Commanded to Sacrifice Isaac - Abraham Demonstrates Extreme Faith

SPEAKER A You once to every time in the sight of the good or evil sky don't break on you that I choice of life forever with that darkness. And. SPEAKER B The Bible assures us in Ephesians two, verses eight to ten, for by grace you have been saved through faith. And that not of yourselves. It is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. For we are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. Welcome to faith to faith Here are your hosts, Ettienne McClintock and Braedan Entermann. SPEAKER C Dear listener, welcome to the program. We're delighted to have your company. And just as we start, we just invite you to bow your head for a word of prayer. Gracious Father in heaven, we thank you that we can have your word. We just thank you for these incredible stories out of the Old Testament and also the grateful for the New Testament that just helps us get deeper insights as you inspired people to write and unpack these stories about Abraham. And Father, we just pray that you'll bless us now. Give us a deeper appreciation and love and understanding for you as our faith is encouraged and strengthened as well. As we look at the story is our prayer in Jesus name. Amen. SPEAKER D Amen. SPEAKER C Right. So we have just last week looked at the program of Hagar and Ishmael and how their hopes had been placed in Ishmael as the fulfillment of the promise because they decided to help God because there was a little bit of a delay in fulfilling the promise and then they had to repudiate that. Not only did Sarah have to move on from that idea and also Abraham, god didn't acknowledge that as a fulfillment of the promise either. But then God promised them that they would have a child. Not only would the child come from Abraham, it would also come from Sarah. Now, Sarah is an old woman. She is 89, 90 years old. She's gone through that change of life. What do they call that? SPEAKER D Menopause. SPEAKER C Menopause. She's gone through all that scientifically. It's impossible. She cannot have a child. They've abandoned adoption. They've abandoned surrogacy. They are left by faith alone because they are both so old. But what happens when she hears a story that God says he's going to give her a child at this old age? SPEAKER D It's so interesting. The Bible says that she just almost rolled around laughing. She thought it was comedic that God would make a promise. Like know. It's interesting how we limit God. Yes, we think we know that God's powerful. We know that he's able to do things. But in our minds we limit God so much. And she just laughs inside. And God says, Why did Sarah laugh? And she said, I didn't laugh. And God's like, no, you did laugh. Yes, which is very interesting. A year later, we're now in genesis, chapter 21. And I love this. This is beautiful. It says the Lord visited Sarah, as he had said. When God says something, you can guarantee that it'll come through on it. And the Lord visited Sarah, as he had said. And the Lord did for Sarah as he had spoken, is a beautiful assurance right here. It goes on to say, For Sarah conceived and bore Abraham a son in his old age at the set time of which God had spoken to him. And Abraham called the name of his son who was born to him, whom Sarah bore him, isaac. Then Abraham circumcised his son Isaac when he was eight days old, as God had commanded him. Now, Abraham, abraham was 100 years old when his son Isaac was born to him. And Sarah said, God has made me laugh, and all who hear will laugh with me. She also said, who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children, for I have borne him a son in his old age. SPEAKER C Wow. Isn't that incredible? But here, that's a statement of faith. I mean, now faith actually sees I mean, faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. But if we see by faith first, ultimately, finally, we will see with our eyes what we had hoped for. And here she has a son, what she had hoped for by faith, what she had believed that God would do for her. Now she sees come to full fruition with the son being born to. SPEAKER D And imagine all of the tears. There's many stories in the Bible where women are barren and they can't have children. I think of Hannah, who was the mother of Samuel, and she was just grieved. Her heart was broken. She would be crying because she can't have children. Imagine all of the tears that Sarah has shed during her life because she can't have children. And now, at the end of the day, she's laughing for joy. And why? Because God made a promise of blessing. SPEAKER C To her, and God fulfilled it. SPEAKER D And God fulfilled it. SPEAKER C Yeah. And the thing is, God would not have fulfilled it if they had not believed. They had to abandon some of the other ideas. When Abram and Sarah had cleared themselves of their old schemes of unbelief, which had produced Ishmael, they stood upon faith alone. So depending upon the word of God alone. And then Isaac, the true child of promise, was born to them. And that's just incredible, isn't it? They trusted God, but it was a trust based on what they were able to do as part of the equation. Now, what do we call that typically in the Bible, when God says something and then we say, okay, well, God, you've promised. Now I will promise, and I'll do this part. So you do that part. I'll do this part. It's a bit of an agreement