For several weeks, we have been vacationing in the mountains, sharing with some of God’s children who have had outstanding experiences there. We have shared with Elijah, Moses, and David. Today we are to go into the mountains with Abraham. We are going to accompany Abraham as he obeys God and climbs the mountain to sacrifice his son, Isaac.
Abraham is known as the father of the faithful because of his outstanding faith in God. Even for this man, there is a test that will challenge his faith.
The tempting
The first verse of our Scripture says, “After these things, God did tempt Abraham”. This immediately presents a question. Does God really tempt His children? If he does, what possibility is there that we can find victory?
The answer to our question is resolved by the inspired writings of James. “When tempted, no one should say, ‘God is tempting me.’ For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone…” James 1:3
Studying Abraham further, we find in Hebrews 11, “By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going. By faith he made his home in the promised land like a stranger in a foreign country; he lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God. And by faith even Sarah, who was past childbearing age, was enabled to bear children because she considered him faithful who had made the promise. And so from this one man, and he as good as dead, came descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as countless as the sand on the seashore.”
God did not tempt Abraham, but tried him or put him to a test.
In entering the Christian life, we are apt to think that after a little experience and a degree of learning, I will be out of reach of the things that can now so easily beset me. However, we learn from Abraham that our faith and trust in the Lord are constantly being tested. Abraham had walked with God in intimate fellowship for many years, yet God presented him with this test of obedience by asking him to offer his son as a sacrifice.
The trial
In order that we may more clearly estimate the severity of this trial, we must remember the peculiar circumstances of Abraham.
- Abraham and Sarah were elderly
- God had promised them in Genesis 15 heirs as numerous as the stars of the heavens
- God’s promise could be fulfilled only in Isaac
Now, God is saying to Abraham, “Take your son, your only son, whom you love—Isaac—and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on a mountain I will show you.”
The trust
- An immediate response
- Abraham rose early in the morning
- A searching question – Isaac asked where is the sacrifice
- “God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.”
We must remind ourselves again of the Biblical statement of faith in Hebrews 11:1.
“Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.”
How Abraham must have looked, searching for that sacrifice which he believed God would provide, but finding none, he prepared his son according to God’s instructions.
Finally, taking the knife in his hand, Abraham prepares to sacrifice his only son. Then thundering from heaven came the voice of the angel of God, “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.”
On this day, Abraham learned what David later stated, “To obey is better than sacrifice.”
When trials and tests beset us, the burden may be hard to bear for a time. God always multiplies the blessing in due time.
Abraham had proved his faith and faithfulness once again, and God reaffirmed the promise that was given in Genesis 15 that his heirs would be innumerable, but adding, “and through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed me. (Genesis 22)
Because Abraham had been faithful, God provided that from his seed the Lord Jesus should come and bless the whole earth.
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