Genesis 22 Commentary

Updated: Wed, 01/10/2024 - 14:18 By admin

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Summary Chart of The Book of Genesis
Focus	Foundation Events (Four Events) (Events Predominant)				Foundation People (Four People) (People Predominant)
Divisions	Creation (Ge 1-2)	Fall (Ge 3-5)	Flood (Ge 6-9)	Nations (Ge 10-12)	Abraham's Faith (Ge 12-24)	Isaac's Family (Ge 25-26)	Jacob's Conflicts (Ge 27-36)	Joseph's Calamity (Ge 37-50)
Topics	Beginning of the Human Race (Race As A Whole)				Beginning of the Hebrew Race (Family of Abraham)
	Faithfulness of Mankind (Noah)				Faithfulness of One Man's Family (Abraham)
	Historical				Biographical
Place	Eastward From Eden to Ur				Westward From Canaan to Egypt
Time	~2000+ Years (20% of Genesis) (~4004-2090BC)				About 300 Years 193 Yr in Canaan, 93 Yr in Egypt (80% of Genesis) (2090-1804BC)
	Primeval History of Humanity				Patriarchal History of Israel
Author	Moses
BEGINNINGS Ge 1:1-25 - The Universe (Everything) Ge 1:26-2:25 - The Human Race Ge 3:1-7 - Sin Enters the World Ge 3:8-24- God Promises Redemption from Bondage to Sin Ge 4:1-15 - Family Life Ge 4:16ff - Civilization Ge 10:1-11:32 - The Nations of the World Ge 12:1ff - The Story of Israel and the Jews

Genesis 22:1 Now it came about after these things, that God tested Abraham, and said to him, "Abraham!" And he said, "Here I am."

God : Ex 15:25,26 16:4 De 8:2 13:3 Jdg 2:22 2Sa 24:1 2Ch 32:31 Pr 17:3 1Co 10:13 Heb 11:17 Jas 1:12-14 2:21 1Pe 1:7
test : Or prove, or try, as tempt, from tento, originally signified.
here I am : Ge 22:7,11 Ex 3:4 Isa 6:8
Genesis 22 Resources - Multiple Sermons and Commentaries

Related Passages:

Galatians 3:8+ The Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, “ALL THE NATIONS WILL BE BLESSED IN YOU.”

Deuteronomy 8:2, 16+ “You shall remember all the way which the LORD your God has led you in the wilderness these forty years, that He might humble you, testing you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not.....16 “In the wilderness He fed you manna which your fathers did not know, that He might humble you and that He might test you, to do good for you in the end.

1 Corinthians 10:13+ No temptation (TEST) has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it.

Hebrews 11:17-19 By faith Abraham, when he was TESTED, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises was offering up his only begotten son; 18 it was he to whom it was said, “IN ISAAC YOUR DESCENDANTS SHALL BE CALLED.” 19 He considered that God is able to raise people even from the dead, from which he also received him back as a type.

James 1:12-14+ Blessed is a man who perseveres under trial (TEST); for once he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love (NOTE LOVE IS LINKED HERE WITH PERSEVERANCE) Him. 13 Let no one say when he is tempted (TO COMMIT SIN), “I am being tempted by God”; for God cannot be tempted by evil, and He Himself does not tempt anyone. 14 But each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust.

1 Peter 1:6-7+ In this you greatly rejoice, even though now for a little while, if (SINCE THEY ARE) necessary, you have been distressed by various trials, 7 so that the proof of your FAITH (LIKE ABRAHAM'S), being more precious than gold which is perishable, even though tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ;

GOD'S "POP TEST" FOR
ABRAHAM THE BELIEVER

Now it came about after these things - Ask "When?", "What things?" (see time phrases) ": (1) Birth and circumcision of Isaac in Genesis 21:1-8 (2) The departure of Hagar and Ishmael from the home of Abraham and Sarah in Genesis 21:9-21 (3) Abraham and Abimelech’s agreements with each other in Genesis 21:22-34." (Wenstrom)

Spurgeon on after these things - Note here, that God did not try Abraham like this at the beginning. It is “after these things” God tried Abraham. There was a course of education to prepare him for this great testing time; and the Lord knows how to educate you up to such a point that you can endure in years to come what you could not endure to-day; just as to-day he may make you to stand firm under a burden, which, ten years ago, would have crushed you into the dust...God tests his people by actual experience. He did not test Abraham by words only; he did not say to him, “Will you do this? Are you willing to do that?” It is always easy to say that we will do a thing if we do not expect to be compelled to do it. We can make large promises when we think we shall never be called upon to fulfil them; we can even think large things to-day about what we intend to do to-morrow. It is always easy to rise up early overnight. But God does not prove his people in word only, but in deed and in truth

That God (Elohim) tested (nacah/nasah) Abraham - Tested (nacah/nasah) means to try or prove, and often used in OT of God testing the faith and faithfulness of men (LXX = peirazo)

“Trials make the promise sweet,
Trials give new life to prayer;
Trials bring me to His feet,
Lay me low, and keep me there.”

Spurgeon points out that "God Himself tests believers. “It came to pass after these things, that God”—“Elohim,” that is the word—“Elohim did tempt Abraham.” This does not always occur. Job is tried by the devil, and the devil tests him, though even then God is there permitting the devil to be his instrument. But God himself was here, himself testing his servant Abraham. I never read that he tested Lot. Poor Lot! He was a poor “lot”, indeed. There was just enough grace in him to keep him alive, and no more; but he could not stand any tests. Lot failed wretchedly in Sodom." (Genesis 22:1 Abraham’s Trial—A Lesson for Believers)

Everything that will abide the fire shall go through the fire,
that it may be both proved and improved...every one of us shall be tested
-- C H Spurgeon

Spurgeon - WE may regard the father of the faithful as being a pattern of his children. As God dealt with Abraham, so will he deal in measure with all those who, as believers, are the children of believing Abraham. Everything that will abide the fire shall go through the fire, that it may be both proved and improved....we must not be astonished, as though some strange thing had happened to us, if great and severe tests should be put upon us before the chapter of life is over. (Genesis 22:1 Abraham’s Trial—A Lesson for Believers)

Utley- God changed his name from Abram, which means "exalted father," to Abraham, which means "father of a multitude." God is about to ask Abraham to do something that will jeopardize his new name! The Septuagint doubles God's address to Abraham, but the Hebrew manuscript has only a single "Abraham" in Genesis 22:1, while the double is in Genesis 22:11.

Wenstrom - The statement “God tested Abraham” reveals to the reader that which Abraham was unaware of, namely, that God had no intention of letting Abraham kill Isaac. But rather God tested Abraham in order to demonstrate to the angels and men that Abraham valued his relationship with God over his relationship with his beloved son, Isaac. “Tested” is the piel form of the verb nasah (hs*n*), which means, “to test through adversity in order to demonstrate a person’s character” and the testing of Abraham was designed to demonstrate that which was already in the soul of Abraham, namely, that he loved God more than Isaac....The verb nasah does “not” mean “to entice to sin.” (Jas 1:13) This test was “not” to find fault in Abraham. But rather to demonstrate the character that God had developed in Abraham through the years of fellowship together. (cf Jas 1:2-3, 1Pe 1:6-7) This testing of Abraham would glorify God in the sense that God’s love for Abraham would be manifested in Abraham’s love for God since Abraham responded in obedience to God’s command to sacrifice Isaac because of God’s love for him. This testing of Abraham glorified God in the sense that it reflected God the Father and God the Son’s love for each other. This test that God put Abraham through was difficult for a couple of reasons. The obvious difficulty is that Abraham loved Isaac and the other was that Abraham had to deal with an apparent contradiction in the sense that God had promised Abraham that He would establish His covenant with Isaac for an eternal covenant for his (Isaac’s) descendants after him as recorded in Genesis 17:19! Hebrews 11:17-19 records that Abraham resolved this apparent contradiction believing that God would raise Isaac from the dead! (Hebrews 11:17-19)

THOUGHT - Have you never prayed, “Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: and see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting”? (Ps 139:23-24) Invite divine inspection, and, if God shall come, and by some extraordinary trial test you, be not cast down on that account, but rather take it as a very choice favour that the King himself should put you to the proof to know whether you are indeed his. (Spurgeon)

Henry Morris - This is the first occurrence of the word tempt (Hebrew nacah). It does not mean "tempt to do evil" (James 1:13), but is usually translated "prove." Although God knew what Abraham would do, it must be "proved" to all (including even Abraham himself) that he loved God more than anyone else and that his faith in God's Word was absolute. Such action would demonstrate the validity of God's selection of him as father of the chosen nation.

HERE I AM!

And said to him, "Abraham!" And he said, "Here I am." Hebrew literally is "Behold me" (hinneh). Abraham was ready to surrender to Elohim, his Creator.

THOUGHT - Are you (am I) ready to surrender to His call and command? Are you willing to say "Here I am?"

Here I am - 22x/22v - Gen. 22:1; Gen. 22:7; Gen. 22:11; Gen. 27:1; Gen. 27:18; Gen. 31:11; Gen. 46:2; Exod. 3:4; 1 Sam. 3:4; 1 Sam. 3:5; 1 Sam. 3:6; 1 Sam. 3:8; 1 Sam. 3:16; 1 Sam. 12:3; 1 Sam. 14:7; 1 Sam. 14:43; 1 Sam. 22:12; 2 Sam. 1:7; 2 Sam. 15:26; Isa. 52:6; Isa. 58:9; Acts 9:10 Bob Utley writes that "This is a Hebrew idiom of availability (cf. Genesis 22:11; Exodus 3:4; 1 Samuel 3:4; Isaiah 6:8)

Spurgeon adds on Here I am - Abraham was also ready to be inspected. He says, “Here am I.” Adam went and hid himself in the garden, and God had to call after him, “Where art thou?” Abraham was ready when God called him.” It will be well if you can say, when you kneel at your bedside to-night, “Lord, I have nothing to conceal. I am sincere before thee. I would have thee acquainted with all my faults and sins, that thou mayest wash them away; I would have thee know all my mistakes and errors, that thou mayest correct them all. Thou knowest all things, thou knowest that I love thee. I am no hypocrite. I have made no pretence of being thy servant while I have been serving self and sin.” O blessed man, that dares to open his bosom, to lay bare his very heart, and say, “Shine into me, O Lord, and let thy searching light go through and through me; for in truth I am thy servant!”

Tested (tempt) (see 0974 below) (05254) nacah/nasah; Lxx = peirazo) A verb meaning to test, to try, to prove. In most OT uses has idea of testing or proving quality of someone or something and doing so often through adversity or hardship. As the following context makes clear (note "to see," lit., "to know," in 3:4), the purpose of this divine test was to determine if Israel was truly loyal. An examination of parallel passages shows that such divine tests were designed to reveal otherwise hidden character qualities. Testing which shows what someone is really like generally involves difficulty or hardship. Swanson sums up Nacah - 1. (piel) test, try, i.e., attempt to learn the true nature of something (1Ki 10:1); 2. (piel) attempt, try, i.e., exert oneself to do something (Dt 4:34); 3. (piel) test, try, i.e., cause or allow hardship or trouble in a circumstance, often with choices within the situation, implying a different outcome is possible (Jdg 2:22)

Nacah - 37x/34v - make a test(1), proved(1), put(1), put to the test(2), tempted(3), test(13), tested(9), testing(3), tried(1), try(1), venture(1), ventures(1). Gen. 22:1; Exod. 15:25; Exod. 16:4; Exod. 17:2; Exod. 17:7; Exod. 20:20; Num. 14:22; Deut. 4:34; Deut. 6:16; Deut. 8:2; Deut. 8:16; Deut. 13:3; Deut. 28:56; Deut. 33:8; Jdg. 2:22; Jdg. 3:1; Jdg. 3:4; Jdg. 6:39; 1 Sam. 17:39; 1 Ki. 10:1; 2 Chr. 9:1; 2 Chr. 32:31; Job 4:2; Ps. 26:2; Ps. 78:18; Ps. 78:41; Ps. 78:56; Ps. 95:9; Ps. 106:14; Eccl. 2:1; Eccl. 7:23; Isa. 7:12; Dan. 1:12; Dan. 1:14

Here I am (behold) (02009) hinneh is an interjection meaning behold, look, now; if. "It is used often and expresses strong feelings, surprise, hope, expectation, certainty, thus giving vividness depending on its surrounding context." (Baker) Hinneh generally directs our mind to the text, imploring the reader to give it special attention.

Hinneh in Genesis (~1000 total OT uses) - Gen. 1:29,31; 6:12-13,17; 8:11,13; 9:9; 12:11,19; 15:4,12,17; 16:2,6,11,14; 17:4,20; 18:2,9-10,27,31; 19:2,8,19-21,28; 20:3,15-16; 22:1,7,11,13,20; 24:13,15,30,43,45,51,63; 25:24,32; 26:8-9; 27:1-2,6,18,36,39,42; 28:12-13,15; 29:2,6,25; 30:3; 31:2,10-11,51; 32:18,20; 33:1; 34:21; 37:7,9,13,15,19,25,29; 38:13,23-24,27,29; 40:6,9,16; 41:1-3,5-7,17-19,22-23,29; 42:2,13,22,27-28,35; 43:21; 44:16; 45:12; 46:2; 47:1; 48:1-2,4,11,21; 50:5,18;

M R De Haan - Truly Genesis 22 is holy ground to be approached only in deepest reverence, worship and adoration. We have in this chapter one of the clearest figures of Calvary to be found anywhere in Scripture. Together with Psalm 22, Exodus 12 and Isaiah 53, they constitute the highest mountain peaks in the Old Testament, in the progressive revelation of Jesus, the Son of God.

Bob Utley - SPECIAL TOPIC: GOD TESTS HIS PEOPLE (OT)

The term "test" (Piel PERFECT; Gen. 22:1) is used in the sense of "to try." It is used in the sense of bringing someone to the place whereby they recognize and act on their own stated priorities. It is obvious from Genesis 12 through 22 that God is presenting Abraham with a series of situations (the rabbis say ten) in order to focus his love and trust in God and God alone (same procedure possibly in also Job). These tests were not so much for God's sake, but for Abraham's sake and his understanding of the God who called him out of Ur of the Chaldees. Abraham is asked to give up family, home, friends, worship object, inheritance, tradition and even the future (to sacrifice his promised son in Genesis 22) to follow God by faith (cf. Gen. 15:6; Rom. 4:3; Gal. 3:6). God tests all of His children in the area of their priority (cf. Matt. 4:lff; Heb. 5:8; 12:5-13).

God tests (BDB 650) in order to know (BDB 393). Israel often tested God by their disobedience and God proved to be true to His word. Now God will give Israel and her people a chance to demonstrate their spoken allegiance and faith.

God tested His people corporately (some examples)
1. Exod. 15:25; 16:4; 20:20
2. Deut. 8:2,16; 13:3
3. Joshua 3
4. Jdgs. 2:22; 3:1,4
God tested individual Israelites (some examples)
1. Abraham, Gen. 22:1-12
2. Joseph, Genesis 37; 39
3. Moses, Exodus 3-4
4. Gideon, Judges 6
5. David, 1 Samuel 17
6. Hezekiah, 2 Chr. 32:31
The Psalm writers cry out for God to test them so as to remove any hidden flaws (cf. Ps. 26:2; 139:23)
The NT people of God are also tested, as was Jesus (Matthew 4; Luke 4; Heb. 5:8).
See SPECIAL TOPIC: GREEK TERMS FOR TESTING AND THEIR CONNOTATIONS.

Wenstrom has an interesting comment - Genesis 22:1-19 records the seventh and final great crisis in the life of Abraham, which tested his love for the Lord, his faith in the Lord and his obedience to the Lord:

(1) God commanded Abraham to leave behind his parents as recorded in Genesis 12:1 and Hebrews 11:8.

(2) God commanded Abraham to live among the Canaanites as an alien (see Genesis 12:1-8; Hebrews 11:9-10).

(3) Abraham’s faith was tested in that he had to choose between living in the land of Canaan, trusting that the Lord would take care of him even though there was a famine in the land or leave the land of Canaan and go to Egypt.

(4) Abraham had to separate from his nephew Lot as recorded in Genesis 13:5-18.

(5) God commanded Abraham to send away Ishmael whom he loved dearly as recorded in Genesis 17:18-21 and Ge 21:12- 14.

(6) Abraham’s faith was tested in that he had to wait twenty-five years for the birth of Isaac and had to trust that God could deliver on this promise even though he and Sarah were biologically unable to have children together because of their advanced age (see Romans 4:18-22).

(7) God commanded Abraham to sacrifice Isaac after he waited so long for him to be born (Genesis 22:1- 19; Hebrews 11:17-19). The seventh and final test in Abraham’s life demonstrates the spiritual maturity of Abraham since the number seven in the Bible is the number of spiritual perfection.

Spurgeon comments - I want you to notice that, in God’s dealings with believers, he tests them again and again. Read the text through, “It came to pass after these things, that God did tempt Abraham.” After all his life of holy obedience he was still not free from trials. God still tested him. He had received great and precious promises, more than any other man of his time; and he believed them, and sucked the sweetness out of them; but after these things God did try Abraham.

Genesis 22:1-19 can be entitled “the testing of Abraham” and can be divided into three sections:

(1) Genesis 22:1-2: God’s instructions for the testing of Abraham.

(2) Genesis 22:3-10: Abraham’s obedience to God’s instructions.

(3) Genesis 22:11-19: God’s approval of and reward for Abraham’s obedience.

F B Meyer - God sends us no trial, whether great or small, without first preparing us. Trials are God’s vote of confidence in us. Many a trifling event is sent to test us, ere a greater trial is permitted to break on our heads. We are set to climb the lower peaks before urged to the loftiest summits with their virgin snows; are made to run with the footmen, before contending with horses; are taught to wade in the shallows, before venturing into the swell of the ocean waves.

Newman Hall - Temptation is that which puts to the test. Trials sent by God do this. A test is never employed for the purpose of injury. A weight is attached to a rope, not to break, but to prove it. Pressure is applied to a boiler, not to burst it, but to certify its power of resistance. The testing process here confers no strength. But when a sailor has to navigate his ship under a heavy gale and in a difficult channel; or when a general has to fight against a superior force and on disadvantageous ground, skill and courage are not only tested, but improved. The test has brought experience, and by practice is every faculty perfected. So, faith grows stronger by exercise, and patience by the enduring of sorrow. Thus alone it was that “God did tempt Abraham.”

Norman Geisler - When Critics Ask - Page 42 - GENESIS 22:2—Why did God tell Abraham to sacrifice his son when God condemned human sacrifice in Leviticus 18 and 20?

PROBLEM: In both Leviticus 18:21 and 20:2, God specifically denounced human sacrifice when He commanded Israel, “Do not give any of your children to be sacrificed to Molech” (Lev. 18:21, NIV), and “Any Israelite or any alien living in Israel, who gives any of his children to Molech, must be put to death; the people of the community are to stone him” (Lev. 20:2, NIV). Yet, in Genesis 22:2, God commanded Abraham to “Take now 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.” This appears to contradict His command not to offer human sacrifices.

SOLUTION: First, God was not interested, nor did He plan, that Abraham should actually kill his son. The fact that the angel of the Lord prevented Abraham from killing Isaac (22:12) demonstrates this. God’s purpose was to test Abraham’s faith by asking him to completely surrender his only son to God. The angel of the Lord declared that it was Abraham’s willingness to surrender his son, not the actual killing of him, that satisfied God’s expectations for Abraham. God said explicitly, “Do not stretch out your hand against the lad … for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from Me” (Gen. 22:12, NASB).

Second, the prohibitions in both Leviticus 18:21 and 20:2 were specifically against the offering of one’s offspring to the pagan god Molech. So it is not strictly a contradiction for God to prohibit offering one’s offspring to Molech and yet asking Abraham to offer Isaac to Him, the only true God. After all, offering Isaac to the Lord is not offering one’s offspring to Molech, since the Lord is not Molech. God alone is sovereign over life (Deut. 32:39; Job 1:21), and therefore He alone has the right to demand when it should be taken. Indeed, He has appointed the day of everyone’s death (Ps. 90:10; Heb. 9:27).

Third, Abraham so trusted in God’s love and power that he willingly obeyed because he believed God would raise Isaac from the dead (Heb. 11:17–19). This is implied in the fact that, though Abraham intended to kill Isaac, he told his servants, “I and the lad will go yonder; and we will worship and we will return to you” (Gen. 22:5, NASB).

Finally, it is not morally wrong for God to order the sacrifice of our sons. He offered His own Son on Calvary (John 3:16). Indeed, even our governments sometimes call upon us to sacrifice our sons for our country. Certainly God has an even greater right to do so.

Norman Geisler - When Critics Ask - page 43 - GENESIS 22:2—How could Isaac be Abraham’s “only son” when he already had Ishmael?

PROBLEM: Abraham was told here, “Take now your son, your only son Isaac.” However, Abraham had Ishmael many years before (Gen. 16) and he also had other “sons” (Gen. 25:6).

SOLUTION: The other sons of Genesis 25 were probably born later, being mentioned three chapters after Isaac is called his “only son.” Furthermore, they were sons by “the concubines which Abraham had” (Gen. 25:6) and were not counted as heirs of God’s promise. Likewise, Ishmael was conceived in unbelief by a concubine and not counted as heir to the promised inheritance. In addition, the phrase “only son” may be equivalent to “beloved son” (cf. John 1:18; 3:16), that is, a special son. God said clearly to Abraham, “in Isaac your seed shall be called” (Gen. 21:12)

Kaiser in Hard Sayings of the Bible (page 95) addresses Ge 22:1 Why Did God Test Abraham?

Even though the writer carefully couches his description of God’s command to Abraham as a “test,” many people have puzzled over God’s being involved in what many view as entrapment. How then shall we view this test from God?

The term used here for “to test” is used in eight other Old Testament passages where God is said to be the “tester.” In six of these (Ex 15:22–26; 16:4; 20:18–20; Deut 8:2, 16; Judg 2:21–22; 3:1–4), Israel is tested. In 2 Chronicles 32:31 King Hezekiah was tested, and in Psalm 26:2 David appealed to God to test him. In five of the six cases where Israel was tested, the context shows the testing stemmed from concern over the nation’s obedience to God’s commands, laws or ways. That same concern is implied in Exodus 20:18–20, where the issue is the fear of the Lord, just as it is here in Genesis 22:1, 12. Likewise the passages in Psalm 26 and 2 Chronicles 32:31 focus on the matter of obedience and invite God to prove whether David and Hezekiah are not willing to obey God with all their hearts and souls.

Therefore, based on these eight passages where God is the subject and author of the testing, we may conclude that God wanted to test Abraham to know his heart and to see if he would obey and fear the Lord who gave him the son he loved so dearly. Just as the queen of Sheba came to “test” Solomon’s wisdom (1 Kings 10:1), so God also tests without any sinister connotations.

When the word “test” is used as a term in which man tests or tries God, the meaning is altogether different (Ex 17:2, 7; Num 14:22; Is 7:12). Such a test flows from an attitude of doubt and a sinful heart on man’s part. In this situation, man wants to determine whether God’s power will be adequate, the effect of which is to “tempt” God.

But when used of God, there is no connotation of doubt or a desire to trick or deceive the one placed under the test. His testing was only concerned with obedience or with the fear of God, that is to say, an attitude which expressed that same spirit of obedience to God. Deuteronomy 8:2 describes the wilderness wanderings with its particularly harsh experiences along the way as a testing by God—“Remember how the LORD your God led you … in the desert these forty years, to humble you and to test you in order to know what was in your heart.”

Such a test demonstrated in action what Abraham claimed: he was willing to trust the God who had provided this son born so late in the patriarch’s life.

The old English word for test was prove. In the context of this passage it does not have the sense of exciting to sin or provoking someone to commit an evil. Indeed, James 1:13 states, “God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone.” Temptation or testing in the bad sense always proceeds from the malice of Satan working on the corruptions of our own hearts. God, however, may bring his creatures into circumstances of special testing, not for the purpose of supplying information for himself, but in order to manifest to individuals and others the dispositions of their hearts. In this context, all forms of divine testing, putting to the proof and trying individuals are used in such a way as to leave God’s attributes unimpeachable.

But if it is asked, “How could a holy God put his servant through such an ordeal as this?” the answer rests in the special relationship that Abraham and the Lord enjoyed. The relationship of father and son that existed between Abraham and Isaac was exactly the same relationship that existed between God and Abraham. Abraham’s test was indeed a qualifying test that had as much evidential value for Abraham as it had for the Lord who issued the test.

The point is that the test was not a temptation to do evil or a test that was meant to trap the hapless patriarch. Instead, it had the opposite purpose: it was intended to strengthen him and to build him up, as did the numerous tests in the desert. As used here, the ideas of tempting, testing or trying are religious concepts. It is God’s testing the partner of the covenant to see if he is keeping his side of the agreement. God never tests the heathen; he tests his own people exclusively. Thus the test is ever a test of God’s own in order to know whether they will love, fear, obey, worship and serve him.
Testing, finally, is one of the means by which God carries out his saving purposes. Often people do not know why they were tested until after the test is over. Only after they have been preserved, proved, purified, disciplined and taught can they move beyond the situation, strong in faith and strengthened for the more difficult tasks ahead.

See also comments on

GENESIS 2:16–17 An Unfair Test? - Page 59;
JAMES 1:13 on page 651 Does God Tempt Anyone?

Giving Up

Today’s Reading: Genesis 22:1–18

Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. -2 Corinthians 9:7

The late Kobe Bryant is considered one of the greatest basketball players ever. In his drive to become the best, he reportedly slept only about four hours each night. He said, “There’s a choice that we have to make as people, as individuals. If you want to be great at something . . . there are sacrifices that come along with that.”

Sacrifice helps us to accomplish not only our major life and career goals but also contributes to our hopes of pleasing God.

When God asked Abraham to sacrifice his son, instead of questioning Him, Abraham prepared to do as God called him to do. As he was about to slay his son, an angel of God stopped him and said, “‘Do not lay a hand on the boy,&rsuo; . . . ‘Do not do anything to him. Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your son” (Genesis 22:12). Abraham honored God’s command to sacrifice what he had waited so many decades to receive, the son Sarah had born, the child of the promise Abraham cared so much about. God saw Abraham’s heart of faith and blessed him.

Although God asked Abraham to sacrifice something he treasured, God didn’t leave him hanging. God provided a ram to sacrifice in the place of Isaac. We can be comforted by the fact that God always has our backs. Anything that we sacrifice for His will can be restored and is small in comparison to what God has provided for us. —Nia Caldwell

What sacrifices are you making right now in order to obey God?

Dear God, I don’t want to miss out on what You have planned for me due to my inability to give things up. Open my heart to give what You call me to so that I can live according to Your truth.

(Reprinted by permission from Our Daily Bread Ministries. Please do not repost the full devotional without their permission.)

David Roper - In This Place (From Teach us to number our days BORROW)

Being born is the front end of our troubles. —Mister Rogers

As a young man I was led to believe that the end of life would be easier than its beginning, but as I’ve aged I’ve come to the conclusion that some of the hardest tests are farther along.

Take Abraham, for example. After enduring a lifetime of difficulty, the old patriarch finally retired to a life of ease and affluence near the wells of Beersheba. He and Sarah enjoyed good old age with Isaac, their love and laughter. They were in their “golden years.”

One night Abraham put his head on his pillow, thanked God for His goodness, and went to sleep, only to be jolted awake in the middle of the night by a voice beckoning him. “Abraham!”

“Here I am,” Abraham replied.

“Take your son, your only son, Isaac, whom you love, and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains I will tell you about.”39

Isaac was the son of Abraham’s old age, the promised child through whom God pledged to make him great. Abraham knew that the gods of the Chaldeans and Canaanites demanded human sacrifice. Was his God now demanding this of him?40 Why?

Indeed, we ask when life is sweet and then turns bitter, “Why?”

Did Abraham tell Sarah? I don’t know. The ancient rabbis thought so, and said that Sarah held Isaac all that night, and that the ordeal contributed to her death.41 But, for myself, I think Abraham told no one. This was a matter he had to work out with God alone.

Early the next morning Abraham packed up and started his terrible journey to Mount Moriah. There, the two—Abraham and his son—began their ascent to “the place” that God had revealed.42

Isaac turned to his father and spoke: “Father, the fire and wood are here, but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?” Abraham replied, “God himself will provide.” With those words he rested his case.

You know the story: “Abraham looked up and there in a thicket he saw a ram caught by its horns. He . . . took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering instead of his son.”43 Thus “Abraham called that place The Lord Will Provide,” a saying that has been preserved to this day as a proverb and a promise: “On the mountain of the Lord it will be provided.”

So, what of Abraham’s stern “test”? What does it mean for me?

It comes to this: Can I endure the loss of anything I deem essential to life and believe that “in this place” of death and grief my God can and will provide?

I think of this as I stare in stark unbelief at what God is asking some of my friends to endure: critical illness, crippling infirmity, isolation and dislocation, the inability to use the talents and abilities with which they hoped to serve God to the end of their days. “Is this what He is asking of me?” my heart cries out.

Yet I know that there is love and logic in all God will ask of me. My losses—whatever they may be— are to the end that He may use me in a greater way to bring glory to His name and salvation to the world. Thus God swore to Abraham: “Because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, I will surely bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will take possession of the cities of their enemies, and through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed me.”

Now, God said to Abraham, the fruitfulness of your life will be manifest.

When you and I come to “the place” where we offer up all that we are and have to God—even the best gifts He has given us—then we will become a blessing to everyone we touch. This is the record of all whose lives have counted for God.

Is this not what Jesus meant when He promised, “Whoever loses his life for my sake will find it”?44

An afterthought …

I cannot leave this story without mentioning that David purchased Moriah from Aravnah the Canaanite to mark the place where Abraham offered up Isaac. It was there that Solomon built the temple. Moriah is not a single peak, but an elongated ridge that begins at the junction of the Kidron and Hinnom Valleys and rises to its summit just northwest of the present Damascus Gate. There is sound archeological evidence to suppose that Jesus was crucified there on the summit, “on that place.” And I fail to see how anyone reading about old Abraham, leading his dear son up the flanks of Mount Moriah, binding him to the altar while his heart breaks within him, can fail to miss the parallel with God leading His own Son to that same mountain centuries later “to the place of the Skull” (John 19:17). There He made the provision upon which all other provisions are based.
Did Abraham know? Perhaps this is what Jesus meant when He said, “Abraham rejoiced at the thought of seeing my day; he saw it and was glad” (John 8:56).

39 Genesis 22:1–2. The text draws particular attention to the fact that it was “the God” who spoke to Abraham. The very God who had been so good to him now delivers this awful line: “Take your son . . . your only son . . . the son you love” and put him to death.
40 It would be over six hundred years later that God registered His opposition to the practice of human sacrifice when He gave the Law to Moses (Leviticus 18:21; 20:2 Deuteronomy 12:31; 18:10).
41 Sarah’s death came soon after (Genesis 23:1–2).
42 See Genesis 22:3–19.
43 This is the first mention of a substitutionary atonement in the Bible. The Hebrew word tahat clearly means “instead of.”
44 Matthew 10:39

A Test of Faith - When I was a boy, I disliked the story of Abraham going to Mount Moriah to sacrifice his son Isaac. Why would God tell Abraham to do such a thing? I was an only son, and I didn't want that happening to me! My parents assured me that God was testing Abraham's faith. And he passed that test. Even with the knife in his hand, Abraham believed God (Gen. 22:8, 9, 10). He had learned that the Lord could be trusted.

It is easy to make a profession of faith. But the real test comes when God asks us to lay our dearest treasures on the line. As with Abraham, the issue becomes one of obedience. A businesswoman lost a high-paying job because she wouldn't compromise her standards. And a pastor was driven from his church when he obeyed God's Word and spoke out about racism in his congregation.

Shouldn't these people have been rewarded when they did the right thing? Faith meets its toughest test when we feel that the Lord has not rewarded our faithfulness.

You may be faced with giving back to God something you feel He has given you. Learn to see this test as an opportunity to demonstrate your faith in the One who always keeps His promises—even when you don't understand. — Haddon W. Robinson (Our Daily Bread, Copyright RBC Ministries, Grand Rapids, MI. Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved)

Be still, my soul—the Lord is on thy side!
Bear patiently the cross of grief or pain;
Leave to thy God to order and provide—
In every change He faithful will remain.
—von Schlegel

Faith is the ability to see God in the dark.

Genesis 22:1-2 ABRAHAM OFFERS ISAAC

God tested Abraham, and said to him, ... "Take now your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering" Genesis 22:1-2

In Charles Dickens's David Copperfield, the character Traddles lent his good name to Mr. Micawber's money-making scheme. After Copperfield expressed concern, Traddles reassured himself and Copperfield by saying, "He told me, only the other day, that it was provided for. That was Mr. Micawber's expression, `Provided for.'
Like Traddles, we want assurance that we have been provided for. We even rely on slogans like "You're in good hands with Allstate." Somehow these deceive us into believing that someone will provide for us. Our need for reassurance reveals our uncertainty about whether God can truly meet all our needs.

By providing a ram for the sacrifice, God taught Abraham and future generations that he could provide when life itself was on the line. If God was concerned about one person's lifeblood, then He must take notice of all humanity's lifebeat.

The people of Christ's day missed the point of Isaac on the altar; they could only strengthen their faith when their sacrifice preceded God's provision. They certainly were not going to offer themselves; they wanted the glory and power of an earthly kingdom, not an-other gruesome sacrifice. But God gave them what they needed, not what they wanted. He put an end to their kingmaking passions by sacrificing the King.

We can be certain that God will freely give His children all good things—in His unexplainable, unexpected, but all-wise way.

Cyril Hocking - FAITH TESTED

OUR READING records the last reported testing in Abraham’s life. It was undoubtedly the severest. When God spoke to him, Ge 22:2, He left Abraham in no doubt as to what He wanted. Every detail was explicit; God left no loopholes. He told Abraham when to obey. “Now”—not at some unspecified time in the future, or when he had many more children; cf. Ge 25:1, 2. God told him whom to take. “Thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest”. Each word sank as a knife, deeper and deeper, into the heart of the aged patriarch. Ishmael had been sent away some time before, 21:14, it was unlikely that Sarah would have any more children now, and, in any case, God’s promise and covenant centred in Isaac, Ge 17:19; 21:12. God told Abraham where to go. “The land of Moriah … upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of”; cf. 2 Chron. 3:1. Finally, God told him what to do. “Offer”. Abraham was not only to slay Isaac but to reduce his body to ashes!

Abraham therefore knew when, whom, where and what. The only thing he was not told was “why”. No word of explanation was given. The man had already proved that he could trust God when he did not know where, Heb. 11:8, and when he did not know how, Gen. 15:5, 6. Could he trust God when he did not know why? Often in the past he had raised questions with the Lord when he had felt it necessary, Ge 15:2, 8; 18:23. Now he remains silent and, with tremendous faith, meekly submits to the will of the God he loves.

His obedience was complete, Ge 22:3. God had said, “now”; so Abraham “rose up early in the morning”; see Ps 119:60. Note that though his obedience was prompt, it was not shortlived. He continued a three day journey without turning aside, Ge 22:4. God had said, “Isaac”; so “Isaac his son” he took. God named “Moriah”; so he “went unto the place …”. God demanded that he “offer” Isaac; so he “clave the wood”. His trust in God was total. He believed that both he and Isaac would return, v. 5, accounting that God was able to raise Isaac from the dead, Heb. 11:19. In the event, he was not required to slay him, Gen. 22:12. God wanted, not the offering of a human sacrifice, but the surrender of a human will. And this He had. Does He have mine?

TODAY IN THE WORD Hebrews 11:1 Genesis 22:1-19

Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. - Hebrews 11:1

The Bible is full of mystery. Of course we’ve got our theologians and pastors to untangle some of the knots, but certain stories seem to defy what we know and understand about who God is and how He works in this world. Today’s narrative of Abraham’s willingness to sacrifice Isaac has been described as one of the Bible’s most challenging passages. In Eugene Peterson’s words, “God seems to us to behave outrageously out of character.”

For all of our shock, surprise, and even outrage as readers, Abraham himself seemed to have no hesitation when God asked him to sacrifice his son. Although it seemed utterly at odds with everything that God had yet revealed of Himself and His plans, Abraham obeyed, making thorough preparation for an unthinkable act.

The narrative is remarkably tight-lipped. We don’t know Abraham’s thoughts; we hear only one simple exchange between Isaac and Abraham. But what is clear is the cost of the sacrifice. Four times, in a single sentence, it crescendoes: “your son, your only son, whom you love—Isaac” (v. 2). Abraham must give up, indeed must kill, the person whom he loves most.

It’s not simply that Abraham loved Isaac. It’s that Isaac embodied the very promises of God. God had promised to bless Abraham and to build him a family through Isaac. What would now become of the promise? What if God meant for Isaac to die? What if the promise failed? What if God failed?

Fear is faith’s hungry predator. Fear threatens to devour our resolve to trust God and to risk obeying Him. For Abraham, the stakes were infinitely high. He had already forsaken his native land and sacrificed time and again before he began the climb up Mount Moriah. Was it for nothing?

Abraham models for us what it means to fear the Lord: we readily obey and willingly sacrifice. We reject the “what ifs” of fear, and we keep on believing that God is good even when life doesn’t make sense.

APPLY THE WORD
Fear is an opportunity for each of us to grow a deeper, more persevering faith. The question underneath our fears is simply this: who is God? Is God big enough, good enough, and faithful enough to handle what I fear? Are His intentions towards me ultimately for my good? Will I continue believing the promises of God, or will I believe somehow that He’s failed? Our battle with fear requires us to be deeply rooted in the truth of Scripture.

TODAY IN THE WORD Hebrews 11:1; Genesis 22:1-14; 35:27-29

Believe it or not, engineers are spending hundreds of hours attempting to improve the design of a humble tool that has been around for ages--the hammer. These revisionists have tweaked the handle and experimented with shock-damping systems.

Why all the fuss? The boom in home renovation has tool manufacturers tinkering with this tried-and-true product, and marketers report that some of the new designs are catching on with consumers.

Leave it to the folks in marketing to fix what isn't broken! The hammer is unspectacular, to be sure. But it gets the job done, even while surrounded by fancier, costlier and more potent tools such as power saws.

If the patriarchs of Israel were likened to tools, Isaac would probably be the hammer. Sandwiched between a dad who was the ""father of the faithful, the friend of God,"" and a son who bore the namesakes of the twelve tribes of Israel, Isaac tends to disappear in our memories. Ask the average believer to name three events from Isaac's life, and the result may be prolonged silence.

Despite this fact, Isaac is important because he was important to God. In today's verses as well as in many other places in Scripture, God identified Himself with Abraham's son of promise.

Isaac got off to an excellent start. As in the case of Samson, John the Baptist and Jesus Himself, Isaac's birth was announced ahead of time by heaven (Gen. 17:19-22; 18:10). In Isaac's case, God even came in bodily form to make the announcement Himself!

Isaac is also justly famous for being the willing sacrifice in God's monumental test of Abraham's faith. If Isaac was as old as some Bible teachers believe, he likely could have overpowered his aged father when Abraham began tying him up.

TODAY ALONG THE WAY
Most of us would find it easier to identify with Isaac than with Abraham or Jacob.

There's nothing wrong with being an everyday sort of ""Isaac."" God calls very few of His people to bring nations to birth! Besides, as we were reminded earlier this month, the size or scope of our calling is God's business. Obedience to Him is our proper response.

Vance Havner - The Crises Of Abraham (from By the Still Waters)

As one studies the life of Abraham, the man of faith, he is impressed with several crises in his spiritual experience each of which brought him to a closer walk with God. Each required a surrender and each surrender brought a blessing.

The first (Gen. 12:1-3) called him to leave his country, kindred and father's house to journey by faith in a strange land. In Heb. 11:8 we read: "By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he went out, not knowing whither he went." God often calls us to forsake close ties to walk by faith in strange places, but if we obey we shall afterward receive those places, as did Abraham, for an inheritance. Jesus Christ issued such a challenge (Matt. 10:34-37, Luke 14:26).

Again, Abraham reached a crisis when it became necessary for him to separate from Lot. He loved Lot and probably had thought of him as an heir. But Lot, though a believer, was not a consecrated man, and God in His wisdom brings about a separation (Gen. 13:5-11). It must have been a disappointment to Abraham. In Genesis 15:1-3 we find him reduced to the prospect of his steward Eliezer becoming his heir. Sometimes God reduces us until our only prospect is an Eliezer, but He has blessings in store when we obey, as He revealed to Abraham (Gen. 13:14-18 and 15:4-21). All" he saw was his, with the promise of progeny as numerous as the stars!

Then Abraham had to give up his own preferences and plans about Ishmael. Ishmael was born out of the will of God for Abraham, who had taken the way of flesh instead of the way of faith to provide himself an heir (Gen. 16:1-6). As always, this brought on trouble. Abraham wished that Ishmael might live before God (Gen. 17:18, 19), but God had other plans. Often we want our Ishmaels, our own selfish arrangements and projects, to succeed, but God wants us to fail in ourselves, that we might find the blessing not in the deeds of the flesh, but through faith. Our Ishmaels must fail that our Isaacs may succeed.

Finally God called for the sacrifice of Isaac, the son of faith. Ishmael represented the worst thing in Abraham's life, and God took him away and he never came back. Isaac was the best thing in Abraham's life, so God took him but gave him back. It is so in His dealings with you and me. God wants the Ishmaels that He may utterly remove them; the Isaacs that He may restore them to us like Moses' rod, a double blessing. After this great surrender of Abraham's God came to him with great assurance (Gen. 22:15-18). Real victory in things spiritual always follows genuine surrender.

Abraham's progress was gradual. He did not learn it all at once. For instance, twice he was involved in lying about Sarah (Gen. 12 and 20). A peculiarity about this lie was, it was a half-truth: Sarah was his half-sister (Gen. 20:12). But God dealt with it as a lie because it was told with the intention to deceive.

The development of Abraham required time and testing. While the Christian experience is not, primarily, a matter of giving up things, such crises do bring us to the end of self and cut off all outside interests that our faith might be utterly in God.

What's For Dinner? I can hardly imagine inviting special friends over for dinner and then throwing a few leftovers into the microwave to serve up to them. But if I were to do that, it would speak volumes about how I really feel about them.

Giving God the leftovers of our lives speaks volumes about His true worth to us. When God asked Abraham to give Isaac back to Him as an act of worship, Genesis 22:1 calls it a test. A test to see if there was anything in his life that he treasured more than God.

It’s no different for us. There are times when God requires something really important to get His work done. He’ll ask us to give up our natural instincts to seek revenge so that we can communicate His forgiving love by forgiving our enemies. He may call us to sacrifice portions of our time or money or comforts to advance His cause. Or He may require us to allow our sons and daughters to go to a far-off land to tell others about His saving love. The way we respond to what He requires says volumes about how we really feel about Him.

Anyone can offer the leftovers. Only those who love God more than anything else will serve up the very best for Him.

“Take up thy cross and follow Me,”
I hear the blessed Savior call;
How can I make a lesser sacrifice
When Jesus gave His all?
—Ackley

No sacrifice we make is too great for the One who sacrificed His all.

Final Exam - Joseph Stowell

“God tested Abraham.” Genesis 22:1

In universities everywhere, mid-May brings late-night study sessions, caffeine-fueled writing binges, and ulcer-inducing stress as students are preparing for final exams—those critically important tests to determine how well the student has learned the lessons of the semester.

Let’s look at a familiar incident in the life of Abraham through that lens.

Genesis 22 begins by saying, “God tested Abraham.” In other words, it’s like Abraham’s big exam. And what is the test? God is about to test Abraham’s allegiance to the one true God in a most stressful way.

So let’s review: God called out Abraham to the city of Ur. Ur was an advanced culture and a highly sophisticated town, but it was rampant with idolatry. When God passed out this test to Abraham, Abraham was wandering through Canaan—yet another pagan, idolatrous region. And keep in mind that in pagan idolatry, the highest demonstration of loyalty to one’s god was to offer—you guessed it—your children as a sacrifice.

With that in mind, look back at Genesis 22:1. The text actually says that it is the God who tests Abraham. This is in contrast to those lifeless forms of wood and stone that were the idols of the pagan Canaanites. And it’s the one true God who comes to Abraham and gives him the following test.

Would the loyalty and allegiance of Abraham to the genuine Creator God match the misplaced loyalty and devotion of the surrounding nations to their false idols? The test is simple yet very demanding: “Abraham,” God says, “Take your son, your only son, Isaac, whom you love . . . and sacrifice him.”

That’s the test, plain and simple. It’s a pass/fail exam with no room for grading on the curve. If Abraham obeys, demonstrating his allegiance, loyalty, and trust in the promises of God, he passes the test. If he refuses, he retains control over his son’s destiny, but fails to demonstrate his commitment to following God no matter what the cost.

Well, we know the rest of the story. In fact, it’s amplified and explained beautifully in the book of Hebrews where the writer explains that Abraham by faith obeyed, reckoning that even if Isaac died, God could raise him from the dead (Hebrews 11:17-19).

So what does Abraham’s test have to do with us? While God won’t ask you to literally sacrifice a child on an altar, He does often require the things in your life that are precious to you. Think about it. Isaac was God’s gift to Abraham. All of God’s promises were wrapped up in that miracle child. How easy it would have been for Abraham to love Isaac more than he loved God. Or to put it another way, to love the gift more than the Giver! The test may be the same for you. God always wants to know that nothing in your life is more important or more valuable than your relationship to Him. It may even be a sinful pattern that for some reason provides temporary kicks, comfort, or security. Do you love Him more than the sin in your life?

If by faith you can believe with Abraham that when God takes something from you, God will give something back in even better terms, then you will pass the test and give Him all He demands and all He desires. Whether it’s your money, your possessions, your career, your dreams, or even your children to His service—everything we give to Him is an opportunity to pass the test and in worship prove to Him that nothing in our lives is of greater value than His friendship and fellowship.

As you face the tests of this week, know that your Tester loves you deeply and is ready to help you pass, like Abraham, with flying colors!

YOUR JOURNEY…

What tests are you currently facing? What can you learn from the example of Abraham to help you pass the test with flying colors?
James 1:2-4 also addresses the issue of tests. Based on this passage, what is God testing and why?
If you’re one of those people who has always dreaded taking exams, ask the Lord to change your perspective about His tests. Think through the reasons that He wants to test you, and trust Him to supply the courage and faith you need to pass the exam in a way that glorifies Him.

Life At Its Best - Ge 22:1-14 - Abraham's heart must have pounded as he stood on Mount Moriah with his son Isaac. He had offered many sacrifices during his lifetime, but this one was different. God was asking him to place his promised son on the altar and yet retain his confidence in God's love and integrity.

When it was clear that Abraham was ready to slay Isaac, an angel stopped him and provided a ram instead. Abraham had totally surrendered his all to the Lord. And his son Isaac was returned to him.

This idea of total submission is illustrated in the animal world. When two wolves fight over a territorial boundary, the conflict ends in an unusual way. When one animal realizes he can't win, he indicates surrender by exposing the underside of his neck to the teeth of his adversary. For some unexplainable reason, the victor does not kill him. Instead, he allows the conquered to go free.

We must be willing to give to Christ what is most precious to us. He wants more than our spare time and leftover possessions; He wants to be Lord of everything in our lives. Only when we are willing to let go of what we love the most can we experience the freedom that comes by yielding to Him. Surrender is the secret to life at its best! — Mart De Haan (Our Daily Bread, Copyright RBC Ministries, Grand Rapids, MI. Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved)

All to Jesus I surrender,
All to Him I freely give;
I will ever love and trust Him,
In His presence daily live.
--Van de Venter

Let God have your life;
He can do more with it than you

Herschel Hobbs - God Tests the Promise Bearer (Gen. 22:1-2, 7-12)

God tested Abraham by telling him to offer up Isaac as a burnt offering. As they proceeded, Isaac asked about the lamb, and Abraham told him the Lord would provide. At the last moment, the angel of the Lord stopped Abraham from killing his son.

Genesis 22:1-2: And it came to pass after these things, that God did tempt Abraham, and said unto him, Abraham: and he said, Behold, here I am. 2 And he said, Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of.

Did tempt is the Hebrew word nasa, which also can mean “tested” (NIV, NASB). The context shows that this is the meaning here. God does not tempt people to do evil (Jas. 1:13), but He does test them so they may grow spiritually. As in the Book of Job, the reader is told something at the beginning that the main character did not know. Neither Job nor Abraham was aware that he was about to be tested. However, even the readers are left in the dark about why Job and Abraham were tested. Some light is shed on this as each story is told.

The test is stated in verse 2. Take... get (“go,” NIV)... offer (“sacrifice,” NIV) are the imperatives. Abraham was told to take... Isaac and offer him ... for a burnt offering. Notice how God described Isaac; thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest. Genesis 22:2 has much in common with 12:1. Both begin with imperatives. The imperatives have three parts, which move from the least to the most intimate. Both call for a faith-response to God’s call. In 12:1 it was to leave for a land that God would show Abram; in 22:2 it was to go to a mountain that God would tell him of.

Abraham clearly understood what this meant. Burnt offerings were totally consumed on the altar of sacrifice. Pagan people had the practice of sacrificing their sons as part of their religion. Now God was telling Abraham to offer his son (something the Old Testament later condemned, 2 Kings 16:3). In order to understand why this was such a great test, we need to fill in the highlights of the events between Genesis 12 and 22. God made a covenant with Abraham, in which the Lord promised to give him a son. From a human point of view, this seemed impossible because of Abraham’s age (100 years) and because of Sarah’s age (90 years; 17:17; 21:5). Abraham dared to patiently believe the Lord would keep this promise, and He did.

Isaac was the son of promise. In passing we remember that Ishmael was also Abraham’s son; but God had made it clear that Isaac, not Ishmael, was the son through whom the promise would be fulfilled (17:19-21). Isaac thus was Abraham’s hope for the future and also the hope for the fulfillment of God’s promises to Abraham about blessing all nations through him and the child of promise. Thus Abraham was being asked to do something that seemed to contradict all that God previously had told him to do.

Thus the test of Abraham’s faith had several characteristics: (1) It was sudden and unexpected. (2) It came at a time when all seemed fulfilled in the life of Abraham. Isaac, the child of promise, had been born. (3) It was an intensely personal test, having to do with offering up his beloved son. (4) It was a severe test, calling on Abraham to do something that seemed contrary to God’s goodness.

Many of the tests we face have some or all of these qualities. Tests usually come without warning for reasons we do not understand at the time. They often come when everything seems to be going smoothly. All tests are intensely personal. If you are the one who is on the ash heap like Job, no one but you knows how painful it is. The tests of life often seem to contradict God’s goodness. He seems to allow us to pass through trials that make no sense, that even seem to deny His love and care for us.

Abraham is a good model for how to respond to such tests. His feelings must have been in turmoil, but he immediately obeyed (v. 3). When Abraham and Isaac arrived at the mountain, Abraham told his helpers to stay at the foot of the mountain; he and Isaac were to go up the mountain and they would return (vv. 4-5). Then the two of them and all that was needed for a burnt offering, except the sacrificial animal, headed up the mountain (v. 6).

Genesis 22:7-8: And Isaac spake unto Abraham his father, and said, My father: and he said, Here am I, my son. And he said, Behold the fire and the wood: but where is the lamb for a burnt offering? 8And Abraham said, My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering: so they went both of them together.

We wonder about Isaac’s thoughts during this time. We don’t know his age. Verse 12 refers to him as a lad, but this same word is used of the “young men” servants in verse 5. Isaac could have been an older child, a youth, or a young adult. He was old enough to help carry the equipment up the hill. His only recorded words were a question, Behold the fire and the wood: but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?

Abraham’s answer was, My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering. Derek Kidner noted that God will provide “might almost be called his lifelong motto; many have lived by it since.” Abraham’s response to Isaac was immortalized in the name he gave to the place (see on v. 14). But in a greater sense, Isaac’s question sums up the Old Testament; the New Testament answer is John 1:29.

Although the text does not say anything specific about Isaac’s trust, it seems to be implied in his response throughout. He accepted his father’s explanation and trusted the Lord to provide. At some point Isaac realized he was the intended sacrifice, but he seems to have accepted this without resisting. The text is clear about the mutual love and respect of father and son. This is seen in the words my father and my son. It is also seen after Abraham had responded to his son’s question in the clause they went both of them together.

Genesis 22:9-12: And they came to the place which God had told him of; and Abraham built an altar there, and laid the wood in order, and bound Isaac his son, and laid him on the altar upon the wood. 10And Abraham stretched forth his hand, and took the knife to slay his son.11 And the angel of the LORD called unto him out of heaven, and said, Abraham, Abraham: and he said, Here am I. 12And he said, Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou anything unto him: for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son from me.

In verses 9-10, the action seems to be in slow motion in order to emphasize the drama of what was happening. Notice the words that describe in detail step-by-step what Abraham did. Came to the place... built an altar. . . laid the wood in order . . . bound Isaac . . . laid him on the altar . . . stretched forth his hand... took the knife. Then at the very moment when Abraham was ready to kill Isaac, the angel of the LORD stopped him. Abraham had passed the test. He proved that he feared the Lord because he did not withhold his son, his only son, from the Lord. The proof that one fears the Lord is total obedience to Him.

Hebrews 11:17-19 gives this explanation of Abraham’s faith: “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” (NIV).

What was achieved by this test? Abraham and Isaac were the key links in the chain of God’s redemptive plan. Their faith had to be strong enough to be able to fulfill this strategic role. Abraham would become the father of the faithful.

Our spiritual growth is not a steady upward line but a line that sometimes levels off into a plateau and sometimes even moves downward. The upward movement depends on how we respond to the tests of life. If we pass the test, our faith moves to higher ground.

God Shows He Will Provide a Way (Gen. 22:13-14)

God provided a ram for the offering instead of Isaac. Abraham named the place to commemorate how the Lord had provided.

Genesis 22:13-14: And Abraham lifted up his eyes, and looked, and behold behind him a ram caught in a thicket by his horns: and Abraham went and took the ram, and offered him up for a burnt offering in the stead of his son. 14And Abraham called the name of that place Jehovah-jireh: as it is said to this day, In the mount of the LORD it shall be seen.

Jehovah-jireh means “the LORD will provide” (NIV). The word “provide” is the same one found in verse 8 when Abraham told Isaac, God will provide. The word appears a third time in the expression In the mount of the LORD it shall be seen or “On the mountain of the LORD it will be provided” (NIV). Raʾa is the Hebrew word for “see”; “provide,” in the sense of “see to it,” is a secondary meaning. In fact, our English word provide (as does our word providence)comes from a prefix meaning “before” or “forward” (pro) and a word meaning “to see” (videre; note our word video). Hence, “to provide” literally is to “see ahead” or “see beforehand.” Thus in saying, “God will provide,” Abraham was expressing his faith that God not only sees but that He also provides; Abraham was expressing his trust in the providence of God. God is good, and He is faithful to provide what He has promised.

