Abraham and Isaac

A Promise Delivered

Have you ever heard the phrase “don’t miss the forest for the trees”?

It is easy to lose sight of the big picture when we focus only on what is in front of us. The same goes for the story of Abraham and Isaac.

Genesis 21:6–7 “Now Sarah said, “God has brought laughter for me; everyone who hears will laugh with me.” And she said, “Who would ever have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? Yet I have borne him a son in his old age.””

Rom. 4:13

The New Revised Standard Version God’s Promise Realized through Faith

For the promise that he would inherit the world did not come to Abraham or to his descendants through the law but through the righteousness of faith.

Faith through walking in obedience.

Not a mental check or an action step but a unity of head and heart.

Hebrew word, hinēni, which literally means, “Here I am.” I translate this as “at your service” because, as Jon Levenson says, “the term indicates readiness, alertness, attentiveness, receptivity, and responsiveness to instructions.”

Jon D. Levenson, “Genesis” in Adele Berlin and Marc Zvi Brettler, eds. The Jewish Study Bible (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004), p. 45.

The Bible Knowledge Commentary 22:9–14

To fear God means to reverence Him as sovereign, trust Him implicitly, and obey Him without question.

God will Provide

Abraham spent I am sure was a sleepless night. How many examples in scripture bring revelation in the midst of dreams

We know Abraham did not put off leaving.

He rose early and readied the supplies.

They traveled to Moriah and Abraham said to his servants to “stay while they go and worship” and “we will return”

Abraham answers Isaac’s question “God will provide”

The Bible Knowledge Commentary (22:9–14)

(Jehova) Yahweh Yir’eh, The LORD will provide (or, “see”; v. 14)

This Is a “Test”: But is Isaac in on it?

Akedeh: “Binding”

Parallels between Isaac and Jesus

Both born through supernatural circumstances.

Both Isaac and Jesus were named by God.

The mountain of Moriah is believed to be in a the same place Solomon built the Temple.

Isaac is carrying the wood and weight of the sacrifice just as Christ carried his cross.

Both Isaac and Jesus were loved by their fathers.

Gen. 22 :2 is the first time we see the word love in the Bible.

Matthew 3:17 “And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased.”” .”

Isaac trusted his father Abraham. Isaac was an older teenager. He was strong and able to carry the would for the sacrifice and could have easily walked away from his aged father.

Jesus chose to obey his heavenly father when he could have just walked away.

God revealed what he is planning for us

A sacrifice was necessary. A sacrifice of atonement for all sin.

instead of demanded our lives God offered his own son.

John 3:16 ““For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.

The Bible Knowledge Commentary (22:9–14)

Worship involved accepting God’s sacrificial substitute. But of course in the New Testament God substituted His only Son for the animal, and the perfect Sacrifice was made. John certainly had this in mind when he introduced Jesus as “the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29)

God desires trust and obedience.

Will God’s creatures remain faithful?

What God asks of us may not always make sense.

Attend worship

Devote time to pray

Grow in study

And live without holding anything back.

A life of office mail boxes.

God is not one of the boxes but is the frame which holds it all together.

How can we trust God like Abraham?

Abraham walked with God.

He made a decision, a conscious choice.

He chose obedience even if there was doubt.

We don’t need all the facts just trust in the one who has given us the mission.

Faith answers the question from John Wesley: Can we love God above all else?