? Of course. He took wood, fire and knife for the trip. He had a non-nonsense, all-business, professional-like approach to sacrificing Isaac. At his arrival on the mountain, he built an altar, laid the wood in order, bound Isaac and laid him on the altar upon the wood. Abraham then stretched forth his hand and took the knife to slay his son.
Abraham’s obedience to God was unthinkable and unflinching. He had come a long way. His forefather, including his father, were pagans, idolaters and unbelievers (Josh 24:2-4) but God chose Abram and brought him out of Ur of the Chaldeans and named him Abraham (Neh 9:7-8). To the possessions and people Abraham and Sarah had acquired in Haran (Gen 12:5) were added livestock and more servants (Gen 12:16) and more livestock and silver and gold during famine (Gen 12:6, 13:2). Even when they were very wealthy (Gen 13:2), silver kept coming (Gen 20:16). Isaac, too, was a gift from God (Gen 17:16). God had kindly given the child to the parents when hope was slim, fading and gone.
How could Abraham withhold from God the only thing He was asking from him after God had protected him from Pharaoh (Gen 12:17) to Abimelech (Gen 20:3), from famine (Gen 12:10) to warfare (Gen 14:15), from Chaldee to Canaan?
Place Your Faith in God, Who is Perfect – Nothing is Impossible to Him
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. But the angle of the Lord called out to him from heaven, “Abraham! Abraham!” “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 22:9-12)
Fred Craddock once told the story of Oswald Goltar. He was a missionary sent to preach the gospel in India near the end of World War II. After many months the time came for a trip back home. His church wired him the money to book passage on a steamer but when he got to the port city he discovered a boatload of Jews who had escaped from Germany had just been allowed to land temporarily. They had been wandering and had no place to go, so they were all crammed in an attic.
It happened to be Christmas, and on Christmas morning, this missionary went to one of the attics where the Jews were staying. He walked in and said, “Merry Christmas.” The people looked at him as if he were crazy and responded, “We’re Jews.” “I know that,” said the missionary, “What would you like for Christmas?” In utter amazement the Jews responded, “Why, we like pastries, good pastries like the ones we used to have in Germany.”
So Oswald Goltar went out and used the money for his ticket home to buy pastries for all the Jews he could find staying in the port. Of course, he then had to wire home asking for more money to book his passage back to the States. His superiors wired back, asking what happened to the money they had already sent. He wired that he had used it to buy Christmas pastries for some Jews. His superiors wired back, “Why did you do that? They don’t even believe in Jesus.” He wired back, “Yes, but I do.”
Abraham was not the father of all who believe (Rom 4:11), the father of the circumcised (Rom 4:12) and the father of many nations (Rom 4:17) for nothing. Since he clearly knew that God had promised him offspring through Isaac (Gen 21:12), so why did he plan to sacrifice his own son? Abraham knew that God was perfect and nothing was impossible to Him. He could give Abraham his son back unharmed, in one piece, as if nothing had happened. God could even present Isaac to his father better than ever, as good as new and in the best shape possible.
Hebrews 11:17-19 reveals Abraham’s faith in God’s perfection: “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.”
Abraham believed that God could and would raise Isaac from the dead if he had sacrificed Isaac and would return to him his child without a hair, bone or muscle missing – wow! That’s the heart, meaning and face of faith. It’s been said, “God is too wise to make a mistake, too good to do evil.” (Paul Lee Tan, Encyclopedia of 7.700 Illustrations # 6928).
Abraham did not throw a fit, shake his fist at God or poured contempt on the request. His stomach did not churn, his muscles did not tighten and his body did not shake. Tears fell from his eyes but there was no rage in them, his heart broke but it did not die and no curse or nonsense was found in his mouth, because his hope in God was unshakable and unwavering. He believed nothing was impossible to Him and too hard for Him to do.
Place Your Faith in God, Who is Wise – He Will Supply All Your
Needs
13 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. 14 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.” 15 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.” (Gen 22:13-18)
In 1634 renowned Dutch painter Rembrandt painted a great work of art that depicted Abraham’s sacrifice of Isaac. The painting (“The Sacrifice of Abraham”) captures perfectly how the Lord intervenes to stop Abraham from slaying his son Isaac. Isaac’s eyes did not meet his father’s eyes. He was lying on the ground, his arms bound behind his back and his eyes covered by his father’s left hand, but his head was thrown back revealing the neck. Isaac’s curled right leg was completely relaxed while the other curled leg was ready to kick off.
The most fascinating part of Rembrandt’s drawing was the activity on Abraham’s right hand. Abraham had raised his right hand to strike the boy, but an angel’s hand grabbed hold of his hand. As a result the knife barely fell out of his hands on its way to the ground. The angel’s right hand had such a tight grip on Abraham’s hand that Abraham was forced to drop the knife out of his hands.
The angel held his left hand up as if to signal for Abraham to stop what he was doing. The angel’s eyes were most tricky. He was looking intensely at Abraham as he gripped him by the wrist and, at the same time, looking at the boy to see if he was alright.
http://metalab.unc.edu/wm/paint/auth/rembrandt/1630/abraham.jpg
God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone (Jas 1:13). The Lord would never permit us to do what is immoral, inhuman or irresponsible. He will never ask from us what we cannot give, handle or bear. Our God would never look the other way while the innocent perish or rob them of their worth, value and life.
God tested Abraham to uncover, develop and mature all the goodness, courage and faith that were inherent in Abraham. Abraham looked up and there in a thicket he saw a ram caught by its horns. So Abraham called that place The Lord Will Provide. (22:13-14a). The word “provide” is a fitting translation of the corresponding Hebrew word “see.” The word provide is from two words – “pro” or “before,” and “video” or “see.” The Hebrew word is simply God will see or God will see to it. God saw the beauty, innocence and essence of Abraham’s faith and saw him through his test, torment and triumph.
The lamb was a testimony to God’s foreknowledge of man’s physical, emotional and spiritual need. The ultimate and perfect fulfillment of God’s promise to provide for the need of man is in the gift of His Son. Jesus is the unblemished and spotless lamb (1 Pet 1:19) who was led as a sheep to slaughter (Acts 8:32), the Lamb of God who took away the sin of the world (John 1:29).
Surprisingly, Abraham was the only person in the Bible credited with hearing or obeying God’s voice (Gen 22:18, 26:5). He did not withhold, reserve or spare his son. The father of many nations (Gen 17:4-5, Rom 4:17-18)) and the father of the circumcised (Rom 4:12) was now an unqualified success as the father of all who believe (Rom 4:11).
Conclusion: Man is but a stranger on earth; for we were born only yesterday and know nothing, and our days on earth are but a shadow (Job 8:9). God gives what is good, holds everything together and puts everything right. He rescues the godly from doubt and unbelief to faith in God to overcome the tests of life. God has promised us strength to overcome every storm, blow or turn. At the end of every trial, God has promised: “Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him.” (Jas 1:12)
Victor Yap
Other sermons in the series and other sermon series:
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