Good evening. As we continue tonight, I want to review what we looked at last week. Last week we looked at Genesis 12:1-9 to see how Abram responded when the future looked bright. We saw that the key for us to follow when the future looks bright is to Obey Him, and expect God to show up in our lives.
Now this week we are going to look at Genesis 22:1-12 and see how we need to respond when God’s commands make no sense to us. And then we will wrap things up next week by looking at Genesis 22:13-18 and see how we need to react when God shows up.
Now, with all of that said, Before we go any further though, let’s just begin with a word of prayer
So, what do people usually do when God calls them and it seems to make no sense?
What is a calling that you have received from God that didn’t make any sense to you at the time?
The old man stopped walking. It had been a long day and he was tired. To look into his eyes though, you would have realized that it wasn’t his body that was tired, but his spirit. The place of sacrifice was getting closer. He had wrestled with the matter in his heart a thousand times since God had spoken.
As he was thinking, his servants ran up and suggested a time of rest. The sun was extremely hot and the old man agreed to stop for awhile. The animals were tied down and the servants both laid down under a tree for a nap. Besides him, one other figure was still standing; a young male that bore a striking resemblance to the old man. To take a look at the 2 of them, you would have surely thought it was the man’s great grandson.
But it wasn’t. “Isaac my son,” the old voice spoke out, “come sit with me for awhile.” Isaac, after making sure the animals really were secure, came and sat next to his father. The heat had made him tired and he quickly fell asleep. Abraham turned his eyes toward his son Isaac. A tear began to roll down his face as he realized what must take place in just a few short days. Part of him wanted to pick up Isaac and run away. The other part knew he had to go. The old man never closed his eyes. Whiles everyone else slept, his eyes never left his son.
We’ve been looking at different situation that God calls us to. Tonight we are considering a calling that makes no sense at all to Abraham. From the story I’ve just told, you realize that we’ve stepped into the middle of the walk that we began last week. If you open up your Bibles with me to Genesis 22, we will read about the event that took place after what we just thought about.
Let’s go ahead and see what our response needs to be when God’s calling makes no sense to us. Turn with me to Genesis 22:1-12 if you haven’t already. Here in This passage we are introduced to the testing that Abraham went through. Here in Genesis 22:1-12 it says, “1”
How would you probably react if God called you to sacrifice one of your children?
At 3:00 a.m. one cold morning a missionary candidate walked into an office for a scheduled interview with the examiner of a mission board. He waited until 8 a.m. when the examiner finally arrived. The examiner said, “Let us begin. First, please spell baker.” “B-a-k-e-r,” the young man spelled. “Very good. Now, let’s see what you know about figures. How much is twice 2?” “Four,” replied the applicant. “Very good,” the examiner said. “I’ll recommend to the board tomorrow that you be appointed. You have passed the test.”
That type of a test doesn’t seem very real does it? It really makes no sense. Don’t you wish all tests were that easy? Anyway…
At the board meeting the examiner spoke highly of the applicant and said, “He has all the qualifications of a missionary. Let me explain. First, I tested him on self-denial. I told him to be at my house at 3 in the morning. He left a warm bed and came out in the cold without a word of complaint. Second, I tried him out on punctuality. He showed up right on time. Third, I examined him on patience. I made him wait 5 hours to see me, after telling him to be there at 3.
Fourth, I tested him on temper. He failed to show any sign of it; he didn’t even question my delay. Fifth, I tried his humility. I asked him questions that a small child could answer, and he showed no offense. He meets the requirements and will be the type of missionary that we need.”
In hindsight the test makes perfect sense. I think that sometime when God calls us and it makes no sense to us, that in the future we look back on those things and see that they make perfect sense.
