04 - Abraham - Providence At Work Through Desperate Need 2011 By Pastor Jeff Wickwire

To the natural eye, Abram was a very blessed man. He was rich, married to a beautiful wife, enjoyed the respect of his peers, and possessed an incredible lineage that included Seth, Enoch, Noah and Shem.

Yet he was, as we all were, a poor lost sinner on a fast track to a lost eternity.

God’s Word broke the silence one day with a call, “Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you.”—Gen 12:1

Abram obeyed, and Hebrews informs us that, not only did he set out for an earthly country, but his faith had also embraced the certainty of a heavenly country:

Heb. 11:16 “Instead, they (O.T. people of faith) were longing for a better country—a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.”

After receiving God’s summons to believe by faith, Abram took a step of faith and set out in obedience, taking Lot his nephew, his wife, servants, and belongings.

So Abram’s pilgrimage began where ours begins, with a vision of another country, a better country, a home forever blessed as the dwelling place of God.

God speaks, we believe, faith dawns, life begins.

A second part of God’s promise to Abraham came at the same time God commanded him to uproot and leave his hometown:

2 “I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.”

Clearly, in order for this to be fulfilled, Abram had to have a son.

No son, no descendants. No descendants, no world-wide blessing.

Abram believed God would bring all of this to pass, and set out on his journey.

Abram’s walk of faith was a lot like the typical journey of the new-born child of God. Notice what we’re told about his walk:

In 12:5 we find him WITNESSING in the town of their first stop, Haran. It says, “And Abram took Sarah his wife, and Lot his brother's son, and all their substance that they had gathered, and the souls that they had gotten in Haran; and they went forth to go into the land of Canaan;”

In 12:6 he is WALKING by faith, taking one step at a time, walking in the light that he had. “Abram traveled through the land as far as the site of the great tree of Moreh at Shechem.”

Not only is he witnessing and walking by faith,

In 12:6-7 we find him also WAITING for God to speak concerning the giants he saw in Canaan.

“At that time the Canaanites were in the land. 7 The LORD appeared to Abram and said, “To your offspring I will give this land.” So he built an altar there to the LORD, who had appeared to him.”

When he saw the giants in the land, he didn’t say “Well, I didn’t expect this!”

Many young Christians stumble when they see flaws in the church, shortcomings in leadership, or are knocked off guard when persecution comes because of their faith.

But when Abram saw the giants, he simply waited on God to speak to him. He did not let the giants knock him off his game.

In 12:8 we also find him WORSHIPPING. “From there he went on toward the hills east of Bethel and pitched his tent, with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east. There he built an altar to the LORD and called on the name of the LORD.”

Bethel means “the house of God” and Abram pitched his tent facing it.

Up to now his faith has developed beautifully.

He is witnessing ABOUT God, walking WITH God, waiting ON God, and worshipping the TRUE God.

But something that first begins as a mild blip on the radar screen of his faith eventually turns into an SOS--THERE IS NO SON.

Gen 16:1 “Now Sarah Abram's wife bore him no children:”

He was 75 when God’s call came. Months are now turning into years and still no son. Sarah is barren.

Surrounded by all of the blessings of a fruitful life, the problem of barrenness eventually overshadows it all.

BARRENNESS is where there is no fruit, no results, complete lack in a certain area—

BARRENNESS can be one of the greatest tests of faith you ever encounter.

Isn’t it funny how you can have fruit growing up all around you, everything else can be going so well, but that one area.

Your marriage, your finances, your children, the vision you have for your life, whatever it may be, you just aren’t experiencing the results, the blessing that you should.

Barrenness can move you to make some bad decisions, like it did Abraham and Sarah…

Finally, driven by impatience and unbelief, Abram and Sarah hatch a fleshly plan to solve the problem:

16:3 “So after Abram had been living in Canaan ten years, Sarai his wife took her Egyptian slave Hagar and gave her to her husband to be his wife. 4 He slept with Hagar, and she conceived.”

But this solved nothing.

FIRST, Hagar and the child that was born, Ishmael, brought strife to Abraham’s household:

“When Hagar knew she was pregnant, she began to despise her mistress, (Sarah).”—16:4

SECOND, God had said that His covenant would be fulfilled through Abraham and Sarah, not Hagar:

“As for Sarai your wife,…I will bless her and will surely give you a son by her. I will bless her so that she will be the mother of nations; kings of peoples will come from her.”—17:15-16

Abraham and Sarah did what most of us have done in one way or another in the presence of barrenness…

Instead of waiting for God, we bring a HAGAR onto the scene; a work of our own flesh; our own attempt to help God out.

