SOM: The Lord will Provide

Background

Child sacrifice in the Ancient Near East (ANE)

The Anchor Yale Bible Dictionary Canaan, Religion Of

There is evidence that human sacrifice was practiced within the Canaanite world, although we have no indications of it at Ugarit. There are a number of references to child sacrifice in the OT, especially in connection with the Canaanite god Molech in the valley of Hinnom outside Jerusalem (see Heider 1985; Day 1989), and classical sources attest child sacrifice among the Phoenicians. The most abundant evidence, however, is in the Punic world: not only do various classical authors attest its practice among the Carthaginians, but archaeological discoveries have revealed cemeteries of sacrificed children (commonly referred to by scholars under the biblical name of “topheth”) at Motya (Mozia) in Sicily, Monte Sirai, Nora, Tharros, and Sulcis in Sardinia, and at Carthage, Sousse (Hadrumetum), and Cirta (near Constantine) in N Africa.

2 Kings 17:31 ESV

31 and the Avvites made Nibhaz and Tartak; and the Sepharvites burned their children in the fire to Adrammelech and Anammelech, the gods of Sepharvaim.

Child sacrifice in the Old Testament

Several of Israel’s kings committed the atrocity of human sacrifice, especially during the late OT period

Jephthah (Judges 11:39)

Ahaz (2 Kings 16:3)

Manasseh (2 Kings 21:6)

Probably others that are not mentioned.

It becomes very clear in this episode and the remainder of the OT that...

God never intended for his people to engage in human sacrifice.

It was expressly forbidden.

Jeremiah 7:31 ESV

31 And they have built the high places of Topheth, which is in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, to burn their sons and their daughters in the fire, which I did not command, nor did it come into my mind.

Leviticus 18:21 ESV

21 You shall not give any of your children to offer them to Molech, and so profane the name of your God: I am the Lord.

Deuteronomy 12:29–31 ESV

29 “When the Lord your God cuts off before you the nations whom you go in to dispossess, and you dispossess them and dwell in their land, 30 take care that you be not ensnared to follow them, after they have been destroyed before you, and that you do not inquire about their gods, saying, ‘How did these nations serve their gods?—that I also may do the same.’ 31 You shall not worship the Lord your God in that way, for every abominable thing that the Lord hates they have done for their gods, for they even burn their sons and their daughters in the fire to their gods.

Q: If God never intended for Abraham to sacrifice Isaac, what was the point of this episode?

A1: (Heresy) Open theism: “God really didn’t know what Abraham would do—it was a genuine test in order for God to discern whether or not Abraham could be trusted with his plans.

The Bible clearly teaches otherwise, and that God knows all that will happen beforehand and that nothing is outside of his sovereignty.

Bruce Ware has done a great refutation of Open theism in his book, God’s Lesser Glory, if you’re interested in learning more about this.

Ware, Bruce A. God’s Lesser Glory: The Diminished God of Open Theism. Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2000.

Three-fold purpose of Abraham’s Testing:

Abraham’s testing was designed to reveal and refine the faith of both Abraham and Isaac

To serve as a good example of faith for us

To serve as a vivid picture (type) of the sacrifice of God’s own Son on the cross.

1. Testing refines our faith.

Testing is a type of suffering that God uses to reveal and refine our faith.

James 1:2–3 ESV

2 Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, 3 for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness.

“Testing” vs. “Tempting”

Source: God vs. Satan/demons/sinful desires

Purpose: Refinement of faith vs. Rejection of faith

If you’ve had both good and bad teachers or coaches, you know the difference intuitively. Some teachers/coaches challenge you, but genuinely desire for you to succeed. Their classes, homework, exams, and drills may truly be challenging, even exacting, but the teacher truly desires the best for their students and challenges them in order to draw out the best in them.

On the other hand, bad teachers (which are, fortunately, rare) seem to want their students to fail. Their expectations are purposefully impossible so that their students will fail. The teacher gets some sadistic pleasure out of seeing others fail because it boosts their own ego.

Fortunately, such teachers are truly rare. But, if you do ever have one, you remember them.

Testing gives occasion for us to display the magnificent worthiness of God.

When Abraham willingly offered up Isaac, his only son, the one he loved, he showed the world that following God was worth more to him than anything else in this world. Nothing was more precious to Abraham than following God.

28  Consider, that it is necessary such inward trials should come, to wean us from the immoderate love of sensible devotion, and teach us to follow Christ, not merely for his loaves, but out of a principle of love and obedience.

