Test of Faith

Text: Gen 22:1-19

Theme: True faith is proven faith

Doctrine: perseverance of the saints

Image: sacrifice

Need: testing of faith

Message: give to God what you most want to keep

A Test of Faith

Genesis 22:1-19

I realise that this may seem like a strange passage to look at for Father's day. What could this story about the willingness of a father to sacrifice his son have to do with celebrating our fathers? This story, I think, is one of the best explications of the love our heavenly father has for us, and I hope to show you why as we take a good look at what is going on here.

Before we dive into this passage I want to recognise how awful this story is to some, perhaps most, people. To many this story makes it very hard to believe in God. We understand the loving, gracious, kind God that people often associate with the New Testament. It is easy to follow someone who taught like Jesus did; that we have to love one another, that we should love our enemies as well as our friends, that we should respond to aggression by turning the other cheek. But what about this God of the Old Testament? He seems like a different God. He seems mean, vindictive, cruel. He demands that those who follow him put entire cities to the sword. And here he demands that a father sacrifice his only remaining son. As a father I cannot imagine what this command would do to me. I could not imagine looking into the eyes of my son, knowing that I was commanded to sacrifice him. I cannot imagine being put through this kind of test.

But this is the test the God gives to Abraham, “Take your son, your only son, Isaac, whom you love, and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains I will tell you about.” Isaac is referred to as Abraham's only son because he was the son of the promise. God told Abraham that his blessing would rest on Isaac. In the ancient near east a man's son is his future. The ties of family and kinship ran deep, so deep that tribes often looked for spouses within their own relations in an attempt to remain pure. For Abraham, Isaac was everything. This child was flesh and blood of both him and Sarah. This child was the result of a miracle birth when Sarah was 90, and Abraham was 100. For Abraham, Isaac was the successor of his family line, the carrier of the family name, the heir to his life. Isaac was the key to the worth of Abraham's life. For in his culture Isaac was the only way Abraham's life would not turn out to be a waste. For, if there were no son of Abraham, then he would pass on his household to one of his slaves, his name, his fame, his impact, would die with him.

As much as we think we are past this kind of feeling, for many fathers having a son is a special event. Having someone who will bear the family name is somewhat special. I am the only son of my father, and so I continue his family line. Asher, then, is his only grandson who carries his name. As much as we think this does not make a difference, it makes ones heart glad to see the family name behind one of your progeny.

We can understand, then, somewhat how Abraham might be feeling when he hears this command from God. We should note, however, that Abraham might not have had the same kind of visceral reaction to the whole idea. For us, even thinking about doing something like this to one of our children might land us in the loony bin. Abraham, however, was surrounded by a different culture. It is hard to know for certain how widespread the practice of child sacrifice was at the time of Abraham, however, there are indications that it was occurring. The prophets condemned Israel for offering their children to idols. In Jeremiah God condemns the people because they “have built the high places of Topheth, ... to burn their sons and their daughters in the fire” (Je 7:31) and “have built the high places of Baal to burn their sons in the fire as burnt offerings to Baal” (Je 19:5). In Ezekiel God condemns Israel, saying, “And you took your sons and your daughters, whom you had borne to me, and these you sacrificed to [idols] to be devoured.” (Ez 16:20). In 2 Kings 16 we hear that Ahaz did not live like his father David did but “he even burned his son as an offering, according to the despicable practices of the nations whom the Lord drove out before the people of Israel.” (2 Ki 16:3). In 2 Kings 21 we read that Mannaseh, king of Judah, “burned his son as an offering” (2 Ki 21:6). There is also extra-Biblical evidence that human sacrifice was practised by the Phoenicians and Canaanites, among whom Abraham was living at this time. “Philo of Byblos says that the Phoenicians had an ancient custom -- 'they offered their dearest children in a way full of mystery' when danger threatened the nation.” (Cited in Eusebius, Praeparatio Evangelica i.10.21, 34, 44.)[1]

Since human sacrifice was practised at the time of Abraham, the test takes on a somewhat different meaning. God is essentially asking Abraham if he trusts his God the same way that the other nations trust their idols. Will Abraham do for the living God what the other nations do for dead wood and stone? So, in one sense this test is not that extraordinary. In another sense, however, this test is extremely difficult. Isaac is not just any son, his is Abraham's only son. Not only this, but he is also the child of the promise, of the covenant. God had promised Abraham that his descendants would be more numerous than the stars of the sky, or than the sand on the seashore. He had also told Abraham that this would come about through his son Isaac, and not Ishmael, or one of his slaves. In this command God seems to be contradicting himself. He seems to be telling Abraham to do something that would make it impossible for him to keep his promise. He seems to be telling Abraham to eliminate the one hope that through Abraham all nations would be blessed. God seems to be telling Abraham to scrap the whole deal.

Can Abraham rely more on God that even his promises? Can Abraham trust the person of God more than his words? Abraham does not have the best track record of trusting only in God. Often times he has done some shady things in order to avoid putting himself in harms way. Twice he passed off his wife as his sister so as to avoid being killed. Will this same man give up every lifeline he has? Can Abraham give up to God his son, his future, his worth, his security, his promised heir, his everything, and simply follow?