We get results, but they turn around later to burden and vex us.

Abraham learned the hard way. Hagar and Ishmael one day had to be removed from the household.

It was an emotionally brutal experience.

Hurting but wiser, Abraham soon turns back to trusting God for what only He could do.

Finally, the red-letter day in Abraham’s life arrived. “Now the LORD was gracious to Sarah as he had said, and the LORD did for Sarah what he had promised. 2 Sarah became pregnant and bore a son to Abraham in his old age, at the very time God had promised him.”—21:1-2

He named him “Isaac” meaning “laughter.”

After 25 long years of waiting on God, of trials and failures, it had finally happened.

Years pass by, and Abraham has it all. His relationship with Isaac is one of joy.

Sarah has given him a son, removing the stigma of her barrenness. All is well, until….

Out of the blue, when Isaac is somewhere in his late teens to early 20’s, God speaks again:

Gen 22:1-2 “Abraham!” Here I am,” he replied. 2

“ Then God said, “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.”

After all God’s testing of Abraham through all the years, now comes the final exam, the mother of all tests.

Abraham is to take Isaac to the land of Moriah, which means “foreseen of Jehovah.”

He is to take Isaac to the top of a mountain God will show to him, and sacrifice him there.

At this point in Abraham’s life, the great drama of Calvary is about to be played out in type and shadow.

Nowhere else in the O.T. is the foreshadowing of the cross and Christ’s sacrifice more vivid than here:

It was a 3 day journey to Mt. Moriah.

Jesus had 3 years of ministry leading to Calvary.

After traveling 3 full days, “Abraham lifted up his eyes, and saw THE PLACE.”—vs. 4

“When they reached THE PLACE.”—vs. 9

Likewise, Luke 23:33 records, “And when they had come to THE PLACE, which is called Calvary, there they crucified Him.”

Abraham then turned to his servants and said, “Stay here with the donkey while I and the boy go over there. We will worship and then WE will come back to you.” –vs.5

We read that Jesus said to Peter, James and John, “Stay here, and watch. And He went forward a little, and fell on the ground and prayed.”—Mk.14:33-35

Isaac went forward alone with his father, Abraham. And Jesus went forward alone with His Father, God.

Next, we find Abraham “took the wood of the burnt offering, and laid it upon Isaac his son,” who carried it up the hill.

Jesus took the wood for his offering, the cross, and carried it up the hill.

On the way up, Isaac asked the question, “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.”

As Jesus went up the hill carrying his cross, no question needed to be asked. He knew that HE WAS THE LAMB for the sacrifice.

The Bible tells us that Abraham’s faith had now reached a state of awesome brilliance!

Heb. 11:19 informs us that he had “…concluded that God was able to raise Isaac up, even from the dead…” if need be.

When they reached the top, Abraham laid the wood on him.

On Calvary, through the Providence of God, God laid the cross on His only Begotten Son.

As Abraham raised the knife, there was no hesitation. His faith was absolutely astounding. “God will provide Himself a lamb” echoed through his mind.

Just before the knife fell, his hand was arrested by the sudden call of God,

“Abraham, Abraham!” 12 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.”—vs.12

The knife was stayed in Abraham’s hand because it was not to fall on Isaac, but on Jesus.

Then, God’s Providence took care of Abraham’s desperate need:

“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. 14 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.”—vs.13-14

Before the ram was found, Isaac had been a type of Christ and Abraham a type of God.

But after the ram was found, Isaac is a picture of you and me.

You see, God had provided a sacrifice for him so that he himself would not have to perish.

By the Providence of God, the ram headed up the hill in perfect timing to arrive just when he was needed.

The Bible says that, Rom. 5: 6 “…at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ walked up Calvary’s hill and died for the ungodly.”

In closing, can’t you imagine what must have surged through Isaac’s soul as the ram was slain, the blood shed, the blood that saved his life?

How thankful he was! How grateful to God!

The same thoughts should fill our hearts as we think of the Lamb that God provided, just for us.

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