V1-2.
Sometime later: God called Abraham when he was 75 y/o with a
promise that God will make him a great nation and he will be blessed by God and
through him all people on earth will be blessed. Fulfillment of All these
promises hinged on one thing; having a child of his own. When he was 99 God
promised that this time next year Sarah will bear a son to Abraham. But in fear
he told a lie to the King Abimelek and Sarah was taken as his wife. It was a
great danger to God’s promise. But God warned the king of coming judgment
unless he returns Sarah. In this way God
pulled Sarah out of his hand while honoring Abraham as a prophet. As God promised, at the age of 100, Abraham
got a son Isaac. He named him Isaac as God told him. So the birth of Isaac was
an ultimate experience of God’s power and grace for Abraham. Through this life changing event, his
perspective of life changed radically from his personal need focused to God
focus. With such new understanding, he
planted a tamarisk tree calling God as the eternal God. In this call is the
true appreciation of who God is, God of eternity, his blessing. In summary, we can discern two things:
Abraham was blessed and received what he
wanted so long; his son, the place to live in peace and riches as well as respect
and honor as a prophet of God. He came
to have genuine faith that acknowledges God as God of eternity.
As we have seen the past life of Abraham, which was filled
with many mistakes and failures,will newly acquired faith be sustained despite
of the richness of blessing? We can rephrase this ; Is this new faith up to par
with God’s expectations? Can he maintain his faith despite of already received
rich blessings? In God’s perspective, did God succeed in discipling Abraham for
the last 25 years?
Though this event is done under pretext of test from God, for
Abraham it was real since he did not know anything about God’s mind. How did
God proceed with the test?
V2.
V2.
God told Abraham to take his son and go to the region of
Moriah and sacrifice him there. When he said this God clearly noted the
significance of his son Isaac to Abraham; your only son, whom you love. This
description denotes the bond or relationship between Abraham and Isaac.
a.
Your only
son: Abraham had one more son Ishmael. But that son was sent away. Actually
he is not any more a part of Abraham’s family; he is not a son to him any one;
so there is only one son to Abraham ; If he has any meaning and purpose for
life, then it all hangs on Isaac. God’s promise is with Isaac. God’s blessing
to make him a great nation is with Isaac. When he gets too old to move, Isaac
is the one who could help when he gets too old to do anything. Isaac is the
only one who will inherit his entire asset. Simply if there is any meaning and purpose
for Abraham’s life, it is through and by Isaac.
b.
Whom you
love: there is a strong bond of love and in life between Isaac and Abraham;
this bond may come from real companionship of life together. Isaac became an
extension of Abraham. So whatever Isaac do, it was a joy for Abraham. Whatever
pain and harms comes to Isaac it would cause the same harm or pain for Abraham
as well.
God wanted Isaac as a burnt offering to him. What did God
mean offering as ‘burnt offering’ As we look at the Law of Moses in Leviticus,
we can find some details of what ‘burnt offering’ entails.
a.
There were several types of offering that God
instructed Israel to do; fellowship offering, sin offering, guilty offering,
fellowship offering so on: In most of these types offerings , the sacrificed
animals were given partly to God and
partly to the priests . In some offering, one part of the sacrifice was shared
with other people; such as fellowship offering.
But only in the burnt offering, the entire body was burned to ashes at the altar in offering to God; no sharing or dividing between God and the priest or people;
But only in the burnt offering, the entire body was burned to ashes at the altar in offering to God; no sharing or dividing between God and the priest or people;
b.
Also, there was a transfer of one’s sin to the animal by putting offerer’s hand on
the animal’s head while it is killed.
c.
The blood of the sacrificed animal was shed and
sprinkled to the altar.
d.
This
symbolize atonement of sin.
But here in Genesis long before creation of Mosaic Law, what
the burnt offering means is not mentioned but its implication is clear; Sin
must be paid off by sacrifice of life ; if we apply this to God’s command to
Abraham, we can say that God is demanding Isaac’s life as a payment of sin,
though any of such idea is neither said nor implied in these passages. Simply God wanted the life of Isaac as a
whole offered to God by his father Abraham!
Did God have a right to do so? You bet! Without his grace
and mercy, it was impossible for him to have a son Isaac. At the final moment
of fulfilling the promise Abraham made a big mistake by telling that his wife
Sarah was his sister. Sin and unbelief!
Abraham cannot claim anything of Isaac as his own. If it all depended on Abraham, simply having
Isaac could not happen.
