When Faith is Put to the Test

Genesis 22:1-19

INTRODUCTION

There are some tests in life you can prepare for.

You know when they are coming. You know what is expected. A student knows the test is Friday, so he studies. An athlete knows the game is coming, so he practices.

But some of life's greatest tests don't announce themselves.

The phone rings…

The doctor walks into the room…

A relationship changes…

A door you thought God was opening suddenly closes…

Something you've prayed for begins slipping out of your hands.

And suddenly you discover that the real test isn't simply:

“What do I know about God?”

The real test is:

“Will I trust what I know about God when I don't understand what God is doing?”

That's where Abraham finds himself in Genesis 22.

We've been walking with Abraham for a long time.

Genesis 12—God called Abraham to follow Him.

Genesis 15—God promised him a son.

Genesis 16—Abraham became impatient and tried to accomplish God's promise his own way.

Genesis 17 and 18—God confirmed the promise.

Genesis 20—Abraham stumbled again.

Then finally, in Genesis 21—

Isaac arrived.

For roughly twenty-five years, Abraham waited for this boy. He finally held in his arms the promise of God.

And last week Genesis 21 ended with Abraham worshipping:

“the LORD, the everlasting God.”

El Olam.

Abraham has learned that circumstances change, people change, and Abraham himself changes—

But God does not change.

And he's going to need everything he has learned about God for what happens next.

Verse 1 says:

“And it came to pass after these things, that God did tempt Abraham…”

The word tempt here means to test or prove. God isn't tempting Abraham to commit evil. James 1:13 makes clear that God does not tempt men with evil.

James 1:13 KJV 1900

13 Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man:

This is a test. “I cannot imagine a greater test than that which the Lord applied to Abraham. The Jews usually say that Abraham was tried ten times. Surely on this occasion he was tried ten times in one.” (Spurgeon)

The announcement in the opening line of chapter 22 that God was testing Abraham serves to cushion the reader from the shock that follows. How painful this story would be to read for the first time without the knowledge that it was a test.

Also, the understanding that this is a test alerts us to the truth that growth in faith involves testing. As God tests our faith, it is stretched and thereby grows. Here Abraham’s faith was going to be stretched to the utter limit, and because he held firm, his faith has become the grand faith-example in history.

We see from this that the way to increase faith is to exercise faith. Trust God as you can, and he will give you so much more than you expected—and then you will trust him even more! It is also important to see that this test came after substantial spiritual growth and blessing. Abraham’s recent success and growth was the ground for greater testing and growth.

We know it was a test, but Abraham did not

God says:

“Abraham:”

And Abraham responds:

“Behold, here I am.”

He has no idea what God is about to ask.

Then comes verse 2:

“Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest…”

For more than twenty-five years, Abraham has been learning to trust God. Now that faith will be tested.

It is one thing to follow God when He says:

“I am going to give you a son.”

It is another thing entirely when God says:

“Now give that son back to Me.”

Would you notice one test revealing four characteristics of genuine faith.

I). Faith Obeys When God's Command Is Difficult - (Vs. 1-3)

Listen again to the language of verse 2: (Vs. 2)

Every phrase seems to make the command heavier.

Thy son.

Thine only son.

Isaac.

Whom thou lovest.

Isaac isn't merely Abraham's son. He was Abraham’s only son by virtue of Ishmael’s departure some fourteen to sixteen years earlier… (The same word for “boy” (vs. 5, 12) - as was used for Ishmael when he was a teenager

Teenager Isaac had been his laughter for a decade and a half. And as the child of the promise, everything was focused on him. Abraham loved him with aching parental love, the kind that hurts.

Those sweet, endearing terms are followed by unmitigated horror. (Vs. 2b)

Three simple unqualified imperatives—“Take,” “go,” “offer him”—are the bare structure of the command

Isaac is God's promise.

God had already said:

“In Isaac shall thy seed be called.”

So from Abraham's perspective, the command and the promise seem impossible to reconcile.

How can Isaac die if God's promise lives through Isaac?

Three simple unqualified imperatives—“Take,” “go,” “offer him”—are the bare structure of the command

Yet notice Abraham's response.

(Vs. 3a)

No recorded argument.

No bargaining.

No delay.

Abraham gets up and obeys.

We've seen those words before.

In Genesis 21, when God told Abraham to send Hagar and Ishmael away:

“And Abraham rose up early in the morning…”

“But there is not a word of argument; not one solitary question that even looks like hesitation. ‘God is God,’ he seems to say, and it is not for me to ask him why, or seek a reason for his bidding. He has said it: ‘I will do it.’” - C.H. Spurgeon

Now the command is even more painful, and Abraham responds the same way.

