"The Lord will Provide" (Genesis 22)

Opening:

I have chosen this passage this morning, right out of Easter, because I think it it captures

> The Life of Gods people.

> The Work of Gods Son

> A magnificent picture of the Glory of God

It really was a joy to study,

and not everything I reaped from this will go into the sermon,

but I have worked to draw out a central theme in the life of Abraham

“Gods provides”

I’ve tried to mine three of the most exhorting points in this text, with the hope to,

pierce the believers thoughts

raise the effections of the heart for Christ

and feed the soul with spirtual truth to strengthen you in your faith and trust in Him

we’re going to journey through the passage up to verse 18,

and you can track where we’re up to according to that,

and we’ll land the plane there,

and as we travel through this passage in Genesis 22, I want to draw out 3 particular points -

1. God provides: even when we fail to He is faithful even when we are not

2. God provides: everything we need for our faith. The faith, and the means to grow it, to make it stronger than the fear of death

3. God provides: The Saviour The Salvation; the righteousness to make us Holy, the sacrifice to make us clean

...as well everything we need to live out the Christian life faithfully here on this earth

This particular event truly is -

The climax of Abraham’s life,

The ultimate test of his faith

The father of the faith of Gods people

Thematic statement:

The Lord will provide (The Gospel on Abraham’s side of the cross)

The Lord has provided (The Gospel from this side of the cross)

Biblical snapshot

We find this story pretty early in the bible.

in the 21 chapters beforehand we have

Creation

The fall of Adam and Eve into sin

the death of Abel, at the hand of Cain

The Flood, a worldwide judgement, and the preservation of Noah and his family

The Tower of Babel, the pride of man conquered and the peoples dispersed

and it is here that our story with Abraham begins. or at the time Abram

Introducing the passage.

Genesis 22:1 “After these things God tested Abraham and said to him, “Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.””

After these things… Give Historical Context

***Genesis 12-21

Let’s reflect on the the story of Abraham up to this point

the context is going to be very key, for understanding whats going on in Genesis 22

open up to Genesis 12, and observe the heading as I recap this for us

Abram did not grow up in a Christian family

He lived in a pagan land. Josh 24:2 tells us that his fathers worshipped foreign Gods

Ur, the land of the chaldeans was the epicenter of moon worship

and yet God gave Abraham faith

and by His power calls He calls him out of darkness,

and says “come follow me”

He makes a covenant promise to him

a promised people, a promised place and a promised person who would come from him,

a land you cannot see, a people who will come from your faith, and an offspring through whom all the nations must be blessed

and he begins in the faith, and sets of after Gods promises

revealing the faith given him

and yet...

Lacks Trust, gives his wife away to Pharaoah x1

God delivers her back to him

Delivers Lot by Abraham, giving his enemies into his hand

God affirms covenant with him x2

Lacks trust, goes into Hagar against his marriage to pursue a son. Commits adultery.

God reaffirms covenant to him x3

God conquers his enemies, delivers lot another time

God reaffirms the covenant, x3

Lacks trust, gives away Sarah again, to Abilech

God delivers her back to him again

Isaac is delivered to Abraham and Sarah

Resting in beersheeba, live peaceably alongside his enemies

This is where we find Abraham,

Called to be Tested (The sacrifice of Isaac)

The first thing that Abraham did, once he came to faith, was screw up,

catastophically,

Gods promises to him hinged upon Sarah, and he gave her away

he feared his own life,

he didnt trust that God would protect Him,

instead of God, he turned to himself

Do you ever worry that you have screwed up?

> that you’ve screwed up your faith?

> that your screwed up your relationship with God?

> that you’ve screwed up his plan for your life?

> perhaps beyond recovery?

I used to struggle with this a lot

I used to think in such a way,

that I thought that I had to follow Gods plan for my life, as if it was a tightrope,

and if I fell off,

I wold ruin Gods plans for my life God,

as if they were that fragile

it was spiritual misery

Can you see how -

Abraham has denied God, and turned to trust in his own wisdom for deliverance.

