Of Sons and Sacrifice, Week 8
Notes
Transcript
Time and time again, we see where Abraham’s faith waivers then grows, waivers then grows. It seems when things are on the up, Abraham has a boldness like no other. But when his faith waivers, he repeatedly fails God. In Genesis 12, God promises a great nation would come from the descendents of Abram and that he would BE a blessing.
2 And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing.
Abraham faithfully followed wherever God led, not knowing where he was going or how long it would take to get there. Great faith! Imagine picking up our family and packing up all our goods, then getting in a vehicle and just driving until God says stop.
8 By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going.
Crazy huh? But that was the faith demonstrated by Abraham. Until…he reached the place God wanted them to stop.
Have we ever hesitated when God called us to step out on faith? Furthermore, have we ever questioned God AFTER we step out on faith wondering if we truly followed His will?
When Abraham arrives where God takes him, there was a famine and instead of trusting in God…he goes south towards Egypt. His faith is challenged, he fails. But, we also see when our faith is weakest God still remains faithful to His people and His promises. Abrahams trust faltered, does OUR trust also falter at times?
We see these highs and lows in Abrahams faith continue - faith in defeating the Mesopotamian kings, doubting God would fulfill His promise in giving a son. It resulted in a sin of disobedience - Hagar giving birth to Ishmael instead of waiting on God’s timing with Sarah. But even in the ebb and flow of faith and doubt, Paul stated Abraham believed God and the promise was a result of faith. To me this gives us all hope that, when we are in a valley…God’s promise to us is not removed and does not fail.
Do we lose faith when God seems to remain silent? It may be days, months, years that we pray for something before God will grant it. It had been 20 years and God still had not granted Abraham and Sarah a child. Of course there was frustration, doubt, fears, questions, all of the emotions that we feel also. It is easy to SAY we trust God…it is much harder to trust COMPLETELY. God repeated His promise to Abram several times throughout his life. Each time, God made the promise more specific. He first promised Abram that he would become a “great nation” (Gen 12:1–3) and identified the land that He would give to Abram’s offspring (Gen 12:7). Later, He revealed that Abram’s descendants would be as numerous as the dust of the earth (Gen 13:14–17). Even later, He made it known that the heir to the promise would be Abram’s own son (Gen 15:4) and identified the specific location of the promised land (Gen 15:18–21).
Could it have been God was speaking, but Abraham either wasn’t listening or wasn’t comprehending what was said?
Even Abraham got to a place where his faith caused him to question God’s punishment on wicked Sodom. He bargained with God to spare the city if righteous people could be found. Even asking God if He surely wouldn’t do the right thing in His decision.
25 It would be unthinkable for you to do such a thing, to treat the innocent and the guilty alike and to kill the innocent with the guilty. That would be unthinkable! Won’t the judge of the whole earth do what is fair?”
Of course, we have the rest of the story - Not 50, 45, 40, 30, 20, not even 10 righteous people could be found and only Lot, his wife, and his daughters escaped before the city was destroyed.
It should make us feel a little more at ease with our own humanity and struggles when we recognize some of the Bible’s greatest characters are just as messed up as we are when it comes to their faith.
I know many of us have bargained with God. Lord, if you will just do xyz or answer my prayer I promise I will…
But how often do we keep up our end of the bargain? Or, does the waiting get to us? Not knowing when God will answer what we are asking for? OR…do we grow angry when God doesn’t answer in our time frame? How about this…what happens when God doesn’t answer a prayer that MIGHT not be what is best for us, even though we continue to appeal to and bargain with Him? What happens to our faith then? You see, even when Abraham’s faith wavered, he still returned back to God’s promise. What keeps us from being content with God’s Will in our lives?
Last week, we reviewed scripture where God was faithful to Abraham even though he continued to relapse into a pattern of sin. Although Abraham is remembered as a man of faith, he still encountered setbacks. 25 years had passed since God first promised him an heir, and he was getting older. As the end of Abraham’s life approached, he was becoming desperate. While it took time…many years…God did not forget the promise He made to Abraham. And He won’t us either. You see, when God’s timing was right, He delivered what He had promised.
VIDEO
We have all experienced tests of our faith—situations that require us to trust that God will provide. In these times, the question becomes: How do we respond? Do we allow fear and doubt to control us, or do we trust God with an extreme faith?
What made Abraham a Man of God? Even in his weakness he always returned to God.