Compare that with Lot in Genesis 19:

“And while he lingered…”

Lot lingered when God told him to leave Sodom. Abraham rises early when God tells him to climb Moriah.

What a picture of Abraham's growth.

Earlier in his life, when Abraham became afraid, he tried to protect himself.

When God's promise seemed delayed, he tried to accomplish it himself.

But this Abraham has learned something:

God can be trusted.

Spiritual maturity isn't reaching the place where God's commands are always easy.

It's reaching the place where God's character has become so trustworthy that obedience doesn't require an explanation first.

Jesus said:

John 14:15 KJV 1900

15 If ye love me, keep my commandments.

Faith eventually has to say:

“God has spoken. That's enough.”

But don't misunderstand Abraham's obedience. Faith doesn't mean this didn't hurt.

God specifically says: “Isaac, whom thou lovest.”

Abraham loved this boy. Strong faith doesn't mean we don't cry. It doesn't mean loss doesn't hurt. It doesn't mean obedience is painless.

“Faith isn't the absence of emotion. Faith is obedience in the middle of emotion.” - Unknown

Abraham saddles the donkey, takes two servants, takes Isaac, splits the wood and starts toward Moriah.

He has passed the first test.

God spoke, and Abraham started walking.

But starting the journey and finishing the journey are two different things.

II). Faith Trusts When God's Plan Doesn't Make Sense - (Vs. 4-8)

(Vs. 4)

Three days.

Three days to think.

Three days to turn around.

Three days for every question imaginable to run through his mind.

Yet Abraham keeps walking.

Then in verse 5 he says something remarkable: (Vs. 5)

Notice: “We will come again.”

Abraham expects Isaac to return.

How?

Hebrews 11:17–19 KJV 1900

17 By faith Abraham, when he was tried, offered up Isaac: and he that had received the promises offered up his only begotten son, 18 Of whom it was said, That in Isaac shall thy seed be called: 19 Accounting that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead; from whence also he received him in a figure.

God said: “Through Isaac.”

Now God says: “Offer Isaac.”

Abraham cannot reconcile those statements, so apparently he concludes:

“If Isaac dies, God will have to raise him.”

Why?

Because God cannot break His Word.

Abraham has never seen a resurrection…

But he knows the God who gave life to Sarah's dead womb can give life to Isaac again. Faith doesn't have to understand God's plan when it is convinced of God's character.

Abraham doesn't know how.

But Abraham knows Who.

(Vs. 6-8)

“That knife was cutting into his own heart all the while, yet he took it. Unbelief would have left the knife at home, but genuine faith takes it.” - C.H. Spurgeon

Significantly the Genesis Rabbah, a pre-Christian Jewish midrash, commented that Isaac with the wood on his back was like a condemned man, carrying his own cross.5 Indeed the image was truly prophetic of Jesus, who John’s Gospel describes as “bearing his own cross, to the place called the place of a skull”

Imagine hearing those words as Abraham…

Isaac’s breaking the silence underscores the father’s silent grief. The literal Hebrew parallel addresses—“my father”/“my son”—emphasizes their tender and mutual affection.

Where is the lamb?”

Abraham answers:

(Vs. 8)

There's the heartbeat of Genesis 22:

God Will Provide.

“This example is for our imitation.… In such straits, the only remedy … is to leave the event to God, in order that he may open a way for us when there is none… We pay Him the highest honour, when, in affairs of perplexity, we nevertheless entirely acquiesce to his providence.” - John Calvin

Abraham doesn't know how. He doesn't know where. But he knows God. And sometimes that's where faith has to stand.

You don't know what tomorrow holds. You don't understand why God allowed something. You can't put all the pieces together.

But you know:

God is good.

God is faithful.

God keeps His Word.

So faith takes another step up the mountain saying:

“I don't know how—but I know Him.”

Abraham has said, “God will provide.”

But saying those words while walking up the mountain is one thing. Living them at the altar is another.

III) Faith Surrenders What It Loves Most - (Vs. 29-12)

(Vs. 9a)

Abraham builds the altar. He arranges the wood. He binds Isaac. He lays him upon the altar. And still— No lamb.

We don't know Isaac's exact age, but he was strong enough to carry the wood up the mountain. Abraham is well over one hundred years old.

There appears to be remarkable submission from Isaac as well. One thing is very clear: Abraham could not have offered Isaac without Isaac’s consent and cooperation.

The son allows himself to be bound by his father.

And verse 10 says: (Vs. 10)

This is the moment.

As far as Abraham is concerned, Isaac belongs completely to God.