between us and God. It's referred to as a covenant in the Bible, but particularly the Old Covenant, israel responded that way. And we see in the Ishmael account of that Old Covenant response, god promises. We make a promise. God will do his bit, we will do his bit. It's a bit of a partnership in that sense. SPEAKER D It's interesting that the Bible actually not the Bible, but people say about the Bible, they say God helps those who help themselves. Yes, and there's some truth in that. SPEAKER C But it's not the whole truth. SPEAKER D But it's not the whole truth. I mean, if Abraham and Sarah had just sat there and did nothing, nothing would have happened. If Abraham didn't leave Ur of the Chaldees, that would know his actions demonstrated his faith. No question about it demonstrated his faith. But this whole idea of a partnership where it's like God makes promises and he needs us to help out somehow, that's a very wrong mentality. The promises that human beings make, it's straight after the Ten Commandments were given, the children of Israel, as you said, said all that the Lord has spoken, we will do. Yes, God said it, but we're going to do it. And this mentality they had that they're able somehow, in their own strength to be able to live up to God's standards and to participate in this covenant agreement, it just came to a grinding halt 40 days later with the golden calf. But the New Covenant, which is reiterated many times throughout the Bible, both Old and New Testament that's right. God just says, I will, I will, I will, I will. And it actually doesn't say anything about you must, you must, you must. SPEAKER C That's right. SPEAKER D God says, I will write my law on your heart. I will transform your heart. I will give you a new mindset, a new way of thinking, and I'm going to help you to live and to walk in my ways. SPEAKER C That's right. Yes. So we have to listen to God's word. We have to listen to his voice, and we've got to make sure we are not distracted by other voices because there are many voices out there. An example that we looked at last week's lesson in listening to the voice of Sarah, as is found in Genesis, chapter 16, verse one and two. Abraham had swerved from his line of strict integrity to the Word of God, and from strict, what we would call faith, true faith. And now that he'd returned to the word of God only and to true faith, there was to be a test. And before there could be with certainty said that Abraham is the father of the faithful, his faith now has to be demonstrated by a severe test. Now, he had trusted in the naked word of God against Ishmael and was able to let go of his own previous convictions and the promised seed being Ishmael himself. But only after that had happened, he was able to obtain Isaac and it's the same with Sarah's. Only after they let go of their own schemes and trusted fully in God's word, as God had promised that he will fulfill his promise, they were able to obtain the promised child, which was Isaac. But now something interesting happens in Genesis chapter 22 and verse two accordingly. God says to Abraham, take now your son, your only son, Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah and offer him up there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains. Which I will tell you. SPEAKER D I think it's important that we stop here for a second and try to take this in. SPEAKER C Yeah. This is a dramatic statement. SPEAKER D This is a dramatic shift in the story. Throughout the entire narrative of Genesis so far, God has been promising blessing that he's going to fix the world's problems and he's going to do it by giving life to Abraham and to Sarah's womb. And a child's going to be born and it's going to bless the world, all the descendants. And now after all of that is done and his little tiny boy has been born, a miracle child, then another word comes from the mouth of God and says to Abraham, I want you to take this child and kill it. SPEAKER C Wow. So let's review that for a moment. Abraham had received Isaac from God by trusting the word of God only. SPEAKER D That's right. SPEAKER C So Isaac alone was the seed of promise which the word of God had intended. But now another word comes to him and says, take that son who all the nations of the earth will be blessed through him. Your descendants that will come from him will be as the stars of the sky. Doesn't that seem to be a contradiction in the word of God? SPEAKER D It is a contradiction. And if you can imagine Abraham trying to process know, he's got a little bit of a history now and he's learnt some very practical lessons. He knows that whenever God says something he can take that promise to the bank. SPEAKER C Yes. SPEAKER D And he knows that when God asks him to do something, it is for the best of everyone involved that he does it. He knows what happens when he takes things into his own hands, when he tries to reason it through. And now he's in a position where he's got contradicting words, contradicting promises, contradicting commands. God says, I'm going to give you a child and through that child and that child's descendants, the whole world will be blessed. SPEAKER C Yeah. Well, Genesis chapter 21, verse twelve says in Isaac your seed will be called. So God is very clear. He said this to him more than once. He said, through Isaac, I will establish my covenant with Isaac. So now when you have this confrontation