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Four characteristics of Abraham's faithGenesis 22:1-18 ~ Tom Phillips |
March 31, 2019
4 Characteristics of Abraham’s Faith
A number of years ago while I was preparing lessons from the book of Genesis to teach--- to teach to Mongolians---we as much as possible---we have always started in the book of Genesis, to try to lay a foundation, because you have just so many foundational principles there. But I as I came to Genesis 22, I was personally greatly challenged by the account here, and it is obviously very, very, well-known account--- and in considering again just recently, I was again edified, and so I wanted to share this with you this morning. And I don't remember---it's possible that I have even spoken to you before on this passage---I don't remember--- it’s been many years ago, but reminders are good. So, we’ll look again together at this.
First of all, you recall that--- that Abraham is a very, very, large figure in God's revelation, in the Bible. The Jews, of course, looked upon Abraham---looked upon themselves as Abraham's offspring. You recall in John 8:39 that that the Jews when arguing with Christ they said, “Abraham is our father.” They took pride in that and they had confidence in that. And Jesus’ response to them was, ‘If Abraham is your father than do the deeds of Abraham.’ And later on, He said, in that same chapter, John 8 He said, “Abraham rejoiced to see my day and he saw it, and was glad,” Speaking of Abraham's faith. So, so, the references to Abraham in Scripture, again, those were references from the Gospels---they’re very numerous, and it is particularly---generally, particularly his faith, concerning which the Holy Spirit directed the New Testament writers of Scripture---its concerning his faith to which they called us to direct our attention. And so that's what we want to again consider this morning.
So, if you’ve turned to Genesis 22--- backup one chapter, just to Genesis 21, and we’ll read the first verse.
“Then the LORD took note of Sarah as He had said, and He did for Sarah as He had promised.” Verse 2. “So Sarah conceived and bore a son to Abraham in his old age, at the appointed time of which God had spoken to him.”
So, at least three times in these two verses, when we’re told about the birth of Isaac, we are reminded that this was, “as God had said,” “as God had promised.” But what we need to remember that help us as we look at 22---Just to remind ourselves that they waited 25 years for this, if we understand the chronology right. Abraham was 75 years old when God spoke to him in Genesis 12:1, and promised that there would be a nation that would come through him. And so, 25 long years. And during that 25 years---first of all, when God spoke that promise in Genesis 12, the likelihood of that coming true was--not very good, because Sarah couldn't have children. But now it’s 25 years later, and so the impossibility of this actually taking place is even that much more, clear, and yet God did for Abraham and for Sarah as He had promised. And you recall that on the one occasion when he had told them again, renewed this promise to them several times during this 25 years--- If I’m remembering right, I think it's the time when he had visited them, and Sarah was in the tent and almost laughing to herself, “How could this possibly be,” and He said, “Is anything too difficult for the Lord?” And so, He, over 25 years, is demonstrating this. And that's probably one of the reasons He waited so long, to make it clear that He's the one doing it and nothing is too difficult for Him. So, they have this son for whom they've waited 25 years, of the son of promise. And so, we come to chapter 22 and again we’re not told exactly, but it seems that by this---the events from Genesis 21:1, when Isaac is born, to the events chapter 22, it's supposed that, you know, 10 years of past at least, maybe 15 years. We don't know for sure, but Isaac's not a little baby anymore. And we read in the first two verses,
“Now it came about after these things, that God tested Abraham, and said to him, “Abraham!” and he said, “Here I am.” 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.”
So, we’re told that God tested Abraham. Now we’re told this. There's no indication that when God gave Abraham this command, He prefaced it by saying, “I'm testing you.” He gave him this command. And we have read this so many times that perhaps the significance of this command is lost on us. What an unbelievable thing! What a difficult thing that God is asking, that God is telling Abraham to do! And again, we know the whole story, But, we need to put ourselves as much as possible in Abraham's place. What an unbelievably difficult thing that He commands Abraham here. And notice in verse two, notice how---what God says. He doesn't say, “Take now your son Isaac,” “Take now Isaac.” He doesn't say it that way. He says, “Take now your son, your only son, whom you love.” By referring to Isaac in such a way God makes it clear to Abraham exactly what it is He is demanding. This is the one for whom you've waited. This is the one you love. He is asking Abraham to sacrifice to himself that which is by far the most precious thing. Abraham's life is bound up in his son. All of the promises that God has given to him, they're all related. They're all bound up again in Isaac. So, all is Abraham's life, all of his goals, all of his dreams, they’re tied to his son Isaac. This is the son of his old age, for whom he waited 25 years, and now God says, “This son, your only son, whom you love,” offer him up. And we’re not told here in the passage what Abraham was thinking, but it that it sure seems fair to assume that the struggle in his heart must have been intense, must have been very intense. Why would God demand such a thing? Why would He do this?