Isaac is also a reminder of God’s his power. He and his wife
Sarah were so old; no one could believe that they could have a child in such an
old age. But God made it possible.
How did Abraham think about this command of God?
V3
Early the next morning; he could have thought over for a few
days or even one more day. But he did not. Just the next morning, he got up
early and set off to sacrifice Isaac.
This means that in his mind there is no hesitation or lingering in
thought what to do or what not to do. His heart was all out for what God demanded of him.
He took two servants and fire wood; he prepared all that
were necessary to offer Isaac as the burnt offering ; here we can see that he
was real and was determined to sacrifice his son. So everything must be
prepared thoroughly.
V4.
It was about three day journey from Beersheba to Jerusalem,
where the mount Moriah is. As they got to the mountain, Abraham left the two
servants at the foot of the mountain. Only Abraham and Isaac went up. Most
likely he did not want these two servants know or involve in this event. They cannot comprehend what Abraham was about
to do! At best they would play a hindrance to what Ab was about to do. He said
to them.’ We will worship and then we will come back to you.’ In
this there is no hint of uncertainty or fear or sadness or anguish!
But his demeanor was calm, resolute
with conviction and certainty.
V6-7 As Ab and Isaac went on, Isaac
asked the key question; where is the lamb for the burnt offering? It was all
too strange. They took everything but a lamb for burnt offering!
He did not explain this to anyone;
not to his wife, not to his son Isaac, not to his servants ; no one!
Decision of faith is always a
personal between God and me! Though we can have opinion or help or prayer
assistance,; ultimately it is my self before God; When we do so, God must be
real and his power and his authority. Have you had such a moment in your life?
A decision just between you and God only! The most critical and the most
important decisions of life must come out of such private meeting with God
alone; though we may ask opinions and prayer of others.
With whom we can share or we cannot
share… Who could understand Ab that he was about to sacrifice his own son by
his own hand!
What did Abraham’s answer?
" 8 Abraham
answered, "God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my
son."
God has answers for this enigma or
questions or dilemma; But whatever difficulties, God has answers! God will
provide the lamb for the burnt offering. ; He believed God and his goodness and
his power and his utmost wisdom.
This also comes from a deep
conviction and faith in God’s might power and his grace.
So as they got to the mountain Moriah what did Ab do?
V9. It is not a small amount of wood that can burn up the
whole body of a human being. As Ab himself put these woods together and Isaac
on top it, many thought might have passed by in his mind. But he kept on
building the altar and finally wood and the burnt offering Isaac was sat on the
top of it. So he was about to bring down the sword upon Isaac ;
Throughout this process; one thing flows; his firm conviction
and faith that God would provide a lamb for a burnt offering; bringing down the
sword to slay his son Isaac was the last action of this faith and
obedience.
Right at that moment what went through his mind; was it
about his son’s death , shedding blood and dying in agony or God almighty
who is almighty and his will. If his
mind was so engaged in his son Isaac, it would almost impossible for him to do.
But if he counted God, the almighty who is righteous and holy and has full of
love and unlimited wisdom and power…
Here we have to think about what was the driving force in
Abraham’s heart? Is it a clear decision to choose God over Isaac? Or because if
he had to choose one, and reject the other, it is better to choose God? Neither? In the past we thought that we have
to choose God over God’s blessing, i.e. Isaac. But did Abraham really reject
Isaac in order to choose God? Did Abraham sacrifice Isaac really because God is
better than Isaac?
Neither! God commanded Abraham to sacrifice as burnt
offering! It is a dedication in honor to God Almighty. In essence Abraham
dedicated himself along with Isaac to sovereign and eternal God. Dedication or
handing over one’s whole being! This is what God wanted and this is what
Abraham did!
At this critical moment, God called him:
V11. The angel of the Lord called out to him in a loud
voice. It was an urgent voice. If he misses even one tenth of a second, then he
would have laid down his sword and Isaac might have died there. It was repeated
twice to make sure Abraham may not fail to hear.
So Abraham stopped and answered ‘Here I am’. This was the first voice of God since the
last word of God he heard; the last word was telling him to go mountain Moriah
and sacrifice his son Isaac. In between these two, the time of silence, God was
watching what Abraham was doing carefully and attentively to see if Abraham had
what he was looking for.
What was he looking for? Why did he stop Abraham?