with two opposing words, both apparently I use the word apparently at this stage, apparently coming from God, what would be the human tendency we try to reason. SPEAKER D And rationalize our way through that one. SPEAKER C You got to reject one or the other, or you somehow got to try and harmonize. What am I misunderstanding here? SPEAKER D Basically, if I'm honest, what I'd be tempted to do would be to go, that doesn't make sense. SPEAKER C No. SPEAKER D Isn't that interesting? What we typically do when we're studying the Bible, when we're getting to know God, we go, that doesn't make sense, and we use our own ability to reason as the criteria for what we're going to believe or disbelieve. SPEAKER C Yes. SPEAKER D So we reason things through and we set up judgment on God and what he has said. It'd be very easy for Abraham to say, you know what? God has promised that I have a son and many descendants through this son. It doesn't make any sense to kill that son, because that would contradict what God has already said, I won't do it. But he's come to a place where he knows and recognizes the word of God and he is willing to stake all upon that word. He recognizes that when God promised that he would have a son, he meant it. SPEAKER C Yes. SPEAKER D And he knows that what happened inside of Sarah's womb was a miracle. There's nothing of a biological it wasn't biological that they had that child. It was by a miracle that they had that child. And so now he is in this other situation where he's asked to take that life. God has miraculously given the life. Now he's asked to take that life and he just wakes up early to go and do that. SPEAKER C So he believed that word, didn't he? When God said go, he went, and faith was demonstrated by his actions. So let's just recap that. So God had declared to Abraham, your seed shall be as the stars of heaven for multitude. Then God had also confirmed to him, in your seed, all the nations of the earth will be blessed. And then he said in Genesis 21, verse twelve, in Isaac shall your seed be called. Now the word comes almost in opposition to that offer. Isaac for a burnt offering. Wow, that is just incredible. So trying to harmonize it would have probably caused him to do nothing, or he would have had to abandon one for the sake of the other. And quite often in theological terms, people will sometimes take a position. And I'll give you an example. The Bible is very clear that we are saved by grace through faith alone. It is not of yourselves, it is a gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast. The Bible is very clear. We cannot work our way to salvation. It is a free gift from God. However, when you look at the Bible in regards to judgment, and there are many texts in the Bible, I can think of romans, chapter two and verse six, for example, revelation, chapter 20. There's a few texts there, I think verse twelve and verse 13, two Corinthians, chapter five, verse ten, which says, we shall all appear before the judgment seat of Christ to receive what are done in the body, whether it be good or evil. All those texts all say that we are judged by our works. So then what we try and do is we try and harmonize, okay, I'm not saved by works, but I'm judged by my works. That's a contradiction. How can I be judged by my works if I'm not saved by my works? So then what happens is, in theological circles, people quite often will emphasize one over the other. It'll either be faith and grace, or it'll be works and faith. And I think it's not about us harmonizing it. It's about us believing the word of God on both accounts, even if we initially cannot make sense of it in our own mind. And here in Abraham's story, we have an example of someone doing just that. SPEAKER D So interesting. Verse three it says 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 the wood for the burnt offering and arose and went to the place which God had told him of all the mornings to sleep in. SPEAKER C This would have been a good one. SPEAKER D To sleep this would have been a really good one to sleep in. Of all the mornings that you just drag your feet and get up late is the day that you have to go and sacrifice your son. Yes, but he wakes up early. He's at a point in his life where he is more interested in doing what God says, trusting in God than anything else in the world, even though he can't make sense of it in his mind. But as he reasons his way through, he would have come to the place where he recognizes, you know what? This just doesn't make sense because God has said that Isaac's going to be the one who's going to have many children and through his descendants is going to bless the world. Therefore, if God wants me to take his life, god's going to need to resurrect him again in order for that to happen. And so in his mind, that's the only thing he has is just to hang on with dear hope, knowing that in order for both of these things to be fulfilled, a resurrection is going to be necessary. SPEAKER C That's right, yes. See, he doesn't wait on God and said, Lord, please harmonize these texts before I move forwards, or, Lord, will he please explain these texts, because, I mean, there's these passages because I don't understand them. He accepts the word of God at face value, the naked word of God, that through Isaac his descendants would come, and they'll be as the sand of the sea, and that through Isaac the covenant