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. 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 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. 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. 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, 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? And Abraham said, My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering: so they went both of them together. 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. And Abraham stretched forth his hand, and took the knife to slay his son. And the angel of the LORD called unto him out of heaven, and said, Abraham, Abraham: and he said, Here am I. And he said, 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 withheld 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 Jehovah Jireh: as it is said to this day, In the mount of the LORD it shall be seen. And the angel of the LORD called unto Abraham out of heaven the second time, And said, By myself have I sworn, saith the LORD, for because thou hast done this thing, and hast not withheld thy son, thine only son: 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; And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice. So Abraham returned unto his young men, and they rose up and went together to Beersheba; and Abraham dwelt at Beersheba
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The setting for this story in the land of Canaan. Abraham has been traveling through the countryside for a number of years as a stranger in a place that would later become the inheritance of his descendants and called Israel after his grandson.
Abraham has received a word from God requiring him to go to a place away from his settlement to offer Isaac, his first born son of his wife Sarah, as a sacrifice unto the Lord. The Bible says that God was tempting Abraham by telling him to sacrifice Isaac. The Strong’s concordance gives the definition of the word translated ‘tempt’ can also be translated as to test, try, prove, tempt, assay, put to the proof or test. I think a better way to read this verse is; ‘And it came to pass after these things, that God did test Abraham …’ God wanted to Abraham to know if he were totally committed to doing whatever was required by the Lord, so He asked Abraham to give up his promised child; the only son that he and Sarah would ever have together. So God sent them on a trip to Mount Moriah. Abraham took with him some servants with his donkey to carry the wood, fire pot and provisions for their journey and headed off toward the mountains.
After they had traveled three days Abraham told the servants to wait there with the donkey for their return, he and Isaac would journey on to make the offering. Abraham laid the firewood on Isaac’s shoulders and he carried their provisions and the fire pot while they continued their trip to the place of the sacrifice where they would worship God. As they traveled Isaac became curious. He questioned Abraham as follows, ‘Father we have the wood for the fire and the firepot, but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?’
Abraham answered, ‘My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering.’ He said that God, Himself, would be the lamb for the sacrifice. He spoke this to his son to assure him that God would provide, but he also prophesied of Jesus dying on the cross many years later. God did indeed become the perfect lamb without spot or blemish, sacrificed to ‘… take away the sins of the world.’
Isaac trusted his father’s word and the two of them continued on to the appointed place for their offering. When they arrived on the mount Abraham built an altar for the burnt offering and laid the wood in order on it. Next he tied Isaac like he would have a sheep or goat that was to be offered, much as the cowboys do when they are roping calves for branding.
Most Bible storybooks show Isaac as a small child during this story, yet in the previous chapter of Genesis it tells of the marriage of his half-brother Ishmael. In ancient days men usually didn’t marry until they were about 30. If Ishmael, being 13 years older than Isaac, had married at 30, Isaac would be 17 when that marriage took place. This would mean that Isaac was not a small child, but nearly a man when his father bound him for the offering. Isaac willingly allowed his father to prepare him for death on that altar. He did not speak out, try to fight him off or even try to run away. He went in the same manner as Jesus did, just as Isaiah would predict about Jesus in Isaiah 53:7b; ‘he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth.’
When Abraham had Isaac laid out on the wood Abraham raised the knife in his hands and was about to strike the killing blow when the angel of the Lord called out to him from heaven, "Abraham! Abraham!"
“Here I am,” he replied.
"Do not lay a hand on the boy," he said. "Do not do anything to him. Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son." Genesis 22: 11-12 NIV.
Then Abraham looked up that there caught in the thicket by its horns was a ram. Abraham released Isaac and took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering to the Lord in Isaac’s place. That day Abraham gave that place the name ‘Jehovah Jireh,’ which mean The Lord will provide. And there is a saying through out the land that goes like this; ‘On the mountain of the Lord it will be provided.’
The angel of the Lord called again to Abraham there and said; ‘"I swear by myself, declares the LORD, that 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." Genesis 22:16-18 NIV.
After the sacrifice Abraham and Isaac returned to the servants they had left in charge of the donkey and they all returned to Abraham’s settlement in Beersheba.
LEARNING OBEDIENCE:
Memory Verse:
"If ye love me, keep my commandments." John 14:15 KJV
"If you love me, you will obey what I command." John 14:15 NIV
What does it mean to be obedient, or to obey? At www.dictionary.com they give the definition of ‘obey’ as; to comply with or follow the commands, restrictions, wishes, or instructions of: as to obey one's parents. To obey God is just like obeying our parents; it is to do everything that He has asked us to, without question and without delay. And perfect or complete obedience would be to do it the very first time.
How did Abraham show his obedience to God? Abraham willing did what God asked him to do. He took his only legitimate son, Isaac, and went to sacrifice him as a burnt offering to God. He would have gone through with this and put Isaac to death had God not interrupted him and supplied the ram instead. Abraham didn’t waver in his obedience at all. He knew that if Isaac were killed, God would bring him back to life so that the promises God had given would all come true. The Bible tells us this in Hebrews 11:17-19; ‘By faith Abraham, when he was tried, 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: accounting that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead; from whence also he received him in a figure.’
How do we show our obedience to God? First by being obedient to our parents, they were God’s first gift to us and He told us in the bible that if we obey our parents we would be given long life on the earth.
Ephesians 6:1-3 KJV ‘Children, obey your parents in the Lord: for this is right. Honor thy father and mother; which is the first commandment with promise; that it may be well with thee, and thou mayest live long on the earth.’
Jesus even says in our memory verse that if we love Him we will want to obey His commandments. Obedience out of Love is the best kind, for our motives are pure. We are not looking for anything in return, only the smile on the face of our Lord.
Walk all your days in obedience to Jesus and He will always walk with you!
Until next time!
Leigh
