I Will

Be Faithful

Genesis 22:1–14 NRSV

1 After these things God tested Abraham. He said to him, “Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” 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 that I shall show you.” 3 So Abraham rose early in the morning, saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him, and his son Isaac; he cut the wood for the burnt offering, and set out and went to the place in the distance that God had shown him. 4 On the third day Abraham looked up and saw the place far away. 5 Then Abraham said to his young men, “Stay here with the donkey; the boy and I will go over there; we will worship, and then we will come back to you.” 6 Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on his son Isaac, and he himself carried the fire and the knife. So the two of them walked on together. 7 Isaac said to his father Abraham, “Father!” And he said, “Here I am, my son.” He said, “The fire and the wood are here, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?” 8 Abraham said, “God himself will provide the lamb for a burnt offering, my son.” So the two of them walked on together. 9 When they came to the place that God had shown him, Abraham built an altar there and laid the wood in order. He bound his son Isaac, and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. 10 Then Abraham reached out his hand and took the knife to kill his son. 11 But the angel of the Lord called to him from heaven, and said, “Abraham, Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” 12 He said, “Do not lay your hand on the boy or do anything to him; for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me.” 13 And Abraham looked up and saw a ram, caught in a thicket by its horns. Abraham went and took the ram and offered it up as a burnt offering instead of his son. 14 So Abraham called that place “The Lord will provide”; as it is said to this day, “On the mount of the Lord it shall be provided.”

This is the word of God for the people of God.

Thanks be to God.

I WILL: BE FAITHFUL

Genesis 22:1–14

Church, last Sunday, we stood in the wilderness with Hagar.

We watched a mother clutch her son with tears in her eyes as she wandered into a future she never chose. We felt the sting of rejection. We heard the cries of Ishmael. We saw God meet them in the wilderness with a promise that even when people cast you away, God never does.

But when the story ended, another person was left standing in silence.

Abraham.

Genesis never tells us what happened after Hagar and Ishmael disappeared over the horizon. Did he stand there watching until they were no longer visible? Did he lie awake replaying Sarah's demand in his mind? We aren't told.

But we are told enough to know this:

A father had just lost a son.

No, Ishmael had not died. But grief isn't always caused by death. Sometimes grief comes because someone you love is no longer part of your everyday life.

Some of you understand that kind of grief.

A child moves away.

A friendship changes.

A marriage ends.

A loved one enters a nursing home.

The relationship changes, and your heart still mourns.

Before Abraham has time to process that loss...

before the dust from Ishmael's footprints has even settled...

God speaks again.

That reminds me of something I've noticed about life.

Some losses come one at a time.

Others seem to travel in pairs.

You finally recover from one crisis only to discover another one waiting on the other side.

You survive the surgery, and then the diagnosis changes.

You bury one loved one, and before you've learned how to grieve, someone else gets sick.

Sometimes life doesn't even give us enough time to catch our breath.

Have you ever whispered,

"Lord...

haven't I already been through enough?"

I imagine Abraham asking that very question.

He has already watched one son disappear into the wilderness.

Now the God who gave him the son that remained says,

"Take your son...your only son...whom you love...Isaac."

Notice how slowly God speaks.

Every phrase lands like another blow.

Your son...

your only son...

whom you love...

Isaac.

Can you imagine what must have gone through Abraham's mind?

"Lord...

not again."

If last week's sermon invited us to stand beside Hagar...

today we stand beside Abraham.

Because Genesis 22 isn't simply the story of a father asked to sacrifice his son.

It is the story of a man whose faith is tested at the very place where he has already been wounded.

And perhaps that's how God often tests us—not where we're strongest, but where we're most vulnerable.

Genesis says,

"After these things God tested Abraham."

Notice something remarkable.

The narrator knows it's a test.

We know it's a test.

Abraham doesn't.

We know there's a ram coming.

Abraham doesn't.

We know Isaac will walk back down the mountain.

Abraham doesn't.

To Abraham, this doesn't feel like a test.

It feels like another loss.

Another impossible request from the God who made an impossible promise.

Psychologists tell us that after significant loss people often become hypervigilant.

Once you've lost something precious, every late-night phone call raises your anxiety. Every doctor's appointment feels heavier because you've learned how quickly life can change.

I wonder if Abraham felt that way.

He has already watched Ishmael disappear into the wilderness.

Now every step toward Mount Moriah must have felt like history repeating itself.

But beneath Abraham's grief...

another struggle is taking place.

The struggle for control.

If you've been with us throughout this series, you've probably noticed something.

Abraham loves God.

There is no question about that.

But Abraham also has a habit of trying to help God.

Think back over his story.

When famine came, Abraham ran to Egypt instead of trusting God to provide.

When Pharaoh asked about Sarah, Abraham lied because he thought he had to protect himself.

Years later, he did the very same thing with Abimelech.

When God promised a son, Abraham and Sarah decided maybe Hagar could help God fulfill His promise.