George Whitefield, Selected Sermons of George Whitefield (18th century)

We were created to bring glory and honor to God

Isaiah 43:7 ESV

7 everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made.”

If you and I desire to be used of God, will be tested.

Testing (especially sacrifice) exposes and illustrates the seriousness of sin.

OT sacrifices didn’t truly atone for sins, as Paul discusses at length in Romans 3. So, what was their purpose? To give a graphic, visual demonstration of the seriousness of sin.

When you had to place your hand on an innocent lamb’s head while the priest slit its throat, knowing full well that animal was suffering and dying because of your sin, it’s affecting.

This is the purpose behind all OT sacrifices. Without a penalty, we don’t understand the seriousness of our offence. This is why Jesus had to die—that’s how serious sin is.

This is also one reason for the testing and trials that we go through as believers.

“When Adam and Eve sinned morally, the world was touched physically. (See Genesis 3.) Why would that be? One reason is this: Sin by its very nature blinds us to the seriousness of sin. Sin does not see the infinite outrage of slapping infinite holiness in the face. Sin can't feel that outrage. What can sin feel? It can feel hunger, cancer, lacerations, broken bones, disability, death. People don't lie awake at night wrestling with the outrage of their indifference to God. But they do lie awake at night when their bodies are touched with pain - which is the siren, the trumpet, of the outrage of the evil of sin.”

—John Piper, “The Purposes of God in the Pain of the World”, sermon at Capitol Hill Baptist Church

We even get numb to the awfulness and the atrocity of Jesus’ death on our behalf. And so, God allows testing and trials to come to us as reminders of the costliness of sin.

When we understand it properly, suffering and testing are God’s mercy.

There is nothing worse for us than to go on through life indifferent to the majesty of God and the seriousness of our sin. But, we often lack that biblical perspective.

Sometimes God allows suffering and ordains a test for us to shake us out of our comfort zone and remind us what’s most important.

2. Abraham and Isaac are examples for us today.

It’s easy to miss the details and fail to fully grasp the relevance of this story to our lives, so let’s take a moment to look more carefully at this story.

(What follows is my interpretation of this passage. In many cases, the Bible is not clear on the precise motives or details, so I have tried to remain faithful to the text while also connecting the dots where possible. Much of what follows is heavily indebted to a wonderful sermon on this passage by the great George Whitefield, the preacher most credit with starting the Great Awakening in America in the 1700’s. I have borrowed, adapted, and modernized his words, but I would encourage you to look up his sermon on this passage sometime and read it.)

Anyone who has ever struggled with infertility, the loss of a child, the pain of a broken family, or the struggle of leaving your homeland can relate to the pain and heartache Abram and Sarai had gone through. After decades of infertility, they had all but given up on having a child. Then, when Abram was 75 years old, God called him out of Ur (Gen. 12:4) and into Canaan and promised him offspring. Abram and his family packed up and left everything familiar behind and set out for a strange land that God “would show them” when they got to it. Could it really be that after all those years they would finally have a child? Obedient to God’s call, they came to Canaan and started their lives there, excited about what the future had in store.

But, after ten years had elapsed, the glimmer of hope had faded, and Abram and Sarai decided to take matters into their own hands. Abram, following the counsel of his wife, took a second wife, Hagar, and had a son with her, Ishmael. But, as usually happens when we get impatient and take matters into our own hands, that decision would only make matters worse. The pain of this sin would haunt their family and ultimately tear it in two.

God would later appear to Abram (Gen. 17) and inform him that Ishmael was not the promised child—Sarah herself would be the mother of the promised one.

At 99 years old, Abram and Sarai had waited their whole lives for a child. And, as crazy as it seemed, God had promised that was going to happen soon. Abram looked up at the billions of stars in the sky as God reminded him of his promise. “You’re going to be the father of multitudes, and through you, every nation on earth will be blessed.” Sarai couldn’t believe it. She couldn’t help but laugh out loud—a son?!?! Now?!?! At 99 years of age?!?!

But, true to God’s word, at the ripe old age of 100, it finally happened. Sarah gave birth to a son, Isaac, the promised child.

Some time had gone by since then. Sarah and Hagar had a falling out and Hagar and Ishmael had been sent away. Ishmael was Abraham’s firstborn son, and yet Abraham had to basically disinherit and disown him. It ripped Abraham apart. The only consolation was that at least Abraham still had Isaac, and he still had God’s promise.