This passage moves us through this story dramatically, there is a slow progression as the writer draws us into the action. We are made to feel the anxiety coursing through Abraham as he travelled for three days with two of his servants and his son, we feel the nervousness as he places the wood for the offering on Isaac's back, the incredulity as they climbed the mountain together, as Isaac inquires about the animal for the sacrifice, as Abraham builds the altar, as he lays out the wood on the altar, as he binds his son, as he lays him on the wood on the altar, as he takes out the knife, as he tilts Isaac's head back exposing his throat, as he raises his arm to make the final deliberate stroke. 

Matthew Henry describes the scene this way, “Abraham resolutely forgets the bowels of a father, and puts on the awful gravity of a sacrificer. With a fixed heart, and an eye lifted up to heaven, he takes the knife, and stretches out his hand to give a fatal cut to Isaac’s throat. Be astonished, O heavens! at this; and wonder, O earth! Here is an act of faith and obedience, which deserves to be a spectacle to God, angels, and men. Abraham’s darling, Sarah’s laughter, the church’s hope, the heir of promise, lies ready to bleed and die by his own father’s hand, who never shrinks at the doing of it.”[2]

Then, mercifully, before Abraham could strike the deadly blow a voice cries out from heaven, “Abraham, Abraham. Do not lay a hand on the boy!” Oh, thank God!, we sigh in relief. It turns out God did not want the sacrifice of Isaac after all. If he were asking for the sacrifice of Isaac, he would not have stopped Abraham. God was testing Abraham's faith.

In all of this, Isaac is portrayed as a willing participant. Who knows what Abraham said to his boy, but by this time Abraham was over a hundred years and it would not have taken much for the boy Isaac to avoid this whole catastrophe. But here he is, allowing himself to be offered up by his father. Trusting that this needs to be done, because it is his father's will.

Letting go of all else, and clinging to God resulted in God's promise to Abraham being renewed. Abraham's actions proved that he trusted in God alone, that he was willing to give up everything and follow him. God said to Abraham, “I swear by myself, declares the Lord, that because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, I will surely bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore. ... through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed me.” (Ge 22:16-18).

The world was blessed through Abraham when God's only son was offered in our stead. When John the Baptist was in the wilderness, one day he “saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” (Jn 1:29). This lamb was none other than the only, beloved son of God. During Jesus baptism “a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.” (Mt 3:17). God did not ask anything of Abraham which he was not willing to do himself. God did not withhold his only son whom he loved. God did not leave us in our misery, but worked out a plan of substitution for us. “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”

Jesus, just like Isaac, was a willing participant in this plan of redemption. He willingly offered his life and died to take away our sins because he trusted in his father will. “He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth.” (Is 53:7) Through this sacrifice our sins have been taken away. Through the death of Jesus on the cross, we are given new life. Through our baptism we die to the old life and are raised to new life. When we follow Jesus, we are welcomed into the family of God, we are given eternal life. If we trust in Jesus as our saviour, then we are clothed in his perfection. Following Jesus means letting go of everything else that we hold dear. We cannot place our hope in ourselves, in our business, in our retirement plans, or our spouse, or our children, or anything else. Jesus said, “The person who loves his life will lose it, while the one who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.” 

Could we stand a test of faith such as this? Now, I am not implying that we should sacrifice our children to God, do not misunderstand me. That is not what God wants. He wants to see that you trust in him alone. For many of us in this affluent Western culture, where money is everything, a test of our faith, like the one that came to Abraham, may look like this. “Now a man came up to Jesus and asked, “Teacher, what good thing must I do to get eternal life?” “Why do you ask me about what is good?” Jesus replied. “There is only One who is good. If you want to enter life, obey the commandments.” “Which ones?” the man inquired. Jesus replied, “ ‘Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not give false testimony, honor your father and mother,’ and ‘love your neighbour as yourself.’” “All these I have kept,” the young man said. “What do I still lack?” Jesus answered, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” When the young man heard this, he went away sad, because he had great wealth.” (Mt 19:1-22)

What do we cling to that is preventing us from following Jesus? What do we hold so dear that we will not give it up to God? Where do we place our hope, our trust, our assurance? Do we place it in God? Can we lay everything we have at his feet? Can we take that which we hold most dear and release our control of it? Look at your God this morning. Look at your heavenly father on this father's day. Look at your God who loves you so dearly he has not withheld anything from you, your God who has given everything so that he could be reconciled to you, your God who loves you so much he was willing to give his one and only son, so that whoever believes in him would not perish but have eternal life. Can you give up to God your life, your hands, your feet, your silver, your gold, your mind, your will, your heart, your love, yourself, and simply follow Jesus?

Amen

Let us Pray

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[1][from http://www.jesuswalk.com/abraham/10_sacrifice.htm ]

[2]Matthew Henry, Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible : Complete and Unabridged in One Volume, Ge 22:3 (Peabody: Hendrickson, 1996, c1991).