Genesis 22:1-12 NKJV Now it came to pass after these things that God tested Abraham, and said to him, “Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” (2) Then He said, “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.” (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 the wood for the burnt offering, and arose and went to the place of which God had told him. (4) Then on the third day Abraham lifted his eyes and saw the place afar off. (5) And Abraham said to his young men, “Stay here with the donkey; the lad and I will go yonder and worship, and we will come back to you.” (6) So Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on Isaac his son; and he took the fire in his hand, and a knife, and the two of them went together. (7) But Isaac spoke to Abraham his father and said, “My father!” And he said, “Here I am, my son.” Then he said, “Look, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?” (8) And Abraham said, “My son, God will provide for Himself the lamb for a burnt offering.” So the two of them went together. (9) Then they came to the place of which God had told him. And Abraham built an altar there and placed the wood in order; and he bound Isaac his son and laid him on the altar, upon 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!” So he said, “Here I am.” (12) And He said, “Do not lay your hand on the lad, or do anything to him; for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from Me.”
- This morning we begin a three part series going through one of the most difficult, most painful, most hard to understand “why” chapters in the Bible.
- Yet is one of the most beautiful, faith filled, eternally important chapters in the Bible as well.
- Now there are many sermons that I could preach from this chapter, many of them would be very easy to preach, some of them would be very difficult to preach…
- But at Christian Life Church We love God’s Word, we don’t shy away from the difficult and we don’t rush through the easy…
- If you are new here, my name is Pastor Christian Shields, I am the Senior Pastor here and this is what we do here, we preach through God’s Word.
- You are joining us as we preach through Genesis, verse by verse, chapter by chapter…
- Now today church we are going to start a three part series… and it is important that you come to all three parts, because man! If you can get a solid understanding of this chapter… of these events, it is going to form a solid pillar of doctrine for your faith, for your salvation, for your life…
- I have often said that Genesis is the foundation of the rest of the Bible… A solid well poured foundation can hold up ginormous buildings! And from the foundation shoots up large support beams…
- If you can grasp the importance and meaning of Genesis 22, church, if you can get it deep down into your soul… then you will have a massive support beam for the rest of your faith.
- This chapter will help encourage you in difficult times… it will keep you faith filled in times of testing… it will keep your eyes on God who provides… it will fill you with hope for the promises to come.
- Or… you know… you can skip over these sermons and this chapter saying “Ewww… How could God ask someone to sacrifice their only son! That is human sacrifice! I don’t want to think about that!” And you can skip this chapter and continue building your faith… but missing a vital support beam that might just hold you up when the storms come…
- Are you guys catching the word picture here? Good! So let’s kick off this series:
- Tests, Triumphs, and Types – Part One, The Lord Who Tests
Genesis 22:1-2 NKJV Now it came to pass after these things that God tested Abraham, and said to him, “Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” (2) Then He said, “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.”
Genesis 22:7-8 NKJV But Isaac spoke to Abraham his father and said, “My father!” And he said, “Here I am, my son.” Then he said, “Look, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?” (8) And Abraham said, “My son, God will provide for Himself the lamb for a burnt offering.” So the two of them went together.
- This morning I want to preach on a fact of Christian life that maybe doesn’t get preached on a lot…
- In fact, as I was reading the key scriptures and studying them, something really jumped out in my spirit… it was a name of God… did you guys catch the name of God that was in our key verses this morning?
- That’s right! Jehovah-Massah! The God who Tests
- You see, you probably have never heard the name Jehovah-Massah before.
- You won’t find it on Google, and you probably won’t find it in any commentaries.
- Yet the name is relevant to God.
Jeremiah 20:12a NKJV But, O LORD of hosts, You who test the righteous…
- The Lord of hosts, that is, the God of Angel armies… is also the God who tests the righteous, He is Jehovah-Massah… YHWY Massah… The LORD who tests, or most accurately “The Great I AM who Tests”.
- And that is exactly what we see in today’s scriptures… in fact I think we see 6 names of God in the scriptures today, and the Holy Spirit lead me to craft this series around these six names:
- So let’s start by talking about Jehovah-Massah, or YHWY-Massah… God who tests… the Great I Am Who Tests the Righteous.
- So point one this morning, very simple for you note takers… The Lord Tests The Righteous.
Point One – The Lord Tests the Righteous
Genesis 22:1-2 NKJV Now it came to pass after these things that God tested Abraham, and said to him, “Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” (2) Then He said, “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.”
- What exactly is going on here? What is God asking of Abraham.
