I Surrender
Father’s Day • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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· 4 viewsTrue faith surrenders all to God and trusts His provision.
Notes
Transcript
“Take your son, your only son—yes, Isaac, whom you love so much—and go to the land of Moriah. Go and sacrifice him as a burnt offering on one of the mountains, which I will show you.”
Introduction: Tell story of Abraham & Isaac in real time, minus names.
Genesis 22:1–19 (ESV)
After these things God tested Abraham and said to him, “Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” 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.”
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. On the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes and saw the place from afar.
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.” 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. 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?” Abraham said, “God will provide for himself the lamb for a burnt offering, my son.” So they went both of them together.
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.
Then Abraham reached out his hand and took the knife to slaughter his son. But the angel of the Lord called to him from heaven and said, “Abraham, Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” 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.”
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. 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.”
And the angel of the Lord called to Abraham a second time from heaven and said, “By myself I have sworn, declares the Lord, because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, 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, and in your offspring shall all the nations of the earth be blessed, because you have obeyed my voice.” So Abraham returned to his young men, and they arose and went together to Beersheba. And Abraham lived at Beersheba.
True faith surrenders all to God and then trusts His provision.
Giving Everything to God
Giving Everything to God
As we start with this text, let’s read again vv 1-2:
After these things God tested Abraham and said to him, “Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” 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.”
What is this kind of command? Picture it. Maybe Abraham is sleeping, or perhaps it’s evening and He’s just resting after the day. And God speaks. One word: Abraham!” That’s it. Abraham’s response is to say, “here I am.” I doubt what he heard next was what he anticipated…
“Take your son, the one you love so dearly, go on a camping trip with him, and at the end, slaughter him and burn him up as an offering to me.”
Excuse me? Could he really be hearing this? Notice something right at the beginning of verse 1: It says that after these things, which would be after his covenant treaty with Abimelech, the Word says that God tested Abraham.
Ever had a time of testing in your life? You don’t have to experience sacrificing your kid to know testing. May it was the car dying when you didn’t expect it to. Maybe you’re asked to do something by God that seems like a crazy idea, too much, or unimaginable. Now, take the feelings of that test, frustration, confusion, fear, in-understanding, and relate that to Abraham, but blow it up.
Isaac was the child of promise. He was the one God told Abraham and Sarah they would have, despite them pushing 100 years old. He was the one upon whom Abraham’s hopes were built. He was supposed to be the next in line to a nation of people that would be as numerous as the sand on the shore, or the star in the sky. Almost too many to count. And now God says “Sacrifice him.” It’s not likely Abraham’s going to get a second kick with Sarah at another child. They are over 100 years old at this point. But regardless, this is his son - his only son. The way the text is worded helps us catch the gravity of God’s statement. “Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love…” It must have been hard, but it could have hardly made sense.
What do we make of a command like this? A few hundred years later we read in God’s law that child sacrifice, while a common practice among many cultures, was not to be practiced in Israel.
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.
Our God doesn’t change. Never has God delighted in the sacrifice of human life in worship to him. So, what is this all about? We have the blessing of the entire story - we know God stops this at the last moment - but Abraham doesn’t know it. What is He to do?
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.
What a statement. The Bible doesn’t record a lengthy discussion on the pros and cons of this venture. It doesn’t even record Abraham asking what God was getting at. It does record his obedience, right at the start of the next day. Abraham does as he is commanded, and makes the journey over to the land of Moriah.
How can Abraham do such a thing? Remember our main idea:
True faith surrenders all to God and then trusts His provision.
This is a test - though Abraham doesn’t know it. It doesn’t make sense, how could it make sense? Yet, it was what God asked Abraham to do. So Abraham must do it. Abraham wasn’t some super human. He probably would have had the exact same things running through his head as any of us would have. In fact, the following part of the narrative gives us the impression that the closer Abraham got to the land of Moriah, the hard the journey became, and perhaps the slower he went. But even when God asked him to do something that didn’t make sense, that went against the promises he had from God to prosper his family line, Abraham had to trust God with it, trust him to provide, however that looked. Maybe God would raise Isaac back from the dead, maybe He had some other plan. Regardless, this is what God had asked Abraham to do, to put the most precious thing Abraham had on the altar, to place God’s will, and God’s priorities ahead of his own.
I read this quote that I think puts this passage in perspective:
“What God wanted from Abraham was actually for Abraham to sacrifice his own will, to surrender his will to God by giving up his dearest possession.” - Cornerstone Biblical Commentary, Genesis.