A time or two, as I thought about this passage, I’ve attempted to put myself in Abraham's place and imagine how I might respond, and I honestly am unable to get more than a few seconds passed that because I just becomes become too difficult for me to contemplate what that would mean. So, I have a hard time identifying because I just am unable to put myself in Abraham's place for very long period of time. But this is the test that is put before him. Now notice we’ll read verses three and four, so it says,
“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. On the third day Abraham raised his eyes and saw the place from a distance.”
Now I’ll stop there for a minute. Just real, quickly, I want to notice three things in these two verses, about Abraham's obedience here. The first thing is that, in spite of the emotional and mental struggle, and though he could not understand, he immediately took steps to obey. In spite of the fact that this was unbelievable to him. It had to be. In spite of the intense struggle, in spite of the, “why,” the lack of understanding, he took steps to obey, in spite of that.
The second thing about his obedience is, as I have already said the word, it was immediate. He rose early in the morning. So, at what time of day God made this known to Abraham, we’re not told, but the next morning he rose early. That’s the indication in Scripture. He didn’t put this off. He immediately arose, made preparations, and departed. Notice verse three, it says, he, “…rose and went to the place of which God had told him.” You recall that Jonah, when he was told to go somewhere, he went in the opposite direction. But here Abraham takes off to go to the place that God told had him. And verse four it says, “On the third day.” If I understand this rightly, that means that there have been at least three nights and 2 1/2 days for Abraham to be dwelling on all of this. Because he is told to do this. He goes to bed, wakes up the next morning, takes off and it’s the third day. The point is, that his obedience is persevering and unwavering. For 2 1/2 days, at least for three nights he's had to think on this as he's made his progress towards this place. And notice verse five,
“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.” 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. 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? And Abraham said, “God will provide for Himself the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.” So the two of them walked on together.”
Now, in verse five there, we have this this first amazing statement of faith. Abraham says to his servants, he says, “We will worship and return to you.” “We will worship and return to you,” speaking of himself and his son Isaac. And apparently, from the account here, what Abraham is believing at this time is, that God will provide a lamb, which of course he obviously does eventually. But that's apparently what's Abraham is believing, because in response to his son's question “Where is the lamb,” he says, “God will Himself provide the Lamb.” But at any rate, you see this---this statement of faith here. God will provide. Abraham has now walked with God for at least 35 years we’re assuming that Isaac is at least 10 years old here. So, he's walked with God for 35 years. He has knowledge of God and His ways. There is a confidence here in God's character, and that's why he's able to say, “We will worship and return.” We’ll follow that out a little bit. And notice, they “walked on together” than, step-by-step, we read at the end of verse 8. Verse 9,
“Then they came to the place of which God had told him; and Abraham built the altar there and he arranged the wood, and bound his son Isaac and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. And Abraham stretched out his hand and took the knife to slay his son.”
Abraham made all the preparations, he actually went so far as to reach out his hand and take---grab the knife. We’re not told exactly how far he actually brought the knife into position for the final act before the angel Lord stopped him, but the point is, he was going to do it. He was going to do it.
Now, keep your keep your finger there and we’ll turn---we all are very familiar to with the account in Hebrews 11, but let us read it together. Turn to Hebrews chapter 11, and in verse 17 it says, that “when he was tested he offered up Isaac,” and verse 19, notice he says, “He considered that God is able to raise men even from the dead from which he also received him back as a type.” Now, my understanding of this passage is that at this point in time God had not provided a lamb which was at apparently what he was expecting when he first answered his son. But regardless, this was the command, and so perhaps this newer thought entered his mind, that well, then God can raise him up. And we’re not told, for sure, but this is what he was thinking, it says. The New Testament gives us this commentary, that he considered that God was able to raise him back from the dead. Now notice, “from which he also received him back as a type.” In God's eyes. Abraham as good as killed Isaac. He received Isaac back from the dead as a type as it were. He was going to do it. It’s amazing hereto to see this, this act of faith. And you go back to the account in Genesis and we read, “But the angel of the Lord,” right when he's ready to do this---the knife is in his hand, “the angel of the Lord called to him from heaven and said, “Abraham, Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” He said, “Do not stretch out your hand against the lad and do nothing to him.” Now let’s stop there. We’re going to go back to the to the passage in Hebrews 11 in just a few minutes, but first want to consider a fourth thing quickly about Abraham's obedience, and that is that his obedience was complete. He was going to carry through. He not only started out and for three days when about this in order to fulfill God's command, but he---it was complete---he was going to do it. He was going to follow all the way through. And just reminds us quickly of a couple principles of obedience. This first one we were just talking about; incomplete obedience is not obedience it’s disobedience. And of course, remember the example of King Saul when he was told to destroy the Amalekites and he partly obeyed and Samuel said that's the sin of insubordination. So, incomplete obedience is not obedience. Abraham's obedience was complete. He was going to do it.