Abraham experienced many tests of faith in his life. At times, he responded obediently and trusted in God’s promises. Other times, however, he responded out of fear or tried to take matters into his own hands. In Genesis 22, Abraham received one final extreme test of his faith—a test that came directly from God (Gen 22:1).
1 The Lord visited Sarah as he had said, and the Lord did to Sarah as he had promised.
2 And Sarah conceived and bore Abraham a son in his old age at the time of which God had spoken to him.
3 Abraham called the name of his son who was born to him, whom Sarah bore him, Isaac.
4 And Abraham circumcised his son Isaac when he was eight days old, as God had commanded him.
5 Abraham was a hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him.
6 And Sarah said, “God has made laughter for me; everyone who hears will laugh over me.”
7 And she said, “Who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? Yet I have borne him a son in his old age.”
The various mentions of Abraham’s age anchor the progression of events in real time and show the accuracy of God’s promise. When Abraham was 99 years old (Gen 17:1, 24), God twice stated that He would give Abraham and Sarah a son within the year (see Gen 17:21; 18:14). Sarah had Isaac when Abraham was 100 years old (Gen 21:5), showing that God was true to His word.
The mentions of Abraham’s age also indicate how long he had to wait for God to fulfill His promise. Abraham was 75 years old when God first called him to leave Ur (Gen 12:4), 86 years old when Ishmael was born (Gen 16:16), and 100 years old when Isaac was finally born (Gen 21:5). Abraham waited 25 years for God to take the first step in fulfilling His promise to make him “a great nation” (Gen 12:2). During this period, Abraham faced many situations that tested his faith. Now, after God’s promise to provide an heir had finally been fulfilled, Abraham would face his greatest test of faith yet.
If this were merely a story about God fulfilling His promise, it could end here with Abraham and Sarah finally having the son and heir they had always hoped for. But the story of Abraham is also about his faith. Abraham’s resolve had been tested repeatedly, and now it would be tested again—especially when it came to his relationships with his two sons.
8 And the child grew and was weaned. And Abraham made a great feast on the day that Isaac was weaned.
9 But Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, whom she had borne to Abraham, laughing.
10 So she said to Abraham, “Cast out this slave woman with her son, for the son of this slave woman shall not be heir with my son Isaac.”
11 And the thing was very displeasing to Abraham on account of his son.
12 But God said to Abraham, “Be not displeased because of the boy and because of your slave woman. Whatever Sarah says to you, do as she tells you, for through Isaac shall your offspring be named.
13 And I will make a nation of the son of the slave woman also, because he is your offspring.”
14 So Abraham rose early in the morning and took bread and a skin of water and gave it to Hagar, putting it on her shoulder, along with the child, and sent her away. And she departed and wandered in the wilderness of Beersheba.
15 When the water in the skin was gone, she put the child under one of the bushes.
16 Then she went and sat down opposite him a good way off, about the distance of a bowshot, for she said, “Let me not look on the death of the child.” And as she sat opposite him, she lifted up her voice and wept.
17 And God heard the voice of the boy, and the angel of God called to Hagar from heaven and said to her, “What troubles you, Hagar? Fear not, for God has heard the voice of the boy where he is.
18 Up! Lift up the boy, and hold him fast with your hand, for I will make him into a great nation.”
19 Then God opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water. And she went and filled the skin with water and gave the boy a drink.
20 And God was with the boy, and he grew up. He lived in the wilderness and became an expert with the bow.
21 He lived in the wilderness of Paran, and his mother took a wife for him from the land of Egypt.
Isaac may have been the promised son, but Ishmael was still the eldest. As the firstborn, Ishmael was technically Abraham’s legal heir. Now, with Isaac as the true son of the promise, the implications of Sarah’s scheme from years before came full circle—and it wasn’t long before she realized it. The narrative covers the first few years of Isaac’s life in a single sentence (Gen 21:8). The occasion of his weaning was the backdrop for Sarah’s demand that Abraham send Ishmael away.
Abraham was troubled by Sarah’s request and her attitude toward “his son” (Gen 21:11). What follows is a test of Abraham’s faith regarding his relationship with Ishmael—his firstborn son. Without condoning Sarah’s request, God told Abraham to “listen to everything that Sarah said to you” and assured him that Ishmael’s future had been accounted for in His plan: Ishmael, too, will be made into a “nation, for he is your offspring” (Gen 21:13).