will be established. And at the same time, he also believes that God told him to go and sacrifice his son. He will go and do that, and somehow God will sort the problem out. He can't understand how the God's going to fix it, but he knows that he already received, as it were, Isaac from the dead because Sarah was incapable. He was incapable, and God had given him this promise. So from the dead, Isaac was raised. So why couldn't God do it a second time? Even if he had to sacrifice him from the ashes, so to speak, he would expect Isaac to rise up. SPEAKER D And we see here the faith of Abraham. In verse four, it says then on the third day, Abraham lifted his eyes and saw the place afar off. And Abraham said to his young men, stay here with the donkey. The lad and I will go yonder and worship and notice this and we will come back to you. SPEAKER C So he expected that not only him, but Isaac, who he was now about to sacrifice, would come back with him. SPEAKER D Somehow, miraculously, he's like he didn't say, I'll come back. He says, we will come back. We're both coming back. He had such a strong trust in God that God would not allow his initial promise of blessing the entire world through Abraham's descendants. He would not allow that initial promise to fall to the ground. And if God wanted him to sacrifice his son, god would have to resurrect him again in order for it to be fulfilled. And he rested himself in the hope, even though it was terribly difficult for him to do it. SPEAKER C This was a great test, wasn't it? SPEAKER D A monumental test. But again, what we see here is the restoration of the relationship that was broken in Eden. SPEAKER C Yes. SPEAKER D Adam and Eve, they questioned the word of God. They believed lies about God, and the relationship was broken. And now you've got Abraham, who, through though he's failed a few times, he's come to the place where when God says know, he just clings to that with everything that he has, even when God's command contradicts God's command or God's command contradicts God's promise. It just seems to be at ODS and he doesn't know how to make sense of it. But he goes ahead in faith, trusting that God will make it clear. SPEAKER C Yeah, this is mean. Abraham was a man of great affection. I mean, first of all, he'd place his affections in Eliezer of Damascus to be the one through whom he would be blessed and the nations of the Earth would be blessed through adoption. Then he had to abandon that idea. Then finally, through circumstances and events, through Hagar and through Sarai, his affections now get centered on Ishmael. And Ishmael is the one, the promised seed, who God would say and then God says, no, that's not it. Again, he has to shift his affections now from Ishmael onto another son, the real son of promise, which is Isaac all his affections are centered on that. And that's why God, when God addresses him, he says the son whom you love, your only son whom you love, he's now got to go and sacrifice a son whom he loves. I mean by that time people will go, look, this is the third time, I just can't handle this anymore. But he doesn't rely on his emotions, he doesn't consult his emotions. He relies fully on the word of God, even when it seems to contradict and say god is going to sort this out. He trusts God's character, knowing that God wants the best for him and also for Isaac. And that God had already said Isaac is the one, through him all the descendants of the earth will be blessed and it's in his seed that all my promises will be fulfilled in regards to the covenant. I mean, how beautiful is that? SPEAKER D It's amazing. SPEAKER C So this is a great test and we can read a little bit about this in Hebrews. Now Hebrews chapter eleven is that great faith chapter. And there's a fair bit written about Abraham and we can understand why as we unpack this story. Looking at verse 17 it says by faith abram when he was tested. So we shouldn't underestimate the severity of this test. Said offered up Isaac and when he had received the promise, offered up his only begotten son of whom it was said in Isaac your seed shall be called, concluding that God was able to raise him up even from the dead, from which he also received him in a figurative sense. So this is what we said know, both Sarah's womb was dead and Abraham was incapable of having children and they'd received, as it were, Isaac from the dead. And God was able to do that again. So we understand that God is able to sort out problems even when there's apparent contradictions. And dear listener, I don't know what your life is going through. Sometimes our lives can become very complicated. We have issues with finances, we have issues in relationships, we read the scriptures, hoping to get some advice and hope out of it. And there sometimes seems to be contradictions and someone says this, someone says that and I'm not sure what is right, well, what the story is telling us that we can rely fully on God even when things don't make any sense to us. The world around us can be chaotic and God says, listen, rely on me, I can resolve these issues with you, but you need to trust me. Don't rely on yourself, don't trust yourself. Look to me first. Get guidance and direction from me, receive a word from me and then I'll be able to put you on the right path and you can follow and trust me implicitly. But that relationship, that restorational relationship