The other thing, just a real, quick observation, is that late, delayed, obedience is not really obedience either. And you see this again in Abraham, at least that is the implication here. He arose early in the morning after he was given his command and he immediately set out to obey. So, incomplete obedience is really disobedience, late obedience is really not obedience either. It is better than out and out disobedience, but is really not obedience either. Now let's consider then again, before you go back to Hebrews 11, that---you remember we said that the New Testament constantly holds Abraham before us, particularly his faith. Look and turn to Galatians chapter 3 real quickly. Galatians chapter 3 and verse 6. We’ll start there.
“Even so Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness.” That's a quote from chapter 15 of Genesis. “Therefore, be sure that it is those who are of faith who are sons of Abraham. The Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, “All the nations shall be blessed in you.” So then those who are of faith are blessed with Abraham, the believer.”
So, it's those who are of faith, like Abraham, they are the ones who are blessed. They are the ones who are saved. Now the book of Romans, go to Romans chapter 4. Romans carries this thought almost just a step farther. Look at Romans chapter 4 and first of all, verse 12, it says, that Abraham was the father, is “the father of circumcision to those who not only are of the circumcision,” but notice this next phrase, “who also follow in the steps of the faith of our father Abraham.” It’s not just those who have faith, but it’s those who have the faith of Abraham. Look at verse 16. “For this reason, it is by faith, that it might be in accordance with grace, in order that the promise may be certain to all the descendants, not only to those who are of the law but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham.” So, the New Testament sets before us that Abraham's faith is an example of saving faith. This is the kind of faith that saves. Who are saved? Who are who are going to receive that promise? Those who follow in the steps of the faith of our father Abraham. Those who are of the faith of Abraham, not just those who have some nebulous faith, but those who have the same faith that Abraham had. That's what the New Testament seems to clearly tell us.
Now, with that in mind, thinking about the account that we read, thinking about the commentary in Hebrews 11, just real, quickly I would like to look at 4---that I think come out of the text here, 4 characteristics of Abraham's faith that we see here.
The first one, going back to Hebrews 11, we’ll just go back there real, quick, the first one is this: Saving faith is grounded in a certain and confident knowledge of God's person and character. Saving faith is grounded in a certain and confident knowledge of God's person and character. Now notice where this---notice how we see this in Hebrews chapter 11. Now let’s read the whole passage starting verse 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; It was he to whom it was said, “In Isaac your descendants shall be called.” He considered that God is able to raise men even from the dead, from which he also received him back is a type.”
Now what's this telling us? What was Abraham thinking? Abraham was thinking, ‘Isaac has to live. There is no possible way that Isaac can remain dead.’ Why, because God had given him promises. “It was he to whom it was said in Isaac your descendants shall be called.” This son of mine has to live, he has to have descendants because that's what God had promised. So, you see Abraham faith was grounded on a certain and confident knowledge of God's person and character. God is good and faithful. He keeps His word. Notice in verse 12 when it’s talking about Sarah---or maybe it’s verse 11, it says, “she considered Him faithful who had promised.” So, genuine faith is grounded in a certainty of God's faithfulness. He keeps His word. He makes a promise, it has to come to pass. He cannot lie. You see that.
It's also based on this absolute confidence and knowledge of God's power. At the time that Abraham believed this, to the best of our knowledge, nothing is ever recorded that Abraham had ever heard anything about resurrection from the dead. He’d never seen this. He’d never been told of this. But his faith reasoned that out, okay. Remember what God told he and Sarah earlier, “Is anything too difficult” for God? And so, because of God's goodness and faithfulness. He knows that Abraham, excuse me---he knows that his son Isaac has to live, and he's confident that God certainly has the power to bring that about. He had never been heard, he had never been specifically told about resurrection from the dead as far as we know, but he reasoned that out. God can bring them back. If I kill him, God can bring back to life. So, faith is grounded in this, this certain and confident knowledge of the very person and character of God. Apart from that certainty, apart from that confidence, faith can't operate.
On this past Wednesday night when we were down in Lacon, we looked at Psalm 95. And we looked at that example there, of Israel's unbelief. And we looked at um, I believe it’s verse 10 where it says, on God's evaluation of the nation of Israel, because they did not trust Him, and they did not believe Him, and so they would not obey Him. What was His evaluation? “These are people who err in their heart and they do not know My ways.” That's what He said about them. So, in contrast to that, here’s Abraham. Abraham knows God's ways. He knows who God is. He knows His ways and so that's what his faith is grounded in.
