The Test - Genesis 22

Overview

We begin a new quarter this evening.

We will be in Genesis for about 5 weeks (counting tonight) and then we are going to go through a study together called “Pray in Faith.” The schedule may change slightly based on other items (like Easter and other calendar events), but we want to allow for 6 weeks for the “Pray in Faith” study.

We saw last week the encounter that Abraham had with the three visitors. We saw that one of those visitors was the Lord Himself.

Abraham was called God’s friend, and we saw some things last week which would be common among friends. One such item is that God did not keep a secret from Abraham. He told Abraham what He was going to do to Sodom, and then we got to see the intercession Abraham made for the righteous of Sodom. The intercession wasn’t disrespectful towards God, but Abraham did call on the character of God in the midst of his intercession.

If you went on to read chapter 19, you see that God did destroy both Sodom and Gomorrah and while fleeing the judgement, Lot’s wife makes the fatal mistake of looking back. From chapter 19, we see some significant family dysfunction with Lot’s daughters which will lead to the creation of two people groups - the Moabites and the Ammonites.

Abraham deceives Abimelech in chapter 20 by telling him that Sarah is his sister (partially true). God intercedes and spares Abimelech and Sarah is returned to Abraham.

In chapter 21, Sarah gives birth to Isaac. That catches us up from last week.

So, let me ask you when is the last time you have taken a test? Were you a good test taker? What kind of tests did you like? What if the test was unannounced…like a pop quiz?

Other than grades for a class, what do tests produce in us? Have you ever been through a spiritual test? How did you do?

In the book of James, he tells that we should “consider it a great joy” when we have tests and trials. Why? Look at James 1:2-4

James 1:2–4 (CSB)

2 Consider it a great joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you experience various trials, 3 because you know that the testing of your faith produces endurance. 4 And let endurance have its full effect, so that you may be mature and complete, lacking nothing.

Tests and trials produces endurance, steadfastness, or patience. But it doesn’t stop there. This development goes on to maturity (or perfect) - lacking nothing. Why do trials actually lead us to a place of lacking nothing?

Are tests and trials transformative? How?

As we look into the Genesis passage tonight, I’d like for you to look for ways faith is transformed through the testing.

The Assignment

Read Genesis 22:1-8

Genesis 22:1–8 (CSB)

1 After these things God tested [to prove - comes from the lemma which is also used of metals and the smelting process] Abraham and said to him, “Abraham!”

“Here I am,” he answered.

2 “Take your son,” he said, “your only son Isaac, whom you love, go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains I will tell you about.”

3 So Abraham got up early in the morning, saddled his donkey, and took with him two of his young men and his son Isaac. He split wood for a burnt offering and set out to go to the place God had told him about. 4 On the third day Abraham looked up and saw the place in the distance. 5 Then Abraham said to his young men, “Stay here with the donkey. The boy and I will go over there to worship; then we’ll come back to you.” 6 Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and laid it on his son Isaac. In his hand he took the fire and the knife, and the two of them walked on together.

7 Then Isaac spoke to his father Abraham and said, “My father.”

And he replied, “Here I am, my son.”

Isaac said, “The fire and the wood are here, but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?”

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

Verse 2 - “your only son Isaac.” In chapter 21, Hagar and Ishmael are sent away. Although God promises to make Ishmael a great nation, God does say that the fulfillment of the covenant that He made with Abraham will come through Isaac. Yet, how do you think Abraham felt when God said, “your only son Isaac?”

What is the assignment given to Abraham here? To go to Moriah and offer Isaac on a mountain that He will tell him. Had Abraham been there before? We don’t know, but perhaps not. What do we know about Moriah? It will become the site for the temple ultimately. So Moriah will become a place of sacrifice. Moriah comes from the Hebrew root word meaning to see; understand; or reveal. So God is telling Abraham to go to Moriah, for there I will reveal something to you so that you may see and understand.

What is Abraham’s response in verse 3 to the assignment? He gets up early; gets his bags packed and splits wood for the sacrifice. Ok, think about this…God tells you to give up something or someone you dearly love - no reason given, just sacrifice this person or thing to me. What is going to be your response? More importantly, are you going to get up early the next morning and make preparations to do just that? Aren’t you going to think about it? Would delayed obedience have been disobedience in Abraham’s case?

In verse 4, how long a trip was it? 3 days. Where are 3 days also significant in Scripture? Jonah in the fish and Christ in the grave. Jonah wished he could have died, and Christ actually died. Do you think a part of Abraham is dying or has died here as well?

