Genesis 22.3-10-The Significance of Abraham's Obedience to Sacrifice Isaac
Tuesday March 14, 2006
Genesis: Genesis 22:3-10-The Significance of Abraham’s Obedience to Sacrifice Isaac
Lesson # 115
Please turn in your Bibles to Genesis 22:1.
On Thursday evening we studied Genesis 22:1-2, which records God testing Abraham by giving him instructions to sacrifice his beloved son Isaac.
On Sunday morning we studied Genesis 22:3-10, which records Abraham’s obedience to these instructions.
This evening we will study the significance of Abraham’s obedience to God’s command to sacrifice Isaac.
Genesis 22:1, “Now it came about after these things, that God tested Abraham, and said to him, ‘Abraham!’ And he said, ‘Here I am.’”
Genesis 22:2, “He said, ‘Take now your son, your only son, whom you love, Isaac, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I will tell you.’”
Genesis 22:3, “So Abraham rose early in the morning and saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him and Isaac his son; and he split wood for the burnt offering, and arose and went to the place of which God had told him.”
Genesis 22:4, “On the third day Abraham raised his eyes and saw the place from a distance.”
Genesis 22:5, “Abraham said to his young men, ‘Stay here with the donkey, and I and the lad will go over there; and we will worship and return to you.’”
Genesis 22:6, “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 the two of them walked on together.”
Genesis 22:7, “Isaac spoke to Abraham his father and said, ‘My father!’ And he said, ‘Here I am, my son.’ And he said, ‘Behold, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?’”
Genesis 22:8, “Abraham said, ‘God will provide for Himself the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.’ So the two of them walked on together.”
Genesis 22:9, “Then they came to the place of which God had told him; and Abraham built the altar there and arranged the wood, and bound his son Isaac and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood.”
Genesis 22:10, “Abraham stretched out his hand and took the knife to slay his son.”
Abraham’s obedience to God’s command to sacrifice someone as beloved to Abraham as Isaac demonstrated the extent to which Abraham loved God.
Obedience is the supreme test of our love for the Lord.
Abraham is a perfect example of a believer who demonstrated His love for the Lord by His obedience.
John 14:15, “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.”
John 14:21, “He who has My commandments and keeps them is the one who loves Me; and he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and will disclose Myself to him.”
John 14:23, “Jesus answered and said to him, ‘If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our abode with him.’”
John 14:24, “He who does not love Me does not keep My words; and the word which you hear is not Mine, but the Father's who sent Me.”
One thing we notice in this story of Abraham’s obedience to God’s command to sacrifice Isaac was that Abraham did not put his relationship with his beloved son Isaac between him and his relationship with God.
Luke 14:26, “If anyone comes to Me, and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be My disciple.”
Luke 14:27, “Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple.”
Abraham’s obedience to God’s command to sacrifice Isaac demonstrated that he was fulfilling the greatest command in Scripture to love God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength.
Mark 12:28, “One of the scribes came and heard them arguing, and recognizing that He had answered them well, asked Him, ‘What commandment is the foremost of all?’”
Mark 12:29, “Jesus answered, ‘The foremost is, ‘HEAR, O ISRAEL! THE LORD OUR GOD IS ONE LORD.’”
Mark 12:30, “AND YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND, AND WITH ALL YOUR STRENGTH.”
“Love” is the verb agapao (a)gapavw), which refers to the act of honoring, respecting, revering and being dedicated and devoted to God to the point of self-sacrifice.
Abraham loved God to the point of sacrificing someone that he dearly loved, namely, Isaac.
This act is the proper, appropriate, obedient and obligatory response by the believer to God’s revelation of Himself since the believer has been created and redeemed for God’s purpose and good pleasure.
Abraham’s obedience to God’s command to sacrifice Isaac demonstrated his faith or trust in God.
Abraham’s obedience to God’s command to sacrifice his beloved son Isaac was a magnificent demonstration and example for believers to follow after salvation in that it was a work produced by faith.
In the epistle of James, James teaches his readers who were believers that Abraham demonstrated his faith by performing works and when he speaks of works, he is referring to actions that are produced by obedience to God’s commands.
James clearly teaches in James 2:14-26 that Abraham’s obedience to God’s command to sacrifice his beloved son Isaac was a “work of faith,” which justified him before God.
When he speaks of “justified by works” in this passage he means that Abraham’s obedience to sacrifice Isaac justified him before God in the sense that he met God’s approval.
In James, to be justified by works does “not” mean that Abraham had to perform works to be justified before God in relation to his eternal salvation.
This is substantiated by Paul’s teaching in Romans 4 where Paul teaches about justification in relation to eternal salvation meaning that Abraham was justified by his faith in Christ in the sense that he received eternal salvation through faith in Christ.
Romans 4:1, “What then shall we say that Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh, has found?”
Romans 4:2, “For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God.”
Romans 4:3, “For what does the Scripture say? ‘ABRAHAM BELIEVED GOD, AND IT WAS CREDITED TO HIM AS RIGHTEOUSNESS.’”
Romans 4:1-3 is addressed to the Jew and Gentiles who were exposed to the Judaizers who taught that one receives eternal salvation by keeping the Mosaic Law.
James 2:14-24 is addressed to believers challenging them to operated in faith “after” salvation and which faith is demonstrated by obedience to God resulting in good works that are approved by God.
When James speaks of salvation he is referring to the believer’s deliverance experientially after salvation from the sin nature, the devil and his cosmic system whereas when Paul speaks of salvation he is referring to eternal salvation.
