Passing the Test

This evening we dive back into Genesis and we start by looking at three words from Genesis 22:1 that should stand out to us...

Genesis 22:1 NIV

1 Some time later God tested Abraham. He said to him, “Abraham!” “Here I am,” he replied.

God TESTED Abraham.

God administered the TEST.

Abraham had to walk through the TEST.

The TEST was a testing of Abraham’s faith.

What takes place throughout the rest of the chapter is… the test that God laid out for Abraham.

Now I don’t know very many people who like to be tested. And people are tested in a wide variety of wise.

Sometimes… our patience is tested.

Sometimes… our wisdom is tested.

Sometimes… our knowledge is tested.

Sometimes… our resolve is tested.

Sometimes… our abilities are tested.

And in everyday life… these tests often come without warning as they are a part of… everyday life!

The idea of a test is simple… a test simply works to measure the limits of whatever it is being tested.

How far can your patience go?

How deep is your wisdom?

How much do you really know?

How long can you stand resolved?

How strong are your abilities?

We know what a test is and aren’t you glad today that God no longer tests His people?

That last statement is NOT accurate at all! We are still tested and yes… God is the administer of said tests.

Jesus Himself was tested when He was led to the wilderness, BY THE SPIRIT, to be tempted by the enemy.

We know today that James tells us we are tested through trials and tribulations.

James 1:2–3 NIV

2 Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3 because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance.

As we open up Genesis 22 tonight, for me, there is a bit of an uneasiness as we dive in. Why? Because when a test is administered, there can only be two possible outcomes.

Either the person will pass… or the person will fail. There is no in-between.

So what kind of test would God place Abraham through? What kind of test did He have in store?

God would test Abraham to his core. What God was about to command him to do would be about the hardest command any person could ever receive.

Genesis 22:2 NIV

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.”

Now… there are some interesting things to unpack here.

One, God just commanded Abraham to sacrifice his son Isaac on the mountain.

This is a MAJOR test. How would you respond if God gave you this kind of command? I would be struggling with this! I might even ask God to repeat that last transmission to make sure I heard Him right!

Two, God refers to Isaac as Abraham’s “only son.” Why do you think that is?

I see two things here:

First, I see a reference to someone else… a reference to Jesus. Does this language remind you of any other reference in the Bible?

John 3:16 NIV

16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

We will unpack this a bit more but I wanted to point out the similarity of words used.

Secondly, Abraham did indeed have another son. Had God forgotten about Ishmael?

God was fully aware of Ishmael… but Ishmael was no longer in the picture. Isaac was the son God had promised… the only son of Abraham still at home.

As God gives the command… God hits Abraham with triad of relational terms.

Your son

Your ONLY son

Your son whom you love.

God is calling out the relationship between father and son. Isaac is precious to Abraham… which makes the command a more difficult test.

What would Abraham do? Personalize this for a moment… WHAT WOULD YOU DO? Could you… pass this test?

It truly isn’t fair to ask this question because… CONTEXT is everything. We need to first step back and ask ourselves, “Why would God target Abraham’s love for his son as the point of testing?”

God PROMISE to Abraham would be fulfilled through who? THROUGH ABRAHAM’S SON!

This was a testing of Abraham’s faith and resolve. Did Abraham BELIEVE that God would fulfill this promise?

Let’s look at how this goes down.

Genesis 22:3–19 NIV

3 Early the next morning Abraham got up and loaded his donkey. He took with him two of his servants and his son Isaac. When he had cut enough wood for the burnt offering, he set out for the place God had told him about. 4 On the third day Abraham looked up and saw the place in the distance. 5 He said to his servants, “Stay here with the donkey while I and the boy go over there. We will worship and then we will come back to you.” 6 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, 7 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?” 8 Abraham answered, “God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.” And the two of them went on together. 9 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. 10 Then he reached out his hand and took the knife to slay his son. 11 But the angel of the Lord called out to him from heaven, “Abraham! Abraham!” “Here I am,” he replied. 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.” 13 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.” 15 The angel of the Lord called to Abraham from heaven a second time 16 and said, “I swear by myself, declares the Lord, that because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, 17 I will surely bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will take possession of the cities of their enemies, 18 and through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed me.” 19 Then Abraham returned to his servants, and they set off together for Beersheba. And Abraham stayed in Beersheba.

Now this is truly an incredible story of faith!

God asked for something… unheard of. And because Abraham listened… God was able to provide the ANSWER for the test.

I can remember doing something in school that probably would never fly today - we had to grade each other’s tests.

We would hand them to the student to our right, and the teacher would read off the answers as we marked the incorrect responses.

It was embarrassing because your neighbor instantly knew how well… or how bad you did.

The RESULT of the test was unknown UNTIL the teacher gave the answer!

