Altars- Abraham & Issac
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This account is probably one of the most prominent acounts of an altar in the Bible
Maybe only second to the altar of the tabernacle/temple
It is a often preached passage
Very well know by many
And there is so much truth packed into this account
As you think through your sitting under the preaching of this passage and your own study of it what truths do you draw from it...
I want to propose to you that this account is the final exam for Abraham as to whether he will trust God.
After this point Abraham’s faith seems to stand what comes at him
He seems to not lapse in his faith as he did in the previous accounts
So then, how is this a test?
Actually the Scriptures tell us right away in verse one that God “tempted” Abraham…a more culturally accurate word there would be that God “tested” Abraham
If we look back over that last few weeks we will notice that the tests seem to be becoming more focused.
Genesis 12:1
Now the Lord had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto a land that I will shew thee: And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.
Leave your nation and your family
Leave your aunts, uncles, parents, siblings, cousins, grandparents, so on....
How does Abraham fair? Fail
Next,
And there was a famine in the land: and Abram went down into Egypt to sojourn there; for the famine was grievous in the land. And it came to pass, when he was come near to enter into Egypt, that he said unto Sarai his wife, Behold now, I know that thou art a fair woman to look upon:
Famine comes and Abrahams trust who? Himself and Egypt
Genesis 12:12-
Therefore it shall come to pass, when the Egyptians shall see thee, that they shall say, This is his wife: and they will kill me, but they will save thee alive. Say, I pray thee, thou art my sister: that it may be well with me for thy sake; and my soul shall live because of thee.
Abraham is put into a situation where his safety is at stake, who does he trust? Himself
Chapter 13 we begin to see the lightbulb coming on for Abraham
Unto the place of the altar, which he had made there at the first: and there Abram called on the name of the Lord.
Abraham returns to calling out to God
He is tested in his relationship to Lot…how does Abraham respond...
Genesis 13:8-
And Abram said unto Lot, Let there be no strife, I pray thee, between me and thee, and between my herdmen and thy herdmen; for we be brethren. Is not the whole land before thee? separate thyself, I pray thee, from me: if thou wilt take the left hand, then I will go to the right; or if thou depart to the right hand, then I will go to the left. And Lot lifted up his eyes, and beheld all the plain of Jordan, that it was well watered every where, before the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, even as the garden of the Lord, like the land of Egypt, as thou comest unto Zoar. Then Lot chose him all the plain of Jordan; and Lot journeyed east: and they separated themselves the one from the other.
Lot, you pick. I trust that regardless what I am left with God will provide.
Then we get to the well known verses in
And he brought him forth abroad, and said, Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them: and he said unto him, So shall thy seed be. And he believed in the Lord; and he counted it to him for righteousness. And he said unto him, I am the Lord that brought thee out of Ur of the Chaldees, to give thee this land to inherit it.
There is the lapse of faith initiated by Sarah that results in the birth of Isaac.
Lets skip ahead a bit.
Now Abraham is challenged to offer his son as a sacrifice.
Now this is where I want you to set aside some of the previous sermons and teachings on this.
Not denounce them or forget, just set them aside for tonight.
But we say, I
I want us to ask some questions of this text
Set aside your American understanding of children and parenting and step into the sandals of Abraham
Besides his beloved son, who was Isaac and what did he represent?
God’s promises…Isaac represented the future of the Jewish people
But in this account I do not want to look at this account for how it affects Israel nationally or even theologically. I want us to look at it from a personal level
Who was Isaac to Abraham…what did he represent to Abraham?
He was his son, we cannot ignore that but culturally our view of children would not be the same as Abrahams
To Abraham Isaac represented God’s belssing
I see my children as a blessing from God but I think even here there is a cultural difference
My children most likely will not take me into their homes and provide for me. Culturally that is not how our families function
We have retirements…Isaac was Abraham’s retirement
Often for someone like Abraham having a son gave him more prominence more stature in the culture
Generally that is not the case.
If I have a lot of children it makes me stick out in our culture but gender is not as big of an issue.
Isaac was more than just his son...
He was Abraham’s future
He gave Abraham more position within his culture
He gave Abraham the potential for grandchildren
He represents Abraham’s legacy
I think that at a deeper level than we understand Isaac was Abraham’s everything.
So yes Abraham is putting the future of the Jewish nation on that altar.
Yes Isaac represents theological truths, promises, and blessings
Yes, I believe that at some level those were understood by Abraham.
But in a very different sense Abraham is personally putting everything on the altar.
This is the passage that comes to mind when we sing “Is Your All On The Altar”
Abraham not only laid the promises of God on that altar, he placed his future, his financial security, his personal safety, his hopes, his dreams
In a much more real sense than we can comprehend Abraham laid EVERYTHING on that altar.
Im not going to get into specifics tonight.
You know what your greatest love is
A
If not you should spend some time assessing or asking others.
Is that greatest love something you may need to lay on the altar?
Abraham put his nation and family on the altar
He put his safety on the altar
He put his relationships on the altar
But here we see him putting EVERYTHING on the altar
All his desires, hopes, and dreams were handed over to God
From this point on Abraham puts his confidence in God not himself
What ares do we need to let go and lay our loves on the altar?
It will be different for each of us…but we all have loves that need to be put into God’s hands