Sermon Series - Genesis 22 - God the Provider

What is going on? Abraham was told to do what?  Sacrifice his son, Isaac?!  How can this be, when God stated that Abraham's covenantal promise was going to be thru his and Sarah's baby?

Over the last few sermon series, we have seen how God is the Protector and God is the Promise Keeper.  Now, we see how God is the Provider.

Sound familiar?

Transcript

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Hey there, true believers. Welcome back to the Barrier Shield Podcast. I'm your host, Ron Scheffler, and we are in our sermon series today looking at Genesis chapter 22 in the English Standard Version. Now, last time we were in our sermon series, Isaac was born, given to Abraham and Sarah in their old years, and man, there was a lot of things going on into that chapter. But Isaac was born, and here is the covenantal promise given to Abraham. But then we turn into chapter 22, and the story takes a turn. Ishmael was a tough enough trial for Abraham, to be sure, right, to cast out his son that was born through Hagar. But that was just a preparation. A more severe test of faith and obedience was coming. And in chapter 22 of Genesis, we see that it's called the sacrifice of Isaac. So let's get into that. Genesis chapter two, starting with verse one. After these things God tested Abraham and said to him, Abraham, and he said, Here I am. He said, Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you. So Abraham rose early in the morning, saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him and his son Isaac. And he cut the wood for the burnt offering and arose and went to the place of which God had told him. On the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes and saw the place from afar. Then Abraham said to his young men, Stay here with the donkey, I and the boy will go over there and worship and come again to you. And 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 they went both of them together, and Isaac said to his father, Abraham, my father, and he said, Here I am, my son. He said, Behold the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering? Abraham said, God will provide for himself the lamb for a burnt offering, my son. So they went both of them together. Verse nine. When they came to the place of which God had told him, Abraham built the altar there and laid the wood in order, and bound Isaac his son, and laid him on the altar on top of the wood. Then Abraham reached out his hand and took the knife to slaughter his son. But the angel of the Lord called to him from heaven and said, Abraham, Abraham, and he said, Here I am. He said, Do not lay your hand on the boy or do anything to him, for now I know that you fear God, seeing you have not withheld your son, your only son from me. And Abraham lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, behind him was a ram caught in a thicket by his horns. And Abraham went and took the ram and offered it up as a burnt offering instead of his son. So Abraham called the name of that place the Lord will provide, as it is said to this day, on the mount of the Lord it shall be provided. And the angel of the Lord called to Abraham a second time from heaven and said, By myself I have sworn, declares the Lord, because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, I will surely bless you, and I will surely multiply your offspring, as the stars of heaven and as the sand that is on the seashore. And your offspring shall possess the gate of his enemies, and in your offspring shall all the nations of the earth be blessed, because you have obeyed my voice. So Abraham returned to his young men, and they arose and went together to Bersheba, and Abraham lived at Bersheba. Now after these things it was told to Abraham, Behold, Milka also has borne children to your brother Nahor, Uz his firstborn, Buzz his brother, Kemel the father of Aram, Chesed, Hazel, Pildash, Jidlaf, and Bethel. Bethel fathered Rebekah. These eight Milka bore to Nahor, Abraham's brother. Moreover, his concubine, whose name was Rumu, bore Tiba, Gaham, Tehash, and Makah. So to date this would be Abraham's greatest test. And a very real test. Ishmael was sent away already. Now give Isaac back to God through a sacrifice? This indeed seems to defy logic. There was no way that Abraham was prepared for this. This would come as a complete shock. God told him in the last chapter of Genesis that through Isaac his offspring would be named. Right? Also, God stated in Genesis 17, verse 19, Sarah, your wife shall bear you a son, and you shall call his name Isaac. I will establish my covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his offspring after him. Now look, Abraham was very wealthy. You know, we've talked about this a bit over the various chapters in Genesis. But Isaac was his greatest possession. We can claim to trust God's word when waiting for something. It's another act and to obey when we get direction from God. And this was no small act. You know, on a different note, some friends of ours from our church plant came back from a trip to Hawaii over the holidays where they were visiting some missionary friends and came back with strong, clear thoughts that God was directing them to move there and help. And you know what? They didn't hesitate. They had a huge yard sale a couple months ago, sold must most of what they had and sold one of their vehicles right away. The house is on the market and they're closing here in a couple of days. Mom and child are already there and dad's leaving as soon as the house is closed up. Now I know what you're probably thinking. Well, if God told me to move to Hawaii, I'd go too. That's easy. Tropical. Well, I think that's the romanticism in our minds that would make it that easy, right? I don't think it was really easy for them. Certainly easy for them to listen to God. And I saw encouragement from their friends in their marriage. But it's not so easy to live there leave their families, their places of origin. Well, what if God asked you to move, even to Hawaii? Would you really be able to pick everything up and go? Remember, Abraham did pick up everything. Even family that he wasn't really supposed to bring along, and he did. And he moved. Now this new directive is nowhere close to moving, right? How far would Abraham really go in obedience to God? Abraham surely would have questioned God's directive in his mind. This seems illogical. Even though Abraham would be aware of child sacrifices, it was known in the land of Canaan, right? And then to think, did he just get up and sneak away? Or did he say something, anything to Sarah? I mean, how could he have held it all that in on his own? The stress he must have thought about that he felt unless he knew something. This seemed by human way of thinking to be contradictory. But we nowadays, modern Christians, know that God's word is inerrant and that there are zero contradictions through sixty-six books with about forty different authors. Abraham wouldn't know this, and yet he must have trusted God. Why would God tell him multiple times that his offspring would be innumerable only to have that bloodline cut off from existence after the son was born? It just doesn't make any sense. So perhaps one reasoning is that God would raise Isaac from the dead. Abe told his servants in verse 25 that they would both be back. Faith was sure of victory. And Abraham anticipated victory. And take a look at Abraham's response initially, right? It's quick. The word says that Abraham even rose early. That three-day journey had to be something. Can you imagine that? I imagine Abraham with an like this upset stomach, this internal anger, maybe stress beyond measure, and an internal battle. How did this all add up? Can't you see his thought process, the gears churning in Abraham's mind? I don't get it. I left my country, I left my kindred spirits at home, I brought my wife to this foreign land, given a son, and now I'm told this. Abraham states though, God will provide to his son. That's simply amazing. God did and still does provide. And then God intervenes. Pretty intense and instructive. God knows that Abraham fears the Lord, and to fear God means to reverence him, right? To obey him without crush question, to trust him. And Proverbs says the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. A fully following Christian obediently does what God says, gives what he asks, trusting beyond all doubt that God will provide the way and the means in what he asks of you. What I really like about this story too is that Abraham calls this place after the sacrifice of the ram Yahweh. The Lord will provide, or the Lord will see. This is really the subject matter of this chapter. An obedient servant worshipping God in faith at great cost and in the end receiving God's provision. God again confirms his covenant with Abraham, but then also lets him know that, oh, uh, by the way, Abraham, your descendants will be victorious over the Canaanite enemies, which the warrior Joshua takes care of later in the Old Testament. What about Isaac? Certainly this event had an important bearing on him. Alfred Edersheim in his book Old Testament Bible History shares this about Isaac. For when he resisted not his father and allowed himself to be bound and laid on the altar, he entered into the spirit of Abraham, he took upon himself his faith, and thus showed himself truly the heir to the promises.