1 After these things God tested Abraham and said to him, “Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.”
2 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.”
3 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.
4 On the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes and saw the place from afar.
5 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.”
6 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.
7 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?”
8 Abraham said, “God will provide for himself the lamb for a burnt offering, my son.” So they went both of them together.
9 When they came to the place of which God had told him, Abraham built the altar there and laid the wood in order and bound Isaac his son and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood.
10 Then Abraham reached out his hand and took the knife to slaughter his son.
11 But the angel of the Lord called to him from heaven and said, “Abraham, Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.”
12 He said, “Do not lay your hand on the boy or do anything to him, for now I know that you fear God, seeing you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me.”
13 And Abraham lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, behind him was a ram, caught in a thicket by his horns. And Abraham went and took the ram and offered it up as a burnt offering instead of his son.
14 So Abraham called the name of that place, “The Lord will provide”; as it is said to this day, “On the mount of the Lord it shall be provided.”
15 And the angel of the Lord called to Abraham a second time from heaven
16 and said, “By myself I have sworn, declares the Lord, because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son,
17 I will surely bless you, and I will surely multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven and as the sand that is on the seashore. And your offspring shall possess the gate of his enemies,
18 and in your offspring shall all the nations of the earth be blessed, because you have obeyed my voice.”
19 So Abraham returned to his young men, and they arose and went together to Beersheba. And Abraham lived at Beersheba.
20 Now after these things it was told to Abraham, “Behold, Milcah also has borne children to your brother Nahor:
21 Uz his firstborn, Buz his brother, Kemuel the father of Aram,
22 Chesed, Hazo, Pildash, Jidlaph, and Bethuel.”
23 (Bethuel fathered Rebekah.) These eight Milcah bore to Nahor, Abraham’s brother.
24 Moreover, his concubine, whose name was Reumah, bore Tebah, Gaham, Tahash, and Maacah.
God commanded Abraham to take Isaac to Moriah and sacrifice him—his beloved son—as a burnt offering (Gen 21:2). If Abraham had ever felt at liberty to question God (Gen 18:22–33), surely it would be on this occasion. But instead, Abraham obeyed without question. The narrative methodically describes Abraham’s actions: He got up early, saddled the donkey, cut wood for the sacrifice, took Isaac and two servants, and headed for Moriah—all without speaking a word.
As Abraham and Isaac continued on, Isaac carried the wood for the sacrifice, indicating that he had grown significantly since his last appearance in the story. Abraham’s response provides the key to understanding this entire event: “God will provide the lamb for a burnt offering” (Gen 22:8). The test hinged on the tension between God’s past provision and His promise to provide in the future.
The success of this final test is recognized by another pronouncement of God’s covenant promises for Abraham. God reaffirmed His promise to bless Abraham with descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky, and to bless the entire world through Abraham’s offspring. Just as it began, the story of Abraham ends with this promise of worldwide blessing (Gen 12:3; 22:18).
Abraham’s willingness to sacrifice Isaac represents the highest expression of his faith in Genesis. The authors of the NT similarly recognized this event as a preeminent example of a faithful response to God. They also believed Abraham’s willingness to sacrifice Isaac foreshadowed the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross. Hebrews describes Isaac as Abraham’s “one and only son” (Heb 11:17). The Greek term here, monogenēs, is used most often in the NT to describe Jesus, God’s only begotten Son (see John 1:14; 3:16). Paul also describes God’s sending of Christ to redeem humanity as “He did not spare His own Son” (Rom 8:32), phrasing that echoes God’s words to Abraham in Gen 22:16.
Abraham’s life is bracketed by examples of extreme faith. In Genesis 12:1, God told him to go to a foreign land, and in Gen 12:4, he obeyed without question. He left all he knew in obedience to God’s command for the sake of obtaining His promises. In Genesis 22, after he finally received the promised son, Abraham was commanded to give Isaac up as a burnt offering. Despite the apparent absurdity of the request, Abraham complied without ever questioning God. He was confident that both he and Isaac would return—whether by resurrection or some other form of deliverance (see Heb 11:19).
Can you think of a time when God called on you to exhibit extreme faith?
Reflect on a time when you felt your faith was tested. What made it difficult or easy for you to believe?
Grigoni, Michael R., Miles Custis, Douglas Mangum, and Matthew M. Whitehead. 2012. Abraham: Following God’s Promise: Leader’s Guide. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.