It’s not that God wanted a human sacrifice, but for Abraham to be totally and completely surrendered to Him, trusting in Him to provide. As we read through to verse 8, we see that Abraham makes the journey, arriving three days later. Now, here is an interesting point:
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.”
In Hebrew, this is plural. Other translations help to flesh this out by saying “we will” come back. How could that be? Abraham doesn’t know, but He does trust God. This is demonstrated two verses later:
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?” Abraham said, “God will provide for himself the lamb for a burnt offering, my son.” So they went both of them together.
How did Abraham know this? He didn’t, God hadn’t told him that. Abraham therefore had to trust God, and simply follow God’s lead. How hard this must have been, knowing that even as Isaac asked that question, it was he that was supposed to end up on that alter.
They come to the place, and Abraham does his duty. He builds the alter, he lays the wood, and then the Bible records that he bound Isaac. Now, Isaac is a strapping teenager by this point. Abraham is over 100. Who do you think would win in a fight? So what does this narrative show us? That Isaac was willing to obey his father, and trust him. Wow.
We get so far that Abraham has the knife poised to strike, to end the life of his son so dear out of his devotion to Yahweh first. He will give his son - this most precious one - up for the sake of Yahweh.
It is at this moment that we read:
But the angel of the Lord called to him from heaven and said, “Abraham, Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.”
This time Abraham’s name is spoke twice, indicating the urgency with which this call from heaven comes. Abraham responds with, “Here I am.” But unlike before, where it was simply a response, now it is an exclamation. Think “Here I am!”
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.”
The test is complete. Abraham’s devotion to Yahweh has been proved. This has been a test of Abraham’s faith and love for God. Abraham will not hold anything back from God, not even his only son. He is willing to give God everything.
Would you be willing to do the same? God doesn’t go against His Word, so I highly doubt you’re going to be building physical altar anytime soon. But, are you willing to give everything to God?
Father’s Day is a day to honour our fathers, to think about fatherhood, and hopefully a day to rejoice. So two things: One, think about Abraham’s comment: “The Lord will provide the lamb.” While the main focus of this passage is on faith, we see within this the extraordinary love of our Father by sending His only Son to die for us. Jesus was the lamb that took our place. In response to this - out of our great love for God - can we honestly be willing to give everything up to Him? Dads, are you willing to give everything to
Trusting Him To Provide
Trusting Him To Provide
If the first part of truly loving God is to give Him everything, then the second is to trust in God to provide.
Abraham obeys God. God says “go sacrifice Isaac.” Abraham says (not easily) “ok.” And yet, even as Abraham is going, He trusts that God will provide. We read the in Gen 22 8
Abraham said, “God will provide for himself the lamb for a burnt offering, my son.” So they went both of them together.
This draws us to the end of the story. The test is complete. Abraham has proven that he will hold nothing back from God. We read this finally.
Genesis 22:13–14 (ESV)
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.
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.”
In Hebrew this term “The LORD will provide” is a name for God. Yahweh Yir’eh. On the mountain of the Lord it will be provided. This phrase echoed down through Israel’s history, proclaiming as they sacrificed the provision of the Lord God.
Part of giving everything to God is also trusting Him with the outcome, trusting Him to see the need and provide. Think about it. Abraham couldn’t see the whole plan. Abraham didn’t know it was a test. Abraham simply had to trust God and obey. The test was to see the level of Abraham’s love and faith in God. But Abraham still had a promise from God, as we read early in Genesis 17:
And God said to Abraham, “As for Sarai your wife, you shall not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall be her name. I will bless her, and moreover, I will give you a son by her. I will bless her, and she shall become nations; kings of peoples shall come from her.”
It was upon Isaac that all of the hope of Abraham rested, in the sense that Isaac was the promised one - the son in his old age that would continue on the line. God asks Abraham to give Isaac up - to test Abraham’s priorities. Abraham has to trust that God knows what He is doing, hasn’t forgotten his promises, and will indeed provide.
The focus of this passage is on an obedient servant of God, who is obedient even at great cost, and then receives God’s provision.
It is after this step of faith, after this seemingly great cost - the greatest for Abraham - that God again reiterates his promise:
Genesis 22:15–19 (ESV)
And the angel of the Lord called to Abraham a second time from heaven and said, “By myself I have sworn, declares the Lord, because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, 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, and in your offspring shall all the nations of the earth be blessed, because you have obeyed my voice.” So Abraham returned to his young men, and they arose and went together to Beersheba. And Abraham lived at Beersheba.