Isaac grew up and, based upon the timeline and how he’s described in Genesis 22, was probably at least a teenager, possibly even a young man by this point. He was old enough to know how sacrifices were normally conducted and notice the absence of an animal for the sacrifice. He was old enough to carry the heavy load of firewood. Old enough to resist his elderly father, if he’d wanted to.

Then came the awful command:

”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...”

Abraham’s head must have been spinning. Abraham had heard of human sacrifice, maybe even seen it or known of people who had done it. The Canaanite gods were wicked and despicable, and they demanded all kinds of debauchery—human sacrifice, cutting oneself during worship, and even ritual prostitution. But Abraham had thought that God was different. How could he ask such a thing? It didn’t seem like something God would desire, yet the command had been clear.

How could he do this? Sacrifice his only remaining child? And if he did, wouldn’t God’s promise to him be broken? God had been clear that Isaac was the promised child, the one through whom a nation would be born. If he killed Isaac, that promise was over. Yet, God’s command had been clear.

God had promised to bless him with a child of his own, how could he now take away that blessing? And yet, if Abraham refused, would he not be placing the blessing of God above God himself? Would Abraham love God’s blessings more than God? That would be idolatry. God gave the blessing, so God could take it away as well.

But, how would he face Sarah? Should he tell her first? No—she wouldn’t understand. Abraham didn’t really understand it himself, for that matter. But, then again, if he told Sarah and she prevented him from doing the deed, then he wouldn’t have technically disobeyed God, right? Maybe this could be the out he needed.

Selected Sermons of George Whitefield Sermon 3: Abraham’s Offering up His Son Isaac

O that unbelievers would learn of faithful Abraham, and believe whatever is revealed from God, though they cannot fully comprehend it! Abraham knew God commanded him to offer up his son, and therefore believed, notwithstanding carnal reasoning might suggest may objections. We have sufficient testimony, that God has spoken to us by his son; why should we not also believe, though many things in the New Testament are above our reason? For, where reason ends, faith begins.

In the end, he knew what he had to do. God had been good to him all these years, like a Father to him. God had always kept his word, even when it seemed impossible. God had provided him with wealth and a good name in a foreign land, and now a child at the impossible age of 100. His heavenly Father had never broken a promise. And, in a land where people worshipped unmoveable idols of stone and wood that never spoke or did anything, Abraham had spoken with the Creator just as one speaks with a friend. Even when Abraham sinned and took matters into his own hands with Hagar, breaking his relationship with his wife, God had provided for Hagar and Ishmael and watched over them.

It didn’t make sense, but Abraham knew that his heavenly Father was trustworthy. So, in the morning, he saddled the donkey, gathered a couple servants, his knife, and then cut the firewood, carefully hiding his intentions from Sarah, lest she prevent him from carrying out God’s command.

God hadn’t told him exactly which mountain to go to yet. Just like when God told him to leave Ur, God had promised to show him where to go along the way. So, they set out towards Moriah.

It was a long journey—three days. Every time Abraham looked at his son, every time he lay awake under the stars at night, he was reminded of both God’s promise and the awful deed he would soon have to do. If this had been a fleeting moment of devotion or courage, it certainly would have faded over the course of the long journey. The hardest trials of life are not over quickly, but sometimes linger on to test our resolve—whether or not we will turn back after putting our hands to the plow.

Finally, they arrived at the base of the mountain God had directed him to. Perhaps fearing they would try to prevent him, or perhaps fearing the shame of having them watch as he killed his son, for whatever reason, Abraham had the servants wait with the donkey while he and Isaac went up the mountain. “Wait here and I and the boy will go worship and come again to you.” Was Abraham just telling a white lie? Was he wavering in his commitment to carry out the sacrifice? Or did he truly believe that Isaac would return back down that mountain somehow?

Carrying enough firewood for a burnt offering was no easy task—it was a heavy load—but Isaac was young and strong, much more so than his elderly father, so he was up to it. As Isaac trudged up the hill with the load of wood on his back, Abraham must have realized that soon, Isaac would be on top of that wood. Isaac was a condemned man, carrying the very wood he would soon be offered up on as a sacrifice.

Isaac had been with his father for sacrifices before, so he knew what to expect. At some point along the way, it dawned upon Isaac that they were lacking one crucial element for this sacrifice—the sacrificial animal itself. “Father, we’ve got the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?” The words must have stuck like a knife in Abraham’s heart. Perhaps Abraham was merely deflecting, or perhaps Abraham had mustered up all the faith he could find, but he replied: “God will provide for himself the lamb for a burnt offering.” Abraham didn’t know what was going to happen, or how this could all work out. But, he knew two things: 1) God had promised that Isaac was the promised child, the one through whom a nation would come, and 2) that God was trustworthy and would keep his word. Who knows? Perhaps God would raise Isaac from the dead!

