Tests, Triumphs, Types, and Truth: Part Four

Genesis 22:15-24 NKJV  Then the Angel of the LORD called to Abraham a second time out of heaven,  (16)  and said: “By Myself I have sworn, says the LORD, because you have done this thing, and have not withheld your son, your only son—  (17)  blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply your descendants as the stars of the heaven and as the sand which is on the seashore; and your descendants shall possess the gate of their enemies.  (18)  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 rose and went together to Beersheba; and Abraham dwelt at Beersheba.  (20)  Now it came to pass after these things that it was told Abraham, saying, “Indeed Milcah also has borne children to your brother Nahor:  (21)  Huz his firstborn, Buz his brother, Kemuel the father of Aram,  (22)  Chesed, Hazo, Pildash, Jidlaph, and Bethuel.”  (23)  And Bethuel begot Rebekah. These eight Milcah bore to Nahor, Abraham’s brother.  (24)  His concubine, whose name was Reumah, also bore Tebah, Gaham, Thahash, and Maachah. 

• Tests, Triumphs, Types, and Truth… This is the four part series we have been in this month, going over the climax of Abrahams faith, the test that he was given, the triumph God brought through him, the types of the Gospel portrayed in this passage. 

• Now we have spent three weeks thoroughly going through these events, even painfully so at some points… 

• But this morning we are not talking about Abraham on the mountain, we are not talking about Isaac bound and on an altar… 

• No, this morning we are talking about a free Isaac, a Triumphant Abraham… and a God of Truth. 

• In fact the God of Truth is one of God’s names… throughout this series we have gone over 5 names of God, and this morning I want to focus on that last in the list… El Emeth, The God of Truth. 

• If you are just now joining us, welcome! My name is Pastor Christian, I am the senior pastor here at Christian Life Church… and this is what we do here, we preach through the Bible. 

• You just happen to be joining us as we finish up Chapter 22 of Genesis… in this Chapter God tests Abraham by asking him to sacrifice his son Isaac… Abraham agrees in faith, reasoning that God will raise Isaac back from the dead. 

• But instead of that God had other plans, a substitutionary sacrifice. God stops Abraham and provides a Ram caught in the thicket for Abraham to sacrifice instead of Isaac. 

• Abraham was tested, Abraham Triumphed, God Triumphed… and through the test and the triumph we see this as a type of the Gospel… that God would willing sacrifice His only Son for us… that God would provide a substitute in our place, a Lamb without Blemish. 

• Now maybe at this point you are feeling like “Pastor has really milked this chapter for all it is worth” 

• But the truth is, this chapter is so rich… so important, that we could be in here for a year and still not wring it dry! 

• With that, though, I promise this will be our last sermon in the series and next week we will move on to Chapter 23! 

• Tests, Triumphs, Types, and Truth. Today we focus on the God of Truth… and that the Truth of Abrahams Blessing remains today. 

• We have two points this morning, and when we are through, we will be done with Chapter 22 and we will move on next week to the final years of Abrahams life. 

Tests, Triumphs, Types, and Truth  – Part Four 

• Point One – God Was True to His Word, All Nations Were Blessed by Abraham’s Seed. 

• Point Two – God Is True To His Word, All Nations Shall Be Blessed By Abraham’s Seed. 

Alright, let’s get into it this morning church, God is Jehovah-El-Emeth… He is I Am That I Am the God of Truth. 

Jehovah El Emeth 
יְהוָה אֵל אֶמֶת  
I Am the God of Truth 

• This name from God comes from Psalm 31 and 5 

Psalms 31:5 NKJV  Into Your hand I commit my spirit; You have redeemed me, O LORD God of truth. 

• “So pastor, if we are talking about God’s truth, then why are both points this morning about nations… it’s not like it is Missions Sunday!” 

• Good point, it is not missions Sunday, though I wish it were, because this sermon fit’s so well… but the reason why we are talking about nations while talking God being the God of Truth is because of the nature of Abraham’s promises… the promise that God spoke over Abraham was that by his seed, all Nations of the World would be blessed… and we have seen that promise come true, and we continue to walk in the truth… let me show you what I am talking about by diving into point one this morning: God WAS true to His Word, all nations Were Blessed by Abraham’s Seed. 

