We continue to ponder on Psalms 77:11-12, “I will remember your great deeds, LORD; I will recall the wonders you did in the past. I will think about all that you have done; I will meditate on all your mighty acts.” (GNB)
The Psalmist made it his ambition to remember and recall, all of the great deeds and wonders that the Lord had performed in his life. The Bible records the mighty wonders that God did in the past, so that we too can ponder and meditate on them, thereby comprehending all of the awesome acts that God accomplished for His people, and the miraculous ways in which He led them. Often we think much about our present and future, but seldom do we reminisce about the past, to recall the marvelous deeds the Lord has done for us. If our thoughts are entangled only with the present and also with apprehension about the future, we will certainly end up with a whole load of cares and worries.
As we read, consider and meditate on all the awesome acts of God as recorded in the Bible, not only will we comprehend who God is in a deeper way, but as we compare them with our life situations at present, we too will be strengthened in our faith, and be rid of all our fears.
The sacrifice that God provided Abraham
In Genesis 22:13, we read, “Abraham looked around and saw a ram caught in a bush by its horns. He went and got it and offered it as a burnt offering instead of his son.” (GNB)
As we delve deeper into the background of the above mentioned verse, not only we will understand who God really is, but also be able to comprehend the significance of the sacrifice that Abraham made.
Abraham was called by God to come out from a land and from a people, who did not know the Lord. God called Abraham to leave all of this behind him, to go to the place that He promised to give him. God also promised Abraham that He would bless him, make his name great, and cause him to become a mighty nation. Abraham had to leave everything behind and move forward, completely trusting in God, in order to be the recipient of God’s promised blessings.
There was a time when Abraham’s wife Sarah was taken by a foreign king, but even there the Lord intervened, and protected Sarah. This was only because Abraham took the step of faith to go where God wanted him to. Abraham had to encounter many ups and downs, but through it all the Lord was faithful, and never let him down. By asking Abraham to step out in faith, the Lord was teaching him to place his complete faith and trust in Him alone.
God promised Abraham that the blessings would be through his offspring, but as Abraham and Sarah waited for many long years, they got impatient, and decided to find a solution through Hagar, which brought untold trouble to them. Abraham failed to realize that the God who promised, was a God who would always keep His word.
For those of us who wonder, if God could not have blessed Abraham right where he was, and what was the purpose of calling him out, it is a lesson the Lord teaches us that He chooses to bless us only when we decide to be those set apart for God. It was the same for Noah too. It was only when he obeyed and walked into the ark, did he receive God’s protection. Many are coveting God’s blessings on their lives, but are unwilling to make any changes to stand out as those who are called out for God. Like Abraham if we trust in the Lord fully, we are assured that we will never be put to shame, no matter what difficulties or perils may befall us, for the Lord will be there to safeguard us at all times.
God has given us wisdom, and it is only in being obedient to His word in every area of our life, doing what is required from us to do that we can experience the true blessings of God in our lives. In times of trials, instead of giving up or finding our own solutions we must persevere in prayer, believing that the Lord is faithful to keep His promise, and not try to run ahead like Abraham did. The Lord is able to accomplish great things for us that are far beyond our thinking and understanding.
Isaac, the son of promise
When Abraham was a hundred years old, he saw the fulfilment of God’s promise when God blessed him with Isaac, whose name meant ‘laughter’. God removed the pain of all those years of waiting, and turned them into sheer joy by giving Isaac to Abraham and Sarah, thereby filling their home with unimaginable joy and laughter.
If we could wait on the Lord, He is able to fill our lives too with joy and laughter. Instead, sadly many find temporal merriment in front of their television sets or listening to comedians who are generally making fun of others. The joy we receive from the Lord comes because He intervenes to solve our problems, thereby bringing us lasting happiness. The word of the Lord teaches us that the joy of the Lord is our strength. It is an erroneous belief for many that laughter is averse to our Christian faith, as it is not a holy thing. On the contrary our life must be full of joy and laughter, as all good things comes down from our God, who is faithful to keep His promises, and fills us with His amazing gladness.
The call to sacrifice Isaac
In Genesis 22:2, we read, "Take your son," God said, "your only son, Isaac, whom you love so much, and go to the land of Moriah. There on a mountain that I will show you, offer him as a sacrifice to me." (GNB)
If we study the above mentioned verse there are five significant aspects of this command that God gave to Abraham. Firstly, God asked Abraham to take his ‘son’. Secondly he specified that it was ‘his only son Isaac’. God reiterated the fact that it was Isaac, and not Ishmael who was the son of the promise. In fact God did not even recognize Ishmael as Abraham’s son as he was born out of the will of God. Thirdly he referred to Isaac as ‘the son whom Abraham loved so much’. Fourthly, he was to take him to the mountain that the Lord would show him, and finally he was to offer Isaac up as a sacrifice to the Lord.
