The Godfathers
Pt. 3 - God of Isaac
I. Introduction
The movie, directed and written by Francis Ford Coppola and released in 1972, is considered to be one of the greatest films of all time. The film paints a chilling portrait of the Corleone family's rise and near fall from power in America and focuses on this powerful Italian-American crime family. There are many famous quotes from the movie . . . “Time erodes gratitude more quickly than it does beauty!” However, the quote from the movie that has been our focus is this statement . . .
“Italians have a little joke, that the world is so hard a man must have two fathers to look after him, and that’s why they have godfathers.” – The Godfather
I am thankful for our Father. However, it struck me a while back as we sang a song that states "I call on the God of Jacob" that we too have godfathers. In over a dozen passages a statement is made in Scripture that continues to be quoted today. God is referred to the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. These three men (Father, Son and Grandson) are singled out as God Fathers. This phrase is used because God makes and repeats a covenant with these three men. Scripture declares in Galatians 3:6-7 - Just as Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness, so then, understand that those who believe are the sons of Abraham.
We even sing "Father Abraham had many sons and I am one of them." However, I question whether we really have any understanding of the powerful nature of the promises made to them and ultimately to us since
We have examined the God of Abraham. Now I want us to move to the 2nd godfather and learn from the God of Isaac.
Text: Genesis 22:6-13 (NIV)
22:6-13 - Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and placed it on his son Isaac, and he himself carried the fire and the knife. As the two of them went on together, Isaac spoke up and said to his father Abraham, “Father?” “Yes, my son?” Abraham replied. “The fire and wood are here,” Isaac said, “but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?” Abraham answered, “God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.” And the two of them went on together. 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 angel 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.” 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. 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.”
Although we know that Isaac was born to Abraham and Sarah when Abraham was 100 years. The text does not state how many years have gone by since this test from God came to Abraham. It simply says in verse 1 . . . "after some time". We can pick up some clues from the text. In 22:5, the servants that accompanied Abraham and Isaac are referred to as “young men” (22:3,5,19). The word “servants” is precisely the same term that is used in verses 5 and 12 to refer to Isaac. So, you can get a picture that these were not toddlers. Commentaries and historical writers debate Isaac's exact age. Some say 18 while others say 25 or even 33. What we know is that Isaac had sufficient strength to carry a load of wood adequate in size to produce a fire large enough to consume a human body up a steep mountain apparently with no problem.
When the passage and account is read that we read we almost inevitably focus on the providing aspect of God. The miracle ram caught in the bush catches our attention as much as it catches the attention of Abraham. The response of Abraham is documented. However, there is a noticeable silence regarding Isaac in this account other than the "Captain Obvious" question he asks regarding the need for a sacrifice to accompany this load of wood he was hauling up the mountain. Yet, in this silence I want us to listen carefully to the lesson that is shouted to us about The God of Isaac.
Go back and look again. He is old enough and strong enough to carry this large load of wood. But when it comes time for Abraham to offer Isaac as a sacrifice to God there is no indication of struggle.
Illustrate - I can overpower this one, but my grown one not anymore.
The truth is that Isaac could have fought back and won. He could have assuredly outrun and escaped. And yet nothing. No fight. No resistance. No struggle against the straps that tie his hands. Instead, complete submission and cooperation.
It is right that Abraham taught us that God is our provider. However, it is also necessary for us to learn from Isaac that God is not only our provider, but also God is our protector.
Most of us in the room have learned the lesson from Abraham. We have seen God come through on multiple occasions. Either through participation by living on principles that produce provision or through divine interventions and the miraculous we have watched God come through! However, I think we have forgotten that God is also our protector.
Isaac was surely aware of his promised status. In the previous chapter an account is given of how Sarah catches Ishmael (Abraham and Sarah's attempt to provide for themselves) making fun of Isaac. This results in Abraham banishing Hagar and Ishmael. Isaac is living with the knowledge that he is a promise. I need to remind you today that we should know that we too are the promised ones. Scripture tells us that God's plan is to prosper us not to harm us. We are told that He is mindful of us. He will give us rest. He will give us our daily bread. He will order our steps. He will give us sufficient grace. He won't forsake us. We are the children of promise! We must know and be aware of that.