The provision of the ram foreshadowed the way God provided for human sin. Just as the ram was sacrificed in the stead of Isaac, so the Lamb of God was sacrificed for the sins of the world—in the stead of you and me. God did not demand that Abraham actually sacrifice his only beloved son, but God did give His only beloved Son as a sacrifice for sinners. God’s beloved Son died in our stead so we might not have to die the death that our sins deserve.

Several items in Genesis 22 foreshadow Jesus’ death for our sins. (1) Isaac asked, Where is the lamb? (v. 7). The New Testament answer is, “Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world” (John 1:29). (2) Abraham was willing to offer his only son, Isaac. God actually did offer His only Son, Jesus. (3) Isaac was willing to submit to being put to death as a sacrifice. The Son of God submitted Himself to death on the cross. (4) The ram’s death took the place of Isaac’s death. The Lamb of God’s death took the place of our deaths. Indeed, God provided a way—a way for Abraham and Isaac and a way for us. JEHOVAH-JIREH!

God Affirms Trustful Obedience (Gen. 22:15-16a, 18)

God responded to Abraham’s obedience by reaffirming His promise to make Abraham a blessing to all nations. This would be done through his seed.

Genesis 22:15-16a, 18: And the angel of the LORD called unto Abraham out of heaven the second time, and said... 18And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice.

In the Old Testament God often spoke through the angel of the LORD. This was true in verse 11, and for the second time in this account in verse 15. The angel of the LORD reaffirmed the promise of Genesis 12:3 with one significant addition. In 12:3 God promised, “In thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.” In 22:18 God used in thy seed instead of “in thee.”

Two earlier passages and a New Testament passage help us understand what this means: Genesis 3:15; 17:7; and Galatians 3:16. When we studied Genesis 3:15, we saw that seed can be used figuratively of an individual (either a child or a later descendant) or of a group. Genesis 17:7 tells us that God made His covenant not only with Abraham but also with his seed. At times Abraham’s seed is used collectively of the people of Israel. This is surely true of the passages about the multitude of his seed (see 13:16; 15:5; 22:17). At other times, the child of promise is the seed. In Galatians 3:16 Paul taught that Jesus is the true seed of Abraham who fulfills God’s promise.

God used Isaac to continue the line of promise through his son Jacob or Israel, whose 12 sons became the people of Israel. Through this line was born the seed of the woman prophesied in Genesis 3:15 and the seed of Abraham, Jesus Christ. Ultimately Jesus Christ is the One through whom all the nations of the earth shall be blessed.

God’s word, Because thou hast obeyed my voice, affirmed Abraham’s obedience to God’s call. The Hebrew word for hast obeyed (samaʿ) literally means “to hear” or “to hearken,” but figuratively it means “to obey.” From the biblical point of view, to hear God’s word is to obey Him. Hearing without obeying is not really hearing Him. Obedience and faith are two sides of the same thing. Sometimes we separate them in order to avoid the misunderstanding that by obeying God’s commandments one can earn salvation.

We speak of salvation by grace through faith, not of works (Eph. 2:8-9). But the “works” Paul warned against were different from the “works” James called for (Jas. 2:14-26). Paul was speaking of works of merit designed to earn salvation; James was speaking of the kind of obedience that puts faith into action. Both Paul and James used Abraham as an example. Abraham was justified by faith (Gen. 15:6; Rom. 4:3, 9, 13-16; Gal. 3:6-9), and his faith was expressed by obeying God (Gen. 22:18; Jas. 2:21-24). When Abraham heard God’s call to leave home, he obeyed because he trusted God. When he was told to take Isaac and offer him as a sacrifice, he obeyed because he trusted God.

Faith (trust) and obedience are two sides of the same reality. Both are responses to God and His word. Faith is believing in God and trusting Him to keep His word. Obedience is acting on that faith in actions that do what God says to do.

When we walk with the Lord in the light of His Word
What a glory He sheds on our way! Let us do His good will;
He abides with us still, and with all who will trust and obey.

Theodore Epp - THE NECESSITY OF TESTING Genesis 22:1-8

The offering of Isaac is recorded in Genesis 22. This chapter sees father and son together in this great test. That they were "together" is one of the keys to this chapter.

Verse 6 says, "And they went both of them together." Verse 8 also emphasizes: "So they went both of them together."

It is significant that the first record of Isaac's active participation in life had to do with his being willing to offer his life. He willingly surrendered to the will of his father and to the will of Almighty God.

Testing and discipline are necessary for the believer because they prove whether or not his spiritual experiences have really become a part of his life and character. The tests that Abraham had successfully passed prepared him for the greatest test of his life--the offering of Isaac.

God's testing of an individual is evidence that He has confidence in that individual. God never tests a person who hasn't the capacity to pass the test.
God never tested Lot to the degree He tested Abraham, because Lot never reached a spiritual plane that was high enough to warrant God's testing in his life.

Sodom tempted Lot, but it was no temptation to Abraham. By his life Abraham proved he loved God more than the things of Sodom.

"There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it" (1Co 10:13).

Theodore Epp - TESTING HAS A PURPOSE Genesis 22:1,2; 1 Peter 1:3-7

God wanted Abraham to prove that he loved Him more than the things of this life and more than any other person. For this test God chose the person who was the dearest object of Abraham's life--Isaac.

God may sometimes test you this way also. Although the test may be severe and may involve the dearest person or thing in your life, you will be a better person for God as a result of the test.

The offering of human sacrifices was a common practice of the heathen in Abraham's time. However, there is no other incident where God tested a believer in this particular way.

Human sacrifices were strongly condemned by God in the Old Testament. His people, Israel, were to totally abstain from this heathen practice. But with Abraham, God chose this test to prove whom Abraham loved most. God knew what he would do.

When God promised him a son, Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him for righteousness. But, having received the promised son, there was the danger that Abraham would give more of his attention to the gift than to the Giver.

He knew that out of Isaac would come the descendants God had promised. Abraham was in danger of concentrating on the fulfillment of God's promise to the exclusion of God Himself, who had made the promise.

"Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps" (1 Pet. 2:21).

Henry Blackaby - Obedience Step by Step

After these things God tested Abraham and said to him, “Abraham!”
“Here I am,” he answered.
“Take your son,” He said, “your only [son] Isaac, whom you love, go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains I will tell you about.”—Genesis 22:1–2

Our difficulty is not that we don't know God's will. Our discomfort comes from the fact that we do know His will, but we do not want to do it!

When God first spoke to Abraham, His commands were straightforward. “Go to a land I will show you” (Gen. 12:1). Then God led Abraham through a number of tests over the years. Abraham learned patience as he waited on God's promise of a son, which took twenty-five years to be fulfilled. Abraham learned to trust God through battles with kings and through the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. The pinnacle of Abraham's walk of faith was when God asked him to sacrifice the one thing that meant more to him than anything else. Abraham's previous obedience indicated that he would have quickly and decisively sacrificed anything else God asked of him, but was he prepared for this? God did not ask Abraham to make such a significant sacrifice at the beginning of their relationship. This came more than thirty years after Abraham began walking with God.

As the Father progressively reveals His ways to you in your Christian pilgrimage, you, like Abraham, will develop a deeper level of trust in Him. When you first became a Christian, your Master's instructions were probably fundamental, such as being baptized or changing your lifestyle. But as you learn to trust Him more deeply, He will develop your character to match bigger tests, and with the greater test will come a greater love for God and knowledge of His ways. Are you ready for God's next revelation?

Lightning and Thunder - When we see lightning flash across the sky, we expect the roar of thunder to follow. If there were no lightning, there would be no thunder because one causes the other.

It's like that with faith. Just as thunder always follows lightning, good works always follow true faith.

The relationship between faith and works is explained in the New Testament writings of Paul to the Ephesians, and in a brief letter from James. At first glance, these authors seem to contradict each other. Paul insisted, "By grace you have been saved through faith, … not of works" (Eph. 2:8, 9). But James declared, "A man is justified [declared righteous] by works, and not by faith only" (Jas. 2:24).

In context though, James wasn't denying that we are saved by faith. He referred to Abraham, saying that he "believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness" (Jas 2:23-note). This belief occurred years before Abraham gave evidence of his faith by preparing to offer his son as a sacrifice (Jas 2:21-note). Nor was the apostle Paul denying the value of works, for right after stating that we are saved by faith alone he said that we are saved "for good works" (Eph. 2:10-note).

What about you? Has the "lightning" of personal faith in Christ been followed by the "thunder" of good works? — Haddon W. Robinson (Our Daily Bread, Copyright RBC Ministries, Grand Rapids, MI. Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved)

DIGGING DEEPER

Read Genesis 15:1-6+ and Genesis 22:1-14.
Why did God give righteousness to Abraham?
How did Abraham prove his faith?

We are saved by faith alone, but faith that saves is never alone.

James Smith - THE SACRIFICE OF ABRAHAM. Genesis 22:1-14.

He who is to be the father of the faithful has to face the father of all the trials of faith. We see the workings of great faith in the actions of Abraham.

(1) He reasoned not; he consulted no one.
(2) He staggered not under the crushing weight of such a demand.
(3) He was prompt; he rose up early in the morning.
(4) He was deliberate; preparing the wood beforehand.
(5) He was fully determined; bade the young men keep back that they might not hinder him. This is a very fruitful portion. Look at the—

I. Father's Sacrifice. "Take now thy son." Think of the preciousness of this son. All the hopes and desires and affections of the father are centred in him. In offering up his son Abraham was giving up his all. He had absolutely nothing left but his God. Yet this is enough for faith. God gave up His Son, although all His affections and purposes were centred in Him. We can never understand the greatness of His sacrifice until we can understand the greatness of His love for His beloved Son. Like Abraham, in giving His Son He gave His all.

II. Son's Submission. It is significantly stated that "they went both of them together." In a deep and real sense this was true of Jesus Christ and His Father. In making an atonement for sin "they went both of them together." "I delight to do Thy will, O my God" (Psa. 40:8). The purpose of the Father and of the Son was one. Like the Lord Jesus Christ, Isaac submitted—

1. TO BE BURDENED. "Abraham took the wood and laid it upon Isaac, his son." What a burden in the eyes of the father! It was the cross of sacrifice, the symbol of death. What a picture of the only-begotten Son of God, with the burden of our iniquity laid upon Him, and laid on Him, too, by a loving Father! "The Lord hath laid on Him the iniquity of us all" (Isa. 53:6). He also submitted—

2. TO BE BOUND. "He bound Isaac his son, and laid him on the altar." As a young man, twenty-five years of age, he might have resisted; but he, like our Isaac, was led as a lamb, he opened not his mouth. Love and devotion were the cords that bound the Son of God to the altar of sacrifice.

III. Sacrificial Requisites. Isaac carried the wood, while he himself was to be the burnt-offering; but let us not fail to observe what was in the father's hands.

1. THE FIRE. "Abraham took the fire in his hand." There is something awfully solemn about this. "Our God is a consuming fire" (Heb. 12:29). "Who shall dwell with devouring fire?" (Isa. 33:14). Does not this suggest the holy, testing, consuming character of God when approaching the altar of expiation?

2. THE KNIFE. "He took the fire and a knife." If the fire represents the holiness of God, then the knife may well symbolise the sword of justice. "Awake, O sword, against the man that is my fellow" (Zech. 13:7). The knife was quivering in the air when Jesus cried, "My God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?" (Psa. 22:1). In these days men are ready to forget that every sacrifice to God must have to do with the divine knife and fire.

3. THE ALTAR. "Abraham built an altar." Isaac did not make the altar; it was prepared by the father. My soul, tread softly here. This was solemn work for Abraham. In eternity God in His own heart and mind prepared the altar for Christ. He was the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.

4. The Cords with which Isaac was bound to the altar, typical of the nails which bound Christ to the Cross. Not the nails, but love bound the Saviour. It was the love of the Father to the Son, the love of the Son to the Father, and the love of both to man—a threefold cord that is not easily broken.

IV. Doctrine of Substitution. "He took the ram and offered him in the stead of his son" (v. 13). The scene on Mount Moriah, as typical of the greater scene on Mount Calvary, could scarcely have been perfect without the thought of substitution being made prominent. The figure now changes. The ram becomes the burnt-offering, and the submissive one goes free. You observe this sacrifice was provided by God. We have still Jesus before us, not as the Son now, but as the Substitute of one condemned to die. Man found a Cross for Christ, but it was God who found the Ransom—"Jehovah-Jireh." "He spared not His own Son (like Abraham's), but delivered Him up for us all" (Rom. 8:32). "Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us" (1 Cor. 5:7). Ask Isaac, as he gazes on the ram burning in his stead, if he believes in substitution. "Behold the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world" (John 1:29).

John MacArthur - TRIALS’ LESSONS: FAITH

By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac; and he who had received the promises was offering up his only begotten son.”
HEBREWS 11:17

The main reason God allows trials in the lives of Christians is to test the strength of their faith.

The memorable example in Genesis 22 of Abraham’s testing is perhaps the severest trial any human being has ever faced. When God told Abraham to offer his only son Isaac as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of Moriah (Gen. 22:1–2), Abraham no doubt was stunned. In terms of God’s nature, His plan of redemption, His promise to Abraham, and His love for Isaac, the entire concept was utterly inconceivable and unprecedented.

But in the face of all that, Abraham showed remarkable faith in dealing with this trial (Gen. 22:3–8). He did not second–guess God, as many of us would, but rather obeyed immediately (v. 3) and displayed the confidence that he and Isaac would return (v. 5) and that God would supply a lamb for the offering (v. 8). Then Abraham showed he was ready to obey completely. Genesis 22 tells us he “bound his son Isaac, and laid him on the altar on top of the wood. And Abraham stretched out his hand, and took the knife to slay his son” (vv. 9–10). What unbelievable faith, and what a dramatic moment when God spared Abraham from the full cost of obedience (vv. 11–12)! The story clearly shows us the nature of true faith (Gen. 15:6) and why Abraham was later called the father of the faithful (Rom. 4:11–12; Gal. 3:6–7).

As heirs to Abraham and his extraordinary trust in God, we can also endure the most difficult trials and pass tests of faith that seem unimaginably severe at the time. God might want us to offer our own loved ones to Him and let them go His way rather than tightly holding on to them for our own purposes. However, if we look to God as Abraham did (Heb. 11:17–19), we can be confident in any trial and know with certainty that our faith has passed the test.

Suggestions for Prayer: Pray that God would strengthen your faith even in the smallest of daily trials.

For Further Study: Read 2 Kings 20:1–11 and 2 Chronicles 32:24–31. What was at the heart of Hezekiah’s difficulties (2 Chron. 32:25)? ✧ Why did God test him (v. 31)?

John Bennett - TAKE NOW THY SON

‘By faith Abraham, when he was tried, offered up Isaac: and he that had received the promises offered up his only begotten son’, Heb. 11:17. Such is the Spirit’s commentary upon this remarkable chapter before us today.

It is noticeable that so much is contained in the command that was issued. Isaac is named; there can be no confusion with Ishmael. His place in divine purpose is clearly stated, ‘thine only son’, v. 2, cf. Heb. 11:18. The affection between father and son is emphasized, ‘whom thou lovest’. How telling is every phrase!

What unquestioning obedience Abraham exhibited, for God gave no reason or explanation. What devotion Abraham displayed: ‘Behold, here I am’, Ge 22:1; and ‘Abraham rose up early in the morning … and went’, Ge 22:3, cf. Ps. 119:60! What faith he exercised: ‘I and the lad will go … and come again’, Ge 22:5, cf. Heb. 11:19; and ‘My son, God will provide himself a lamb’, Ge 22:8! What fellowship he experienced: ‘they went both of them together’, Ge 22:6, 8. What agony he must have felt: ‘on the third day Abraham … saw the place afar off’, Ge 22:4; ‘Abraham took the wood … and laid it upon Isaac’, Ge 22:6; ‘Isaac spake unto Abraham … and said … where is the lamb?’, Ge 22:7! ‘Reason might have argued: If Isaac was offered up, those promises, which were all centred in him, would fail. Nature might have argued: It could not thus offer up the son of its love. But Faith had a more reasonable argument: Abraham had learned and proved that his God was entirely trustworthy and dependable, and that His word was absolutely reliable’, H. E. MARSOM.

This passage presents a tremendous challenge to all our hearts. Abraham’s experience is but a picture of a far greater sacrifice that God made; a sacrifice for which no substitute could be found. Paul reminds us, ‘He … spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all’, Rom. 8:32.

‘For this, O may we freely count
Whate’er we have but loss!
The dearest object of our love
Compared with Thee but dross.’
[JAMES HUTTON]

Genesis 22:2 And He said, "Take now your son, your only son, whom you love, Isaac, and go to the land of Moriah; and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I will tell you."

Take : Ge 17:19 21:12 Joh 3:16 Ro 5:8 8:32 Heb 11:17 1Jn 4:9,10
Moriah : 2Ch 3:1
and offer : Jdg 11:31,39 2Ki 3:27 Mic 6:7
Genesis 22 Resources - Multiple Sermons and Commentaries

Related Passages:

2 Chronicles 3:1 Then Solomon began to build the house of the LORD in Jerusalem on Mount Moriah, where the LORD had appeared to his father David, at the place that David had prepared on the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite.

THREE STRONG
COMMANDS

And He said, "Take now your son, your only son, whom you love (ahab; Lxx - agapao), Isaac - Note take is the first of 3 strong commands (take...go...offer) Take and go now, not later (this is brought out by the Septuagint for all three verbs in the aorist imperative = "Just do it" is the idea!) Don't debate and don't procrastinate! Abraham neither delayed nor protested, but willingly obeyed. Delayed obedience is disobedience! Partial obedience is complete disobedience! The journey was about 50 miles, and one can only imagine the thought of Abraham on that fateful journey!

Notice that Abraham did not say “But, Lord, both Ishmael and Isaac are my sons, and each of them is the only son of his mother.”

Spurgeon - It was usually the way, in God’s commands to Abraham, to make him sail under sealed orders. When he was first bidden to leave his country and his kindred, and his father’s house, he had to go to a land that God would shew him. They have true faith who can go forth at God’s command, not knowing whither they are going. So Abraham did, and now the Lord says to him, “Take Isaac, and offer him for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of.”

Henry Morris - It is providentially significant that this is the first occurrence of the word "love" in the Bible, referring here to the love of a father for his son. The New Testament makes it clear that this story of Abraham and Isaac is not only true history but is also a type of the heavenly Father and His only begotten Son, depicting the coming sacrifice on Mount Calvary. In a beautiful design (no doubt Spirit-inspired), it is appropriate that the first use of "love" in each of the three synoptic Gospels (Matthew 3:17; Mark 1:11; Luke 3:22) shows the Father calling out from heaven, "this is my beloved Son," at the baptism of Jesus (which, of course, also speaks of death and resurrection). In the Gospel of John, on the other hand, where the word "love" occurs more than in any other book of the Bible, its first occurrence is at John 3:16: "God so loved the world" that He, like Abraham, was willing to sacrifice His beloved Son.

He sets a high value upon us, and therefore he tests us
-- C H Spurgeon

Spurgeon - First, (Ge 22:1) “It came to pass after these things, that God did tempt (or “prove”) Abraham”—here we see the Lord’s way with believers. And, secondly (Ge 22:2), when God “said unto him, Abraham,” the patriarch instantly answered, “Behold, here I am,”—here we learn the believer’s way with the Lord. (Genesis 22:1 Abraham’s Trial—A Lesson for Believers)

.Above all, God tried Abraham’s love.
-- C H Spurgeon

Spurgeon on the why of trials from God (or allowed by God) - He works in them by his grace until he casts out all other loves, and all other confidences, that he may have the whole of their hearts, and that they may love him and trust him supremely. Some of you have nothing to do with my text to-night. God does not test you, because he knows very well what you are, and he knows that you are not precious metal. The spurious coin is nailed down on the counter, or cast into the fire; and they that are not true people of God, and have none of the silver of grace in them, will come to such an end one day, and be, with shame and everlasting contempt, nailed down on the counter as counterfeits, or thrown into the fire that never shall be quenched. “Reprobate silver shall men call them, because the Lord hath rejected them.” It is the true coin that we try and test; and God, because he loved Abraham, and valued him, and saw his grace in him, tested him. He tested, first of all, his fear of God. That was the main point, as you will see in the twelfth verse (Ge 22:12) “Now I know that thou fearest God.” The Lord delights in a man who has a holy reverence for his God. I do not hesitate to say that this is a very scarce article nowadays....God also tried Abraham’s faith....He believed God, and therefore he stood firm. His faith was able to face difficulties, and to surmount them....Above all, God tried Abraham’s love. It may be that Isaac, though a gift from God, began to usurp God’s place. An Isaac may become an idol. The dearest thing we have, the most precious, the most beloved, may still become an abomination, by being made an idol to keep us away from God. Some of the heathen worship gods of mud, others worship gods of gold; but there is no difference in the idolatry, whether the image be made of mire or of the most precious metal. Have you any idols, dear friends? I will not press the question too closely; but whatever your idols may be, they will bring you a world of trouble, for you must love nothing in comparison with God. He must be first, and everything else far away in the background. No rivals will he endure. He will permit no Dagon to stand in the place where the ark of the covenant abides. So God tests Abraham to see which has most of his heart’s love, Jehovah who gave him Isaac, or Isaac whom Jehovah asked from him back again. (Genesis 22:1 Abraham’s Trial—A Lesson for Believers)

MOUNT MORIAH
PLACE OF SACRIFICE

And go to the land of Moriah - As discussed above go in the Septuagint is an aorist imperative so the idea is "Just do it" is the idea! Don't debate and don't procrastinate! Moriah means "chosen by Jehovah," and is almost assuredly the same place where Jehovah appeared to David and where Solomon built the Holy Temple (2Chr 3:1, see also 1Ch 21:18-30+) .

Utley has an interesting note on the verb go (halak) - "This verb (halak) in this form is found only here and Genesis 12:1+, which links these two tests as promise and fulfillment." (Note the similar statement in Genesis 22:18 and Genesis 12:3).

Utley makes statement that is interesting but I cannot definitively substantiate it - Also Moriah seems to relate to the city of Melchizedek, Salem (Genesis 14:18), later called Jebus, which became Jerusalem.

And offer him there as a burnt offering (olah) on one of the mountains of which I will tell you." - Again offer in the Septuagint is aorist imperative so the idea is "Just do it" Offer your son as a whole burnt offering, a voluntary offering by fire, the smoke of which would ascend as a soothing aroma to the Lord. Nothing was to be held back. It is also worth noting that in Leviticus when the person offering the sacrifice laid his hand on the head of the sacrifice, it was accepted as an substitutionary atonement on his behalf. The Greek or Lxx translates burnt offering (olah) with holokautoma meaning wholly consumed (root of our English "holocaust" - think of Jewish Holocaust!)

Utley on burnt offering - Not only did it involve ritually cutting his throat, but also ritually butchering him. What a shocking command from the Deity who promised him a son and caused him to send Ishmael away! Abraham must trust God without understanding, much like the Numbers 21:6-9+ incident alluded to in John 3:14+.

Ryrie - Human sacrifice was practiced (though not by the godly) in OT times, and Abraham would have been acquainted with it in Mesopotamia. God's intention here was to see if Abraham loved Him more than he loved Isaac and to try Abraham's faith in His promise concerning descendants. Moriah was a general area that included the hills on which Solomon later built his Temple in Jerusalem (see 2Chr 3:1).

NET NOTE - A whole burnt offering signified the complete surrender of the worshiper and complete acceptance by God. The demand for a human sacrifice was certainly radical and may have seemed to Abraham out of character for God. Abraham would have to obey without fully understanding what God was about.

Always guard against self-chosen service for God.
Self-sacrifice may be a disease that impairs your service.

Oswald Chambers warns us that "Abraham did not choose what the sacrifice would be. Always guard against self-chosen service for God. Self-sacrifice may be a disease that impairs your service. If God has made your cup sweet, drink it with grace; or even if He has made it bitter, drink it in communion with Him. If the providential will of God means a hard and difficult time for you, go through it. But never decide the place of your own martyrdom, as if to say, "I will only go to there, but no farther." God chose the test for Abraham, and Abraham neither delayed nor protested, but steadily obeyed. If you are not living in touch with God, it is easy to blame Him or pass judgment on Him. You must go through the trial before you have any right to pronounce a verdict, because by going through the trial you learn to know God better. God is working in us to reach His highest goals until His purpose and our purpose become one." (The Supreme Climb - My Utmost For His Highest)

The great lesson to be learned from Abraham’s faith in God
is that he was prepared to do anything for God.

Chambers - A person’s character determines how he interprets God’s will (see Psalm 18:25-26). Abraham interpreted God’s command to mean that he had to kill his son, and he could only leave this traditional belief behind through the pain of a tremendous ordeal. God could purify his faith in no other way. If we obey what God says according to our sincere belief, God will break us from those traditional beliefs that misrepresent Him. There are many such beliefs which must be removed– for example, that God removes a child because his mother loves him too much. That is the devil’s lie and a travesty on the true nature of God! If the devil can hinder us from taking the supreme climb and getting rid of our wrong traditional beliefs about God, he will do so. But if we will stay true to God, God will take us through an ordeal that will serve to bring us into a better knowledge of Himself.

The great lesson to be learned from Abraham’s faith in God is that he was prepared to do anything for God. He was there to obey God, no matter what contrary belief of his might be violated by his obedience. Abraham was not devoted to his own convictions or else he would have slain Isaac and said that the voice of the angel was actually the voice of the devil. That is the attitude of a fanatic. If you will remain true to God, God will lead you directly through every barrier and right into the inner chamber of the knowledge of Himself. But you must always be willing to come to the point of giving up your own convictions and traditional beliefs. Don’t ask God to test you. Never declare as Peter did that you are willing to do anything, even “to go …both to prison and to death” (Luke 22:33). Abraham did not make any such statement— he simply remained true to God, and God purified his faith. (The Supreme Climb)

Love (friend) (0157) aheb/ahab means to love and can convey the idea of liking things (like bribes - Isa 1:23, wisdom - Pr 4:6, wine - Pr 21:17, peace and truth - Zech 8:19, food - Ge 27:4, 9, 14). The most important uses in the OT are as an expression of God's love of people (Dt 4:37, Hosea 3:1), man's love for God (Ex 20:6, Ps 116:1) and man's love for his fellow man (Ge 29:32, Ru 4:15-note, 1 Kings 11:1 = a forbidden love by backslidden King Solomon!!!) The first use of aheb in the OT is instructive as it is found in Ge 22:2 where Yahweh instructed his servant Abraham to "“Take now your son, your only son, whom you love, Isaac, and go to the land of Moriah; and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I will tell you.” Notice that at the outset, we see that an inherent quality of this love (in many contexts) is that it is costly. God wants us to love Him above EVERYTHING, even our own flesh and blood. Matthews writes that Ge 22:2 "is the final test of the man’s faith, the closing bookend to his discovery of God’s sufficiency to achieve the promises made at Haran." (New American Commentary) As an aside God frequently "tests" His people to reveal their trust and obedience (cp Ex 15:25, 16:4, Judges 2:22-note - in this last one they failed repeatedly). In Ge 25:28 there is a hint that Isaac's love was at least somewhat conditioned on the fact that Esau provided game for him to eat (cp Ge 27:4, 9, 14 of Isaac's love for the savory dish). In addition, Isaac's love for Esau is contrasted with Rebekah's love for Jacob (not to say of course that Isaac did not love Jacob but that he seemed to have a greater degree for Esau because he was as they say "a man's man!" Compare Jacob's greater love for Rachel than Leah - Ge 29:30, Jacob's greater love for Joseph - Ge 37:3,4) In Ex 21:5 we see one of the great examples of man to man love where a slave willingly stays with his master because he loves him -- now that is surely sacrificial love! In Dt 4:37 we see the first use of aheb to describe God's unconditional love for His chosen people Israel -- He loved them then, He continued to love them in their unfaithfulness (because that is the nature of true love) and He will bring them "from Egypt" (so to speak) at the end of this age when Messiah returns and all the believing remnant are saved (Ro 11:25-27-note)! In short, God's love transcends time and endures throughout eternity for His chosen people and for every Gentile that has been grafted into "the rich root of the olive tree," (Ro 11:17-note). In the Shema Israel is instructed ""You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might." (Dt 6:5)

Ahab/aheb in the Pentateuch - Gen. 22:2; Gen. 24:67; Gen. 25:28; Gen. 27:4; Gen. 27:9; Gen. 27:14; Gen. 29:18; Gen. 29:30; Gen. 29:32; Gen. 34:3; Gen. 37:3; Gen. 37:4; Gen. 44:20; Exod. 20:6; Exod. 21:5; Lev. 19:18; Lev. 19:34; Deut. 4:37; Deut. 5:10; Deut. 6:5; Deut. 7:8; Deut. 7:9; Deut. 7:13; Deut. 10:12; Deut. 10:15; Deut. 10:18; Deut. 10:19; Deut. 11:1; Deut. 11:13; Deut. 11:22; Deut. 13:3; Deut. 15:16; Deut. 19:9; Deut. 21:15; Deut. 21:16; Deut. 23:5; Deut. 30:6; Deut. 30:16; Deut. 30:20;

Burnt offering (05930) 'olah from 'alah = to ascend and thus the picture of going up in smoke) refers to a whole burnt offering (one which goes up in smoke), which was voluntary, was understood as a sacrificial gift to God, resulting in a pleasing aroma acceptable to Jehovah (Lev 1:9). The presenter laid hands on the sacrifice which many feel signifies they saw the animal sacrifice as their substitute. The blood was sprinkled on the altar (Lev 1:6) When this offering was properly carried out (including a right heart attitude not just a "going through the motions," [which was not pleasing to God - Jer 6:20, Jer 7:21, 23, 24, see David - Ps 51:16-17+] not just an external "work," but an internal submission and obedience to Jehovah), they made atonement and were acceptable before Jehovah. The total burning indicated (or should have indicated) total consecration of the presenter's heart and soul and life to Jehovah.

As noted a key feature of 'olah appears to be that among the Israelite sacrifices only 'olah is wholly burned, rather than partially burned and eaten by the worshipers and/or the priest. Thus, the whole animal is brought up to the altar and the whole is offered as a gift (minha) in homage to Yahweh. Whole offering would be a better rendering in English to convey the theology. It is indeed burned, but the burning is essentially secondary to the giving of the whole creature to Yahweh.

Olah in the Pentateuch - Ge 8:20; Ge 22:2; Ge 22:3; Ge 22:6; Ge 22:7; Ge 22:8; Ge 22:13; Ex 10:25; Ex 18:12; Ex 20:24; Ex 24:5; Ex 29:18; Ex 29:25; Ex. 29:42; Ex 30:9; Ex 30:28; Ex 31:9; Ex 32:6; Ex 35:16; Ex 38:1; Ex 40:6; Ex 40:10; Ex 40:29; Lev. 1:3; Lev. 1:4; Lev. 1:6; Lev. 1:9; Lev. 1:10; Lev. 1:13; Lev. 1:14; Lev. 1:17; Lev. 3:5; Lev. 4:7; Lev. 4:10; Lev. 4:18; Lev. 4:24; Lev. 4:25; Lev. 4:29; Lev. 4:30; Lev. 4:33; Lev. 4:34; Lev. 5:7; Lev. 5:10; Lev. 6:9; Lev. 6:10; Lev. 6:12; Lev. 6:25; Lev. 7:2; Lev. 7:8; Lev. 7:37; Lev. 8:18; Lev. 8:21; Lev. 8:28; Lev. 9:2; Lev. 9:3; Lev. 9:7; Lev. 9:12; Lev. 9:13; Lev. 9:14; Lev. 9:16; Lev. 9:17; Lev. 9:22; Lev. 9:24; Lev. 10:19; Lev. 12:6; Lev. 12:8; Lev. 14:13; Lev. 14:19; Lev. 14:20; Lev. 14:22; Lev. 14:31; Lev. 15:15; Lev. 15:30; Lev. 16:3; Lev. 16:5; Lev. 16:24; Lev. 17:8; Lev. 22:18; Lev. 23:12; Lev. 23:18; Lev. 23:37; Nu 6:11; Nu 6:14; Nu 6:16; Nu 7:15; Nu 7:21; Nu 7:27; Nu 7:33; Nu 7:39; Nu 7:45; Nu 7:51; Nu 7:57; Nu 7:63; Nu 7:69; Nu 7:75; Nu 7:81; Nu 7:87; Nu 8:12; Nu 10:10; Nu 15:3; Nu 15:5; Nu 15:8; Nu 15:24; Num. 23:3; Num. 23:6; Num. 23:15; Num. 23:17; Num. 28:3; Num. 28:6; Num. 28:10; Num. 28:11; Num. 28:13; Num. 28:14; Num. 28:15; Num. 28:19; Num. 28:23; Num. 28:24; Num. 28:27; Num. 28:31; Num. 29:2; Num. 29:6; Num. 29:8; Num. 29:11; Num. 29:13; Num. 29:16; Num. 29:19; Num. 29:22; Num. 29:25; Num. 29:28; Num. 29:31; Num. 29:34; Num. 29:36; Num. 29:38; Num. 29:39; Deut. 12:6; Deut. 12:11; Deut. 12:13; Deut. 12:14; Deut. 12:27; Deut. 27:6

ULTIMATE SURRENDER—Genesis 22:2 NASB

I’ve always been fascinated by the requirement God made of Abraham when He asked him to sacrifice his son as an act of obedient worship (Genesis 22:1–2). From Abraham’s perspective, this was an unreasonably wrenching request. God had already asked Abraham to leave the security of his affluent surroundings to travel to a distant land where He would give him a son. This son was to become the father of a great nation through whom all the earth would be blessed. Isaac embodied the heartbeat of what God had planned for Abraham and the whole reason Abraham had left Ur of the Chaldeans in the first place (Genesis 11:27–31; 12:1–5). And, if that weren’t enough, this was the miracle child, born to Sarah after she was too old to conceive (Genesis 21:7). Yet God was now asking Abraham to place this son whom he loved on an altar of sacrifice.

In an unprecedented stroke of unflinching obedience, Abraham agreed. So unshaken was his confidence in God that he believed that God would raise Isaac from the dead if necessary (Hebrews 11:17–19). But as he lifted the knife with trembling hands, God stopped him and provided a substitute sacrifice (Genesis 22:10–14). It was a test. Would Abraham love the gift more than the Giver? Would the center of Abraham’s affections be his son or his God? Abraham lived in a Canaanite civilization that practiced child sacrifice as the supreme expression of consecration to gods of wood and stone. Would Abraham be willing to love the true God with the dedication pagans felt toward their gods? He passed the test! He had more confidence in the promises of the provider than in the pleasure of the provision.

There will be times that we face similar tests. These tests will prove how loosely we hold what God has supplied. When God requires a dearly held commodity, will you give it up for Him? Could your money be His? Could your children be sacrificed to the front lines of global evangelism if they were called? Could He have your business? Could He have your heart?

Is there anything that stands between you and unconditional loyalty to God? (Joe Stowell)

P G Matthew - God said, “Take your son, your only son, Isaac, whom you love, and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there.”—Genesis 22:2

This command from God was the hardest test Abraham ever faced. It is the hardest test that any human father could face. Yet Abraham obeyed God without wavering. With his servants and Isaac and the wood, he set out for Mount Moriah, a journey of three days. Abraham was resolute to obey God’s command. We must ask, “How could he do this?” The answer is found in Hebrews 11:17–19, where we read: “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 exercised his spiritual reasoning capacity. There is a right way of reasoning and there is a wrong way. Only a true Christian who believes in the God of glory, the God of miracles, can reason correctly and consistently. Divine reasoning places the God of the Scriptures at the center—the God of truth, the God who cannot lie, the God for whom all things are possible. Those who reason falsely refuse to believe in this God.

Authentic Christianity is the only reasonable faith in the whole world. The fear of God is the beginning of wisdom. So Abraham reasoned based on God’s word to him: “The Lord promised me a son when I was seventy-five. And God promised that it is through this son that the Messiah, the Savior of the world, will come. God is truth; he has never lied to me. God is now demanding that I must kill Isaac and sacrifice him in worship, a demand that seems to contradict his promise. But there can be no real contradiction in the true and living God; therefore, I am sure this apparent inconsistency can be resolved when thought through correctly.”

What was Abraham’s final line of reasoning? He concluded that God must raise Isaac up from his ashes. So he told his two servants, “We will go up the mountain, we will worship God, and then we will come back to you.” We too must exercise our God-given faith, and God will bless us.

James Scudder - Walking By Faith

And he said, Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of. Genesis 22:2

Imagine the thoughts running through Abraham's head after God gave His instructions for the special sacrifice. Though he trusted God, in his heart he must have been in anguish. He probably didn't sleep very well that night. Abraham knew, however, that the outcome would be worse if he didn't follow God's instructions completely.

Abraham understood the secret to walking by faith: putting everything in God's control. Even though Isaac was a God-given gift, that gift couldn't be placed higher in importance than God. God was testing Abraham's loyalties. Was it to God or to his beloved son? Abraham passed the test in that he was willing to sacrifice his own son. It was the hardest decision he had ever faced, but Abraham did it. Of course, God provided an alternative sacrifice.

To truly walk by faith, we must be willing to put God above anything—even the things we cherish the most. Our children, though we love them dearly, must be given to the Lord. Often, I talk to parents who are almost afraid that their son or daughter might be called to a foreign mission field. But, if God calls them there, they should willingly give them up as Abraham was willing to do. Similarly, husbands and wives hold each other back from God's Will, because they are afraid to give them over to the Lord.

Is there something in your life that you are holding on to? Is there something special that you cherish more than God? I challenge you to have the faith of Abraham.

Christians believe the promises of God enough to venture an eternity on them.

In his wonderful book, Growing Strong in the Seasons of Life (BORROW),Charles Swindoll makes these observations about the startling sacrifice that God commanded Abraham to make in Genesis 22. “We are often hindered from giving up our treasures out of fear for their safety. But wait. Everything is safe which is committed to our God. In fact, nothing is really safe which is not so committed. No child. No job. No romance. No friend. No future. No dream.”

QUESTION - Why did God command Abraham to sacrifice Isaac? WATCH THE VIDEO

ANSWER - Abraham had obeyed God many times in his walk with Him, but no test could have been more severe than the one in Genesis 22. God commanded, “Take your son, your only son, whom you love—Isaac—and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on a mountain I will show you” (Genesis 22:2).

This was an astounding command because Isaac was the son of promise. God had promised several times that from Abraham’s own body would come a nation as multitudinous as the stars in heaven (Genesis 12:2–3; 15:4–5). Later, Abraham was specifically told that the promise would be through Isaac (Genesis 21:12).

Given that God’s testing of Abraham involved a command to do something He elsewhere forbids (see Jeremiah 7:31), we must ask, “Why did God command Abraham to sacrifice Isaac?” The Bible does not specifically address the answer to this question, but in our study of Scripture we can compile a few reasons:

God’s command to sacrifice Isaac was to test Abraham’s faith. God’s tests prove and purify our faith. They cause us to seek Him and trust Him more. God’s test of Abraham allowed His child—and all the world—to see the reality of faith in action. Faith is more than an inner spiritual attitude; faith works (see James 2:18).

God’s command to sacrifice Isaac was to validate Abraham as the “father” of all who have faith in God. “Abraham’s faith was credited to him as righteousness” (Romans 4:9). And we today “who have the faith of Abraham” also find that “he is the father of us all” (verse 16). Without Abraham’s response to the command to sacrifice Isaac, we would have difficulty knowing all that faith entails. God uses Abraham’s faith as an example of the type of faith required for salvation.

God’s command to sacrifice Isaac was to provide an example of absolute obedience. After God gave the command, “early the next morning Abraham got up and loaded his donkey” and headed out with his son and the wood for a burnt offering (Genesis 22:3). There was no delay, no questioning, no arguing. Just simple obedience, which brought a blessing (verses 15–18).

God’s command to sacrifice Isaac was to reveal God as Jehovah-Jireh. On the way up the mountain to the place of sacrifice, Isaac inquired as to the animal to be sacrificed, and his father said, “God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son” (Genesis 22:8). After God’s provision of a ram to take Isaac’s place on the altar, “Abraham called that place The Lord Will Provide” (verse 14). Thus we have another character-revealing name of God: Yahweh-Yireh.

God’s command to sacrifice Isaac was to foreshadow God’s sacrifice of His own Son. The story of Abraham prefigures the New Testament teaching of the atonement, the sacrificial offering of the Lord Jesus on the cross for the sin of mankind. Here are some of the parallels between the sacrifice of Isaac and the sacrifice of Christ:

• “Take your son, your only son, whom you love” (Genesis 22:2); “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son” (John 3:16).

• “Go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there” (Genesis 22:2); it is believed that this same area is where the city of Jerusalem was built many years later. Jesus was crucified in the same area that Isaac had been laid on the altar.

• “Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering” (Genesis 22:2); “Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures” (1 Corinthians 15:3).

• “Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and placed it on his son Isaac” (Genesis 22:6); Jesus, “carrying his own cross,” walked to Calvary (John 19:17).

• “But where is the lamb for the burnt offering?” (Genesis 22:7); John said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29).

• “God himself will provide the lamb” (Genesis 22:8); Jesus is likened to a spotless lamb in 1 Peter 1:18–19 and a slain lamb in Revelation 5:6.

• Isaac, who was likely a young man at the time of his sacrifice, acted in obedience to his father (Genesis 22:9); before His sacrifice, Jesus prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will” (Matthew 26:39).

• Isaac was resurrected figuratively, and Jesus in reality: “Abraham reasoned that God could raise the dead, and figuratively speaking, he did receive Isaac back from death” (Hebrews 11:19); Jesus “was buried, and . . . was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures” (1 Corinthians 15:4).

Many centuries after God’s command for Abraham to sacrifice Isaac, Jesus said, “Your father Abraham rejoiced at the thought of seeing my day; he saw it and was glad” (John 8:56). This is a reference to Abraham’s joy in seeing the ram caught in the thicket in Genesis 22. That ram was the substitute that would save Isaac’s life. Seeing that ram was, in essence, seeing the day of Christ, the Substitute for all of us.| GotQuestions.org

Related Resource:

QUESTION - What is a burnt offering?

ANSWER - The burnt offering is one of the oldest and most common offerings in history. It’s entirely possible that Abel’s offering in Genesis 4:4 was a burnt offering, although the first recorded instance is in Genesis 8:20 when Noah offers burnt offerings after the flood. God ordered Abraham to offer his son, Isaac, in a burnt offering in Genesis 22, and then provided a ram as a replacement. After suffering through nine of the ten plagues, Pharaoh decided to let the people go from bondage in Egypt, but his refusal to allow the Israelites to take their livestock with them in order to offer burnt offerings brought about the final plague that led to the Israelites’ delivery (Exodus 10:24-29).

The Hebrew word for “burnt offering” actually means to “ascend,“ literally to “go up in smoke.” The smoke from the sacrifice ascended to God, “a soothing aroma to the LORD” (Leviticus 1:9). Technically, any offering burned over an altar was a burnt offering, but in more specific terms, a burnt offering was the complete destruction of the animal (except for the hide) in an effort to renew the relationship between Holy God and sinful man. With the development of the law, God gave the Israelites specific instructions as to the types of burnt offerings and what they symbolized.

Leviticus 1:1-17 and Lev 6:8-13 describe the traditional burnt offering. The Israelites brought a bull, sheep, or goat, a male with no defect, and killed it at the entrance to the tabernacle. The animal’s blood was drained, and the priest sprinkled blood around the altar. The animal was skinned and cut it into pieces, the intestines and legs washed, and the priest burned the pieces over the altar all night. The priest received the skin as a fee for his help. A turtledove or pigeon could also be sacrificed, although they weren’t skinned.

A person could give a burnt offering at any time. It was a sacrifice of general atonement—an acknowledgement of the sin nature and a request for renewed relationship with God. God also set times for the priests to give a burnt offering for the benefit of the Israelites as a whole, although the animals required for each sacrifice varied:

Every morning and evening (Exodus 29:38-42; Numbers 28:2)
Each Sabbath (Numbers 28:9-10)
The beginning of each month (Numbers 28:11)
At Passover (Numbers 28:19)
With the new grain/firstfruits offering at the Feast of Weeks (Numbers 28:27)
At the Feast of Trumpets/Rosh Hashanah (Numbers 29:1)
At the new moon (Numbers 29:6)

The ultimate fulfillment of the burnt offering is in Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross. His physical life was completely consumed, He ascended to God, and His covering (that is, His garment) was distributed to those who officiated over His sacrifice (Matthew 27:35). But most importantly, His sacrifice, once for all time, atoned for our sins and restored our relationship with God.GotQuestions.org

Related Resource:

Why would the aroma of a sacrifice be important to God? | GotQuestions.org

Walter Kaiser in Hard Sayings of the Bible page 96 - Genesis 22:2 Sacrifice Your Son?

What can be said of such an astonishing demand? Does God really demand or approve of human sacrifice?

This chapter has been linked with the blind obedience operative in the tragedy at Jonestown, Guyana. But God did not command Abraham to commit murder. This incident is not to be classed with the foolish sacrifice of Jephthah’s daughter (Judg 11:30–40); Gibeon’s demands (2 Sam 21:8, 9, 14); or the practices of Ahaz or Manasseh (2 Kings 16:3; 21:6, 2 Chron 33:6). It was this practice of human sacrifice that Josiah abolished (2 Kings 23:10) and the prophets condemned (Jer 19:5; Ezek 20:30–31; 23:36–39). Indeed, the law clearly prohibited the sacrifice of individuals and spoke scornfully of those who offered their eldest sons to Molech as human sacrifices (Lev 18:21; 20:2).

In the abstract, human sacrifice cannot be condemned on principle. The truth is that God owns all life and has a right to give or take it as he wills. To reject on all grounds God’s legitimate right to ask for life under any conditions would be to remove his sovereignty and question his justice in providing his own sacrifice as the central work of redemption.

However, our God has chosen to prohibit human sacrifice. It is this dilemma of the forthrightness of the command to Abraham versus the clear prohibition against human sacrifice that must be solved. From the chapter, it seems clear that God never intended that this command be executed. The proof of this is that God restrained Abraham’s hand just as he was about to take his son’s life. “‘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’” (Gen 22:12). God’s purpose was simply to test Abraham’s faith. Since the deed was not carried out, there is nothing unworthy of divine goodness in having instituted the trial of his faith.

The testing may have been of greater benefit to Abraham than we often suppose. Some, such as the ancient Bishop Warburton, supposed that Abraham wanted to know how it was that God would bless all the families of the earth through his seed as promised in Genesis 12:3. On this supposition, it is conjectured that our Lord designed a way to teach him through an experience what he had already communicated to him in words. He was given a prefiguration, or a type, of the sacrifice that the last in the line of the seed, even Christ, would accomplish.

John 8:56 substantiates this claim when Jesus said, “Your father Abraham rejoiced at the thought of seeing my day; he saw it and was glad.” The reply of the Jewish audience, “You are not yet fifty years old, … and you have seen Abraham!” (Jn 8:57), indicates that they understood the verb to see in a most literal way. Our Lord does not correct them in this notion. But it must be noticed that it was not he himself that Christ asserted that Abraham rejoiced to see, but his day, by which he meant the circumstance of his life which was of the greatest importance.

That the term day will permit this interpretation is clear from the parallel words hour and time. Throughout the Gospels we read, “his time has not yet come” (Jn 7:30); “he … prayed that if possible the hour might pass from him” (Mk 14:35); or “the hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified” (Jn 12:23). In all of these instances it is not merely a portion of time that is being referred to but some particular life circumstance unique to Christ and his mission.

But if day functions in the same manner as hour, and the peculiar circumstance referred to is the one in which Jesus became the Savior of the world, where is it recorded in the Old Testament that Abraham saw anything pertaining to the death of Christ?

Nothing in the Old Testament says in so many words that Abraham saw the death of Messiah as the Savior of the world. It is possible, however, that what our Lord is referring to is the transaction in Genesis 22 when Abraham was asked to sacrifice his only son on Mount Moriah. In offering his son, Abraham would have had a lively figure of the future offering of the Son of God as a sacrifice for the sins of the world.

Several factors point to this conclusion: (1) the place where the binding of Isaac took place was “the region of Moriah” (a land which included the site of Jerusalem and a well-known mountain by the same name); (2) the distance to which Abraham is asked to go is most unusual if the purpose was simply to test his faith (a test which could have been accomplished many miles closer to home than the Jerusalem area where he was sent by God); and (3) the fact that Isaac was the promised seed who bore in his person and in his life the promise of all that God was going to do in the future.

There were two kinds of child or human sacrifice known in the Old Testament. First there were those sacrifices of children or older individuals offered as a building sacrifice at the laying of the cornerstone of a city and its gates (1 Kings 16:34) or in a particular time of crisis, such as when a city was under siege or in imminent prospect of being captured (2 Kings 3:27; Mic 6:7). Probably this category should also include sacrifices of individuals as a gift to the pagan gods for granting victory (Judg 11) and the taking of prisoners of war for sacrifice.

But this is separate from the sacrifice required in the Old Testament of all the firstborn (Ex 13:12–13; 34:19–20; Num 3:44–51). Of course it must be hastily added that nowhere in Scripture did God require the sacrifice of persons as he did of animals and the produce of the field; instead he took one Levite for service at the temple for the eldest son in each household as a substitute for the life which was owed to God.

As stated earlier, God has the right to require human sacrifice. All biblical sacrifice rests on the idea that the gift of life to God, either in consecration or in expiation, is necessary to restore the broken fellowship with God caused by sin. What passes from man to God is not regarded as property belonging to us but only what is symbolically regarded as property and thus is the gift of life of the offerer.

However, the offerer is in no shape, because of sin, to make such a gift. Thus the principle of vicariousness is brought into play: one life takes the place of another. Accordingly, Abraham is asked by God to offer life, the life that is dearest to him, his only son’s. But in the provision of God, a ram caught in the thicket is interposed by the angel of the Lord, thus pointing out that the substitution of one life for another is indeed acceptable to God. But this in no way gives comfort to the devotees of nature-worship systems whose alleged deities were subject to life and death and who therefore wrongly required their worshipers to immolate themselves or their children to achieve fellowship with these nonbeings.

QUESTION - What is the significance of Mount Moriah in the Bible?

ANSWER - Mount Moriah in Old City Jerusalem is the site of numerous biblical acts of faith. It is also one of the most valuable pieces of real estate and one of the most hotly contested pieces of real estate on earth. This is a profoundly sacred area to Christians, Jews, and Muslims. Sitting atop Mount Moriah today is the Temple Mount, a 37-acre tract of land where the Jewish temple once stood. Several important Islamic holy sites are there now, including the Dome of the Rock – a Muslim shrine built thirteen hundred years ago – and the Al-Aqsa Mosque.

Mount Moriah’s history begins in Genesis. In the twenty-second chapter, God commands Abraham, “Take now your son, your only son, whom you love, Isaac, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains which I will tell you” (Genesis 22:2). The place God led Abraham was Mount Moriah. Abraham didn’t fully understand what God was asking him to do in light of God’s previous promise to establish an everlasting covenant with Isaac (Genesis 17:19); nonetheless, he trusted God and by faith offered Isaac as a sacrifice. Of course, God intervened and spared Isaac’s life by providing a ram instead. Abraham thereafter called this place “The LORD Will Provide. And to this day it is said, ‘On the mountain of the LORD it will be provided’” (Genesis 22:14). Because of Abraham’s obedience on Mount Moriah, God told Abraham that his “descendants will take possession of the cities of their enemies, and through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed because you have obeyed me” (vv. 17, 18).

About a thousand years later at this very location, King David bought the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite and built an altar to the Lord so that a “plague may be held back from the people” (2 Samuel 24:18, 21). After David’s death, his son King Solomon built a glorious temple on the same site. Solomon’s temple lasted for over four hundred years until it was destroyed by King Nebuchadnezzar’s armies in 587/586 B.C.

Seventy years later the temple was rebuilt on the same site by the Jews who returned to Jerusalem following their Babylon captivity. Around the first century, King Herod made a significant addition to this structure, which then became known as Herod’s Temple. It was this temple that Jesus cleansed (John 2:15).

However, in A.D. 70, the Roman armies led by Titus, son of the Emperor Vespasian, once again destroyed the temple. All that remains of the Temple Mount of that era is a portion of a retaining wall known as the “Western Wall” or the “Wailing Wall.” It has been a destination for pilgrims and a site of prayer for Jews for many centuries.

The God who first called Abraham to Mount Moriah still has plans for that place. The Bible indicates that a third temple will be built on or near the site of Solomon’s temple (Daniel 9:27). This would seem to present a problem given the political obstacles that stand in the way: the religious activities on the Temple Mount are currently controlled by the Supreme Muslim Council (the Waqf). Yet nothing can put a wrinkle in God’s sovereign plans. Thus, Muslim control of this area simply fulfills the prophecy of Luke 21:24 that “Jerusalem will be trampled on by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.” GotQuestions.org

Related Resources:

On a Hill Far Away

Take now your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love. —Genesis 22:2

Today's Scripture: Genesis 22:1-12

I often find myself thinking back to the years when my children were young. One particular fond memory is our morning wake-up routine. Every morning I’d go into their bedrooms, tenderly call them by name, and tell them that it was time to get up and get ready for the day.

When I read that Abraham got up early in the morning to obey God’s command, I think of those times when I woke up my children and wonder if part of Abraham’s daily routine was going to Isaac’s bed to waken him—and how different it would have been on that particular morning. How heart-rending for Abraham to waken his son that morning!

Abraham bound his son and laid him on an altar, but then God provided an alternate sacrifice. Hundreds of years later, God would supply another sacrifice—the final sacrifice—His own Son. Think of how agonizing it must have been for God to sacrifice His Son, His only Son whom He loved! And He went through all of that because He loves you.

If you wonder whether you are loved by God, wonder no more. By: Joe Stowell

Lord, I am amazed that You would love me so much that You would sacrifice Your Son for me. Teach me to live gratefully in the embrace of Your unfailing love.

God has already proven His love for you.

(Reprinted by permission from Our Daily Bread Ministries. Please do not repost the full devotional without their permission.)

The Father's Love - In his autobiography, a well-known TV personality describes the time when he asked, "If God the Father is so all-loving, why didn't He come down and go to Calvary?" That comment reveals how little he understood the love of a good earthly father and the depth of love revealed in the Trinity.

Consider the love an earthly father has for his son. In Genesis 22, we read that God asked Abraham to sacrifice his son Isaac. We can only imagine the agony in his heart as he and the boy climbed the mountain. Surely Abraham must have wished he could take Isaac's place.