V12 a
Twice God told him not to do anything to the boy. God undid
what God commanded. Have ever God undid his own command? No
Then, why now? It is so uncharacteristic of God Almighty. Why
did he undo his own word/ Why did he rescind his own word? God gives us two
reasons why.
First Abraham
genuinely feared God.
V 12b Now I know that you fear
God, because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son."
From the time of God’s command, till this time, there was no
hesitations, no lingering, no wavering activities. He was calm and firmly
decided to offer Isaac and he carried out carefully and swiftly. He did not
disclose this plan to anyone but kept all to himself. It was seen in his action
on the next day. It was seen in his preparation. It was seen in his word to the
two servants. It was revealed in his answer to Isaac’s question, ‘where is the
lamb?’ Though all these testify what he
had in his mind, these were not sufficient or conclusive evidence of faith! But
just at the moment when he raised his hands to slay his son, there is no trace
of doubt, or no swaying, or no reservation at all in this action.
1. He saw what he wanted to see in Abraham –fear of the
Lord.
2. It was never a God’s intent to kill a man’s life though
God is more than worthy of receiving sinful man’s life as his offense to God.
3. Now it is confirmed that Ab is worthy of receive God’s
blessing; new life. And God is ready to give and to bless new life.
Second God himself
would provide a ram for burnt offering
When God told him not to do anything for Isaac, what did he
mean? Did He totally rescind the command to sacrifice?
V13
As he looked up he saw a ram caught by its horns. At Just
right time, God prepared a ram for burnt offering. It was his choice as well. Since God told him
not to do anything to his son Isaac, he could have understood as abrogation of
the sacrifice itself. But he saw a ram and he believed that God provided the
ram and he offered the sacrifice of the ram.
1.
God did not abrogate the sacrifice.
2.
He was obligated to offer sacrifice though God
rescinded his demand for Isaac’s life.
3.
He believed that God prepared the ram for the sacrifice
offering .
How can this be
possible? When one comes to God, that man has to prepare a sacrifice but
instead, God himself prepared a ram to offer a sacrifice to Himself! Though God
was worthy to take the life of Isaac, he did not take him; though Abraham was
ready to offer Isaac, he did not take him.
Can you believe that? This is an amazing thing; God did such thing for
the first time! Rather in place of
Isaac, God prepared a ram for himself!
This demonstrated clearly that God would not take man’s
life;
At the fall of man, God ordained death for all men. When men
became so violent in sin, God swept the whole human race by flood, expect Noah
and his family. But now for the first time, God showed his will to take a ram
in place of life of a man. Also he demonstrated his will to provide a ram as
the sacrifice.
It makes a new beginning; God began to offer a ram for burnt
offering in place of man. So this is a monumental event; God provide his own
sacrifice for the sake of man. He
memorialized this in two ways: he named that place a; the Lord will provide’ b.
the catch word: on the mountain the Lord will provide.
As we think of the mountain, it is a particular place,
called Mountain Moriah. This later become the city of Jerusalem. On this mount the
temple of God would be built. Also in this place, Jesus was crucified as a
ransom for sinners.
By providing a ram for Abraham, God demonstrated his will to
provide a lamb for sinners in coming years.
About 2000 year later God sent his son and his son was crucified on this
mountain as a sacrificial lamb for sinners!
V15-
When he was finishing offering the sacrifice, the angel of
God called Abraham a second time and said this;
V16-18
‘Because you have done this; have not withheld your son,
your only son’ This is the expression of his faith in God. How can we
characterize his faith? Or what is the nature of his faith?
1.
His son Isaac was everything for Abraham. But in
his love and reverence to God, he dared to obey and to give Isaac to God.
Simply he chose God over Isaac. God is worthy more than the life of his son!
2.
Abraham dared to entrust the life of Isaac on
the hand of God; believing God’s worthiness, God’s power as well as God’s
grace. That God will bring Isaac back to life. Faith is the faith that enable to trust even one’s life.
In 1975, five women from Seoul Korea landed in DC, for the first time in their lives; they did not have any tangible anchor in this land. But by faith in God who would and could provide all their needs, they came as missionaries.
We can have faith in God that he would give a good job. We can have faith that God would give us blessing.
In 1975, five women from Seoul Korea landed in DC, for the first time in their lives; they did not have any tangible anchor in this land. But by faith in God who would and could provide all their needs, they came as missionaries.
We can have faith in God that he would give a good job. We can have faith that God would give us blessing.
