In early April, I was blessed to have the chance to preach at my home church in WNY. Having studied the life of Abraham, the patriarch of Judaism, Islam, and Christianity, I was compelled to preach on one of the most significant passages in the Old Testament. In Genesis 22, we find the narrative highlighting God's seemingly unthinkable command to Abraham. But, in order to understand how obedience was even remotely possible, we first looked at a brief history of the man's walk of faith, beginning in Genesis 12. Here God says, "Leave your country, your people and your father's household and go to the land I will show you" (Gen. 12:1, NIV).
In many ways, this call is mirrored in the lives of modern day missionaries. There is a very real sense in which we leave our homes, our relationships with beloved friends and family, and set out on a journey that always begins by faith and often ends in realms unknown. With this in mind let me first comment on our status as it relates to joining the ministry of SIM Ethiopia. We have updated our profile to reflect a transition from "our" country, South Sudan, to a new country to which God has led us. This process will likely begin in earnest after my graduation from seminary.
And, on that note, let me thank all of those faithful supporters who saw formal education as actual ministry. What can you give to students unless you have been equipped? We have also updated our links for giving financial support online. The process in the USA is much easier now. And we have added the possibility of giving from Australia and/or New Zealand.
Now, back to the sermon on Abraham. If you were in church that Sunday, you can skip down to Genesis 22:15 because you heard the first fourteen verses expounded. Also note that I have made a manuscript of the spoken words of the sermon, so you'll have to imagine you're in an audience or sanctuary as you read!
"Please turn in your Bibles to the
book of Genesis, the first book of the Hebrew Bible and our Old Testament, to
chapter 22. Here we find the narrative
about Abraham and the offering of his son Isaac. And I know at the outset that this story is a
familiar one... and so, we risk overlooking some very important details because
of that familiarity. When we think we
know what a passage says, we often glaze over it without much concentration or
concerted effort to get to its meaning.
In order to get there... to get the meaning of any biblical text, we
desperately need the help of the Holy Spirit.
So let's start in prayer.
PRAY
I
trust that you've found your place in Genesis 22 and we'll read the entire
passage from verses 1 to 18 before we look at the background material as to why
this narrative is so important, not only for the ancient Hebrew recipient, but
for the modern believer as well.
READ Genesis 22:1-18 (NASB)
What
a remarkable passage! Verse 1 gives us
our first clue that the storyline has already been introduced. Indeed, in order to grasp the truly gripping
nature of what we just read, we will be helped by a review of the preceding
context as outlined in Genesis 1-21.
Let's take a brief look at why the “Seed of Abraham”, at why the boy
Isaac, is so very important.
(Creation – Fall
– Cycle of Sin and Grace)
The
first important note is that Genesis 1-11 covers hundreds of years of human
history... maybe thousands of years. As we move further and further away from creation, we notice that human corruption becomes increasingly strong. However, we are made aware by the text that a cyclical pattern of "more sin = more grace" is God's response to the growing problem. (Note that this happens in the life of Adam, Cain, and Noah leading to Genesis 11.) At the Tower of Babel, at the end of chapter 11, we are
waiting for the cycle to complete itself once again, but the text only leads us to one
man. And we'll see how this one man is a
picture of God's grace to all mankind.
Remember
now that the narrator is Moses (who is also the author of the first 5 books of
the OT – Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy – which are known collectively as the Pentateuch, or the Books of Moses, or as “The Law” or
“Torah” in the ancient Hebrew. And so
Moses is writing these events as the nation of Israel, who had escaped from
Egypt in the miraculous events of the Exodus and then wandered in the desert
for many years before reaching the plains of Moab, is encamped there just
across the Jordan from the Promised Land.
Moses' concern is that the nation of Israel remain faithful to Yahweh,
their God, as they enter the land promised to their forefathers.
In
fact, it was first promised to Abraham, which we'll look at here
momentarily. So Moses covers hundreds of
years in the first eleven chapters of Genesis.
But now watch... he slows WAY down as he gets to chapter 12. From 12 to 21, he covers 25 years. And within that, from 17-21, he covers only a
SINGLE YEAR. Why? Why would the narrator slow down? It is to draw our attention to something very
significant... and that, in this case, is the life of Abraham and the birth of
his son, Isaac. (At this point, I was illustrating on a white board how Abraham
received the promises of God and is the answer to the grace question of chapter 11;
note the textual link “make for ourselves a name” in 11:4 – contrast with “I,
God, will make your name great” in 12:2). God promised (1) to make Abraham into a nation (later to be known as Israel)... (2) to give Abraham and his descendants a land as their inheritance (later to be identified as Canaan)... (3) that kings, or rulers, would come from Abraham's descendants (this is tied to the line of David, from which also is to come the Messiah - the Christ)... (4) that through Abraham, God would bless all the nations of the earth (see note italicized below).