As a father and grandfather myself, I would choose to die in place of my offspring, if given the choice.

Our love as earthly fathers is but a faint reflection of our heavenly Father's love for His Son and for us. Because of the close relationship between the Father and the Son, Jesus could say, "I and My Father are one" (John 10:30). And the Bible tells us that "God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself" (2 Corinthians 5:19). Without a doubt, therefore, the Father did share His Son's pain at Calvary.

How wonderful to know that we have a loving Father in heaven! Because Jesus died for us, we can be forgiven and personally experience the Father's love. — Herbert Vander Lugt (Our Daily Bread, Copyright RBC Ministries, Grand Rapids, MI. Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved)

Died He for me, who caused His pain?
For me, who Him to death pursued?
Amazing love! How can it be
That Thou, my God, shouldst die for me?
—Wesley

The Father's love knows no limit.

In a sermon titled Faith Tested and Crowned on Genesis 22 Alexander Maclaren distinguished between being tempted and being tried. He said that…

the former word conveys the idea of appealing to the worst part of man, with the wish that he may yield and do the wrong. The latter means an appeal to the better part of man, with the desire that he should stand.

"Temptation says, 'Do this pleasant thing; do not be hindered by the fact that it is wrong.'

Trial or proving says, 'Do this right and noble thing; do not be hindered by the fact that it is painful.'"

Satan tempts us to bring out the worst in us.

God tests us to bring out the best, which is exactly the result in Abraham's life in his supreme test in Genesis 22.

Not Taken, But Given - All of us hope that we will be the exception to Jesus' words, "In the world you will have tribulation" (Jn. 16:33, cp Acts 14:22, 2Ti 3:12-note, Php 1:29-note). But if we realize that hardship may be our Father's wise plan for our lives, we will not be surprised and shocked when painful difficulty or tragedy occurs.

William Sangster (1900-1960), the noted English preacher, visited a young girl in the hospital at a time when doctors were struggling in vain to keep her from becoming blind. With sadness she said to him, "God is going to take away my sight." He listened but at first made no reply. Then he answered compassionately, "Don't let Him, Jessie. Give it to Him." "I don't understand," she responded. So he explained, "Try to pray this prayer: 'Father, if I must lose my sight, help me to give it to You.'"

If we know that a loved one will probably die, or if we are told that we may be permanently disabled, let us give it to God as a love-offering. As Abraham surrendered his precious son Isaac on Mount Moriah (Gen. 22:1-14), so let us pray, "Father, I am not clinging fiercely to this cherished person or this rich blessing that has temporarily been mine. I am grateful to You for lending me this life-enriching good, but now I freely give it to You." — Vernon C. Grounds (Our Daily Bread, Copyright RBC Ministries, Grand Rapids, MI. Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved)

Some through the waters, some through the flood,
Some through the fire, but all through the blood,
Some through great sorrow, but God gives a song,
In the night season and all the day long.
--Young

God designs what we go through; we decide how we go through it.

Promises And Commands- Author and pastor Steve Lawson says he often hears a disturbing statement from people involved in a lifestyle that directly contradicts a command of Scripture. In order to justify their actions, they say,

"Hey! God wants me to be happy, and this will make me happy."

Apparently these people want to believe God's promises to bless them, but they ignore His commands to be holy.

Consider Abraham's response to a difficult situation. He had been promised that he would father a nation of innumerable people. What joy this must have held out for him! Then God commanded that Abraham sacrifice his only son. In the patriarch's mind, the command was in obvious conflict with the promise (Gen. 15:5; 22:2).

How could God's promise be fulfilled if Abraham obeyed the command? If he would have reacted like the people Steve Lawson was talking about, he would have told God to forget it. Yet he didn't. He obeyed God's command, and he saw God provide a substitute sacrifice. Abraham obeyed God and the promise was kept.

We need to remember that our duty is to obey God's commands. His duty is to keep His promises. In God's way of doing things, those two things never conflict. — Dave Branon (Our Daily Bread, Copyright RBC Ministries, Grand Rapids, MI. Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved)

Obeying God at first seems hard
Until we come to see
That all He asks is for our good
And makes life full and free.
--DJD

The way of obedience is the way of blessing.

Genesis 22:3 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 wood for the burnt offering, and arose and went to the place of which God had told him.

Ge 17:23 21:14 Ps 119:60 Ec 9:10 Isa 26:3,4 Mt 10:37 Mk 10:28-31 Lu 14:26 Ga 1:16 Heb 11:8,17-19
Genesis 22 Resources - Multiple Sermons and Commentaries

ABRAHAM'S IMMEDIATE
OBEDIENCE

So Abraham rose early in the morning - This alone is an amazing statement and testimony to the faith of this man Abraham. It almost sounds like he is eager to obey God! It does not say he "arose early in the morning after a sleepless night (like most of us would have had if God had told us to sacrifice our only son!)"!

THOUGHT - Do you hesitate when you sense God is calling you to something difficult? Do you "sleep in" or make excuses, or do you arise early in the morning eager to obey your Lord? (I am once again convicted as I write these words!) Lord God, let it be true of us that by Thy Spirit we might be able to confidently say "I hastened and did not delay To keep Your commandments." (Ps 119:60)

and saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him and Isaac his son; and he split wood for the burnt offering, and arose and went to the place of which God had told him - Notice Abraham did not confer with others, not even his own "thoughts" on what was God's will in the matter. When you know God's will, then do it! He never asks us to do what He does not enable us to accomplish. In this way truly it is from Him, through Him and to Him! And so we can rightly exclaim, "To Him be all glory, honor, power and dominion in this age and throughout eternity. Amen!"

Spurgeon - All the details are mentioned, for true obedience is very careful of detail. They who would serve God aright must serve him faithfully in little things as well as in great ones. There must be a saddling of the ass, a calling of the two young men as well as Isaac, and a cleaving of the wood for the burnt offering. We must do everything that is included in the bounds of the divine command, and do it all with scrupulous exactness and care. Indifferent obedience to God’s command is practically disobedience, careless obedience is dead obedience, the heart is gone out of it. Let us learn from Abraham how to obey.

Theodore Epp - THE RESPONSE OF FAITH Genesis 22:3; Galatians 1: 11-17

Even though Abraham could not understand why God would command him to offer his son, he was not slow in responding.

Genesis 22:3 says, "And Abraham rose up early in the morning, and saddled his ass, and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son, and clave the wood for the burnt offering, and rose up, and went unto the place of which God had told him."

In Abraham's response there was no reluctance, no hesitation, no doubt, no staggering, no unbelief. Abraham did not delay. He did not endeavor to reason things out or spend time consulting with other people about the matter.

So also, when the Apostle Paul was called to preach the Gospel, he said, "Immediately I conferred not with flesh and blood" (Gal. 1:16). This is important. There are occasions when no time should be taken to counsel with men.

God found ready faith in Abraham. Faith triumphed over natural affections, over reason, over self-will. God's grace found a ready outlet through which it could manifest itself.

Might our faith be as Abraham's faith. As we yield our lives to the Lord, He will work in us "both to will and to do of his good pleasure" (Phil. 2:13). Then we will be able to say with the Apostle Paul, "I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me" (4:13).
"For we walk by faith, not by sight" (2 Cor. 5:7).

Genesis 22:4 On the third day Abraham raised his eyes and saw the place from a distance.

third : Ex 5:3 15:22 19:11,15 Lev 7:17 Nu 10:33 19:12,19 31:19 Jos 1:11 2Ki 20:5 Es 5:1 Ho 6:2 Mt 17:23 Lu 13:32 1Co 15:4
saw : 1Sa 26:13
Genesis 22 Resources - Multiple Sermons and Commentaries

On the third day - If he was walking (saddled the donkey suggests with supplies, wood, etc) he could have covered about 15-20 miles per day, which means it was about 50 miles from Beersheba.

Abraham raised his eyes and saw the place from a distance - The text does not tell us how he recognized it, but he knew it was Moriah.

Spurgeon - His was deliberate obedience; he could bear suspense, thinking over the whole matter for three days, and setting his face like a flint to obey his Lord’s command.

Theodore Epp - TRUSTING IN SPITE OF CIRCUMSTANCES Genesis 22:4-5; Hebrews 11:17-19

Genesis 22:4-5 says, "Then on the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes, and saw the place afar off. And Abraham said unto his young men, Abide ye here with the ass; and I and the lad will go yonder and worship, and come again to you."

In these verses there are three things in particular that reveal the tremendous faith of Abraham.

First, he told the young men who were with him, "Abide ye here." Once Abraham saw the mountain that God was going to send him to, he wanted to be sure that nothing or no one would hinder what he had undertaken.

Second, Abraham told the young men, "I and the lad will go yonder and worship." Thus Abraham gave up all of his desires and ascribed everything to God. It was a true act of worship when Abraham was willing to give up everything for God.

Third, Abraham told the young men, "I and the lad will. . . come again to you." His faith was in the God of the resurrection. He believed that God would bring his son back to life.

Can we trust God when we are totally unable to see how He is going to work out His will? Abraham demonstrated that he could.
"Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him" (Job 13:15).

Genesis 22:5 And Abraham said to his young men, "Stay here with the donkey, and I and the lad will go yonder; and we will worship and return to you."

Stay: Heb 12:1
Return: Heb 11:19
Genesis 22 Resources - Multiple Sermons and Commentaries

WE WILL WORSHIP
AND RETURN

And Abraham said to his young men, "Stay here with the donkey, and I and the lad will go yonder; and we will worship (shachah) and return to you - This is a private matter only for he and his son. Note the plural pronoun "WE" will worship and return (Lxx has first person plural = "we will return"!! How could Abraham be so confident "we" would return? In some way God had given Him supernatural revelation so that "He considered that God is able to raise people even from the dead, from which he also received him back as a type." (Hebrews 11:19+) Now it is one thing to know this intellectually but quite another to let if affect one's heart. Clearly in Abraham's case he fully believed God was able to carry out what He had promised. This reminds us of Hebrews 11:6 which says "without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him." As we see the story unfold, Abraham was rewarded with a new revelation of the character of God (Ge 22:14) and a confirmation of God's previous promises (Ge 22:17-18).

Faith in the case of Abraham, as indeed in every other instance, is taking God at His word.
True faith is nothing more, as it is nothing less, than this. God speaks: man believes.
-- W H Griffith-Thomas

W H Griffith-Thomas says "What a magnificent exercise of faith this was! There had never been such an event as a resurrection, and so Abraham had no previous example to suggest this result or to encourage his faith thereby. But with a splendid sweep of God-given imagination, based upon God's personal relation to him, he said to himself, 'God will raise my son from the dead.'....God was such a reality to Abraham, and His promises were so certain, that the patriarch at once drew the inevitable and natural conclusion that God's power could and would effect this.....How was it that Abraham was able to exercise this unquestioning and even astonishing trust in God? The explanation is found in the phrase, which occurs twice in this chapter, 'Here am I.' Abraham lived in close fellowship with God, ready for His new revelations and responsive to His continual calls. Abiding close to God, he learnt more and more of the character of the One with Whom he was in covenant. 'The secret of the Lord is with them that fear Him,' and when we thus abide in Him He abides in us, and our faith grows strong, our love grows deep, our hope grows high. Then it is we 'stagger not through unbelief (Rom. 4:20), and we are able to say: ' The Lord God will help me; therefore shall I not be confounded; therefore have I set my face like a flint, and I know that I shall not be ashamed' (Isaiah 50:7)."

In English "worship" means to look at someone's "worth-ship", so to worship God is to respect and honor Him for Who He is. The Lxx translates worship (shachah) with proskuneo which means to prostrate oneself in homage before another in the full sense of worship, not mere reverence or courtesy. When Jesus Christ was born into this world, He was attended and worshipped by angels. (Lu 2:13f).

Spurgeon on we will return - Abraham did not deceive the young men, he believed that he and Isaac would come to them again. He believed that though he might be compelled to say his son, “God was able to raise him up, even from the dead; from whence also he received him in a figure.” Abraham bade the young men stay where they were, they must not see all that he was to do before the Lord. Oftentimes, our highest obedience must be a solitary one; friends cannot help us in such emergencies, and it is better for them and better for us that they should not be with us.

Worship (bow down, prostrate one's self) (07812) shachah means to bow down, to prostrate oneself, to crouch, to fall down, to humbly beseech, to do reverence, to worship. The idea is to assume a prostrate position as would in paying homage to royalty (Ge 43:28) or to God (Ge 24:26, Ps 95:6). Brown-Driver-Briggs' Definition - to bow down (Qal) to bow down; (Hiphil) to depress (fig); (Hithpael) to bow down, prostrate oneself, before superior in homage, before God in worship, before false gods, before angel. In the first use in Genesis (which has most of the uses - 21v), when Abraham saw "three men (one of Whom was most likely the pre-incarnate Christ)… standing opposite him… he ran from the tent door to meet them and bowed (shachah) himself to the earth (Ge 18:2, cp Lot bowing to the two angels - Ge 19:1) It is used to describe Joseph's brother's sheaves which "bowed down to my sheaf.” (Ge 37:7) When God told Abraham to sacrifice his son, he told his men to remain for they would go to "worship and return to you." (Ge 22:5) Joshua bowed down to the "Captain of the host of the LORD," (Joshua 5:14) almost assuredly a preincarnate appearance of Messiah. In Josh 23:7, 16 Joshua warned Israel NOT to bow down to the idols of the land, but in Jdg 2:12, 17, 19 that is exactly what they did! The English word prostrate is defined as being stretched out with one's face on the ground in adoration or submission. It is not just that the person has fallen down but pictures them lying at length or with their body extended on the ground and so lying in a posture which is reflective of genuine humility and/or adoration.

Shachah in the Pentateuch - Gen. 18:2; Gen. 19:1; Gen. 22:5; Gen. 23:7; Gen. 23:12; Gen. 24:26; Gen. 24:48; Gen. 24:52; Gen. 27:29; Gen. 33:3; Gen. 33:6; Gen. 33:7; Gen. 37:7; Gen. 37:9; Gen. 37:10; Gen. 42:6; Gen. 43:26; Gen. 43:28; Gen. 47:31; Gen. 48:12; Gen. 49:8; Exod. 4:31; Exod. 11:8; Exod. 12:27; Exod. 18:7; Exod. 20:5; Exod. 23:24; Exod. 24:1; Exod. 32:8; Exod. 33:10; Exod. 34:8; Exod. 34:14; Lev. 26:1; Num. 25:2; Deut. 4:19; Deut. 5:9; Deut. 8:19; Deut. 11:16; Deut. 17:3; Deut. 26:10; Deut. 29:26; Deut. 30:17

Genesis 22:5 ABIDE YE HERE WITH THE ASS; AND I AND THE LAD WILL GO YONDER AND WORSHIP

Helps and hindrances of a Christian life

I. In the path of faith, HUMAN HELP IS PROFITABLE.

II. In the path of faith, HUMAN HELP IS LIMITED.

III. In the path of faith, HUMAN HELP MUST RECEIVE A TIMELY DISMISSAL.

IV. In the path of faith, THE GRANDEST TRIUMPHS HAVE BEEN ACHIEVED ALONE. (H. T. Miller.)

M R De Haan - What happened between Abraham and Isaac on the mount we may never know here; and so too what transpired between the Father and His Son Jesus Christ during those last three hours of agony we shall never be able to comprehend. It was a transaction between Father and Son. No human eyes were to behold that scene, and so Matthew records, as does Mark:

Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land unto the ninth hour (Matthew 27:45).

What happened between the Father and the Son during those three dreadful hours we may never know, and we would not tread upon that holy ground. When the final crisis came and the final sacrifice was to be made, God closed the door, snuffed out the lights of Heaven, drew a black curtain across the windows of the sky, hung a crepe on Heaven’s door, until finally the culmination came in the ultimate, agonizing cry, “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?”

Genesis 22:6 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 the two of them walked on together.

laid it : Isa 53:6 Mt 8:17 Lu 24:26,27 Joh 19:17 1Pe 2:24
Genesis 22 Resources - Multiple Sermons and Commentaries

And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on Isaac his son - This reminds us of Jesus in John 19:17 when "He went out, bearing His own cross, to the place called the Place of a Skull, which is called in Hebrew, Golgotha."

And he took in his hand the fire and the knife - The knife is the term for a "butcher knife", a very large knife which was used for cooking purposes (cf. Judges 19:29; Proverbs 30:14).

Spurgeon - "That knife was cutting into his own heart all the while, yet he took it. Unbelief would have left the knife at home, but genuine faith takes it."

So the two of them walked on together - There was harmony, communion, fellowship, of one mind.

ILLUSTRATION - "BUT YOU WILL NEED THIS" - Able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think (Ephesians 3:20 ). A young bride was going to entertain some friends, and lacking a few necessary things, went to a neighbor to borrow. "Is that all you want?" asked the generous neighbor. "Yes, I think so," replied the bride. "But you will need this, and that, and the other," said the experienced woman, naming the articles. "I was so thankful," said the young hostess afterward, "that I went to some one who knew just exactly what I needed better than I did myself, and was willing to supply it." Our Heavenly Father knows our needs better than we do, and in the richness of His love He supplies our known and unknown lack. From the C. E. World.

Genesis 22:7 And Isaac spoke to Abraham his father and said, "My father!" And he said, "Here I am, my son." And he said, "Behold, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?"

My father : Mt 26:39,42 Joh 18:11 Ro 8:15
Here am I : Heb. Behold me, Ge 22:1
but : Ge 4:2-4 8:20
lamb : Ex 12:3
Genesis 22 Resources - Multiple Sermons and Commentaries

Related Passages:

Exodus 12:3+ “Speak to all the congregation of Israel, saying, ‘On the tenth of this month they are each one to take a lamb for themselves, according to their fathers’ households, a lamb for each household.

WHERE IS THE
LAMB?

And Isaac spoke to Abraham his father and said, "My father!" And he said, "Here I am, my son." And he said, "Behold, (hinneh) the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?" - This is the question in the OT - Where is the Lamb? John answers in the NT crying "Behold the Lamb." (Jn 1:29+) and finally records "Worthy is the Lamb" (Rev 5:12+). The Lamb of God is presence from Genesis to Revelation (and everywhere in between!)

Utley - Isaac's question must have cut Abraham to the heart, to which Abraham expresses his faith in God so beautifully in Genesis 22:8. The fact that Isaac was acquainted with sacrifices shows that the sacrificial system predates the Mosaic legislation. This can be seen (1) in Cain and Abel (Genesis 4:0); (2) in Noah (Genesis 8:20); and (3) in Job (Job 1:5).

Theodore Epp - A SUBMISSIVE FAITH Genesis 22:7-9; Colossians 2:6-7

Isaac probably knew that he was the sacrifice. He could have resisted because he was no longer a child; he was probably between 17 and 25 years of age. Physically, all the advantages were his. His father was old; he was young.

Here the Word of God introduces us to the submissive trait that seems to have been the strong factor in Isaac's life. He was characterized more by submissiveness than by aggressiveness.

Abraham was the one with an aggressive faith, but Isaac had a submissive faith--willing to be what God wanted him to be. Even when he was offered as a sacrifice, Isaac submitted himself to his father because God had so willed it.

Isaac's submission was a picture of Christ's submission to the Father. Jesus Christ was the sacrifice for the sins of the world so that the holy standards of the Heavenly Father might be satisfied.

Concerning Christ, 1 John 2:2 tells us that "he is the propitiation [satisfaction] for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world."

Jesus was submissive to the Heavenly Father's will. The purpose of the Father and the Son was one. God the Father willed the sacrifice to be made, and the Son willed to be the sacrifice.

The life of the Lord Jesus Christ is summed up in the statement "I come ... to do thy will, O God" (Heb. 10:7). What a wonderful God we have!
"Yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God" (Rom. 6:13).

Genesis 22:8 And Abraham said, "God will provide for Himself the lamb for the burnt offering, my son." So the two of them walked on together.

Ge 18:14 2Ch 25:9 Mt 19:26 Joh 1:29,36 1Pe 1:19,20 Rev 5:6,12 Rev 7:14 13:8
Genesis 22 Resources - Multiple Sermons and Commentaries

Related Passages:

Romans 8:32 He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things?

ABRAHAM SPEAKS
LIKE A PROPHET

And Abraham said, "God will provide for Himself the lamb for the burnt offering, my son." Some translations such as KJV say "God will provide Himself"! RSV translates it as "God will provide Himself the Lamb" [Ro 8:32] ("how shall he not freely give us all things?") parallels this OT truth perfectly in the provision of Christ.

Some have pointed out that the text does not say "God will Himself provide a lamb," but "God will provide Himself." M R De Haan writes "Translated freely Abraham says God Himself is going to be the Lamb of sacrifice." Certainly interesting and worth pondering.

Utley - The phrase "God will provide" later becomes a name for God in Genesis 22:14 ("YHWH," BDB 217 and "see," BDB 906). We have seen how common it is for the acts of God to result in a new name to describe His character and actions. The Hebrew term "will provide" is really "will see to it" (BDB 906, KB 1157, Qal IMPERFECT), but it came to be used in this specialized sense (the One who sees is the One who provides).

Spurgeon - Abraham here spoke like a prophet; in fact, throughout this whole incident, he never opened his mouth without a prophetic utterance; and I believe that, when men walk with God, and live near to God, they will possibly even without being aware of it, speak very weighty words which will have much more in them than they themselves apprehend. Is it not written, concerning the man whose delight is in the law of the Lord, “his leaf also shall not wither”? (Ps 1:3) Not only shall his fruit be abundant, but his casual word, “his leaf also shall not wither.” So was it with it Abraham. He spoke like a prophet of God when he was really speaking to his son in the anguish of his spirit, and in his prophetic utterance we find the sum end substance of the gospel: “My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering.” He is the great Provider, and he provides the offering, not only for us, but for himself, for the sacrifice was necessary to God as well as to man. And it is a burnt offering, not only a sin-offering but an offering of a sweet savour unto himself.

Henry Morris - Though Abraham was fully prepared to slay Isaac, he evidently comprehended the ultimate meaning of the divinely-ordained principle of substitutionary sacrifice, practiced ever since God shed the blood of the first sacrificial lamb to provide a covering for Adam and Eve. He knew that one day the "Lamb of God" must be offered by God to "taketh away the sin of the world" (John 1:29) and thus to make possible the fulfillment of all His eternal promises.

So the two of them walked on together - This is the second time for this statement. They were seemingly of one mind. Isaac's confidence in Abraham and Abraham's consideration for Isaac are striking. Abraham knew God would provide a sacrifice, but where? Where was the lamb? That question had been asked by all the faithful, from Isaac to Moses to David to Isaiah, all the way to the time of John the Baptist when he declares: Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! (Jn 1:29)

Spurgeon - “So they went both of them together.” Twice we are told this, for this incident is a type of the Father going with the Son and the Son going with the Father up to the great sacrifice on Calvary. It was not Christ alone who willingly died, or the Father alone who gave his Son, but they went both of them together,” even as Abraham and Isaac did here. (ED: INTERESTING THOUGHT TO PONDER).

QUESTION - How did Abraham know that God will provide a lamb (Genesis 22:8)?

ANSWER - Abraham knew that God would provide Himself with a lamb because, after years of having an immature faith, Abraham grew to fully trust that what God says He will do, He will do. In Genesis 15:6, after God had promised Abraham to give him innumerable descendants, Abraham believed in God, and it was credited to Abraham as righteousness. Initially, Abraham tried to help God keep His promise by suggesting that Eliezer be counted as his heir (Genesis 15:3) and by taking Hagar as his wife (Genesis 16). God’s plan wasn’t for either of these scenarios to provide the fulfillment of His promise. Instead, God further specified that Sarah would have a son and his name would be Isaac (Genesis 17:19). Isaac would be the covenant son through whom God would keep His promises (Genesis 17:21).

Just as God had promised, Isaac was born (Genesis 21:1–2). Some years later, God tested Abraham’s faith, telling Him to take Isaac to Mount Moriah and sacrifice him to the Lord there (Genesis 22:2). This was a horrifying and grievous request, yet Abraham started off in the morning to do exactly what God had told him to do (Genesis 22:3–6). As they were making the journey, Isaac observes that there is no lamb for the sacrifice, and he asks his father about that oddity (Genesis 22:7). Abraham responded to his son that God will provide Himself a lamb (Genesis 22:8). When they arrived at the right place, Abraham bound his son and was about to take the prescribed action and kill Isaac (Genesis 22:9–10).

The author of Hebrews tells us what Abraham was thinking—how he could be willing to kill his son, and how he could know that God will provide Himself a lamb. When God told Abraham to sacrifice his son Isaac, Abraham considered that God was able to raise people from the dead (Hebrews 11:19). God had promised Abraham that Isaac would be the covenant son, and that from Isaac God would raise up a mighty nation in fulfillment of the promises God had made to Abraham. God had already miraculously kept His promises—that Isaac was even born was a miracle in itself. Abraham had learned that God is faithful. At first, Abraham simply exercised faith (Genesis 15:6), and God counted that to Abraham as righteousness (as He does with us when we believe in Him). But part of growing in our relationship with God is increasing in confidence that He is able and willing to accomplish what He has said. Because Abraham had seen God’s faithfulness, when this uncharacteristic request of human sacrifice was made, Abraham trusted God that He knew what He was doing. Abraham knew that, even despite this strange and awful request, God would provide and God would keep His word.

Before Abraham could bring the knife down to strike his son, the angel or messenger of the Lord called out to Him from heaven acknowledging that Abraham had passed the test and should not kill Isaac (Genesis 22:11–12). Of course, God never intended that Abraham would actually kill Isaac. He simply wanted to show Abraham that, no matter how impossible the circumstances, Abraham could trust God. As Abraham looked up, he saw a ram caught in a thicket nearby and offered the ram as a sacrifice instead of Isaac (Genesis 22:13). Abraham then acknowledged that God had provided for His word to be kept, and he named the place "Jehovah-Jireh," which means "The Lord Will Provide" (Genesis 22:14).

While Abraham’s weakness of faith is chronicled in Genesis 18—21, God did not reject him or punish him for that immaturity. God did, however, provide him opportunities to grow and then puts him to the test so he can demonstrate that growth. Abraham learned that God is faithful, and even when we are unsure of how God is going to keep His word, we can be certain that He is faithful and that He will keep His word.GotQuestions.org

Tony Evans - Worship That Comes from the Heart

God will provide for Himself the lamb for the burnt offering. Genesis 22:8

God will sometimes test the depth of your devotion to Him. In Genesis 22, He tested Abraham’s faith when He instructed Abraham to sacrifice his son Isaac.

Abraham was willing to obey God no matter what. He didn’t talk back, make excuses, or turn away from God. He just obeyed—knowing in his heart that the Lord would provide the right sacrifice.

When they had reached their destination, Abraham spoke with words of faith as he told his servants, “I and the lad…will worship and return to you” (verse 5). Then when it came to the actual moment of sacrifice, God stopped him. “Abraham!…Do not stretch out your hand against the lad, and do nothing to him; for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from Me” (verses 11-12). God did not want Abraham to harm his son. He was just checking Abraham’s devotion.

How often have you faced a difficult situation and thought, “Lord, You can have anything, but please, just don’t take ______”? In this situation, Abraham would have filled the blank with the name of his son Isaac.

Worship begins in the heart. Therefore, always be willing to obey the Lord by letting go of anything you deem more valuable than your relationship with Him. When you do, His goodness will be poured out in abundance.

Eight Cows On The Altar - Ge 22:1-12 - Pastor Ed Dobson was speaking to a congregation on “putting all on the altar” in total surrender to Christ. After the service, an old German farmer came forward. He told Dobson that he had eight cows that were dying, which would mean great financial loss, and he had been struggling with accepting this as God’s will. Then he said, “Because of your message, I have found peace. Tonight I put them all on the altar.”

Christ’s lordship touches every area, every relationship, every concern of our lives. If we are willing to submit to Him, any loss in life will be seen as an opportunity of giving back to God what is rightfully His and trusting Him to provide what is needed.

When God told Abraham to sacrifice Isaac, He seemed to be undermining His own purposes. Isaac was the son of promise through whom God would bless the world. Yet Abraham’s faith had grown strong over the years, and baffled though he must have been, he said, “God will provide for Himself the lamb” (Genesis 22:8).

The issue is the same for us. Can we entrust everything to God—our possessions, job, health, family? If we commit ourselves to Him each day and thank Him for every blessing, our confidence in Him will survive any test. — Dennis J. De Haan (Our Daily Bread, Copyright RBC Ministries, Grand Rapids, MI. Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved)

You have longed for sweet peace and for faith to increase,
And have earnestly, fervently prayed;
But you cannot have rest or be perfectly blest
Until all on the altar is laid.
—Hoffman

Submission to God means taking our hands off what belongs to Him.

Genesis 22:9 Then they came to the place of which God had told him; and Abraham built the altar there, and arranged the wood, and bound his son Isaac, and laid him on the altar on top of the wood.

place : Ge 22:2-4 Mt 21:1-46 26:1-27:66
built : Ge 8:20
bound : Ps 118:27 Isa 53:4-10 Mt 27:2 Mk 15:1 Joh 10:17,18 Ac 8:32 Ga 3:13 Eph 5:2 Php 2:7,8 Heb 9:28 1Pe 2:24
Genesis 22 Resources - Multiple Sermons and Commentaries

ISAAC SUBMITS TO
FATHER'S WILL

Then they came to the place of which God had told him - Abraham fully follows the Lord's instructions.

THOUGHT - Have I gone to the place which the Lord told me to go?

And Abraham built the altar there - "See him pulling out the large, rough, unhewn stones that lay round about the place, and then fling them up into an altar." (Spurgeon). It is interesting that there is no record of Lot ever building an altar.

THOUGHT - When was the last time you built an altar (so to speak) so that "Through Him (Christ)" you might "continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that give thanks to His name?" (Heb 13:15+) How often do you (I) literally fall on your knees before the thrice holy God? (I am sorely convicted by my own question!) (See Building Altars)

The phrase built an altar is found 18x in 18v all in the Old Testament - Ge 8:20; Gen. 12:7; Gen. 12:8; Gen. 13:18; Gen. 26:25; Gen. 35:7; Exod. 17:15; Exod. 24:4; Exod. 32:5; Jos. 8:30; Jos. 22:10; Jos. 22:11; Jdg. 6:24; Jdg. 21:4; 1 Sam. 14:35; 1 Ki. 18:32; 2 Ki. 16:11; 1 Chr. 21:26

And arranged the wood - the word arranged conveys an orderly action. Abraham was not panicked.

And bound his son Isaac - The verb for bound (aqad) occurs only here in the OT and gives rise to the Jewish term for this story, The Aqedah, the binding of Isaac. This story is as much an illustration of Isaac’s faith as it is of Abraham’s. If Isaac was old enough to carry the wood, he surely was strong enough to resist his father! And yet he willingly submits to his father, when he could have tied up his father!

THOUGHT - Have I willingly presented myself on the altar as "a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship." (Romans 12:1+)

P. Van Gorder - The Christian’s greatest joy and usefulness is found in letting God fully possess His own property.

Is your all on the altar of sacrifice laid?
Your heart does the Spirit control?
You can only be blest and have peace and sweet rest
As you yield Him your body and soul.
-- Hoffman

And laid him on the altar on top of the wood - In preparation for a whole burnt offering.

Oswald Chambers - Does my sacrifice live? Genesis 22:9. This incident is a picture of the blunder we make in thinking that the final thing God wants of us is the sacrifice of death. What God wants is the sacrifice through death which enables us to do what Jesus did, viz., sacrifice our lives. Not ‘I am willing to go to death with Thee,’ but, ‘I am willing to be identified with Thy death so that I may sacrifice my life to God.’ We seem to think that God wants us to give up things! God purified Abraham from this blunder, and the same discipline goes on in our lives. God nowhere tells us to give up things for the sake of giving them up. He tells us to give them up for the sake of the only thing worth having, viz., life with Himself. It is a question of loosening the bands that hinder the life, and immediately those bands are loosened by identification with the death of Jesus, we enter into a relationship with God whereby we can sacrifice our lives to Him. It is of no value to God to give Him your life for death. He wants you to be a “living sacrifice,” (Ro 12:1) to let Him have all your powers that have been saved and sanctified through Jesus. This is the thing that is acceptable to God.

Theodore Epp - ACTION PROVES FAITH Genesis 22:9-12

This was the triumph of both Abraham and Isaac. Faith was now a proven fact. God said, "Now I know that thou fearest God" (Gen. 22:12). Abraham had passed the supreme test, and God's voice broke into the awful silence and said, "Now I know."

Faith is always proved by action. In his epistle James said, "Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar? Seest thou how faith wrought with his works, and by works was faith made perfect?" (James 2:21,22).

Along with these statements, Romans 4:2,3 needs to be taken into consideration: "For if Abraham were justified by works, he hath whereof to glory; but not before God. For what saith the scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness."

It is common to hear people say, "You must have faith." But faith itself is as rare as a true gem. The kind of faith that causes a man to launch out into the deep from the shore of present circumstances is practically missing.

Where is our faith today? Perhaps you ask, What is faith? When taken in its most basic meaning, faith is believing what God says and then acting upon it. If we do not act upon what God says, this is an evidence that we really do not believe.

Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone" (James 2:17).

Building Altars Genesis 12:8 - Wade Horton

INTRODUCTION: God called on Abram to "get thee out of thy country" (v. 1) and go to a land He would show him. Verse 8 says, "He builded an altar unto the Lord, and called upon the name of the Lord." It seems that everywhere Abram went, he built an altar. But there is no record of Lot ever building an altar anywhere.

I. ABRAM BUILT ALTARS.
A. The text says, "Abram pitched his tent, and there he builded an altar unto the Lord." Lot "pitched his tent toward Sodom," and did not prepare a place of worship.
B. The tent was Abram's home; the altar was his place of worship. The tent represents the natural; the altar, the spiritual. If we are faithful in worship, God will take care of our home.
C. Abraham even built an altar on which to slay his son. It was against God's law, for Exodus 20:13 says, "Thou shalt not kill." But God told him to do it. "By faith Abraham, when he was tried, offered up Isaac: and he that had received the promises offered up his only begotten son.... Accounting that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead..." (Hebrews 11:17, 19). How could he do this and live with himself? What would his wife say? What would his friends' reaction be?

He would be despised, a stench in the nostrils of all the people. But he would not question God's order. He would obey!

II. ISAAC BUILT AN ALTAR.

He "pitched his tent there," where he had built the altar.
Afterwards, Abimelech wanted to make a covenant with him.
The reason? "We saw... the Lord was with thee" (Genesis 26:28).
The same day, Isaac's servant said, "We have found water" (v. 32).
So there were two blessings: peace with his enemy, and water for the necessary use.

III. JACOB BUILT AN ALTAR.
A. After Jacob met "the angels of God," had his wrestling match with God, made peace with his brother Esau, and bought a parcel of ground and spread his tent, he "erected there an altar." He called it El-elohe-Israel, which means, "God; the God of Israel." (See Genesis 33:20).
B. Then in Genesis 35:1, God told Jacob to "arise, go up to Beth-el, and dwell there: and make there an altar unto God, that appeared unto thee when thou fleddest from the face of Esau." Jacob said, "I will make there an altar unto God, who answered me in the day of my distress..." (v. 3).
"And they journeyed: and the terror of God was upon the cities... round about them" (v. 5). "He built there an altar and, called... [it] El-Beth-el"—God of the House of God (v. 7).

IV. MOSES BUILT AN ALTAR.
"And Moses builded an altar, and called the name of it Jehovah-nissi"—the Lord my banner (Exodus 17:15). He had just led a great battle against the Amalekites by standing on top of the hill with the rod of God in his hand while Joshua fought Amalek. Moses' arms grew heavy, so Aaron and Hur held them up for him "until the going down of the sun" (v. 12).

V. NOAH BUILT AN ALTAR.
A. "And Noah builded an altar unto the Lord; and took of every clean beast, and every clean fowl, and offered burnt-offerings on the altar. "And the Lord smelled a sweet savour; and the Lord said in his heart, I will not again curse the ground..." (Genesis 8:20, 21).

B. 2 Corinthians 2:15—"We are unto God a sweet savour of Christ, in them that are saved, and in them that perish."

C. When God set up a standard of laws, He included the altar: "An altar of earth thou shalt make unto me, and shall sacrifice thereon thy burnt-offerings and thy peace-offerings, thy sheep, and thine oxen: in all places where I record my name I will come unto thee, and I will bless thee. And if thou wilt make me an altar of stone, thou shalt not build it of hewn stone: for if thou lift up thy tool upon it, thou has polluted it. Neither shalt thou go up by steps unto mine altar, that thy nakedness be not discovered thereon" (Exodus 20:24-26).

VI. JOSHUA AND OTHERS BUILT AN ALTAR.
A. After his victory over Ai and the inhabitants, it is recorded, "Then Joshua built an altar unto the Lord God of Israel in mount Ebal" (Joshua 8:30).
B. Other Old Testament heroes who built an altar include Gideon, Saul, David, Solomon. Elijah repaired and built an altar in 1 Kings 18:30-32. Asa "renewed the altar of the Lord" (2 Chronicles 15:8).

VII. JESUS SPOKE OF THE ALTAR.
A. "Therefore if thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother has ought against thee... first be reconciled to thy brother" (Matthew 5:23, 24).
B. Differences must be settled first before God will meet us at the altar.

VIII. THE ALTAR IS A PLACE OF SACRIFICE.
A. The altar is a place to meet God and offer sacrifices, with the first sacrifice being self.

Romans 12:1, 2—"I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world...."

Galatians 2:20—"I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me...."

Colossians 3:3—"For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God."

Matthew 10:39—"He that loseth his life for my sake shall find it."

2 Corinthians 8:5—"And this they did... but first gave their own selves to the Lord...."

B. At the altar we sacrifice our time.

Acts 6:4—"But we will give ourselves continually to prayer, and to the ministry of the word."

1 Corinthians 7:5—"Ye may give yourselves to fasting and prayer..." (Also see Matthew 17:21.)

C. The altar is a place to offer sacrifices of praise and thanksgiving.

Hebrews 13:15—"Let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks unto His name.

1 Peter 2:5—The Church is to "offer up spiritual sacrifices...."

D. Philippians 4:18—"Having received... the things which were sent from you, an odour of a sweet smell, a sacrifice acceptable, wellpleasing to God."

E. Hebrews 11:4—"By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts: and by it he being dead yet speaketh."

F. "By faith Abraham, when he was tried, offered up Issac: and he that had received the promises offered up his only begotten son" (Hebrews 11:17).

CONCLUSION: Nothing less than a sacrifice of our best, our all, will do.

Genesis 22:9 GIVE OR TAKE?

"Abraham built an altar...and bound Isaac, his son, and laid him on the altar." Genesis 22:9

What more poignant account can you find in all the Old Testament than the dramatic scene described in today’s text? The heart of Abraham must have nearly broken when God said, “Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest,...and offer him there for a burnt offering” (Gen. 22:2). But notice Abraham’s response. He quickly arose and traveled 3 days with Isaac until they reached the place of sacrifice. I wonder what thoughts crowded his mind during that long journey. Did he doubt God’s wisdom? Surely this question must have raced through his mind: If Isaac, who was born as the result of a miracle, is the son of promise, why is God asking me to slay him? The patriarch, Abraham, however, did not retreat, disobey, or turn aside to avoid making this ultimate sacrifice. Instead, he gave his son back to God. His yieldedness was regarded with these words of divine approval: “...now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son from Me” (Gen. 22:12).

Pastor William Sangster went into a hospital room to visit a little girl who was losing her sight. Fear seemed to grip the youngster as with nearly blind eyes she turned her face toward the preacher. “Oh, Dr. Sangster, God is taking away my sight.” God’s servant leaned over the trembling child and said tenderly, “Don’t let Him take it; give it to Him.”

Dear friend, are you struggling with God’s will? Is some cherished plan or possession or person being removed from your life? Don’t let Him take it; give it to Him. - P. R. Van Gorder (Our Daily Bread, Copyright RBC Ministries, Grand Rapids, MI. Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved)

Genesis 22:10 And Abraham stretched out his hand, and took the knife to slay his son.

Isa 53:6-12 Heb 11:17-19 Jas 2:21-23
Genesis 22 Resources - Multiple Sermons and Commentaries

ABRAHAM WILLINGNESS TO
SLAY HIS ONLY SON!

And Abraham stretched out his hand, and took the knife to slay his son - Picture Abraham holding Isaac's throat back to slit it with the knife!

Note that the Greek verb for Hebrew slay (shachat) is sphazo, the same verb describes Lamb in Rev 5:6+! Shachat is the Hebrew word used to slaughter the sacrificial animal. Isaac a clear type of Christ as the "only begotten son" of promise of Abraham and the ram in the thicket a picture of substitutionary atonement (see Lev 16+) Abraham displayed his heart towards God in that he was willing to give his only son. God displays His heart towards us in the same way, by giving His only begotten Son (John 3:16+). When God asked Abraham for the ultimate demonstration of love and commitment, He asked for Abraham’s son. When the Father wanted to show us the ultimate demonstration of His love and commitment to us, He gave us His Son. We can say to the Lord, "Now I know that You love me, seeing You have not withheld Your Son, Your only Son from me." All the while, God still required a sacrifice. God didn’t call off the sacrifice. Instead, He required that there be a substitute provided by God Himself.

THOUGHT- What is your "Isaac" that needs to be laid on the altar? If we are to "worship" we must come to HIm with total, unconditional surrender & obedience. This is the foundation for genuine worship.

Donald Barnhouse - "Often there are believers who wonder how they may know the will of God. We believe that ninety per cent of the knowing of the will of God consists in willingness to do it before it is known."

Spurgeon - So that, in intent and purpose, he had consummated the sacrifice, and therefore we read in Hebrew 11:17, “By faith Abraham, when he was tried, offered up Isaac: and he that had received the promises offered up his only-begotten son.” He had virtually done so in the esteem of God though no trace of a wound could be found upon Isaac. How often God takes the will for the deed with his people! When he finds them willing to make the sacrifice that he demands, he often does not require it at their hands. If you are willing to suffer for Christ’s sake, it may be that you shall not be caused to suffer and if you are willing to be a martyr for the truth, you may be permitted to wear the martyr’s crown even though you are never called to stand at the stake, the scaffold or the block.

Genesis 22:11 But the Angel of the LORD called to him from heaven, and said, "Abraham, Abraham!" And he said, "Here I am."

Angel : Ge 22:12,16 Ge 16:7,9,10 Ge 21:17
Abraham : Ge 22:1 Ex 3:4 1Sa 3:10 Ac 9:4 26:14
Genesis 22 Resources - Multiple Sermons and Commentaries

Related Passages:

Genesis 16:7; 9; 10 Now the angel of the LORD found her by a spring of water in the wilderness, by the spring on the way to Shur. 9 Then the angel of the LORD said to her, “Return to your mistress, and submit yourself to her authority.” 10 Moreover, the angel of the LORD said to her, “I will greatly multiply your descendants so that they will be too many to count.”

THE ANGEL OF JEHOVAH
INTERVENES

But the Angel of the LORD called to him from heaven - This is the first time ‘Yhwh’ is used in this passage, previously God is referred to as ‘Elohim.’ God’s covenant name was last used in Genesis when the promised Isaac was born (Ge 21:1). The God who tested Abraham shows Himself to be the gracious Lord Who provides for the problem & thus keeps His promise (Ex 34:6-7).

And said, "Abraham, Abraham!" And he said, "Here I am." - Note Abraham's repeated response "Here I am!" This is the first of ten name duplications found in the Bible. Seven are spoken by God to man (Ge 22:11 Ge 46:2 Ex 3:4 = Moses; 1Sa 3:10 = Samuel; Lk 10:41 Lk 22:31 = Simon; Acts 9:4, 22:7, 26:14 = Saul). The other three are Mt 7:21,22 Mt 23:37 = Jerusalem; Mk15:34 = Eloi. They all introduce matters of special importance.

Here I am - This is the Hebrew word hinneh normally rendered "Behold."

Spurgeon - The first blessed effect of God’s test of Abraham was that thus he avoided evil....The trial blessed him further in revealing Christ. Do you not think that, on this occasion, Abraham had a clearer view of Christ than ever he had before? Our Saviour says, “Abraham rejoiced to see my day: and he saw it, and was glad.” (Jn 8:56+) When did Abraham see Christ? He may have seen him at other times; but on the top of Moriah, when his own son was on the wood, and his own hand was lifted up, he must have seen the Son of God, and the uplifted hand of God offering the Great Sacrifice. When he took the ram from the thicket, and so saved the life of his son, how clearly he must have understood that blessed doctrine of substitution, which is the very centre of the gospel! I have no other hope than this....And, lastly, Abraham was blessed by the test in communing with the Father (Genesis 22:1 Abraham’s Trial—A Lesson for Believers)

Related Resource:

Angel of the LORD

Genesis 22:12 And He said, "Do not stretch out your hand against the lad, and do nothing to him; for now I know that you fear, God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from Me."

Do not stretch out your hand: 1Sa 15:22 Job 5:19 Jer 19:5 Mic 6:6-8 1Co 10:13 2Co 8:12 Heb 11:19
now : Ge 20:11 26:5 42:18 Ex 20:20 1Sa 12:24,25 15:22 Ne 5:15 Job 28:28 Ps 1:6 2:11 25:12,14 111:10 112:1 147:11 Pr 1:7 Ec 8:12,13 Ec 12:13 Jer 32:40 Mal 4:2 Mt 5:16 10:37,38 16:24 19:29 Ac 9:31 Heb 12:28 Jas 2:18,21,22 Rev 19:5
since you have not withheld your son: Joh 3:16 Ro 5:8 8:32 1Jn 4:9,10
Genesis 22 Resources - Multiple Sermons and Commentaries

TWO NEGATIVE
COMMANDS

And He said, "Do not stretch out your hand against the lad, and do nothing to him; for now I know that you fear (yare) God - Fear (yare) means a reverence and respect toward God, not a shaking fear. God is reverenced when a person respects Him for Who He is and this rightly understood fear of God is seen when we walk in His ways motivated by loving obedience (cf Jn 14:15). Of course, for now I know in know way questions Jehovah's foreknowledge! This is the sort of verse that those who espouse open theism would point to. But their basic premise is wrong (See What is open theism? | GotQuestions.org)!

Utley on fear - This "fear" should issue in worship and obedience. It is a lifestyle relationship, not a set of isolated events, places, creeds, or rules. Obedience flows from respect and love, not fear of reprisal. Disobedience is primarily against love, as well as law! One's relationship with God becomes the priority of life! The "Abraham believed God" (Genesis 15:6) has been demonstrated in life!

The following note is included only for illustration to show how one must be careful even with "evangelical" sources as this is from the NET Bible OT note: "Some theologians call this an anthropomorphism because, they reason, an omniscient God cannot learn new facts since he already knows everything. Others take the language at face value and reason that the God who created human beings with some degree of freedom has placed certain limitations upon himself. (ED: SEE open theism)" I think this latter statement is incongruous with a sovereign God Who is in total control of everything (which He is!). Be a Berean in these treacherous days of drift from the truth.

Spurgeon - The needful test had been applied, and Abraham’s faith had endured the trial. God knows all things by his divine omniscience, but now he knew by this severe test and trial which he had applied, that Abraham really loved him best of all. Notice that the angel says, “Now I know that thou fearest God.” I do not think that the gracious use of godly fear has ever been sufficiently estimated by the most of us; here, the stress is not laid upon the faith, but upon the filial fear of Abraham. That holy awe, that sacred reverence of God is the very essence of our acceptance with him.” The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.” “The Lord taketh pleasure in them that fear him.” This is a very different thing from slavish fear; it is a right sort of fear, the kind of fear that love does not cast out, but which love lives with in happy fellowship.

Lawrence Richards - The old saying is accurate. Talk is cheap. Many who claim to be Christians talk a good faith. But the test of a real faith is obedience to God. Abraham had proved beyond the shadow of a doubt that he did trust God.

Since - What is this explaining? How is it explained? Fear of God is manifest is obedience to His commands, which also equates with faith. To fear God in chapter 22 means to believe his word fully and absolutely, and to be loyal to his directives. Fear God here means to reverence Him as sovereign, trust Him implicitly & obey Him w/o question. It also clearly speaks of one's love for God as greater than our greatest love on earth - see Ge 22:2

THOUGHT - God wanted, not the offering of a human sacrifice, but the surrender of a human will. And this He had from Abraham, the friend of God (Isa 41:8) . Does He have my heart surrender?

You have not withheld your son, your only son (Ge 22:2), from Me - The Hebrew text clearly uses ‘Me'. Paul wrote that God “did not spare [pheidomai] His own Son, but gave [paradidomi delivered] Him up for us all” (Ro 8:32+). A form of the same Greek word is used of Abraham in the Septuagint: “Thou hast not spared [pheidomai] thy beloved son” (Ge 22:12). Who does this description remind you of? God the Father not withholding His only begotten Son!

God always inspects the giver,
before He inspects the gift.

God did not so much want Isaac's life -- what He really desired was Abraham's (and your & my) heart! Compare (1Sa 15:22-23 Ps 51:14-17) God does not delight in the external acts and the ritual of worship. God always inspects the giver, before He inspects the gift. How can one who is unclean offer a clean sacrifice? The constant call of God in His word is for God’s servants give their whole heart to HIm before they observe feasts, fasts, sabbaths or sacrifices. Rote religion can never substitute for purity of heart. Compare (Mt 5:8 Heb 12:14 Jn 14:21)

God tested Abraham in the command to offer Isaac as a sacrifice. God in His omniscience had always known the heart of Abraham, but here He gave Abraham an opportunity to demonstrate his faith. Abraham himself had his faith exercised (Jas 2:21-23+) and developed while learning a new lesson -- that God would provide (Ge 22:8, 13). Almost certainly the event on Mt Moriah is typological (albeit admittedly one must be cautious applying typology). Abraham, advancing up the slope, very possibly where Solomon's temple later stood, felt something (but only a small fraction at most) of the agony of the Heavenly Father sacrificing His only Son, Jesus.

Word Biblical Commentary: To “fear God” or “the Lord” is a very common expression in the OT and means to honor God in worship and in an upright life. Thus Abraham was worried about the behavior of the people of Gerar because he thought they had no fear of God (Ge 20:11), while Joseph tries to reassure his brothers that he will treat them fairly because he fears God (Ge 42:18). Perhaps the best parallel to this passage is Job 1:1, 8; 2:3, in which Job is described as “blameless and upright, one who feared God, and turned away from evil.” Like Abraham, he also underwent a mysterious test of his loyalty to God.

Believer's Study Bible - God tested Abraham in the command to offer Isaac as a sacrifice. God in His omniscience had always known the heart of Abraham, but here He gave Abraham an opportunity to demonstrate his faith. Abraham himself had his faith exercised (James 2:21-23) and developed while learning a new lesson -- that God would provide (vv. 8, 13). Almost certainly the event on Mount Moriah is typological. Abraham, advancing up the slope, very possibly where Solomon's temple later stood, felt something of the agony of the Heavenly Father sacrificing His only Son, Jesus. At the summit of Moriah, the type changes, and Isaac is a type of all lost and condemned men, for whom a substitute ram, typical of Christ, was sacrificed.

Fear (03372) yare is a verb meaning to fear, to be afraid (Ge 3:10-note), to respect, to reverence, to be terrified, to be awesome, to be feared, to make afraid, to frighten. The most common translations are to be afraid, to fear, to fear God. On one had yare conveys the sense of threat to one's life, but on the other it can express the idea of reverence and deep respect (as in Ps 25:14). In the OT fear of the Lord involves a person's total response to the Lord. It is notable that more than 75% of the over 370 uses (see below) of yare are in the context of reverencing the Lord. In English our word reverence (from Latin reverentia "awe, respect," from revereri "to stand in awe of, respect, honor, fear, be afraid of; revere,") refers to a feeling of profound respect for someone or something, and with yare in the OT as noted this is most often to God. The classic use is Pr 1:7-note "The fear (yare) of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge." Notice that a genuine holy fear of the Lord is often equated with believers (e.g. Mal 3:16-note, Mal 4:2-note, Eccl 8:12-13, cf the last worldwide proclamation of the Gospel which says "Fear God..." - Rev 14:6-7-note)

Yare in Genesis - Gen. 3:10; Gen. 15:1; Gen. 18:15; Gen. 19:30; Gen. 20:8; Gen. 21:17; Gen. 22:12; Gen. 26:7; Gen. 26:24; Gen. 28:17; Gen. 31:31; Gen. 32:7; Gen. 32:11; Gen. 35:17; Gen. 42:18; Gen. 42:35; Gen. 43:18; Gen. 43:23; Gen. 46:3; Gen. 50:19; Gen. 50:21;

Norman Geisler - When Critics Ask page 43 - GENESIS 22:12—Was God ignorant of how Abraham would respond?

PROBLEM: This verse implies that God did not know how Abraham would respond to His command, since it was only after Abraham obeyed that God said, “now I know that you fear God.” However, the Bible declares elsewhere that God in “His understanding is infinite” (Ps. 147:5), that He knows “the end from the beginning” (Isa. 46:10), and has foreknown and predestinated us from the foundation of the world (Rom. 8:29–30).

SOLUTION: In His omniscience God knew exactly what Abraham would do, since He knows all things (cf. Ps. 139:2–4; Jer. 17:10; Acts 1:24; Heb. 4:13). However, what God knows by cognition, and what is known by demonstration are different. After Abraham had obeyed God’s command, he demonstrated what God always knew, namely, that he feared God.

Here again the Bible, addressed as it is to human beings, speaks from the human perspective. In like manner, a math teacher might say, “Let’s see if we can find the square root of 49, ” and then, after demonstrating it, declare, “Now we know that it is 9, ” even though she knew from the beginning what the answer was.

Vance Havner - AS GOOD AS DONE - BORROW All the Days

By faith Abraham, when he was tried, offered up Isaac.... Hebrews 11:17.

Abraham did not actually slay Isaac upon the altar, but God knew his heart and took the will for the deed. It was as good as done. God sometimes asks of us a sacrifice which He may not let us actually make even as the Lord stayed Abraham's hand. The angel said, "Now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son from me" (Genesis 22:12). What God looks for is the intent of the heart and, when in our hearts we have already made the sacrifice required, God may sometimes not ask us to actually finish what we meant to do. Abraham put God first, not Isaac, and we read,

"In Isaac shall thy seed be called" (Genesis 21:12). Our testimony is perpetuated by the Isaac we offer at God's command, whether consummated actually or intentionally.