But in faith have we risked anything for the sake of God? In faith we can wait for what we have prayed for such as job. But it is another to risk what one has in our love to God. Have you risked you job, you love, or your honor, your pride, what about your life?
Faith is to dare to make ourselves vulnerable for the
goodness of God. Ultimately it has to do
with a question, Can I entrust my life in God’s hand for the purpose of
honoring God as God?
In Gen 12 God started his life with God believing that God
would give him a son and blessing as well, a land of blessing; He was attracted
by God’s offer! This is the beginning of faith; in this regard I am happy that
Tony and Boyang believe God that God would provide them something good such as
a good job.
When he ended his faith school with God, he offered his son
Isaac. The faith was expressed by giving
to God; risking everything of his son’s life. It was not only in form of giving
or offering, it is a sacrifice; it is not just a sacrifice but the sacrifice of
whole life itself! This is the faith that God wanted from Abraham.
Actually this is the faith that he looks for from all human
beings, the ones that he created and yet that rejected God as their Lord and
master.
How did Abraham come to this far? At the beginning of his
life with God, he did not know God so much. He did not grasp God’s purpose and
will. He did not know the extent of his power and authority. He did not know
how much God loved him.
After 25 years with God, he grew to be the man God wanted
him to be; a man of faith! A man of the faith! God’s long endeavor in loving
and caring for Abraham finally bears its fruit; life entrusting faith! This
faith was coined in two ways; fear of God[12]; obedience[18] these are Reponses
to God’s command; the fear of God is the content of our inmost being as we face
God’s command. Obedience is what we express through our action in response to
God’s command. Without fear of God, we cannot obey. Without obedience, no
matter how good things we may claim to have in our heart, it is worthless and
cannot be counted to be of any value.
In this regard God
was so happy and did not hide his joy; he appeared a second time; to address
this joy;
What is His joy?
V17-18
What is God going to do? It is according to God’s promise;
Abraham set off his life of faith with God’s promise. In this promise there are
three contents:
a. 17 I will surely
bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as
the sand on the seashore. : God will increase his children with blessing.
Simply put, children of God’s blessing; there are many people on the earth; but
Abraham’s children will be children of God’s blessing. God will increase them
far beyond what Abraham could imagine. In some sense his children becomes so
numerous, their number will overwhelm or even may overtake the numbers of those
children of no blessing!
b. Your descendants will take possession of the cities of
their enemies, : Children of Abraham will occupy the land and places of the
children of no blessing; they will replace and displace the children of no
blessing. It is God’s desire the populate the entire world with the children of
Abraham; men and women of faith in God
c. 18 and through your
offspring1 all nations on earth will be blessed
In comparison to what God said in
Gen 12, attention to personal blessing is missing and emphasis is on spreading
of children of God’s blessing to the end of the earth.
As we see in these three promises
illustrated here, the focus is one flow toward the entire world to replace or
displace the people of unbelief to people of faith. In this way, eventually all these three blessing
converges on one goal of God, blessings to all nations on earth.
The force of faith works its power in and through the
descendant of Abraham. Eventually they will
or God will let them overwhelm the world!
Also God’s answers the last question
on this promise. How can Abraham be sure of this promise? He put his name of
this promise; I swear by myself! Would God change his mind?
Hebrews 6:13 When God made his promise to Abraham, since there was no
one greater for him to swear by, he swore by himself, 14 saying,
"I will surely bless you and give you many descendants."1
(Heb 6:13 NIV)
What does this mean to us?
God was so happy with the faith of
Abraham. So he swore in his own name to bless his descendants. We are children
of Abraham by faith; the faith that he demonstrated in the sacrifice of his son
Isaac.
a. Faith that counts
God worthy to receive our lives
b. Faith and God’s
promise: Faith engages with God always through God’s promises.
i.
To provide a lamb
ii.
To bless
iii.
To use us for the blessing of the world
c.
Faith and sacrifice
i.
Sacrifice the utmost form of faith; not receiving but offering even life
ii.
God works such power on
those that can dare to risk one’s life
in faith on God’s blessing and God’s promise.
d. The certainty of
this truth is assured in two ways:
i.
God swore in His name
ii.
The mountain of the Lord ; where God provided a ram for
Isaac’s life, Jesus gave his life as a sacrifice for the forgiveness of sins of
men.
John 1:29 The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, "Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!
John 1:29 The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, "Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!
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