- On the surface this is one of the hardest tests God has ever given a man.
- God tells Abraham “Offer your son Isaac as a burnt sacrifice… kill him and burn his body as an offering to Me”.
- I have heard some describe this section of scripture as disgusting… questioning the character of God.
- And if you don’t find it at least a little bit hard to swallow, then I wonder if you are paying attention…
- Would you kill your son because you thought that you heard God telling you to do it?
- Would you take him up to a mountain, and as he looks at you with trusting loving eyes… as he looks up to you the one person in the world he trusts to protect and provide for him… would you look him in the eyes and say “Don’t worry” as you tie his arms behind his back and tie his legs together.
- As the tears well up in confusion and fear fills his eyes… would you place him on the altar…
- Would you take out your knife and raise it ready to strike down your boy, would you look him in the eyes as he prepares to take his last breath at your hands…
- Or maybe you would turn your face away as you bring down the knife to slaughter your child….
- Is that something you could do? I don’t think I could… and frankly, if you told me that God told you to kill your son I would probably call the police!
- And let me make this very clear: Human Sacrifice is an ABOMINATION to the Lord.
Deuteronomy 12:31 NKJV You shall not worship the LORD your God in that way; for every abomination to the LORD which He hates they have done to their gods; for they burn even their sons and daughters in the fire to their gods.
- It is one of the reasons I fight for the abolition of abortion… because it is modern day human sacrifice…
- As I went through talking about the details of killing your own son, I hope your stomach churned at the thought…
- Yet more than a million mothers and fathers sacrifice their babies at the alter of their own false god… these men and women worship themselves, so they sacrifice their children for their own convenience, comfort, and health.
- It’s an abomination, and I don’t stand for it.
- But that is not what this sermon is about… because God asked Abraham to sacrifice his son…
- And it was not just his son that Abraham would be sacrificing… as awful as that is, to add insult to injury he would be losing more than just his son.
- I mean he had already cast out Ishmael, as God directed him too… so this would be his only remaining son… killing Isaac would be to kill his lineage.
- And how would Sarah feel when Abraham returned, dead son in tow?
- Knowing Sarah’s character, I don’t think she would have been ok with that…
- Abraham would likely be sacrificing his marriage on that altar…
- And the promises of God… all those wonderful promises of God… I mean Isaac was a miracle baby, born to a 90 year old woman… Through him would Abraham be made into a great nation… God says “Sacrifice your blessings and promises at the altar”.
- Now I think the vast majority of us in this situation would really struggle… How could God contradict Himself like that? How could God ask this of me‽ How could God be good and still ask me to give all of this up‽
- You see, God was testing Abraham… Would he respond the way that most of us would respond?
- Would he respond with doubt, and disobedience…
- Would he respond like Job responded… with questions and accusations?
- Or would he do the unthinkable… and obey?
- Was his faith of such high caliber that questioning God was more loathsome to his soul than the act of killing his own son…
Genesis 22:1 NKJV Now it came to pass after these things that God tested Abraham, and said to him, “Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.”
- I wonder if God has ever tested you… I bet He has…
- I wonder if God is testing some of you right now… I bet He is…
- I wonder how many will pass the test, and how many will fall away.
- Unfortunately in my time as a minister I have seen as many fail their tests and fall away as I have seen pass the test in faith.
- I hope today I can encourage some of you who are on the verge of giving up… on the verge of throwing in the towel… I hope I can convince you to obey God, to trust God, to pass the test.
- Because the blessings in store for those who triumph over their time of testing are bountiful… but the consequences of failing the test can be dire.
- Now next week we will talk about the blessings in store for when you triumph in the testing… so please don’t miss that message… but today I just want to help get some of your heads in the right place… I want your eyes focused on the right things… I want your faith to be firm.
- So how does God test?
- Well first it is important to know that God does not test via temptation.
James 1:13 ESV Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God,” for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one.
- I have heard people say “There is a new woman at work who keeps flirting with me… God is just testing me…”
- No He is not… That woman is not a test from God that needs to be passed… she might be a messenger from Satan who needs to be rebuked… but more likely you it’s your own stinking lustful flesh that is the problem…
James 1:14 ESV But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire.
- So whatever temptation comes your way… lust, gluttony, fits of rage… whatever it is… God did not send it to you to test you.
- God did not send you a dozen donuts to test your resolve… God did not have a driver cut you off to test your patience… God did not send a man or woman to test your faithfulness with your wife. God does NOT use temptation to test.