Genesis 22:13 Then Abraham raised his eyes and looked, and behold, behind him a ram caught in the thicket by his horns; and Abraham went and took the ram, and offered him up for a burnt offering in the place of his son.

behind : Ge 22:8 Ps 40:6-8 89:19,20 Isa 30:21 1Co 10:13 2Co 1:9,10
in the : 1Co 5:7,8 1Pe 1:19,20
Genesis 22 Resources - Multiple Sermons and Commentaries

GOD PROVIDES A
SUBSTITUTE SACRIFICE

Then Abraham raised his eyes and looked - Figure of speech Pleonasm; or, Redundancy = when more words are used than the grammar requires, for the sake of emphasis.

Spurgeon - Here is another type (see warning on Typology) of our Saviour’s great sacrifice on Calvary,-the ram offered in the place of Jesus. How often do you and I have our great Substitute very near to us, yet we do not see him because we do not lift up our eyes and look. “Abraham lifted up his eyes, and looked, and behold behind him a ram caught in a thicket by his horns.” So, if you lift up your eyes, and look the right, ay, you will see the great sacrifice close by you held fast for you, even as this ram was caught to die instead of Isaac. Oh, that you may have grace to turn your head in the right direction, and look to Christ and live!

and behold, behind him a ram caught in the thicket by his horns - Actually the Hebrew says “another ram.” Ancient and modern versions have missed the point when they render “a ram” or “a ram behind him.” Isaac was the first ram. Here is the second one. After He tests us, God reveals Himself to us in a new way (Jn 14:21-23). The name Jehovah-Yireh means “the Lord will see to it” or “the Lord will provide.” The ram was God’s provision for Isaac, and Jesus Christ is God’s provision for the whole world. In this experience, Abraham saw Christ by faith and rejoiced (Jn 8:56).

and Abraham went and took the ram, and offered him up for a burnt offering in the place of his son - The Lxx uses anaphero the same word in Ge 8:20, Isa 53:12, Heb 9:28, 1Pe 2:24! The OLD clearly points to the NEW, and the NEW clearly reveals the meaning of the OLD -- the Lamb of God slain before the foundation of the world (Rev 13:8, Rev 5:6)

This is the first mention of a substitutionary atonement in the Bible.

Note the phrase in the place of (tachath/tahat = means "instead of") which is a clear foreshadowing of the critically important doctrine of substitution, specifically the substitutionary sacrifice of the Lamb of God (Jn 1:29+), His life in our place! Hallelujah! Thank You Jesus! Amen!

Play Michael Card's great song (he wrote it and sang it) El Shaddai. While we do not encounter that specific Name in this section, Michael Card does have a line in the beautiful song that speaks of God's provision to Abraham of a substitutionary sacrifice (see lines in bold)....

Through Your love and through the ram
You saved the son of Abraham
Through the power of Your hand
Turned the sea into dry land
To the outcast on her knees
You were the God who really sees
And by Your might
You set Your children free

QUESTION - What is the doctrine of substitution?

ANSWER - Substitution is one of the major themes of the Bible. God instituted the principle of substitution in the Garden of Eden when Adam and Eve sinned. By killing an animal to cover their nakedness (Genesis 3:21), God began to paint a picture of what it would take to bring humanity back into proper relationship with Him. He continued that theme with His chosen people Israel. By giving them the Law, God showed them His holiness and demonstrated their inability to achieve that holiness. God then granted them a substitute to pay the price for their sin, in the form of blood sacrifices (Exodus 29:41-42; 34:19; Numbers 29:2). By sacrificing an innocent animal according to God’s specifications, human beings could have their sins forgiven and enter the presence of God. The animal died in the sinner’s place, thereby allowing the sinner to go free, vindicated. Leviticus 16 tells of the scapegoat, upon which the elders of Israel would place their hands, symbolically transferring the sins of the people onto the goat. The goat was then set free into the wilderness, bearing the sins of the people far away.

The theme of substitution is found throughout the Old Testament as a precursor to the coming of Jesus Christ. The Passover feast conspicuously featured a substitute. In Exodus 12, God gives instruction to His people to prepare for the coming destroyer who would strike down the firstborn male of every family as a judgment upon Egypt. The only way to escape this plague was to take a perfect male lamb, kill it, and put the blood on the lintels and doorposts of their houses. God told them, “The blood will be a sign for you on the houses where you are; and when I see the blood, I will pass over you. No destructive plague will touch you when I strike Egypt” (Exodus 12:13). That Passover lamb was a substitute for every male firstborn who would accept it.

God carried that theme of substitution into the New Testament with the coming of Jesus. He had set the stage so that mankind would understand exactly what Jesus came to do. 2 Corinthians 5:21 says, “He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” God’s perfect Lamb took the sins of the world upon Himself, laid down His life, and died in our place (John 1:29; 1 Peter 3:18). The only acceptable sacrifice for sin is a perfect offering. If we died for our own sins, it would not be sufficient payment. We are not perfect. Only Jesus, the perfect God-Man, fits the requirement, and He laid down His life for ours willingly (John 10:18). There was nothing we could do to save ourselves, so God did it for us. The Messianic prophecy of Isaiah 53 makes the substitutionary death of Christ abundantly clear: “He was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed” (verse 5).

Jesus’ substitution for us was perfect, unlike the animal sacrifices of the Old Testament. Hebrews 10:4 says, "For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins." Someone might say, "You mean, all those sacrifices the Jews made were for nothing?" The writer is clarifying that animal blood itself had no value. It was what that blood symbolized that made the difference. The value of the ancient sacrifices was that the animal was a substitute for a human being’s sin and that it pointed forward to the ultimate sacrifice of Christ (Hebrews 9:22).

Some people make the mistake of thinking that, since Jesus died for the sins of the world, everyone will go to heaven one day. This is incorrect. The substitutionary death of Christ must be personally applied to each heart, in much the same way that the blood of the Passover had to be personally applied to the door (John 1:12; 3:16-18; Acts 2:38). Before we can become “the righteousness of God in Him,” we must exchange our old sin nature for His holy one. God offers the Substitute, but we must receive that Substitute personally by accepting Christ in faith (Ephesians 2:8-9).GotQuestions.org

Related Resource:

What is the doctrine of penal substitution? | GotQuestions.org

Genesis 22:14 And Abraham called the name of that place The LORD Will Provide, as it is said to this day, "In the mount of the LORD it will be provided."

alled : Ge 16:13,14 28:19 32:30 Ex 17:15 Jud 6:24 1Sa 7:12 Eze 48:35
Jehovah jireh : i.e. The Lord will see, or provide, Ge 22:8,13 Ex 17:15
In : De 32:36 Ps 22:4,5 Da 3:17-25 Mic 4:10 Joh 1:14 2Co 1:8-10 1Ti 3:16
it shall be seen : "In the mount of the Lord it shall be provided." The meaning is, that God, in the greatest difficulties, when all human assistance is vain, will make a suitable provision for the deliverance of those who trust in Him.
Genesis 22 Resources - Multiple Sermons and Commentaries
See chart on Jehovah Jireh: The LORD Will Provide:

ABRAHAM SEES GOD
SEEING HIM

And Abraham called the name of that place What place? Mt Moriah, called Jehovah Jireh because in that mountain, the sacrifice will be provided by Jehovah. I personally believe that this can be none other than a clear reference to Yeshua ha Maschiach, the Angel of the LORD. Unbelievably awesome!

The LORD Will Provide - Jehovah Jireh, literally "Jehovah sees" "The-Lord-Will-Provide" is a play on the verb translated "provided." The verb means basically "see," as the English word "provide" is from the Latin, meaning "see beforehand." God sees our need before it arises and makes provision for it.

Abraham calls the name of this place “The Lord will provide.” The name he chooses does not draw attention to himself but to his Lord. He does not name the place “Abraham believed.” He focuses on God’s mercy and faithfulness, not on his own obedience. Even before he knew how this trial would end, Abraham confidently believed God, trusting him to provide what was needed (Ro 4:20). Abraham didn’t name the place in reference to what he went through. He didn’t name it "trial hill" or "agony hill" or "obedience hill." Instead, he named the hill in reference to what God had done; he named it "provision hill." Abraham knew God would provide the ultimate sacrifice for salvation on that hill someday. That’s why he named it what he did.

The name by which God revealed himself to Abraham, "Jehovah-jireh," may be translated in three ways: "The Lord will See," or "The Lord will Provide," or "The Lord shall be Seen." However we translate this name of our God, Jehovah-jireh expresses the idea of God seeing and being seen. For God, to see is to provide. We sometimes say, "I will see to it," when we mean, "I will take care of it," or "I will provide for it."

As it is said to this day, "In the mount of the LORD (Jehovah) it will be provided." Most conservative sources feel that 2000 years later, Mt Moriah, if not identical, was at least in the same mountain range north of Jerusalem, on which stood a lonely hill named Golgotha ["Skull"] where God the Father offered up His Son, His only begotten Son Whom He loved, as a substitute for all who would one day by faith enter into the Abrahamic Covenant and by extension into the New Covenant in the precious blood as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ, our "Jehovah Jireh"

THOUGHT - Do not miss the practical application of this to your own heart. If you believe God, if you follow the Lord's bidding, he will see to it that you will not be ashamed or confounded (Ro 10:11). If you come into great need by following his command, the Lord will see to it that you lose nothing by your obedience. If difficulties rise like mountains before you, so that your way seems to be completely blocked up, your God will see to it that the way is cleared. Walk in the way of obedience and, as you walk, every obstacle will fall before you. "Whatsoever he says to you, do it" (Jn 2:5). Confer not with flesh and blood, and the Lord will make a way for you to do his will (Ga 1:16). The Lord will see us through the way of faith and obedience, if we are willing to walk in it. He will see to our way, if we dare to walk in his way (Pr3:5-6).

Spurgeon - “ABRAHAM called the name of that place Jehovah-jireh,” or “Jehovah will see it,” or “Jehovah will provide,” or “Jehovah will be seen.” We are offered a variety of interpretations, but the exact idea is that of seeing and being seen. For God to see is to provide. Our own word “provide,” is only Latin for “to see.”.... true faith is always modest; from her gate boasting is excluded by law. Abraham says nothing about himself at all, but the praise is unto God, who sees and is seen; the record is, “Jehovah will provide.” I like that self-ignoring; I pray that we, also, may have so much strength of faith that self may go to the wall. Little faith is very apt to grow proud when, to its own astonishment, it has wrought righteousness; but strong faith so completely empties itself, and so entirely depends upon the all-sufficiency of God, that when anything is achieved it remembers nothing but the divine hand, and lays the crown where it ought to be laid. Growing in experimental acquaintance with the God of the covenant, faith has a new song and a new name for her God, and takes care that his wonderful works shall be remembered. (Jehovah-Jireh)

Isaac’s picture of Jesus becomes even clearer:

Both were loved by their father.
Both offered themselves willingly.
Both carried wood up the hill of their sacrifice.
Both were sacrificed on the same hill.
Both were delivered from death on the third day.

Related Resources:

See article below by Herbert Lockyer - JEHOVAH-JIREH—The Lord Will Provide
See article below on Jehovah Jireh by Nathan Stone
See sermon below Jehovah Jireh by Alexander Maclaren
See another sermon below on Jehovah Jireh by Alexander Maclaren
See article below on Jehovah-Jireh - Robert Neighbour

QUESTION - What does it mean that God is Jehovah-Jireh? WATCH VIDEO

ANSWER - “Jehovah-Jireh” is one of the many different names of God found in the Old Testament. “Jehovah-Jireh” is the KJV’s translation of YHWH-Yireh and means “The LORD Will Provide” (Genesis 22:14). It is the name memorialized by Abraham when God provided the ram to be sacrificed in place of Isaac.

The story begins with a strange command from God to Abraham, instructing him to offer his “son of promise,” Isaac, as a burnt offering. Early the next morning, Abraham packs wood and a knife, and he and Isaac travel to Moriah, the place God had specified. As they near the site, Isaac questions Abraham concerning the intended offering: “Where is the lamb?” With great faith and foresight, Abraham responds, “God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son” (Genesis 22:1-8). The New Testament tells us that Abraham believed God would raise Isaac from the dead (Hebrews 11:19).

Upon reaching the place God had chosen, Abraham demonstrates his faith and obedience by building an altar, binding Isaac, and placing him on the wood. Before Abraham can finish the offering, the Angel of the Lord calls to him from heaven, and Isaac’s life is spared. Then, “Abraham looked up and there in a thicket he saw a ram caught by its horns. He went over and took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering instead of his son” (Genesis 22:13). Abraham names the place “Jehovah-Jireh” because of God’s gracious provision of a substitute for Isaac. Immediately afterwards, God reconfirms His covenant with Abraham (v 17-18). Centuries later, King Solomon would build the temple in the same location (2 Chronicles 3:1).

The account of Abraham on Mt. Moriah thus becomes more than a dramatic illustration of faith and obedience. It is a presentation of the Lord’s eternal grace, continual provision, and all-encompassing wisdom. Jehovah-Jireh is not “The LORD Did Provide,” but “The LORD Will Provide.” In other words, the name does not simply memorialize a past event; it anticipates a future action.

Likewise, the statement “on the mountain of the LORD it will be provided” (verse 14) refers to more than Mt. Moriah—it also refers to a hill called Calvary, where God “did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all” (Romans 8:32). Abraham’s faith-filled statement that “God himself will provide the lamb” is a companion to John the Baptist’s exclamation, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29).

Jehovah-Jireh provided a sacrifice to save Isaac, and that action was a foreshadowing of the provision of His Son for the salvation of the world.GotQuestions.org

ILLUSTRATION - The founder of the China Inland Mission (now the Overseas Missionary Fellowship), J. Hudson Taylor, used to hang in his home a plaque with two Hebrew words on it: “Ebenezer” and “Jehovah-jireh.” They mean: “Hitherto hath the Lord helped us” (1 Sam. 7:12) and “The Lord will see to it.” Whether he looked back or ahead, Hudson Taylor knew the Lord was at work, and he had nothing to fear.

Jehovah-Jireh - In my early years as a pastor, I served in small churches where finances were often tight. Sometimes our family finances felt the weight of that pressure. On one occasion, we were down to the last of our food and payday was still several days away. While my wife and I fretted about how we would feed our kids in the next few days, our doorbell rang. When we opened the door, we discovered two bags of groceries. We had not told anyone of our plight, yet our provider God had led someone to meet that need.

This reminds me of the Old Testament account of Abraham when he was asked to sacrifice his son Isaac. At just the right moment, God provided a ram instead. Abraham called this place Jehovah-Jireh, “The-Lord-Will-Provide” (Ge. 22:14). He is the One who still cares deeply for His children.

Jesus said, “Your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him” (Matt. 6:8). He is constantly caring for and seeking the best for us—a reminder that in times of hardship, need, and fear, we have Someone who cares. Peter wrote that we can cast all our cares upon Jesus, because He cares for us (1Peter 5:7). We can turn to Him in our time of need. — Bill Crowder (Our Daily Bread, Copyright RBC Ministries, Grand Rapids, MI. Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved)

I know not by what methods rare
The Lord provides for me;
I only know that all my needs
He meets so graciously.
—Adams

What God promises, God will provide.

GOD'S GUIDANCE, PROVISION A number of times in the Old Testament, the name "Jehovah" is joined to other names that reveal some of God's distinct characteristics. Abraham said that the place where God supplied a ram should be called "The-Lord-Will-Provide." This name, which is sometimes rendered "Jehovah-Jireh," indicates that God sees beforehand what our needs are, and He provides for them.

A young newlywed planned to entertain some friends. Lacking some necessary items, she went to a neighbor to borrow them. After giving the items to her, the friend asked, "Is that all you want?" "Yes, I think so," the young bride answered. Then her neighbor, an experienced hostess, handed her some other items, explaining that she would need them as well. Later the young woman remarked, "I was so thankful I went to someone who knew exactly what I needed and was willing to supply it."

How well that describes God. Through the sacrifice of His Son, He has given us salvation. But that's not all. He also provides power through the Holy Spirit so that we can do His will. "He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?" (Rom. 8:32). Jehovah-Jireh. The Lord will provide. —P.R.V. (Our Daily Bread, Copyright RBC Ministries, Grand Rapids, MI. Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved)

Where God guides, He provides.

The Lord Will Provide

So Abraham called that place The Lord Will Provide. Genesis 22:14

Today's Scripture & Insight: Genesis 22:2–14

My anxiety increased throughout the summer between my undergraduate and graduate programs. I love to have everything planned out, and the idea of going out of state and entering graduate school without a job made me uncomfortable. However, a few days before I left my summer job, I was asked to continue working for the company remotely. I accepted and had peace that God was taking care of me.

God provided, but it was in His timing, not mine. Abraham went through a far more difficult situation with his son Isaac. He was asked to take his son and sacrifice him on a mountain (Genesis 22:1–2). Without hesitation, Abraham obeyed and took Isaac there. This three-day journey gave Abraham plenty of time to change his mind, but he didn’t (vv. 3–4).

When Isaac questioned his father, Abraham replied, “God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering” (v. 8). I wonder if Abraham’s anxiety grew with each knot he tied as he bound Isaac to the altar and with every inch he raised his knife (vv. 9–10). What a relief it must have been when the angel stopped him! (vv. 11–12). God did indeed provide a sacrifice, a ram, caught in the thicket (v. 13). God tested Abraham’s faith, and he proved to be faithful. And at the right time, to the very second, God provided (v. 14). By: Julie Schwab

What answer to prayer has been long in coming? When have you seen God provide at just the right moment?

Thank You, Lord, for Your provision. Help me to trust that You will provide, even when it seems I’ve been waiting for so long.

(Reprinted by permission from Our Daily Bread Ministries. Please do not repost the full devotional without their permission.)

GENESIS 22:8 JEHOVAH JIREH

And Abraham said, "My son, God will provide for Himself the lamb for a burnt offering" (Genesis 22:8).

Imagine Abraham's feelings when the Lord told him to offer Isaac as a sacrifice. Think of what went through his mind when they climbed Mount Moriah and Isaac asked, "Where is the lamb?" Yet Abraham had faith that God would provide, and he assured Isaac of his confidence. He was right. God pointed out a ram in the thicket. As a result, Abraham called the place Jehovah-Jireh, which means "the Lord will provide."

In the centuries that have followed, God has continued to demonstrate that He provides for His own. Dr. Robert Schindler and his wife, Marian, founded a mission hospital associated with radio station ELWA in Monrovia, Liberia. In their book Mission Possible they wrote,

"For us, it was a continued exercise of faith that we would have the right drugs and supplies at the right time. We recall how much we counted on our X-ray machine, something we take for granted [at home]. We even had the opportunity to get an extra one when a friend of ours, a doctor with the U.S. Embassy, asked if we could use a portable X-ray machine. . . . But then as the months dragged out, we knew it must be lost at sea. Then one day our big X-ray machine stopped working. We found it was a major problem which would take several months to fix. . . . But that very afternoon, the ELWA truck pulled up to the hospital with a huge crate from port. You guessed it—it was the portable X-ray machine! We plugged it in, and it worked! We didn't lose a day for X-rays."

God's provisions are always greater than our problems.

Bread: Jehovah-jireh - Elmer Towns

“I shall not want” (Ps. 23:1). Life's basic needs are provided by Jehovah-jireh, “The LORD Shall Provide.”

When Jesus taught His disciples to pray, “Give us this day our daily bread” (Matt. 6:11), He was including all of our daily needs. “Bread” meant food, water, clothing, a roof over our heads, strength for the journey and anything else needed to keep body and soul together. These provisions are from Jehovah-jireh.

God also provides what we need to offer Him in the way of sacrifice. In this context we can note that the phrase Jehovah-jireh is one of the few names for God that is given by man, rather than revealed by God Himself. Abraham had been commanded to take his son Isaac to Mount Moriah and to sacrifice him to the LORD (see Gen. 22). In obedience, and as an act of faith, Abraham took his son to the point of death, even lifting the knife for the ultimate sacrifice. But Jehovah-jireh stopped him and provided “a ram caught in a thicket by his horns” (v. 13). Abraham took the ram and offered it to God. Then “Abraham called the name of the place, The LORD-Will-Provide [Jehovah-jireh]; as it is said to this day, 'In the Mount of The LORD it shall be provided'“ (v. 14, NKIV).

When young Isaac had asked about the lamb for the sacrifice, his father Abraham had promised, “My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt-offering” (v. 8). Some translators place the comma differently and translate this verse, “God will provide himself, [as] a lamb for a burnt-offering.” Although the Hebrew literally says “God will provide for Himself the lamb for a burnt-offering,” the fact is true that God did give Himself through His Son Jesus Christ as the offering for the sins of the world (see Zech. 12:10; John 1:29; 3:16). In this sense, Jesus Christ was the ultimate provision of Jehovah-jireh, the God who supplies both our physical and our spiritual needs. (Borrow My Father's names : the Old Testament names of God and how they can help you know him more intimately)

Jehovah Jireh - Kenneth Hemphill (Borrow The Names of God - page 200 - highly recommended).

In Genesis 22 , we come to the final step, the last hurdle, in the faith-building pilgrimage of Abraham. The child of promise, Isaac, has been provided by El Shaddai. God calls Abraham to take his son Isaac to Mt. Moriah and offer him as a sacrifice. The drama of the story is unsurpassed in Scripture. Abraham and Isaac leave the servants and walk alone to the mountain of sacrifice. Isaac bears the wood that will kindle the fire to consume the sacrifice. When he inquires about the lamb for the sacrifice, Abraham's faith response is that the Lord Himself will provide the lamb for the sacrifice.

The scene is set as the lad is bound and laid upon the wood and Abraham is poised with knife in hand, prepared to sacrifice his only beloved son. The angel of the Lord stops the proceedings and Abraham replaces his son with a ram caught in a nearby thicket. God tells Abraham that He is Jehovah Jireh, the Lord will provide.

We can know that God is our Provider.
He can supply every need that we encounter.
We can also be assured that we can trust God with our most treasured possession.
When we lay that which we value most on the altar of sacrifice, God will raise it up.
What in your life are you afraid to release?
Are you struggling with finances and afraid to tithe?
Are you clinging to your own sense of security and anxious about retirement?
You can be assured that Jehovah Jireh can provide

James Smith - JEHOVAH-JIREH. Genesis 22:14.

"The Lord will Provide." This was Abraham's testimony to the goodness of God in providing a ram to take the place of his son on the altar. It will also be our testimony when we have accepted as our Sacrifice Him who was caught in the thicket of our sins and led to the altar of the Cross. Jehovah-Jireh—

I. He Provides the Right Thing. "A ram." A Substitute. One to take the place, and die in the stead of him who was devoted to death. Because of sin we were under condemnation, under the curse, devoted to death. God knew what was needed. Only He could provide the needed sacrifice. Neither education nor civilisation could avail, but regeneration through the blood of God's appointed Lamb. "He loved me, and gave Himself for me" (Gal. 2:20). "Christ our Passover sacrificed for us" (1 Cor 5:7).

II. He Provides at the Right Place. "On the mount of the Lord." The place as well as the offering was part of the Divine arrangement. The Cross was as much the appointment of God as the coming of His Son. It is very significant that on the same mount, perhaps on the very spot, where the ram was caught in the thicket that was to die in the stead of Isaac, Jesus the Lamb of God was caught among the cords and nails of the Cross and offered as a sacrifice for our sins. Mount Calvary was the mount of the Lord. That same mount was the place of communion to Abraham. By the blood of His Cross we are made nigh unto God.

III. He Provides at the Right Time. Just when the knife was uplifted and the death stroke about to fall, the voice was heard and the substitute seen. God's clock is never one moment behind. Faith will be tried, and may be tested to the utmost limit. The point of despair may be just reached, but He will not try above what we are able to bear, and will with the temptation make a way of escape. Man's extremity is God's opportunity. We have to get to an end of ourselves to see the beginnings of grace. When we get to "Lord save me, I perish" (Matt. 8:25), then immediately His saving hand is stretched forth. Abraham's faithfulness led to thankfulness. It is always so. Believe and thou shalt see. "The Lord will provide." We, too, may say it—

1. CONFIDENTLY. For having given us His Son, how will He not "with Him freely give us all things" (Rom. 8:32). He is "able to do exceeding abundantly (Eph. 3:20).
2. EXPECTANTLY. "He is faithful who hath promised" (Heb. 11:11). He will provide wisdom for the meek, strength for the weak, weapons for the warfare, comfort for the time of sorrow, grace for every need here, and a place in the mansion above.
3. CONTINUALLY. Hath He not said, "I will never leave thee nor forsake thee," so that we may boldly say, "The Lord is my helper, I will not fear." In life, in death, and in eternity, Jehovah-Jireh.

James Smith - PROVISION FOR NEED “And Abraham called that place Jehovah Jireh” (Gen. 22:14).

The name of Jehovah Jireh is a monument of a great discovery and a great deliverance. It means either the Lord will see, or the Lord will provide. In common speech these two words “see” and “provide” are distinct in their meaning. Yet the moment we deal with God the two words are found to be one and the same, for His pre-vision means His pro-vision.
“In the mount of the Lord it (A.V.)—He (R.V.)—shall be seen.” Surely here we have a hint and explanation of John 8:56. God gave Abraham insight into the mystery of the Cross.
We can say that the Lord has now provided for man’s great needs.

I. For Man’s Insensibility and Slumber, He has provided in the Person of the Holy Spirit an Awakener, One to rouse us from the slumber of sin.

II. For Man’s Sin, the precious Blood of Christ. It is not left to the sinner to provide a sacrifice (Gen. 22:8), for God Himself has done this. The Lord Jesus died in our stead, as the ram died in the stead of Isaac. Dr. Dinsdale T. Young has so splendidly declared: “Every day I live, yes, every day, this possesses me more and more completely in mind and heart—that that death was a substitution. I know it is an old-fashioned word, a word that is spurned in some quarters. I confess that it satisfies my guilty conscience and comforts my troubled heart, and gives me a joy in my religion incomparable. When I look up and say, He took my place, I cannot understand it. But He did it. He bore my sins in His own body on the Tree.”
III. For Man’s Ignorance, His Word, the Bible. Read Psalm 119:98 and 99. We must be people of the one Book, whatever other books we may possess and read. We must give the Bible its chief place in our lives.

IV. For Man’s Weakness, the Holy Spirit. How weak is man. But the Holy Spirit communicates strength, through Regeneration and Renewal.

V. For Man’s Emptiness, the Divine Fulness. There is fulness of blessing for all who believe. It pleased the Father that in His beloved Son all fulness should dwell, and when He comes and fills my heart and life with His holy and blessed presence I have the fulness.

VI. For Man’s Loneliness, the Divine Companionship. He has promised never to leave us.

What ample and blessed provision He has made for all our needs.

He Will Provide - Pastor Roy S. Nicholson told of a time when he had no money to buy food. Determined to trust God for his needs and not tell anyone, he and his wife presented their case to the Lord in prayer.

The next morning he set the table for breakfast, confident that the Lord would provide something to eat. Just then a boy from their Sunday school came to the house with a sack of flour and some milk. Tears welled up in the pastor’s eyes. No sooner had he left than “Granny” Turner appeared at the door carrying a large serving tray loaded with Virginia ham, eggs, grits and gravy, hot biscuits, butter, jelly, and coffee. Nicholson was filled with praise to God.

Abraham faced an even more serious test of faith. God had told him he would become the father of a great nation, but then God asked him to sacrifice his promised son Isaac on the altar. How could Abraham do such a thing? Many years of trusting God for his long-awaited son had taught him that his confidence in God would be fully rewarded. “God will provide for Himself the lamb,” he told Isaac.

Faith like that is not born in a day. It’s the result of years of seeing God’s faithfulness to His promises, and it grows as we daily choose to believe what He says. — Dennis J. De Haan (Our Daily Bread, Copyright RBC Ministries, Grand Rapids, MI. Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved)

Prayer - Lord, forgive us for not trusting You more. When we face times of testing, may we follow Abraham’s example and believe You will provide exactly what we need.

Man’s poverty is never a strain on God’s provision.

F B Meyer - Genesis 22:14

Jehovah Jireh; In the Mount of the Lord it shall be provided. (R.V.)

Abraham knew it would be. Probably he never told Sarah what God had asked of him till he and the lad were safely back in the tent. What need to trouble her? Her weak faith could not have stood the ordeal. It was with an unfaltering tone that the patriarch told his young men that they two would presently return. Even though he should actually take Isaac’s life, he was sure that he would receive him again from the altar in health. It was only at the very last moment that God indicated the ram as the sufficient substitute. So God’s deliverances always come; they are provided in the mount of trial and sacrifice.

When the foe seems secure of victory. — So it was with Israel. Pharaoh, with his hosts, counted on an easy victory, the precipices around, the sea in front. To the eye of sense it seemed impossible to escape: all hope died. It was just then that the Almighty cleft a path through the mighty deep.

“In the fourth hour of the night.” — Strength was well-nigh exhausted in long battling with the waves. For hours the disciples with difficulty had kept themselves afloat. It seemed as if they must give in through physical collapse. It was then that the form of Jesus drew nigh unto the ship.

On the night before execution. — Thus Peter lies sleeping whilst the Church is gathered in prayer. Tomorrow he will be a corpse. But the angel comes then to open the prison doors.

So you may have come to an end of your own strength, and wisdom, and energy. The altar, wood, and fire are ready, the knife upraised, your Isaac on the point to die: but even now God will provide. Trust Him to indicate the way of escape.

Loins Girded - It Shall Be Seen Gen. 22:14

When we read the history of Abraham completely, we repeatedly come across this short, but significant remark: “And there he built an altar unto the Lord.”Wherever he came upon his pilgrim journeys, his first work was to built an altar and in this manner his whole career was marked by erected altars as milestones. He always left a holy trace upon his way. Blessed is the man whose course through life still speaks to later generations of prayer and worship and the fear of God.

The most holy altar that was built by the father of all the faithful was on Mount Moriah. There his faith was tested in the severest measure, because the Lord demanded his only begotten son from him, after attaching such glorious promises of the Messiah to him. Instead of doubting the Lord’s promises in the least, Abraham held fast to the belief that the Almighty One would fulfil them, even if He had to bring back from the dead his son Isaac, whom he loved, so that he really did receive him back in a kind of resurrection. If anyone would ask him what made him fit for such a hard sacrifice, Abraham himself answered him. In the depth of his soul there was a thought that immediately rose to the surface when Isaac asked him: “Where is the lamb?”because he answered him instantly: “God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering.”And after everything was finished, he transfixed the supporting thought of a providing and caring God in the name of that place: “Moriah,—the LORD shall provide!”

The LORD shall provide! That be our motto upon all the paths we are led along, not least of all upon the steep path that leads us to the mount of sacrifice. A miraculous power radiates from it. When we walk in darkness, frightened by the fears of life, or hurt by anxious cares,—the LORD shall provide! When we are faced with that which we do not understand, if we cannot explain God’s ways like Abraham, and when we walk in riddles,—then we still bow obediently under God’s will, supporting us with the thought: The LORD shall provide! When we stand at the deathbed of one of our loved ones and father takes along our daily bread into the grave,—let us put the hand upon our mouth and point upward with the words: the LORD shall provide!

We can be sure that He shall do it. He provided for our greatest need when Jesus Christ, Isaac’s Son, climbed upon the mount of sacrifice, bearing the tree to pay for our guilt. If the Lord did not withhold from us that Only One, would He not give us with Him all other things? The LORD shall provide!

The Provider - Lehman Strauss (from In God's Waiting Room Learning Through Suffering - Recommended Read)

The first important truth of Philippians 4:19 is that God is the Provider. The apostle said that the Lord is "my God." When Paul received the Lord Jesus on his way to Damascus, he was brought immediately into a personal relationship with God. I fear that the belief many persons have in the God of the Bible is merely intellectual and academic, not experiential. They believe God is omnipotent--that He has an ability that knows no inability--but they know nothing of a personal, intimate relationship with Him. Sometimes people inside our churches, as well as those outside, know about God, but they do not know Him. Paul knew Him as the provider of all his needs.

In the Old Testament the Hebrew name for God the provider is Jehovah-jireh. It appears in Genesis 22 when Abraham, in obedience to God's command, took his son Isaac to Mount Moriah to offer him for a burnt offering. After father and son had arrived at the designated place and prepared the altar, Isaac said to his father, "Behold the fire and the wood: but where is the lamb for a burnt offering? And Abraham said, My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering" (Genesis 22:7-8). And that is precisely what God did: He provided a substitute to die in the place of Isaac (v. 13). "And Abraham called the name of that place Jehovah-jireh" (v. 14), meaning "the Lord will provide." But keep this fact in mind: Abraham did not experience God's miraculous provision without first giving obedience to God's command. Abraham was not presumptuous; rather, he displayed implicit faith and obedience. He became acquainted with Jehovah-jireh.

Do you know who Jehovah-jireh is? He is the God who provides. He is the God of the Bible, and the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is through personal faith in Christ that we gain that experiential knowledge of God. Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me" (John 14:6). Can you say with the apostle that Jehovah-jireh is "my God"?

Index of Strauss' Book In God's Waiting Room Learning Through Suffering

Joe Stowell…In the Old Testament, one of God’s names is Jehovah Jireh—our provider—and He always lives up to His name. He stands ready to provide abundant grace so that we can bear up until He has finished His work in the trial (2Co 12:7, 8, 9, 10+). He gives us a peace that passes understanding as we trust and rely on Him with a grateful heart (Php 4:6+; Phip 4:7+). He gives wisdom to see our tough times from His point of view (Jas 1:5+). He gives us the assurance that He will stick it out with us and not leave or forsake us, so that we can confidently say, “The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What man can do to me?” (He 13:6-+).

So, chin up! Our troubles and trials have not escaped the notice of the One who comes alongside to help when it seems like the load is too much to bear.

The One who knows your load limit promises to limit your load!

C H Spurgeon - Jehovah-jireh - This is a summary - Click here for full sermon

Observe, as you read this chapter, that this was not the first time that Abraham had thus spoken. When he called the name of the place Jehovah-jireh he had seen it to be true--the ram caught in the thicket had been provided as a substitute for Isaac: Jehovah had provided.

But he had before declared that truth when as yet he knew nothing of the Divine action, when he could not even guess how his extraordinary trial would end. His son Isaac had said to him, “Behold the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt-offering?” and the afflicted father had bravely answered, “My son, God will provide.” In due time God did provide, and then Abraham honoured Him by saying the same words, only instead of the ordinary name for God he used the special covenant title--Jehovah. That is the only alteration; otherwise in the same terms he repeats the assurance that “the Lord will provide.” That first utterance was most remarkable; it was simple enough, but how prophetic!

1. It teaches us this truth, that the confident speech of a believer is akin to the language of a prophet. The man who accepts the promise of God unstaggeringly, and is sure that it is true, will speak like the seers of old; he will see that God sees, and will declare the fact, and the holy inference which comes of it. The believer’s child-like assurance will anticipate the future, and his plain statement--“God will provide “--will turn out to be literal truth.

2. True faith not only speaks the language of prophecy, but, when she sees her prophecy fulfilled, faith is always delighted to raise memorials to the God of truth.

3. Note yet further, that when faith has uttered a prophecy, and has set up her memorial, the record of mercy received becomes itself a new prophecy. Abraham says, “Jehovah-jireh--God will see to it”; what was he doing but prophesying a second time for future ages?

I. When Abraham said “ Jehovah will provide,” he meant us, first of all, to learn that THE PROVISION WILL COME IN THE TIME OF OUR EXTREMITY.

The Lord gave our Lord Jesus Christ to be the Substitute for men in view of the utmost need of our race.

II. Secondly, upon the mount THE PROVISION WAS SPONTANEOUSLY MADE for Abraham, and so was the provision which the Lord displayed in the fulness of time when He gave up His Son to die.

III. But, thirdly, we ought to dwell very long and earnestly upon the fact that for man’s need THE PROVISION WAS MADE BY GOD HIMSELF.

The text says, “Jehovah jireh,” the Lord will see to it, the Lord will provide. None else could have provided a ransom. Neither on earth nor in heaven was there found any helper for lost humanity. I will only interject this thought here--let none of us ever interfere with the provision of God. If in our dire distress He alone was our Jehovah-jireh, and provided for us a Substitute, let us not think that there is anything left for us to provide. O sinner, do you cry, “Lord, I must have a broken heart”? He will provide it for thee. Do you cry, “Lord, I cannot master sin, I have not the power to conquer my passions”? He will provide strength for thee. Do you mourn, “Lord, I shall never hold on and hold out to the end. I am so fickle”? Then He will provide perseverance for thee.

IV. That which God prepares for poor sinners is A PROVISION MOST GLORIOUSLY MADE.

God provided a ram instead of Isaac. This was sufficient for the occasion as a type; but that which was typified by the ram is infinitely more glorious. In order to save us God provided God. I cannot put it more simply. He did not provide an angel, nor a mere man, but God Himself. Come, sinner, with all thy load of sin: God can bear it; the shoulders that bear up the universe can well sustain thy load of guilt. God gave thee His Godhead to be thy Saviour when He gave thee His Son. But He also gave in the person of Christ perfect manhood--such a man as never lived before, eclipsing even the perfection of the first Adam in the garden by the majestic innocence of His nature. When Jesus has been viewed as man, even unconverted men have so admired His excellence that they have almost adored Him. Jesus is God and man, and the Father has given that man, that God, to be thy Redeemer.

V. Fifthly, THE PROVISION WAS MADE EFFECTIVELY.

Isaac did not die: the laughter in Abraham’s house was not stifled; there was no grief for the patriarch; he went home with his son in happy companionship, because Jehovah had provided Himself a lamb for a burnt-offering. The ram which was provided did not bleed in vain; Isaac did not die as well as the ram; Abraham did not have to slay the God-provided victim and his own son also. No, the one sacrifice sufficed. Beloved, this is my comfort in the death of Christ I hope it is yours--that He did not die in vain.

VI. Turn we then, sixthly, to this note, that we may well glorify Jehovah-jireh because THIS PROVISION WAS MADE FOR EVERY BELIEVER.

The provision on the Mount of Moriah was made on behalf of Abraham: he was himself a man of faith, and he is styled the “father of the faithful”; and now every faithful or believing one may stand where Abraham stood, and say, “Jehovah-jireh, the Lord will provide.” Remember, however, that our faith must be of the same nature as that of Abraham, or it will not be counted to us for righteousness. Abraham’s faith worked by love; it so worked in him that he was willing to do all that the Lord bade him, even to the sacrifice of his own dear son. You must possess a living, working, self-sacrificing faith if you would be saved. If you have it, you may be as sure that you are saved as you are sure that you have sinned. “He that believeth on him is not condemned,” because Christ was condemned for him. “He that believeth on him hath everlasting life:” he cannot die, for Christ died for him. The great principle upon which our security is based is the righteousness of God, which assures us that he will not punish the substitute and then punish the person for whom the substitute endured the penalty. It were a matter of gross injustice if the sinner, having made atonement for his sin in the person of his covenant Head, the Lord Jesus, should afterwards himself be called upon to account for the very sin which was atoned for. Sin, like anything else, cannot be in two places at once: if the great God took my sin, and laid it on his Son, then it is not on me any more. If Jesus bore the wrath of God for me, I cannot bear that wrath; it were contrary to every principle of a just moral government that the Judge should cast our Surety into prison and exact the penalty of him, and then come upon those for whom the suretyship was undertaken. By this gospel I am prepared to stand or fall; yea, by it I will live or die: I know no other. Because I believe it, I this day cry from the bottom of my heart, “Jehovah-jireh,” the Lord has provided an effectual redemption for all those who put their trust in him whom God has set forth to be a propitiation. It is true, as it is written, “He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved.” It is true that the faith which worketh by love brings justification to the soul.

VII. But now I close with a remark which will reveal the far-reaching character of my text. “Jehovah-jireh” is true concerning all necessary things. The instance given of Abraham being provided for shows us that the Lord will ever be a Provider for His people. As to the gift of the Lord Jesus, this is A PROVISION WHICH GUARANTEES ALL OTHER PROVISION. “He that spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?”

Warren Wiersbe adds some practical thoughts on the great Name Jehovah jireh…

Two statements reveal the emphasis of this passage:

“God will provide Himself a lamb for a burnt offering” (Genesis 22:8); and “Jehovah-jireh” (Genesis 22:14), which means, “The Lord will see to it,” that is, “The Lord will provide.”

As he climbed Mount Moriah with his son, Abraham was confident that God would meet every need.

On what could Abraham depend?

He certainly could not depend on his feelings, for there must have been terrible pain within as he contemplated slaying his son on the altar. He loved his only son, but he also loved his God and wanted to obey Him.

Nor could Abraham depend on other people. Sarah was at home, and the two servants who accompanied him were back at the camp. We thank God for friends and family members who can help us carry our burdens, but there are some trials in life that we must face alone. It is only then that we can see what our Father really can do for us!

Abraham could depend on the promise and provision of the Lord. He had already experienced the resurrection power of God in his own body (Ro 4:19; 20; 21-see notes Ro 4:19; 20; 21), so he knew that God could raise Isaac from the dead if that was His plan. Apparently no resurrections had taken place before that time, so Abraham was exercising great faith in God.

According to Ephesians 1:19; 20 (see notes) and Ephesians 3:20; 21(see notes), believers today have Christ’s resurrection power available in their own bodies as they yield to the Spirit of God. We can know “the power of His resurrection” (Philippians 3:10-note) as we face the daily demands and trials of life. When the situation appears to be hopeless, ask yourself, “Is anything too hard for the Lord?” (Genesis 18:14) and remind yourself, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” (Philippians 4:13NKJV-note).

God did provide the sacrifice that was needed, and a ram took Isaac’s place on the altar (Genesis 22:13). Abraham discovered a new name for God—“Jehovah-jireh”—which can be translated “The Lord will see to it” or “The Lord will be seen.” The statement “In the mount of the Lord it shall be seen” helps us understand some truths about the provision of the Lord.

Where does the Lord provide our needs?

In the place of His assignment. Abraham was at the right place, so God could meet his needs. We have no right to expect the provision of God if we are not in the will of God.

When does God meet our needs?

Just when we have the need and not a minute before. When you bring your requests to the throne of grace, God answers with mercy and grace “in time of need” (Hebrews 4:16-note). Sometimes it looks like God waits until the last minute to send help, but that is only from our human point of view. God is never late.

How does God provide for us?

In ways that are usually quite natural. God did not send an angel with a sacrifice; He simply allowed a ram to get caught in a bush at a time when Abraham needed it and in a place where Abraham could get his hands on it. All Abraham needed was one animal, so God did not send a whole flock of sheep.

To whom does God give His provision?

To those who trust Him and obey His instructions. When we are doing the will of God, we have the right to expect the provision of God. A deacon in the first church I pastored used to remind us, “When God’s work is done in God’s way, it will not lack God’s support.” God is not obligated to bless my ideas or projects, but He is obligated to support His work if it is done in His way.

Why does God provide our every need?

For the great glory of His name! “Hallowed be Thy name” is the first petition in the Lord’s Prayer (Matt 6:9, 10, 11, 12, 13-notes), and it governs all the other requests. God was glorified on Mount Moriah because Abraham and Isaac did the will of the Lord and glorified Jesus Christ. We must pause to consider this important truth." (Bible Exposition Commentary - Old Testament ) (Bolding added)

Allen Ross - Romans 8:32 “The Lord will provide”

In the midst of this discussion of God’s plan for our lives Paul declares, “He who did not spare His own Son, but gave Him up for us all--how shall He not also , along with Him, freely give us all things?”

Biblical students have for some time recognized that in this expression Paul is alluding to an Old Testament incident that foreshadowed the crucifixion. That incident was the sacrifice of Isaac on Mount Moriah in Genesis 22. Let me remind you of the basic features of that passage (although you might want to read my exposition of the chapter in my book on Genesis, Creation and Blessing). God tested Abraham, who now had his beloved son, his only son, as the text says, and commanded him to go to the land of Moriah and sacrifice him there on an altar to God. It was a severe test to see if Abraham would obey--would he still obey when he had the son and heir that he wanted? So Abraham took Isaac, probably a young man now, and they traveled to the place. They left the servants and went up the mountain. Isaac asked where the sacrifice was; and Abraham answered, The LORD will provide a sacrifice for Himself. So they went on to the place. There Abraham bound the lad and put him on the altar, and drew the knife to kill him--when the LORD called from heaven, “Abraham, Abraham,” an urgent interruption. God told Abraham not to harm the lad, for now the LORD knew that Abraham feared God and did not withhold his son, his only son, from God. Instead, a ram caught in the thicket was sacrificed to the LORD. And Abraham called the place Yahweh Yireh (KJV: Jehovah Jireh), “the LORD will provide.” The text concludes the account with a little proverb: “In the mount of the LORD it will be provided.”

The parallels are striking: a father sacrifices his only son, his beloved son, on Mount Moriah, which the Chronicler (3:1) identified as the later Temple Mount in Jerusalem. And, the provision of a substitute animal was interpreted as the LORD’s provision of a sacrifice. The place was named to commemorate that. And the proverb turned the passaged into a preview of the greater provision that would be made on that mount.

Because Abraham did not withhold his son, but was willing to offer him up to God, the LORD provided the substitute sacrifice. Paul sees the parallel that the Father in heaven did not withhold His Son, His only and beloved Son, but offered Him up for us all as a substitute. If God the Father was willing to give His Son for us, then He is certainly willing to give us all things--because nothing else would be so great a gift. By providing His Son for our salvation, God the Father has shown how much He desires to provide for us, how far He is willing to go to bring us to glory. And as these chapters in Romans unfold, we become more and more aware of the gracious gifts that God has given to us and will continue to give to us in Christ Jesus and through His Holy Spirit. But most importantly, by providing the sacrifice for our sins, God has settled the matter of our destiny once and for all. So Paul then can reason as a result of this, “Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen?” Nothing can separate us from the love of Christ, and all the gifts of glory that such love brings us

Below is an excerpt from C H Spurgeon's sermon Jehovah Jireh…

I believe that the truth contained in the expression “Jehovah-jireh” was ruling Abraham’s thought long before he uttered it and appointed it to be the memorial name of the place where the Lord had provided a substitute for Isaac. It was this thought, I think, which enabled him to act as promptly as he did under the trying circumstances. His reason whispered within him,

If you slay your son, how can God keep his promise to you that your seed shall be as many as the stars of heaven?

He answered that suggestion by saying to himself,

Jehovah will see to it!

As he went upon that painful journey, with his dearly beloved son at his side, the suggestion may have come to him,

How will you meet Sarah when you return home, having imbrued your hands in the blood of her son? How will you meet your neighbors when they hear that Abraham, who professed to be such a holy man, has killed his son?

That answer still sustained his heart —

Jehovah will see to it! Jehovah will see to it! He will not fail in his word. Perhaps he will raise my son from the dead; but in some way or other he will justify my obedience to him, and vindicate his own command. Jehovah will see to it.

This was a quietus to every mistrustful thought.

I pray that we may drink into this truth, and be refreshed by it.

If we follow the Lord’s bidding, He will see to it that we shall not be ashamed or confounded.

If we come into great need by following His command, He will see to it that the loss shall he recompensed.

If our difficulties multiply and increase so that our way seems completely blocked up, Jehovah will see to it that the road shall be cleared.

The Lord will see us through in the way of holiness if we are only willing to be thorough in it, and dare to follow wheresoever He leads the way.

We need not wonder that Abraham should utter this truth, and attach it to the spot, which was to be forever famous: for his whole heart was saturated with it, and had been sustained by it. Wisely he makes an altar and a mountain to be memorials of the truth which had so greatly helped him. His trials had taught him more of God, — had, in fact, given him a new name for his God; and this he would not have forgotten, but he would keep it before the minds of the generations following by naming the place Jehovah-Jireh.

Jehovah-Jireh - Robert Neighbour

"And Abraham called the name of that place Jehovah-jireh: as it is said to this day, In the mount of the LORD it shall be seen" (Gen. 22:14).

Jehovah-jireh signifies, The Lord will provide. The word is often used as a promise for the supply of our daily food, and God does promise us all our needs according to His riches in Glory, by Christ Jesus" (Phil. 4:19).

The word, Jehovah-jireh, however, has particular reference to God's provision of a sacrifice. Jesus Christ is Himself this provision. Whenever a poor lost sinner is overwhelmed with his sins, he can go and stand at the foot of the Cross, and, as he sees there the Crucified dying in his stead he can say, Jehovah-jireh, the Lord will provide.

Nor need we hesitate to know that since He Who provided us so great a salvation at so great a cost will surely provide us all things else that we need. An hour can never be so dark but what God will give the light. A task will never be so heavy but that God will lift the load.

If God "spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?" (Rom. 8:32).

We need not fear. The God who provided the Cross will also provide many riches of grace in the ages to come. God did the hardest thing for us that could be done when He gave us Christ, His only begotten Son to die upon the hill of Calvary. Such a God, with such a love, and with such wealth of glory will surely shower upon us, age after age, the unspeakable provisions of His grace.

Thus let Jehovah-jireh be our most precious heritage. God will provide. (1) He did provide for our redemption in the gift of Christ upon the Cross. (2) He does now provide for our every need both temporal and spiritual. (3) He will provide for us all things richly to enjoy throughout all eternity.

Jehovah-Jireh - Robert Neighbour

"And Abraham called the name of that place Jehovah-Jireh: as it is said to this day, In the mount of the Lord it shall be seen" (Gen. 22:14).

God had commanded Abraham to take Isaac, his only son, unto the land of Moriah and to offer him there as a burnt-offering unto God. Abraham had risen up early in the morning and had gone a three-day journey. Then, on the third day, Abraham lifted up his eyes and saw the place afar off. He took the wood of the burnt-offering and laid it upon Isaac, his son; he took the fire in his hand, and the knife, and they both went on together.

As Abraham and Isaac journeyed, Isaac said, "Behold the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt-offering?" Abraham said, "My son, God will provide Himself a lamb for a burnt offering: so they went, both of them together." Finally Abraham prepared the altar, laid the wood in order, bound Isaac his son, and laid him upon the wood. "And Abraham stretched forth his hand and took the knife to slay his son." Quickly out of Heaven the angel of the Lord called unto Abraham saying, "Lay not thy hand upon the lad, neither do thou anything unto him."

Abraham lifted his eyes and looked, and, behold, behind him a ram caught in a thicket by his horns. As Abraham took the ram and offered him as a burnt offering in the stead of his son, he looked down the centuries and saw Christ crucified, and he was glad.

So Abraham called the name of the place Jehovah-Jireh, the Lord will provide.

1. First of all in Christ, on the Cross, God has provided a Saviour, in the sinner's stead. This is the chief provision of the grace of God.

Illustration: A story has its setting on Lake Erie. The ship is afire. John Maynard, the pilot is at the wheel. The passengers and the crew have thronged the prow of the ship. The captain knows their only hope lies in running the ship into the bank, before the flames reach the front of the boat. Through the smoke, and above the roar of the flames the captain cried, "John Maynard," and the answer came back, "Aye, Aye, captain." Then the captain cried again: "John, can you hold the boat steady for one more minute?" John Maynard, with one hand already burned to a crisp, grasped the wheel, with his other hand, and cries "Aye, aye, captain I will hold her." And so, as the ship reached the bank, and passengers and crew rushed to the shore for safety, John Maynard fell back in the flames. He had died that they might live. And, Jesus Christ died, the just for the unjust that He might bring us to God.

2. God also provided for every need of life. He gives us an abundance of spiritual blessings. He also supplies abundantly, each physical blessing. He Who feeds the sparrow and clothes the flower of the field, will surely provide for His own. His name is Jehovah-Jireh, "the Lord will provide."

GE 22:14 ABRAHAM CALLED THE NAME OF THAT PLACE JEHOVAH-JIREH The Lord will provide

I. THE LORD WILL PROVIDE FOR THE BODY. Temporal blessings, no less than spiritual, come to us through the medium of the covenant of grace.
1. The Lord will provide food for the body. He will bring round the seasons without fail, and make corn to grow for the service of man.
2. The Lord will provide raiment for His people. For forty years in the wilderness, amid the wear and tear of journey and of battle, the raiment of the Israelites waxed not old because Jehovah provided for them; and doth He not still remember His own?
3. The Lord will provide for His people protection. Many times are they delivered in a most wonderful way, and to the astonishment of the world.

II. THE LORD WILL PROVIDE FOR THE SOUL.
1. Jehovah has provided a Lamb; in the gift of His Son we have the guarantee for the supply of every needed blessing.
2. The Lord will provide for you His Holy Spirit. The gift of the Spirit comes to us through the atonement of Christ, and the sufficiency of the Sacrifice entailed and implied the promise of the Spirit, so that He who hath provided the Lamb is confidently to be trusted for this also.
3. The Lord will provide for the soul an eternal home, as is clear from that word, “I go to prepare a place for you.” When the toils of life’s pilgrimage are over there remaineth a rest for the people of God. (J. Thain Davidson, D. D.)

Jehovah-Jireh Related Music Youtube - Jehovah Jireh

The Lord Will Provide
Olney Hymns, William Cowper

The saints should never be dismay’d,
Nor sink in hopeless fear;
For when they least expect His aid,
The Saviour will appear.

This Abraham found: he raised the knife;
God saw, and said, “Forbear!
Yon ram shall yield his meaner life;
Behold the victim there.”

Once David seem’d Saul’s certain prey;
But hark! the foe’s at hand;
Saul turns his arms another way,
To save the invaded land.

When Jonah sunk beneath the wave,
He thought to rise no more;
But God prepared a fish to save,
And bear him to the shore.

Blest proofs of power and grace divine,
That meet us in His Word!
May every deep-felt care of mine
Be trusted with the Lord.

Wait for His seasonable aid,
And though it tarry, wait;
The promise may be long delay’d,
But cannot come too late.

The Lord Will Provide

In some way or other the Lord will provide;
It may not be my way,
It may not be thy way;
And yet, in His own way,
“The Lord will provide.”

Refrain
Then, we’ll trust in the Lord,
And He will provide;
Yes, we’ll trust in the Lord,
And He will provide.

At some time or other the Lord will provide;
It may not be my time,
It may not be thy time;
And yet, in His own time,
“The Lord will provide.”

Despond then no longer; the Lord will provide;
And this be the token—
No word He hath spoken
Was ever yet broken:
“The Lord will provide.”

March on then right boldly; the sea shall divide,
The pathway made glorious,
With shoutings victorious
We’ll join in the chorus,
“The Lord will provide.”

Jehovah Jireh

My feeble hope in miracles had waned,
My faith that He would soon provide was strained,
Then, prompted by His Spirit, my heart cried,
Jehovah Jireh! My Savior will provide.

“My needs were great but greater than my need
Was He—Jehovah Jireh, so quick to heed
And help, to hold, to hide me from the storm
And shelter through the darkest night till morn.
--Charles U. Wagner

Genesis 22:15 Then the Angel of the LORD called to Abraham a second time from heaven,

Ge 22:11
Genesis 22 Resources - Multiple Sermons and Commentaries

Then the Angel of the LORD called to Abraham a second time from heaven - See Angel of the LORD

Oswald Chambers - The Eternal Goal

By Myself have I sworn, saith the Lord, for because thou hast done this thing,…that in blessing I will bless thee.… — Genesis 22:15-19

Abraham has reached the place where he is in touch with the very nature of God, he understands now the Reality of God.