How often do we do that?

Abraham looked to fulfill his own desires his own way,

he went outside the bounds of obedience to God, to fulfill his own desires. to provide for himself

How often do we do that?

Hebrews 12:2 tells us that the Author and perfector of our faith is Christ

Do you ever fall into the trap of believing that God is only “the author”?

but not the perfector?

but, then he just hands us the blueprints, and puts us to work,

and watching us, waiting to condemn or accuse us when we make a mistake,

when we screw up,

it is the Devil who plays that role,

do we forget that God is on our side,

a loving father, who disciplines His people into a faithful image of Himself

Hebrews tells us that is also the “perfector of our faith,

working it into something that is glorifying to himself,

supplementing it, pruning it, growing it into maturity

and yet God, instead of condemning him, worked so gracefully in his life, to put him back on track.

Can you see that in his life?

Can you see that in your life? in his dealings with you

one thing that shocked me and changed my understanding of God as I was studying Abrahams life,

is that when Abraham screwed up,

rather than God focusing on Abraham as if he were the problem that needed to be condemned,

he deals with the things that get in the way of him moving forward in the journey of his faith,

he delivers him from his own sin (his own mess’s) and puts him back on the right path.

and when Abraham fails these tests of faith,

In place of our faith-less-ness, God demonstrates His faith-full-ness

We call Abraham a man of faith, and this is true, but let us not forget, he did not start that way:

3 times Abraham denied God,

3 times God delivered him and dealt with his mess

3 times God reaffirmed his promise to Abraham. To “make a people from him”, “to give him a promised land”,

Oh man of little faith...

Thank goodness our salvation does not depend on us.

If our salvation depended on us, would we have any hope?

It is because Gods promise depend on God, not us, that Abraham had hope,

his hope was not based on his own performance, it was based on Gods

Do you ever fall into the trap of puting the hope of your salvation into your own efforts, I mean… even on a daily basis. Self help, instead of God help.

Trying to become our own Saviour?

Rather than putting that hope God, the faithful one, who promises to save his people. Based on His own efforts. The efforts of His Son

Do I believe you God will provide?

vs.1 - So God called Abraham to a Test of His faith.

So lets talk about this test

who here is really being Tested?

we know that God will test His people,

to reveal or expose the context of our inward hearts and thoughts,

to reveal and increase the strength of our faith,

in Ex.20:20 , he says that this is good for us,

not to see these things for himself, but for us to see and others around us,

We know God is all knowing, so he already knows where we’re at,

but I want to ask you, who here is being tested,

yes Abraham is being tested,

“do you trust me?”

but if he does, who is being tested

God’s faithfulness is being tested

will he provide for me?

will he save us?

The bible already tells us the results,

I dont mean the results in this story in this passage,

but that God is infallible,

It is part of who He is.

God will always pass the test,

He is always faithful

and we always struggle to be,

so do you see how God sets this up -

Genesis 22:2 “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.””

Take the miracle child,

The one that I promised you,

The one integral to all of the promises I have made you.

The one integral to my covenant with you,

and of Which I have assured you.

by affixing to the integrity of my own name...

and offer him up to me.

do you trust me?

Genesis 22:3 “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.”

“This is the fruit of faith”

The fruit of the work that God has done in him,

We could think about the anguish, the wrestling, the internal resistance, the fear, all of these things that Abraham must have felt.

but scripture doesn’t give us this. We are left to fill in the gaps.

There’s obviously something stronger than all of this, Abraham is in touch with, that is stronger than all of this.

His faith that God will keep his promise.

God will do what he said, despite the obstacles.

He has seen God be faithful, even when he is not

He has seen God judge Sodom and Gomorrah, a fiathless and wicked city, and yet deliver his own, lot and his family,

he has seen God give victory to him over to him to deliver his faithful brother lot from the hand sof his enemies

he has seen God deliver a son from a barren womb, as good as dead

he knows God can calls thing into existence out of nothing, and gives life to the dead

Romans 4:17 “as it is written, “I have made you the father of many nations”—in the presence of the God in whom he believed, who gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist.”