- Yet we know that God tests us… again, Jeremiah 20:12
Jeremiah 20:12a NKJV But, O LORD of hosts, You who test the righteous…
- He is Jehovah Massah, God who tests…
- Another common misconception, I believe, is that God will test you with pain or suffering.
- I can’t find a solid example of God sending pain or suffering to the righteous in order to test them.
- Some will point to Job, and granted, Job is a very difficult book. And I could be getting this wrong, I am not perfect… but I just don’t think God is the author of Job’s suffering… I don’t think God killed his kids or attacked his body… I can’t see Jesus doing that and I don’t think the text supports that narrative… again, it is a difficult book and there is a lot of room for conversation there…
- And if I am wrong and God did cause all this evil to befall Job, then at the very least Job is the exception not the rule…
- No, I think God does not test us with pain and suffering, though he will use that pain and suffering for our good… but He does not send us pain and suffering to test us…
- I think God tests us by asking us to do the impossible. By asking us to obey.
- Every example I can find of God testing someone in the Bible it seems is God telling someone to obey a command that requires a ludicrous level of faith and obedience.
- Don’t eat from the tree
- March around the walls.
- Only bring 300 soldiers.
- Defy the king.
- Slay the giant.
- Step out of the boat.
- Take up your mat and walk.
- Or in this case… sacrifice your only son.
- God will test you… and that test may be asking you to give up everything.
- If you are living with your boyfriend or girlfriend… God is testing you, will you move out and start living righteously, even if you don’t have the finances?
- But it seems impossible, I will never be able to afford it!
- I understand… that is why it is a test.
- Is there someone you need to forgive who wronged you and hurt you?
- But it seems impossible… you don’t know what they did to me.
- I understand… that is why it is a test.
- Has God given you a vision that you are not waling in because it doesn’t make sense?
- But it seems impossible… I can’t be a preacher, I have a stutter…
- I understand… that is why it is a test.
- But it seems impossible… I can’t go on missions, I have small kids!
- I understand… that is why it is a test.
- But it seems impossible… I can’t tithe on the gross… I barely have enough as it is…
- I understand… that is why it is a test.
- WHEN GOD CALLS YOU TO THE IMPOSSIBLE HE IS TESTING YOU TO SEE IF YOU BELIEVE THAT HE IS GOOD OF THE IMPOSSIBLE.
Matthew 19:26 NKJV But Jesus looked at them and said to them, “With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”
- God is Jehovah-Massah, I-Am-Who-Tests.
- But that is not the only name of God we see in these scriptures, is it… God is also
Jehovah-Jireh
יְהוָה יִרְאֵה
I AM who Provides
Point Two – The Lord Will Provide
Genesis 22:1-8 NKJV Now it came to pass after these things that God tested Abraham, and said to him, “Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” (2) Then He said, “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.” (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 the wood for the burnt offering, and arose and went to the place of which God had told him. (4) Then on the third day Abraham lifted his eyes and saw the place afar off. (5) And Abraham said to his young men, “Stay here with the donkey; the lad and I will go yonder and worship, and we will come back to you.” (6) So Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on Isaac his son; and he took the fire in his hand, and a knife, and the two of them went together. (7) But Isaac spoke to Abraham his father and said, “My father!” And he said, “Here I am, my son.” Then he said, “Look, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?” (8) And Abraham said, “My son, God will provide for Himself the lamb for a burnt offering.” So the two of them went together.
- Pastor surely… surely what God asked Abraham to do caused pain and heartache for Abraham…
- The internal turmoil that he must have been facing… three days he journeyed with his son to the Mt. Moriah… three days he must have suffered the agony of thinking about what he was about to do…
- You say that God doesn’t cause hardship… but that sure seems like hardship to me pastor… SURELY ABRAHAM MUST HAVE BEEN IN AGONY!
- To that I respond… are you sure? Or are you reading your emotions into the text?
- I would be in agony for sure… most if not all of us would be in agony if God sent us this particular test, probably the hardest test ever given to a single man.
- Guys, I will step out of the boat if God tells me… I will stand before the giant if God tells me…
- What’s the worse that happens? I get a little wet? It’s fine, I can dry off… I get a little dead… no problem, I will wake up in heaven.
- But I don’t think I could sacrifice my only son… that kind of faith was tested by only one man, Abraham… and it was demonstrated only once, but God sending His only son…
- No I would not pass this test because I would be in agony… but the scripture never says Abraham was in agony… let’s look at what the scripture does say.
