Abraham’s Test (Genesis Pt. 38)(Communion Service)
Text: Genesis 22:1-19
By: Ken McKinley
(Read Text)
Tomorrow’s the 4th of July. The other day I was in Woodward, eating lunch with a couple of friends and across from us, sitting at another table, were three guys, probably in their early to mid 20’s, and they were complaining about the burn ban. They said, “It stinks that we can’t light off any fireworks this year. Don’t they know that’s what the 4th of July is all about.” I just shook my head and thought to myself… “No, not exactly.” But that reminded me of a story I once heard. There was a preacher who got up early Saturday morning and went to donate blood to the American Red Cross. His son woke up a little later in the day and he noticed that his dad wasn’t home, so he asked his mom where he had went. She said, “Your father’s gone to give blood.” The little boy thought about it for a minute and said, “But we know it’s really just grape juice don’t we mom!” She shook her head and said, “No, not exactly.”
The reason we have the holiday we are going to be celebrating tomorrow, is to remember, and the reason we have communion is also to remember. The apostle Paul said; in 1st Corinthians, that we are to do this in remembrance of Jesus, and when we do it, it is a proclamation of His death until He comes again.
Now our text this morning begins with these words “God tested Abraham…” Now, how many of you know that there’s a difference between being tested and being tempted? God often times will test our faith so that we can grow, and so that we don’t have any false illusions as to where we stand in our relationship, or in our faith. You see; the Bible says that a person can deceive themselves. People can believe that they are saved, when in reality they aren’t. That’s why 2nd Corinthians 13:5 says, “Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Do you not know yourselves that Jesus Christ is in you? Unless indeed you are disqualified.” So we are to test ourselves, and sometimes, God tests us… He never tempts us, but He tests us. And every time God tests us it’s always for the purpose of building our faith and bringing us closer to Him.
So God calls to Abraham, and Abraham says, “I’m here.” Then look at verse 2 (Read).
Now that phrasing is used several times in this chapter. “Your only son… whom you love.” You know; if God were to do this today, He might not say this to some fathers… He might have to say, “Take your son, the one who’s an inconvenience to you. Take your son… you know, the one you don’t have any time for.” But we see here that Abraham is a good father. A loving father. And God tells him to take his son Isaac and go to the land of Moriah and offer Isaac up as a burnt offering. Now 2nd Chronicles 3:1 tells us that this is the site where the temple was built. It’s where the dome of the rock stands today.
And if you’re Abraham… this is crazy. Human sacrifice is what the Canaanites do, but its completely out of character with God. The Canaanites were the ones who murdered their children… the Canaanites and I guess the American’s… we abort about 1 and a half million babies every year here in the US alone.
So think about how Abraham must’ve felt… He couldn’t open up the Bible and read how this story ends. He had waited his whole life for this promised Son, and now God’s telling him to take up on the mountain and offer him as a sacrifice.
So the question is… How is Abraham going to respond?
He’s got to choose between his love for his son and his love for God. You see; whatever you love most – that’s your god. Whether it’s sex, drugs, money, fame, food, entertainment… it doesn’t matter. If you love it more than God, then it becomes an idol to you. If God asked you to give it up, could you? If the Lord said to you, like He did to the rich young ruler, “Take everything you have and sell it, and give your profits to the poor.” Would you? So God tells Abraham this, and Abraham thinks on it throughout the night, and then, verse 3 says the left early in the morning to go to the place where Isaac would be sacrificed.
Now the Bible doesn’t tell us what Abraham thought during all of this. Usually it doesn’t get into the realm of emotion or thought… it’s more concerned with actions. Because faith isn’t what a person says, or even so much what they think. It’s what they do. That’s the whole book of James in the New Testament. Faith is what you do.
So Abraham, Isaac, and the servants travel… and on the 3rd day they saw the place. Those three days were Abraham’s Gethsemane. 3 days father and son were riding side by side going to Moriah. It had to be tearing Abraham up.