Verse 5 shines a big light on the faith of Abraham. What is his expectation? Read Heb. 11:17-19

Hebrews 11:17–19 CSB

17 By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac. He received the promises and yet he was offering his one and only son, 18 the one to whom it had been said, Your offspring will be traced through Isaac. 19 He considered God to be able even to raise someone from the dead; therefore, he received him back, figuratively speaking.

Abraham fully expects to come back with his son even if God has to raise him from the dead.

Besides the three days we already discussed, do you see another similarity to Christ’s sacrifice in this passage? The tool or instrument necessary to carry out the sacrifice is laid on the lamb - Christ carrying His cross and Isaac carrying the wood.

Was Abraham acting recklessly here? How would Sarah had felt had he come back without Isaac, and she finds out her husband killed him? No, Abraham was locked in to the promise of God. One commentary writer puts it this way which I absolutely love: Abraham’s faith was relentlessly locked in to the premise that God was faithful and that He had promised to do certain things. Anything that would get in the way of His ultimate purpose had to be removed, and in all probability when the issues were truly faced only God Himself would be able to remove the obstacles. Therefore he pressed on not always knowing how or why or where or when but always knowing Who!

D. Stuart Briscoe and Lloyd J. Ogilvie, Genesis, vol. 1, The Preacher’s Commentary Series (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Inc, 1987), 185.

Not knowing the how, or the why, or the where, or the when, but always knowing The Who! Faith in a faithful God will stretch our physical, emotional, social, intellectual and even our spiritual limits. So go back to the passage we read in James earlier, when we go through a test that stretches us, do you see the development process at work? We may not be asked to give up a son or daughter in this process, but we may be asked to give up something which will inhibit our growth of faith if we don’t give it up.

The Test

Read Gen. 22:9-18

Genesis 22:9–18 CSB

9 When they arrived at the place that God had told him about, Abraham built the altar there and arranged the wood. He bound his son Isaac and placed him on the altar on top of the wood. 10 Then Abraham reached out and took the knife to slaughter his son. 11 But the angel of the Lord called to him from heaven and said, “Abraham, Abraham!” He replied, “Here I am.” 12 Then he said, “Do not lay a hand on the boy or do anything to him. For now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your only son from me.” 13 Abraham looked up and saw a ram caught in the thicket by its horns. So Abraham went and took the ram and offered it as a burnt offering in place of his son. 14 And Abraham named that place The Lord Will Provide, so today it is said, “It will be provided on the Lord’s mountain.” 15 Then the angel of the Lord called to Abraham a second time from heaven 16 and said, “By myself I have sworn,” this is the Lord’s declaration: “Because you have done this thing and have not withheld your only son, 17 I will indeed bless you and make your offspring as numerous as the stars of the sky and the sand on the seashore. Your offspring will possess the city gates of their enemies. 18 And all the nations of the earth will be blessed by your offspring because you have obeyed my command.”

I know we have been focused on Abraham so far, and rightly so. But what about Isaac? What do we learn about Isaac in this story as well?

Are you like me? I think the voice of God here is audible to both Abraham and Isaac. God’s voice brought relief in the midst of this test. But what else did God’s voice bring in this situation?

The impact was so great in Abraham’s life as evidenced by what he called that place: The Lord Will Provide - Yahweh Jireh.

Faith puts us in positions of witnessing God’s impeccable timing and provision. Has there been a time in our life when it looked like the knife was going to come down on you, and God provided a ram in the thicket?

How was the faith of Abraham transformed through this test? How do you think the faith of Isaac was transformed? What about the faith of the servants that Abraham left with the donkeys and their provisions?

We have talked about how our sin is not an island unto itself…it affects others in its wake. Our faith when tested and persevered also produces a wake of blessing for others.

In this story, we have seen some similarities with Christ and His sacrifice. We may see in Isaac a type of the Suffering Son who willingly submitted Himself unreservedly to the Father’s will. In Abraham we have a picture of the Father who “did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all” (Rom. 8:32) and in the ram a type of the Lamb who died as a substitute for the sins of the world.

Romans 8:32 “32 He did not even spare his own Son but gave him up for us all. How will he not also with him grant us everything?”

D. Stuart Briscoe and Lloyd J. Ogilvie, Genesis, vol. 1, The Preacher’s Commentary Series (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Inc, 1987), 187.