“The Ultimate Test of Faith.”
Genesis 22:1-19
“Now it came to pass after these things that God tested Abraham, and said to him, "Abraham!" And he said, "Here I am." (2) Then He said, "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."
One of the greatest blessings in life is children. And surely one of the most devastating tragedies in life has to be having to bury one of your children. We expect to lose our parents at some point in life. And about half us who are married will lose our spouse in death. But we assume that our children will be around to mourn us when we die. Any mother or father would rather suffer themselves than watch their children suffer? Which of us would not quickly give our own life if it meant we could save the life of our child? And this is why Genesis 22 is one of the most moving stories in the Bible. The supreme test of faith posed to Abraham, is something most of us would find nearly impossible to even consider. We struggle with the very idea of it. Our hearts are torn as we try to conceive how we would respond in such a situation. When the text says that “God tested Abraham,” it is one of the world’s great understatements.
Our text tells us that "after these things” or “some time later" God tested Abraham. We really don't know how time has passed, but perhaps as much as twenty years passed between the end of chapter 21 and the beginning of chapter 22. At the end of chapter 21 Isaac was two or three years old. Some are troubled in verse five by the use of the word “boy” NIV or “lad” NKJV. The Hebrew word here could be used for any age from a teen to young soldier.
We are not talking about a preschooler here; Isaac was a young man probably in his late teens to early twenties. Suggestions in the commentaries for Isaac’s age in this story range from him being in his mid to late teens, to some that suggests that he was 33 years old (the age Jesus was when he died). From the text all we really know is this: Isaac was strong enough to carry the wood for the sacrifice and that he was old enough to understand that having a sacrifice without a lamb didn't work.
The test itself is devastating because it involves his beloved son, Isaac, the promised and long awaited son. It is also devastating because it is only three days away - there is little preparation time. Yet on the other hand there is plenty of time to worry oneself sick over the implications. It is even more devastating to realize that it was to be a sacrifice from his own hand. It is awful to think of losing a child. But it is almost unbearable to consider that the child died as a result of your own hand.
Notice with me three things the text reveals about faith.
First, The Testing of Faith (22:1-2)
“Now it came to pass after these things that God tested Abraham, and said to him, "Abraham!" And he said, "Here I am." (2) Then He said, "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."
When the King James Version says that God “tempted” Abraham it is better understood as it is rendered in the New King James, that God “tested” Abraham. James assures us that God does not “tempt” anyone to do evil (James 1:13) but does “test” our faith to prove it (James 1: 3, 12).
•The Purpose of Testing
One thing we can be certain of is that God does not test our commitment to discover how committed we are. He is God He already knows that! But we will never know the level of our commitment unless it is tested.
Isn’t true that when we face difficulties in life that test us we often think that it is unreasonable and we ask, “Why Lord?” or that it is untimely and ask “Why Now Lord?” or that it is unfair and we ask, “Why Me Lord?” or that it is unbearable and we ask, “How can I stand it Lord?”
But there is purpose in this testing in our life; perhaps it is to reveal His faithfulness, or to teach us new truth, or to cause us to grow. But of this we can be sure, there is a purpose.
• The Promise Concerning Testing
The believer has a two-fold promise when it come to testing.
God controls the testing.
In 1 Corinthians 10:13 the believer is promised, “No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.”
God is with us in the testing.
In difficult times perhaps the main thing we need to “know” is that God is with us. When God spoke to Joshua he gave him a special promise, “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go." (Joshua 1:9)
• The Process of Testing.
In verse one it says, “Now it came to pass after these things that God tested Abraham.” There is some-thing here I don’t want us to miss, while this new trial of faith hit Abraham suddenly, it was the culmination of years of God dealing with him. When we trust Christ, we begin a lifelong process of surrendering to Him.
At the age of 21 Jim Elliot, who seven year later to give his life as a martyr for his faith in Ecuador, wrote, “One does not surrender a life in an instant. That which is life-long can only be surrendered in a life-time.” [Elisabeth Elliot. Shadow of the Almighty. (New York: Harper, 1958) p. 61]
A.W. Tozer has written wisely of the struggle in the form of a prayer, “Father, I want to know You, but my coward heart fears to give up its toys. I cannot part with them without inward bleeding, and I do not try to hide from You the terror of the parting. I come trembling, but I do come. Please root from my heart all those things which I have cherished so long and which have become a very part of my living self, so that You my enter and dwell there without a rival. Then you will make the place of Your feet glorious. Then my heart will have no need of the sun to shine in it, for You will be the light of it, and there shall be no night there. In Jesus' Name, Amen.” [A.W.Tozer. Pursuit of God p. 31]
Abraham’s life was a process of growth whereby God stripped him of all that he clung to until finally he held to God alone. Now God placed his finger on the most precious thing in Abraham’s life and called for it! Did Abraham come to love Isaac more than he did God?