(Vs. 11-12)

There's the test.

God wasn't ultimately after Isaac.

God was after Abraham's heart.

Would Abraham love the gift more than the Giver? That's what makes this passage so searching.

Isaac wasn't sinful.

Isaac was a gift from God.

Isaac was an answer to prayer.

Isaac was the fulfillment of God's promise.

“The blessedness of possessing nothing.” — A. W. Tozer

Tozer's point wasn't that Abraham stopped loving Isaac. Abraham could possess Isaac without Isaac possessing Abraham.

“God wasn't removing Isaac from Abraham's life; He was removing Isaac from God's place in Abraham's heart.”

Yet even good gifts can occupy places in our hearts that belong only to God.

Family can.

Money can.

Success can.

Comfort can.

Ministry can.

Even something God Himself gave us can become something we cannot surrender back to Him.

Matthew 10:37–39 KJV 1900

37 He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. 38 And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me. 39 He that findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it.

Jesus isn't telling us not to love our families. The issue is “more than me.”

The test wasn't whether Abraham loved Isaac. God acknowledged that he did. The test was whether Abraham loved God more.

So here's the question:

What is your Isaac?

What is the thing that, if God touched it, would reveal where your confidence really rests?

The issue isn't whether those things matter.

Isaac mattered.

The issue is whether anything matters more than God.

And Abraham has demonstrated that he will withhold nothing. Then he lifts his eyes.

IV). Faith Discovers That God Has Already Provided - (Vs. 13-19)

(Vs. 13a)

Think about that. Abraham has been climbing the mountain wondering how God will provide.

He couldn't see the provision. But God already had it waiting.

(Vs. 13b)

Don't miss those words: “In the stead of his son.”

The ram dies. Isaac lives.

A substitute has taken his place.

And Abraham names that place: “Jehovah-jireh.”

The LORD will provide.

In verse 8, Abraham said by faith:

“God will provide…”

Now Abraham has experienced it.

What he believed walking up the mountain, he saw when he reached the altar.

And I love this thought:

Just because you cannot see God's provision doesn't mean God hasn't already prepared it.

While Abraham was wondering—

God was working.

While Abraham was climbing—

God was preparing.

But there's something even greater here.

Remember Isaac's question:

“Where is the lamb?”

Abraham answered:

“God will provide himself a lamb…”

Yet when Abraham looks behind him, what does he find?

A ram.

So where is the Lamb? That question begins echoing through Scripture. Passover comes. Take a lamb. The Tabernacle is built. Lambs are sacrificed.

The Temple is built. More lambs. Year after year. Generation after generation. But Hebrews tells us those sacrifices could never permanently take away sin.

So the question remains:

“Where is the Lamb?”

Until one day John the Baptist stands beside the Jordan River. He sees Jesus coming.

And John points toward Him and says:

John 1:29 KJV 1900

29 The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.

There is the Lamb. And suddenly Genesis 22 shines with something even greater.

A father.

A beloved son.

The son carries the wood.

The son willingly submits.

But there is one enormous difference. When Abraham raises the knife over Isaac—

Heaven says, “Stop!”

But when Jesus hangs upon the cross— No angel stops it. No substitute appears for Him.

Why?

Because: He is the Substitute.

Romans 8:32 KJV 1900

32 He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?

Isaac walked down Moriah because a ram died instead of him.

We can walk away forgiven because Jesus died instead of us.

That's the gospel.

On Moriah:

God provided a substitute for Abraham's son.

At Calvary:

God provided His Son as the Substitute for us.

And that's why Jehovah-jireh means so much more than simply:

“God will provide financially.” Yes, God cares about our needs. But our greatest need wasn't money. It wasn't health. It wasn't an easier life.

Our greatest need was a Savior.

And Jehovah-jireh provided Him.

CONCLUSION

Abraham climbed Moriah saying:

“God will provide.”

He came down knowing:

God had provided.

And maybe today you're still climbing. You don't understand what God is doing. You can't see the ram. You don't know how the promise and your circumstances fit together.

Genesis 22 reminds us:

You don't have to understand everything God is doing in order to trust everything God is.

When faith is put to the test:

Obey when the command is difficult.

Trust when the plan doesn't make sense.

Surrender what you love most.

Believe that God will provide.

And when you wonder whether God can really be trusted—

Look at the Lamb.

The cross settles the question of His love.

The empty tomb settles the question of His power.

And His Word settles the question of His faithfulness.

The God who provided the ram on Moriah...

Is the God who provided the Lamb at Calvary.

And His name is still:

Jehovah-jireh.

The LORD will provide.