“My goal is God Himself…
At any cost, dear Lord, by any road.”

“At any cost, by any road” means nothing self-chosen in the way God brings us to the goal.

There is no possibility of questioning when God speaks if He speaks to His own nature in me; prompt obedience is the only result. When Jesus says — “Come,” I simply come; when He says — “Let go,” I let go; when He says — “Trust in God in this matter,” I do trust. The whole working out is the evidence that the nature of God is in me.

God’s revelation of Himself to me is determined by my character, not by God’s character.

“Tis because I am mean,
Thy ways so oft look mean to me.”

By the discipline of obedience I get to the place where Abraham was and I see Who God is. I never have a real God until I have come face to face with Him in Jesus Christ, then I know that “in all the world, my God, there is none but Thee, there is none but Thee.”

The promises of God are of no value to us until by obedience we understand the nature of God. We read some things in the Bible three hundred and sixty-five times and they mean nothing to us; then all of a sudden we see what God means, because in some particular we have obeyed God, and instantly His nature is opened up. “All the promises of God in Him are yea, and in Him Amen.” The “yea” must be born of obedience; when by the obedience of our lives we say “Amen” to a promise, then that promise is ours.

COMMENT - The more we obey, the more God reveals. Today we learn that obedience includes not telling God how He should bring us into His oneness, which is the “eternal goal.” Are you tempted to choose how He does this? God’s road is slow—not because of Him but because of us. Realizing how slow we are is our first step in the right direction. We will be much quicker when it’s not us listening to God’s voice, but His nature in us! Think back on the last thing God revealed to you. Was it because you obeyed? Even seemingly small acts of obedience can root out the self-love in us and open the doors for more of God’s revelation! (From A Daily Companion to My Utmost for His Highest)

Oswald Chambers - The Eternal Goal Genesis 22:15-19

My goal is God Himself, not joy, nor peace.
Nor even blessing, but Himself, my God;
‘Tis His to lead me there, not mine, but His—
“At any cost, dear Lord, by any road!”
One thing I know, I cannot say Him nay;
One thing I do, I press towards my Lord;
My God my glory here, from day to day,
And in the glory there my Great Reward.
F. Brook

In blessing I will bless thee . . . because thou hast obeyed My voice. Genesis 22:17-18

The spirit of obedience gives more joy to God than anything else on earth. Obedience is impossible to us naturally, even when we do obey, we do it with a pout in our moral underlip, and with the determination to scale up high enough and then “boss my boss.” In the spiritual domain there is no pout to be removed because the nature of God has come into me. The nature of God is exhibited in the life of Our Lord, and the great characteristic of His life is obedience. When the love of God is shed abroad in my heart by the Holy Ghost (Romans 5:5), I am possessed by the nature of God, and I know by my obedience that I love Him. The best measure of a spiritual life is not its ecstasies, but its obedience. “To obey is better than sacrifice.”

1. The Supreme Call of God (Genesis 22:15)

When God first called to Abraham there was still a dim gulf between them, God had to call and Abraham to answer (v. 1). Now that gulf is bridged. “The angel of the Lord called a second time out of heaven, . . .” i.e., an inward state of soul, and Abraham is so near to God that he does not need to reply; he is in the place of unimpeded listening. Is there any impediment between my ears and God’s voice?

The call of God is a call in accordance with the nature of God, not in accordance with my idea of God. At first, Abraham did not interpret the call along the line of the nature of God because he did not know it; he interpreted it along the line of the Chaldaic tradition and took it to mean he was to kill his son. The supreme crisis in Abraham’s faith has now been reached, all his imperfect conceptions of God have been left behind and he has come now to understand God. Always beware of self-assertiveness, it bruises our relationship to God, and distorts the manifestation of His nature in us. Abraham was neither an amateur providence nor a moral policeman, he simply believed God.

2. The Supreme Reality of God (Genesis 22:16)

Abraham has come to the place where he is in touch with the very nature of God, he understands the reality of God, and God, as it were, unveils Himself to him in a burst of enthusiasm. There is no possibility of questioning on my part when God speaks, if He is speaking to His own nature in me; prompt obedience is the only result. When Jesus says “Come unto Me,” I simply come; when He says “Trust in God in this matter,” I do not try to trust, I do trust. An alteration has taken place in my disposition which is an evidence that the nature of God is at work in me.

3. The Supreme Character of God (Genesis 22:17-18)

The promise of God stands in relation to Abraham’s tried and willing obedience. The revelation of God to me is determined by my character, not by God’s (Psalms 25-26). If I am mean, that is how God will appear to me.

Tis because I am mean, Thy ways so oft
Look mean to me.

By the discipline of obedience, I come to the place Abraham reached and see God as He is. The promises of God are of no use to me until by obedience I understand the nature of God. We read some things in the Bible three hundred and sixty-five times and they mean nothing to us, then all of a sudden we see what they mean, because in some particular we have obeyed God, and instantly His character is revealed. “For how many soever be the promises of God, in Him is the yea” (rv). The “yea” must be born of obedience; when by the obedience of our life, we say “Amen,” “So let it be,” to a promise, then that promise is made ours.

4. The Supreme Reward (Genesis 22:19)

The more we have to sacrifice for God, the more glorious is the reward presently. We have no right to choose our sacrifice, God will let us see where the sacrifice is to come, and it will always be on the line of what God has given us, our “Isaac,” and yet His call is to sacrifice it. God is always at work on the principle of lifting up the natural and making it and the spiritual one, and very few of us will go through with it. We will cling to the natural when God wants to put a sword through it. If you go through the transfiguration of the natural, you will receive it back on a new plane altogether. God wants to make eternally our own what we only possessed intermittently.

In the beginning we do not train for God, we train for work, for our own aims, but as we go on with God we lose all our own aims and are trained into God’s purpose. Unless practical work is appointed by God, it will prove a curse (cf. John 17:13). “At any cost, by any road,” means nothing self-chosen. The Bible does not say that God blessed Abraham and took him to heaven; but that He blessed him and kept him on earth. The maturity of character before God is the personal channel through which He can bless others. If it takes all our lifetime before God can put us right, then others are going to be impoverished. We need to hurry and climb our Mount Moriah, come to the place where God can put an end to the dim gulf between Him and ourselves, then He will be able to bless us as He did Abraham.

No language can express the ineffable blessedness of the supreme reward that awaits the soul that has taken its supreme climb, proved its supreme love, and entered on its supreme reward. What an imperturbable certainty there is about the man who is in contact with the real God! Thank God, the life of the Father of the Faithful† is but a specimen of the life of every humble believer who obediently follows the discipline of the life of faith. What a depth of transparent rightness there must be about the man who walks before God, and the meaning of the Atonement is to place us there in perfect adjustment to God. “Walk before Me, and be thou perfect,” not faultless, but blameless, undeserving of censure in the eyes of God.

Genesis 22:16 By Myself I have sworn, declares the LORD, because you have done this thing, and have not withheld your son, your only son,

Ge 12:2 Ps 105:9 Isa 45:23 Jer 49:13 51:14 Am 6:8 Lu 1:73 Ro 4:13,14 Heb 6:13,14
Genesis 22 Resources - Multiple Sermons and Commentaries

By Myself I have sworn, declares the LORD - Note the pronoun Myself links to the nearest antecedent, the Angel of the LORD calling from Heaven. There is no doubt that this is a "Theophany" and most likely a Christophany. This is the first and only divine oath in the patriarchal stories, though it is frequently harked back to (Ge 24:7; Ge 26:3; Ge 50:24; Ex 13:5; often in Deuteronomy). Note the preceding “by myself,” which gives the oath a special solemnity and weight (Jer 22:5; 49:13; Amos 4:2; 6:8; Heb 6:13-18).

Declares the LORD: “Declares the Lord”. This phrase occurs 364 times in the OT, mostly in the prophets but only in one other place in the Pentateuch (Nu 14:28). This “formula points above all to God’s dependability, as the addition in Ezekiel 37:14 ‘I have spoken and I shall carry it out.’ The same is shown by the twenty-one passages where it underlines an oath of God”

It is from the dark clouds in our sky that the showers of blessing come.

because you have done this thing, and have not withheld your son, your only son, God assures Abraham again that His covenant with him would be fulfilled. and as the sand which is on the seashore (cf. Ge 13:16 and Ge 15:5).

Theodore Epp - PASSING THE TEST Genesis 22:13-19

Abraham had proven he was willing to sacrifice everything--even his son of promise. He evidenced that his greatest need was to know God.

This reminds us of the Apostle Paul's statement: "That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death" (Phil. 3:10).

Genesis 22:16 records God's words: "By myself have I sworn." Because there is no one greater, God can swear by no one greater than Himself.

God told Abraham that He would bless him and multiply his seed as the stars of heaven (spiritual seed) and as the sand on the seashore (earthly seed) and that his seed would possess the gate of his enemies.

The time is coming when the nation of Israel will possess the gate of her enemies--both her religious and earthly enemies.

Abraham experienced the truth of the principle stated in Romans 8:31,32: "What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us? He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?"

Abraham had graduated. His days of probation and testing were over. His diploma was inscribed with the words "Abraham, the friend of God and the father of the faithful."

"Yet if any man suffer as a Christian, let him not be ashamed; but let him glorify God on this behalf" (1 Pet. 4:16).

Genesis 22:17 indeed I will greatly bless you, and I will greatly multiply your SEED as the stars of the heavens, and as the sand which is on the seashore; and your SEED shall possess the gate of their enemies.

BGT Genesis 22:17 ἦ μὴν εὐλογῶν εὐλογήσω σε καὶ πληθύνων πληθυνῶ τὸ σπέρμα σου ὡς τοὺς ἀστέρας τοῦ οὐρανοῦ καὶ ὡς τὴν ἄμμον τὴν παρὰ τὸ χεῖλος τῆς θαλάσσης καὶ κληρονομήσει τὸ σπέρμα σου τὰς πόλεις τῶν ὑπεναντίων

LXE Genesis 22:17 surely blessing I will bless thee, and multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of heaven, and as the sand which is by the shore of the sea, and thy seed shall inherit the cities of their enemies.

KJV Genesis 22:17 That in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies;

NET Genesis 22:17 I will indeed bless you, and I will greatly multiply your descendants so that they will be as countless as the stars in the sky or the grains of sand on the seashore. Your descendants will take possession of the strongholds of their enemies.

CSB Genesis 22:17 I will indeed bless you and make your offspring as numerous as the stars of the sky and the sand on the seashore. Your offspring will possess the gates of their enemies.

ESV Genesis 22:17 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,

NIV Genesis 22:17 I will surely bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will take possession of the cities of their enemies,

NLT Genesis 22:17 I will certainly bless you. I will multiply your descendants beyond number, like the stars in the sky and the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will conquer the cities of their enemies.

NRS Genesis 22:17 I will indeed bless you, and I will make your offspring as numerous as the stars of heaven and as the sand that is on the seashore. And your offspring shall possess the gate of their enemies,

NJB Genesis 22:17 I will shower blessings on you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars of heaven and the grains of sand on the seashore. Your descendants will gain possession of the gates of their enemies.

NAB Genesis 22:17 I will bless you abundantly and make your descendants as countless as the stars of the sky and the sands of the seashore; your descendants shall take possession of the gates of their enemies,

YLT Genesis 22:17 that blessing I bless thee, and multiplying I multiply thy seed as stars of the heavens, and as sand which is on the sea-shore; and thy seed doth possess the gate of his enemies;

bless : Ge 12:2 27:28,29 28:3,14-22 49:25,26 De 28:2-13 Eph 1:3
multiply : Ge 13:16 15:5 17:6 26:4 De 1:10 Jer 33:22
seashore : Heb. lip, 1Ki 9:26
seed : Ge 24:60 Nu 24:17-19 De 21:19 Jos 1:1-10:43 2Sa 8:1-18 10:1-19 Ps 2:8,9 72:8,9 Jer 32:22 Da 2:44,45 Mic 1:9 Lu 1:68-75 1Co 15:57 Rev 11:15
Genesis 22 Resources - Multiple Sermons and Commentaries

JEHOVAH PROMISES
BLESSING AND MULTIPLICATION

Indeed I will greatly bless (barak barak) you, - Both uses of "seed" are not plural seeds but masculine singular "seed" see Galatians 3:16 for the prophetic significance

Literally - Blessing I will bless you = this Hebrew construction stresses the intensive nature of the action; i.e., I will bless you hyper-superabundantly! The name Abraham is regularly associated with blessing (Genesis 12:2-3; 14:19; 17:16, 20; 24:1, 35), but this is the only time in Genesis that the infinitive absolute “really” is used to reinforce the verb, so making the contents of this promise surpass all others. Or stated another way, the doubling of these verbs (blessing I will bless you) and the ones that follow (multiplying I will multiply) is a Hebrew idiom that powerfully emphasizes the certainty of the action.

The Lxx of this verse is quoted verbatim in Heb 6:14 “I WILL SURELY BLESS YOU AND I WILL SURELY MULTIPLY YOU.”

Lawrence Richards on because you have done this...I will surely bless you - - Let’s not misunderstand. The ultimate cause of blessing was God’s covenant promise. But the proximate cause—the means God used to bring Abraham to the place where he could be blessed—was Abraham’s obedience. God intends to bless you and me. He is committed to do so. Yet only an obedient walk enables us to appropriate that blessing. It’s as if rain is falling just over the hill. We smell its freshness, are eager to feel the renewing drops. And there’s a path marked “Obedience” leading directly to it. God’s blessings do fall in refreshing showers. But only those who take the path marked “Obedience” experience them. If there is anything God wants you to do that you have hesitated to do, let Abraham’s experience encourage you to set out now. (BORROW The 365 day devotional commentary)

Do little things as if they were great, because of the majesty of the Lord Jesus Christ, Who dwells in thee;
and do great things as if they were little, because of His omnipotence.
—Blaise Pascal

and I will greatly multiply (literal - multiplying I multiply) your SEED (zera) as the stars of the heavens and as the sand which is on the seashore - In Ge 22:17,18, three times God used the word seed (zera) in the singular, instead of "seeds" plural. Paul explains this as a prophecy of the coming Messiah (Gal 3:16+ Acts 3:25+) instead of a prophecy of all the children of Abraham. This argument is predicated on the truth of verbal plenary inspiration, which even makes a fine distinction between singular and plural.

Utley on stars and sand - These are two of several metaphors used to describe the multitudinous nature of Abraham's descendants (cf. dust, Genesis 13:16; Genesis 28:14; Numbers 23:10; stars, Genesis 15:5; Genesis 26:4; and sand, Genesis 32:12).

Henry Morris - About 3,000 stars can be counted with the naked eye, but the comparison of Abraham's seed to dust and sand increases the number almost immeasurably.

and your SEED (zera) shall possess the gate of their enemies - The gate of an ancient city gave control over that city, and to secure someone's gate meant to capture their city. So God’s promise is that Abraham’s seed (the Messiah) will conquer and control His enemies. This anticipates the conquest of Canaan under Joshua but has a more prophetic fulfillment in the Messiah.

The revelation of the covenant is now complete and reached its climax in the blessing of the nations of the world through Abraham’s seed. Significantly, that blessing was to lie in a repeat of a father sacrificing his only son; but on that occasion the sacrifice was completed. We can relate to Abraham’s feelings as he grasped the knife that was about to kill his beloved son Isaac lying helpless on the altar; in so doing, we can start to gain a small insight into God’s grief as He saw His Son helpless on the cross at Calvary. We have marveled at the obedience of Isaac, a sixteen year old youth who could have run rings round a man of one hundred and sixteen years, yet who subjected himself to his father. Does this not remind you of another Son who commanded enough angels to annihilate the world (Mt 26:53-54), yet was obedient to His Father so that you and I could inherit eternal life?

Genesis 22:18 "And in your SEED all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice

And in : Ge 12:3 Ge 18:18 Ge 26:4 Ps 72:17 Ac 3:25 Ro 1:3 Ga 3:8,9,16,18,28,29 Eph 1:3
obeyed : Ge 22:3,10 26:5 1Sa 2:30 Jer 7:23 Heb 11:1-40
Genesis 22 Resources - Multiple Sermons and Commentaries

Related Passages:

Genesis 12:1-3+ Now the LORD said to Abram, “Go forth from your country, And from your relatives And from your father’s house, To the land which I will show you; 2 And I will make you a great nation, And I will bless you, And make your name great; And so you shall be a blessing; 3 And I will bless those who bless you, And the one who curses you I will curse. And in you all the families of the earth will be blessed.”

Genesis 13:16 “I will make your descendants (zera) as the dust of the earth, so that if anyone can number the dust of the earth, then your descendants (zera) can also be numbered.

Genesis 18:18 since Abraham will surely become a great and mighty nation, and in him all the nations of the earth will be blessed?

Genesis 26:4 “I will multiply your descendants (zera) as the stars of heaven, and will give your descendants (zera) all these lands; and by your descendants (zera) all the nations of the earth shall be blessed;

Acts 3:25+ “It is you who are the sons of the prophets and of the covenant which God made with your fathers, saying to Abraham, ‘AND IN YOUR SEED (singular) ALL THE FAMILIES OF THE EARTH SHALL BE BLESSED.’

A PROPHECY OF THE
MESSIANIC SEED

And in your SEED (zera) - Seed is a noun in the masculine singular and is a prophecy of the coming Messiah. Paul explains why seed is in the singular in this passage, writing in Galatians 3:16+ "Now the promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. He does not say, “And to seeds,” as referring to many, but rather to one, “And to your seed,” that is, Christ.

All the nations of the earth shall be blessed - This is essentially the "gospel" Abraham heard in as explained by Paul in Galatians 3:8-9+ "The Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, “ALL THE NATIONS WILL BE BLESSED IN YOU.” 9 So then those who are of faith are blessed with Abraham, the believer. "

Because - Is a term of explanation. He is explaining why the nations would be blessed.

You have obeyed (shama) My voice (listened to, hearkened to) - : Obeyed (shama) means he listened to and responded to what he heard. It is translated in the Septuagint by hupakouo (hupo = under + akouo = hear, listen) which means to obey or submit to what has been heard, which is exactly what Abraham did. This is an important spiritual principle! What do I say that? Because obedience proves the authenticity of one's faith. Paul picks up on this in Romans 1:5+ writing "through Whom (Jesus Christ our Lord) we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith (NIV = "the obedience that comes from faith") among all the Gentiles for His name’s sake." The point is that genuine faith obeys. Faith alone saves but the faith that truly saves is not alone.

Related Resources on Obedience of Faith - Here are links to the excellent articles by D B Garlington…

Compare the examples of Noah and Abraham described in the book of Hebrews. How do we know that their faith was genuine "saving" faith not just intellectual ("head knowledge") assent?

Hebrews 11:7-8 By faith (FAITH) Noah, being warned by God about things not yet seen, in reverence (OBEDIENCE) prepared an ark for the salvation of his household, by which he condemned the world, and became an heir of the righteousness which is according to faith. 8 By faith (FAITH) Abraham, when he was called, obeyed (OBEDIENCE) by going out to a place which he was to receive for an inheritance; and he went out, not knowing where he was going.

Hebrews 11:17 By faith (FAITH) Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac (OBEDIENCE), and he who had received the promises was offering up his only begotten son;

ILLUSTRATION OF OBEDIENCE OF FAITH - The integral nature of faith and works. It has been said that separating faith and works is like separating the heat and light from a candle. You know both are produced by the candle. You know they are not the same thing. You also know you cannot separate them.

Seed, offspring, descendants (02233) zera from zara = to sow, scatter seed) means a sowing, seed, offspring. The first use in the Bible refers to literal seed (Ge 1:11, 29). In Ge 3:15-note "seed" refers to the offspring of the devil and the offspring of the woman. Seed meaning descendants is common in Genesis (Ge 4:25, 9:9, 12:7, etc) and especially in the context of covenant (see notes below). Zera has four basic semantic categories: 1. The time of sowing, seedtime; 2. the seed as that which is scattered or as the product of what is sown; 3. the seed as semen and 4. the Seed as the offspring in the promised line of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob or in other groups separate from this people of promise.

Zera in Genesis - Gen. 1:11; Gen. 1:12; Gen. 1:29; Gen. 3:15; Gen. 4:25; Gen. 7:3; Gen. 8:22; Gen. 9:9; Gen. 12:7; Gen. 13:15; Gen. 13:16; Gen. 15:3; Gen. 15:5; Gen. 15:13; Gen. 15:18; Gen. 16:10; Gen. 17:7; Gen. 17:8; Gen. 17:9; Gen. 17:10; Gen. 17:12; Gen. 17:19; Gen. 19:32; Gen. 19:34; Gen. 21:12; Gen. 21:13; Gen. 22:17; Gen. 22:18; Gen. 24:7; Gen. 24:60; Gen. 26:3; Gen. 26:4; Gen. 26:24; Gen. 28:4; Gen. 28:13; Gen. 28:14; Gen. 32:12; Gen. 35:12; Gen. 38:8; Gen. 38:9; Gen. 46:6; Gen. 46:7; Gen. 47:19; Gen. 47:23; Gen. 47:24; Gen. 48:4; Gen. 48:11; Gen. 48:19

Genesis 22:19 So Abraham returned to his young men, and they arose and went together to Beersheba; and Abraham lived at Beersheba.

So Abraham : Ge 22:5
to Beersheba : Ge 21:31 Jos 15:28 Jud 20:1
Genesis 22 Resources - Multiple Sermons and Commentaries

So Abraham returned to his young men, and they arose and went together to Beersheba; and Abraham lived at Beersheba A typical close to an episode (cf. Ge 12:9; 13:18; 18:33; 21:34). But it leaves so much unsaid; even Isaac is not mentioned though he has been the subject of the promises, and no mention is made about what Sarah felt. Commentators and preachers have often been tempted to fill in the gaps, but in so doing they draw attention away from the central thrust of the story, Abraham’s wholehearted obedience and the great blessings that have flowed from it.

Genesis 22:20 Now it came about after these things, that it was told Abraham, saying, “Behold, Milcah also has borne children to your brother Nahor:

told : Pr 25:25
Milcah : Ge 11:29 24:15,24
Nahor : Ge 11:26 24:10,24 31:53
Genesis 22 Resources - Multiple Sermons and Commentaries

Now it came about after these things, that it was told Abraham, saying, “Behold, Milcah also has borne children to your brother Nahor: This family genealogy seems to be somewhat unusual here, but in reality it is very significant in laying the groundwork for Isaac's future bride, Rebekah, who will be mentioned in Genesis 22:23.

Genesis 22:21 Uz his firstborn and Buz his brother and Kemuel the father of Aram

Huz : Job 1:1, Uz
Buz : Job 32:2
Kemuel : Kemuel might have given name to the Kamilites, a people of Syria, mentioned by Strabo, to the west of the Euphrates.
Genesis 22 Resources - Multiple Sermons and Commentaries

Uz his firstborn and Buz his brother and Kemuel the father of Aram

Genesis 22:22 and Chesed and Hazo and Pildash and Jidlaph and Bethuel.”

Genesis 22 Resources - Multiple Sermons and Commentaries

and Chesed and Hazo and Pildash and Jidlaph and Bethuel.”

Genesis 22:23 Bethuel became the father of Rebekah; these eight Milcah bore to Nahor, Abraham’s brother.

Bethuel : Ge 24:15,24,47 25:20 28:2,5
Rebekah : Ge 24:51,60,67 Ro 9:10
Genesis 22 Resources - Multiple Sermons and Commentaries

Related Passage:

Genesis 24:15 Before he had finished speaking, behold, Rebekah who was born to Bethuel the son of Milcah, the wife of Abraham’s brother Nahor, came out with her jar on her shoulder.

ISAAC'S FUTURE
WIFE

Bethuel became the father of Rebekah these eight Milcah bore to Nahor, Abraham’s brother - Bethuel means man of God, or dweller of God, or house of God. Rebekah means something like "ensnarer" or "noose" and the rabbis see this as meaning that Rebekah's beauty was enticing and she "tied up" Isaac's affection.

Rebekah the usual English spelling Rebecca): Daughter of Bethuel and an unknown mother, grand-daughter of Nahor and Milcah, sister of Laban, wife of Isaac, mother of Esau and Jacob. Her name is usually explained from the Arabic, rabqat, "a tie-rope for animals," or, rather, "a noose" in such a rope; its application would then by figure suggest the beauty (?) of her that bears it, by means of which men are snared or bound; The root is found in Hebrew only in the noun meaning "hitching-place" or "stall," in the familiar phrase "fatted calf" or "calf of the stall," and in view of the meaning of such names as Rachel and Eglah the name Rebekah might well mean (concrete for abstract, like riqmah, chemdah, etc.) a "tied-up calf" (or "lamb"?), one therefore peculiarly choice and fat.

Rebekah is first mentioned in the genealogy of the descendants of Nahor, brother of Abraham (Gen 22:20-24). In fact, the family is there carried down just so far as is necessary in order to introduce this woman, for whose subsequent appearance and role the genealogy is obviously intended as a preparation. All this branch of the family of Terah had remained in Aram when Abraham and Lot had migrated to Canaan, and it is at Haran, "the city of Nahor," that we first meet Rebekah, when in Genesis 24 she is made known to Abraham's servant at the well before the gate.

That idyllic narrative of the finding of a bride for Isaac is too familiar to need rehearsal and too simple to require comment. Besides, the substance both of that story and of the whole of Rebekah's career is treated in connection with the sketches of the other actors in the same scenes. Yet we note from the beginning the maiden's decision of character, which appears in every line of the narrative, and prepares the reader to find in subsequent chapters the positive, ambitious and energetic woman that she there shows herself.

Though the object of her husband's love (Gen 24:67), Rebekah bore him no children for 20 years (Gen 25:20,26). Like Sarah, she too was barren, and it was only after that score of years and after the special intercession of Isaac that God at length granted her twin sons. "The purpose of God according to election," as Paul expresses the matter in Rom 9:11, was the cause of that strange oracle to the wondering, inquiring parents, "The elder shall serve the younger" (Gen 25:23).

Whether because of this oracle or for some other reason, it was that younger son, Jacob, who became the object of his mother's special love (Gen 25:28). She it was who led him into the deception practiced upon Isaac (Gen 27:5-17), and she it was who devised the plan for extricating Jacob from the dangerous situation into which that deception had brought him (Gen 27:42-46). When the absence of Jacob from home became essential to his personal safety, Rebekah proposed her own relations in Aram as the goal of his journey, and gave as motive the desirability of Jacob's marrying from among her kindred. Probably she did not realize that in sending her favorite son away on this journey she was sending him away from her forever. Yet such seems to have been the case. Though younger than Isaac, who was still living at an advanced age when Jacob returned to Canaan a quarter of a century later, Rebekah seems to have died during that term. We learn definitely only this, that she was buried in the cave of Machpelah near Hebron (Gen 49:31).

Outside of Genesis, Rebekah is alluded to in Scripture only in the passage from Romans (Ro 9:10-12) already cited. Her significance there is simply that of the wife of Isaac and the mother of two sons of such different character and destiny as Esau and Jacob. And her significance in Gen, apart from this, lies in her contribution to the family of Abraham of a pure strain from the same eastern stock, thus transmitting to the founders of Israel both an unmixed lineage and that tradition of separateness from Canaanite and other non-Hebrew elements which has proved the greatest factor in the ethnological marvel of the ages, the persistence of the Hebrew people.

Genesis 22:24 His concubine, whose name was Reumah, also bore Tebah and Gaham and Tahash and Maacah.

concubine : Ge 16:3 25:6 Pr 15:25
Genesis 22 Resources - Multiple Sermons and Commentaries

His concubine, whose name was Reumah, also bore Tebah and Gaham and Tahash and Maacah.

Concubine (06370) pilegesh concubine in the Bible was a true wife but of secondary rank and does not as is not a "kept mistress." The concubine did not cohabit with a man UNLESS she was married to him. Although she cohabitated with the husband, the man could repudiate and send her away with a small gift. However, clearly having a concubine is a variation of polygamy which is the practice of having more than one wife at the same time.

A Dress Rehearsal for Calvary
(Video)
Adrian Rogers

Click here for all of Dr Rogers sermons on Genesis 22

An Old Testament Calvary—Genesis 22:1–2
The Gospel According to Abraham—Genesis 22:1–2
The Gospel According to Isaac—Genesis 22:1–13
A Dress Rehearsal for Calvary—Genesis 22:1–14
An Old Testament Portrait of Christ—Genesis 22:1–14
The Testing of Your Faith—Genesis 22:1–14
Faith: Look, Examine, Test—Genesis 22:1–18

HEBREWS 11:17-19; GENESIS 22:1-14

What a great song. Thank you my dear sister. For all of the music this morning, thank you choir and orchestra and Jim Whitmire. Thank you, Lord Jesus.

Take God's Word, find please if you would, the book of Hebrews 11 and in a few moments we're going to look at verses 17-19.

Now as you hold your Bible in your hand may I tell you, look at me, may I tell you there is no book like the Bible. None. None whatsoever. The book that you hold in your hand is one book and yet it is sixty-six books. There are thirty-nine books in the Old Testament. There are twenty-seven in the New Testament. They were written over a period of about fifteen hundred years by at least forty different authors in three different languages, people from all backgrounds and walks of life. But when you bring them together, they don't make sixty-six books. They make one book. One book that is bound together. It has one hero, His name is Jesus. It has one villain, he is the devil. It has one theme, it is salvation. It has one purpose, the glory of God. And so if you read the Bible anywhere, you're going to find standing somewhere in the shadows you're going to find the Lord Jesus. And that's what we're going to see today as we look in the life of a man whose name was Abraham. He's the father of the faithful, the brightest star in the Hebrew heaven. A name that is revered around the world, Father Abraham, the father of the faithful. And we're going to look back in history, centuries before Jesus Christ was born upon this earth and we're going to find a wonderful depiction of the life of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Now look if you will at the scripture that we have here in the New Testament before we go back to the Old Testament. Hebrews 11:17. "By faith, Abraham, when he was tried..." that is, tested, "... offered up Isaac: and he that had received the promises offered up his only begotten son, of whom it was said, That in Isaac shall thy seed be called:...".

Now how was he able to do this? Well verse 19 tells us, "Accounting that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead; from whence also he received him in a figure."

Now the word "figure" means a type, an illustration. In the Old Testament, God gave illustrations, types, prophecies, figures of that which is to come in the New Testament. Now why did God do that? Well many reasons, but one reason, friend, listen to me. It is one of the great confirmations of the inspiration of the scripture. When you see way back here centuries, and centuries, and centuries before Jesus Christ was even born that God gives figures and types and prophecies of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Not only is it, therefore, a confirmation of the inspiration of the scriptures, but correspondingly it is a confirmation of the deity of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ as we see Him pictured there, tucked away in the Old Testament. Don't get the idea that the Old Testament is about something other than Jesus. All of the Bible is about Jesus. It's all about Jesus. And furthermore, it is there that we might have the joy that we're going to have this morning of discovering and feasting on these things that are tucked away in the Old Testament.

By the way, before we get to the Old Testament, let me give you a couple verses here to prove what I am talking about is not mere fancy. Put down in your margin John 8:56. Jesus is talking to the unbelieving Jews of His day who boasted in Abraham. And here's what Jesus said to those Jews. "Your father,..." talking about Abraham ".... Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day and he saw it and was glad." Abraham, Jesus said, saw My day. Now I want to remind you, this was centuries before Jesus was born. Ha, ha.

Let me give you another verse. Galatians 3:18. "And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed." The phrase that I want to ex-, ex-, extract from that verse is "that the gospel was preached to Abraham." "The scriptures foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham...".

Now, having said that, let's go to this passage of scripture. Go backward in your Bible to Genesis 22. Just, Genesis the first book. Find the first book. Fast forward twenty-two chapters and you're going to come to our text, and you're going to come to the basis of our text today in Genesis 22.

Now there are some things I want you to see. What I'm going to do right now is give you a portrait of Jesus that is found in the Old Testament. Are you ready for it? I want you to see and delight yourself and feast on a portrait of Jesus found in the Old Testament. Actually, a prophecy of His coming crucifixion on the cross. I want you to see it and believe it and then I want, I want you to ask yourself this question: What does that mean to me today? What does it mean to me personally?

Number one. THE FIRST THING I WANT YOU TO SEE IS THE SPECIAL PERSON WHO IS DESCRIBED. Now the person who is described is Isaac. But you're going to see that Isaac is a picture of Jesus. Look if you will in Genesis twenty-two, one and two. "And it came to pass after these things, that God did tempt..." that is, test Abraham "... and said unto him Abraham: and he said, Behold, here I am. And he said, God said, Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of."

Now, Isaac therefore becomes a picture of the Lord Jesus Christ. Let me give you about six ways or more that He is a picture of the Lord Jesus Christ. First of all, his miracle birth was prophesied. Go back even further now to Genesis 18 and begin in verse 9. The angel is coming to visit with Abraham and to make a prophesy. "And they said unto him, to Abraham, where is Sarah thy wife? And he said, Behold, in the tent. And he said, I will certainly return unto thee according to the time of life; and, lo, Sarah thy wife shall have a son. And Sarah heard it in the tent door, which was behind him. Now Abraham and Sarah were old and well stricken in age; and it ceased to be with Sarah after the manner of women." That is, Sarah had gone through the menopause. And, "... Therefore Sarah laughed within herself, saying, After I am old shall I have pleasure, my lord being old also? And the Lord said unto Abraham, Wherefore did Sarah laugh, saying, Shall I of a surety bear a child, which am old?"

Now here's what the angel says, "Is any thing too hard for the Lord?" I want to ask you that question. Is anything too hard for God? Of course not. Is anything too hard for the Lord? "...At the time appointed I will return unto thee, according to the time of life, and Sarah shall have a son."

Now Isaac was born of a miracle. Jesus was born of a miracle. Put in your margin, Isaiah 7:14. "Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign behold a virgin shall conceive and bear a son and shall call His name Immanuel."

Not only was his miracle birth prophesied, but his birthday was preset. Look in Genesis now twenty-one verses one and two. "And the Lord visited Sarah as he had said, and the Lord did unto Sarah as he had spoken. For Sarah conceived, and bare Abraham a son in his old age...". Now don't miss this "... at the set time of which God had spoken to him." God not only prophesied the birth, but God prophesied the set time of the birth. Well, what does that have to do with Jesus? Put in your margin Galatians four four. "But when the fullness of time was come, God set forth His Son made of a woman." Isaac was born at a set time. Jesus was born at a set time.

Now, here's the third thing. Isaac's name was divinely given. Genesis seventeen nineteen. "And God said, Sarah thy wife shall bear thee a son and thou shalt call his name Isaac." Compare that to the New Testament. Matthew 1:21. Speaking of Mary, "And she shall bring forth a son and thou shalt call his name Jesus." Isaac was born of a miracle, Jesus was born of a miracle. Isaac was born at a set time, Jesus was born at a set time. Isaac was prenamed, Jesus was prenamed.

Isaac again was conceived of a miracle. Genesis 18:14, "... is anything too hard for the Lord?" Remember that Abraham was a hundred years old and Sarah was ninety years old when it happened. When the angel came to Mary and said Mary, you're going to have a baby, Mary said, "how can this be?" Luke 1:34, "... seeing I know not a man." That is, I'm still a virgin. "How can this be? And the angel said to Mary, for with God nothing shall be impossible." What did the angel say to Abraham? Is there anything too hard for God? What did the angel say to Mary? With God nothing shall be impossible. Sometimes our Jewish friends have difficulty believing in the virgin birth. Friend, every Jew that you see today upon the face of the earth is here because of a miracle birth. Every one of them.

Now, Isaac was loved of his father, Genesis 22:2. "and he said, Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest....". Ladies and gentlemen I told you last week this is the first time the word "love" is found in the Bible. Right here. "Take your son whom you love." In Genesis 22:16, he's called Abraham's only son. Compare that now to John three sixteen. "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish." We think about God loving the world. But friend, I want you to know that God loved His Son before He loved the world. John fifty, John 5:20. "For the Father loveth the Son and showeth Him all things that Himself doeth."

Listen, he was offered, Isaac was offered up as a sacrifice. Jesus was offered as a sacrifice. Genesis 22:2. "And he said, Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of." And again John three sixteen, "For God so loved the world that He gave his only begotten son...".

Isaac was raised from the dead. Genesis 22:4. "Then on the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes, and saw the place afar off." God said to Abraham, Abraham, take your son and offer him as a burnt offering. Abraham takes his son and counts the days, one, two, three. He comes to the place there, where the offering is to be made.

Now, he takes his son and he starts up Mount Moriah to offer his son. How was he able to do that? Well, remember Hebrews eleven verse 19? He was "accounting that God was able to raise him up even from the dead." Now watch this, "whence also he received him in a figure." That is, in Abraham's mind for three days Isaac was dead. From the day that God said Abraham take him and offer him until the day that Abraham got him back, in Abraham's mind he was dead. Abraham received him from the dead.

Now, what is the gospel that you and I preach? That Christ died for our sins, that He was buried and was raised again the third day. I Corinthians fifteen verses three through four. Abraham received Isaac back in a figure. God the Father received Jesus back literally. So, what we're talking about here is the, a special person. Isaac represents prefigures Jesus. Have you got that? Then move to the second thing.

NOT ONLY A SPECIAL PERSON, BUT I WANT YOU TO SEE A SPECIFIC PLACE THAT IS DESIGNATED. I want you to see how this comes together. Now look in Genesis 22:2. "And he said..." God said, "... Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of." Now He didn't just say go offer him. He said, I have a specific place that I want you to do.

Now look in Genesis 22:4. And upon, "Then on the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes, and saw the place afar off." Now think with me friend about our universe. There are a hundred million known galaxies in our universe. We don't know what's beyond that. In those great galaxies that stretch across the sky, there is one galaxy known as the milky way. That milky way is one hundred thousand light years across. That's one hundred million billion miles from rim to rim. God goes into that great galaxy out of all of the millions of galaxies and God finds one little insignificant sun, our sun. Ninety three million miles away from the earth. And God looks there at that one sun and around that sun are orbiting a number of planets. God takes one little planet, a speck of cosmic dust called the Earth and God says, "the earth is the Lord's." And then on the Earth, that globe there, God takes one land, the land of Israel. And God calls that land "My land." And then out of that land that God calls His land, He tightens the focus a little more and God takes in that land one city, the city of Jerusalem. And God calls that city "My holy city." And then in that holy city, God takes one hill, Mount Moriah, and He calls that "My holy hill". That becomes the focal point of all of the universes. A little limestone ridge. God said, "Abraham, I will show you a place, a specific place. You take your only son. You take your only son that you love. You take him there and offer him in the place that I will show you."

The name "Moriah" literally means foreseen of the Lord. The place is not incidental. The place is not accidental. It is the same place that Jesus would one day pour out His life's blood. Put down Luke 22:23, "And when they were come to the place which is called Calvary, there they crucified Him." Not a place, the place. The same place.

Now we've talked about a person, we've talked about a place. NOW LET'S TALK ABOUT THE PURPOSE THAT IS DESIGNATED HERE. Genesis 22:2, "And he said, Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of." This speaks of the cross. When Isaac was to be offered in that same place that Jesus was to die.

Think of the suffering of the cross that is pictured. Look if you will in Genesis twenty-two verses four through eight, "Then on the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes, and saw the place afar off. And Abraham said unto his young men, Abide ye here with the ass; and I and the lad will go yonder and worship, and come again to you." Abraham says, he's going to be slain, but we're both coming back. You talk about faith. We're going to go worship and come again to you. "And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it upon Isaac his son; and he took the fire in his hand, and a knife: and they went both of them together. And Isaac spake unto Abraham his father, and said, father: and he said, Here am I, my son. And he said..." Isaac said, "... Behold the fire and the wood: but where is a lamb for the burnt offering? And Abraham said, My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering: so they went both of them together."

Now, father and son come to a point beyond which the others cannot go. You stay here and father and son went to commune together. That tells me of dark Gethsemane where Jesus left Peter, James and John and the other disciples and He went alone to commune with His Father facing Calvary, and Isaac looks at his father. In Abraham's hand there is a torch, a fire in one hand. There is a knife in his other hand. Isaac can read his father's face. He begins now to know what is about to happen.

Think of what must have been going through Isaac's heart as he sees his father go up without a lamb, only with his own son up to that place of sacrifice. Think of what must have been in Abraham's heart. I know when my first son was born I ceased to think so much of the love of Jesus and I thought more of the love of a father. Though both are infinite in their love. I thought how it must have moved the Father's heart to give His only Son to die upon that cross. Think of how much the Lord Jesus suffered. Think how much God the Father suffered as it is pictured here.

Think of the suffering of the cross. Think of the suffering of the cross. Look in Genesis 22:9. "And they came to the place which God had told him of; and Abraham built an altar there, and laid the wood in order, and bound Isaac his son, and laid him on the altar upon the wood."

Use, use your sanctified imagination. Here's the altar. Here's the wood. Here's the torch. Here's the knife. Abraham says, "come here, son. Hold out your hands. " And Abraham begins to bind those hands. Now I remind you that Abraham is well beyond one hundred years of age. I remind you that Isaac is not a child as we sometimes see pictured. Isaac is a strapping young man. He could have easily out run the old man.

He could have taken the old man and bound him. But he presents himself to be bound. You know what Jesus said? "No man takes my life from me. I lay it down of my self." Here you see the son submitting himself to the father. They said of Jesus, "He saved others, himself he could not save." They were so wrong. He saved others, Himself He would not be saved. He could have come down from that cross, but He did not.

Notice in Genesis 22:6, "And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering, and laid it upon Isaac his son;...". Wood is a symbol of humanity. It speaks about the wood of our wickedness being laid upon the Lord Jesus Christ. As you see Isaac bearing that wood going up this mountain that one day Jesus would one day die on, think of John 19:17, "And he, Jesus, bearing his cross went forth into a place called the place of a skull, which is called Golgatha." Isaac goes up that mountain bearing the wood upon which he was to die. Jesus goes up the same mountain bearing that wooden cross upon which He was to die. Think of the sacrifice of the cross that is pictured. Abraham has a knife and he has a torch, and he has ropes. The cord speaks of the binding power of sin. The knife speaks of the bleeding power of sin. The fire speaks of the burning power of sin because the fires of God's wrath would burn themselves out upon the Lord Jesus Christ.

Now, we've talked about the purpose which was sacrifice. NOW I WANT YOU TO THINK ABOUT THE PROMISE THAT'S DECLARED HERE. We've talked about a person, we've talked about a place, we've talked about a purpose, now let's look at a promise. In Genesis twenty-two beginning in verse 11, Abraham is about now to sacrifice Isaac. Isaac has laid down his life. He had become one with his father. His father now is about to make this offering, accounting that God the Father is able to raise him up. Genesis twenty-two verse 11, "And the angel of the Lord called out unto him out of heaven, and said, Abraham, Abraham: and he said, Here am I. And he said, the angel said to Abraham, Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou any thing unto him: for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not witheld thy son, thine only son from me. And Abraham lifted up his eyes, and looked, and behold behind him a ram caught in a thicket by his horns: and Abraham went and took the ram, and offered him up for a burnt offering in the stead of his son. And Abraham called the name of that place...". Now don't you miss this, this is the whole sermon. "... Jehovah-jireh: as it is has been said to this day, In the mount of the Lord it shall be seen."

Now the figure changes. The knife does not fall upon Isaac who is representing the Lord Jesus Christ. Now the picture changes and Isaac now represents us and there is a ram caught in the thicket. As I have told you before, this ram, this ram crowned with thorns. His horns locked in a thorny thicket is taken and this ram becomes a substitute for Isaac. Isaac gets up off the altar and the ram is slain in his stead. And the knife did not fall that day upon Isaac because one day it would fall upon the Lord Jesus Christ.

Now, Isaac had asked his father. "Father, where is the lamb?" Abraham said, "God will provide Himself a lamb." And God did. God did. Remember what John the Baptist said when he saw Jesus coming? "Behold, the lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world." When Abraham saw what God did. When Abraham saw that ram that was to take the place the Isaac and give Isaac back to his bosom, give Isaac back as it were from the dead to Abraham, Abraham named that place Mount Moriah, Abraham named it Jehovah-jireh. Now what does that mean? It means the Lord will provide.

Now, friend, listen to me. I don't know what need you have. You listen to your pastor. The Lord is there to provide that need. The Lord will provide. In that day, what was he going to provide? Himself a lamb. Where was He going to provide it? In the mount of the Lord it shall be seen. When, is He going to provide it? It shall be seen. He's talking about the day when Jesus Christ would die upon the cross.

Now, it's time to wrap it up. There's so much I could say, I have gone too fast. But I wanted you to get the whole picture. Now what does this mean to you today? And what does this mean to world missions? Are you ready to apply it to your heart?

Listen friend, if there were ever a promise, ever a promise that God would have been tempted to renig upon, ever a promise that God might be tempted not to keep, it would have been the promise to send Jesus. If there were ever a time when God would say, I change my mind, that would have been the time. But I want you to put down this verse. It is very important because it sums it all up. It is Romans 8:32. "He that spared not his own son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things." Do you get the logic there in Romans eight thirty-two? He that spared not His own son.

Now when Abraham is taking Isaac up at the last moment, God said, "Abraham, don't do it." God spared Abraham's son. But God did not spare His own Son. Jesus Christ, the Son of God is the one who is prefigured and prophesied here in Genesis 22. God provided Himself a lamb. It doesn't say that God would provided a lamb for Himself. God becomes the lamb. God was in Christ reconciling the world unto Himself. God provided Himself as a lamb. God in human flesh died.

God the mighty maker died for man, the creature's sin. God died at Calvary for you. Does that mean anything to you? That God laid down His own dear Son upon that altar that the fires of God's wrath burned themselves out upon God's own dear Son.

Because God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son.

Now you listen to me. You on the back row, you listen to me. You over here, you listen to me. You mister businessman, you listen to me. Listen to what the apostle Paul said in Romans 8:32. "For if God spared not his own son, but delivered him up freely for us all; how shall he not also with him freely give us all things?"

My son is with me here in the city these weeks. We're doing a project together. I love him with all my heart. His name is Steve, my first born son. If you were to ask me, "Adrian, can I have your son?" Why should I give you my son? "Well, I want to torture him and then kill him for some cause that I have. Will you give me your son?" No, I won't give you my son. I don't love you that much. No, I would not give you my son that you might torture him and put him to death. For whatever cause, I would not do that.

But suppose I loved you and your cause enough, your need enough that I were to give you my own son that he would die in ignominy and shame, be brutalized. If I loved you enough to give you my son and then you said, "Can I also have his computer? Can I also have his sport jacket? Can I also have his automobile?" Of course. If I did not spare the son, would I not also with him freely give you all things? Friend, if God gave Jesus, He's not going to hold anything else back. Do you understand that? If God gave Jesus and delivered Him up freely for us all, how shall He not also with Him freely give us all things? He is the God who provides. If God gave the one great gift, He's going to give all of the others.

I have proved it in life. When I needed a Savior and I said, "Lord Jesus, save me." He provided salvation. When He called me to preach and I didn't know how I was going to do it. My dad said, "Son, I wish I could send you to college, but I can't. I don't have the resources." I said, "That's alright. God has called me. God will provide." For eight years, seven of them married, I went to higher education and God provided. God met my every need. When Joyce and I walked through the valley of the shadow of death and a little baby was taken to heaven. We looked for a surcease, we looked for comfort. Where would we go? He was there and He provided the need of every heart. When I began to preach, I wondered what would I preach. First three or four times I preached, I said, Well, I preached the whole Bible. Now what am I going to do? That was over a half a century ago. How am I going to preach? I stand before you to tell you that God has provided Sunday after Sunday after Sunday after Sunday from the deep well of His Word. God provides. God provides.

And one of those days when my feet touch the chilly waters of the river of death. And that day is coming for all of us if Jesus tarries. My Provider, Jehovah-jireh, will be there. "He that spared not his own son, how shall he not also with him freely give us all things?"

Now we're talking about world missions. If you're wondering, OH, if God calls me to missions, how will I do it? How will I make it? What will I do? I'll tell you how you will make it. Jehovah-jireh will provide it for you. A missionary back in the days when they sailed to the mission field, was about to get on the boat. Walking up the gang plank, the trunks had been packed. They couldn't fly home on a 747 like we do today. The missionary and his family were going. A good friend walked up to the missionary just before he got on the boat and handed the missionary an envelope that was sealed.

And said, don't open this envelope. Don't ever open it until you come to the place if you ever do where you don't know what else to do, where else to turn. You've run out of resources. You have a need that there is no other answer to, then open this envelope. The missionary put it in his breast pocket. Most of us would have taken it out, you know, to see what's in it. The missionary put it in his vest pocket. Stayed his full tenure on the mission field. Came home and held up the envelope. It was still sealed. Never been opened. Because through sickness, sorrow, tears, pain and toil, there never ever was a time when there was not a provision that God did not answer. His name is Jehovah-jireh. And the God who gave the first great gift is the God who will see us through.

Bow your heads in prayer. Heads are bowed. Eyes are closed. Now friend, God spared not His own Son for you. God wants you to be saved. You're saved by trusting Jesus. Believe that He shed His precious blood on the cross for you and that God raised Him from the dead. The Bible says, "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you'll be saved."

Would you pray, Lord Jesus, come into my heart. Forgive my sin. Save me, save me today. Thank You for doing it. In Your name I pray, amen.

Pastor, if I pray a prayer like that would Jesus save me? Well, if you're sincere. How can I know if I'm sincere? The Bible test is are you willing to make it public? Jesus said, if you're ashamed of me, I'll be ashamed of you. If you confess me before men, I'll confess you before my Father in heaven. We're going to sing an invitational verse in a moment. The ministers of our church are going to stand here at the head of each of these isles all the way across the front (music begins) to welcome those of you who will be coming forward here.

If you're in the balcony, you may go to the banner that says "Redeemer" the one to my right over there in the corner. Or the one the says "Messiah", the one to my left and your right. Just make your way there. And if today, once and for all, now and forever you are willing to trust Jesus Christ as your personal Savior and Lord. You want to know that your sin if forgiven. You want peace and purpose in life, you want a home in heaven and you want to be absolutely certain if you died today you would go to heaven, then I want you to leave your seat and come forward. And I want you to say to the minister, I'm trusting Jesus. We'll take a Bible, we'll guide you in this decision, answer any questions we can answer, and seal it in prayer. It will take just a few moments. You'll be so glad you did it. Don't let the devil intimidate you. And don't let the devil keep you from coming.

Now if you don't want to come, there are not enough angels in heaven to drag you down this isle because God wouldn't allow it. But if you do want to come, there're not enough demons in hell or anywhere else to keep you from coming. You may come.

The Bible says, whosoever will may come. Others of you are saved, some of you have never had believer's baptism. You need to come and say, Look I know I'm saved but I want to make an appointment for my Baptism. You're living in disobedience if you're not baptized as a believer in Christ. And you can't grow when you're living in willful disobedience. You need to come and say, "I want to be baptized. I want to make an appointment for my baptism." Others of you may need to come and say I want to transfer my membership. I want to place my membership here. If this is where you worship and God speaks to you, you just come and say I want to place my membership here.

Now, some of you feel that God is calling you to full time vocational missions. I want you to come this morning (Cough) and tell the minister I I'm just placing my life in God's hand for His call upon my life. Respectfully I'm going to ask that no one leave during the invitation. All of us be in a spirit of prayer. If you're with a friend that needs to come forward, you may volunteer to come forward with your friend. How beautiful that is. We're going to pray. Then we're going to stand. And on the first stanza I want you to step out.

Lord Jesus, bring I pray, the lost to You. Help those dear Lord, who need a church home to answer. Lord, those that You're calling into vocational missions, help them to say "yes". In Your Holy name, amen. Let's stand together. You step out and come

FAITH TESTED AND CROWNED
Alexander Maclaren

Genesis 22:1-14.

I. A life of faith and self-denial has usually its sharpest trials at or near its beginning. A stormy day has generally a calm close. But Abraham's sorest discipline came all sudden, like a bolt from blue sky. Near the end, and after many years of peaceful, uneventful life, he had to take a yet higher degree in the school of faith. Sharp trial means increased possession of God. So his last terrible experience turned to his crowning mercy.

1. The very first words of this solemn narrative raise many questions.

We have God appointing the awful trial. The Revised Version properly replaces 'tempt' by 'prove.' The former word conveys the idea of appealing to the worse part of a man, with the wish that he may yield and do the wrong. The latter means an appeal to the better part of a man, with the desire that he should stand. Temptation says: 'Do this pleasant thing; do not be hindered by the fact that it is wrong.' Trial, or proving, says: 'Do this right and noble thing; do not be hindered by the fact that it is painful.' The one is 'a sweet, beguiling melody,' breathing soft indulgence and relaxation over the soul; the other is a pealing trumpet-call to high achievements.

God's proving does not mean that He stands by, watching how His child will behave. He helps us to sustain the trial to which He subjects us. Life is all probation; and because it is so, it is all the field for the divine aid. The motive of His proving men is that they may be strengthened. He puts us into His gymnasium to improve our physique. If we stand the trial, our faith is increased; if we fall, we learn self-distrust and closer clinging to Him. No objection can be raised to the representation of this passage as to God's proving Abraham, which does not equally apply to the whole structure of life as a place of probation that it may be a place of blessing. But the manner of the trial here presents a difficulty. How could God command a father to kill his son? Is that in accordance with His character? Well, two considerations deserve attention. First, the final issue; namely, Isaac's deliverance, was an integral part of the divine purpose from the beginning of the trial; so that the question really is, Was it accordant with the divine character to require readiness to sacrifice even a son at His command? Second, that in Abraham's time, a father's right over his child's life was unquestioned, and that therefore this command, though it lacerated Abraham's heart, did not wound his conscience as it would do were it heard to-day. It is impossible to conceive of a divine injunction such as this being addressed to us. We have learned the inalienable sacredness of every life, and the awful prerogative and burden of individuality. God's command cannot enforce sin. But it was not wrong in Abraham's eyes for a father to slay his son; and God might shape His message to the form of the existing morality without derogation from His character, especially when the result of the message would be, among other things, to teach His abhorrence of human sacrifices, and so to lift the existing morality to a higher level.