Therefore, we see that James speaks of the “works of faith” in James 2 whereas as Paul speaks of the “works of the Law.”
The “works of faith” speaks of works that the believer is to perform after salvation, which will be rewarded at the Bema Seat Evaluation of the Church (see Ephesians 2:10; 1 Corinthians 3:11-15).
The “works of the Law” speaks of an unbeliever attempting to be justified before God and receive eternal salvation by performing human works.
James challenges the believer to obey God and put into practice the Word of God whereas as Paul is addressing those exposed to the teaching of the Judaizers, unbelievers who claim that eternal salvation is received by performing the works of the Law.
James 2:14, “What use is it, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but he has no works? Can that faith save him?”
In the Bible, the term “brethren” is always used as a designation for believers and never unbelievers, thus James is addressing his readers as fellow believers in relation to their walk with God “after” salvation since they are already saved.
Therefore, the term “save” is “not” a reference to eternal salvation but rather the believer’s “deliverance” after salvation from his sin nature, the devil and his cosmic system by obeying the Word of God.
The term “works” is “not” a reference to working for one’s eternal salvation but rather it is a designation for obedience to God resulting in actions that benefit one’s fellow believer.
James 2:15, “If a brother or sister is without clothing and in need of daily food.”
James 2:16, “and one of you says to them, ‘Go in peace, be warmed and be filled,’ and yet you do not give them what is necessary for their body, what use is that?”
James 2:17, “Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead, being by itself.”
Remember, faith in God is demonstrated by obedience to God as was the case in Abraham obeying God in sacrificing Isaac.
Therefore, in James 2:15-17, James teaches his readers that if they do not help their fellow believer who is destitute and in need of the essentials of life, then they are not operating in faith meaning they are disobeying God who commanded to love one another as yourself (Mark 12:28-31).
James 2:18, “But someone may well say, ‘You have faith and I have works; show me your faith without the works, and I will show you my faith by my works.’”
James teaches that a believer’s faith is demonstrated by his works and when he speaks of works, he is referring to his actions that benefit his fellow believer, and which actions are produced by obedience to God’s Word.
James 2:19, “You believe that God is one. You do well; the demons also believe, and shudder.”
James teaches his readers that the demons believe that God is one but they do not produce actions that are the result of obedience to God.
James 2:20, “But are you willing to recognize, you foolish fellow, that faith without works is useless?”
James 2:21, “Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up Isaac his son on the altar?”
Notice that James describes Abraham as “our father” thus he is referring to his readers and himself as believers, which Abraham of course was as well.
Therefore, he is referring to the believer’s walk with God “after” salvation rather than addressing eternal salvation.
Also, James teaches that Abraham was justified by his works.
He then identifies what those works were, namely, the offering of Isaac his son on the altar, which was in obedience to God.
Therefore, we can see that when James uses the term “works” in this passage he is referring to a believer’s actions that are the result of obedience to God’s Word.
When James uses the term “justified,” he is “not” referring to justification in relation to eternal salvation but rather justification in the sense of approval by God for one’s obedience to Him.
James 2:22, “You see that faith was working with his works, and as a result of the works, faith was perfected.”
James teaches that Abraham’s faith produced actions that were in obedience to God and which actions, he calls “works.”
When James uses the term “perfected” he means perfected in the sense of being accomplished.
Therefore, James is teaching that as a result of Abraham’s actions in sacrificing Isaac, and which actions were in obedience to God, the goal of faith was accomplished.
The goal of faith is obedience to God.
James 2:23, “and the Scripture was fulfilled which says, ‘AND ABRAHAM BELIEVED GOD, AND IT WAS RECKONED TO HIM AS RIGHTEOUSNESS,’ and he was called the friend of God.”
James is quoting Genesis 15:6.
As we noted when we studied Genesis 15:6, although, the New Testament writers employ Genesis 15:6 to teach that justification is through faith alone in Christ alone, it does “not” mean that Genesis 15:6 records the moment when Abraham first got saved.
There at least three reasons for this.
First of all, Abraham had already obeyed the Lord’s call to leave Ur and Haran (Acts 7:2-5; Gen. 12:1-5).
Secondly, the Lord had entered into a covenant agreement with him as recorded in Genesis 12:1-3 and 15:4-5, which is something the Lord would never do with an unbeliever.
Thirdly, the perfect tense of the verb `aman, “believed” demonstrates that Abraham’s faith did “not” begin after the events recorded in Genesis 15:1-5 since it represents the state of Abraham trusting in the Lord, which flowed from his initial faith in the Lord the moment he got saved in Ur of the Chaldeans.
Bible Knowledge Commentary, The Old Testament, “Abram’s faith is recorded here because it is foundational for establishing the Abrahamic covenant. The Abrahamic Covenant did not give Abram redemption; it was a covenant made with Abram who had already believed and to whom righteousness had already been imputed” (page 55, Victor Books).
James 2:24, “You see that a man is justified by works and not by faith alone.”
When James uses the term “justified by works” he means that a believer is justified before God in the sense that he is “approved” by God when he produces actions that are in obedience to God.
This obedience demonstrates his faith in God and does “not” refer to justification in relation to eternal salvation.
Abraham was a tremendous example for James’ readers to follow in that Abraham was approved by God because his attempted sacrifice of his beloved son Isaac was in obedience to God’s commands and which obedience demonstrated his faith.
James is not attempting to describe for his readers how they can identify a so-called “genuine” believer but rather he is simply challenging his readers to obey God, which demonstrates their faith and benefits their fellow believer.