God WILL test and God WILL give the answer to the test. And when it comes to God and His tests… the answer is ALWAYS right in front of us - God IS the answer!

Will we run toward… or run away from God in the test? Will we trust in the Lord or trust in ourselves?

It is easy to say that we will ALWAYS go to God here and now… but when the test is on may be a different story.

For Abraham… he never wavered and he never questioned… and I want to show you WHY.

There are two important details a person can miss in this story… two details we can hold on to when we face the testing of our faith.

Abraham KNEW What the Lord had PROMISED

I want us to look at Genesis 22:5 again. This is where we see Abraham’s assurance in the promise of God.

Genesis 22:5 NIV

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

“WE will come back to you.” Abraham makes a statement to his servants that indicates his trust in what the Lord had promised.

Abraham wasn’t lying to his servant to cover up what was about to take place. Abraham didn’t have a hiccup in his words as he spoke to his servant. Abraham KNEW that something was going to happen regarding his son because… without Isaac… THERE WAS NO PROMISE OF GOD.

Now Abraham had struggled in the department before. BEFORE Isaac was born, Abraham wrestled with the physical realities of his situation.

But God DELIVERED on His promise. Abraham and Sarah had witnessed God do something only He could have done!

Isaac was a miracle of God… given by God… to fulfill the promise of God. This was God’s plan and Abraham had learned that if God is in it… the work is already done! HE WILL TAKE CARE OF THE DETAILS.

I believe… Abraham had NO FEAR regarding what was about to take place.

The story gives NO INDICATION of hesitation, fear, resentment, or concern. Abraham simply OBEYED the Lord as He trusted in God’s promise.

Abraham was asked by God to give… and Abraham knew God would bless his obedience.

God’s promises are yes and amen. God ALWAYS keeps His promises.

He tells us what will happen and sometimes why it will happen. He is ALWAYS in charge of the details.

We must be willing to WALK by faith and OBEY His instruction. ONLY THEN will we see His promises come to fruition.

Abraham KNEW that God’s promise of making his offspring into a nation was trustworthy and true. Abraham didn’t know how this would happen but he trusted God with the details.

ABRAHAM KNEW....

Abraham KNEW the Lord Would PROVIDE

I want us to look again at Abraham’s response to Isaac when his son asked him where the lamb was.

Genesis 22:8 NIV

8 Abraham answered, “God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.” And the two of them went on together.

Again… I do not believe Abraham was lying to his son in this moment. He believed God would provide what was needed.

KNOWING God would provide… Abraham continued to obey the command given by God. He didn’t wait for additional instruction… ABRAHAM MOVED ON WHAT HE WAS GIVEN.

God may not ask you to give your offspring… But God does ask us to give.

Be it of ourselves, our resources, our time, etc… God will instruct us and lead us in the way we should go.

But too often, I fear we hold back forgetting that He will provide.

“God, if I give that much money, I won’t have enough left for bills.”

“God, if I give that much time, I won’t have enough left for my hobbies.”

“God, if I give that much resource, I won’t have enough for what I want to do.”

The fear of not having can hold us back in our obedience.

Again, consider Abraham. This was his only son. If Abraham gives Isaac, there will be no one left to fulfill the promise. Yet Abraham knew that if God was in this… the work was already done. God had ALL the details figured out! We simply must move to a place of FULLY trusting in the Lord!

As Abraham acted on faith, the Lord did exactly what Abraham believed He would do.

The angel of the Lord stopped Abraham from following through - and he gave him this reassurance.

Genesis 22:12 NIV

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.”

Abraham’s faith and fear of the Lord had been tested… and he passed the test. He went the distance because he knew God had this all figured out… God would provide. And God did in fact do as Abraham believed He would do.

We Cannot Pass the test UNLESS we are willing to OBEY BY FAITH.

Obey By Faith

God is the giver of the test AND the answer to the test.

The temptation is to find an answer in something or someone outside of God. But no other answer exists.

Jesus became our answer when He was given by God THROUGH LOVE to pay the price we could never pay.

God did in fact give His one and only Son. He provided, once again, the needed sacrifice for ALL humankind.

God was willing to go this far to meet our greatest need. He is STILL the God who provides AND the God who makes good on His promises. Are we a people who trust Him enough to obey by faith?

I don’t know what kind of test you may be walking through but God is your answer.

You will not pass the test by going outside God’s will and plan for your life.

You must remain GROUNDED in His Word.

You must remain COMMITTED to His plan.

You must remain OBEDIENT to His instruction.

The moment we step out in self instead of faith is the moment we fail the test.

And even when we fail… God’s grace and mercy remains.

No matter how how down we go… His grace has the power to bring us back up. His grace was made possible because of what Jesus did for us on the cross.

Are you willing to FULLY trust in the Lord?

Are you ready to pass the testing of your faith?