Perhaps his father’s cryptic reply assuaged his curiosity, or perhaps Isaac even realized in this moment that he himself was to be the sacrifice. His father had, no doubt, seemed off, preoccupied, and under a great deal of stress. Maybe even now Isaac connected the dots. Either way, he willingly obeyed and kept walking.

When they got to the top of the mountain, they carefully built the altar out of stones. Then, they arranged the wood. Abraham could have caught Isaac unaware, stabbing him or slitting his throat when he wasn’t expecting it. But, overpowering him and tying him up would have been impossible given his age. So, the most likely scenario is that at some point, Abraham revealed what was going to happen. Isaac, much younger and stronger than his father, could have resisted, he could have ran away.

But he didn’t. He allowed his father to bind him and lay him on the altar, knowing full well what came next. Isaac didn’t understand why this was necessary, but he trusted his father, and he trusted his heavenly Father. All his life, Abraham had taught him of the Creator God, the one who had called him out of Ur and promised to make him a mighty nation. The God who spoke to his father. Isaac had heard the stories of how God had provided for his father even in the midst of impossible situations, how God had provided even for his own birth even though his parents were well past their prime. And so, like a sheep lead to the slaughter, he didn’t resist. He trusted in his father, and in his heavenly Father.

Abraham put the knife to his son’s throat, just as he had done many times before to a sheep. His hands must have trembled as he held the knife, summoning the courage to follow God’s command. Then, just as he prepared to make the stroke, the Angel of Yahweh called out, “Abraham, Abraham!”

“Yes, Lord?”

“Do not harm the boy! It is clear that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me.”

Abraham and Isaac must have embraced and wept together with tears of joy and relief. And as he looked up, his prophetic words were fulfilled—God had provided for himself a lamb.

And so, the story of Abraham and Isaac has an important lesson for us today—When God calls you to sacrifice the unthinkable, to give up what he has promised you, to step out in faith even when it doesn’t make any sense—what will you do? Will you trust that God is faithful to his promises? Will you trust that God is good, even when circumstances are bad? What will come out of the crucible when you’re put into the fire?

Your Heavenly Father is faithful and trustworthy. He will provide.

Even when it seems that it is impossible, God always keeps his promises.

Matthew 28:20 ESV

20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

John 14:1–3 ESV

1 “Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. 2 In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.

Mark 10:29–30 ESV

29 Jesus said, “Truly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands, for my sake and for the gospel, 30 who will not receive a hundredfold now in this time, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions, and in the age to come eternal life.

Isaiah 43:1–7 ESV

1 But now thus says the Lord, he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel: “Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine. 2 When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you. 3 For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior. I give Egypt as your ransom, Cush and Seba in exchange for you. 4 Because you are precious in my eyes, and honored, and I love you, I give men in return for you, peoples in exchange for your life. 5 Fear not, for I am with you; I will bring your offspring from the east, and from the west I will gather you. 6 I will say to the north, Give up, and to the south, Do not withhold; bring my sons from afar and my daughters from the end of the earth, 7 everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made.”

He is trustworthy! You can trust God with:

your health

your finances

your friendships

your job and ministry

your children

your marriage

your joy and happiness

your future

your soul

But, the story of Abraham and Isaac has an even greater message for us today...

3. Abraham and Isaac provide us an earthly picture of our Heavenly Father and the Son.

Selected Sermons of George Whitefield (Sermon 3: Abraham’s Offering up His Son Isaac)

I see your hearts affected, I see your eyes weep. (And indeed, who can refrain weeping at the relation of such a story?) But, behold, I show you a mystery, hid under the sacrifice of Abraham’s only son, which, unless your hearts are hardened, must cause you to weep tears of love, and that plentifully too.

I would willingly hope you even prevent me here, and are ready to say, “It is the love of God, in giving Jesus Christ to die for our sins.” Yes; that is it. And yet perhaps you find your hearts, at the mentioning of this, not so much affected.

Let this convince you, that we are all fallen creatures, and that we do not love God or Christ as we ought to do: for, if you admire Abraham offering up his Isaac, how much more ought you to extol, magnify and adore the love of God, who so loved the world, as to give his only begotten Son Christ Jesus our Lord, “that whosoever believeth on Him should not perish, but have everlasting life?”

