HEBREWS 11:17-19 [Leaving a Legacy Series]
A FAITH THAT MAKES US WILLING
[James 2:17-24 / Genesis 22:1-10]
Here we encounter another example of faith. This example illustrates that faith manifests itself in actions (CIM). Abraham’s faith is illustrated not by what he believed but by what he did. Abraham was willing to offer up Isaac because of his faith in God and His promises. Abraham’s obedience in the test of sacrificing the child of promise emphatically declares his complete faith in God and in His promises being fulfilled.
Faith in God is able to sustain us even through the very severe tests that come about because of our faith. Faith enables us to perform very difficult duties and obtain very important blessings. But before the growth of faith and the blessings of faith, the testings of faith must come. These testings for growth and blessing come about because we are being obedient to the will of God.
I. THE TESTING OF FAITH, 17A.
II. FAITH IN THE PROMISES, 17B - 18.
III. THE THINKING OF FAITH, 19.
The theme of testing now emerges as the writer returned to Abraham in verse 17. “By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises was offering up his only begotten son;”
This dramatic account of Abraham’s supreme test is recorded in Genesis 22:1-18 and is one of the most interesting in the O.T. The voice of God was crystal clear in the heart of Abraham as it shattered the silence of the moment. “Abraham, Abraham, take now your son, your only son Isaac whom you love, and go into the land of Moriah, to a mountain that I will designate, and there I want you to offer Isaac as a sacrifice to Me.” Early the next morning with tremendous faith in his heart but many doubts in his mind, Abraham, Isaac, and two young men started on a journey that took three days, that led them to the base of Mount Moriah. When they arrived at the bottom of the mountain, Isaac looked into the face of his father, and he said, “Dad, we have the wood, and we have the fire, but where is this sacrifice that we are going to offer unto the Lord.” And with a tear trickling down his cheek Abraham said, “Son, God will provide the sacrifice.” As the father and the son trudged up the mountain together, it was revealed to Isaac that he was to be the sacrifice. An altar was built. The hands of Isaac were tied, and he was stretched out upon the altar, and with a prayer on his lips, Abraham lifted up a dagger. He was ready to plunge it into the heart of his son, when once again God spoke, “Abraham, lay not your hand upon your son Isaac. Now I know that you fear me, because you are not even withholding your own son. Look over there in the thicket. You’ll find a ram. Offer that ram as a sacrifice unto me.” With great joy Abraham freed Isaac and laid the ram upon the altar and offered a sacrifice to God, worshiping the Lord. And that day Abraham called the name of the place Jehovah Jireh, or Jehovahurah, which means, “In the mount of the Lord it will be seen-provided,” Or “The Lord will make it clear,” or “The Lord will provide a sacrifice.”
What God was after here was not human sacrifice. The sixth commandment declares “thou shall not kill.” It was not the offering God was after it was the offerer. It wasn’t the sacrifice of Isaac God desired; it was the willingness to sacrifice in the heart of Abraham. God wasn’t looking for the death of Isaac, God was looking for Abraham to die to every selfish purpose and desire so that he could truly say “Lord I am completely yours. [Polson, Sam. By Faith, Climbing Angel Publishing. Knoxville, TN. 2018. P 103.] Take my life and do with me what you will.” God was asking Abraham some basic questions and if Abraham would answer in the right way, God would take the life of Abraham and use Abraham as a model for our faith. So he put Abraham to the test. A faith that cannot be tested is a faith that cannot be trusted.
He was asked to not only give up but to put to death what he held dearest in life, dearer than his own life. This would be death to his hope, if his hope was in this world. But Abraham was up to the challenge. “When being tested, he had offered up Isaac, his only begotten” (Gen. 22:2). The phrase is in the past tense because in his heart and mind he had already done what God had asked of him. The act was already consummated.
God put Abraham to the test in order to prove his character and the stalwartness of his faith. The devil tempts us to get us to do evil. God tries us to help us do good. The devil tempts us so that we will disobey the Lord and be our worst self. God puts us in trials so that we will obey the Lord and become our best self. And it was necessary, in a sense, for God to test Abraham, or to try Abraham, because you see, when God tests and tries you and me, we find out what is really in our hearts. You say, “Oh, I know what is in my heart. I’m dedicated to God.” Do you really know what is in your heart? The old prophet said, “the heart is desperately wicked, and who can know it.” Simon Peter thought he knew what was in his heart. That very night he cursed and denied Jesus Christ three times. The Lord not only tests us and tries us so that we can know what is in our hearts, but also because a faith that can’t be tested is a faith that can’t be trusted. As we go along through life God tests our faith and He does it in order to make us stronger and more mature.