(Abraham –
Offspring (Nation) – Land – Kings – Blessing)
Highlight
the importance of blessing as the antidote for the curses given in Genesis 3.
The
purpose of this chart is to show you why Genesis 22 is so important... indeed,
why it is vital for our understanding of the Abraham/Isaac narrative. Hopefully you can see that EVERYTHING HINGES
ON THE SEED OF ABRAHAM... the promises of God are all centered around the boy
Isaac. And that makes the events of
chapter 22 all the more intriguing as we approach the exposition of the text.
Verse 1 –“After these
things... God tested Abraham.”
We
just want to make brief mention of the theological significance of this
statement... that GOD tested Abraham.
The theology affirms...
·
the sovereignty of God (that He is in control of
the affairs of this life)
·
the love of God (as the old hymn says, “all that
thou sendest me, in mercy given”)
·
that the goal of God's testing us is the
strengthening / refining of our faith
So
we would anticipate seeing Abraham's faith grow as a result of this ordeal...
and that's exactly what we will encounter.
God will do anything for you... bring any trial into you life... because
your faith is that important to Him... like Pastor's poem from last week,
which I thought was absolutely beautiful (you would have to attend my home church to get this, but it's ok).
But
let me warn you at the outset, that we are not intended to admire Abraham in
the book of Genesis. Moses does not
intend for you to look at Abraham and say, “wow, look at what a great man of
the faith!” No. The writer is constantly pushing us to God...
look at what God is doing in this broken human being... see the faithfulness of
God in the lives of faithless human beings.
There will be several points in this text where we are tempted to admire
Abraham, but it is God who works in and through him, bringing about the faith
and obedience that we are about to see.
Verse 2 –“Take now your
son...”
See
first how the repetition strengthens the father-son relationship. We go from your son... to... your only son...
to... the son that you love. See the
progression and how it develops the way that Abraham must have felt about
Isaac?
The
other note we need to make about this verse is the location to which God called
them. Have you ever thought about Mount
Moriah? Do you know where it is? If you don't know, you're probably not
alone. Not many people are doing their
devotions in 2 Chronicles, are they? You
don't need to turn there, but let me read it for you from the NASB. It says in chapter 3, verse 1,
“Then
Solomon began to build the house of the LORD in Jerusalem on Mount Moriah,
where the LORD had appeared to his
father David...”
Brothers and sisters, we are on the
temple mount here... the dwelling place of God... the glory and splendor of the
whole earth. Abraham is called to
sacrifice his son, his only son, the son of promise on a hill in
Jerusalem. Are you getting this amazing
parallel? Wow... is all we can say. And we return to the text in Genesis 22 with
awe in our hearts. And we do so
remembering that EVERYTHING HINGES ON THE SEED OF ABRAHAM! Will Abraham trust in the promise of God even
when he cannot see it... when God is calling him to kill the very promise? Will Abraham live on the word of God alone?
Verse 3 –“So Abraham rose
early... and went.”
Notice
that he went early in the morning. Do
you hear the narrator telling us something about this man? No doubt Moses wants us to see the faith of
Father Abraham here. See how his faith
is developing? There is no delay. There is no second-guessing. There is just simple, straight-forward and
immediate obedience. Do we struggle with
this ever? Oh boy, we talk to God and
chatter at him as though he doesn't know anything. And He is the God of the universe. How broken and sinful must our hearts truly
be?
Verse 4 –“The third day...”
There's
more that we could say about this, but we just want to know that Abraham's
obedience was not just spur-of-the-moment, but sustained as well. How hard do you think these three days were
for this father? How difficult was this
long journey? And yet he walks the
road. His obedience is not just
immediate, but sustained.
Verse 5 – “We will return to
you.”
Again,
the faith of the man is coming through; it is being built up through the trials
that he undergoes. We know from Hebrews
that Abraham believed in the God who raises only begotten sons who have been
offered up to die... raises them to new life in order to keep His covenant
promises.
Verse 6 – “Abraham... laid
the wood on his son.”
We
are being brought back to the father-son relationship here. The role of the father in the sacrifice of
the son is often overlooked and should not be underestimated. Certainly there is no sacrifice without the
obedient son... conversely, there is no sacrifice without the resolve of the
father. We have already drawn so many
parallels here to the God the Father / Jesus the Son relationship, and we do so
again. In Isaiah 53:10, we find that it
was the Father's will to crush the Son.
In Romans 3:25 we find that the Father presented the Son as a sacrifice
of atonement... which is literally the old English term “propitiation” that has
unfortunately fallen out of common usage.