May we not well cry out, Now know we, O Lord, that thou hast loved us, since thou hast not withheld thy Son, thine only Son from us! Abraham was God’s creature (and God was Abraham’s friend) and therefore under the highest obligation to surrender up his Isaac.

But O stupendous love! Whilst we were his enemies, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, that he might become a curse for us. O the freeness, as well as the infinity, of the love of God our Father! It is unsearchable: I am lost in contemplating it; it is past finding out.

Think, O believers, think of the love of God, in giving Jesus Christ to be a propitiation for our sins. And when you hear how Abraham built an altar, and laid the wood in order, and bound Isaac his son, and laid him on the altar upon the wood; think how your heavenly Father bound Jesus Christ his only Son, and offered him upon the altar of his justice, and laid upon him the iniquities of us all.

When you read of Abraham’s stretching forth his hand to slay his son, Think, O think, how God actually suffered his Son to be slain, that we might live for evermore.

Do you read of Isaac carrying the wood upon his shoulders, upon which he was to be offered? Let this lead you to mount Calvary (this very mount of Moriah where Isaac was offered, as some think) and take a view of the antitype Jesus Christ, the Son of God, bearing and ready to sink under the weight of that cross, on which he was to hang for us.

Do you admire Isaac so freely consenting to die, though a creature, and therefore obliged to go when God called? O do not forget to admire infinitely more the dear Lord Jesus, that promised seed, who willingly said, “Lo, I come,” though under no obligation so to do, “to do thy will,” to obey and die for men, “O God!”

Did you weep just now, when I bid you fancy you saw the altar, and the wood laid in order, and Isaac laid bound on the altar? Look by faith, behold the blessed Jesus, our all-glorious Emmanuel, not bound, but nailed on a accursed tree: see how he hangs crowned with thorns, and held in derision of all that are round about him: see how the thorns pierce him, and how the blood in purple streams trickle down his sacred temples!

Hark how the God of nature groans! See how he bows his head, and at length humanity gives up the ghost! Isaac is saved, but Jesus, the God of Isaac, dies; A ram is offered up in Isaac’s room, but Jesus has no substitute; Jesus must bleed, Jesus must die; God the Father provided this Lamb for himself from all eternity. He must be offered in time, or man must be damned for evermore.

And now, where are your tears? Shall I say, refrain your voice from weeping? No; rather let me exhort you to look to him whom you have pierced, and mourn, as a woman mourneth for her first-born: for we have been the betrayers, we have been the murderers of this Lord of glory; and shall we not bewail those sins, which brought the blessed Jesus to the accursed tree?

Having so much done, so much suffered for us, so much forgiven, shall we not love much! O! let us love Him with all our hearts, and minds, and strength, and glorify him in our souls and bodies, for they are his.

Conclusion

Perhaps today all this talk of trusting in God seems a bit outside of your experience and is hard to relate to. Perhaps there are some here who cannot say, “God is worth whatever sacrifice he might ask of me.” I want to exhort you with the words of George Whitefield to examine your heart:

Selected Sermons of George Whitefield Sermon 3: Abraham’s Offering up His Son Isaac

You say you believe; you talk of free grace and free justification: you do well; the devils also believe and tremble. But has the faith, which you pretend to, influenced your hearts, renewed your souls, and, like Abraham’s, worked by love? Are your affections, like his, set on things above? Are you heavenly-minded, and like him, do you confess yourselves strangers and pilgrims on the earth? In short, has your faith enabled you to overcome the world, and strengthened you to give up your Isaacs, your laughter, your most beloved lusts, friends, pleasures, and profits for God? If so, take the comfort of it; for justly may you say, “We know assuredly, that we do fear and love God, or rather are loved of him.” But if you are only talking believers, have only a faith of the head, and never felt the power of it in your hearts, however you may bolster yourselves up, and say, “We have Abraham for our father, or Christ is our Savior,” unless you get a faith of the heart, a faith working by love, you shall never sit with Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, or Jesus Christ, in the kingdom of heaven.

I want to wrap up with just a few thoughts.

Remember, that whatever suffering or trial you are going through may be at the same time a temptation from Satan, and a test from God. While Satan’s design is for your failure, God aims to reveal and refine your faith.

God is faithful. He keeps his promises, even when it seems impossible.

When trials come, remember to look to Christ who endured the greatest test and remained steadfast.

Hebrews 4:14–16 ESV

14 Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. 15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. 16 Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

Benediction:

Hebrews 12:1–3 ESV

1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2 looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. 3 Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted.

Go in the strength of the Lord.