2. The great body of the history sets before us Abraham standing the terrible test.

What unsurpassable beauty is in the simple story! It is remarkable, even among the scriptural narratives, for the entire absence of anything but the visible facts. There is not a syllable about the feelings of father or of son. The silence is more pathetic than many words. We look as into a magic crystal, and see the very event before our eyes, and our own imaginations tell us more of the world of struggle and sorrow raging under that calm outside than the highest art could do. The pathos of reticence was never more perfectly illustrated. Observe, too, the minute, prolonged details of the slow progress to the dread instant of sacrifice. Each step is told in precisely the same manner, and the series of short clauses, coupled together by an artless 'and,' are like the single strokes of a passing bell, or the slow drops of blood heard falling from a fatal wound. The homely preparations for the journey are made by Abraham himself. He makes no confidante of Sarah; only God and himself knew what that bundle of wood meant. What thoughts must have torn his soul throughout these weary days! How hard to keep his voice round and full while he spoke to Isaac! How much the long protracted tension of the march increased the sharpness of the test! It is easier to reach the height of obedient self-sacrifice in some moment of enthusiasm, than to keep up there through the commonplace details of slowly passing days. Many a faith, which could even have slain its dearest, would have broken down long before the last step of that sad journey was taken.

The elements of the trial were two: first, Abraham's soul was torn asunder by the conflict of fatherly love and obedience to God. The narrative intimates this struggle by continually insisting on the relationship between the two. The command dwells with emphasis on it: 'thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest.' He takes with him 'Isaac his son'; lays the wood on 'Isaac his son.' Isaac 'spake unto Abraham his father'; Abraham answers, 'Here am I, my son'; and again, 'My son, God will provide.' He bound 'Isaac his son'; he 'took the knife to slay his son'; and lastly, in the glad surprise at the end, he offers the ram 'in the stead of his son.' Thus, at every turn, the tender bond is forced on our notice, that we may feel how terrible was the task laid on him--to cut it asunder with his own hand. The friend of God must hold all other love as less than His, and must be ready to yield up the dearest at His bidding. Cruel as the necessity seems to flesh and blood, and specially poignant as his pain was, in essence Abraham's trial only required of him what all true religion requires of us. Some of us have been called by God's providence to give up the light of our eyes, the joy of our homes, to Him. Some of us have had to make the choice between earthly and heavenly love. All of us have to throne God in our hearts, and to let not the dearest usurp His place. In our weakness we may well shrink from such a test. But let us not forget that the trial of Abraham was not imposed by his own mistaken conceptions of duty, nor by a sterner God than the New Testament reveals, but is distinctly set before every Christian in essence, though not in form, by the gentle lips from which flowed the law of love more stringent and exclusive in its claims than any other: 'He that loveth father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me.'

The conflict in Abraham's soul had a still more painful aspect in that it seemed to rend his very religion into two. Faith in the promise on which he had been living all his life drew one way; faith in the later command, another. God seemed to be against God, faith against faith, promise against command. If he obeys now, what is to become of the hopes that had shone for years before him? His whole career will be rendered nugatory, and with his own hand he will crush to powder his life's work. That wonderful short dialogue which broke the stern silence of the journey seems to throw light on his mood. There is nothing in literature sacred or secular, fact or fiction, poetry or prose, more touching than the innocent curiosity of Isaac's boyish question, and the yearning self-restraint of the father's desperate and yet calm answer. But its value is not only in its pathos. It seems to show that, though he knew not how, still he held by the hope that somehow God would not forget His promise. Out of his very despair, his faith struck, out of the flint of the hard command, a little spark which served to give some flicker of light amid the darkness. His answer to his boy does not make his sacrifice less, but his faith more. The writer of the Epistle to the Hebrews gives a somewhat different turn to his hopes, when he tells us that he offered up the heir of the promises, 'accounting that God was able to raise him from the dead.' Both ways of clinging to the early promise, even while obeying the later command, seem to have passed through his mind. The wavering from the one to the other is natural. He is sure that God had not lied before, and means what He commands now. He is sure that there is some point of reconciliation--perhaps this, perhaps that, but certainly somewhat. So he goes straight on the road marked for him, quite sure that it will not end in a blind alley, from which there is no exit. That is the very climax of faith--to trust God so absolutely, even when His ways seem contradictory, as to be more willing to believe apparent impossibilities than to doubt Him, and to be therefore ready for the hardest trial of obedience. We, too, have sometimes to take courses which seem to annihilate the hope and aims of a life. The lesson for us is to go straight on the path of clear duty wherever it leads. If it seem to bring us up to inaccessible cliffs, we may be sure that when we get there we shall find some ledge, though it may be no broader than a chamois could tread, which will suffice for a path. If it seem to bring us to a deep and bridgeless stream, we shall find a ford when we get to the water's edge. If the mountains seem to draw together and bar a passage, we shall find, when we reach them, that they open out; though it may be no wider than a canon, still the stream can get through, and our boat with it.

3. So we have the climax of the story--faith rewarded.

The first great lesson which the interposition of the Divine voice teaches us, is that obedience is complete when the inward surrender is complete. The outward act was needless. Abraham would have done no more if the flashing knife had buried itself in Isaac's heart. Here is the first great proclamation of the truth which revolutionises morality and religion, the beginnings of the teaching which culminates in the ethics of the Sermon on the Mount, and in the gospel of salvation, not by deeds, but through faith. The will is the man, the true action is the submission of the will. The outward deed is only the coarse medium through which it is made visible for men: God looks on purpose as performance.

Again, faith is rewarded by God's acceptance and approval. 'I know that thou fearest God,' not meaning that He learned the heart by the conduct, but that, on occasion of the conduct, He breathes into the obedient heart that calm consciousness of its service as recognised and accepted by Him, which is the highest reward that His friend can know. 'To be well pleasing to Him' is our noblest aim, which, cherished, makes sacrifice sweet, and all difficult things easy. 'Nor know we anything more fair Than is the smile upon Thy face.'

Again, faith is rewarded by a deeper insight into God's will. Much has been said about the sacrifice of Isaac in its bearing upon the custom of human sacrifice. We do not believe that Abraham was led to his act by a mistaken idea, borrowed from surrounding idolatries.

His position as the sole monotheist amid these, the absence of evidence that human sacrifice was practised then among his neighbours, and, above all, the fact of the divine approval of his intention, forbid our acceptance of that theory. Nor can we regard the condemnation of such sacrifices as the main object of the incident. But no doubt an incidental result, and, we may perhaps say, a subsidiary purpose of it, was to stamp all such hideous usages with the brand of God's displeasure. The mode of thought which led to them was deeply rooted in the consciousness of the Old World, and corresponded to a true conception of the needs of humanity. The dark sense of sin, the conviction that it required expiation, and that procurable only by death, drove men to these horrid rites. And that ram, caught in the thicket, thorn-crowned and substituted for the human victim, taught Abraham and his sons that God appointed and provided a lamb for an offering. It was a lesson won by faith. Nor need we hesitate to see some dim forecast of the great Substitute whom God provided, who bears the sins of the world. Again, faith is rewarded by receiving back the surrendered blessing, made more precious because it has been laid on the altar. How strange and solemn must have been the joy with which these two looked in each other's faces! What thankful wonder must have filled Abraham's heart as he loosed the cord that had bound his son! It would be many days before the thrill of gratitude died away, and the possession of his son seemed to Abraham, or that of life seemed to Isaac, a common thing. He was doubly now a child of wonder, born by miracle, delivered by miracle. So is it ever. God gives us back our sacrifices, tinged with a new beauty, and purified from earthly alloy.

We never know how sweet our blessings are till we have yielded them to Him. 'There is no man that hath left' anything or any person for Christ's sake and the gospel's who will not 'receive a hundred-fold more in this life, and in the world to come life everlasting.'

Lastly, Abraham was rewarded by being made a faint adumbration, for all time, of the yet more wondrous and awful love of the divine Father, who, for our sakes, has surrendered His only-begotten Son, whom He loved. Paul quotes the very words of this chapter when he says: 'He that _spared_ not His _own Son_, but delivered Him up for us all.' Such thoughts carry us into dim regions, in which, perhaps, silence is best. Did some shadow of loss and pain pass over the divine all-sufficiency and joy, when He sent His Son? Was the unresisting innocence of the son a far-off likeness of the willing eagerness of the sinless Sufferer who chose to die? Was the resolved surrender of the father a faint prelude of the deep divine love which gave His only Son for us? Shall we not say, 'Now I know that Thou lovest me, because Thou hast not withheld Thy Son, Thine only Son, from me'? Shall we not recognise this as the crown of Abraham's reward, that his act of surrender of his dearest to God, his Friend, has been glorified by being made the mirror of God's unspeakable gift of His Son to us, His enemies?

II. THE CROWNING TEST AND TRIUMPH OF FAITH

The first words of this lesson give the keynote for its meaning. 'God did prove Abraham'; the strange command was a test of his faith. In recent times the incident has been regarded chiefly as embodying a protest against child-sacrifices, and no doubt that is part of its intention, and their condemnation was part of its effect, but the other is the principal thing. Abraham, as the 'Father of the Faithful,' has his faith tested by a series of events from his setting out from Haran, and they culminate in this sharpest of all, the command to slay his son. The life of faith is ever a life of testing, and very often the fire that tries increases in heat as life advances. The worst conflicts are not always at the beginning of the war.

Our best way of knowing ourselves is to observe our own conduct, especially when it is hard to do nobly. We may easily cheat ourselves about what is the basis and ruling motive of our lives, but our actions will show it us. God does not 'test' us as if He did not know what was gold and what base metal, but the proving is meant to make clear to others and ourselves what is the worth and strength of our religion. The test is also a means of increasing the faith which it demonstrates, so that the exhortation to 'count it all joy' to have faith tried is no overstrained counsel of perfection.

The narrative plainly declares that the command to sacrifice his son was to Abraham unmistakably divine. The explanation that Abraham, living beside peoples who practised child-sacrifice, heard but the voice of his own conscience asking, 'Canst thou do for Jehovah what these do for Moloch?' does not correspond to the record. No doubt God does speak through conscience; but what sent Abraham on his terrible journey was a command which he knew did not spring up within, but came to him from above. We may believe or disbelieve the possibility or the actuality of such direct and distinguishable commands from God, but we do not face the facts of this narrative unless we recognise that it asserts that God made His will known to Abraham, and that Abraham knew that it was God's will, not his own thought.

But is it conceivable that God should ever bid a man commit a crime? To the question put in that bald way, of course there can be but one answer, No. But several conditions have to be taken into account. First, it is conceivable that God should test a man's willingness to surrender what is most precious to him, and what all his hopes are fixed on; and this command was given with the purpose that it should not be obeyed in fact, if the willingness to obey it was proved. Again, the stage of development of the moral sense at which Abraham stood has to be remembered. The child-sacrifices around him were not regarded as crimes, but as worship, and, while his affections were the same as ours, and his father's heart was wrung, to slay Isaac did not present itself to him as a crime in the way in which it does so to us. God deals with men on the moral and spiritual level to which they have attained, and, by descending to it, raises them higher.

The purpose of the command was to test faith, even more than to test whether earthly love or heavenly obedience were the stronger. There is a beautiful and instructive climax in the designations of Isaac in Ge 22:2, where four times he is referred to, 'thy son, thine only son,' in whom all the hopes of fulfilment of the divine promise were concentrated, so that, if this fruit from the aged tree were cut off, no other could ever grow; 'whom thou lovest,'--there the sharp point pierces the father's heart; 'even Isaac,' in which name all the ties that knit him to Abraham are gathered up. Each word heightens the greatness of the sacrifice demanded, and is a fresh thrust of the dagger into Abraham's very life. Each suggests a reason for not slaying Isaac, which sense might plead. God does not hide the painfulness of surrender from us. The more precious the treasure is, the more are we bound to lay it on the altar. But it was Abraham's faith even more than his love that was tested. The Epistle to the Hebrews lays hold on this as the main element in the trial, that he who 'had received the promises' was called to do what seemed to blast all hope of their being fulfilled. What a cruel position to have God's command and God's promise apparently in diametrical opposition! But faith loosened even that seemingly inextricable tangle of contradiction, and felt that to obey was for man, and to keep His promise was for God. If we do our duty, He will see to the consequences. 'Tis mine to obey; 'tis His to provide.' Nothing in literature is more tenderly touched or more truly imagined than that long, torturing journey--Abraham silent, Isaac silently wondering, the servants silently following. And, like a flash, at last 'the place' was seen afar off. How calmly Abraham speaks to the two followers, mastering his heart's throbbing even then! 'We will worship, and come again to you'--was that a 'pious fraud' or did it not rather indicate that a ray of hope, like pale light from a shrouded sun, shone for him? He 'accounted that God was able to raise him up even from the dead.' Somehow, he knew not how, Isaac slain was still to live and inherit the promises. Anything was possible, but that God's word should fail was impossible. That picture of the father and son alone, the one bearing the wood, the other the fire and the knife, exchanging no word but once, when the innocent wonder of Isaac's question must have shaken Abraham's steadfastness, and made it hard for him to steady his voice to answer, touches the deepest springs of pity and pathetic sublimity. But the answer is in the same spirit as that to the servants, and indicates the same hope. 'God will provide Himself a lamb, my son.' He does not know definitely what he expects; he is ready to slay Isaac, but his faith is not quenched, though the end seems so inevitable and near. Faith was never more sharply tested, and never more triumphantly stood the test.

The divine solution of the riddle was kept back till the last moment, as it usually is. The place is slowly reached, the hill slowly climbed, the altar built, the unresisting Isaac bound (with what deep thoughts in each, who can tell?), the steady hand holding the glittering knife lifted--a moment more and it will be red with heart's blood, and not till then does God speak. It is ever so. The trial has 'its perfect work.' Faith is led to the edge of the precipice, one step farther and all is over. Then God speaks, all but just too late, and yet 'right early.' The willingness to make the sacrifice is tested to the utmost, and being proved, the sacrifice is not required.

Abraham had said to Isaac, 'God will provide a lamb,' and the word 'provide' is that which appears in the name he gave to the place--Jehovah-_jireh_. The name, then, commemorated, not the servant's faith but the Lord's mercy, and the spirit of it was embodied in what became a popular saying, 'In the mount of the Lord it shall be provided.' If faith dwells there, its surrenders will be richly rewarded. How much more dear was Isaac to Abraham as they journeyed back to Beersheba! And whatever we lay on God's altar comes back a 'hundred-fold more in this life,' and brings in the world to come life everlasting.

Alexander Maclaren - Genesis 22:14 JEHOVAH JIREH

And Abraham called the name of that place Jehovah Jireh (that is, The Lord will provide) (Ge 22:14).

As these two, Abraham and Isaac, were traveling up the hill, the son bearing the wood and the father with the sad burden of the fire and the knife, the boy said: “Where is the lamb?” and Abraham, thrusting down his emotion and steadying his voice, said: “My son, God will provide Himself a lamb.” When the wonderful issue of the trial was plain before him and he looked back upon it, the one thought that rose to his mind was of how, beyond his meaning, his words had been true. So he named that place by a name that spoke nothing of his trial but everything of God's provision—“The Lord will see,” or “The Lord will provide.”

What the Words Mean

The words have become proverbial and threadbare as a commonplace of Christian feeling. But it may be worth our while to ask for a moment what it was exactly that Abraham expected the Lord to provide. We generally use the expression in reference to outward things and see in it the assurance that we shall not be left without the supply of the necessities for which, because God has made us to feel them, He has bound Himself to make provision. And most blessedly true is that application of them, and many a Christian heart in days of famine has been satisfied with the promise when the bread that was given has been scant.

But there is a meaning deeper than that in the words. It is true, thank God! that we may cast all our anxiety about all outward things upon Him in the assurance that He who feeds the ravens will feed US, and that if lilies can blossom into beauty without care, we shall be held by our Father of more value than these. But there is a deeper meaning in the provision spoken of here. What was it that God provided for Abraham? What is it that God provides for us? A way to discharge the arduous duties which, when they are commanded, seem all but impossible for us and which, the nearer we come to them, look the more dreadful and seem the more impossible. And yet, when the heart has yielded itself in obedience and we are ready to do the thing that is enjoined, there opens up before us a possibility provided by God, and strength comes to us equal to our day, and some unexpected gift is put into our hand which enables us to do the thing of which Nature said: “My heart will break before I can do it”; and in regard to which even Grace doubted whether it was possible for us to carry it through. If our hearts are set in obedience to the command, the farther we go on the path of obedience, the easier the command will appear, and to try to do it is to ensure that God will help us to do it.

This is the main provision that God makes, and it is the highest provision that He can make for there is nothing in this life that we need so much as to do the will of our Father in heaven. All outward wants are poor compared with that. The one thing worth living for, the one thing which in being secured we are blessed and being missed we are miserable, is compliance in heart with the commandment of our Father, and the compliance wrought out in life. So, of all gifts that He bestows upon us and of all the abundant provision out of His rich storehouses is not this the best, that we are made ready for any required service? When we get to the place we shall find some lamb “caught in the thicket by its horns”; and heaven itself will supply what is needful for our burnt offering.

And then there is another thought here which, though we cannot certainly say it was in the speaker's mind, is distinctly in the historian's intention, “The Lord will provide.” Provide what? The lamb for the burnt offering which He has commanded. It seems probable that that bare mountaintop which Abraham saw from afar and named Jehovah Jireh, was the mountain-top on which afterward the Temple was built. And perhaps the wood was piled for the altar on that very piece of primitive rock which still stands visible, though Temple and altar have long since gone, and which for many a day was the place of the altar on which the sacrifices of Israel were offered. It is no mere forcing of Christian meanings on to old stories but the discerning of that prophetic and spiritual element which God has impressed upon these histories of the past, especially in all their climaxes and crises, when we see in the fact that God provided the ram which became the appointed sacrifice, through which Isaac's life was preserved, a dim adumbration of the great truth that the only Sacrifice which God accepts for the world's sin is the Sacrifice which He Himself has provided.

This is the deepest meaning of all the sacrificial worship, as of Israel so of heathen nations—God Himself will provide a Lamb. The world had built altars, and Israel, by divine appointment, had its altar too. All these express the want which none of them can satisfy. They show that man needed a Sacrifice and that Sacrifice God has provided. He asked from Abraham less than He gives to us. Abraham's devotion was sealed and certified because he did not withhold his son, his only son, from God. And God's love is sealed because He has not withheld His only-begotten Son from us.

So this name that came from Abraham's grateful and wondering lips contains a truth which holds true in all regions of our wants. On the lowest level, the outward supply of outward needs; on a higher, the means of discharging hard duties and a path through sharp trials; and, on the highest of all, the spotless sacrifice which alone avails for the world's sins—these are the things which God provides.

The Conditions in the Case

So, note again on what conditions He provides them. The incident and the name became the occasion of a proverb, as the historian tells us, which survived down to the period of his writing, and probably long after, when men were accustomed to say, “In the mount of the Lord it shall be provided.” The provision of all sorts that we need has certain conditions as to the when and the where of the persons to whom it shall be granted. “In the mount of the Lord it shall be provided.” If we wish to have our outward needs supplied, our outward weaknesses strengthened, power and energy sufficient for duty, wisdom for perplexity, a share in the Sacrifice which takes away the sins of the world, we receive them all on the condition that we are found in the place where all God's provision is treasured. If a man chooses to sit outside the baker's shop, he may starve on its threshold. If a man will not go into the bank, his pockets will be empty though there may be bursting coffers there to which he has a right. And if we will not ascend to the hill of the Lord, and stand in His holy place by simple faith, and by true communion of heart and life, God's amplest provision is nought to us; and we are empty in the midst of affluence. Get near to God if you would partake of what He has prepared. Live in fellowship with Him by simple love and often meditate on Him if you would drink in of His fullness. And be sure of this, that howsoever within His house the stores are heaped and the treasury full, you will have neither part nor lot in the matter unless you are children of the house. “In the mount of the Lord it shall be provided.” And round it there is a waste wilderness of famine and of death.

When the Provision Comes

Further, note when the provision is realized. When the man is standing with the knife in his hand and the next minute it will be red with the son's blood—then the call comes: “Abraham!” and then he sees the ram caught in the thicket. There had been a long weary journey from their home away down in the dry, sunny south, a long tramp over the rough hills, a toilsome climb with a breaking heart in the father's bosom, and a dim foreboding gradually stealing on the child's spirit. But there was no sign of respite or of deliverance. Slowly he piles together the wood, and yet no sign. Slowly he binds his boy and lays him on it, and still no sign. Slowly, reluctantly, and yet resolvedly, he unsheathes the knife, and yet no sign. He lifts his hand, and then it comes.

That is God's way always. Up to the very edge we are driven before His hand is put out to help us. Such is the law, not only because the next moment is always necessarily dark nor because God will deal with us in any arbitrary fashion and play with our fears, but because it is best for us that we should be forced to desperation and out of desperation should “pluck the flower, safety.” It is best for us that we should be brought to say, “My foot slippeth!” and then, just as our toes are sliding upon the glacier, the help comes and “Thy mercy held me up.” “The Lord is our helper, and that right early.” When He delays, it is not to trifle with us but to do us good by the sense of need as well as by the experience of deliverance. At the last moment, never before it, never until we have found out how much we need it, and never too late, comes the Helper.

So “it is provided” for the people that quietly and persistently tread the path of duty and go wherever His hand leads them without asking anything about where it does lead. The condition of the provision is our obedience of heart and will. To Abraham doing what he was commanded, though his heart was breaking as he did it, the help was granted—as it always will be.

What to Do with the Provision

And so, lastly, note what we are to do with the provision when we get it.

Abraham christened the anonymous mountaintop, not by a name that reminded him or others of his trial, but by a name that proclaimed God's deliverance. He did not say anything about his agony or about his obedience. God spoke about that, not Abraham. He did not want these to be remembered, but what he desired to hand on to later generations was what God had done for him. Oh! dear friends, is that the way in which we look back upon life? Many a bare, bald mountaintop in your career and mine we have names for. Are they names that commemorate our sufferings or God's blessings? When we look back on the past, what do we see? Times of trial or time of deliverance? Which side of the wave do we choose to look at, the one that is smitten by the sunshine or the one that is all black and purple in the shadow? The sea looked at from the one side will be all a sunny path, and from the other, dark as chaos. Let us name the heights that lie behind us, visible to memory, by names that commemorate, not the troubles that we had on them, but the deliverances that on them we received from God.

This name enshrines the duty of commemoration—yes! and the duty of expectation. “The Lord will provide.” How do you know that, Abraham? And his answer is, “Because the Lord did provide.” That is a shaky kind of argument if we use it about one another. Our resources may give out, our patience may weary. If it is a storehouse that we have to go to, all the com that is treasured in it will be eaten up some day; but if it is to some boundless plain that grows it that we go, then we can be sure that there will be a harvest next year as there has been a harvest last.

And so we have to think of God not as a storehouse but as the soil from which there comes forth, year by year and generation after generation, the same crop of rich blessings for the needs and the hungers of every soul. If we have to draw from reservoirs we cannot say, “I have gone with my pitcher to the well six times, and I shall get it filled at the seventh.” It is more probable that we shall have to say, “I have gone so often that I durst not go any more”; but if we have to go not to a well but to a fountain, then the oftener we go, the surer we become that its crystal cool waters will always be ready for us. “Thou hast been with me in six troubles; and in seven thou wilt not forsake me,” is a bad conclusion to draw about one another; but it is the right conclusion to draw about God.

And so, as we look back upon our past lives and see many a peak gleaming in the magic light of memory, let us name them all by names that will throw a radiance of hope on the unknown and unclimbed difficulties before us and say, as the patriarch did when he went down from the mount of his trial and deliverance, “The Lord will provide.”

JEHOVAH JIREH
John MacDuff

"This is the resting place, let the weary rest; and this is the place of repose"—

"The Lord will provide." Genesis 22:14

The Elim-palms only environed Israel's temporary resting-place—marked one of the many wilderness camping-grounds on the way to Canaan. In the very next words after the recorded tent-pitching by the twelve wells, we read, "Then they left Elim" (Ex. 16:1).

If "Get up, go away! For this is not your resting place," be the watchword for all God's pilgrims still, what, it may be asked, of the untrodden journey? What of tomorrow's march? What of the unknown future?

"The Lord will provide!" That future is in the keeping of the God of the pillar-cloud, and we may well leave it there. These refreshing palm-groves at one encampment may well be taken as pledges of His faithfulness and loving care, until the last stage of the wilderness journey be reached, and 'the fields of living green' appear in view.

How beautiful the impress of the Divine hand in the works of outer nature. Every blade of grass, every forest leaf, how perfect, in symmetry of form, and in tenderness of color! With what exquisite elegance He has pencilled every flower, delicately poised it on its stalk, or spread a pillow for its head on the tender sod! The God who has "so clothed the grass of the field," will not be forgetful of the lowliest of His covenant family.

It is for us to say, as we lie passive in His hands, "O Lord, come to my aid!" He, portioning out for us as He sees fit, and having His own infinite reasons for what may appear perplexing to us—we, with an unquestioning and unreasoning faith, fully trusting His power, tenderness, vigilance, love. He does not consult our short-sighted wisdom in what He does. The clouds do not consult the earth as to when they shall visit its fruits and flowers—its cornfields and forests, with their watery treasures. The pining plant does not dictate to the cloud-reservoirs as to when they shall unseal their hidden stores. These give a kindly and needful supply "in due season," and the earth has never yet (for six thousand years) had to complain of them as miserly distributors of their Creator's bounty.

So it is with the soul. He who makes the clouds His chariot—who opens and shuts at will the windows of heaven—locking and unlocking the springs of the great deep—says to all His people, 'Trust Me; I will give you all needed present blessings; I will come to you like the winter rains, like the spring rains that water the earth. I do not pledge myself as to how or when the rain shall fall—but I will send down showers in season; there will be showers of blessing.'

Happy for us, if we are able to respond with a declaration of entire confidence in a present, personal God, in whom we live, and move, and have our being! Behold the sun of the natural heavens, the great central luminary—a dumb unfeeling mass of matter—holding its dependent planets in their orbits, controlling their unerring movements; they, in calm, silent submission, yielding obedience to the will of this sovereign lord! How much more may we hold on our way in the orbit of undeviating obedience, exulting in Jehovah's ever-present power and love; so that in the most remote solitude, as well as the most dense crowd, we can say, 'Alone, yet not alone, for my Father is with me!'

And if we thus confide in God, He will confide in us. Beautiful are the words of the prophet, "You meet him who rejoices and works righteousness; those that remember You in Your ways." Those that remember You and confide in You, "You meet them!" The Lord comes out halfway to meet the confiding heart.

Let us listen to the words of Him who spoke as never man spoke, "Take no thought" (that is to say, Do not be over-anxious or over-careful) "for tomorrow." That 'tomorrow' is in the hands of One boundless in His resources, infinite in His compassion. He not only distributes the destiny of His people, but He molds and adapts them for their lots and positions in life. Just as in outer nature He adapts the varied classes in the vegetable world for different climates. As the palm was the tree of the desert, the olive that of Palestine, the cedar, of Lebanon—so is it with every tree of righteousness. They too are "the planting of the Lord;" and wherever planted, there, in their varied ways, they may 'glorify' Him.

Do not charge God with insincerity, when He declares, through His inspired Apostle, that all things work together for good to those who love Him. "No good thing will He withhold from those who walk uprightly." If He leads you along a rough and thorny road, hear His loving voice thus reassuring your faith and lulling your misgivings, 'Your heavenly Father knows that you have need of all these things.' He foresees and anticipates every emergency that can overtake you. He can ward off every danger, and disarm every foe. As you may be now surveying the yet-untrodden road, leading 'uphill and downhill, to the city of habitation,' remember the words of Him who has said, "I will never leave you, nor forsake you."

"Leave, oh leave your fond aspirings,
Bid your restless heart be still;
Cease, oh cease your vain desirings,
Only seek your Father's will.
Leave behind your faithless sorrow,
And your every anxious care;
He who only knows the morrow
Can for you its burden bear.
Leave the darkness gathering o'er thee,
Leave the shadow land behind;
Realms of glory lie before thee,
Enter in, and welcome find."

"Commit your way to the Lord; trust also in Him,
and He shall bring it to pass."
Psalm 37:5

JEHOVAH-JIREH:
A TREATISE ON PROVIDENCE
William S. Plumer, 1865

Abraham named the place "Jehovah-jireh." (The Lord Will Provide) This name has now become a proverb: "On the mountain of the Lord it will be provided." Genesis 22:14

I would assert eternal Providence,

And justify the ways of God to men.

"Our God is in heaven and does whatever He pleases!" Psalm 115:3

"For I know that the Lord is great; our Lord is greater than all gods. The Lord does whatever He pleases in heaven and on earth, in the seas and all the depths!" Psalm 135:5-6

"Hallelujah! For the Lord our God, the Almighty, reigns!" Revelation 19:6

Providence Asserted
Providence Defined
God's Providence Results from His Nature. It is Holy, Just, Benevolent,

Wise, Supreme and Sovereign, Sure and Stable, Powerful and Irresistible

Some Explanation of the Delays of Providence in Punishing the Wicked

How Divine Forbearance Should Be Regarded—and How it May Be Abused

Several Principles of the Doctrine of Providence over Wicked Men Illustrated in the Life and End of Judas Iscariot

The Mysteries of God's Providence
Practical Remarks on the Mysteries of God's Providence
The Special Kindness of Providence Towards Godly Men
Practical Remarks on the Special Kindness of Providence Towards Godly Men
Alternate Light and Darkness in Providence,, Illustrated in the Case of Job
God's Providence Towards His Church Renders Unnecessary All

Tormenting Fears Respecting Her Safety and Final Triumph

Providences are long chains with many links in them. If one link were missing, the event would fail. But it is God's chain and God's plan. The thing is fixed. The outcome is not doubtful.

"I know that You can do all things; no plan of Yours can be thwarted." Job 42:2

"My purpose will stand, and I will do all that I please. What I have said, that will I bring about; what I have planned, that will I do." Isaiah 46:10-11

"The plan of Him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of His will." Ephesians 1:11

"This is the plan determined for the whole world." Isaiah 14:26

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GE 22:1-18 GOD DID TEMPT ABRAHAM

The trial of Abraham

I. THE CIRCUMSTANCES OF ABRAHAM WHEN THIS TRIAL CAME. His hope was set on Isaac as the medium through which God’s promise could be fulfilled, and he had been encouraged by observing him rising year after year to the age and stature of manhood.

II. GOD’S CONNECTION WITH THE TRIAL. He subjected Abraham to a testing trial in order to prove his faith.
1. There was no attempt in the action of God, bearing upon Abraham, in the least to diminish the patriarch’s affection for his son.
2. In the command binding Abraham to offer up his son there was an assertion of Jehovah’s right to be regarded as the supreme object of His creatures’ love.

III. ABRAHAM UNDER AND AFTER THE TRIAL.
1. His fear of God was tested by this trial.
2. His faith in God was tested by the trial. But the result was blessed to him in these four ways:
(1) He obtained an attestation from heaven of his fear and of his faith.
(2) He obtained a new revelation of Messiah as the atoning Surety.
(3) He brought back with him alive his only son, whom he loved.
(4) He held “Jehovah-jireh” in the grasp of his faith, and had Him pledged to care for him always.

Application:
1. Learn that true faith is sure to be tested faith.
2. Learn that all love must be subordinated to love for God.
3. Learn that the only way to be truly strong is to have faith in God.
4. Learn that God will never fail under the leanings of faith.
5. Learn from this text that no one need expect an attestation of his fear and faith except when these are revived and exercised. (J. Kennedy, D. D.)

Abraham’s trial

It is by trial that the character of a Christian is formed. Each part of his character, like every part of his armour, is put to the proof; and it is the proof that tests, after all, the strength both of resistance and defence and attack.

I. The voice of God to Abraham was NOT HEARD IN AUDIBLE WORDS; it was a voice in the soul constantly directing him to duty and self-sacrifice. The voice told him, as he thought--I do not for a moment say as God meant--that his duty was to sacrifice his son. The memories of olden days may have clung and hovered about him. He remembered the human sacrifices he had seen in his childhood; the notion of making the gods merciful by some action of man may still have lingered in his bosom. We have here the first instance of that false and perverse interpretation which made the letter instead of the spirit to rule the human heart.

II. As Abraham increases in faith HE GROWS IN KNOWLEDGE, until at last more and more he can hear “Lay not thy hand upon thy son.” “God will provide Himself a sacrifice” bursts from his lips before the full light bursts upon his soul. In this conflict Abraham’s will was to do all that God revealed for him to do. In every age and in every station faith is expressed in simple dutifulness, and this faith of Abraham is, indeed, of the mind of Christ. We may be perplexed, but we need not be in despair. When we arrive on Mount Moriah, then the meaning of the duty God requires of us will be made clear. And as we approach the unseen, and our souls are more schooled and disciplined to God, we shall find that to offer ourselves and lose ourselves is to find ourselves in God more perfect. (Canon Rowsell.)

Abraham’s sacrifice
The birth of Isaac brought Abraham nearer to God; though he had believed in Him so long, it was as if he now believed in Him for the first time--so much is he carried out of himself, such a vision has he of One who orders ages past and to come, and yet is interested for the feeblest of those whom He has made. Out of such feelings comes the craving for the power to make some sacrifice, to find a sacrifice which shall not be nominal but real.

I. The Book of Genesis says, “God did tempt Abraham.” The seed did not drop by accident into the patriarch’s mind; it was not self-sown; it was not put into him by the suggestion of some of his fellows. It was his Divine Teacher who led him on to his terrible conclusion, “The sacrifice that I must offer is that very gift that has caused me all my joy.”

II. Abraham must know what God’s meaning is: he is certain that in some way it will be proved that He has not designed His creature to do a wicked and monstrous thing, and yet that there is a purpose in the revelation that has been made to him; that a submission and sacrifice, such as he has never made yet, are called for now. He takes his son; he goes three days’ journey to Mount Moriah; he prepares the altar and the wood and the knife; his son is with him, but he has already offered up himself. And now he is taught that this is the offering that God was seeking for; that when the real victim has been slain, the ram caught in the thicket is all that is needed for the symbolical expression of that inward oblation.

III. When this secret has been learnt, every blessing became an actual vital blessing; every gift was changed into a spiritual treasure. Abraham had found that sacrifice lies at the very root of our being; that our lives depend upon it; that all power to be right and to do right begins with the offering up of ourselves, because it is thus that the righteous Lord makes us like Himself. (F. D. Maurice, M. A.)

Abraham’s temptation
A temptation had come upon Abraham; he thought that it was the right thing to do, and that he was called to do it; so after brooding over it intently for several days, he was irresistibly drawn to take the knife for the purpose of slaying his son.

I. Since the child of promise had been born to him, his natural tendency had been to repose on Isaac rather than on God. After a while he would awake to the troubled consciousness that it was not with him as in other days; that he had sunk from the serene summit on which he once stood. Brooding thus from day to day he came to feel as if a voice were calling him to prove himself by voluntarily renouncing the son that had been given him. He was driven wild, fevered into madness, through the fervour of his desire to maintain trust in the great Father, even as now men sometimes are by the lurid burning of distrust.

II. But did not God tempt him? you say. Is it not so recorded? Yes, undoubtedly; in the patriarch’s mind it was God tempting him. The narrative is a narrative of what took place in his mind; the whole is a subjective scene, portrayed objectively. The old Canaanite practice of offering human sacrifices suggested to Abraham the cultivation and manifestation of trust by immolating his son.

III. Although God did not suggest the crime, yet He was in the trial--the trial of maintaining and fostering trust without allowing it to lead him by perversion into crime.

IV. We see God penetrating and disengaging the grace in Abraham which lay behind the wrongness. He divided between the true motive of the heart and the false conclusion of the weak brain. He notes and treasures every bit of good that blushes amidst our badness. (S. A. Tipple.)

The crucial test

I. THERE COME TIMES IN HUMAN LIFE WHEN MEN MUST UNDERGO A CRUCIAL TEST. A man can have but one trial in his lifetime; one great sorrow, beside which all other griefs dwindle into insignificance.

II. THE CRUCIAL TEST CAN ONLY TAKE PLACE IN REFERENCE TO THAT WHICH WE LOVE AND VALUE MOST. DO we so hold that which is dearest to us upon earth, that we could surrender it at the Divine bidding?

III. Abraham’s answer, “My son, God will provide Himself a lamb,” IS THE SUM OF ALL MEDIATORIAL HISTORY; it is the main discovery of love. After all, what has the world done but to find an altar? It found the Cross; it never could have found the Saviour.

IV. The narrative shows WHAT GOD INTENDS BY HIS DISCIPLINE OF MAN. He did not require Isaac’s life; He only required the entire subordination of Abraham’s will. (J. Parker, D. D.)

Lessons from the trial of Abraham
1. We learn from this passage the lesson that God taught Abraham that all souls and all beings are His, and that our greatest and dearest possessions are beneath His control and within His grasp.
2. We learn also a lesson of obedience. Abraham was called upon to make the greatest possible sacrifice, a sacrifice that seemed to clash with the instinct of reason, affection, and religion alike, and yet without a murmur he obeyed the command of God. We learn, too, that for wise reasons God sometimes permits the trial of His people’s faith--not to weaken, but to strengthen it, for He knows that if it be genuine, trial will have the same effect which the storm produces on the kingly oak, only rooting it more firmly in the soil.
4. We learn that God’s provisions are ever equal to His people’s wants. Man’s extremity is God’s opportunity. He giveth to all men liberally and upbraideth not. (J. W. Atkinson.)

Abraham offering Isaac

All the elements of piety were in this act. The voice of the Lord heard and obeyed is essential to religion. The unshaken conviction that all He requires is best, though one lose thereby all but Himself, is the substance of religion. Abraham heard and did and trusted. Thus he became our worthy example.

I. His TRIAL. What could it mean? Abraham had the traditions and prejudices of his time. No man can be much above them. With all the manifestations of Jehovah to him, there yet lingered in his mind the common ideas of God and of His requirements which the common people had. He was in conflict between the two. The sense of sin and guilt was universal; the hope of propitiation as well. Human sacrifice was common. It represented the most stern exaction by the offended deity and the greatest gift which the transgressor could make. Popular custom helped the conceit in the patriarch. While heathen were so ready to show their faith in the false god, much more must he exhibit as great for the true. Could he withhold the choicest thing while imagining the Almighty asked for it, then his was a partial, not a single and complete, fealty. Isaac must not rival Jehovah in his affection. More and more plain the issue became, till his intense impressions seemed the solemn accents of his Maker, bidding him take the precious life. So far, at least, must he be willing to blot out every means by which his darling desire might be gained. Was not this an early illustration of the crucial test: “He that loveth son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me”?

II. HIS OBEDIENCE. “Doubtless,” one says, “while Abraham lifted up the knife to slay his son, the sun was turned to darkness to him, the stars left their places, and earth and heaven vanished from his sight. To the eye of sense, all was gone that life had built up, and the promise had come actually to an end for evermore; but to the friend of God all was still as certain as ever--all absolutely sure and fixed. The end, the promise, nay even the son of the promise--even he, in the fire of the burnt-offering--was not gone, because that was near and close at hand which could restore: the great Power which could reverse everything. The heir was safe in the strong hope of him who accounted that God was able to raise him up even from the dead.” The offering, so far as the offerer was concerned, had been made. His obedience to the word he thought to hear was perfect. God’s will and his were one.

III. His ACCEPTANCE. From that lofty summit in the land of Moriah there went up to heaven the sweet savour of acceptable sacrifice before any fire was kindled on the altar. So in the grossest darkness it may be still, where they who know not of the true God bring as perfect a gift. But piety and humaneness alike impel all who have heard the protest from the lips of Jehovah to speed with it to them whose sacrificial knives are about to be bathed in the blood of their firstborn. Thus again Christ arrests the devout and teaches them His righteousness.

IV. HIS DELIVERANCE. The place was “Jehovah-jireh “ indeed, for the Lord bad provided Himself the lamb for the burnt-offering. The sacrifice in its outward form should not fail. Here was the Divine sanction of the method of substitution. Here was foreshadowed the ritual of Tabernacle and Temple, and, most dimly, “the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.” Isaac need not die, but the animal must. We need not perish, but the Christ must give His flesh and blood for the life of the world. The victim was God’s choice in the first instance: He was in the last. In the smoke and flames of this first sacrifice ascended not only the tribute of a penitent and adoring soul, but also the unutterable gratitude for a life given back as from the dead. (DeWitt S. Clark.)

Abraham’s trial, obedience, and reward

I. ABRAHAM’S TRIAL.
1. Purpose of this trial. Not to discover something unknown; but to test the strength of a recognized faith. To illustrate the gift of Christ; whose day Abraham saw afar off.
2. The nature of this trial.
(1) The sacrifice of a son. An only son. A well-beloved son.
(2) By the father’s own hands.
(3) A son of promise.
Through whom was expected the fulfilment of the covenant. In whom this great believer’s hopes centred. What is the trial of our faith as compared with this? How little does our faith in God call us to surrender. Yet the “trial of our faith is more precious than of gold which perisheth.”

II. ABRAHAM’S OBEDIENCE.
1. He did not wait for the repetition of the command, nor demand additional evidence concerning it. Did not imagine he might have mistaken its nature. Did not question the love or wisdom of God. Did not wait till he perfectly understood its purpose.
2. It was prompt. To hear was to obey. Rose early. Prepared at once.
3. It was ruled by precedence. Told no one his purpose. What might Sarah and Isaac have done or said to hinder the execution of the plan? Conceals it from his young men. The wood was cleft at home and taken with him. There might be none on the spot. That might be a hindrance.
4. It was marked by great self-control. Does not by manner express a mental burden. The affecting conversation with Isaac by the way.
5. It was distinguished by an heroic confidence in God. The Lord will provide. He fully believed he should return to the young men with Isaac. Expected he would be raised from the dead (Rom 4:16-22).

III. ABRAHAM’S REWARD. Having built an altar, he bound his son. Non-resistance of Isaac (“Jesus, the Son of God, became obedient unto death.” “No man taketh My life from Me,” &c. Isaac, at twenty-five years of age, might have resisted, but did not). Learn--
1. Receive with submission the trial of our faith.
2. Cheerfully and promptly obey God.
3. The Lord has provided. Jesus died willingly. (J. C. Gray.)

Temptation a trial

When a person took the first Napoleon a shot-proof coat of mail, the emperor fired many shots at it, whilst the inventor had it on. Finding it answered, the emperor gave the maker a reward. Storms of trial, sacrifices to be made, obedience required, or loving services demanded, will test us. Constantine thus tested the Christians in his household, when he required them to give up their religion under a heavy penalty. Those, however, who were faithful he took into his particular favour and service.
Trials reveal God to us

It is the mission of trouble to make earth worth most and heaven worth more. I suppose sometimes you have gone to see a panorama, and the room has been darkened where you were sitting--this light put out, and that light put out, until the room was entirely darkened where you sat. Then the panorama passed before you, and you saw the towns and villages, the cities and the palaces. And just so God in this world comes to us and puts out this light of joy, this light of worldly prosperity, and this light of satisfaction; and when He has made it all dark around us, then He makes to pass before our souls the palaces of heaven and the glories that never die. (Dr. Talmage.)

Abraham’s faith tried and triumphant

The significance of the transaction is rooted in the fact that Abraham was not a mere private individual, but in a very special sense a representative man. God’s communications to him were made, not for his own sake alone, but also for that of those who should come after him. There was a revelation through Abraham as well as to him; and in this transaction God was seeking not only to develop Abraham’s faith to its highest exercise, but at the same time to instruct him and all his spiritual children in their duty to their covenant Lord. It was literal fact, but it was also acted parable. I would say that the whole story was meant to reveal the universal law to this effect, that what is born of God must be consecrated to God; that the children of promise are at the same time the children of consecration, and so there is no more difficulty in the command to sacrifice Isaac than there is in the injunction to cast out Ishmael. Both alike arose out of the representative character of Abraham and his seed, and through both alike a revelation has been made for all time. The one says to unbelievers, “Ye must be born again”; the other says to believers, “I beseech you by the mercies of God that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable, unto God, which is your reasonable service.” The whole transaction, therefore, literal fact as it was, was at the same time the acted hieroglyphic of a spiritual revelation foreshadowing the self-sacrifice of the Christian to his Lord. But now leaving the merely expository for the time, let us take with us one or two practical lessons suggested by the whole subject.

1. And in the first place we may learn that the people of God should expect trial on the earth’. Here is one of the greatest saints subjected to the severest of tests, and that not as an isolated experience but as the last of a series which began when he was called to leave his country and his kindred in the land of the Chaldees. So when we are required to pass through ordeals that seem to us inexplicable let us not imagine that some strange thing has happened to us. And Tholuck is right when he says: “I find in all Christians who have passed through much tribulation, a certain quality of ripeness which I am of opinion can be acquired in no other school. Just as a certain degree of solar heat is necessary to bring the finest sorts of fruit to perfection, so is fiery trial indispensable for ripening the inner man.” Nor is this all: trial may come upon the believer for the sake of others rather than for his own. The chemist darkens the room when he would show some of his finest experiments; and when God designs to let others see what His grace can enable His people to endure, He darkens their history by trial. So God, by our trials, may be seeking to show through us what His grace can do; may be making manifest the reality of His presence with His people in the fire, in such a way as to bring others in penitence to His feet. Thus we too may vicariously endure, and so enter into what Paul has called “the fellowship” of the Saviour’s sufferings. What a sting does that take out of many of our trials!

2. But we may learn in the second place, that if we would stand trial thoroughly we must meet it in faith. Tribulation by itself will not improve our characters. The patriarch did not know the way God was taking with him; but he knew God. He had received such proof of His tenderness, His faithfulness, and His wisdom in the past that he could trust Him now; and so putting his hand in the Divine grasp, he was once more upheld by God’s strength. Andrew Fuller has well said that a man has only as much faith as he can command in the day of trial.

3. Finally, we may learn that faith triumphant is always rewarded. At the end of this dreadful ordeal the Lord renewed the covenant with Abraham; and in the belief of many writers, it was on this occasion that he was permitted to see Christ’s day and to rejoice in the assurance thereby given him that his hope should never be belied. (W. M. Taylor, D. D.)

Abraham’s trial

I. ITS LEGALITY. Would God command to kill who saith, Thou shalt not kill?
(1) The supreme Lawgiver, who made that law, can out of His uncontrollable sovereignty, dispense with His own law.
(2) God did not command Abraham to do this, as it was an act of rebellion against His own moral law (which was not now promulgated, as after by Moses) nor against the law of nature, which is writ in every man’s heart, and so in Abraham’s (Rom 2:14-15), but as it was an act of obedience to the great Lawgiver; and therefore it was necessary that Abraham should well know it was God, and not the devil, who tempted him to this act, which in itself seemed so unnatural for a father to kill his own son, and wherein God seemed so contrary to Himself, and to His own positive precepts and promises; this Abraham knew well,
(a) from special illumination;
(b) from familiar experience of God’s speaking to him, whose voice he knew as well as the voice of his wife Sarah’s.
(c) This voice came not to him in a dream (which would have been more uncertain, and less distinguishable from the devil’s deceit), but while Abraham was awake; for it is not said that he stayed till he was awaked out of sleep, but immediately he rose up and addressed himself to his business, which intimates he understood his author from the plainest manner of speaking to him, without any ambiguity in so arduous an affair.

II. What were the DIFFICULTIES of Abraham’s duty under this command of God?
1. God saith not to him, Take thy servants, but thy son. Oh then what a cutting, killing command was this to Abraham, Take (not thy servant, but) thy son!
2. Thy only son. Had he had many sons, the trial had been more bearable. Here was another aggravation; for a tree to have but one branch and to have that lopped off; for a body to have but one member, and to have that dismembered.
3. Yet higher, Whom thou lovest (Gen 22:2). Isaac was a gracious and dutiful son, obedient both to his earthly and to his heavenly Father, and therefore Abraham did love him the more; had he been some graceless son, his grief had been the less.
4. Higher than that, Isaac was the son of God’s promise--In him shall thy seed be called. So he was the son of all his father’s hope of posterity, yet his expectation hereof, and of the accomplishment of God’s promise (given to relieve him, when his mouth was out of taste with all His other mercies), as victory (Gen 14:1-24.), protection and provision (Gen 15:1): he could take no joy in his former conquest or present promise, because childless (Gen 5:2)--must by this means be cut off in the offering up of Isaac.
5. But the greatest conflict of all was, that the Messiah was promised to come of Isaac, and so the salvation of the world did seem to perish with Isaac’s perishing.
Notwithstanding all these difficulties, Abraham acts his part of obedience--
1. With all alacrity and readiness to obey, he rose up early (Gen 22:3), making no dilatory work about it. Thus David did, saying, I made haste, and delayed not (Psa 119:60).
2. The constancy and continuance of this his ready obedience it is a wonder how his heart was kept in such an obedient frame for three days together, all the time of his travelling from Beersheba to Mount Moriah.
3. Abraham’s prudence in leaving his servants and the ass at the foot of the hill (Gen 22:5).
4. Abraham’s confidence herein.
(1) Speaking prophetically, we will both of us come again to God Gen 22:5), and
(2) God will provide Himself a lamb (Gen 22:8). Abraham believed to receive his son again from the dead (Heb 11:19). Yet this cannot be the genuine sense. As Abraham did, so every child of Abraham ought to evidence their fear and love to God (Gen 22:12). (C. Ness.)

Trial of Abraham

This is the most extraordinary command which we find in Scripture. In order to set it in the most intelligible and instructive light, I shall make the following inquiries.

I. LET US INQUIRE, WHETHER GOD HAD A RIGHT TO GIVE THIS COMMAND TO ABRAHAM.
1. In the first place, God did not command Abraham to murder Isaac, or to take away his life from malice prepense. He required him only to offer him a burnt sacrifice; and though this implied the taking away of life, yet it did not imply anything of the nature of murder.
2. In the next place, it must be allowed that God Himself had an original and independent right to take away that life from Isaac, which He had of His mere sovereignty given him. It is a Divine and self-evident truth, that He has a right to do what He will with His own creatures. And this right God not only claims, but constantly exercises, in respect to the lives of men. He taketh away, and who can hinder Him? And He takes away when, and where, and by whom He pleases.
3. Farthermore, God has a right to require men to do that at one time which He has forbidden them to do at another. Though He had forbidden men to offer human sacrifices in general, yet He had a right to require Abraham, in particular, to offer up Isaac as a burnt sacrifice. And after He had required him to sacrifice Isaac, He had a right to forbid him to do it, as He actually did.

II. WHETHER ABRAHAM COULD KNOW THAT THIS COMMAND CAME FROM GOD. Now it must be granted by all, that if Abraham did sacrifice Isaac, or offer him upon the altar, he really thought God did require him to do it; and, if he did really think so, it must have been owing either to his own heated imagination, or to the delusion of some evil spirit, or else to some real evidence of God’s requiring him to sacrifice his son. But it is evident that it could not be owing to his own heated imagination; because there was nothing in nature to lead him to form such an imagination. The command was contrary to everything that God had before required of him; it was contrary to what God had revealed in respect to human sacrifices; and it was contrary to all the natural instincts, inclinations, and feelings of the human heart. Nor is there any better reason to think that he was under the delusion of some evil spirit. We can by no means suppose that God would suffer such an excellent man as Abraham to be deluded in such an extraordinary case, by the great deceiver; nor that Satan would be disposed to tempt Abraham to do what he really thought would be for the glory of God. Nor can we suppose, if Satan viewed it as a criminal action, that he would have restrained him from committing the crime. But if Abraham was not led to think that God required him to sacrifice his son, by a wild imagination, nor by the delusion of an evil spirit, then we are constrained to conclude that he had clear and conclusive evidence of the command’s coming from God.

III. WHY GOD COMMANDED ABRAHAM TO SACRIFICE HIS SON.
1. It is evident that Abraham’s offering Isaac upon the altar was a lively type or representation of God’s offering Christ as a sacrifice for the sins of the world.
2. God meant, by the command in the text, to try or prove whether Abraham loved Him sincerely and supremely.

IV. WHETHER THIS COMMAND TO ABRAHAM ANSWERED THE END WHICH GOD PROPOSED IN GIVING IT. And we find that Abraham did actually and punctually obey both the letter and spirit of the command; by which he gave an infallible evidence that he loved God sincerely and supremely.
1. He obeyed, in contrariety to all the natural feelings and affections of the human heart.
2. The cheerfulness and promptitude with which he obeyed the Divine command increase the evidence of the sincerity and supremacy of his love to God.
3. His obedience to the command to sacrifice his son was obedience to the mere will of God; which renders it, in the highest possible degree, evidential of his real and supreme love to Him.
Improvement--
1. It appears from Abraham’s ready obedience to the command in the text, that those who are willing to obey God, can very easily understand the real meaning of his commands.
2. Did Abraham exhibit the highest evidence of his sincere and supreme love to God, by obedience to His command? Then we learn that this is the only way for all good men to exhibit the highest evidence of their sincere and supreme love to God.
3. It appears from the obedience of Abraham to the Divine command, that all true obedience to God flows from pure disinterested love to Him.
4. It appears from God’s design in giving the command in the text, and from the effects of it, that Christians have no reason to think it strange concerning the fiery trials which they are called to endure. God has a good design in all their trials. (N. Emmons, D. D.)

Abraham’s trial

1. This trial is wholly unexpected. For several years the patriarch has been the recipient of great and uninterrupted prosperity. Instead of going through the bleak and barren desert he has been walking in the garden, which is smiling with the flowers of richness, fertility, and hope. How speedily may the heart be bereft of all joy and filled with poignant sorrow!

2. This trial is wholly unprecedented. Abraham is not a foreigner to suffering. He had been separated from his country and friends at the age of seventy-five. He had been driven by famine from the land of promise into a distant country. The companion of his youth and the affectionate partner of all his fortunes had been forced from him again and again. You may say, “I am the man that hath seen and felt affliction;” yet sterner calamities may be coming upon you than any you have ever experienced.

3. This trial is an assault upon the object which the patriarch loves and values most. He loves and values his son Ishmael. He loves and values his wife Sarah. He loves and values his own life. Isaac, however, is the son of promise, the root from which the final blossom is to be the Messiah, and on this account he must love and value him most of all. To slay him with his own hand, this is the climax of trial to Abraham--it cannot ascend higher. A man can only have one such trial in his lifetime. But if no such surrender has been demanded from us; then our trials have been only secondary. They have scattered a few blossoms, and swept away a little fruit, but they have not touched the root; the tree remains as healthy and vigorous as ever. Let us not heave one rebellious sigh, lest, instead of the wind, the whirlwind should come to us in all its terrific fury. (A. McAuslane, D. D.)

The temptation of Abraham
1. Trials increase with time.
2. There is a gradation in service, and the trial is in proportion to the rank.
3. God’s servants are tested most severely at their strongest point.
4. In proportion to the uses to be made of a thing, so is it tested.
5. In the Bible history individual virtues are tried in turn.