Romans 4:19 “He did not weaken in faith when he considered his own body, which was as good as dead (since he was about a hundred years old), or when he considered the barrenness of Sarah’s womb.”

so can you see how God has provided for Abraham

he provides for the faith,

(God is not just the perfector of it, but the author of it Hebrews 12:2)

the means to grow his faith,

through all of these things,

that would ultimatley give him the confidence, strength of faith to be obedient here?

Can you think about all that God has provided to get your faith to where its at now

The test of faith -

The inevitble question that comes to mind when you are studying this passage for long enough is this:

Could you do it?

could you offer up your child on the altar?

Gut wrenching question,

we know that God would never ask us to do this,

we have his enitre

cinomplet and closed counsel in His word,

there is no neew instruuctions to be given outside of our bibles.

This event was for a unique and particular purpose in His redemptive plan,

to set up a maginifecent Gospel image,

a forshadow of what he would do in His own Son,

for us to fix our faith onto.

but...

A popular thing Christians like to ask eachother is -

If someone was holding a Gun to your head, would you deny Christ?

we’ve all rehearsed it in our heads.

There’s a passsage in the Gospels where Jesus says to his diciples “on this very night you will all fall away from me,

as he is about to be capture to be taken to the cross,

and Peter shouts,

“even if everyone else falls away, I never will!”

“Even if I have to die with you, I will never disown you”

and all the other disciples said the same.

.

and we know that Peter denied JEsus 3 times just as Jesus said he would.

he overestimated his own faith big time.

he denied Jesus to a little girl who ask him, hey weren’t you with him?

even to her he says, warming his hands by the fire, he never knew the guy

.

Peter was weak in the faith

he was one known to shrink back under persecution

.

but at the end of his life,

God had so worked in his faith,

that he went to the cross for his faith

upside down

.

do you see Gods work in his people?

Ha ve you notcied His work in you?

what have you been through?

How has he shown you His faithfulness in your life?

.

God is at work in your faith. Growing your trust in him

If you have true faith,

even perhaps the faith of a mustard seed.

it is a faith that God will grow, and strengthen, and would work in such a way to bring it to completion.

Philippians 2:13 “for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.”

Philippians 1:6 “And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.”

So the tests we face may show us where we are at

and they will show us our progress

or better stated,

His progress in us.

because it is him who provides.

okay solets properly zone in on,

and come present to this story.

Abraham and Isaac are travelling to make a sacrifice to the Lord

and by the way,

God wants a burnt offering

and sin offering

Levitcus tells us this is this is the offering made to atone,

to cover over sin

Genesis 22:4 “On the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes and saw the place from afar.”

it was a 3 days journey. (I wonder if there’s any significance to that)

Every one of these days must have been suffering for Abraham.

Some commentors mention that he must have walked with his head down,

the shame of what he must have felt in his heart for what he must do to his son

when he lifted up his eyes, to see the place God had appointed, his heart must have sank.

Genesis 22:5 “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.””

Now here is where they stop, and we do get a glimpse into Abrahams thoughts for a moment

Look carefully, I wonder if you caught this

The word “come” in the phrase “come again to you” is plural.

in other words, you could read this as, we will come again to you

and we can have confidence in this interpretation because,

the infallible rule for interpreting scripture, is other scripture:

lets go to our partner passage for this:

Hebrews 11:1–3 “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. For by it the people of old received their commendation. By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible.”

Hebrews 11:8–19 ESV

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. By faith he went to live in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, living in tents with Isaac and Jacob, heirs with him of the same promise. For he was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God. By faith Sarah herself received power to conceive, even when she was past the age, since she considered him faithful who had promised. Therefore from one man, and him as good as dead, were born descendants as many as the stars of heaven and as many as the innumerable grains of sand by the seashore. These all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth. For people who speak thus make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. If they had been thinking of that land from which they had gone out, they would have had opportunity to return. But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city. By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises was in the act of offering up his only son, of whom it was said, “Through Isaac shall your offspring be named.” He considered that God was able even to raise him from the dead, from which, figuratively speaking, he did receive him back.