This testing of Abraham’s faith teaches us that we must be ready to sacrifice what is dearest to us for the sake of loyalty to God. There are many that have sacrifice their careers for the will of God. Many have sacrificed their personal wealth for the kingdom of God. Many have sacrificed personal relationships for the sake of the kingdom.
John Bunyan while in jail awaiting the gallows for proclaiming His faith thought of what would happen to his family if he was executed. The thought of what would happen to his blind daughter especially haunted him. He felt that he was pulling his house down on his wife and children’s heads to proclaim the gospel, yet he concluded that He must do what he must do and let God take care of his family. He penned. “The dearest idol I have known, what e’er that idol be, help me to tear it from Thy place and worship only Thee.”
His example was Abraham who would sacrifice even the dearest thing in life for God. Time and time again in Christendom it has happened. Christianity would never have advanced unless there had been those who counted Christ dearer than all else.
No God does not want you to sacrifice your child on some altar, but He will ask you to give Him the place of what you hold dearest in this world. God must come first in our lives, or we have not acknowledged Him for who He is - God. Jesus does not want a place in our life, nor does He want prominence in our lives. He wants preeminence.
II. FAITH IN THE PROMISES, 17b - 18.
The sacrifice was to be the long-awaited son of the promise in the last part of verse 17 and verse 18. “And he who had received the promises was offering up his only begotten son (18) it was he to whom it was said, ‘in Isaac your descendants shall be called.’”
The problem to which our attention is invited is, if Isaac was to die how could these promises be fulfilled? And yet Abraham had no doubt that the Promise Giver now required the sacrifice of Isaac. O the turmoil that engulfed Abraham’s heart. Yet over his long pilgrim Abraham had learned to trust God’s word to him.
Abraham is an example of a man who accepts what he cannot understand. To him there had come an incomprehensible demand. In human terms it did not make sense. The promise was that the descendants of Isaac would grow and grow until he became a mighty nation. On the life of Isaac depended the promise and now God wanted him to take that life. The word of God seemed to fight against the promises of God.
There comes a time in every believer’s life when God demands obedience which defies reason. It is then that man faces a hard battle, to accept and do what he cannot understand. There is really only one option, trust and obey. Base your faith on God’s revealed will and step forward.
THE BREAKS OF KANSAS
The Lord had called me into the ministry, but I bowed out and began running from the calling. I was working for an oil exploration company and was doing advance survey work in the breaks of Kansas a short distance from Dodge City. It was winter and several inches of snow covered the ground as the daytime temperatures never rose above freezing. For some reason while I was doing sonar soundings and using a compass to determine the lines I got off course. After eight hours of recorded & mapped readings, I was not where I was supposed to be. As I looked around the sun was setting and I was in the middle of nowhere, and I mean nowhere. For mile after mile in any direction there was nothing.
I walked for a while in what I assumed was the right direction but when twilight fail, I admitted I was lost and ditched my equipment under a tree and began to do even more serious praying about which way I should go.
As the deep cold darkness of night set in I spotted a light and began to head toward it, God checked me in my spirit, and I stopped and asked Him if He wanted me to change my direction and not head toward the light. After some misgivings I did. Walking for another half-hour or so and finding nothing and realizing more fully how serious my situation was I again decided to head toward the light. After a few moments God again checked my spirit, but I tried to ignore it and walked on. God persisted in convicting me that the way I was headed was not right. So finally, I looked up to heaven amidst the falling flacks and told Him ok I would go the other way but that if I died out there tonight that it was His fault.
I continued for about a half-hour on my re-changed direction into nothingness. After walking across a frozen creek and topping the rise on the other side I came to a fence line. I followed the fence line on for a way then ran into another fence line that crossed it. I jumped over the barb wire fence corner and followed that fence on for about 45 minutes and then I saw the outline of some outbuildings in the distance.
A dog ran up to me, seemed happy to see me and then I saw a small house. I walked to the door thinking it strange the dog was not barking, so he barbed a couple of times like a greeting. A man eventually answered my knock. I told him what I had been doing and that I was lost. He invited me in and stoked up the fire and made me some hot chocolate. I called the little hotel where my co-worker and I were staying and left a message. When I relayed my story to the rancher, he told me his place was the only one within 7 miles in any direction. The light I saw was a night light on a barn where he stored hay. There was nothing else there.