Point One – God Was True to His Word,  All Nations Were Blessed by Abraham’s Seed 

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 22:15-18 NKJV  Then the Angel of the LORD called to Abraham a second time out of heaven,  (16)  and said: “By Myself I have sworn, says the LORD, because you have done this thing, and have not withheld your son, your only son—  (17)  blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply your descendants as the stars of the heaven and as the sand which is on the seashore; and your descendants shall possess the gate of their enemies.  (18)  In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice.” 

• God is El Emeth, the God of truth… so if God said “in your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed” then God meant it. 

• You know, God has really put me on a path of focusing on and declaring His promises this year. 

• And I find it really interesting that God can really focus your life and your heart on different aspects of truth… different aspects of His Plan… and when you read the Bible all of the sudden you see that aspect jump out at you from every verse. 

• God can focus you on missions, and then all of the sudden you see missions everywhere in the Bible. 

• God can focus you on righteousness… then all of the sudden every verse is about righteousness… 

• Or the focus can be blessings, or promises, or any other number of things… and the living word of God just pours out exactly what God has you focused on. 

• This year for me, it is blessings, promises and truth… and I love seeing God being YHWY-El-Emeth… I love seeing Him as the God of truth… because it just sets up so many more blessings and joy and faith in my life… it makes obedience easier, trust simpler, and faith more abundant… when I see God as the God of truth. 

• Now let me show you in this passage how we see God to be El-Emeth, the God of Truth. 

• Because God Said to Abraham “Because you have obeyed me all the nations of the earth shall be blessed by your seed.” 

• Abraham believed this… He believed this before he went up the Mountain… and certainly now that God had provided, as Abraham knew He would. 

• But listen, Abraham never got to see the fullness of this blessing come to fulfilment. 

• But even without seeing he believed… there is a sermon in there somewhere… 

• Now we get to see the fulfilment… God WAS true to His Word, All Nations WERE blessed by Abraham’s Seed! 

• Take for example Mount Mariah… where all these events took place… is was at the top of Mount Mariah that God provided a Ram to save Isaac’s life. 

• A sacrificial lamb… on the top of mount Mariah…  

• About 1,100 years after these events, king Solomon did something special on this mountain. 

• You see King Solomon is Abraham’s seed… and King Solomon built a pretty important building on this very mountain… He built the temple. 

• Eleven-Hundred years after God made this promise… Abraham’s seed built the temple, a place for God’s dwelling… a place for animal sacrifice for the forgiveness of sins… right on the top of the very same mountain that God offered a sacrifice to save Isaac. 

• And when dedicating the Temple right after it finished construction, Solomon, seed of Abraham, said this: 

1 Kings 8:41-43 NKJV  “Moreover, concerning a foreigner, who is not of Your people Israel, but has come from a far country for Your name’s sake  (42)  (for they will hear of Your great name and Your strong hand and Your outstretched arm), when he comes and prays toward this temple,  (43)  hear in heaven Your dwelling place, and do according to all for which the foreigner calls to You, that all peoples of the earth may know Your name and fear You, as do Your people Israel, and that they may know that this temple which I have built is called by Your name. 

• That temple that Solomon, Abraham’s seed, built was a place of blessings for all nations who would come there with repentant hearts… who would turn to God… It was a place of blessing, a place of forgiveness, a place where God’s presence dwelt… and it was a place for all nations to come and be blessed. 

Genesis 22:18 NKJV  In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice.” 

• You know when we started preaching through Genesis more than a year ago, I mentioned that Genesis is the foundation for the rest of scripture… like a huge concrete foundation poured to support the rest of Scripture. 

• Then when I started this series I talked about how Genesis 22, these events of the testing and obedience of Abraham… how this chapter is like a central support beam that stretches up to the rest of scripture. 

• Now that you see that Mount Moriah was where the Temple Was built, do you start to see what I am talking about? 

• We see between Genesis and 1 Kings the influence of God’s promises in Genes 22… Joseph, seed of Abraham, blessing all of Egypt… 

• Moses, Abraham’s seed, guiding the people of Israel out of captivity. 

• David, Abraham’s seed, guiding the nation to greatness. 

• Solomon, Abraham’s seed, building the temple on Mount Mariah. 

• But the support pillar that is Genesis 22 doesn’t just stop at the Old Testament, no it reaches up through the Gospels as well. 