This gives us confidence to know, that Abraham believed that ,

‘Gods promises to him were stronger than the power of death”

He believed, in salvation from this situation, by resurrection.

ultimately thats his spiritual hope

sounds like a Christian to me

He believed that somehow, some way, God would provide,

for his sin

Genesis 22:6 “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.”

So Abraham and Isaac left their company

The Father… and the Son

Isaac, The Son, carried the alter on his back, the wood to which he would be bound

Abraham, the Father, the fire and the knife (wrath/ judgement, the knife/to cut off)

and the went up the mountain together, to settle a debt with God for Sin.

there is thing to say for which we dont have time,

about how God uses the fire and the knife to judge,

or to sanctify his own.

refine them, prune them.

images set up in other parts of scripyure,but we’ll leave that

So the verse says... they went both of them together.”

here we have to wonder, at what point did Isaac catch on to what was happening here.

to what he was about to go through

Genesis 22:7 “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?””

The interaction between Abraham and Isaac here is heart wrenching

These are real people,

this is a real situation,

this isn’t one of the parable Jesus tells.

this is biblical History, meaning, we have more confidence of this event than we do than any other historical report at this time, because

God is telling us this story, through Moses

A Father, whom loves His son,

His only Son,

The patiently awaited promised one, asks him,

Father, who is going on this alter.

Abraham simply responds with the comfort of his faith

Genesis 22:8 “Abraham said, “God will provide

...for himself

...the lamb

...for a burnt offering,

...my son.”

...So they went both of them together.”

on that half of the cross, looking forward, This was the Gospel.

Where is the sacrifice for our sins?

because as far as I can see, the only thing i can see going on that alter in absence of that, is me..

Hebrews 10:1–4 “For since the law has but a shadow of the good things to come instead of the true form of these realities, it can never, by the same sacrifices that are continually offered every year, make perfect those who draw near. Otherwise, would they not have ceased to be offered, since the worshipers, having once been cleansed, would no longer have any consciousness of sins? But in these sacrifices there is a reminder of sins every year. For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.”

The sacrifices the Jews did were only ever about living in the land, securing the blessing God made them by the law against the curses otherwise.

but where is the sacrifice, that makes me right before God?

God will provide

…for himself

…the lamb

...for a burnt offering

…my son

Hebrews 10:11–14 tells us that

Christ is the single Sacrifice

for all sins,

for all time,

for those who believe in Him

so What hope does all of this offer Abraham and Isaac in this moment going up that mount?

Isaac is essential to all Gods promise to Abraham,

but as far as they can tell, Isaac is going on that altar,

and I think Isaac submits to that

willingly...

and we can see that reality the next verse

Genesis 22:9 “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.”

No further dialogue between the two

No resistance to being bound up against the wood of the alter

willingly submitting to the altar,

because he also believed in God.

Genesis tells in Ch 15:6, when God made a promise to Abraham

“and he believed the Lord, and He counted it to him as righteousness”

We are justified by faith alone,

and the works here are simply the faith on display.

the fruit of faith

The righteousness counted to those who believed, is Christs righteousness.

it vcomes from outside of ourselves,

from another,

A righteousness we could never pretend to attain by our efforts.

we all fall short, all the time,

so the Gospel is that God provides,

and He does

Scripture alone tells us, it is Faith alone, in Christ alone, in Gods grace alone, that saves us for His Glory alone

So here we are.

unless God provides,

Isaac is going on the altar for His own sins.

and God has the right to take his life,

for the wages of sin is death,

and we are all in sin.