Let’s looks at Genesis 22:4-5, “On the third day Abraham saw the place in the distance. Then he said to the servants, "Stay here with the donkey. The boy and I will go over there and worship, and then we will come back to you.” (GNB)
Genesis 22:6, “And Abraham took the wood of the burnt-offering, and laid it upon Isaac his son; and he took the fire in his hand, and a knife: and they went both of them together.” (Webster)
Genesis 22:7 ..“where is the lamb for the sacrifice?" (GNB)
We take note of a few important points from the above mentioned verses. Abraham spotted the place where the sacrifice was to be made on the third day. Abraham was a wealthy man with many servants. When he saw the place of sacrifice at a distance, he instructed his servants to stay there with the donkey while he and Isaac travelled on the place where the sacrifice was to be made. In Genesis 22:5, we observe the words of faith that Abraham spoke to his servants, when he told them that he and Isaac would go over to worship, and that both of them would return. If Abraham went to sacrifice Isaac, the chances are that he would have to return alone, but Abraham is commended as a man of faith only because he had complete faith in God who promised. He believed that God could save his son, and that he would not ever let him end up with loss.
Abraham laid the wood for the burnt-offering on his son Isaac. Many scholars assume that since Isaac was able to carry the load of the fire wood, he would probably have been a young man around 20 years of age or so.
When the Lord calls us to sacrifice some of things in our lives or some relationships so as to follow Him, many are hesitant fearing they would lose out, but the truth is that like Abraham when we are willing to lay it all at the altar, only then can we see the glory of God.
Abraham was probably around 120 years old when this incident happened. As Abraham and Isaac walk towards the mountain to sacrifice, Isaac observed that his father had with him the wood, the knife and the fire. He therefore asked him, in Genesis 22:7, ‘where is the lamb for the sacrifice?’ It is obvious from the question that Isaac was of an age where he full well knew all that it took to make a sacrifice. He was a young man who willingly went with his father, and was totally obedient to his father’s instructions.
Abraham built the altar, placed his beloved son Isaac on it, piled up the wood, and was about to sacrifice him. Isaac had such faith in his father that he willingly laid himself down to be the sacrificed, knowing full well that his father loved him immensely, and he believed that his father would never intend to harm him in any way. Abraham on the other hand, greatly honored God and had an unshakeable faith in Him that he did not question or argue with God, but simply obeyed. The question is ‘Did Abraham sacrificed his son or not?’
Let’s look at Hebrews 11:17-19, “By faith Abraham, when he was tested, had offered up Isaac, and he that received the promises offered up his only begotten son, of whom it was spoken, "In Isaac your seed shall be called," considering that even from the dead, God was able to raise him up, from which he also received him in a figurative sense.” (EMTV)
When we study the above mentioned passage from Hebrews, it is clear that Abraham when tested by God, by faith, certainly offered Isaac up as a sacrifice. When Abraham made the decision to sacrifice Isaac in his mind, and took him along, it was as good as the deed being done. Abraham was willing to give up anything, as he believed with all his heart that whatever God did would be for Abraham’s good. Abraham literally received Isaac back from the dead as it were, because he willingly offered his son on the altar. Abraham’s love for God far surpassed the love he had for his son Isaac.
That’s what happened in Job’s life too. He was wealthy, had everything and a very large family too, but when he lost it all he still could be thankful, his faith in God unwavering as he said, in Job 1:21, The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD.”(ESV)
Have you noticed how before we actually engage in any action, the thought and decision is first made up in our minds? That is why what we think is of utmost importance, as they decide the kind of actions that spring forth.
We too must like Abraham, place our trust in the Lord who is the giver of all blessings, and not on the blessings we have received. Only then, can we like Abraham come to that point where we can place anything and everything on the altar, without any questions whatsoever. If on the other hand, we put our trust in our jobs, our children, our family, material possessions or any other earthly thing, we will be totally devastated when they are taken away from us.
I love the testimony of a mother, who sent her son abroad for higher studies. The son took ill and the mother of the boy rushed to be with him. As she stayed with some of her son’s friends out of necessity, they shared the love of Jesus with her and she began to believe and pray to Jesus. After four months of hospitalization in four different hospitals, her son passed away but her faith stood firm. By this time, she had committed her heart to Lord Jesus and even though her son’s loss was very painful, she held on the Lord. What an amazing testimony!