Matthew 1:1-2 NKJV  The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the Son of David, the Son of Abraham:  (2)  Abraham begot Isaac, Isaac begot Jacob, and Jacob begot Judah and his brothers. 

Matthew 1:6 NKJV  and Jesse begot David the king. David the king begot Solomon by her who had been the wife of Uriah. 

Matthew 1:16-17 NKJV  And Jacob begot Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus who is called Christ.  (17)  So all the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen generations, from David until the captivity in Babylon are fourteen generations, and from the captivity in Babylon until the Christ are fourteen generations. 

• In 42 generations we have come from Abraham to Christ Jesus. 

• While yes it is true that Solomon was a seed of Abraham… I think that God was probably speaking of Christ when the Angel of the Lord said to Abraham “In your seed all the nations of the world will be blessed”. 

• Let me ask you church… have you been blessed by Jesus? 

• THEN YOU HAVE BEEN BLESSED BY ABRAHAM’S SEED! 

• So now we have the support beam of Genesis 22 stretching up from Genesis all the way up to the Gospels… to Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. 

• Think about this, it has been more than 4000 years since God told Abraham “Because you have done this thing, I will multiply your descendants and all the nations of the Earth will be blessed by your Seed”. 

• Here we are 4000 years later, in a nation that didn’t even exist, in a land that Abraham couldn’t possibly fathom… 

• In a land on the other side of the globe, 6000 miles away from Mount Moriah… here we sit, in a church, blessed by the Seed of Abraham. 

• Here is a takeaway for you church… you ready… 

• What has God promised you? 

• You can’t even comprehend how big that promise is… 

• You can’t even begin to know the depth of God’s truth in fulfilling that promise. 

• Whatever you are believing God for, you are probably not believing for enough. 

• I don’t say that as a rebuke but as an encouragement. 

• God is so much better, His truth is so much fuller, so much greater than you could ever imagine. 

Genesis 22:18 NKJV  In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice.” 

• When Abraham heard this, coming down from Mount Mariah… I wonder what he thought? He probably though Abimelech and his nation would be blessed, he probably thought Egypt would be blessed, he probably thought of all the different kings and cities and peoples in his region of the world… 

• But could he imagine what Israel would become. 

• Could he imagine what would be built on the Mountain that he sacrificed the Lamb on? 

• Could he imagine, just a half a mile away, on a cross, between two criminals… that his seed would hang and die on a cross for the sins of mankind? 

• Could he imagine a globe with 7 continents and 193 nations… could he even begin to fathom all of us being blessed by his seed? 

• That is why I say you are not believing for enough… 

• Because God’s truth, the truth of Jehovah El Emeth, is not our truth. 

• Our truth is base don what we can feel, and what we can see, and what we can fathom… 

• But God’s truth is not limited by our punny little vapor brains… No, God’s truth is THE Truth, and it is so much fuller, so much bigger, so much better than any partial truth that we can understand! 

• Whatever God has for you, whatever He has spoken over you… it is better than you can imagine, if you would just pass the test, if you would just obey His commandments, His word, His tests… God will bless you with a TRUE blessing, one that in return blesses others and grows the Kingdom of God. 

• That brings me to point two this morning, the Missions point… God IS true to His Word, All nations SHALL be blessed by Abraham’s Seed.  

Point Two – God Is True To His Word, All Nations Shall Be Blessed By Abraham’s Seed 

Genesis 22:15-18 NKJV  Then the Angel of the LORD called to Abraham a second time out of heaven,  (16)  and said: “By Myself I have sworn, says the LORD, because you have done this thing, and have not withheld your son, your only son—  (17)  blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply your descendants as the stars of the heaven and as the sand which is on the seashore; and your descendants shall possess the gate of their enemies.  (18)  In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice.” 

• In Your seed, in Christ Jesus, all the nations of the earth shall be blessed… 

• Let me ask you a question, and this is NOT a trick question… I want you to be as emphatic with this answer as you can be… 

• Who here want’s Jesus to come back? 

• MARANATHA LORD! Come Lord Quickly! 

• I so hope that I get to see the return of Jesus in my lifetime! To see Him coming from the clouds… to hear the final trumpet… to be a part of the rapture! 

• MARANATHA LORD! 

• But you see, Genesis 22 has everything to do with the return of the Lord… 

Matthew 24:14 NKJV  And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come. 