I. GOD TESTED ABRAHAM’S POWER OF SIMPLE OBEDIENCE.

II. GOD TESTS THE POWER OF PERFECT SURRENDER.

III. IN ALL GOD’S DEALINGS WITH MEN THERE IS A REVELATION, AND THE GREAT TRUTH UNFOLDED AT THE CROSS IS HERE IN GERM AND SEED. (Anon.)

Abraham’s great trial
1. No narrative in Scripture more solemn and affecting, more graphic in its delineation, than this.
2. Profound instruction here as to the power and reward of faith.

I. THE TIME AT WHICH THE TRIAL CAME. “After these things”--after all his rich and ripe experience, after all that be had done and suffered, after all that he had gained and lost, in his repeated trials, after all Divine promises and Divine manifestations. There is no guarantee that our worst trials are over, till we have sighed out our spirits upon the bosom of our great Father.

II. THE NATURE OF THE TRIAL ITSELF. What could be a greater contradiction than this, that the child in whose seed mankind was to be blessed, was now to be slain? Only let us yield implicit obedience to Divine commands, and contradictions will explain themselves; the mysteries of providence, of life and death, shall all be unfolded; for “the secret of the Lord is with them that fear Him.”

III. THE PURPOSE FOR WHICH THE TRIAL OCCURRED. It was the final and grand development of the patriarch’s faith; that was the end sought and attained. Not the sacrifice of Isaac, but of Abraham himself. When this was complete, it was enough (Homilist.)

Abraham’s victory

I. THE TRIAL.
1. An unexpected trial.
2. A trial between the present and the future.
3. A trial without any precedent.
4. A trial between man and God.

II. THE VICTORY.
1. A victory after a long struggle.
2. A complete victory over self.
3. A victory revealing the trust God had placed in him.
4. A victory which obtained fresh tokens of the Divine love.
Lessons:
1. That a religion without sacrifice is worthless to us.
2. The shadow directs our attention to the reality--the Saviour’s Cross. (Homilist.)

Perfect faith

I. THE TESTING OF FAITH.

II. GOD’S MANIFEST APPROVAL OF PERFECT FAITH.
1. God manifests His approval by abstracting the pain consequent on obedience to the command.
2. God manifests His approval by providing a sacrifice which shall be at once vicarious and a thank-offering.
3. God repeats His promise of blessing, and confirms it by a solemn covenant. (F. Hastings.)

Abraham’s sacrifice

I. HE SACRIFICED HIS OWN REASON. No argument. Simply faith.

II. HE SACRIFICED HIS OWN AMBITIOUS DESIRES. His only son was to be slain.

III. HE SACRIFICED NATURAL AFFECTION. TO murder an only child in cold blood required a strong nerve and a wondrous fixedness of purpose.

IV. HE SACRIFICED HIS OWN GOOD REPORT. Was willing to be branded as a murderer, for the sake of winning the approval of God. (Homilist.)

Faith’s trial; or, Abraham’s example practically applied

I. THE FATHER OF THE FAITHFUL. Example is an invariable element in every man’s education. More or less he is sure to be shaped by it.

II. ABRAHAM’S EXAMPLE ATTAINABLE.

Abraham is a favourite subject for the artist’s pencil. But in most of the paintings we behold a figure erect and commanding, his countenance ploughed with stern lines of determination, an eye which makes resistance quail and tremble, and features which display a natural decision of character capable of pursuing its object at any cost. You would think love an easy sacrifice for such a being; you would say at the very first glance, “I could tell beforehand that man would give up his all to accomplish his purpose; I can understand his offer of Isaac.” I recollect seeing a painting the very opposite of all this. Before me stood the Patriarch, a decrepid and weak old man; he had lost his stature, for years had bent him down; there was a shrinking back from the deed, a rebellion in every joint; his face harrowed with grief, wearing an expression of intense agony, and evidently appalled by the act it was contemplating; his arm half lifted up, and apparently questioning whether he should do the deed or not. My first impression was, “It is wrong, utterly wrong.” And yet there was something on that canvas which kept me gazing, and at last altered my opinion entirely. There was a certain speech about the uplifted eye which you could not mistake; there was a peculiar and inexplicable expression overshadowing the agony of feature; there was a heavenly something about the countenance which told you that, after all, the deed would be done, and that the struggles you saw were but the weakness of man contending in unequal and unavailing effort with the might of the Spirit. The man would evidently draw back, but the God would as evidently triumph. Human power was all directed to avoid the sacrifice; but heavenly power--God working in that refractory heart to will and to do of His good pleasure--would certainly consummate the offering. That painting was a faithful likeness. I recognized Abraham. The Patriarch was not by nature a firm man; much less was he a stern man of cold heart. There are facts of his previous life which prove him to have been originally of a somewhat shrinking and cowardly disposition. We look in vain for moral firmness in the case of Sarah’s sojourn in Egypt. He resorted to a falsehood as a safeguard against his fears lest strangers should slay him to obtain his wife; and notwithstanding he saw the evil and mischief resulting from this deception, he again practised it on Abimelech with the same purpose. His domestic life altogether indicates a pliant and yielding disposition. The short narration of Sarah’s imperious and overbearing conduct in Ishmael’s case (Gen 13:8-10) is very significant. The division of land with Lot goes to prove the same point; there is no stern demand of strict justice; he does not insist upon his due; he does not even award the nephew his portion of territory; but he gives up his right of adjudication, which he possessed by seniority and patriarchal title, and meekly does he allow his younger relative to select his own land and pasturage. Even in his prayer for Sodom, there evidently is seen the pitying and earnest, yet fearful and undecided suppliant: he does not sternly leave the city to its doom; he does not put forth one general supplication for mercy; but the ground of his petition is moved and shifted in a way, which, to say the least, is not the act of a firm unyielding nature. Yet if these proofs do not establish the contrary of constitutional boldness, there is at least no proof of its existence; there is nothing to indicate that the parent’s sacrifice had any sort of origin or support in natural disposition. We know that one who was weak in bodily presence, and in speech contemptible, was chosen out of the rest as the very chiefest of the apostles; and the probability is that one of the most infirm and naturally unlikely of all the Patriarchs was made strong out of weakness, and distinguished above many physical and mental Samsons, as a Father in grace. We are apt to consider such examples far above, out of our reach. We reckon them as giants from the womb, instead of giants by grace. We attribute to them natural powers which we have not. In fact we treat them as superhuman beings of a different race, and moving in a different sphere, But though the power provided is amply sufficient to enable us to emulate the faith of Abraham, yet you object, that you will not have the same scope for the exercise of that power; your circumstances are different; you are never likely to be commanded to take a son of special promise and slay him as a sacrifice to God. True, the deed is great, and probably, as a single act, it stands and will stand alone and unequalled; but there is often, as it were, a congeries of trials, which may even surpass, in its sum total, the amount of suffering which Abraham endured. A long succession of lesser sacrifices, following one on the heels of another, and keeping you in a state of constant depression for years, may call for more than the strength of faith required for Isaac’s sacrifice. Sustained labour--sorrow scattered over a large surface--is far more difficult to bear than any crushing but momentary load. A strong man may easily walk twenty-four miles a day for a fortnight together; but break up this distance, and distribute it over the entire day and night; compel him to walk half a mile in each half hour. The distance is the same, but the effect is altogether different. The harassed traveller cannot bear this unceasing drain on his strength; he has no unbroken rest, no time for nature to recruit before her energies are again taxed; and often has such an attempt ended in almost fatal exhaustion. There is an analogy between body and soul; a number of little trials are more than equal to a great one; like the half mile to each half hour, they keep the moral bow continually strained and bent, and thus tend to destroy its elasticity. You may kill a man with drops of water as well as by immersing him in a flood.

III. THE NATURE OF FAITH’S TRIAL.

God tries men; Satan tempts them. God sits as a refiner of silver, to purify it; Satan as a base coiner, to alloy it.

Both often use fire; but the fire of heaven burns out the dross, whilst the fire of hell amalgamates more and more base metal with the lump. The two operations are diametrically opposed, though the means are often the same. God sits as a refiner of His people; His object is to purify and not to punish; and hence our surest escape from sorrow is not to struggle against the sorrow itself, but against the sin which demanded it. But since God alone gives trial efficacy, why cannot He give the efficacy without the trial? of what use is trial? how does God employ it? Some speak of the believer’s trial as though it were a means employed by God, for His own information, to find out the qualities of our heart and the strength of our faith. But the Lord knows such facts without trial. Our Creator is not a mere spiritual experimentalist, who needs a long course of practical tests before He can arrive at the truth. His science is not inductive, but intuitive. A mere volition on His part is more searching than the most careful analysis of the chemist, or all the combination, separation, and comparison of the philosopher. A look of God can resolve the intricate mesh-work of the human heart into single strands, and make every spiritual pulse as apparent as though it were the heaving of a volcano. The Lord “knoweth our flame “--every part as well as all--every weakness as well as every faculty; andeven the unconceived thought--the “thought afar off “--is understood by Him. It is not necessary, then, that we should be put to the proof, in order that God may estimate our amount of faith and love; neither is it needful for our Maker to try our strength by actually piling burdens upon our shoulders, for He can tell to the very grain what we can bear, and what will crush us. The promise that He “will not suffer us to be tempted above that we are able to bear,” clearly implies a previous knowledge of the extent of our ability, Yes! God can weigh in the delicate balances of His Omniscience every power, bodily, mentally, or spiritual; a mere glance reveals to Him every weakness of our soul; and therefore trial is not intended to usurp the province of Omniscience, or to teach that which the Lord knows without teaching. Why, then, does God try His people? How does He employ trial? He aims, not at a knowledge of their condition, but at development of it. His object is to open out to your own eye the book of your heart, to display before you the letters which He Himself has already seen, and to pour such a light upon them that their true meaning and character may be understood by you. The frequent aim of sorrow is to “show My people their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins.” At other times trial is sent, not so much to point out actual sin, as to expose some internal weakness--some latent tendency to evil. There is a flaw in the metal, and since it has escaped your notice, God puts the lump in the proof-house, and that flaw is soon made visible--David’s impure affections, and Peter’s “fear of man,” were thus brought to the light. Or, perhaps, there is some muscle of the soul shrunken for the want of use--some talent buried and wrapt in a napkin--and temptation is to us as a gymnasium, strengthening that which was weak by athletic exercise, and gradually developing that “which was attenuated even to deformity, until the might of the Spirit has by trial so completely matured our strength that the babe in Christ stands forth in all the gnarled muscle and staining sinew of spiritual manhood.

IV. THE REALITY OF TRIAL.

Abraham’s offer of Isaac was not “a solemn farce,” as a scoffer has said; but it was a real sacrifice--real, as God who searches the heart counts reality. The father’s entire plan bears the impress of a fixed conviction that Isaac must die, and die by his parent’s hands. There are many who can behave most heroically with trial in the far and uncertain distance. So long as self-denials and sacrifices are indefinitely shadowed in the dim future, so long as they are problematical, who so ready as these pseudo-Abrahams to meet them! There have been sad instances of this spiritual dealing in promissory notes, given under the impression that no call for the money would ever be made, and that men may live, and satisfy both their neighbours and themselves, on the credit of this mere paper sacrifice. God does not require from us loud assertions of what we would do under circumstances which we never expect to occur; He does not desire us to tell the world how unflinchingly we would bear the tortures of persecution, and die in the flames for the sake of Christ; but He requires some practical and real proof of our obedience. Conditional faith is very easy; gifts ungiven do not cost much; zeal, without a field for work, is readily kindled; but the true proof that you possess the spirit of Abraham is this--are you ready in act or deed to give up this or that jewel as he gave up Isaac? Are you willing to surrender any possession, or endure any suffering, in the full belief that God will ask and receive it from you?

V. FAITH TRIED BY DUBIOUS OR CONFLICTING COMMANDS.

VI. FAITH TRIED BY A CONFLICTING PROMISE AND COMMAND.

he command to slay Isaac seemed to be given in the very face of previous promise. On Isaac was the covenanted future of Abraham built. “But My covenant will I establish with Isaac.” What a strange and mysterious contradiction! Here is the forefather of the Redeemer--the boy from whom Christ is hereafter to be born; and he is to die as a sacrificial lamb--a burnt-offering--a type of Christ. As though God with one fell blow would destroy the hope of Israel, and in the very act of destruction mock His servant with the sign He had established as a guarantee that the hope would be fulfilled. It was like using the earnest of our inheritance to sweep away and devastate our inheritance itself. It was like employing the seal of the covenant as an instrument wherewith to cancel the covenant itself. This alone was a fearful trial of faith. And can our circumstances ever resemble these? We believe they can, and often do. God may have placed you in a position of great spiritual peril. Your soul seems to be endangered. He has promised to save you, and yet has surrounded you with such a complication of snares and dangers, that salvation appears impossible. Cares “like a wild deluge “ sweep over you; your business is all-engrossing; it demands your closest attention; it calls you early from your bed, and only allows you to retire when it has thoroughly drained the energies of mind and body; your family is increasing around you; you dare not slacken your labours; starvation or this drudgery lies before you. Now such a case appears to be utterly incompatible with the growth of piety; it seems a fiat contradiction of the promise, “Peace I leave with you.” Yet it is clear that God has put a necessity upon you to remain in this employment; He has so contrived circumstances that you cannot escape without violating duties on all hands. If you abandon your calling, then a much worse condition threatens. You dare not lay down and die; this were suicide, and if you have lives depending on you, it were murder too. If your employment were in itself wrong and immoral, then it would be different; in such a case God calls you out, and at all risks, even though you had a thousand Isaacs to leave, you must go. But as it is, your occupation is right in itself, yet owing to your own weakness and infirmities, it has an influence, as all business has, to draw your soul from Christ, and plunge it in a sea of anxieties. Your companions also may be among those spiritual fools who say in their hearts there is no God, and laugh at your scruples. You cannot rid yourself of them; they may be employed by your master; or they may be a part of your necessary stock-in-trade; at all events, for some reason or other, escape from their society may be as impossible as giving up your calling altogether. Or perhaps your very family may be profane; the father who begat you may look coldly on you as a saint; your piety may wean you even from a mother’s heart; for Christ’s sake you must remain like a leper in your family--alone, and when not alone, still worse--a butt for mockery, or a thing to be loathed. And all these grievous spiritual stumbling-blocks, or some of them, or other which we have not named, may stand in your way to heaven, and there is no possible turning by which you may rightly avoid them. In fact, to stay or to go seems fraught with your soul’s peril. How then can you be saved? Now such a position may appear hostile to your soul’s welfare; it may seem like handing you over to the wiles and power of Satan; it may wear the aspect of imminent peril; but if only you go on your way as Abraham journeyed with the doomed Isaac to Moriah, trusting in God’s love and faithfulness, you will eventually find that this road right through the enemy’s camp was really your safest road after all; your mind and your habits may be so formed, that nothing but constant “fightings without” keep up the necessary fightings within; like many a soldier after the flesh, you may not be fit for peace service; the luxuries of repose may prove more fatal to you than the enemy’s whole park of artillery; so that war is actually your safest occupation; resisting strong temptations may be the securest employment for you. Or perhaps God has some work for you to perform in the world’s heart--some poor half-wrecked bark to draw out of the whirling sucking vortex--some soul to be converted from the error of his ways, and to shine at last as your joy and crown of rejoicing before the presence of Christ. At all events, you may be quite sure that though every possible spiritual danger were accumulated round you, yet is that position nought but a master-piece of strategy, planned by the Captain of your salvation for your safety. Only trust in the Lord’s wisdom, and lean upon His strength, and the very spear of the foe shall be your defence, warding off some more dangerous and unseen weapon; the sharp bosses of the world’s buckler shall be the steel on which you sharpen your own sword; the number of your enemies shall be but an index of your imparted graces; the fierceness of the fight shall only predicate the splendour of your triumph and the brightness of your everlasting crown.

VII. FAITH SACRIFICING AFFECTION.

The heart of the Patriarch was the primary point of assault in his trial of faith. The flocks of the Patriarch were not asked. It had been a great sacrifice to give up those large possessions of which we are told, some years previously to Isaac’s offer, that “Abram was very rich in cattle, in silver, and in gold.” But though the command left them untouched, what would they be when the heir was gone? And Isaac was now Abraham’s only son. Ishmael was gone--gone at God’s command (Gen 21:13). And how painfully must the dear boy’s name have struck on the father’s ear, when he was told to take “thine only ISAAC”--“thy Laughter!” Oh! God touched more than one sensitive cord of Abraham’s heart when He said, “Take Isaac.” It told the father of that ungrateful mockery with which he heard the promise of a son pronounced; it told him how a forgiving God had pardoned the offence, and turned the laughter of mockery into the laughter of joy; it told him of the many years he had spent with this Isaac--this “Laughter”--to wipe away his tears and wreath sorrow itself into smiles. And now he is to take this Isaac--and God, when He dooms the son to death, and the father to kill him, calls him “Thine only Laughter.” And then to complete this array of the son’s claims on his father’s heart, the Lord terms him thy son, “whom thou lovest “--as though there were any occasion to tell Abraham that. The reason of all this is obvious; it was to make manifest the Divine purpose; it was to say in plain language, “Lovest thou Me more than these?” God is not contented if you only give Him what you can easily spare; He will not be satisfied with a mere secondary treasure; but often He demands your chief delight, and bids you surrender the most precious thing you have. There is to be no reserve--no treasure kept back--no bidding God to take anything except that. There are many ways in which your faith is thus tried, and your love is called to give up its treasures. True, you are not told to offer up an Isaac on the altar; but there are other things which are “Isaacs” to you, and which God requires you to surrender; the” great possessions” were the young ruler’s Isaac, pharisaism was that of Paul, and expected worldly greatness was that of all the apostles who followed Christ in the days of His flesh. Everything dear to us, whether within or without, may be our Isaac; and oftentimes we find that the most hidden of our idols is our dearest. What can be dearer to you than your own will--that inbred desire to walk where you list, do as you like, and live for yourself? it is your nature; it is like the instinctive love of life; it is that for which the carnal man craves. And God invariably says with respect to this Isaac; “Take him, dear though he be, and offer him up in a place that I will show thee”--that place is Calvary. But frequently this cherished will assumes some more special form; it appears as some particular disposition or tendency of nature; there is some pleasure in which your tastes lead you to indulge, some unholy employment which mere avarice induces you to continue, some bad companion whose image has crept into your heart. Or it may be that some object, good in itself, stands between you and your God--between your love and your duty. And this trial is often heightened by God’s selecting a particular mode of giving, as well as by His choosing a gift we prize. God not only demanded Isaac, but He also fixed upon the most trying process of surrender. “Give Me thy son, and offer him up.” Abraham knew what that meant. If Isaac had been sent, like Ishmael, into the wilderness, and there left to perish of thirst, still had it been a gift of the child to God. But a mere gift was not all which God demanded; the means of bestowment were as essential as the gift itself. Abraham must sacrifice Isaac like a mere sheep on the altar. How many pangs did that act require l Even the mere preparations demanded more than a martyr’s fortitude. Knife and fire! Just the two things from which affection most abhorrently recoils. So fearful in their operation! So violent in their work! So terrible for memory to dwell upon. It is related of an ancient painter that he once chose for his subject the sacrifice of Iphigenia by her father, and over Agamemnon’s face he painted a veil, thus rendering the features invisible. The artist’s friends remonstrated on this singular omission. “You have obscured,” said they, “the chief personage in your group; you have concealed the father.” “Ah,” said the painter,” “I could not describe his features”; and so he thought the veil more significant than any impotent attempt to depict agony, which no canvas nor words can convey. We must adopt the same wise plan; silence is the best comment upon the anguish of Abraham; the heart alone can paint it. But, however painful the operation which God selects, we must adopt it; for to change the mode of sacrifice, or to murmur at it, is just as much a proof of deficient faith, as to withhold the object. Alas! This impatience of the Lord’s mode of trial is all but universal. We seem contented with submitting to the bare loss of some treasure, and appear to think this meagre submission entitles us to find fault with the way in which that loss befel us. The merchant does not pine under his ruin, but impatience overmasters him when he thinks of the fact that a son’s extravagance, or a friend’s treachery was the agency which God permitted; if only he had miscalculated his expenses, overrated his profits, or been defrauded by strangers, and thus being ruined, he could have submitted; at least he thinks he could. The parent loses his child; perhaps the stroke fell upon him with appalling suddenness, or the visitation was attended with severe pain, and long continued struggles with death; he fancied that he could have given up his boy in any other way without a murmur; if only time to say farewell had been granted, or if he had seen his darling sink into death as into a calm and painless sleep, he could have said, “Thy will be done”; but oh! that violent wrenching apart of soul and body, that pillow unwatched and unsoothed, that far distant grave unwatered by a tear, untold by an epitaph, or unadorned by a flower; these are the food on which a murmuring spirit feeds; these are the excuses to which want of submission clings. Or perhaps the sacrificed Isaac may be of quite a different kind; some privilege is taken away, some means of usefulness removed, and it is possible that all this may have been brought about by the authority of those dear to you; they care not for religion, they are taken up with business, they compel you, as far as possible, to relinquish what they call your weakness and absurdity, and since you will not go with them to the same excess of riot and worldliness, they throw every obstacle they can in the way of your progress; the taunt, the sneer, the profane jest, and the positive prohibition are all tried in turn; your heart is almost broken as it views such barriers reared by such hands. Oh l if the sword were to be the instrument which cut you and your privileges asunder; if a dungeon were to shut you out from your means of grace, instead of that parlour and that circle of loved hearts which like a chain surround you; if the edicts of some bloodthirsty ruler or some savage council were to utter your sentence of banishment from your means of grace, and not those words spoken by lips which have kissed you, and by tongues which have soothed you even as a babe, then you could bear your sad lot. All this is wrong; our faith is seriously defective; we have not learnt to say, “Thy will be done,” until we can give not only what the Lord wills, but as the Lord wills.

VIII. FAITH OPPOSITE AFFECTION.

One half of the Patriarch’s sacrifice is frequently forgotten--men see the father surrendering the son, but they overlook the husband giving up the wife; they do not remember that the same weapon which slew the child would inevitably divide asunder the parents. Abraham was called to pierce one heart and break another; and the same blow would certainly do both. How could Sarah survive Isaac’s death stroke? The probability is that the command was purposely kept from her, lest she, who had imperiously sent Ishmael away against her husband’s wish, should now step in like a robbed lioness, snatching Isaac from his father’s hands, and thus preventing obedience. Besides, the account tells us that God’s purpose was to try Abraham--not Sarah--and therefore to him alone was the afflicting command given, and from him alone was this sacrifice of faith required. With Sarah in this state of unconsciousness, what a terrible awakening was before her! And supposing Isaac were at length given back, would Sarah’s love for Abraham recover from such a shock? Could she ever bear to be supported or fondled with that hand which had once been spotted with her Isaac’s blood? But in any case what a trial of the heart was here! We speak truth when we say that a large share of the Patriarch’s sacrifice consisted in opposing, as well as surrendering, his affections--in wounding Sarah as well as killing Isaac. God calls you frequently to thwart your heart, and to oppose things and persons you love. He does not always require you to give up the object; but He leaves it in your possession and bids you contend against it. It is not enough to resist love’s influence against God, nor will it suffice that it should lie passive and submissive beneath the Saviour’s power; but we must even strive to make it an active and influential agent in Christ’s work of winning souls. Love must not be drummed out of the regiment as a vagabond sin, but it must be disciplined into a “good soldier of Jesus Christ”--a recruiting sergeant for the Lord’s army. Love must turn preacher, and “persuade men.”

IX. FAITH DARING THE WORLD’S REPUTE.

What will the servants of Abraham say? How will the Canaanite mock? Even if Isaac be restored, yet what will they say, should the bare purpose of that journey to Moriah ever transpire? And if the Patriarch should return alone; what then? What a difference between the Patriarch and many of us I He had reproaches awaiting him of such a character as to make the firmest man stagger--reproaches founded on principles which were true in the general way, and only false in his special case; and here are we hesitating at every step, however slight, wondering and fearing what this friend, or that neighbour, may say. “How strange it will seem” is our excuse for omitting many a duty, and perpetrating many a sin. I have but to quote to you half-a-dozen opinions against your obedience to God; I have but to show you that this or that act of discipleship will incur a laugh, or a sneer, or a curse, from your acquaintance, and you draw back; I have but to prove that open profession of Christ will be followed by your being cast out from some privileged “Synagogue of Satan,” and you timidly hide your Saviour, you content yourself with a hole-and-corner piety, your discipleship is only an invisible dress, you come to Jesus by night, the fear of man is your snare. Abraham must have expected to draw down upon himself the reproaches even of those who loved God; Melchisedec the priest, and Sarah the wife, and Eliezer the servant, would probably all unite in upbraiding him. And the name, too, how hard to hear--“Murderer!”

X. PROMPT FAITH.

The difference between an excuse and a reason is, that the former is the offspring of desire, the latter is the result of judgment; one is forced into being by self-justification, the other is deliberately conceived by conviction; one is a mere invention, the other is a discovery. Now Abraham had no reason for delay; yet had he many possible excuses. Why not take some days or at least some hours to make his preparations for almost a week’s journey; food must be obtained, tents must be packed, wood must be hewn, and arrangements must be made for so long an absence. Affection might have lingered over a thousand so-called necessaries, and multiplied its preparations, in order to lengthen out the span of Isaac’s life. The youth himself must be allowed time to get ready; and, above all, Sarah’s mind must be prepared for his absence, or else what will she say to his sudden and mysterious journey? True, the servants may tell her, “He is gone to do sacrifice”; but will not her obvious answer be, “Why should he conceal such a deed from me? why should he so suddenly conceive such a purpose? why disappear like a thief in the night?” Surely the husband may spare her this woe I surely he may lull her suspicions by giving her a few days’ warning that he and Isaac are about to go and offer sacrifice in a place which God will show him, and thus reconcile her to the journey! The heart might easily have seized on any or all these excuses to prolong the son’s life, and defer the dreadful slaughter. And to facilitate this immediate obedience, we find the Patriarch using the most simple preparations, and actually sharing in the labour of making them. With servants in abundance, he yet saddles the ass with his own hands; he then takes Isaac and two young men, and the four cleave the wood--i.e., the dry fuel which it was necessary to carry with them in order to kindle the damp wood they might find near the place of sacrifice. A tardy and hesitating commencement of Christian duty is so utterly opposed to the spirit of the gospel that the bare existence of reluctance is a just cause for doubting the genuineness of our faith. One of the most hopeless forms which ungodliness takes is the pseudo-obedience of unbelief, and fear, and hesitation. Oh! there is a force in prompt obedience which completely baffles the enemy of souls; he has no time to manufacture snares; he has no opportunity of throwing down stumbling-blocks before you; but there you are in possession, so to speak, of the heights, and too firm and strongly entrenched for him to disturb your position. Promptitude is the very strategem Satan employs so successfully against us; he anticipates our obedience with his rebellious suggestions; he is throwing up barricades before us while we are questioning whether we will go forward or not. Alacrity is thus the very weapon specially adapted to foil him. History tells us that promptness and rapidity of movement were the keys to Napoleon’s most splendid victories; he no sooner conceived a plan of campaign than his whole army was in swift march to execute it; his adversary’s outposts, driven in by what appeared to them a mysterious and omnipresent antagonist--his artillery, flashing and booming from heights which the foe thought it useless and absurd to occupy--these were the couriers who made the first announcement of his approach to the enemy. At times this prompt appearance in the field served of itself to force the opposing army into a hasty and full retreat; and if this effect did not follow, then did the conqueror’s columns move with the same swiftness to the attack as they had shown on their march, and they fell upon the surprised and panic-struck foe as though they had been transformed into a literal “thunderbolt of war,” hurled by a second Mars. And why may not we use the same tactics in spiritual warfare with the same success?

XI. DELIBERATE FAITH.

True diligence begins her work by earnest inquiry; she first looks, and then runs; she first prepares, and then sets out; neither is her course, when commenced, like an arrow from a bow--slower and slower, as she goes on, but it is like iron attracted towards a loadstone--faster and faster as she approaches it. She does not move like some showy ensign on a flagstaff--flapping and waving in all directions, yet always confined to one point--but like the sails of some gallant ship, she catches and keeps the wind, her canvas filled with the heavenly breeze, and pressing onwards towards port. She has an eagle’s eye and an eagle’s wing--looking and soaring to the sun--and not a swallow’s uncertain flight,now skimming the water, now gliding along the ground, now circling in the air, and yet never flying towards a given point. The desire of true diligence is, not motion, but motion towards an object; she runs, looking to Jesus; she presses to the mark. First of all, deliberation is needed to ascertain the fact and the genuineness of the Divine command; for until that is known, true faith can do nothing. Abraham was sure of this fact at once, but, as we have seen, it is different with us, and often much doubt surrounds the question. Diligence, therefore, begins by seeking Divine illumination; for no time is gained which is gained at the expense of God’s teaching--no time is wasted which is spent in supplication of the Spirit. Yet there must be no manufacture of doubts for the sake of waiting to have them removed; there must be no halting of unbelief after the Lord has uttered a reply quite clear and definite enough for a ready faith to hear, In fine, your questions must be like those of the child who has lost its way, and pants for home--not like those of the sluggard, who, when he is called, still lies rubbing his eyes, and asking a score of inquiries as to the time, and weather, and temperature, just to delay the act of rising, and, if possible, to discover an excuse for further sleep. And then, while this earnest and sincere inquiry of the Lord is going on, and we are learning what we knew not, a second purpose will be attained; we shall be strengthened as well as taught; the answer to our prayer for teaching will include might as well as instruction; the Lord will add power to knowledge; the Spirit will at the same time mark out our road, and prepare us for it. True obedience does the Lord’s will at the Lord’s time; it is neither before nor after; it is neither rash nor slow. But what has all this to do with Abraham’s example? he did not tarry, but set out almost immediately; two or three hours after the vision he was on his way. Yet, notwithstanding this early start, the deliberate character of the Patriarch’s faith was most thoroughly tested by the three days’ journey to Moriah . . . It had been comparatively., easy for him to leave his couch under the immediate influence of the vision, rouse Isaac from his bed, take him to some neighbouring hill, and there sacrifice him before the morning had dawned. But God required him to be a burning and shining light, and not a mere flashing meteor; He resolved to expose the flame to rough winds, and to sustain combustion, in order to give us an example of that holy fire kindled by the Spirit, which no wind can blow out, and no time can burn out. At first the full extent of Isaac’s loss might not present itself to Abraham’s mind. He was probably carried beyond himself by the abundance of the revelation given unto him. The first excitement of the Lord’s sudden appearance to him was cooled down; his obedience was clearly not the result of entrancement; he could stand, as it were, calmly in God’s presence for three long days, holding Isaac in his extended and untired arms for the Lord to take him when He chose. And then this period of suspense served not only to try the real and enduring character of Abraham’s faith, but it also gave time for that necessary and painful work of counting the cost. In fact, he had time to estimate what the Lord’s will really was in all its extent and consequences, and thus to obey God with his eyes open. The Saviour is not contented that He should know the value of what He asks; we must know it too. Christ will have an intelligent surrender of all you have. You must reckon what you give to Him, not with a purse-proud spirit, but with the steady purpose of a man who makes over all his property to another, and numbers up pounds, and fields, and houses, to see that nothing is wanting. Thus prepared by earnest inquiry, imparted grace, patience, and a foresight of sorrows, our obedience will not be that hybrid monster of a day, begotten from the adulterous union of so-called religion with excitement or fear; but it will be the calm, holy, long-lived offspring of the Spirit--obedience which can rise with the lark, and like a bird of passage on its migration, continue on the wing till the distant clime is reached--obedience so unchangeable, that even were it three years instead of three days, or three centuries instead of three years, still would God’s true servant bend his willing steps to the distant Moriah, and at last take the knife to consummate the act with as much holy strength of purpose as if he had rushed from the scene of the night vision to the place of sacrifice.

XII. FAITH CLEARING, THE WAY OF EXPECTED OBSTACLES.

It is not enough to foresee a difficulty or to blunder onwards, encountering hindrances as they come, but, so far as we can, we must previously remove out of our path everything which may impede or stop us. Many obstacles are insurmountable and fatal when discovered after they are reached, and yet are mere trifles if seen and provided against at a distance. How easy for a general to dislodge the mere handful of enemies which lie in yonder wood in ambush; yet let him march his whole force past the ambuscade, and only take measures against it when his army is attacked, then are his troops thrown into most serious confusion, and perhaps driven back panic-stricken. The traveller across the desert may easily guard against the drought of his journey beforehand; he has nothing to do but to fill his water-skin, and sling it across his shoulders; but if he delays preparation till the moment of thirst, what agonies--perhaps agonies even to death--does it entail i It is self-confidence, and not faith, which despises precaution, and expects no obstacle till it comes; it is presumption, and not filial confidence, which will not anticipate the obstacles God has revealed, or use the means to overcome them which He has given. A foresight of difficulty, and precaution against future obstacles, are as much the Spirit’s work as is strength for the actual battle. What, if Abraham had not hewn the wood, or had left the fire or the knife at home, depending on the moment of sacrifice to provide him with these necessaries! Would that have been genuine faith? Would you not have questioned his sincerity if the Bible had told us that he took Isaac to Moriah, and lo! the wet wood of the mountain would not kindle? Would you not have suspected an obedience which was arrested by the want of a knife or fire? If Abraham had returned with an unslain Isaac on such grounds as these, you would have refused to own him as an example of faith. Another remarkable instance of this same careful forethought is seen when, at some distance from Moriah, Abraham stopped the servants who attended his journey, and bade them “Abide here with the ass, and I and the lad will go yonder and worship.” It is clear that Abraham’s purpose was to secure himself against the certain interference of these servants. Without having received a direct command from God to submit, there is not a single right-minded man on earth who would, or could, or ought to, have quietly permitted such a deed to be done. They would certainly have interfered. “Well! if they did, was not Abraham’s purpose of obedience perfect? Could he not have said, “I was quite willing, but they prevented me”? Now, the faith of excitement would have gone carelessly on, without any forethought or precaution against this obstacle. Oh! what a contrary spirit often prevails among so-called disciples of Christ, and professors of Abrahamic faith. Instead of the Patriarch’s foresight and energy of purpose, they welcome difficulties as saviours from self-denial. They snatch at any obstruction, magnify it a thousand-fold, esteem it an impassable barrier, and call it an interposition of Providence.

XIII. ACTIVE FAITH

The son must be given--and something more--the father must be the immediate giver. Behold a priest is even at hand! Why not send Melchisedec to me? he is Thy priest; the office is peculiarly his; let the work be his; let him slay my Isaac. No! Abraham, the Lord requires thy active faith, therefore “Take the knife.” How desirable such a plan must have appeared for many reasons! Melchisedec would share in the act; the priestly sacrificer would at once be a guarantee for the character of Isaac’s slaughter, and would in some measure silence the reproaches which such a deed would bring on the Patriarch. It would be evident to all that the deed was done from religious motives. But no! All this alleviation must Abraham forego; his faith must be active--not passive--he must take the knife. Faith must be active. She must not wait till houses, and lands, and friends are wrenched out of her possession, but when the Saviour’s cause requires it, she must forsake them; she must become the agent in her worldly loss; she must, so far as earth is concerned, be both ruiner and ruined. Are we to wait till accident robs us of them, or till God takes them from us by some signal calamity? No! The deprivation is to be our own act; we are to cut off the hand; we are to pluck out the eye; we are to amputate the foot. She is not like an unwilling child who requires the mother to rise up out of her place and force the toy from his hand; but she resembles the sweet and ready child, who, at a word, catches up the forbidden plaything, and runs with outstretched arms to put it in the mother’s lap. Thus, the believer must often be the executioner of his own joys--the slayer of his own Isaac. But there must be no mere self-torture, for torture’s sake; none of those lashings, and horse-hair shirts, or hot iron floor, or beds of thorns, or starving, which are often prescribed as trials of faith. If you act on your own judgment and responsibility, you are a presumptuous tormentor; your sacrifice has no relationship to that of Abraham, for if he had done as you do, he would have taken Isaac without any Divine command to Moriah, he would have slain him upon the altar, he would have been a murderer. Faith, then, must not walk alone: she must not mark out her own course; her activity must be that of obedience, and not of independent and self-prescribed action. Her first inquiry must be, “Lord, what wilt Thou have me to do?” and immediately she must set about doing it.

XIV. PASSIVE FAITH.

There stands a weak and aged man, his form bent, and his hand trembling. And there, on the wood, lies a youth in all the bloom and power of bursting manhood, his age about twenty-five, his muscle developed, his form displaying all that wiry strength which ultimately endured the shocks of one hundred and eighty years. Why, Abraham would have shaken and staggered in such a grasp as Isaac’s hand could give. A blow from the son’s arm, and the father had rolled helplessly down the sides of Moriah. Doing often includes suffering; but suffering does not in itself always include doing; there is a suffering which is strictly passive; we have solely to endure. Yet when we speak of any part of Christian character or conduct as passive, it must be a very contrast to apathy.

XV. FAITH REWARDED.

The reward of faith is so named because it is given to faith, and not because it is given for faith. The relation therefore of faith to blessing is not the relation of a price to a purchase, but that which the excavation of a channel bears to the water which is afterwards to flow into it. And what of the reward itself? What was it in Abraham’s case? One part of that reward was the restoration of Isaac. Yet what was this more than the father would have enjoyed if the son had never been taken to Moriah? Was not Isaac returned, the same Isaac as Isaac given? No! he was not; Isaac after being offered and restored, could not be the same to Abraham as if he had been unoffered and unrestored; he was a different son--a more precious son--a thousand-fold more precious. Could Isaac be the same boy to him? Supposing by some fearful accident I had almost destroyed the child of my love; for days I watched him as life seemed rapidly ebbing; but suddenly a change appeared, and the physician told me he was out of danger; what would be my future feelings to that child? Why! under such circumstances even hatred has been known to warm into affection; and how much more will a father’s ready heart be kindled into an intensity of fondness! Our Saviour Himself founds some of His most beautiful parables on the principle that a thing lost, but restored, is dearer far to the finder than a thing never lost at all. Isaac restored was literally a reward--a thing given to faith--a thing which Abraham never possessed before. And then what a hallowed and sacred association would ever after cling to that boy! he had actually been solemnly offered to God. Isaac was an ever-present image of God’s favour--a living memorial of the Lord’s faithfulness--he was grace incarnated--grace “manifest in the flesh.” A trial sanctified is always a trial rewarded; it always sweetens the true believer’s blessings; and though he may have no more outward causes of happiness than before--yea, though he may have even fewer--yet has the soul’s palate been so freshened and improved that his actual perception of joy is tenfold greater; the change is not in the food, but in the quickened appetite of the eater. But the consummation of faith’s reward in Abraham’s case was when, for the first time, he gazed on that incarnate Saviour born of his Isaac’s seed. Great must have been his joy when he saw the Eternal Son in all the glory of His Godhead; but when he beheld his Lord becoming in very deed a child of Isaac and a Redeemer of the whole world, oh then he could understand in all their fulness and their depth those promises which were confirmed and enlarged on that mount where his faith was so tried--then could he estimate in all its unmerited richness the infinite value of faith’s reward. And doubtlessly Abraham’s constant and eager eye was fixed on that great consummation of faith. And if faith thus keeps her constant eye fixed on this bright, holy, and Christ-pervaded consummation of her reward, the result is certain--our efforts will all take the direction of our heart, our steps will follow our eye, our thoughts and actions will tend upwards, and we shall gradually be “changed into the same glory” we contemplate, “from glory to glory, as by the Spirit of the Lord.” (D. F.Jarman, M. A.)

The trial of Abraham

I. THE PATRIARCH’S PAINFUL TRIAL.
1. The subject of requisition.
2. The prescribed manner of compliance.

II. THE PATRIARCH’S EXEMPLARY CONDUCT.
1. The promptness of his obedience.
2. The prudence of his measures.
3. His inflexible perseverance,

III. THE BLESSINGS OF WHICH IT WAS PRODUCTIVE.
1. Isaac was spared.
2. A testimony of Divine approbation was experienced.
3. A gracious repetition of promise was received.

IV. THE INSTRUCTIVE TENDENCY OF THE WHOLE.
1. The will of God revealed to man is a sufficient reason for prompt obedience.
2. Our greatest earthly blessings may be productive of very painful exercises.
3. Severe trials are strictly consistent with the enjoyment of Divine favour.
4. A lively faith in God manifests itself by a regular course of cheerful obedience. (Sketches of Sermons.)

The tried of Abraham’s faith

I. THE PERSONAL TEST AND DISCIPLINE.

II. THE GREAT MORAL AND RELIGIOUS LESSON HERE TAUGHT. God was loved better than Son--loved even though He slew.

III. THE FACT BECOMES A TYPICAL PROMISE. God has provided (W. H.Davison.)

Abraham’s temptation

I. HIS TRIAL.

II. HIS OBEDIENCE.
1. Prompt.
2. Protracted.
3. Perfect.

III. HIS REWARD.
1. A numerous seed, instead of one Son.
2. To be the progenitor of the Messiah, because willing to give up Isaac.
3. He also received the most express and gratifying assurance of Jehovah’s approval and friendship.
Application:
1. God tries the faith of all His people. The principle is, that we are not fit to possess any treasure unless we are ready to give up that treasure at God’s command at any moment. You say you love God; but you also love your child, friend, property, life. Which do you love most?
2. Let our obedience be like Abraham’s. As soon as you know God’s will, submit to it.
3. God will reward the patience of faith. (The Congregational Pulpit.)

Trial of Abraham’s faith

I. THE SEVERITY OF THIS TRIAL.
1. It was a trial that put the severest possible strain upon him in the tenderest relations of his natural life. Isaac was his son, his only son.
2. It was a trial that put the severest possible strain upon him in the tenderest relations of his spiritual life.
(1) In respect to the promise of God (Gen 17:19).
(2) In respect to the covenant of God.
3. The severity of this trial is unparalleled, save in the experience of Abraham’s God (Rom 8:32; Joh 3:16).

II. ABRAHAM’S CONDUCT.
1. In obedience he was prompt, believing, perfect.
2. His obedience was inspired by faith.
3. His obedience was perfect (Gen 22:9-10).

III. GOD’S INTERPOSITION.
1. God did interpose.
2. God’s interposition was timely.
Lessons:
1. It is God’s plan to test the faith of His children (1Pe 1:7).
2. God’s children should rejoice when their faith is tested.
3. The more cheerfully we bear the tests of faith, the more we honour God.
4. No one will be tried beyond what he is able to bear. (D. C. Hughes, M. A.)

Abraham’s temptation and obedience

I. WHAT THIS TRIAL WAS.
1. It came from God Himself.
2. It comprehended the loss of a child, and of a peculiarly dear and precious child. He was his Isaac too; and how much does that word comprehend! the son of his old age; his beloved Sarah’s child; one who had been promised him and whom he had looked for with eager expectation, not months but years, before he came; a child of miracle, born out of due time, to be regarded as an almost immediate gift from heaven!
3. And he is to lose him, not as we generally lose our children, by sickness, but by a violent death, and that death to be inflicted by his own hand--Abraham is to slay him. And, moreover, he is to be a burnt-offering. This includes more than the slaying of him--a dismembering of him when slain and the consuming of his mangled body in the flames.
4. And the time, too, when this trial fell on Abraham must have made it worse. “After these things”--i.e., just after losing Ishmael, he is called upon to give up Isaac.

II. His CONDUCT UNDER IT.
1. Prompt obedience.
2. Determined, unflinching obedience.
3. His obedience was also calm.

III. Let us now see what lay at the bottom of all this; WHAT THAT MIGHTY PRINCIPLE WAS WHICH ACTUATED ABRAHAM IN IT. And we are not left in doubt of this point. It was faith. “By faith,” says St. Paul, “Abraham when he was tried, offered up Isaac.” And by faith, as we apply the term here to Abraham, we mean, not a belief in this or that great gospel-truth only, but a belief in the Divine character and word generally, a faith embracing all the glorious perfections of Jehovah and all the glorious promises and declarations of his lips. This led Abraham to sacrifice his son. There are three things which commonly actuate mankind in their conduct-reason, feeling, and interest. All these we find in this case put aside. Abraham did not act from either of them, but from a principle which was in opposition to them all. (C. Bradley, M. A.)

The appointed sacrifice; or, Abraham’s faith

I. THE TRIAL OF FAITH. Very heavy must have been Abraham’s heart when he heard God’s strange message. But he would not refuse to trust God. Job 23:8-12; comp. 1Pe 1:5-7.)

II. THE OBEDIENCE OF FAITH. Not a base profession. He obeyed promptly, and without murmuring.

III. THE REWARD OF FAITH.
1. He won God’s approval.
2. He received God’s explanation of what had seemed so strange.
3. He gained God’s solemn assurance to comfort and gladden him.

IV. THE SACRIFICE OF ISAAC AS TYPICAL OF THE DEATH OF CHRIST.
1. It was an appointed sacrifice.
2. It was a willing (self-) sacrifice.
3. It was a mystery of salvation. (W. S. Smith, B. D.)

Abraham tempted to offer up his son

I. THE TRIAL ITSELF.
1. The time of it. The same things may be more or less trying as they are connected with other things. If the treatment of Job’s friends had not been preceded by the loss of his substance, the untimely death of his children, the cruel counsel of his wife, and the heavy hand of God, it had been much more tolerable; and if Abraham’s faith and patience had not been exercised in the manner they were anterior to this temptation, it might have been somewhat different from what it was. It is also a much greater trial to be deprived of an object when our hopes have been raised, and in a manner accomplished respecting it, than to have it altogether withheld from us. It was “after these things that God did tempt Abraham”--that is, after five-and-twenty years waiting; after the promise had been frequently repeated; after hope had been raised to the highest pitch; yea, after it had been actually turned into enjoyment; and when the child had lived long enough to discover an amiable and godly disposition.
2. The shock which it was adapted to produce upon his natural affections is also worthy of notice. The command is worded in a manner as if it were designed to harrow up all his feelings as a father: “Take now thy son, thine only son (of promise), Isaac, whom thou lovest”--or, as some read it, “Take now that son . . . that only one of thine . . . whom thou lovest . . . that ISAAC!” And what! Deliver him to some other hand to sacrifice him! No; be thou thyself the priest; go “offer him up for a burnt-offering!” But the shock which it would be to natural affection is not represented as the principal part of the trial; but rather what it must have been to his faith. It was not so much his being his son, as his only son of promise; his Isaac, in whom all the great things spoken of his seed were to be fulfilled.

II. THE CONDUCT OF ABRAHAM UNDER THIS SHARP TRIAL. We have here a surprising instance of the efficacy of Divine grace, in rendering every power, passion, and thought of the mind subordinate to the will of God. There is a wide difference between this and the extinction of the passions. This were to be deprived of feeling; but the other is to have the mind assimilated to the mind of Christ, who, though He felt most sensibly, yet said, “If this cup may not pass from Me, except I drink it, Thy will be done!”

III. THE REWARD CONFERRED UPON HIM. A repetition of the promised blessing.

IV. THE GENERAL DESIGN OF THE WHOLE.
1. Though it was not the intention of God to permit Abraham actually to offer a human sacrifice, yet He might mean to assert His own right as Lord of all to require it, as well as to manifest the implicit obedience of faith in the conduct of His servant. Such an assertion of His right would manifest His goodness in refusing to exercise it.
2. But in this transaction there seems to be a still higher design; namely, to predict in a figure the great substitute which God in due time should see and provide. The very place of it, called “the mount of the Lord” (verse 14.), seems to have been marked out as the scene of great events; and of that kind, too, in which a substitutional sacrifice was offered and accepted.
3. One reason of the high approbation which God expressed of Abraham’s conduct might be its affording some faint likeness of what would shortly be His own. (A. Fuller.)

Temptation a test
Temptation is that which puts to the test. Trials sent by God do this. A test is never employed for the purpose of injury. A weight is attached to a rope, not to break but to prove it. Pressure is applied to a boiler, not to burst it but to certify its power of resistance. The testing process here confers no strength. But when a sailor has to navigate his ship under a heavy gale and in a difficult channel; or when a general has to fight against a superior force and on disadvantageous ground, skill and courage are not only tested but improved. The test has brought experience, and by practice is every faculty perfected. So, faith grows stronger by exercise, and patience by the enduring of sorrow. Thus alone it was that “God did tempt Abraham.” (Newman Hall, LL. B.)

Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest

Sacrificial obedience

I. THE SACRIFICE DEMANDED BY GOD.
1. That which was prized the most.
2. That which tested faith the most.
3. That which God gave Himself.

II. THE WAY IN WHICH THIS SACRIFICE WAS RENDERED BY ABRAHAM.
1. It was rendered promptly. “And Abraham rose up early in the morning.”
2. It was rendered prayerfully. “Abide ye here, and I and the lad will go yonder and worship.” Prayer prepares for sacrifice.
3. It was rendered heroically (Gen 22:8-9).
4. It was rendered observantly. “The place which God had told him of.” “Laid the weed in order.”

III. THE ULTIMATE SACRIFICE ACCEPTED BY GOD.
1. It was substitutionary.
2. It was sufficient. (The Congregational Pulpit.)

The offering of Isaac

I. THAT WE ARE OFTEN EXPOSED TO GREAT TRIALS WITHOUT ANY REASON BEING ASSIGNED FOR THEIR INFLICTION.

II. THAT EVEN IN OUR SEVEREST TRIALS, IN THE VERY CRISIS AND AGONY OF OUR CHASTISEMENT, WE HAVE HOPE IN THE DELIVERING MERCY OF GOD (Gen 22:5; Gen 22:8). It is often so in human life; the inward contradicts the outward. Faith substitutes a greater fact for a small one. “You will get better,” we say to the patient, when perhaps we mean that he will be healed with immortality; and when we meet him in heaven, he will tell us that we were right when we said he would live.

III. THAT WE ARE OFTEN MADE TO FEEL THE UTTERMOST BITTERNESS OF A TRIAL IN ITS FORETELLING AND ANTICIPATION. Sudden calamities are nothing compared with the lingering death which some men have to die.

IV. THAT FILIAL OBEDIENCE ON OUR PART HAS EVER BEEN FOLLOWED BY SPECIAL TOKENS OF GOD’S APPROVAL (Gen 22:16). More than mere Hebrew redundancy of language in the promise. It reads like a river full to overflow. “Because thou hast done this thing,” &c. I call upon you to witness whether you yourselves have not, in appropriate degrees, realized this same overflowing, and all-comforting blessing of God, in return for your filial obedience.

V. OTHER POINTS OF COINCIDENCE as between the old experience and the new will occur on reading the text, such as--
1. The unconscious aggravations of our suffering made by inquiries such as Isaac’s (Gen 22:7).
2. The wonderfulness of the escapes which are often made for us by Divine Providence (Gen 22:13).
3. The sanctification of special places by sweet and holy memories of deliverance and unexpected joy (Gen 22:14). (J. Parker, D. D.)

An educational command

Abraham must have been conscious that the way that led to the perfecting of his faith was the way of renunciation and self-denial. The sight of the Canaanite sacrifices of children must have led Abraham to self-examination, whether he would be strong enough in renunciation and self-denial to do what these heathen did, if his God desired it of him. But if this question was once made the subject of discussion in Abraham’s heart, it had also to be brought to a definite and real decision. That was the substratum for the Divine demand in Abraham’s soul. Objectively, the following are the deduction from this point of view. The culminating point of worship in the religions of nature was human sacrifice. The covenant religion had to separate itself in this respect from heathenism; the truth in it had to be acknowledged, and the falsehood denied. In the command to offer up Isaac, the truth of the conviction that human life must be sacrificed as an unholy thing, is acknowledged, and by the arresting intervention of God, the hideous distortion of this truth which had arisen in heathenism is condemned and rejected. (Kurtz.)

Human sacrifices among the heathen

No reader of the Old Testament needs to be informed that this hateful kind of offering defiled the religious rites of the Canaanites several centuries later. But there are probably few readers who have sufficiently realized how ancient or how widespread among primitive religions was a custom which has come to be associated only with the lowest type of barbarism. Yet traces of it, reliable enough, though dimmed now through lapse of ages, meet the inquirer among the primitive population of far-sundered localities, and in stages of civilization which even we should call advanced. Its prevalence among all men of Hamitic race who observed the same type of religion as the tribes of Canaan is a fact well known. This of itself fastens the dark stigma on some of the most polished and powerful states of antiquity; on Tyre, for example, and on all the great Punic colonies, such as Cyprus, Rhodes, and Carthage. Egypt itself was not exempt. But what is less generally noticed is, that among Aryan peoples a similar custom widely obtained in the earliest periods, and sprang out of a similar nature-worship. It has left its mark on several of the most familiar legends of Greek literature. It was practised in the Mithras cult of Persia, which lingered to the age of Hadrian. It is found among the ancient Pelasgians, as at Eleuis in the worship of Demeter; in Attica and Arcadia, in that of Artemis; in Tenedos and Chios, in that of Bacchus. It is probable, indeed, that the immolation of a human victim to divinities like Bacchus or Demeter was reserved for great occasions. Among the milder Pelasgians, it did not become so regular a part of worship as those sacrifices, for example, which annually appeased the tutelary sun-god of Carthage, or the massacre of infants by passing them through the fire to the Chemosh of Moab or the Molech of Phoenicia. The general results of research on this painful subject, however, goes to show that even the milder faiths of early Greece sprang out of, or were grafted on, the same original idolatry of the generative and productive forces in nature which found favour among older races in Babylon, Phoenicia, and Canaan. Wherever the influence of that dark religion stretched, it bore of necessity two ghastly fruits--cruelty and lust: the orgies of the grove and the sacrifice of human blood. (J. O. Dykes, D. D.)

Mature faith--illustrated by Abraham’s offering up Isaac

I. THE TRIAL ITSELF. Every syllable of the text is significant. If George Herbert were speaking of it, he would say the words are all a case of knives cutting at Abraham’s soul. There is scarce a single syllable of God’s address to him, in the opening of this trial, but seems intended to pierce the patriarch to the quick. Look. “Take now thy son.” What! a father slay his son! Was there nothing in Abraham’s tent that God would have but his son?

II. THE PATRIARCH UNDER THE TRIAL. In Abraham’s bearing during this test everything is delightful. His obedience is a picture of all the virtues in one, blended in marvellous harmony. It is not so much in one point that the great patriarch excels as in the whole of his sacred deed.
1. First notice the submission of Abraham under this temptation.
2. Abraham’s prudence. Prudence may be a great virtue, but often becomes one of the meanest and most beggarly of vices. Prudence rightly considered is a notable handmaid to faith; and the prudence of Abraham was seen in this, that he did not consult Sarah as to what he was about to do.
3. Abraham’s alacrity. He rose up early in the morning.
4. Abraham’s forethought. He did not desire to break down in his deeds. Having cleft the wood, he took with him the fire, and everything else necessary to consummate the work. Some people take no forethought about serving God, and then, if a little hitch occurs, they cry out that it is a providential circumstance, and make an excuse of it for escaping the unpleasant task. Oh, how easy it is when you do not want to involve yourselves in trouble, to think that you see some reason for not doing so!
5. Abraham’s perseverance. He continues three days in his journey, journeying towards the place where he was as much to sacrifice himself as to sacrifice his child.