Well, in Genesis 22, God dramatically tested Abraham’s devotion to Him with the instruction to offer Isaac his son as a burnt offering on a mountain. Abraham had already suffered the loss of his other son Ishmael who had left the household with his mother Hagar in Genesis 21:9-20. Abraham was at a rough time in his life. Sarah, who had conceived Isaac in her old age, would die in the next chapter, Abraham’s life would fade in the background. The stage would then be occupied by his son Isaac. Abraham faced the most critical test of his life. Passing the test would cement Abraham’s legacy in Jewish history. Stories of faith and courage would be told, Jewish history would be made and embedded, and Abraham would received the highest standing possible.
So, how did Abraham pass the test of faith when the stakes were so high? How could he go through with things knowing in his heart that they made no sense? What motivated him to surrender to God’s illogical request? How does testing mature one’s faith?
Well let’s look at this passage and see. Verse 1 says, “God tested Abraham.” This verse reveals God was testing Abraham for a reason. This test was to result in Abraham demonstrating the way to a relationship with the Lord. Hebrews 11:17 says, “By faith Abraham, when he was tried, offered up Isaac: and he that had received the promises offered up his only begotten son.” Abraham was to be used to reveal that “faith” is the way to the Lord. This revelation found in Abraham’s actions will unfold throughout this account.
In verse 2 comes the calling that makes no sense. God tells Abraham to go and to sacrifice his only son. Then in verses 3 through 5 is when Abraham goes to worship the Lord. He takes only Isaac with him. He left the other men below. Abraham wanted to be alone with the Lord and also with his son Isaac.
Notice in verse 5 we get a hint of the faith that Abraham possessed. He said, “I and the boy will go over there and worship. Then we will come back to you.” Abraham was told to offer his only son, but yet he said he and Isaac would return to the men. Abraham was either trying to fool the men, or he had the faith that the Lord would not allow his son to be harmed.
In verse 6 Abraham had Isaac bear the wood of his sacrifice, just as Jesus bore the wood of the cross. As we look through this passage, there are several similarities between this story and the story of Jesus’ sacrifice. Unfortunately we are not going to focus in on all of those, but they are there.
Anyway, Abraham carried the instruments of sacrifice within his hands. He held the power of life and death in his hands. God also holds the power of life and death in his hands. Abraham was being faithful to God because he was promised a great nation to come from his offspring.
In verses 7 and 8 is found a talk between a father and son that reveals the extent of the relationship between them. It is not a relationship in which they do not get along, but it is a relationship of trust and affection. Isaac innocently and respectively addressed his father with the words “My Father.” At this trying moment these words could have melted Abraham’s heart and persuaded him not to sacrifice Isaac, but Abraham replied with the calm and assuring words “Yes my Son.”
In verse 7 arises the big question: “The fire and the wood are here, but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?” Abraham did not have the heart to tell his son that he was the sacrifice, but he did not tell him that he wasn’t the sacrifice either. He just replied that, “God Himself would provide a lamb.”
It is seen in verses 9 and 10 what our response needs to be when the calling makes no sense. We need to obey God anyway. Notice that Abraham bound his son Isaac. Why would Abraham have to bind his son to the altar? It has already been seen that Isaac trusted his father. But my guess is that maybe at this moment Isaac has stopped trusting his father.
Now this must have been a hard task for Abraham to carry out, and one that made no sense to him. But, Mother Teresa once said, “True holiness consists in doing God’s work with a smile.”
Abraham was amazing. He did as he was asked, without hesitation, and without question. If he was resistant, angry, emotional, or disillusioned with the task, he didn’t show it, his son didn’t feel it, and his servants didn’t know it. Abraham did not ask for further clarification, or bargain for a later date. In fact, Abraham did the unexpected -- he left early the next morning even though the time was not stipulated, finished single-handedly the chores even though he had servants with him, and kept the appointment even though he had 3 days on the trip to think it over, change his mind, or beg for mercy.
