Worship The Lamb

“After these things God tested Abraham and said to him, ‘Abraham!’ And he said, ‘Here I am.’ He said, ‘Take 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.’ So Abraham rose early in the morning, saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him, and his son Isaac. And he cut the wood for the burnt offering and arose and went to the place of which God had told him. On the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes and saw the place from afar. Then Abraham said to his young men, ‘Stay here with the donkey; I and the boy will go over there and worship and come again to you.’ And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on Isaac his son. And he took in his hand the fire and the knife. So they went both of them together. And Isaac said to his father Abraham, ‘My father!’ And he said, ‘Here I am, my son.’ He said, ‘Behold, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?’ Abraham said, ‘God will provide for himself the lamb for a burnt offering, my son.’ So they went both of them together.”

The first occurrence of a word in the Bible holds special significance. The context in which that word is used will inform us what the Lord God wishes to teach us. GENESIS 22:5 records the first occurrence of the word that is translated “worship.” The word occurs in the account that tells of Abraham being commanded to offer his son, Isaac, as a sacrifice. Clearly, Abraham and Isaac are not going up the mountain to sing worship songs nor to sway hypnotically as a worship team repeats monotonous lyrics to a rhythmic beat. The father and son are going up the mountain on a mission of solemn gravity. They will meet the Lord GOD, they will be blessed as the LORD provides not only what is immediately required to worship Him in Spirit and in truth, but they will receive rich promises that secure the future for their descendants.

In order to understand these things, and to equip ourselves to worship the Lord in Spirit and in truth, we will examine what took place on that mount in Moriah so many millennia past. Let’s open the book to the account of worship presented at that time.

“AFTER THESE THINGS…” — The transitional phrase compels us to look forward. But what has gone before must be understood since all that lies before us in the account builds upon what has preceded. Abraham was proving himself to be a great man who was able to plead powerfully with God. When Abram was ninety-nine years old, God changed his name to Abraham. The man who was once known as “Exalted Father” would henceforth be known as “Father of a Multitude” [see GENESIS 17:1-6].

Abraham’s faith wasn’t perfect, but it was nevertheless great. Though he had left his home to journey to a strange land God promised to give his descendants, he had difficulty believing God could give him descendants. At the insistence of his wife, at eighty-six years of age, he impregnated her servant rather than trust that God could do what He promised, which was to give him a son [see GENESIS 16:1-3].

Again, we see that Abraham’s faith was anything but perfect. There was the incident of sending Hagar away with the son Abraham had sired. Abraham had again given in to Sarah’s pique, resulting in sending Sarah’s servant and the son she had borne to Abraham at Sarah’s insistence to certain death in the desert. God intervened to spare the life of the boy, Ishmael, but the child would still be driven away. The descendants of Ishmael would become a source of conflict with the descendants of Isaac to this present day [see GENESIS 16:4-6].

When God decided to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah, Abraham demonstrated his power with God, pleading for the cities of the plain. Had so few as ten righteous people been found in Sodom, God pledged that He would spare the city. This was the divine promise given after Abraham interceded for the city. His intercession at first seemed tepid, but grew in boldness and intensity as He gained confidence in the LORD’s mercy and grace. Abraham continued pleading for Sodom until he had reached what he believed to be an acceptable threshold for sparing the city [see GENESIS 18:23-33].

From his days with Lot in the camp, Abraham believed his nephew was a worshipper of the Living God. Surely, Lot had led his wife and his daughters to faith in the LORD. Having lived in Sodom and risen to a position as a civic leader, he must surely have influenced some of those living in the city to look to God as King of Heaven! We know from the destruction of these cities that ten righteous people were not found in the city. Thus, God destroyed the cities of the plain and all those who lived there. Would we be prepared to plead for God to spare the great cities of our nation as did Abraham?