It reminds me of another passages, penned much later and yet inspired by the same God:
He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?
God did not spare even His own Son for us, how much more than can we trust Him to see our needs and provide? When we choose to give God everything, to surrender to Him all that we are, all that we have, all that we want to be, will He not in turn also care for our needs, provide, and always be faithful to His promises. Abraham had a choice: He could refuse God, tell Him to get lost because giving up Isaac was more than God was reasonably allowed to ask for. Or Abraham could do as he did in this case, and obey and trust. To deny God this would have serious implications. It was God who had given Isaac in the first place. It was God who had made those promises. Ultimately, it was God upon whom all of Abraham’s hope and future rested. It was God who had proven Himself faithful again and again. Abraham could do not less than obey, if Yahweh was truly Lord for Abraham. To deny God this was essentially to tell God He didn’t have sovereignty over this. While it must have been the hardest thing for Abraham to do, if He truly was committed first and foremost to God, and actually trusted Him, Abraham had to obey. It was not easy. I’m sure to the last moment Abraham was trying to understand. But He trusted God, He had faith that God would provide. And ultimately, He had to place God as his top priority.
True faith surrenders all to God and then trusts His provision.
I read this as I was studying this week:
“True sacrifice that was pleasing to God was a broken heart, his heart broken of self-will and surrendered to God. And that surrender would be expressed in the best that could be given to God.” - Cornerstone Biblical Commentary, Genesis.
As Abraham sacrifices the ram instead of his son, he realized the significance of this ram taking the place of Isaac. God had provided a substitute. It should have been Abraham’s son, but it wasn’t, because God made a way. Yet, Abraham’s will had to be surrendered to God. This was the test of his faith, and Abraham was ready to give the best of what he could offer to God. He demonstrated faith by not holding anything back, and trusting God to provide.
Conclusion
Conclusion
True faith surrenders all to God and then trusts His provision.
God asked everything of Abraham: To sacrifice his son, his only son, whom he loved. To give up the one upon whom the promises of God rested. The promise to make Abraham’s descendants a great people and nation. The promise to bless all the world through Abraham’s descendants. Abraham is asked to lay it all on the altar. And he does.
But, within this test is the realization that Abraham must trust God to provide. True faith is demonstrated in laying all on the altar, and trusting God to provide. And God did, providing the scapegoat - the sacrifice in place of Isaac.
It’s Father’s Day today. Happy Father’s day, by the way. So why focus on Abraham and Isaac for Father’s Day? Because I think if you are a father, grandfather, or you fill that role in someone’s life, God asks us also to give to him everything. Our hopes and dreams, plans and visions, the things we love and cherish most dearly, and he asks us to lay it at the altar before him. Don’t get me wrong, God will not ask you to go against His Word. So I doubt you’d need to be building an physical altar upon which to sacrifice your children. But what will God ask you to do, maybe as a father or grandfather, that might not make sense? Maybe it looks like surrendering your will to God, maybe for how you want your family to be, the career you want to pursue, etc. Maybe you are a father or grandfather with a child or grandchild who doesn’t know Christ. This can be one of the hardest trials for a believing parent or grandparent. But, will you give them up to God? Do you ultimately trusts God’s plan, purpose, and timing? Do you trust Him to be completely just and righteous? - I think this is the big reason for this message.
If you are a Dad, grandfather, or if you fill that role in someone’s life, you fill an integral role. A role that shows us the nature of our God in your protection, provision, love, and care. But one of the best gifts you can give to your family is to model the same servant, surrendered heart to your family that Abraham demonstrated. When you do this, you demonstrate to them real, living, and active faith. It can be hard, especially if you’re the type who wants to provide, protect, etc. But the best way you can do that - as counterintuitive as it may seem - if to surrender to God and trust Him. Be it your kids or grandkids, career, marriage, plans, or possessions. All of this we must give to God. Not blindly. We give it to God with the knowledge that God provides, God sees, God guides, and God protects. In this way, we lead our families well.
So, I want to say thank you. Because I know there’s Dads here, and I have two of my own who have taught me about what it means to surrender and trust God. If you are a father, grandfather, or filling that role in someone’s life, you are doing an incredible work - a God-given role that is integral in each of our lives. I pray that, through thick and thin, you will be able to trust God and obey him as Abraham, did, even as you fiercely love your family, and care for them.