Over and over again...

God made promises.

Abraham made plans.

Think about Abraham's story.

When famine came...

Abraham ran to Egypt.

When Pharaoh threatened him...

Abraham lied.

Years later, when Abimelech threatened him...

he lied again.

When God promised a son...

Abraham and Sarah decided Hagar could help God fulfill His promise.

Every time Abraham became afraid...

he reached for control.

Every time God made a promise...

Abraham made a plan.

Every time Abraham tried to protect God's promise...

life became more complicated.

Before we're too hard on Abraham...

isn't that exactly what we do?

We pray...

and then we panic.

We trust God...

and then we start calculating.

We ask God to open a door...

then spend all week trying to kick it open ourselves.

(Light smile.)

Can anybody besides your pastor testify that you've made situations more complicated trying to help God?

Church...

there comes a moment when faith finally says,

"Lord...

You don't need my assistance.

You simply ask for my trust."

Before we're too hard on Abraham...

isn't that exactly what we do?

When our health changes, we try to control every outcome.

When money gets tight, we begin calculating every possible scenario.

When people we love are hurting, we think it's our responsibility to fix everything.

Control makes us feel useful.

Control makes us feel safe.

Control gives us the illusion that if we hold on tightly enough, we can keep life from falling apart.

The problem is...

every time Abraham tried to help God...

he made things more complicated.

Can anybody besides your pastor testify that you've done the same thing?

(Light smile.)

We've prayed...

and then immediately gotten in God's way.

We've asked God to open a door...

then spent all week trying to kick it open ourselves.

(Light laughter.)

Church, there comes a moment when faith finally says,

"Lord...

You don't need my assistance.

You simply ask for my trust."

That's what Genesis 22 is really about.

God isn't trying to discover whether Abraham loves Isaac.

God already knows that.

God is revealing whether Abraham has finally learned that the promise depends on God...

not Abraham.

For twenty-five years Abraham has been trying to hold God's promise together.

On Mount Moriah, God teaches him that the Promise Keeper never needed Abraham's protection.

So Abraham rises early the next morning.

He saddles the donkey.

He cuts the wood.

And he begins the three-day journey.

Three days to think.

Three days to question.

Three days to turn around.

And during all three days...

heaven is silent.

Some of us know what that silence feels like.

You've prayed.

You've waited.

You've searched the Scriptures.

And heaven seems quiet.

But silence is not absence.

Sometimes God says His greatest things after saying nothing at all.

Faith isn't built on explanations.

Faith is built on relationship.

Abraham doesn't understand what God is doing.

But after twenty-five years of walking with God...

he knows who God is.

Sometimes that's enough to take the next step.

When they reach the mountain, Abraham tells the servants,

"Stay here with the donkey. The boy and I will go over there to worship, and we will come back to you."

Did you hear that?

"We will come back."

Abraham doesn't know how.

He simply believes that if God made the promise through Isaac, then somehow God will keep the promise through Isaac.

The writer of Hebrews tells us Abraham believed God could even raise the dead.

No one had ever seen a resurrection.

There was no precedent.

No example.

Abraham simply believed that if God needed to do something He had never done before...

God was able.

Then comes one of the most tender conversations in all of Scripture.

"My father."

"Here I am, my son."

Isaac says,

"The fire and the wood are here...but where is the lamb?"

What a question.

Abraham could have changed the subject.

Instead he gives one of the greatest confessions in all of Scripture.

"God Himself will provide the lamb."

Notice what Abraham doesn't say.

He doesn't say,

"I understand."

He doesn't say,

"I've got this all figured out."

He simply says,

"God will provide."

Church, sometimes the most faithful words you'll ever speak are not,

"I understand."

Sometimes the most faithful words you'll ever speak are,

"I know God."

There's a world of difference.

Abraham and Isaac continue walking together.

The Bible says,

"When they came to the place that God had shown him, Abraham built an altar there and arranged the wood."

Notice how slowly Moses tells the story.

He doesn't rush.

Neither should we.

Abraham gathers the stones.

He arranges the wood.

Every movement feels deliberate.

Every step feels heavy.

Then comes one of the most difficult verses in all of Scripture.

"He bound his son Isaac and laid him on the altar."

Can you imagine Abraham's hands trembling?

Can you imagine Isaac searching his father's face?

The text never tells us that Isaac resisted.

In fact, many scholars believe Isaac was old enough and strong enough to resist if he had wanted to.

Instead...

he trusted his father.

Isaac trusted Abraham...

while Abraham was learning to trust God.

That's how faith has always been passed down.

Many of you have already raised your children and now watch your grandchildren growing up.

Your greatest testimony isn't what you've accumulated.

It's whether your children and grandchildren can look at your life and say,

"Through every season...

Grandma trusted God.

Granddaddy trusted God."

That kind of legacy lasts long after we're gone.

Abraham lays Isaac on the altar.