The Greek word (hilasterion),
is translated “propitiation” or, in a figurative sense, “mercy seat” and
carries two meanings. First, it means
that Christ has taken away the wrath of God.
Second, it means that Christ has washed away the sins of His
people. So the mercy seat, where
propitiation is made, is wrath-removing and sin-removing and the place where,
and the means by which, the relationship between God and man is thus
restored. This is a powerful term.
We
get back to Genesis simply to assert that Abraham has laid the wood upon his
son. And his son bears the weight up the
hill to where he would die.
Verse 7 – “Where is the
Lamb?”
We've
already mentioned the father-son relationship sufficiently. Moses brings it right back to our
attention. As if we were unable to see
it, he hits us with it again. This
repetition is only meant to draw our attention.
See how much Abraham loves and values Isaac?
And
then the question. This is perhaps the
most significant question of the whole Old Testament. In fact, you could read the rest of the OT as
an answer to this very question... “where is the lamb?” The prophets are looking for the lamb. The kings are looking for the lamb. The exiled remnant of faithful Hebrews are
looking for the lamb, just as Isaac and Abraham are looking for the lamb. For hundreds and hundreds of years... in the
midst of thousands upon thousands of animals sacrifices (likely reaching the
millions of numbers)... where is the lamb?
Until the provocative declaration of the Baptizer, who in John 1:29
triumphantly proclaims, “Behold, the Lamb!”
And the eternal song of God's redeemed in Revelation 5:12, “Worthy is
the Lamb!”... and the whole of biblical history is summarized. (1) Where is the lamb? (2) Behold, the Lamb! (3) Worthy is the
Lamb! And if this realization weren't
beautiful enough... look at verse 8.
Verse 8 – “God will provide
for Himself.”
Look
again at the developing faith of our Father Abraham, but remember what we said
at the outset, that this is God's work in and through him. Isn't this remarkable? God will provide for Himself. This is the Gospel in the Old Testament, the
clearest announcement of salvation until the ministry of Christ himself.
We
don't just want to glaze over this either... that God must provide the
sacrifice. All the generations of
sacrifices – the millions of sheep and other animals – didn't remove sin. So why were they offered? Wow, that's a whole new sermon and we cannot
take the time to answer that question here, but I'll leave you to ponder that
in your own Bible study. Anyway, there
is no merit in humans by which we can offer anything acceptable to God... no
merit whatsoever. And of course, God did
provide the lamb, didn't He? In fact,
God Himself would BE the lamb.
Verse 9 – “Abraham built an
altar.”
Abraham
is continuing to follow God. His life is
almost defined by this act of altar building.
He is promised that he will inherit the whole land... but not in his
lifetime... no, all the evidence we ever see that Abraham was even IN the land
is a series of altars he leaves in his wake.
·
Genesis 12:6-8
·
Genesis 13:3-4
·
Genesis 13:18
·
Genesis 22:9 (our passage)
What's the significance of the
altars? Why does Moses push this issue
so consistently for us to see it and take note of it? What do the altars mean? I think three things... though there are
undoubtedly others as well...
1.
Altars are built for the worship of God.
2.
Altars are built as a visual demonstration of
the faithfulness of God.
3.
Altars are built for sacrifice – the dedication
of yourself to God.
So the text asks us...
WHERE
ARE YOUR ALTARS? WHERE ARE MINE?
ARE
THERE ANY GODLY EVIDENCES OF OUR HAVING BEEN TRAVELLERS THROUGH THIS LAND??... that other people would look at and know that
God was worshiped... God was
faithful... that there was self-sacrifice that happened here?
Verses 10-12 – “For now I
know that you fear God.”
It
sounds redundant to mention the faith of Abraham again. But Moses is surely driving home this point
as we read. Will Abraham follow through
even when the very promises of God are at stake? And we see that he does. Verses 11 and 12 together confirm the
obedience of Abraham. The Lord
intervenes when, according to the spiritual realm, the sacrifice has been made,
but, according to the physical realm, no blood has been shed; no harm has come
to the seed of Abraham. In verse 12, we
find that Abraham has not withheld anything from the Lord... he has feared the
Lord.
If
the fear of God is found in our obedience... and our obedience is evidenced by
not withholding anything from God... then the question becomes, “What are we
withholding from God?” Are we in
complete obedience to Him? Or are we
holding something back? Our kids? Our money?
Our family? Our health? What is it that we want to control and are
therefore holding back from God?
I
can't answer that for you, but I pray that the Spirit of God will help us in this.
I
pray that we will sing the old hymn with reverent hearts...
“Once
earthly joy I craved; sought peace and rest
Now
Thee alone I seek; give what is best.”