with us and God is paramount. That's exactly right and is established by faith alone. SPEAKER D So back in Genesis chapter 22, it says, so Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on Isaac, his son, and he took the fire in his hand and a knife and the two of them went together. I find that so interesting. They're climbing this mountain, the Father and the Son. The Son has got the wood on his back going up he's the sacrifice. And I find it so interesting. Here we see little glimpses of the Promised One to come who would bless the world. You've got Jesus carrying this wooden cross up the hill where he would lay down his life. SPEAKER C The symbolism is significant, isn't it? SPEAKER D He's very, very significant. SPEAKER C So the only son, because I mean, although Ishmael was born, god referred to Isaac as his only son, didn't he? SPEAKER D That's right. SPEAKER C Now, take your son, your only son, Isaac. That was in verse two of chapter 22. So God sees Isaac in a very different light. And we know that Jesus is referred to as God's only begotten son. SPEAKER D That's right. So continuing on here, verse seven, but Isaac spoke to Abraham, his father, and said, My father. And he said, Here I am, my son. Then he said, look, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for the burnt offering? And with just so much faith, Abraham says this next words, verse eight. And Abraham said, my son, God will provide for himself the lamb for a burnt offering. So the two of them went together. SPEAKER C Wow. So here we actually see that Abraham makes a prophetic utterance. Because Abraham was known as a prophet. God clearly said that even when he had the encounter with Pharaoh in Egypt and also with Abimelech, that he was a prophet and that he had to pray for them so they could be healed after that whole incident. We don't have time to go into that now. And here, through a prophetic utterance, we see Abraham talking about the same thing. Now, Jesus actually refers to this encounter. It may not be as clear, but if we look at it and it is found in John chapter john, chapter twelve. So I just want to take this symbolism in regards to the only begotten son and him carrying the wood up the mountain for the sacrifice. Now, Jesus said in John chapter eight and verse 56, your father Abram rejoiced to see my day. And he saw it and he was glad. Now, where did he see it when he made that prophetic utterance? The Lord himself will provide a sacrifice. And then they said to him, how can you say that Abraham saw you because you're not even 100 years old or 50 years old. And then Jesus said to him, most assuredly, before Abraham was I am, he was the God who had told Abram to go and offer up Isaac. SPEAKER D That's so powerful. Here we have in verse nine of Genesis 22. Then they came to the place of which god had told him. And Abraham built an altar there and placed the wood in order. And he bound Isaac, his son, and laid him on the altar upon the wood. And Abraham stretched out his hand and took the knife to slay his son. But the angel of the Lord called to him from heaven and said, Abraham, abraham. So he said, here I am. And he said, do not lay your hand on the lad or do anything to him, for now I know that you fear God since you have not withheld your son, your only son from me. SPEAKER C That is powerful. SPEAKER D Just imagine that moment where he's just about to he's come to the place of full commitment to give up what God has given to him. SPEAKER C Yes. SPEAKER D And at that very moment, God, as it were, stays his hand and calls from heaven and says, don't touch him. Don't touch him. And I love what the next few verses say. Then Abraham lifted his eyes and looked, and there behind him was a ram caught in a thicket by its horns. So Abraham went and took the ram and offered it up for a burnt offering instead of his son. And Abraham called the name of the place. The Lord will provide. As it is said to this day in the mountain of the Lord, it shall be provided. SPEAKER C So this is Mount Moriah. Now, isn't this where the temple ended up being built eventually? That's right, in Jerusalem. And this is where all the sacrifices were made pointing to Christ. Yeah. That is beautiful. But the fact that they said that the Lord will provide and for you, dear listener, and for us also, we are dead in trespasses and sins. And just like the deadness of Sarah's womb, she could only conceive through believing the promises of God. So God is able to create in us life, spiritual life that does not exist. We are dead in trespasses and sins. Now, this is all done through the promise of a redeemer, the promise of a seed, which is Jesus Christ indeed listening. We pray that God would bless you as you contemplate these things. We pray that God will strengthen your faith even at times when there seems to be apparent contradictions and we do not understand them. God's word is sure, and ultimately he will bring out a good outcome for you and for us. We pray that God would bless you and keep you until we meet with you again next time. SPEAKER B Thank you for joining us on Faith. To Faith. If you would like more information about today's program or if you have any questions, please contact 3ABN Australia Radio by Phoning. 02 4973 3456. Or you can send an email to [email protected] You can also contact us on our 3ABN Australia radio Facebook page. We'd love to hear from you.