Stripped of his home and family.
Throughout his life God had been asking Abra-ham to step out and trust him for He was the God who would provide. First, Abraham is called to leave his family and his home and to follow God to a new place, God’s place. (Acts 7:2). Would Abraham trust Him, he did. Well at least partially. He left Ur of the Chaldees, but he took his father with him and he settled down in another place (Gen. 11:31-31) until his father died. It took years for Abram to be separated from his father and when it did occur, it was the result of death rather than deliberate obedience. Through it all God was trying to teach Abraham to trust Him.
Stripped of his own efforts – Ishmael and Hagar.
God promised Abraham an heir. But when year passed without receiving the promised heir, Abraham and Sarah hatched a scheme to help God out (Gen 16:1-2). Abraham would have a heir through Sarah’s hand-maiden and Ishmael was born. In the last chapter we saw that Abraham had to lay aside his own human efforts. Sarah and Ishmael were sent out (Gen 21).
Stripped of that which was the most precious to him.
Now God was asking Abraham to give up the son who was the very answer to his prayers. Had he learned the lesson of absolute trust? Did he really believe that God would take care of all his needs? This I believe is the real test that Abraham faced. It was a test of faith.
Secondly, The Trust Of Faith (22:3-10)
“So Abraham rose early in the morning and saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son; and he split the wood for the burnt offer-ing, and arose and went to the place of which God had told him. (4) Then on the third day Abraham lifted his eyes and saw the place afar off. (5) And Abraham said to his young men, "Stay here with the donkey; the lad and I will go yonder and worship, and we will come back to you." (6) So Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on Isaac his son; and he took the fire in his hand, and a knife, and the two of them went together. (7) But Isaac spoke to Abraham his father and said, "My father!" And he said, "Here I am, my son." Then he said, "Look, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?" (8) And Abra-ham said, "My son, God will provide for Himself the lamb for a burnt offering." So the two of them went together. (9) Then they came to the place of which God had told him. And Abraham built an altar there and placed the wood in order; and he bound Isaac his son and laid him on the altar, upon the wood. (10) And Abraham stretched out his hand and took the knife to slay his son.”
Abraham woke early to begin what must have been the longest journey of his life. Abraham took Isaac and his servants on a heartbreaking three-day journey to Mount Moriah. He could have made excuses but Abraham had what Eugene Petersen called, “a long obedience in the same direction!”
At the foot of the mountain, in the middle of what had to be a great anguish of soul we find a beautiful expression of hope. In verse five, Abraham told his servants, "Stay here with the donkey; the lad and I will go yonder and worship, and we will come back to you." (22:5) You can see in Abraham’ statement the exercise of his faith. Knowing that he fully intended to offer Isaac as a sacrifice, he had the faith that they, some-how, would return together. Abraham had grown in his faith to the point that he trusted God would even be able to raise Isaac from the dead. The writer of Heb-rews says, “By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises offered up his only begotten son, (18) of whom it was said, "In Isaac your seed shall be called," (19) conclud-ing that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead, from which he also received him in a figurative sense.”(Hebrews 11:17-19)
So Abraham and Isaac proceeded up the moun-tain. As they walked, Isaac asked a question that surely broke his father’s hear, "My father!" And he said, "Here I am, my son." Then he said, "Look, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?" (22:7) Isaac, being an bright young man said, “Dad, I see the fire. I see the wood but where’s the lamb?” That’s the really is the central question of the Old Test-ament - “Where is the lamb?” Abraham says in verse eight, “My son, God will provide for Himself the lamb for a burnt offering."
Thousands of years later, John the Baptist ans-wered the question when he points to Jesus and declares, “Behold the Lamb that takes away the sin of the world.” (John 1:29) Jesus died on the cross and became the once for all time payment for sin. And one day according to Revelation 5:12, you and I and all the redeemed of all the ages will be gathered around the throne of the Lamb of God and we are going to sing, “Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and praise!”
When they reached the place of the offering Abraham built the altar, arranged the wood, bound Isaac and laid him on the altar on top of the wood. Abraham took in his hand the knife he had brought, raised his arm with the full intention of plunging the knife into the body of his son to kill him.
Third, The Triumph of Faith (22:11-19)
“But the Angel of the LORD called to him from heaven and said, "Abraham, Abraham!" So he said, "Here I am." (12) And He said, "Do not lay your hand on the lad, or do anything to him; for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from Me." (13) Then Abraham lifted his eyes and look-ed, and there behind him was a ram caught in a thicket by its horns. So Abraham went and took the ram, and offered it up for a burnt offering instead of his son. (14) And Abraham called the name of the place, The-LORD-Will-Provide; as it is said to this day, "In the Mount of The LORD it shall be provided."