(More Love to Thee, O Christ)
Verses 13 & 14 – “The
Lord will provide.”
The
Lord did provide. The faith of Abraham
from verse 8 finds expression here in verse 13.
Verse 14 simply highlights the name of that place... that place...
remember where we are? We are in
Jerusalem, the land of Melchizedek, who appeared in the Genesis narrative in chapter
14... the King of Salem... Salem... Jerusalem... it is the same place... on
Mount Moriah, the Temple Mount, a hill in Israel where God provides the
Lamb. Isn't this beautiful? Look at the wisdom of God and remember that
Jesus says in that very place, some 1,500 years later, in John 2:19, “Destroy
this temple and in three days I will raise it up.” And John tells us that Jesus is the temple...
he is referring to himself.
On
the mountain of the Lord, it will be provided.
This verb, “will be provided” in the Hebrew is literally “will be
seen.” This took me a long time this
week. I thought and thought about this
for quite some hours. What's the
connection between the literal “will be seen” and the translated “will be
provided” here? And I think I have
something that makes a good bit of sense.
What
is the “it” here... see, “in the mount of the Lord... IT... will be
provided”? What is the “it” in the
passage? What is provided? What is seen on the mountain? Verse 13... READ... “then Abraham raised his
eyes and looked...” What did he
see? The lamb... the sacrifice... the
promise he believed in verse 8... “God will provide for Himself the lamb”...
the promise has been provided, AND IT HAS BEEN SEEN. And this is a reminder to us, that however hard
it is to trust in the promises whose fulfillment might not be seen to us now,
however difficult it was for Abraham at 100 years old and his wife at 90 years
old that they would have a son... however challenging it is to follow a God we
cannot see, believe in promises we cannot confirm with our sensory perception,
stake our lives on the reality of an unseen heaven, an unbelievable eternal
life, and an inexplicable resurrection from the dead... however difficult any
of this is... IT WILL ALL BE SEEN SOMEDAY.
It will all be provided. And we
will see it.
The
apostle John says in Revelation 5, “No one in heaven or on earth or under the
earth could open the scroll or even look inside it. I wept and wept because no one was found who
was worthy to open the scroll or look inside.
Then one of the elders said to me, 'Do not weep! See, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root
of David, has triumphed. He is able to open the scroll and its seven
seals.' THEN I SAW A LAMB, looking as if
it had been slain, standing in the center of the throne” of God. And in that moment, all that had been
promised will be seen. We will see the
Lamb.
I
think that's what's going on in Genesis 22:14.
The promise from those many years back, believed by Abraham as he
ascends the hill to sacrifice his son, is realized. The walk of faith has become a walk of
sight. And our own walk of faith, in
which we are called to believe the unbelievable, will ultimately become a walk
of sight as well... when the New Heaven and New Earth are revealed and God's
Kingdom on earth will be restored.
Verses 15-18 – “By Myself I
have sworn... in your seed all the nations of the earth will be blessed.”
This
scene is unpacked in the New Testament in Hebrews 6:13-20 and it gives us the
reasons that God swore by Himself...
1.
God wanted to show that his resolve to bless His
people is unchangeable.
2.
In order that we may have encouragement that our
hope is real. This is just what we've
been talking about... the realization of our faith.
In
verse 17, notice that the promises are being reiterated (offspring / land /
kings / blessing). Remember that
“blessing” is short-hand for the antidote for the curses of Genesis 3 and the
transformative restoration of the world.
And
verse 18, this blessing is going to be experienced by those from every tongue,
tribe, people, and nation. Did you know
that Galatians 4 talks about you? It
says that you who believe in Christ are spiritual heirs of Abraham... we are
his seed and heirs of the promises. This
means that God is resolute in His desire to bless you because you believe the
promises of God in Christ... you
·
who have fled the desires of this world
·
who belong to another kingdom, as yet unseen,
but evidenced all around you
·
you, who have built altars proclaiming the faithfulness
of God
·
who have withheld nothing in your devotion to
the Lord
·
who have journeyed to Mount Moriah to offer
yourself as a living sacrifice
·
you, who have become by faith the children of
Abraham, the man of faith and the friend of God."
This should cause us great joy. For we have a God who is not only all-powerful in His sovereign control, but also a God who is deeply concerned about His people. He sees. He hears. He cares. And, in reflecting on all the religions in the world in which man is summoned upward, this God is the only one who comes down. In every other faith, men strive after a god who is aloof, mysterious, or unapproachable. The efforts of man are required to reach up to god. But this God of the Bible has come down. This is a beautiful foreshadowing of the events many centuries later as Jesus "became flesh, and dwelt among us... full of grace and truth" (John 1:14 NASB).
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