However, I also think it is essential to remember that if His plan is to prosper us, then we must also recognize that He is also our protector!
We can rest in the fact that He gives His angels charge over us. He encamps angels around us daily. We are surrounded by the angel armies of heaven. He goes before us. He makes a way. He straightens the crooked path before us. He is our shield. He is our fortress.
Like Isaac, we must be aware of our promised status. However, like Isaac, if we are aware of our promised status shouldn't we also be aware of our protected status and act accordingly?
Isaac's willingness to submit to sacrifice speaks to trust in His father.
I believe we struggle to walk in the protection of God simply because we fail to trust God to fight for us. We trust Him to provide, but do we trust Him to protect?
We may say yes, but do we wait on Him when we are bound? Do we allow Him to wage war or do we? What Isaac apparently had learned by trusting and watching his father was that (SLIDE 14) God can’t fight for us if we are trying to fight for Him. The battle belongs to the Lord. Does it? Are we taking ownership of our skirmishes? He doesn't need your help, we need His!
How can God make a way of escape as He promises, if we are constantly escaping on our own?
I want to remind you of the Godfather's lesson . . . He will protect you. It is counter intuitive to the society we live in where we are taught to fight for our right, fight for ours. When it comes to our Father . . .
We are never safer than when we are submitted and surrendered!
Ask David if he knew about God's protection.
Psalms 91 - Those who live in the shelter of the Most High will find rest in the shadow of the Almighty. This I declare about the Lord: He alone is my refuge, my place of safety; he is my God, and I trust him. For he will rescue you from every trap and protect you from deadly disease. He will cover you with his feathers. He will shelter you with his wings. His faithful promises are your armor and protection. Do not be afraid of the terrors of the night, nor the arrow that flies in the day. Do not dread the disease that stalks in darkness, nor the disaster that strikes at midday. Though a thousand fall at your side, though ten thousand are dying around you, these evils will not touch you. Just open your eyes, and see how the wicked are punished. If you make the Lord your refuge, if you make the Most High your shelter, no evil will conquer you; no plague will come near your home. For he will order his angels to protect you wherever you go. They will hold you up with their hands so you won’t even hurt your foot on a stone. You will trample upon lions and cobras; you will crush fierce lions and serpents under your feet! The Lord says, “I will rescue those who love me. I will protect those who trust in my name. When they call on me, I will answer; I will be with them in trouble. I will rescue and honor them. I will reward them with a long life and give them my salvation.”
That sounds like we are protected on every side and in every station of life. Think for a second about the completeness of our covering. If we are trapped, then He will rescue. If we are threatened, then He will punish those who dare rise against you.
Ask Job . . . the enemy had to ask permission to get to him. Job 1 says the enemy declares "You have always put a wall of protection around him and his home and his property. You have made him prosper in everything he does. Look how rich he is!"
And like David, like Job and like our godfather Isaac we are walled in, protected, fortified. Trust the father that Isaac trusted in. Our heavenly Father will protect His promise!
There may be days when you see the knife descending and feel like you have been forgotten and forsaken but submit and rest assured that The Provider is also The Protector! Lay there and watch the knife on its downward arc and declare like Job "Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him!" He will come through. No weapon formed against me shall prosper. Every voice the rises in accusation against me will be silenced. He is my shield, my buckler, my strong tower. Some trust in horses and men, but I will trust in the Lord!
The truth is most of us, if not all of us, in this room wouldn't be here today if He hadn't protected us! The fall should have killed you. The car should have spun out of control 15 seconds earlier when you were in that intersection. The sickness should have taken you out. The drugs should have been a death sentence. The breakup should have caused you to lose it forever. The sentence should have been life! But you are protected!
Maybe you are facing something today and you need His protection. You need Him to wall you in and shore you up! The same God that stopped the hand of Abraham can stop the hand of your destroyer!