We usually hear of testimonies of those who believe only because God answered their prayers, but the real testimony is of one who can say, in spite of unanswered prayers, I still choose to believe in the Lord Jesus. The Lord is looking for such people who will believe in Him no matter what. God has given us children and family to love and cherish, but our love for them must never exceed our love for God. Everything in this world is temporary, and only the Lord is our permanent inheritance.
Jesus the ultimate sacrifice.
Let us look at a few verses from the New Testament about Jesus
Luke 1:32, we read, “He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High God.” (GNB)
John 3:16, we read, “For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son” (KJV)
Matthew 3:17, says, “Then a voice said from heaven, "This is my own dear Son, with whom I am pleased." (GNB)
In John 19:17, “He carried his own cross and went out of the city to a location called The Skull. (In Hebrew this place is called Golgotha.)” (GNB)
In Luke 24:7 saying, “The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and on the third day rise again.'” (EMTV)
If we study the above mentioned verses, we see the words of the angel to Mary in Luke 1:32 where Jesus is referred to as the ‘Son’ of the Most High God. In John 3:16, Jesus is referred to as the ‘only begotten son’. In Matthew 3:17 at the baptism of Jesus the voice of the Father attested that he was ‘his own dear Son with whom He was well pleased’. In John 19:17 Jesus carried his own cross and in Luke 24:7 Jesus clearly predicted to his disciples that he would be crucified and would rise again on the third day.
If we compare this to the sacrifice of Isaac by Abraham, all the aspects that were mentioned in Genesis 22 are all evident in Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross. Jesus was indeed the ‘Son’, the ‘only begotten son’ whom the Heavenly Father loved dearly. He too like Isaac had to carry the wooden cross by himself, and just as Abraham saw the place of sacrifice after three days, and told his servants that he would be back with his son after the sacrifice, Jesus too predicted that He would rise again on the third day.
The major difference between the sacrifice of Isaac and Jesus was that, when Abraham brought the knife down to sacrifice his son Isaac, the angel of God forbade him to do so, and commanded him to stop, and provided him a ram in his stead. However, when God the Father offered His only begotten Son Jesus on the cross of Calvary, he did not stop Jesus from being crucified. By that greatest sacrifice, God paved the way for us to be reconciled to Him.
The heart of God the Father must have been in deepest agony as He saw His beloved Son Jesus being sacrificed for the sins of the world. The first words of Jesus that resounded on the cross was the intense cry as recorded in Luke 23:34, “Then Jesus said, "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do."(EMTV). In the middle we see the agonizing cry of Jesus to His Father as He cried out with the unexplainable anguish saying Matthew 27:46 ...."My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?"
This was because the sins of the whole world were laid on the sinless Lamb of God. By doing so, God the Father, the Most Holy One, had to break his relationship with His Son Jesus, at that point as Jesus took on Himself the sins of the whole world. That was why Jesus cried out in great anguish to His Father saying, ‘My God, My God, Why have you forsaken me?” The Lord Jesus willingly surrendered Himself to excruciating pain, agony, was separated from God the Father, and was made to taste death, so that none of us should experience that sense of abandonment by God in our lives because of our sins. Jesus has completed it all on the cross of Calvary, by shedding His precious blood for our sins, and having His body broken for our wholeness. All that is required of us, is to believe on the finished work of Jesus Christ, and walk in obedience to Him every day of our lives.
That is why we need to ponder on the wondrous deeds of God from the past, as Abraham sacrificing Isaac, was only a shadow of what God the Father would do by sacrificing His only son Jesus on our behalf. There are so many people who are unwilling to believe this way of salvation that Jesus offers us so freely citing traditions, society, superstitions and family as a reason for not wanting to take this step of faith. Like the prodigal son none of us are worthy to be called the sons and daughters of God. Jesus paid an enormous price with His own life, thereby removing all fears and that is why we have the boldness to call God ‘Abba Father’, because by His sacrifice Jesus broke down the wall of enmity between God and men. It cost Jesus His all as He was bruised and broken on our behalf. Let us not hesitate for a moment to accept this supreme sacrifice that God the Father gave through His Son Jesus Christ because of His immense love. When we are willing to surrender to the Lord with all our heart, He will never let go of us or fail us till the very end. Let us offer our bodies as a living sacrifice to the Lord, and cleanse our bodies to become the temple of the Holy Spirit who will live in us, and be glorified through us.
Rev. F. Andrew Dixon
www.goodnewsfriends.net
Transcribed by: Sis. Esther Collins