And they get to the place… Isaac carries the wood up the mount, and as they are going Isaac asks, “Hey dad, you’ve got the knife, and the fire, and I’ve got the wood… but where’s the lamb?” And I want you to see Abraham’s faith…
First in verse 5 (Read), now look at verse 8 (Read). Now turn with me to the book of Hebrews 11:17-19 (Read).
So from the time that God gave the command to Abraham to the time they arrived at Mt. Moriah, Abraham had remembered God’s promise. That He was going to be the father of many nations. He was going to bless the world, and that these promises from God were going to come through Isaac. Remember? Through Isaac not through Ishmael. Abraham believed God. Abraham knew that even if God had to raise Isaac from the dead, God would keep His word. God is not a promise breaker.
And so we see Abraham’s faith, but we also see Isaacs faith as well. By this time, Abraham was well over 100 years old… scholars say that Isaac was anywhere between 15 and 30 years old. If Isaac wanted to, he could’ve easily overpowered Abraham, and escaped. But he doesn’t. He submits to his father’s will. He trusts his dad. And that had to make it so much harder on Abraham… knowing that his son trusted him so much.
And so Abraham has his son laying on the altar. He has the knife raised. But he’s got faith. He knows what God has told him. Abraham doesn’t have the New Testament doctrine of the resurrection. He doesn’t have 1st Corinthians 15 yet… All he has is a promise from God. But that’s enough… that’s enough for him. He trusts God. He loves God. He has faith.
And God provides the offering. Now some people will point out that the text says that God provided a ram for Abraham and they’ll say, “Abraham was wrong… in verse 8 he said God would provide a lamb, but here in verse 13 it’s a ram.” Abraham wasn’t wrong… God did provide a Lamb… the Lamb came many, many years later. Abraham was exactly right when he said, “God will provide for himself the Lamb.” He sent His Son, Jesus Christ – the Lamb of God.
This is what theologians call “Substitutionary Atonement.”
It goes like this. God demands justice for the sins of man against Him. But no man could ever pay for all the sins of the world, let alone his own sins.
So God sent His Son, the Lamb, and He died on the cross in our place, for our sins… as our substitute.
In Abraham and Isaac’s case; the ram is sacrificed instead of the son… The ram is the substitute. In the same way, Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God, goes to the cross as our substitute. And Abraham called the name of the place “Jehovah – Jireh,” which is literally, “The Lord will provide.”
Now before we go on, there are a lot of pseudo pastors out there who will tell you that Jehovah Jireh means that God will provide all that your heart desires… They’ll say things like, “Abraham said it, The Lord will provide!” And they’ll tell you that means that God will give you a big house, a fancy car, and bucket loads of money… But that’s not what is being said here. Abraham is saying that the Lord will provide a substitute. And that’s exactly what He did when He sent His only begotten Son Jesus Christ. He provided all that we needed. A substitute who would atone for our sins. Yes; the Bible does say that God will provide all of our NEEDS, but in the context here, Jehovah Jireh is referring to the God who will provide a substitute – and He did just that!
Now look at verses 16, 17 and 18 again (Read). God swears by Himself because there is nothing greater He could swear by. In verse 18 He says, “In your Seed all the nations of the earth will be blessed.” The NIV says “offspring” but the literal Hebrew is “Seed.” Now I want you to turn with me really quickly to Galatians 3:16 (Read), now jump down a bit to verses 26 – 29 (Read). The Seed of Abraham is Christ! The promises to Abraham are fulfilled in Christ. And if you’re in Christ, those promises are yours as well.
You know… one of the coolest things about this story is that Isaac is a type of Christ. He submits himself to the will of his father. He is willing to give his life, it that is the will of God. And after the ordeal was over… if you read ahead in Genesis… Isaac gets himself a wife. I hope you all know that the Church is the Bride of Christ. The difference is that Jesus actually died. He was the substitute. He died because of our sins and for our sins. His death paid for them, so that you and I could be reconciled to the very God we sinned against. And that is why we take communion this morning.
We do this in remembrance of Jesus. In remembrance of Him dying in our place, for our sins. Paying the price that none of us could ever pay. Shedding His blood so that we might be forgiven.
COMMUNION INSTRUCTION
CLOSING PRAYER