III. THE BLESSING WHICH CAME TO ABRAHAM THROUGH THE TRIAL OF HIS FAITH. The blessing was sevenfold.
1. The trial was withdrawn; Isaac was unharmed.
2. Abraham had the expressed approval of God. “Now I know that thou fearest God.”
3. Abraham next had a clearer view of Christ than ever he had before--no small reward. “Abraham saw My day,” said Christ. “He saw it and was glad.”
4. More than that, to Abraham God’s name was more fully revealed that day. He called Him Jehovah-jireh, a step in advance of anything that he had known before. “If any man will do His will, he shall know of the doctrine.”
5. To Abraham that day the covenant was confirmed by oath. The Lord swore by Himself.
6. Then it was that Abraham had also a fuller promise with regard to the seed.
7. God pronounced over Abraham’s head a blessing, the like of which had never been given to man before; and what if I say that to no single individual in the whole lapse of time has there ever been given, distinctly and personally, such a blessing as was given to Abraham that day! First in trial, he is also first in blessing; first in faithfulness to his God, he becomes first in the sweet rewards which faithfulness is sure to obtain. (C. H.Spurgeon.)

The gospel of Abraham’s sacrifice of Isaac

If the Messiah be anywhere symbolised in the Old Testament, He is certainly to be seen upon Mount Moriah, where the beloved Isaac, willingly bound and laid upon the altar, is a lively foreshadowing of the Well-beloved of heaven yielding His life as a ransom

I. First, THE PARALLEL. YOU know the story before you; we need not repeat it, except as we weave it into our meditation. As Abraham offered up Isaac, and so it might be said of him that he “ spared not his own son,” so the ever blessed God offered up His Son Jesus Christ, and spared Him not.
1. There is a likeness in the person offered. Isaac was Abraham’s son, and in that emphatic sense, his only son; hence the anguish of resigning him to sacrifice. Herein is love! Behold it and admire! Consider it and wonder! The beloved Son is made a sacrifice!
(1) Remember that in Abraham’s case Isaac was the child of his heart. I need not enlarge on that, you can readily imagine how Abraham loved him; but in the case of our Lord what mind can conceive how near and dear our Redeemer was to the Father?
(2) Remember, too, that Isaac was a most lovely and obedient son. We have proof of that in the fact that he was willing to be sacrificed, for being a vigorous young man, he might have resisted his aged father, but he willingly surrendered himself to be bound, and submitted to be laid on the altar. How few there are of such sons! “Though He were a Son yet learned He obedience.” It was His meat and His drink to do the will of Him that sent Him.
(3) It must not be forgotten, too, that around Isaac there clustered mysterious prophecies. Isaac was to be the promised seed through which Abraham should live down to posterity and evermore be a blessing to all nations. But what prophecies gathered about the head of Christ I What glorious things were spoken of Him before His coming! He was the conquering seed destined to break the dragon’s head. He was the messenger of the covenant, yea, the covenant itself.
2. The parallel is very clear in the preface of the sacrifice. Let us show you in a few words. Abraham had three days in which to think upon and consider the death of his son; three days in which to look into that beloved face and to anticipate the hour in which it would wear the icy pallor of death. But the Eternal Father foreknew and foreordained the sacrifice of His only begotten Son, not three days nor three years, nor three thousand years, but or ever the earth was Jesus was to His Father “the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.” Remember, that Abraham prepared with sacred forethought everything for the sacrifice. But what shall I say of the great God who, through the ages, was constantly preparing this world for the grandest event in its history, the death of the Incarnate God? All history converged to this point.
3. We will not tarry, however, on the preface of the sacrifice, but advance in lowly worship to behold the act itself.
(1) When Abraham came at last to Mount Moriah, he bade his servants remain at the foot of the hill. Now, gather up your thoughts, and come with me to Calvary, to the true Moriah. At the foot of that hill God bade all men stop. The twelve have been with Christ in his life-journey, but they must not be with Him in His death throes. Eleven go with him to Gethsemane; only three may draw near to Him in His passion; but when it comes to the climax of all, they forsake Him and flee; He fights the battle singly.
(2) Do you observe that Isaac carried the wood!--a true picture of Jesus carrying His cross.
(3) A point worthy of notice is, that it is said, “that they went both of them together.” He who was to smite with the knife, and the other who was to be the victim, walked in peaceful converse to the altar. “They went both together,” agreeing in heart. It is to me delightful to reflect that Christ Jesus and His Father went both together in the work of redeeming love. In that great work which we are saved, the Father gave us Christ, but Christ equally gave us Himself.
(4) They proceeded together, and at last, Isaac was bound, bound by his father. So Christ was bound, and He saith, “Ye could have no power against Me unless it was given to you of My Father.”
(5) The parallel goes still further, for while the father binds the victim, the victim is willing to be bound. Isaac might have resisted, but he did not; there are no traces of struggling; no signs of so much as a murmur.
(6) Yet the parallel runs a little further, after having been suspended for a moment--Isaac was restored again. He was bound and laid upon the altar, the knife was drawn, and he was in spirit given up to death, but he was delivered. Leaving that gap, wherein Christ is not typified fully by Isaac, but the ram, yet was Jesus also delivered. He came again, the living and triumphant Son, after He had been dead. Isaac was for three days looked upon by Abraham as dead; on the third day the father rejoiced to descend the mountain with his son. Jesus was dead, but on the third day He rose again.
(7) What followed the deliverance of Isaac? From that moment the covenant was ratified.
(8) Isaac, also, had that day been the means of showing to Abraham the great provision of God. That name, Jehovah-jireh, was new to the world; it was given forth to men that day from Mount Moriah; and in the death of Christ men see what they never could have seen else, and in His resurrection they beheld the deepest of mysteries solved. God has provided what men wanted.

II. I have to HINT AT SOME POINTS IN WHICH THE PARALLEL FALLS SHORT.
1. Isaac would have died in the course of nature. When offered up by his father, it was only a little in anticipation of the death which eventually must have occurred. But Jesus is He “who only hath immortality,” and who never needed to die. His death was purely voluntary, and herein stands by itself, not to be numbered with the deaths of other men.
2. Moreover, there was a constraint upon Abraham to give Isaac. I admit the cheerfulness of the gift, but still the highest law to which His spiritual nature was subject, rendered it incumbent upon believing Abraham to do as God commanded. But no stress could be laid upon the Most High. If He delivered up His Son, it must be with the greatest freeness. Oh! unconstrained love--a fountain welling up from the depth of the Divine nature, unasked for and undeserved! What shall I say of this? O God, be Thou ever blessed! Even the songs of heaven cannot express the obligations of our guilty race to Thy free love in the gift of Thy Son!
3. Isaac did not die after all, but Jesus did.
4. Isaac, if he had died, could not have died for us. (C. H. Spurgeon.)

A difficulty removed

How could God command Abraham to sacrifice his son? We reply: God never intended the death of Isaac. He saw the end from the beginning, and knew that the life of Isaac would not be taken. The command was only a severe test of the absolute faith and unswerving obedience of His servant Abraham. A story may illustrate this. In the Napoleon wars, it is said that once the emperors of Austria and Russia and the king of Prussia were discussing the relative absolute, unquestioning obedience of their soldiers. Each claimed the pre-eminence, in this regard, for his own soldiers. They were sitting in a room in the second story. To test the matter, they agreed that each in turn should call up the sentinel at the door, and command him to leap out of the window. First the Prussian monarch called his man. “Leap out of the window,” was the order. “Your Majesty,” said the soldier, “it would kill me.” He was then dismissed, and the Austrian soldier was called. “Leap out of that window,” commanded the emperor. “I will,” said the man, “if you really mean what you say.” He was in turn dismissed, and the Czar called his man. “Leap out of that window,” cried the Czar. Without a word in reply, the man crossed himself, and started to obey, but of course was stopped before he had reached the window. Were the sovereigns guilty of murder? Surely not, because their purpose was not to sacrifice their soldiers, but only to test their obedience. This anecdote may throw more light on the first difficulty than perhaps many a logical argument could do. God’s purpose must be judged, not by His command alone, but by the story in its completeness. Then only will our judgment be a correct one.

Trial of Abraham’s faith

We notice--

I. The AUTHOR of the trial (Gen 22:1). What has God to do with my trials? is the first question which wisdom always asks. When that is settled, we know where we are and what to do.

II. The NATURE of the trial (Gen 22:2). It was no ordinary requirement. Any father’s heart would sink within him at such a command. The history of the future of which hope had dreamed was a fable. The book of life was to be closed when nothing but the title-page had been written.

III. The PROGRESS of the trial (Gen 22:3-10). It was not one downright blow of trouble, but protracted trial. Days came and went, and found it unconcluded. Good men never graduate from trouble. Christian life itself, in one view, is trial--an escaping from old conditions, a breaking of fetters, a climbing to higher levels--all accomplished with pain and cost. Life is a race for life. Life is a battle for life. And so likewise its incidental troubles have a self-perpetuating power. Long after the gale has gone down the ocean keeps its restlessness, and under the serenest sky the after-surge of the storm moans upon the beach. It is so in human life. The shock of sorrow comes and passes, but the soul is not at rest. The old grief comes back in thought and dreams, and life can never again be what it was.

IV. The ENDING of the trial (Gen 22:11-14). The long agony was over, and the issue was all the sweeter for the bitterness which had preceded it. Accepting this story of Abraham’s trial as a type of human life, we find certain practical truths emphasized.
1. Men make mistakes in their judgment of experience. What they think the best, may be the worst possible for them; what they think the worst, may be the best. Humanly judging, the command to sacrifice Isaac was the end of Abraham’s hopes; in fact, it was the beginning of his prosperity. It is so always. God plans behind and works through a cloud, but always for the best.
2. Clearly, also, in the practical conduct of life, faith is superior to reason. We can trust, and are wise in trusting for some things which can never be argued.
3. In our dealings with God, obedience is safety. Men are not to stop to calculate chances, nor wait until they think they see their way clear. Whatever God appoints is to be undertaken at once and without question. Men ruin themselves sometimes with what they call their prudence. There is no prudence in anything that limits exact obedience to the Divine requirements. (E. S. Atwood.)

The trial of Abraham’s faith

I. IT WAS A TRIAL FOR WHICH ABRAHAM HAD BEEN CAREFULLY PREPARED.
1. By his spiritual history.
2. By a life of trial.

II. IT WAS A TRIAL OF REMARKABLE SEVERITY.
1. The violence done to his natural feelings.
2. The violence done to his feelings as a religious man.

III. THIS TRIAL WAS ENDURED IN THE SPIRIT OF AN EXTRAORDINARY FAITH. His obedience was--
1. Unquestioning.
2. Complete.
3. Marked by humility.
4. Inspired by trust in a personal God.

IV. GOD REWARDED HIS FAITHFUL ENDURANCE OF THE TRIAL.
1. By taking the will for the deed.
2. By renewing His promises.
3. By turning the occasion of the trial into a revelation of the day of Christ.
(1) He sees represented the sacrifice of the only-begotten and well-beloved Son of God.
(2) There is suggested to him the idea of substitution.
(3) The resurrection of Christ and His return to glory are also represented.
Learn:
1. That the most distinguished of God’s servants are often subjected to the greatest trials.
2. That trials test the strength and spirituality of our faith.
3. That trials well endured set spiritual truths in a clearer and more affecting light. (T. H. Leale.)

Abraham offering Isaac
The crowning test of Abraham’s life, in which all preceding trials culminated. The greatness of the test appears in the exceptional character of the demand. It appeared as a direct contradiction of God’s promise. Abraham’s obedience was--
1. Prompt. The command came in the night. Early next morning, Abraham “rose up . . . and took . . . Isaac,” &c.
2. Persistent. He had the sustaining force which enabled him to maintain his purpose unwaveringly during the period of suspense between the command and the full obedience to it.
3. Perfect. He accepted the command as meaning the unreserved and unconditional offering up of Isaac, with the faith that God would say “enough” when the obedience came up to the measure of the demand. When that would be, it was for God, not Abraham, to decide. It was for him to obey; and he did obey. When he lifted up the knife, the sacrifice was complete. Isaac bad already been sacrificed upon the altar of a father’s heart. All the agony of giving up had been endured. Only the tragedy, and not the real sacrifice was prevented. (D. Davies.)

Abraham’s trial

I. THE DIFFICULTY AND ITS EXPLANATION. God seems to have required of Abraham what was wrong. He seems to have sanctioned human sacrifice. My reply is--
1. God did not require it. You must take the history as a whole, the conclusion as well as the commencement. The sacrifice of Isaac was commanded at first, and forbidden at the end. Had it ended in Abraham’s accomplishing the sacrifice, I know not what could have been said; it would have left on the page of Scripture a dark and painful blot. My reply to God’s seeming to require human sacrifice is the conclusion of the chapter. God says, “Lay not thine hand upon the lad.” This is the final decree. Thus human sacrifices were distinctly forbidden. He really required the surrender of the father’s will. He seemed to demand the sacrifice of life.

2. But further still. God did not demand what was wrong. It did not seem wrong to Abraham. It is not enough defence to say God did not command wrong. Had God seemed to command wrong, the difficulty would be as great. Abraham’s faith would then have consisted in doing wrong for the sake of God. Now it did not. Abraham lived in a country where human sacrifices are common; he lived in a day when a father’s power over a son’s life was absolute. He was familiar with the idea; and just as familiarity with slavery makes it seem less horrible, so familiarity with this as an established and conscientious mode of worshipping God removed from Abraham much of the horror we should feel.

II. THE NATURE OF THE TRIAL.
1. We remark, first, this trial was made under aggravated circumstances. The words in which God’s command was couched were those of accumulated keenness. To subdue the father in the heart, that a Roman has done, and calmly signed his son’s death-warrant; but to subdue it, not with Roman hardness, but with deep trust in God and faith in His providence, saying, It is not hate but love that requires this--this was the nobleness, this the fierce difficulty of Abraham’s sacrifice; this it was which raised him above the Roman hero.

2. We remark, secondly, Abraham was to do this; his son was to die by his own hand, not by a delegate. He was to preclude escape. We do our sacrifices in a cowardly way; we leave loopholes for escape. We do not with our own hand, at His call, cut asunder the dearest ties. We do not immediately take the path of duty, but wait till we are forced into it; always delaying in the hope that some accident may occur which will make it impossible. Them conscience says, with a terrible voice: “You must do it and with your own hand. The knife must be sharp and the blow true. Your own heart must be the sacrifice, and your own hand the priest. It must not be a sacrifice made for you by circumstances.”

III. HOW THE TRIAL WAS MET.
1. Without ostentation.
2. Abraham was in earnest.

If you make a sacrifice, expecting that God will return you your Isaac, that is a sham sacrifice, not a real one. Therefore, if you make sacrifices, let them be real. You will have an infinite gain: yes; but it must be done with an earnest heart, expecting nothing in return. There are times, too, when what you give to God will never be repaid in kind. Isaac is not always restored; but it will be repaid by love, truth, and kindness. God will take you at your word. He says, “Do good and lend, hoping for nothing in return.” Lessons:
1. The Christian sacrifice is the surrender of will.
2. For a true sacrifice, there must be real love.
3. We must not seek for sacrifices.

You need make no wild, romantic efforts to find occasions. Plenty will occur by God’s appointment, and better than if devised by you. Every hour and moment our will may yield as Abraham’s did, quietly, manfully, unseen by all but God. These are the sacrifices which God approves. This is what Abraham meant when he said “My son, God will provide Himself a lamb for a burnt-offering.” (F. W. Robertson, M. A.)

The greatest trial of all

Satan tempts us that he may bring out the evil that is in our hearts; God tries or tests us that He may bring out all the good. The common incidents of daily life, as well as the rare and exceptional crises, are so contrived as to give us incessant opportunities of exercising, and so strengthening, the graces of Christian living.

I. GOD SENDS US NO TRIAL, WHETHER GREAT OR SMALL, WITHOUT FIRST PREPARING US.

II. GOD OFTEN PREPARED US FOR COMING TRIAL BY GIVING US SON, IN NEW AND BLISSFUL REVELATION OF HIMSELF.

III. THE TRIAL CAME VERY SUDDENLY.

IV. THE TRIAL TOUCHED ABRAHAM IN HIS TENDEREST POINT.

V. IT WAS ALSO A GREAT TEST OF HIS FAITH.

VI. IT WAS A TEST OF HIS OBEDIENCE.

VII. THIS TEST DID NOT OUTRAGE ANY OF THE NATURAL INSTINCTS OF HIS SOUL. (F. B. Meyer, B. A.)

JEHOVAH JIREH by Nathan Stone - excerpt from The Names of God

THE NAME Jehovah-jireh is one a number of names compounded with Jehovah. Natur lly these names owe something of their significance t the name Jehovah itself which as we have learned, reveals God as the eternal self-existent One, the God of revelation, the God of moral and spiritual attributes—of righteousness, holiness, love, and therefore of redemption, the God who stands in special covenant relation to Israel in contrast to Elohim, the general name of God in relation to all the nations.

Most of these compound names of God arise out of some historic incident, and portray Jehovah in some aspect of His character as meeting human need.

HISTORICAL SETTING

The historic incident out of which the name Jehovah jireh rises is one of the most moving and significant in the Word of God. The story is found in Genesis 22 . It is the story of the last and greatest crisis in the life of Abraham. Every event in his life has led up to this supreme hour from the time of his call to a high destiny, through every vicissitude, through every joy, through every trial or failure, through every measure of success and blessing, through every hope and promise and assurance. All had been in preparation for this event. The great promise had been fulfilled, the supreme hope of his life realized. He had settled down to live the rest of his life in peace and in joyous anticipation of the larger fulfillment of the promise through the centuries, and its final spiritual fulfillment. The rationalistic critics have long been silenced who denied or doubted the reality of the Patriarchs as actual persons, but interpreted them merely as ideal and imaginary figures around which ancient Hebrew tradition cast its national origins and early history. For apart from our faith in the Bible as the inspired revelation of God, and its Old and New Testament testimony, to the reality of Abraham as a historic person, abundant evidence has been brought to light in recent years and decades as to the historicity of the persons and the veracity of the events to dispel all doubts and invalidate all objections.

In this incident Elohim appears to Abraham with the astounding command to offer up as a sacrifice, a burnt offering, his only and well-beloved son Isaac. Abraham, apparently, is not aware that this is a testing. His feelings can scarcely be imagined. His tremendous faith, in view of all the circumstances, is, perhaps, not sufficiently appreciated. The record reveals not a word of objection or remonstrance on his part. But if he laughed in his heart with joyful hope, even though perhaps mingled with a little doubt, when this son was promised to him, how deep his anguish and perplexity must have been at this amazing request from the God who had been so good to him. Yet the faith which enabled him to believe such a staggering promise in the first place is now sufficient for an even more staggering demand. This incident, then, reveals Abraham's obedience and faith, Isaac's willing submission, and Jehovah's gracious pro-vision of a substitute in his place.

THE MEANING OF THE NAME

Before we discuss the derivation and meaning of this name, it will be well to briefly recall the happenings which occasioned its use. On the way to the place of sacrifice Isaac cannot contain his curiosity about the lamb for the burnt offering. "Behold the fire and wood"; he said, "but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?" (Gen. 22:7). Abraham's answer to this question is that God will provide Himself a lamb. It is not necessary to suppose that Abraham thought of an ordinary lamb in this answer, although he may have had some such dim hope in his mind. At any rate, in his instructions to his young men to wait for him he says: "I and the lad will go yonder and worship, and come again to you" (v. 5). It is only at the last moment, when Isaac lies bound up-on the altar, and any such hope he may have entertained is gone, and the knife in his upraised hand is about to descend, that the voice of the angel of Jehovah arrests and stays his hand, and Abraham looks about and sees a ram caught in a thicket by its horns, which he offers up instead of his son. Then in verse 14 we read in the Authorized Version of our Bible: "And Abraham called the name of that place Jehovah-jireh: as it is said to this day, In the mount of the Lord [Jehovah] it shall be seen." In the American Standard Version of our Bible, however, instead of "it shall be seen," it reads "it shall be provided." Still another rendering of this important word is "he shall be seen." Thus, "in the mount of Jehovah, he shall be seen or provided."

First of all it must be understood that in this name Jehovah-jireh, the word jireh is simply a transliteration of a Hebrew word which appears many times throughout the Scriptures and is translated for what it means. Only its unusual significance here, its connection with this remarkable event, and its union with the title Jehovah has brought it down to us as a compound name of God. It is simply a form of the verb to see. What connection can there be then between the word see and provide, for both of these English words are used to translate the one Hebrew word, and they certainly seem to be quite distinct in their meaning? It must be admitted, too, that in the great majority of cases where this word occurs in the Hebrew Bible, it is translated "see" or "appear." Why then should we translate it "provide" here?

One reason for this, no doubt, as one writer declares,' is, that with God, to see is also to foresee. As the One who possesses eternal wisdom and knowledge, He knows the end from the beginning. As Elohim He is all-knowing, all-wise, and all-powerful. From eternity to eternity He foresees everything. But another word for seeing is vision, from the Latin word video—to see. Thus with God foreseeing is prevision. As the Jehovah of righteousness and holiness, and of love and redemption, having prevision of man's sin, and fall, and need, He makes provision for that need. For provision, after all, is merely a compound of two Latin words meaning "to see beforehand." And we may learn from a dictionary that provide is simply the verb and prevision the noun of seeing beforehand. Thus to God prevision is necessarily followed by provision, for He certainly will provide for that need which His foreseeing shows Him to exist. With Him prevision and provision are one and the same thing. All this is certainly expressed in the term Jehovah-jireh; and it is quite correct and in its proper significance to translate this name of God Jehovah jireh, "God will provide."

Another form of the word from which jireh is derived is also used of men in the sense of foresee. It is translated "seer" or "prophet." Several references are made in the Scriptures to Samuel the Seer and the Book of Samuel the Seer (I Chr 9:22; 26:28; II Sam. 15:27; II Chron. 16:7). The word is ro'eh which, as can easily be seen, is much like jireh. In I Samuel 9:9 it is stated that the prophet formerly was called a seer. Even as late as the time of Isaiah (30:10) this was the word sometimes used for a prophet. Here the prophet Isaiah speaks of a people who say to the seers: "See not; and to the prophets, Prophesy not unto us right things." A prophet is, of course, one who foresees, and since seer, or ro'eh, is the same as prophet, it consequently means one who foresees.

Besides this the word jireh is translated in Genesis 22:8, even in our Authorized Version of the Bible, as provide. Abraham here said to Isaac: "My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering." Even if we were to translate here, "God will see to it," or "God will see for Himself a lamb for a burnt offering," the meaning would be exactly the same as provide.

The importance of the words used here can hardly be overestimated, and afford striking evidence and confirmation of the hand of God in revelation. "Abraham called the name of the place Jehovah-jireh: as it is said to this day, In the mount of the.Lord it or he shall be seen." "It shall be seen"—jeroeh—the same word as jireh. That is, God's provision shall be seen. In the mount of the Lord! What was this mount of the Lord? In Genesis 22:2 the command comes to Abraham: "Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of." The significant word here is the word Moriah, of which more will be said later. This word, many He-brew scholars agree, is a kindred word to jireh, derived from the same root. Its ending is an abbreviated form of the name Jehovah. Thus it may be rendered "seen" or "provided of Jehovah." All of this confirms and justifies our translation of the word jireh as "seeing" or "appearing and providing," and invests this name of Jehovah with a wealth of meaning and significance.

THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THIS NAME

This name is significant, first of all, because it is a commemoration—a commemoration of a great deliverance. This was the primary reason for naming the scene of this event Jehovah-jireh. It was a constant reminder of the wonderful grace of the Jehovah who had wrought this deliverance. Now that it was all over, and Abraham had learned the lesson God was teaching him and could see something of God's glorious purpose in it all, he sought only to magnify the grace of Jehovah. His magnifying of this grace was in proportion to the deep and dark perplexity that had filled his soul on the way to the mount. Had God really spoken to him and called him? Did the Elohim mean what He had said? Could He really mean what He said now? Such may have been Abraham's thoughts. But his joy and gratitude were in proportion to his sorrow and despair at the terrible prospect before him—the overwhelming horror that must have flooded his soul at the thought, yes, the very act of plunging the knife of sacrifice into the body of his own son, his only son, the son so longed for, hoped for, prayed for, the child of their old age. What a great and glorious deliverance it was that Jehovah's grace had provided, and how unexpected and dramatic! Man's extremity is ever God's opportunity, not only for deliverance but to teach also wonderful lessons of His purpose as well as providence.

Surely out of this experience of Jehovah's delivering grace there must have come a purer, more spiritual relationship of love between this father and son. This must have been one lesson the experience was intended to convey. As one great commentator has declared, it was that he should no more love his beloved son as his flesh and blood, but solely and only as the gracious gift and possession of God, as a good entrusted to him by God; which he was to be ready to render back to Him at any moment (Delitzsch) . According to the words of the angel of Jehovah it is fullest proof of Abraham's faith and obedience, "seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son from me." And He might have added, "Even as I will not withhold my only and well-beloved Son as the great provision for man's redemption." For this, after all, is the chief lesson of the story, the deliverance of Isaac through the provision of a substitute. For just as Abraham is about to slay him, the voice of the angel of Jehovah arrests him: "Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do anything unto him." And there in the thicket is the substitute provided by Jehovah.

A further significance of this name of God lies in the expectation of something yet to come. Even if we were to translate Jehovah-jireh as "the Lord doth provide" rather than "will provide," it would be Abraham's testimony to the fact that Jehovah is a God who always provides; that as He provided then He would also pro-vide in the future—deliverance from death, the oil of joy for the ashes of sorrow and mourning, blessings for obedience, even though obedience be made perfect through sufferings. The naming of the place Jehovah-jireh was meant to be proverbial of this very thing—"as it is said to this day."

But this naming of the place was more than proverbial with Abraham. He can hardly have emerged from such a remarkable and solemn experience without feeling or realizing that it had far deeper significance than the test of his own faith only. The profound import of the occasion is strikingly attested by the most solemn language of Jehovah Himself calling from heaven a second time after the lamb of His provision had been offered, and saying, "By myself have I sworn, saith Jehovah." The word translated "saith" is the particular word used of Jehovah when making the most solemn prophetic utterances. Some translate it "utterance," others, "oracle."

Then follows an emphatic confirmation of the promises to make Abraham a multitude, and a blessing to the world "because thou hast done this thing," and "because thou hast obeyed my voice." There are various allusions in the New Testament to this great transaction that indicate that Abraham saw far more than the immediate provision and deliverance in it. It was more than proverbial. He saw in it a prediction. He called the name of the place Jehovah-jireh; not merely Jehovah doth provide but Jehovah will provide. And then, "as it is said to this day, In the mount of Jehovah it shall be seen" or "it shall be provided." One of the most noted of medieval Jewish commentators also understood this expression to mean, "God will manifest Himself to His people."

THE REALIZATION

What then was that provision which Abraham saw, dimly perhaps, with the eye of faith? What was the reality of which Isaac, and the lamb, were but types? Certainly Abraham understood the reality of sin, and realized the need for atonement. The numerous altars he built and the offerings he sacrificed attest that fact. Why then the demand for Isaac as an offering? Was it not to impress upon Abraham more deeply the temporary character of these sacrifices; that it was impossible that the blood of bulls and goats should take away sins (Heb. 10:4); that they were only shadows of which some-thing infinitely worthier should be the substance and reality? Thus Isaac was exhibited as the pattern of one under the judgment of God for sin. Animals cannot take away the sins of men. Animals cannot be consecrated to God instead of men. "Lebanon is not sufficient to burn, nor the beasts thereof sufficient for a burnt offering" (Isa. 40:16). Only one of like nature, if one worthy enough can be found, can make such atonement and consecration. Here again in the deliverance of Isaac as he was about to be offered Abraham received more than an inkling of the fact that not even Isaac, that none born of flesh alone, is sufficient for that. For Isaac was offered and received back only in a figure (Heb. 11:19), and the lamb became his substitute also.

Surely 'God was teaching Abraham that the only sacrifice acceptable to Him is the one chosen and appointed by Himself. "Wherewithal shall I come before the Lord, and bow myself before the high God? Shall I come be-fore him with burnt offerings, with calves of a year old? Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams .. . shall I give my first-born for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?" says Micah 6:6-7.

In the mount of the Lord it shall be seen or provided, and that mount is Moriah which, as already stated, means appearance or provision of God. It was this Mount Moriah which later became the site of the Temple and the center of Israel's worship, its sacrificial system. In II Chronicles 3:1 it is written: "Then Solomon began to build the house of the Lord [Jehovah] at Jerusalem in mount Moriah, where Jehovah appeared unto David his father, in the place that David had prepared in the threshing floor of Ornan, the Jebusite." It was here, in David's time, that God in His mercy staved the hand of avenging justice when David offered the sacrifices of substitution. The very heart of Israel's religion, centered in the Temple on Mount Moriah, was its substitutionary sacrifices. A Jewish interpretation of Genesis 22:14 is: "God will see and choose that very place to cause His Shekinah to rest thereon and to offer the offerings."

But, like Abraham, the true and faithful Israelite must have realized that the sacrifice of animals was only a shadow of something to come. Jehovah's gracious promise to Solomon in II Chronicles 7 to set His heart and eyes and His glory on that place indicate something in-finitely nobler than animal sacrifice.

Isaiah and Micah make sublime predictions concerning the mountain of the house of the Lord. Zechariah speaks of the glory of that holy mountain, the mountain of Jehovah of hosts. What was the glory of that mountain? Surely it was no temple made with hands! Surely it was not all the beasts on Jewish altars slain. The Abraham who looked not for an earthly city but for one "which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God," also looked for a better and more enduring sacrifice; for the Mount Moriah of which he spoke saying: "In the mount of the Lord it shall be seen." be-came the site of Calvary and the scene of that grand and awful sacrifice of God's only begotten and well-beloved Son, who was put under judgment for sin, and became our Substitute. Perhaps Abraham understood better than we realize the wonder of Jehovah's provision for man's redemption when he said: "In the Mount of Jehovah, he will appear.

" Was it not this to which the Lord Jesus Christ Himself referred in John 8:56, when He said: "Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day: and he saw it, and was glad."

Abraham and Isaac, as father and only begotten son. are both types of Jehovah's full and glorious provision for man's sin and need. "God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son ..." (John 3:16).

And Paul speaks of God as "he that spared not his own Son. but delivered him up for us all . . ." (Rom. 8:32).

"Who was delivered up for our trespasses . . ." (Rom. 4:25).

And John says again: "ln this was manifested the love of God toward us, in that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him" (1 John 4:9).

On Mount Moriah Jehovah was teaching Abraham what He Himself was prepared to provide. He was teaching the awful cost to Himself of the provision of the sacrifice for sin. Does it break your heart, Abraham, to give up, to slay, yes, by your own hand, as an innocent sacrifice, your well-beloved and only son? Then think of the awful and infinite cost to Me of what I am prepared to do for man. The thing that Abraham fore-shadowed on Mount Moriah was realized, accomplished, when God's Son upon the cross cried, "It is finished."

Isaac asks, "Where is the lamb?" Abraham answers, "God will provide himself a lamb." John the Baptist announces,

"Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world" (John 1:29).

This was the Lamb provided and slain from the foundation of the world but manifested on Mount Moriah for us; through whose precious blood, even the blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot, we are redeemed (1 Peter 1:18, 19).

This Lamb is the center of heaven's glory and the object of its adoration. Ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands say with a loud voice:

"Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and might, and honor, and glory and blessing." Yes, and every creature will join in saying: "Blessing and honor, and glory, and power, be unto him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb forever and ever" (Rev. 5:11-13).

God will provide Himself a lamb. In the mount of the Lord it shall be seen, it shall be provided. In the mount of the Lord He was seen, He was provided, even Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God, our Saviour, our Lord, to whom be glory forever, and who is over all God blessed forever. Amen. (The Names of God)

Herbert Lockyer - JEHOVAH-JIREH—The Lord Will Provide (Genesis 22:14)

Mohammed declared that he received from Gabriel 99 divine names, sufficient for him to present the whole Being of God, which he utterly failed to do. Here is a further compound name, and one of the most precious among all of God's scriptural titles. Although Abraham knew God as his Friend, he continued to make fresh discoveries of Him, and as memorials coined new names so Jehovah-Jireh stands as a monument of a great discovery and of a remarkable deliverance, the full story of which is found in Genesis 22. The margin of our Bible tells us that this name means "The Lord will see" or "The Lord will provide." That there is a good deal of difference between these two meanings as far as man is concerned, is seen in the fact that to foresee is one thing, but to provide is another. But when we come to deal with God the two are found to be one and the same.

Are not our hearts comforted as we remember that His pre-vision means His pro-vision, which is what is meant by His combined name that Abraham gave to the place where he found the ram provided as a substitute for Isaac. What an expression of wondrous fullness and meaning is Jehovah-Jireh! Because of His omniscience and perfection of character, He is able to provide for, or supply, the need whatever it may be. We may foresee a need that may arise, yet be incapable of making any provision at all for the need. What He foresees, He can furnish. A comparison of renderings is profitable. For instance in the KJV, we read, "In the mount of the LORD, it shall be seen," the margin of the RSV reads, "He will be seen." The KJV has "In the mount of the LORD, It shall be provided"—the RV "He shall be provided."

Further, these alternative readings become more emphatic as we connect them with Moriah, which, in the Hebrew, is a kindred word to Jireh, taken from "Jehovah seeing," and can be translated, "seen of JAH" or, "the vision of Jehovah." Thus, there is a far deeper and more solemn application of Moriah than we realize!
"In the mount of the LORD, or in Moriah (that is, where Jehovah shall see) It or He (Jehovah) shall be seen."

Immediately we ask, who is the infinite power and love of Jehovah that shall be seen upon Mount Moriah making provision, by substitutionary sacrifice, for all the demands of Almighty GOD-Elohim? "Jehovah shall provide"—"Jehovah shall be seen"? As Elohim God demanded the sacrifice of Isaac, but as Jehovah He made complete provision of a substitute for the son Abraham willingly offered. What God commanded, He supplied. Augustine expressed it, "Command what Thou wilt, then give what Thou commandest" Paul puts it, "Faithful is He that calleth you, who also will do it" (1 Thessalonians 5:24).

Abraham's faith endured many trials, but that of Moriah was the summit of them all. But out of the severe test the patriarch emerged with a new name and seal,
The Lord Will See to It.

Abraham evinced a growing faith in God, which He himself cultivated, and now he came to learn in a new way the truth of God's all-sufficiency. Hence his reply to Isaac's question as to the animal for sacrifice, "The Lord will see to it that there is a lamb for the burnt offering." Even if he had to plunge his knife into Isaac, Abraham believed that God was able to raise his son from the dead. His faith was willing to go to the limit, for he knew that, "The Lord will see to it" (Hebrews 11:19).
The three interpretations of the name Abraham gave to the place God brought him to, are worthy of comparison—
• The Lord shall appear, an allusion to the divine interposition by which Isaac was saved from death.
• The Lord shall see, in the sense of looking out and selecting the offerings that should afterwards be presented in the Temple.
• The Lord shall provide. Here we have a backward glance to Abraham's answer, "God will provide Himself the lamb for the burnt-offering" (Genesis 22:8).

The latter interpretation, as given in the ASV, suggests at least three aspects of spiritual import, namely:
1. A Memorial of Divine Intervention.
2. A Mirror of the Lamb of Glory.
3. A Message of God's Goodness to Mankind in General, and to the Saints in Particular.

First of all, then, we think of Moriah the place as being commemorative of Abraham's deliverance. The interesting thing is that this is the first recorded instance in Scripture of the naming of a place after a divine interposition or manifestation; a practice afterwards frequently observed as by Jacob at Bethel and Peniel, and Moses at Rephidim. Surely, if ever a spot was worthy of remembrance by a special designation it was Mount Moriah, not so much, however, as Dr. Thomas Whitelaw, in his Jehovah-Jesus published in 1913, points out—
"In order to consecrate the spot or invest it with peculiar sanctity, as if discerning with the eye of faith the sacred uses to which in the distant future it should be put, not merely to assist Abraham's own remembrance of the awful experiences through which he had passed on his journey to the mount and in his transactions there with his son and his God—these things, one can imagine would never pass from the patriarch's recollection, rather would be engraven on his memory with an iron pen and lead in the rock for ever—but to magnify the grace of God which had wrought out for him so marvellous a deliverance."

We cannot enter into the agony of Abraham's heart staggering under the heavy load of sorrow at having to slay his own son, the son of promise for whom he had waited for 25 years. This fine lad was dearer to the aged patriarch than life, and when asked the innocent question, "Father, where is the Iamb for a burnt-offering?" his soul must have been lacerated to the very quick. What grief and overwhelming horror of soul darkness must have descended upon Abraham when the mount was reached, the altar prepared and Isaac bound upon it, and the knife uplifted to plunge into the lad's heart!

But God's obedient friend was to prove that in a paradoxical way, what had been divinely commanded was never intended; that the call to such a supreme sacrifice was only intended to test the reality of faith, which God vindicated. Abraham went through the dread transaction most obediently up to the last act, when suddenly his uplifted hand was' stayed, and a substitute provided in "the ram caught in the thicket." So strong faith prevailed—Isaac was spared, and Abraham prevented from slaying his son. And it was to commemorate such a divine intervention that he named the place Jehovah-Jireh—THE LORD WILL PROVIDE.

While Abraham believed that God would not suffer His promise to be defeated, and would thus raise Isaac from the dead, the deliverance from death in the nick of time was unexpected, as most of God's deliverances are. In such an hour as they are not looked for they appear. "Man's extremity is God's opportunity." Surely that intervention is one of the most dramatic in Scripture! How startled Abraham must have been as he heard the divine voice say, "Abraham! lay not thine hand upon the lad," especially after hearing the same voice command, "Take thine only son, whom thou lovest, and offer him for a burnt-offering." Dr. Whitelaw remarks, "Ah! there is no actor like God. When He steps upon the stage, all human actors are put into the shade."

In the second place, there is the typical value of that grim scene on Mount Moriah. Isaac asked the question, "Behold the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb?" Two thousand years later John the Baptist answered this question, "Behold the Lamb of God!" We read of Abraham and Isaac that they went together to "the place of which God had told him," and once again we behold the two going forward together to Mount Calvary in holy consent and unison. "God so loved the World that He gave His only begotten Son" (John 3:16). But what a difference between Moriah and Calvary! Isaac was about to be offered but spared at the last moment and a ram sacrificed in his stead. The knife, however, was not stayed at Calvary, but was plunged deep into the heart of God's only begotten Son. The Father did not produce a substitute for His Son at the final moment. "He gave His only begotten Son," because He, as the Holy Ram, was to be the Substitute for sinners who deserved to die. "He gave Himself for—on behalf of—our sins."

Calvary was not a tragedy that could be avoided as the one at Moriah was. "The place called Calvary" was seen afar off even from the foundation of the world. When, in a past eternity, Love drew salvation's plan, the Father and the Son went forward deliberately until the "green hill far away without a city wall" was reached, where the Father gave—gave to the uttermost for our redemption. Perhaps the Crucifixion Day was the day our Lord spoke of to the Jews, "Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day, and he saw it and was glad" (John 8:56), which He had in mind as He thought of Moriah, The Son, typified by Isaac, acquiesced in the sacrifice. The aged patriarch could never have captured and bound his agile, strong son without his consent At Calvary, Christ's life was not taken by force, it was willingly given.

The answer of Abraham to Isaac's question as to where the lamb was coming from for the sacrifice gathers added significance as we think of the provision God has made for the deepest need of sinners. "God will provide Himself a lamb." God Himself in the Person of His Son provided "the Lamb without blemish and without spot," for our deliverance from sin's curse and dominion. At the Cross, He became the universal Provider of redemption, providing life for our death, atonement for our guilt, strength for our weakness, Heaven for our Hell. Because God spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for all, in virtue of the Lamb of Calvary, He stands ready to "freely give us all things" (Romans 8:32). Now, the sinner can do nothing whatever for his salvation. The Lord has seen to it, both for time and eternity.

Thirdly, we have the promise and assurance of God's goodness in Jehovah-Jireh. In the matter of temporal provision for mankind in general, God daily proves Himself to be the unfailing Provider. "The eyes of all—man and beast—wait upon Him, for He giveth (them their meat in due season."

He daily spreads a glorious feast,
And at His table dine,
The whole creation—man and beast,
And He's a friend of mine.

For those of us redeemed by the blood of the Lamb, we have the promise, "My God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus" (Philippians 4:19). These words of Paul are the New Testament version of Jehovah-Jireh, and the all means ALL, whether our needs are spiritual, physical or material. Food, clothing, and the sustenance of life, are nothing to Him to provide who never forgets to feed the sparrows (Matthew 6:25-34).

When Jesus sent forth the Seventy He knew all about the need that would face them, and when they returned it was with the confession that they lacked nothing (Luke 22:35). The heart of the Lord is as large as His power is infinite, and as we cast all our care upon Him, we experience how deeply He cares for us, and is at hand to provide when need arises.

Say not, my soul, "From whence can God relieve my care?
Remember that Omnipotence hath servants everywhere.
His methods are sublime; His heart profoundly kind;
God never is before His time, and never is behind.

When faced with a legitimate, pressing need, faith can say, The Lord will see to it. The seeing implied here is a kindly, friendly, interested seeing, a seeing that cares and sympathizes and provides for the need it sees, and God's vision issues in provision. Trials, sorrows, and disappointments may be ours, but in all situations we can prove that it is true that God will provide.

Tho' troubles assail and dangers affright
Tho' friends should all fail and foes all unite;
Yet one thing secures us, whatever betide,
The Scripture assures us,
"The Lord will provide."

Abraham Offers Isaac or Finds Jehovah-Jireh - Robert Neighbour

The Supreme Test (Gen. 22:1,2).
The Three Days' Journey (Gen. 22:3,4).
Where Is the Lamb? (Gen. 22:7).
Isaac Bound (Gen. 22:9).
In the Stead of His Son (Gen. 22:13).
Jehovah-jireh (Gen. 22:14).
Because Thou Hast Done This Thing (Gen. 22:16,17).

Abraham offering up Isaac has always stood with the orthodox as a striking and beautiful type of God offering up His Son.

To be sure the critic would rob us of this meaningful message, and tell us that Abraham, of his own volition, was only following out the heathen custom of his day — a most hideous and barbaric rite, — the sacrifice of his son to appease the wrath of an avengeful God.

In spite of the critic we come believing; and we sit at the feet of our Lord to-day and ask Him to teach us the deeper meanings of this trying test with which God, Himself, did test Abraham.

The Supreme Test

"And it came to pass after these things, that God did prove Abraham, and said unto him, Abraham; and he said, Here am I. And he said, Take now thy son, thine only son, whom thou lovest, even Isaac, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt-offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of" (Gen. 22:1,2, A. S. V.).

1. The testing of Abraham was, in no sense, a temptation to sin. James 1:13: "Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth He any man."

A man may be tempted to evil by the drawings out of his own flesh; or else by the enticings of the devil; but he is never tempted of God to do evil.
God does often test saints.

God led the children of Israel forty years in the wilderness to prove them, to know what was in them and to see whether they would keep His commandments (see Deut 8:2).

God tried out His servant Job; He permitted satan to divest him of his possessions and even to put his hand upon his body. Yet, in all of Job's trials, while satan was seeking to pull him down and to wreck his faith, God was only testing him that He might lift him up, and lead him to better things. It is good to see the latter days of Job and to observe the "end of the Lord, that the Lord is very pitiful, and of tender mercy" (James 5:11).

Thus can we say, James 1:12: "Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love Him."

2. The testing of Abraham was a supreme test. The command was, "Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest * * and offer him."

(1) Isaac was a son of promise. In him Abraham's all was staked. There was no other son to take his place, none other who could stand in his stead. With Isaac slain every promise of God to Abraham would be done away. The type is plain. Jesus Christ, too, was a Son of promise. There was no other son to take His place. He was God's only begotten. In Him and in Him alone could God save the lost. There was no other name under Heaven and among men whereby we must be saved.

(2) Isaac was the son of his father's love. This was made doubly true, because Abraham had waited so many years for the birth of Isaac. He had sometimes almost despaired that Isaac would' be born. When at last, Isaac came as a babe to bless his home, Abraham was overwhelmed with joy. His whole heart was centered in his son.

Jesus Christ was the Son of the Father's love. "This is My beloved Son." These were the words that came from the blue, as Christ was baptized. Christ was God's beloved Son, for He had been one with the Father from all eternity. He and the Father were one.

(3) Isaac was the son of Abraham's Old age. Christ was the Son of Eternity. He was from everlasting unto everlasting. Again the type is manifested.

(4) Abraham's offering up of Isaac was a supreme MARK OF HIS UNSWERVING LOVE AND FIDELITY TO God. Jesus Christ offered up on the Cross is God's greatest proof of His love to us. "God commendeth His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us" (Rom. 5:8).

The Three Days' Journey

"And Abraham rose early in the morning, and saddled his ass and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son; and he clave the wood for t

e burnt-offering, and rose up, and went onto the place of which God had told him. On the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes, and saw the place afar off" (Gen. 22:3, 4, A. S. V.).
1. Abraham obeyed promptly. When the word came to offer up Isaac, Abraham rose up early in the morning and started out to obey God's command. Prompt obedience is the only obedience that merits praise. The commandments of the Lord require haste. Hesitancy spells disaster.

During all the ages there never was a moment that God, the Father held back from man the gift of His Son. Neither did Christ tarry by the way. Even the Garden of Gethsemane scene suggests no desire on Christ's part to loiter on the way to His Cross.

2. Abraham and Isaac went a three days' journey. Three days in the Bible speaks of death, burial and resurrection. The objective of that memorable trip had to do with the Cross of Christ.

Far back in eternity Jesus Christ began His journey toward the Cross of Calvary. He was a Lamb slain from before the foundation of the world. He was foreordained to die by the determinate council and foreknowledge of God. Long before God said, "Let Us make man," Jesus Christ was the crucified, in the will of God.

When Christ was born of Mary, He only continued the pathway toward the Cross which He had been treading for many ages.

3. Abraham placed the wood of the burnt-offering on Isaac. Even so did Christ carry His Cross. "And He bearing His Cross went forth into a place called the place of a skull" (John 19:17).

There are many to-day given to the wearing of tiny gold crosses. These crosses are fastened on shining chains. The Cross of Christ was rugged. He first bore the Cross and afterward the Cross bore Him.

"In the Cross of Christ I glory,
Towering o'er the wrecks of time,
All the light of Sacred Story,
Gathers round its head sublime."

4. Two young men went part of the way and then tarried behind. Christ had twelve Apostles, but as the mob came to His arrest, they all forsook Him and fled (see Matt. 26:56). To be sure, as He hung on the Cross, "all His acquaintances, and the women that followed Him from Galilee, stood afar off, beholding these things" (Luke 23:49); and John and Mary and some others stood near by at the foot of the Cross (see John 19:25, 26) however, none could travel with Him around the cycle of His suffering. He went alone.

5. From Isaac there is no recorded word of reproach, only a question — Where is the sacrifice? Jesus Christ went unresistingly toward His Cross. He went as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep dumb before its shearers (see Isa. 53:7). Only once did Christ question the Father, when He said "My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?"

6. Abraham and Isaac went both. Jesus Christ could well say: "The Father is with Me" (John 16:31). All of the weary way from the upper room to Gethsemane; from Gethsemane to Pilate's judgment hall, by way of the home

f Annas and of Caiaphas; from the hall of Pilate to the whipping post, and from the whipping post to the Cross, did the Father walk with Jesus. Yes, God was with Him.
It was only when God laid iniquity upon Him, when God made Him to be sin for us (see II Cor, 5:21), that the Father hid His face.

Where Is the Lamb?

"And Isaac spake unto Abraham his father, and said, My Father: and he said, Here am I, my son. And he said, Behold, the fire and the wood: but where is the lamb for a burnt-offering" (Gen. 22:7, A. S. V.).

1. The question that troubled Isaac was the question of many an Old Testament saint. They saw many lambs led forth to the slaughter, they knew that those lambs looked forward to a sacrifice yet to come, — and they often asked where is the Lamb? When will Christ be born? When will the Messiah come?

2. Abraham responded: "God will PROVIDE HIMSELF a LAMB for the burnt offering." Surely this was true. All the lambs sacrificed in the days of Israel made necessary the sacrifice of the Lamb of God, God's Lamb.

Those lambs were pledges of God's coming Lamb. Those lambs had no power to take away sin. Hebrews 10:11-14: "And every priest standeth daily ministering and offering oftentimes the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins: but this Man, after He had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God; from henceforth expecting till His enemies be made His footstool. For by one offering He hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified."

3. God did provide HIMSELF a Lamb. We needed the Lamb that we might be saved. We could not get to God apart from the Lamb of God, for Christ said: "No man cometh unto the Father but by Me." However, God needed a Lamb also. God loved us, but God could not come nigh unto us, unless Christ died. Our God was a Holy and a Just God. He could not receive the unholy nor justify the guilty: therefore God needed a Lamb. Every blessing God has bestowed upon us is ours in Christ Jesus. Every manifestation of God's grace is possible alone in Christ Jesus. God provided HIMSELF a Lamb, as His only channel of blessing toward man.

4. John the Baptist gave us the answer to Isaac's question. As Christ approached the waters of the Jordan, John cried: "Behold the Lamb."

Oh, that the children of Israel would to-day discern the meaning of the words of John! Oh, that they might see in Christ the fulfillment of all their sacrificial lambs!

Since the day that the Temple was destroyed by Titus there has been no more sacrifice. Sacrifice is not needed, for those types were all fulfilled in Christ — He is the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world.

Isaac Bound

"And they came to the place which God had told him of; and Abraham built the altar there, and laid the wood in order, and bound Isaac his son, and laid him on the altar, upon the wood" (Gen. 22:9, A. S. V.).

1. Abraham took the wood and laid it upon Isaac. Even so did God "lay on Him the iniquity of us all." God placed our sins upon our Isaac. He put Him to grief. Sometimes the question is asked, Who crucified the Saviour? Peter said: "Ye have taken, and with wicked hands have crucified and slain." But Peter prefaced his words with: "Him being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God." Thus while man crucified Christ God let man have his way, that thereby He might fulfill His will.

2. Abraham bound Isaac. From the foot of the Cross the mockers cried, "Let Him now come down from the Cross, and we will believe Him" (Matt. 27:42). They also cried: "He saved others, Himself He cannot save" (Matt. 27:42).

Both of these accusations were true, but they were true from a different view point than that in which they were spoken by those blasphemous Jews.

Jesus Christ did not hang on the Cross because He was helpless to resist the onslaught of His enemies. They were no more to Him than the chaff on a summer threshing floor before the wind. One breath from His mouth would have swept them all away.

Neither men, demons nor devil could have nailed Christ to the Cross against His will. They prevailed only because Christ opened not His mouth. They overcome Him because He yielded Himself to their cruelties.

The reason Christ died was because His Father bound Him and laid Him upon the Cross. He could not break the Father's will, for He Himself was wholly one with the Father. Therefore Christ could say, "I lay down My life, that I might take it again. No man taketh it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. * * This commandment have I received of My Father" (John 10:17,18).

3. Abraham took the knife to slay his son. This is just what God did. "He hath put Him (Christ) to grief." "Thou shalt make His soul an offering for sin" (Isa. 53:10).

Some may wish to charge God with cruelty. To such we would say, "Be not rash with thy mouth." God certainly sent His Son to be the Saviour of the world (see John 4:14). God certainly delivered Christ to die on the Cross (see Acts 2:23). God sent forth His Son to redeem them that were under the Law (see Gal. 4:4,5).

The wickedness of the men who crucified the Lord is not at all lessened by the fact that the Cross was predestined of God. The men who crucified the Lord were free moral agents; they took Christ of their own stubborn will, and with wicked hands they crucified Him. In no sense were they forced to carry out God's will and plan. God did not enter into their hellish conspiracy; God did not sit in their conclaves, as they went about to slay the Lord.

However, if God had no part in the death of Christ, and if therefore our Lord was overpowered and slain a martyr to a holy cause, then Jesus Christ is robbed of His Deity and left a weak and helpless man.

In the Stead of His Son

"And Abraham lifted up his eyes, and looked, and behold behind him a ram caught in a thicket by his horns: and Abraham went and took the ram, and offered him up for a burnt offering in the stead of his son" (Gen. 22:13).

When Abraham lifted his hand to slay his son, God cried: "Abraham, Abraham, * * Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou any thing unto him." Here the type breaks and it is transferred to the ram caught by its horns in the thicket. In the seventh sub-division we will take up this thread again. Just now let us look at the ram, which was to be taken in the stead of the son.

1. In that ram the doctrine of substitution is plainly set forth. We were under the curse, but Christ was made a curse for us. We were under eternal death, but He tasted the cup of death for us.

In the little Book of Philemon, Paul is sending back a runaway slave who had been saved in the jail at Rome. Paul writes a letter urging Philemon to receive Onesimus back, no longer, however, as a slave, but as a brother beloved in the Lord. In fact Paul urges that he should be received as a partner, even as he, Paul, would have been received; thus Paul said: "If he owes thee ought, put that to my account."

Thus does Jesus Christ send us back to God. Our sins are all gone, our record is made clean; our position is that of a son, not a servant. Christ carries us to the Father's heart, even as He Himself is in the Father's heart. He also presents His claim, "If he oweth Thee ought, put it to My account."
And God did lay our sins on Jesus Christ. The whole account against us was settled on the Cross.

"What! Lay my sins on Jesus,
God's well beloved Son,
Yes, 'tis a truth most precious,
That God Himself hath done."

2. Not only was the ram a type of Christ dying for us, but Abraham so understood it. It was a trying moment to the aged patriarch as he raised his own hand to slay his son. It was a blessed moment when Abraham heard God's voice saying, "Lay not thine hand upon the lad;" and as Abraham turned and saw the ram, he also was exceeding glad.

The Lord doubtless referred to this very scene when He said: "Abraham saw My day and was glad" (John 8:56).

And should not we rejoice. Is it nothing to us that we are taken out from the sentence of death, that our sins are gone? How can the sinner refuse so great salvation?
Would' Abraham slay his son with the substitute close at hand, held by his horns in the thicket?
Will the sinner rush on to death and hell when the Substitute is crouching at the door?
Why not believe Christ this very hour and live?

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Click chart to enlarge Chart from recommended resource Jensen's Survey of the OT - used by permission

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Chart from recommended resource Jensen's Survey of the OT - used by permission