If you are joining us for the first time, please be sure to read the previous posts in this series:
- Part 1: Three verbs that describe someone who has encountered Jesus Christ
- Part 2: Comparing the parable of the four soils
- Part 3: Who is the third soil?
- Part 4: The fourth soil
- Part 5: The meaning of the four soils
- Part 6: God is not unjust to forget your work
- Part 7: Deny yourself and pick up your cross
- Part 8: God’s promise to Abraham
- Part 9: Abraham’s Continuous Need for God’s Grace
Last week, we discussed Abraham’s continuous battle with sin and his constant need for God’s grace.
It is interesting to note, however, that if you read Hebrews 11:8-19 but knew nothing of Abraham’s history, you might come to the conclusion that Abraham and Sarah both were a man and woman of giant faith who trusted God implicitly and obeyed Him immediately. But as you can see from our reading in Genesis and the extra-biblical resources, that was not the case at all! They were real people, who were believers in the Lord but were also weak in their faith, prone to compromise—and in certain instances serious compromise—but who nonetheless were righteous before the Lord, not because of their works, but rather because of their faith. This is what Hebrews 11:8-19 is emphasizing:
8 By faith Abraham, when he was called, obeyed by going out to a place which he was to receive for an inheritance; and he went out, not knowing where he was going. 9 By faith he lived as an alien in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, fellow heirs of the same promise; 10 for he was looking for the city which has foundations, whose architect and builder is God. 11 By faith even Sarah herself received ability to conceive, even beyond the proper time of life, since she considered Him faithful who had promised; 12 therefore, also, there was born of one man, and him as good as dead at that, as many descendants as the stars of heaven in number, and innumerable as the sand which is by the seashore. 13 All these died in faith, without receiving the promises, but having seen them and having welcomed them from a distance, and having confessed that they were strangers and exiles on the earth. 14 For those who say such things make it clear that they are seeking a country of their own. 15 And indeed if they had been thinking of that country from which they went out, they would have had opportunity to return. 16 But as it is, they desire a better country, that is a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God; for He has prepared a city for them. 17 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 men even from the dead; from which he also received him back as a type. (Hebrews 11:8-19)
Therefore, as we now look at the greatest trial of faith and trust in obedience to God that was to confront Abraham, we see, as stated previously, the fruit of God’s sanctifying work of brokenness and repentance He worked in Abraham, so that at this point in Abraham’s life, he was indeed committed to following and trusting the Lord to the death, versus his previous walk, as a believer, of doubt, fear, and compromise:
1 Now it came about after these things, that God tested Abraham, and said to him, “Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” 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.” 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. 4 On the third day Abraham raised his eyes and saw the place from a distance. 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.” 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. 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?” 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. 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. 10 And Abraham stretched out his hand, and took the knife to slay his son. 11 But the angel of the LORD called to him from heaven, and said, “Abraham, Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” 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.” 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. 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.” 15 Then the angel of the LORD called to Abraham a second time from heaven, 16 and said, “By Myself I have sworn, declares the LORD, because you have done this thing, and have not withheld your son, your only son, 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. 18 “And in your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice.” 19 So Abraham returned to his young men, and they arose and went together to Beersheba; and Abraham lived at Beersheba.
(Genesis 22:1-19)
As you read this portion of Scripture, you will notice that in verse 5 that Abraham makes a remarkable statement to his servants: “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.’” The NJKV is the only English version that I know that correctly translates this passage in the following manner: “Stay here with the donkey; the lad and I will go yonder and worship, and we will come back to you.” Abraham tells his “young men” that he and Isaac “will come back to you,” which certainly confirms what is stated in 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 men even from the dead; from which he also received him back as a type.”
As we read Genesis 22:9-10, at each step of Abraham’s obedience preparation to sacrifice his son Isaac, we can feel the tremendous spiritual, mental, and emotional pressure he was experiencing as he was carrying out—in faith, trust, and obedience—what God had called him to do, all the while trusting God implicitly at this time, being committed to the death, versus, giving in to his fear, disbelief, and carnal compromise as in his earlier years as a believer: “Then they came to the place of which God had told him; and (1) Abraham built the altar there, (2) and arranged the wood, (3) and bound his son Isaac, (4) and laid him on the altar on top of the wood. 10 (5) And Abraham stretched out his hand, and took the knife to slay his son.” Each step Abraham took in preparing his son for sacrifice was a gigantic step of faith, trust, and obedience to the Lord in the face of all types of spiritual, mental, and emotional pressure he was experiencing to do the opposite. However, Abraham had learned through his previous failures in not faithfully obeying the Lord. He knew that such disobedience is based on fear—a fear which says you can’t believe and trust in the Lord, but rather you must take matters into your own hands and make compromising decisions. This only results in great failure and regret! This he learned over about forty years as a born again believer in the Lord (assuming that Isaac was about 15 years old when Abraham sacrificed him), and as a result of God’s sanctifying discipline in his life, Abraham was now committed to the death to trust, believe, and faithfully obey the Lord, regardless of the intense assault of carnal emotions and fears that were insisting he compromise. But once again, he had learned through his previous failures in doubting God and giving in to compromise, that such compromise does not bring life and blessing, but brings remorse, regret, and potential tragedy. Abraham was now committed to trusting and obeying the Lord to the death, which is what all of us, as believers in Christ, must come to.
The result, therefore, of Abraham’s faithful obedience to the Lord is seen in the following verses:
11 But the angel of the LORD called to him from heaven, and said, “Abraham, Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” 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.” 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. 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.” 15 Then the angel of the LORD called to Abraham a second time from heaven, 16 and said, “By Myself I have sworn, declares the LORD, because you have done this thing, and have not withheld your son, your only son, 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. 18 “And in your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice.” 19 So Abraham returned to his young men, and they arose and went together to Beersheba; and Abraham lived at Beersheba.
(Genesis 22:11-19)
This, dear ones, is the result of years of growth in the Lord through failure and subsequent brokenness and repentance, whereby God, through His loving discipline, brings us to a place where “we may share His holiness” (Hebrews 12:10), and one very central and essential aspect of that “holiness” is believing and trusting in the Lord to the death, which is fully beyond our natural ability.