• Christ can’t come back until this prophecy is true! 

• Christ can’t come back until ABRAHAM’S PROMISE is fully true. 

• God is Jehovah-El-Emeth… thus All Nations must be blessed!  

• Matthew 24:14 is a reference to Genesis 22… In Abraham’s seed, Christ Jesus, all the nations of the earth will be blessed, that means currently, right now… all the nations of the earth must be blessed by the Gospel, before Christ can return… otherwise the promise to Abraham wouldn’t be true. 

• And God is Jehovah-El-Emeth… He is the Lord God of Truth… thus for Christ to return, as Matthew 24 says, all the nations must hear the Gospel. 

• And of course we know this happens because John sees a vision of Heaven in the end times, and in this vision there are people in heaven from every tribe, tongue, and nation. 

Revelation 7:9-10 NKJV  After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no one could number, of all nations, tribes, peoples, and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, with palm branches in their hands,  (10)  and crying out with a loud voice, saying, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!” 

• Here we see at the end of time, at the beginning of eternity… people from all nations blessed by the Seed of Abraham, the Lamb of God, Jesus Christ. 

• So we know that the promise in Genesis 22 was true, remains true, and ultimately will be completely true when Jesus returns… thus the support beam of Genesis 22 reaches up through all of Scripture. 

• Now here is where you and I come in… and why this would have made a great Mission’s Sunday sermon… 

• The way in which the Gospel will be spread to those tribes and tongues and nations, at least in part, will be through you and me, and other believers and other churches like us… it is OUR call to go into all the world and make disciples… it is our job to go into all the world to make sure the nations are blessed by the Seed of Abraham. 

Matthew 28:19 NKJV  Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 

• In fact, 2 peter 3:12 seems to suggest that we can actually hasten the Lord’s return. 

2 Peter 3:12 NKJV  looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be dissolved, being on fire, and the elements will melt with fervent heat? 

• We all want Jesus to come back, and soon! 

• And we can actually have a part in that process, because Jesus can’t return, the day of God can’t happen, until all nations have been blessed by Abrahams seed. 

• So the take away here: Be missions minded! 

• Have a heart for the nations. 

• Pray for our missionaries. 

• Give to missions. 

• Be faithful with your missions Faith Pledges. 

• Pray about going on missions yourself. 

• Because when we take part in international missions we are taking a part in the truth of Genesis 22… we are co-operating with the promises of Jehovah-El-Emeth, the Great I Am of Truth! 

• All the work that Rebecca did in Japan, all the work that Cainen will do in Japan. 

• All the work that is going on in Jamacia, Seirra Leonne, Nigeria, and India… 

• If you are a part of that, then you are a part of the promises in Genesis 22! You play a part in Revelation, because there will be people in heaven from all tribes tounges and nations because of the work YOU did through Christ to bring the good news to the unreached people of this world. 

• So I want our hearts to change to believe for more, that God’s truth is bigger than our imaginations… 

• And I want our hearts to care about missions more… because God’s truth is for all nations. 

• Now, let’s finally conclude this message and this chapter. 

Conclusion 

Genesis 22:16-18 NKJV  and said: “By Myself I have sworn, says the LORD, because you have done this thing, and have not withheld your son, your only son—  (17)  blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply your descendants as the stars of the heaven and as the sand which is on the seashore; and your descendants shall possess the gate of their enemies.  (18)  In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice.” 

• This moment of promise, this moment of truth, is recorded once again, thousands of years later, in the book of Hebrews… and the author of Hebrews makes it all about the Gospel: 

Hebrews 6:13-20 NKJV  For when God made a promise to Abraham, because He could swear by no one greater, He swore by Himself,  (14)  saying, “SURELY BLESSING I WILL BLESS YOU, AND MULTIPLYING I WILL MULTIPLY YOU.”  (15)  And so, after he had patiently endured, he obtained the promise.  (16)  For men indeed swear by the greater, and an oath for confirmation is for them an end of all dispute.  (17)  Thus God, determining to show more abundantly to the heirs of promise the immutability of His counsel, confirmed it by an oath,  (18)  that by two immutable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we might have strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold of the hope set before us.  (19)  This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which enters the Presence behind the veil,  (20)  where the forerunner has entered for us, even Jesus, having become High Priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek. 

• Gospel Call – Lay Hold of The Hope Set Before You!