Genesis 22:10 “Then Abraham reached out his hand and took the knife to slaughter his son.”

let us feel the anguish in the Fathers heart, wrenching in his soul, mustering the strength to do this to His own son

the fear in Isaacs eyes, his heart beating, anticipating judgement,

this is so hard to read.

Genesis 22:11 “But the angel of the Lord called to him from heaven and said, “Abraham, Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.””

Christ intercedes!

It says an “Angel of the Lord”, but I can confidently prove this to your from the text:

Listen to the way he speaks

Genesis 22:12 “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.””

here is the climax...

God steps in for sinners,

and the faith of Abraham is truly on display

Genesis 22:13 “And Abraham lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, behind him was a substitute...

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.”

For their guilt

must be an unblemished Ram

This ram takes the place of Isaac on that altar.

scripture would call Christ the horn of our salvation

did not Christ where a thistles upon his head on the cross?

does scripture not tell us that throns is the imagery for sin, in the bible?

Bearing our sins, our curse, on his head,

was not the fire, the wrath of God poured out on His son, His only Son whom he loved,

so that he.. may.. provide.. for.. us..

Genesis 22:14 “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.””

Salvation came to Isaac and Abraham that day, in a very real way

This was the Gospel. for the all those looking forward, in history for the cross,

for us, we know say something different, looking back, the same Gospel we trust in is:

The Lord has provided

and as it was said at the time Moses has written the story

as it is said to this day, “On the mount of the Lord it shall be provided.””

as it is was said that day, they were awaiting the sacrifice of the promised one.

the promised Son

would would be the single sacrifice for all time,

for all His people who believe in him

Genesis 22:15 “And the angel of the Lord called to Abraham a second time from heaven”

and here again we have more biblical evidence that it was Christ who interceded, listen to the way the messenger, the voice of God speaks

Genesis 22:16 “and said, “By myself I have sworn, declares the Lord, because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son,”

speaking in first person...

Genesis 22:18 “and in your offspring shall all the nations of the earth be blessed, because you have obeyed my voice.””

Lets be clear here:

Abraham was not obedient with his moral performance in life,

neither did this physical act of obedience guarantee his salvation,

that was already guaranteed when he “believed God”

Whats happening here, is that God has so worked a faith in Abraham,

Hebrews 12:2 (New International Version): "fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith.

providing everything his faith needed to strengthen his faith to such a point,

that the fruit of it was put on display,

This is Gods work.

Abraham is the vessel, God is the potter

in such a way that it created a magnificent gospel image,

and would show us that Abrahams faith had reached a strength beyond the fear of death,

a faith providing: unshakeable peace, Joy, Love,

and this faith, made him obedient to the Gospel

For this is the way Peter speaks of the limits of our obedience to God.

we talked before about us forgetting that God is the perfector of our faith,

not us,

or maybe you fall into the trap of believing that you are the author of your faith,

that somehow, it came about by your power,

and that your success relies on your work rather than His,

that would be a Gospel that does not give us enough hope.

Our works, are only ever merely the product,

of His.. work… in.. us...

and he gets all the Glory

because the only obedience,

that was ever sufficient enough,

to secure salvation,

was the obedience of Christ.

and the faith of Abraham,

is the manner in which,

we may be made sons of him,

we may be saved

This is the faith the father seeks,

and provides for himself in you

If you have believein Christ,

if you been given even a mustard seed of saving faith in Christ,

The you can be assured

God provides:

Faithfulness in place of your faithfulness

He provides even when you fail to

He succeeds even when we fail

God provides

Everything that we need to grow in faith

the Word

Filled with his promises, his testimonies

The works

the challenges, the grace

The prayer,

the mediator

the helper

The Church

to comfort

God provides the Saviour

THe sacrifice inHis perfect son

he success, in his Obedience on out behalf

I urge you unbeliever,

do not remain on the altar for your sins

See the knife coming down on the altar

see the Saviour that God offers you freely

repent of your sin,

believe in this Saviour,

come to Him in faith,

recieve forgiveness and eternal life in Him,

Let us pray.+