Genesis 22:4-5 NKJV Then on the third day Abraham lifted his eyes and saw the place afar off. (5) And Abraham said to his young men, “Stay here with the donkey; the lad and I will go yonder and worship, and we will come back to you.”
- Abraham gets to Mt. Moriah and says to his servants “Stay here with the donkey, me and my son will go and worship…” now look at the end of the verse “AND WE WILL COME BACK TO YOU”
- WE WILL COME BACK!
- Abraham tells His servants “we are coming back”… me and my son are coming back.
- Now was Abraham lying to his servants to make them feel better about what he was about to do?
Genesis 22:6-8 NKJV So Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on Isaac his son; and he took the fire in his hand, and a knife, and the two of them went together. (7) But Isaac spoke to Abraham his father and said, “My father!” And he said, “Here I am, my son.” Then he said, “Look, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?” (8) And Abraham said, “My son, God will provide for Himself the lamb for a burnt offering.” So the two of them went together.
- Isaac says “Where is the sacrifice” and Abraham says “My son, God will provide… Jehovah-Jireh… YHWY-Jireh! The Great I-AM will provide for Himself the lamb for the burnt offering… my God will provide”.
- Now was Abraham lying to his son, covering up the horrible thing he was about to do… were the last words to his son a lie?
- Was this an Abimelech moment in the story of Abrahams life? Or was this the greatest moment of Abrahams faith.
- What if instead of reading our emotions into this story, what if we actually believed that Abraham was the man of faith that Hebrews 11 said he was.
Hebrews 11:17-19a NKJV By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises offered up his only begotten son, (18) of whom it was said, “IN ISAAC YOUR SEED SHALL BE CALLED,” (19) concluding that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead…
- You see Abraham knew that God had promised that Isaac would have many descendants… He knew that God doesn’t break His promises… so he reasoned “If Isaac is going to have kids, as God promises, and God doesn’t lie… the God will make a way for Isaac to live, even raising him from the dead if needed”.
- Now we will talk more about this in the next two sermons in the series, so please don’t miss them, but the gest of it is this…
- Abraham really believed that God would provide.
- He wasn’t in turmoil because he knew exactly who His God was… His God is Jehovah-Jireh, the God who provides.
- When he told his servants “Me and the lad are going up to the mountain to worship, then we will botch come back” He meant it… he meant they would both come back alive and well, he believed it 100%. No lie found…
- When he said to Isaac “Don’t worry, God will provide a lamb for the sacrifice” he was being 100% honest… where’s the lie?
- He wasn’t suffering in turmoil, he simply believed “God said to do it, so I am going to do it… because I know that God is going to provide.”
Conclusion
- Now God is not asking you to sacrifice your only son… only two people in all of existence had that kind of faith… Abraham, and God the Father Himself.
- But God is calling you to do something… He is testing you right now… what is it.
- Move out from your boyfriend or girlfriends place, or kick them out…
- God is calling you to do that TODAY.
- Don’t worry about the finances, Jehovah-Jireh, God will provide.
- Don’t worry if they break up with you, Jehovah-Jireh, God will provide.
- Is God calling you to a new job or ministry?
- If you know it is God, then trust that he will provide.
- Is God calling you give something up, to make a lifestyle change, to remove relationships, to adjust attitudes, to forgive others, to break addictions…
- Then simply say “Yes Lord. I don’t know how, but I know WHO! Jehovah-Jirah”
- I don’t know how I will get through without this… but I know WHO will get me through.
- I don’t know how I will coup without this… but I know WHO will comfort me.
- I don’t know how I will survive… but I know WHO will provide my every need.
- Jehovah Jireh.
Genesis 22:11-14 NKJV But the Angel of the LORD called to him from heaven and said, “Abraham, Abraham!” So he said, “Here I am.” (12) And He said, “Do not lay your hand on the lad, or do anything 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 lifted his eyes and looked, and there behind him was a ram caught in a thicket by its horns. So Abraham went and took the ram, and offered it up for a burnt offering instead of his son. (14) And Abraham called the name of the place, The-LORD-Will-Provide; as it is said to this day, “In the Mount of the LORD it shall be provided.”
- Gospel Call
Romans 8:32 NKJV 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?
- Prayer for faith for provision
Join us this Sunday at either 8:30AM or 10:30AM for worship followed by this message from the Word of God.
Christian Life Church of Cedar Rapids
2808 Schaeffer Dr SW, Cedar Rapids, IA 52404
www.CedarRapidsChurch.com
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