The very place where the promise appears to end.

But here's what I want you to see.

I don't believe God ever wanted Isaac.

God had already promised that His covenant would continue through Isaac.

God wasn't changing His mind.

The question was never whether Isaac would live.

The question was whether Abraham trusted God more than he trusted the promise.

You see...

Isaac had quietly become more than Abraham's son.

He had become Abraham's security.

His future.

His evidence.

His visible proof that God keeps His promises.

Without realizing it, Abraham's faith had become attached to what he could hold instead of the One who had spoken.

Church, isn't that exactly what happens to us?

God blesses us with family...

and family becomes our security.

God blesses us with financial stability...

and suddenly our confidence shifts from God to our bank account.

God blesses us with good health...

until one diagnosis reminds us how fragile life really is.

Even God's blessings can quietly take God's place.

That's why this story is so unsettling.

God wasn't exposing Abraham's disobedience.

He was exposing Abraham's dependence.

God wasn't asking for Isaac.

He was asking for Abraham's grip.

Can I ask you to do something?

Make a fist.

Go ahead.

Imagine everything you love is inside your hand.

Your family.

Your future.

Your health.

Your plans.

Now squeeze tightly.

That's how many of us live.

We grip everything because we believe if we hold on tightly enough, we can keep life from changing.

But closed fists can't receive anything.

Now slowly open your hand.

That's faith.

The closed fist says,

"I have to keep this alive."

The open hand says,

"The God who gave it...

is faithful enough to sustain it."

Church...

that's what God was after on Mount Moriah.

Not Isaac.

Abraham's grip.

Because the promise had never depended on Abraham's hands.

It had always depended on God's faithfulness.

Then the Bible says,

"Abraham reached out his hand and took the knife."

Can you imagine the silence?

And just before the knife falls...

"Abraham! Abraham!"

What a beautiful interruption.

One word from heaven changes everything.

"Do not lay your hand on the boy."

God didn't learn something new about Abraham that day.

Abraham learned something new about God.

And perhaps something new about himself.

Sometimes the greatest purpose of a test is not to reveal our faith to God.

It is to reveal God's faithfulness to us.

Then Abraham lifted up his eyes.

Church, maybe that's what God is saying to somebody this morning.

You've been carrying a burden God never asked you to carry.

You've been trying to hold your family together.

Trying to hold your future together.

Trying to hold your health together.

Trying to hold everyone else together.

And you've become exhausted.

Not because God has failed you...

but because you've been carrying something that belongs to Him.

For twenty-five years Abraham had been trying to hold God's promise together.

On Mount Moriah, God finally teaches him something He had been trying to teach him all along.

The Promise Keeper never needed Abraham's protection.

Church, hear me.

God doesn't ask us to carry His promises.

He asks us to trust them.

That's a tremendous difference.

Faith isn't taking responsibility for what only God can do.

Faith is releasing into God's hands what was never ours to control in the first place.

Church, sometimes that's the hardest thing to do.

Fear makes us stare at the problem.

Grief makes us stare at the loss.

Anxiety makes us stare at the altar.

But faith eventually lifts its eyes.

And when Abraham looked up, there was a ram caught in the thicket.

Don't miss this.

The ram didn't suddenly appear.

God's provision was already on the mountain before Abraham ever arrived.

Abraham simply couldn't see it yet.

How many times have you looked back over your life and realized that while you thought God was silent...

He was already working?

That's why Abraham named the place,

"The Lord Will Provide."

Not,

"The Lord Explained Everything."

Not,

"The Lord Answered Every Question."

Simply,

"The Lord Will Provide."

Because Abraham discovered something on that mountain.

The promise had never depended upon Abraham.

It had always depended upon God.

That has been the message of this entire series.

Week after week God has said,

"I will."

"I will bless."

"I will provide."

"I will remember."

"I will fulfill My promise."

Today God quietly asks one question in return.

Will you trust Me?

Will you trust Me when My commands don't make sense?

Will you trust Me when you can't see the outcome?

Will you trust Me enough to open your hands?

Because faithfulness is not understanding everything God is doing.

Faithfulness is trusting the God who has never failed.

And church, there is one more mountain.

On Mount Moriah, Isaac carried the wood but did not die.

On Mount Calvary, Jesus carried the cross and did.

Isaac was spared.

Jesus was not.

Because what God would not require of Abraham, God was willing to do Himself.

When Isaac asked,

"Where is the lamb?"

Abraham answered,

"God Himself will provide."

Centuries later, John the Baptist pointed to Jesus and declared,

"Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world."

Do you know what changed on Mount Moriah?

God didn't change.

The promise didn't change.

Isaac didn't change.

Abraham changed.

He walked up the mountain believing he had to protect God's promise.

He walked down the mountain convinced that God's promise had been protecting him all along.

Church, Abraham climbed Moriah carrying the promise.

He came down trusting the Promise Keeper.

May we do the same.