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Man.

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Interesting to think about that. God encompassed and protected Isaac as well. God provided for all. You know, at the end of this chapter, the concerns turn to Abraham's expanding family. This is important as the innumered descendant count is initiated through Isaac, whose future wife Rebecca is mentioned. You know, if we look at worship, true worship, there are timeless lessons to glean from here. Faith obeys completely the word of God. Faith surrenders the best to God, nothing is withheld. Faith waits on the Lord to provide for one's needs. And true worship is costly. And that is what makes true worship worship so beautiful. Let's think though for a moment what Abraham's journey of faith has looked like. At God's bidding, Abraham had necessarily given up his country, his extended family, his home, and his paternal love toward Ishmael. And now he was told to give up his joy, his heir. But Abraham's faith was now proven strong and his love purified. And how do we know this? Well in the book of Hebrews, chapter eleven, verses seventeen through nineteen. The heroes of faith are talked about. And here it reads about Abraham seventeen and nineteen. He considered that God was able even to raise him from the dead, from which, figuratively speaking, he did receive him back. All throughout this sermon series, you have heard that Abraham seemed to lack faith, made mistakes, screwed up along the way, even tried to solve the problems through himself by having his son Ishmael. Yet he did fulfill the work. The servanthood that God asked of him. And you know, he didn't have the Bible to see all that was coming. The future salvation. In Hebrews chapter eleven, verses eight through ten, states this by faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going. By faith he went to live in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, living in tents with Isaac and Jacob, heirs with him of the same promise, for he was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose designer whose designer and builder is God. Look, this is certainly a trial for Abraham. Pastor and Evangelist Gene Getz and author wrote that God often tests us in these sensitive areas of our lives. What is most important to us? Where does our security lie? We mustn't be surprised if we've suddenly confronted with a choice between our dearest possession and the God we love. It's moments like these that we begin to understand how deep our love for God really is or isn't. Yikes. F. B. Meyer, pastor and evangelist, wrote this Satan tempts us that he may bring out all the evil that is in our hearts. God tries or tests us that he may bring out all the good. In the book of James, chapter one, verses twelve to fourteen, the author wrote this Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him. Let no one say when he is tempted, I am being tempted by God. For God cannot be tempted with evil, as he himself tempts no one, but each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. Also James wrote in chapter one, verses two through three. He writes this, Count all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. In the New Testament, also in First Corinthians chapter ten, verses twelve to thirteen, Paul wrote, Therefore, let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall. No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape that you may be able to endure it. Imagine yourself being so steadfast, so ingrained in God's word that no matter what trials come your way, you can see yourself victorious. God's command to Abraham to sacrifice his son is easily a foreshadowing of the ultimate sacrifice, son named Jesus. For God so loved the world that he gave his only son that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Yes, indeed, Abraham's potential sacrifice of Isaac was a foreshadowing of the future sacrifice that Jesus made on that cross. Jesus made that sacrifice on the cross for all of us. May we be reminded of that through the story of Abraham in Genesis. Godspeed and bearing the first time.