How in the world could a person sacrifice one’s own child, not to mention the favorite child? The identity of the child was clear. It was not Esau, but Isaac that God demanded. The child that Abraham and his beloved wife Sarah had when they were past the age of childbearing. The task was clear: to offer Isaac. So what would Abraham tell Sarah, the mother of his child? Abraham and Sarah loved the child dearly and they would rather give up their own lives than their child’s. There would, no doubt, be heartbreak, tears, and resistance. Isaac was Abraham and his beloved Sarah’s pride and joy in life.
Was Abraham serious? Of course he was. He took wood, fire, and a knife for the trip. He had a serious approach to sacrificing Isaac, and he intended on doing it. At his arrival on the mountain, he built an altar, laid the wood in order, bound Isaac, and laid him on the altar upon the wood. Then Abraham stretched forth his hand, and took the knife to slay his son.
Abraham’s obedience to God was unthinkable but understandable. He had come a long way. His forefathers, including his father, were pagans, idolaters, and unbelievers if you look in Joshua 24:2-4. But God chose Abram and brought him out of the place that he was, and renamed him Abraham. To the possessions and people Abraham and Sarah had acquired in Haran were added livestock and more servants and more livestock and silver and gold. Even though they were very wealthy the silver kept coming. Isaac, too, was a gift from God. God had kindly given the child to the parents when hope was slim, fading, and gone.
But, before Abraham could go on with the sacrifice, we see what happens when God shows up. All of a sudden, right before Abraham was going to sacrifice Isaac an angle of the Lord called out to him from heaven, “Abraham! Abraham.” “Here I am,” he replied. “Do not lay a hand on the boy, he said. Do not do anything to him. Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son.”
Abraham clearly knew that God had promised him offspring through Isaac, so why did he plan to sacrifice his own son? Abram knew that God was perfect. Nothing was impossible for Him. He could give Abraham his son back unharmed, in one piece, as if nothing had happened. God could even present Isaac to his father better than ever, as good as new, and in the best shape possible.
Hebrews 11:17-19 reveals Abraham’s understanding of and faith in God’s perfection. Here it says, “By faith Abraham, when God tested him, offered Isaac as a sacrifice. He who had received the promises was about to sacrifice his one and only son, even though God had said to him, “It is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned.” Abraham reasoned that God could raise the dead, and figuratively speaking, he did receive Isaac back from death.”
Abraham did not throw a fit or shake his fist at God. His stomach did not churn, tears fell from his eyes but there was no rage in them, his heart broke but it did not die, and no curse was found in his mouth, because he had hope in God. He believed nothing was impossible to Him, and nothing is impossible or too hard for Him to do.
So, once again Abraham expected God to show up, and He did. You see, we talked last week that this is our biggest problem. We pray for things, and then we are amazed when they really do happen. We need to expect God to show up and be more like our next story.
One summer, a drought threatened the crop in a small farming town. On a hot and dry Sunday, the village pastor told his congregation, “There isn’t anything that will save us except to pray for rain. Go home, pray, believe, and come back tonight ready for rain and we will spend the service thanking God for sending rain.”
The people did as they were told and returned to church that evening. They were buzzing and talking with excitement at what the pastor had said that morning. But as soon as the pastor saw them, he was furious and scolded them for their disobedience and faithlessness. He accused them of hypocrisy and prayerlessness. The people did their best to pacify the pastor, to deflect the criticism, and to minimize the uproar. “We can’t worship and thank God tonight. You do not yet believe,” the pastor said. The people moaned and protested their innocence. “But we prayed, and we do believe.” “Believe?” the pastor lashed out. “Then where are your umbrellas?”
You see, we sometimes pray for things, but do we really expect to get what we are praying for. As we close this evening, hopefully we have seen that when God’s commands makes no sense to us at the time, we need to obey Him anyway! And then we again need to expect God to show up!
Are there any questions, comments, or input that anyone would like to add before we close this evening?
Well, we asked at the beginning of our series, and we asked tonight, “What do you do when God calls your name and it makes no sense?” Well, hopefully we can again: start walking in obedience anyway, and expect God to show up. Because when He does show up, there is hope for the future and it all makes perfect sense.
Let’s Pray |