I later apologized to God and thanked Him that He led me and that I followed even when it defied my reasoning.
Abraham realized that it was for God not Abraham to reconcile the promise and the command. Abraham’s duty was clear. He was to promptly obey for God could be safely trusted to keep His promises, even if it took supernatural means.
III. THE THINKING OF FAITH, 19.
The reconciliation that faith made in Abraham’s mind between the promises and the present duty is revealed in verse 19. “He considered that God is able to raise people even from the dead, from which he also received him back as a type.”
Abraham “reasoned” that since fulfillment of the promise depended upon Isaac’s survival then God was bound (there is no question of His being able) to restore Isaac’s life, if his life had to be taken. So Abraham fully expected to offer his only son as a sacrifice on the altar and just as fully expected God would raise his body out of the ashes of the burnt offering (Gen. 22:5).
It was God’s part to raise the death, it was Abraham’s duty to obey. The God that had given him Isaac when he and Sarah were physically dead to child-bearing would keep His promises even if the child of promises was physically dead. For He is the God of the living and the dead.
Thus because of Abraham’s superb faith Isaac his son who was as if he was already dead was given a substitute and hence Abraham received him back. Isaac became a type or a shadow prefiguring another person and event. Isaac and this event portrayed ahead of time the only Son of God being raised from the dead so God could keep His Word. John 8:56 says “Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day and he saw it and was glad.” Abraham because of his faith and obedience foresaw in this episode the sacrifice of God’s only Son and His resurrection from the dead.
In CLOSING
If you are afraid to trust God with your most prized possession, dream, or person, pay attention to Abraham’s example. Because Abraham was willing to give up everything for God, he received back more than he could have imagined. What we receive, however, is not always immediate, or in the form of material possessions. Material things are among the least satisfying of rewards. Our best and greatest rewards await us in eternity.
What comes first in your life? God will test you so you can see if you walk the walk of faith. Must God respond to your way of reasoning or do you take His Word and base your reasoning by faith on it?
Opening Prayer:
Oh Jehovah, God, You are the only God we worship. By Your power we were created and by Your love we are redeemed. We come to You today, beseeching You to look after Your humble servants. Guide and strengthen us by your Spirit, that we may give ourselves to Your service, and live each day in love to one another and to You. Make Your presence known in each individual heart and through our worship. We ask you to fill us with stillness in our hearts. We have faith in You that You will change things around. Help us to walk in peace by focusing on Jesus. Thank You for Your love and forgiveness. In Jesus’ name, we believe and pray as He taught us to Pray....
Closing Prayer:
Thank You, Father, that You have promised that the testing of our faith produces perseverance and steadfastness, which in time will bring forth the beautiful Christlike character that You so desire in all Your children. Help us Lord, to embrace any trials that You see fit to enter our lives. Help us to look at the difficulties that engulf us with Your eyes and give us an eternal perspective on all the problems we may be called upon to face. May we count it all joy when confronted with various trials, knowing that the testing of my faith produces the godly fruit of patience. Help us Lord, to use those times of testing as an opportunity to grow in grace, and as a springboard to develop a deeper and more secure relationship with You.
Lord, it is not always easy to align our minds with the mind of Christ. It is often very hard to see trials in a positive light, and to embrace the various testings we have to go through as a thing to be highly prized, and yet Your Word tells us that life's difficulties sharpen our faith, while developing our trust in the Lord, which is more precious to You than much fine gold. Give me a heart that understands and chooses to look at trials and tests from Your perspective, so that the testing of my faith may bring forth the righteous fruit or patience and grace. I ask this in the name of Jesus,
[prayer.knowing-jesus.com/prayer/a-prayer-for-the-testing-of-our-faith-1232]
BENEDICTION:
May we walk by faith even when we cannot see [2 Cor. 5:7]
We bless you our Father, the lifter up of our head. Thank you for ministering to us and for your comfort through this moment. We pray Lord that the peace of your presence will never depart from us.
Use our hands and guide our feet. Bless our choices. Guide our reactions through victory and defeat. May our hearts grow more like Yours each day. As we look around at the people You’ve placed in our lives to reach, help us to love those people in Your honor, through our talents and gifts. Through the distractions of everyday life, allow us to hear Your call and follow You always. Bless us as we go and let your love be our joy. Amen!