As Abraham was on the verge of carrying out the command of God, the angel of the Lord spoke to Abra-ham. In verses twelve and thirteen we read, "Do not lay your hand on the lad, or do anything to him; for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from Me." (13) Then Abraham lifted his eyes and looked, and there behind him was a ram caught in a thicket by its horns. So Abraham went and took the ram, and offered it up for a burnt offering instead of his son.”
God halted Abraham’s sacrifice of Isaac for two reasons. First, such a sacrifice would have no benefit for others. Isaac’s sacrifice would not carry forward to pay for anyone else’s sin. That sacrifice of a lamb without blemish shed once for all time would come much later. The writer of Hebrews says, “But this Man, (that is Jesus) after He had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of God, (Hebrews 10:12)
Secondly, Abraham’s faith was sufficiently proven by that the fact he fully intended to carry out the will of God.
In verse fourteen, Abraham called the name of that place “The-LORD-Will-Provide” or literally "Jehovah-Jireh" for "the LORD He is the Provider."
Then in verse fifteen we read, “Then the Angel of the LORD called to Abraham a second time out of heaven, (16) and said: "By Myself I have sworn, says the LORD, because you have done this thing, and have not withheld your son, your only son-(17) blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply your descen-dants as the stars of the heaven and as the sand which is on the seashore; and your descendants shall possess the gate of their enemies. (18) In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice." (19) So Abraham returned to his young men, and they rose and went together to Beersheba; and Abraham dwelt at Beersheba.”
Two of the mountaintop points in Abraham’s life must have been when he saw that substitute ram (v.13) and when he heard God’s words of praise (vv. 16-18). Can you imagine the overwhelming joy that must have swelled in Abraham’s heart? We too can expect to hear the praise of God if we live lives of faith. What could be sweeter than hearing the Lord Himself say, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant; you have been faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.” (Matthew 25:23)
Conclusion
I don’t want to leave this story until we stop to see the picture behind the picture. I believe the details are too striking to be coincidental. One old time comm-entator (Bishop Warburton) suggested the reason that this particular test came in Abraham’s life was because Abraham desired to know the “manner” in which all the nations of the world would be blessed. Whether or not that is the case, God obviously did use it as a picture of what He Himself would do with His son on the Cross. God did not require of Abraham to do anything that He Himself would not do. Indeed, the command to Abra-ham was a foreshadow of what He would do centuries later on the cross of Calvary. This picture would give the descendants of Abraham a deeper understanding of the significance of a sacrifice. They would understand that the sacrifice was substitutionary, the animal died in the place of man just as the ram died in Isaac’s place.
Abraham was directed to Mount Moriah for this great test of faith. In 2 Chronicles 3:1 we are told that Mount Moriah was where the Temple stood. Jerusalem sits on Mount Moriah. The cross of Christ was erected on Mount Moriah.
The place where Abraham was told to sacrifice His son is the very place where God sacrificed His own Son, Jesus, for our sin.
The same place where God provided a ram as a substitute for Abraham's son, God provided a substitute for us in the person of Christ.
Isaac carried wood up this mountain for the sacrifice, Jesus carried a Cross up this mountain for the ultimate sacrifice.
Isaac was acted in loving submission to his father. Have you asked yourself, “How was Abraham able to tie up his son to lay him on the altar?” Surely Isaac was stronger than his father who is well over a hundred years old. So, how did Isaac end up on the altar? I can only conclude that Isaac went willingly. Jesus went to the cross in willing submission to His heavenly Father.
The days of animal sacrifice are over, even for the children of Israel. So what does God demand of us, his children today. The Apostle Paul answered that ques-tion in Romans 12:1-3, “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. (2) And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. (3) For I say, thro-ugh the grace given to me, to everyone who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith.”
The sacrifice we are called upon to give to God is our living bodies, and our logical and rational act of worship. This is accomplished by the renewing of our minds (v.2). All that we are (emotion, intellect and will) must be radically transformed by daily application of the Word of God.
“The Ultimate Test of Faith.”
Genesis 22:1-19
First, The ________________ of Faith (22:1-2)
God does not “tempt” anyone to do evil (James 1:13) but does “test” our faith to prove it (James 1: 3, 12).
•The ______________of Testing
•The _____________ Concerning Testing
God controls the testing. (1 Corinthians 10:13,
God is with us in the testing. (Joshua 1:9)
• The _____________ of Testing.
Stripped of his home and _____________.
Stripped of his own ___________– Ishmael and Hagar.
Stripped of that which was the most __________ to him.
Secondly, The ________________ Of Faith (22:3-10)
Third, The ____________________ Of Faith (22:11-19)
