Godly fathers-ungodly sons-14

Abraham’s life is full of contradictions. Did he really believe God? Why did he let Sara be taken from him twice? Is he finally ready to believe God and obey God in all things?

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." 22:2  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." 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. 

What is God commanding Abraham to do? Yet, now he obeys and immediately sets out to the mountain that God had instructed him to travel to with Isaac.

22:4  On the third day Abraham raised his eyes and saw the place from a distance. 22:5  Abraham said to his young men, "Stay here with the donkey, and I and the lad will go over there; and we will worship and return to you." 22:6  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. 

Imagine what was going thru Abraham’s mind each day as he made his way to the mountain. Surely, God would soon tell him to stop!

22:7  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?" 22:8  Abraham said, "God will provide for Himself the lamb for the burnt offering, my son." So the two of them walked on together. 

We now read what Abraham believed. While ready to obey, in his heart he wished for a different ending.

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

22:11  But the angel of the LORD called to him from heaven and said, "Abraham, Abraham!" And he said, "Here I am." 22:12  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." 

God waited until the last second. Why? God wasn’t testing Abraham so He could know Abraham’s heart. God was testing Abraham so Abraham would know just how much he really trusted God.

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. 22:14  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." 

Much like when the Israelites were ready to cross the raging Jordan; the river did not dry up until the priests put their feet into the river.

Joshua 3:12  "Now then, take for yourselves twelve men from the tribes of Israel, one man for each tribe. 3:13  "It shall come about when the soles of the feet of the priests who carry the ark of the LORD, the Lord of all the earth, rest in the waters of the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan will be cut off, and the waters which are flowing down from above will stand in one heap." 

3:14  So when the people set out from their tents to cross the Jordan with the priests carrying the ark of the covenant before the people, 3:15  and when those who carried the ark came into the Jordan, and the feet of the priests carrying the ark were dipped in the edge of the water (for the Jordan overflows all its banks all the days of harvest), 3:16  the waters which were flowing down from above stood and rose up in one heap, a great distance away at Adam, the city that is beside Zarethan; and those which were flowing down toward the sea of the Arabah, the Salt Sea, were completely cut off. So the people crossed opposite Jericho. 

3:17  And the priests who carried the ark of the covenant of the LORD stood firm on dry ground in the middle of the Jordan while all Israel crossed on dry ground, until all the nation had finished crossing the Jordan. 

What can we learn?

First, God will reveal our true hearts to us in a variety of ways.

Second, God demands and deserves obedience regardless of our current circumstances.

Third, God’s timing is not our timing. Abraham was 75 when God promised him a son and was 100 when Isaac was born.

Fourth, we must learn to trust God even when it seems like it would be impossible to believe God. The waters receded when their feet were wet. A ram was provided when the knife was poised. Couldn’t God have revealed these things before the last second?

More next Saturday.