The second thing that we notice about faith, about saving faith, as we consider the New Testament and look at the example from Genesis 22, and that is this, faith is obedient. Faith is obedient. In Romans--- in the book of Romans, twice we find that the phrase, “the obedience of faith.” We find it in the first chapter, we find it in the last chapter, “the obedience of faith.” In other words, the obedience that is produced by faith or the obedience that accompanies faith, the obedience that goes hand-in-hand with faith, okay. And we’ve already noticed that Abraham's obedience, in this case was in spite of the difficulty, in spite of his lack of understanding, in spite of the intense personal struggle, we noticed that it was immediate, we noticed that it was persevering and unwaveringly, we noticed it was complete. So, faith is obedient. Faith without obedience is not really faith, that is, it’s not the faith of Abraham, and is not saving faith.
Another passage right after the book of Hebrews is James. Turn over to James chapter 2. We see this referring to the same exact incident. James chapter 2. Faith without obedience, supposed faith without obedience is not the faith that meets God's approval. Notice how James puts this in verse 14 he starts the subject in chapter 2,
“What use is it my brethren, and if a man says that he has faith but he has no works can that faith save him,” the faith that has no works, the faith that has no obedience. And then he comes down to verse 21 and uses Abraham as an example one of the examples to demonstrate the validity of what he's teaching here.
“Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up Isaac his son on the altar? You see that faith was working with his works, and as a result of the works, faith was perfected; And the Scripture was fulfilled which says, “And Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness,” and he was called the friend of God.”
Now, what--- when Abraham took the knife to slay Isaac, what Scripture was fulfilled? The Scripture that Abraham believed God. That was a Scripture that was fulfilled. Abraham believed God. That's what he was doing. When Abraham was obeying God, he was believing God. It was one in the same. If he really didn't believe God he would not have been doing what he was doing, he would not have taken that knife. His work of obedience was not something added onto his faith. It was his faith! That's what this passage is telling us, that's with James is telling us here. His faith, we saw that in verse 22, his faith was working with his works. His faith and obedience, it's one in the same. Back in Hebrews 11 how did verse 17 start out? “By faith Abraham offered up Isaac his son.” So, faith is obedience. Now this is crucial that we understand this, that faith apart from obedience is not a faith that meets God's approval. It does not save. Our capacity as people for self-deception is very, very, great in this area. And you recall what Christ said on the sermon on the Mount in Matthew chapter 7 verse 21, He said, “Not everyone who says to Me, “Lord, Lord,” will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My father who is in heaven.” He who obeys My father. And He goes on to say, “Many will say to Me on that day, Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name and in Your name perform many miracles in Your name cast out demons, and then I will declare to them, “Depart from Me. I never knew you.”” Now, it’s interesting, a couple weeks ago, we were down at Chapel of the Lake near St. Louis, and we sat in on a Sunday School class that Pastor Dyer was teaching. And he was teaching about something different, he was teaching about the word “know”. But he referenced this Scripture, Matthew 7:22 and he made this statement, and this isn’t a quote, but he said, ‘Those words “depart from Me, I never knew you,” that statement, “I never knew you,” he said those words seem to him to be the most fearful words in the Bible. Why? Because the people Christ is going to say that to, thought they knew Him. They’re going to come to Him, expecting that they will be saved, and He's going to say, “I never knew you.” Our capacity to deceive ourselves is extremely great and that's why it's so important that we understand this lesson that faith obeys. Faith is obedient.
The third thing that we notice about faith---now let's go back to Genesis 22 we looked at some of the New Testament commentary on this, but let's go back to Genesis 22. We sort of left off in the middle of the account. Let’s start at verse 11. So, Abraham has grabbed the knife, he has stretch out his hand, he had grabbed the knife, and “the angel of the Lord calls to him from heaven, and said, “Abraham, Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” And he said, “Do not stretch out your hand against the lad and do nothing to him. For now, I know,” and notice this, “that you fear God.” Here’s the third principal, faith fears. Faith in God and the fear of God also go together. These two things are also inseparable. The angel of the Lord says, “Now I know that you fear God.” Faith sees and knows and comprehends that God is God, that of Him and through Him and to Him are all things. Faith perceives the glory and majesty of God. Faith recognizes His authority and His power. Faith humbly acknowledges that He is the provider, He is the owner, He is the possessor, He is the ruler of all things. My devotion belongs to Him. That's a very succinct, but that's at least part of the definition of what it means to fear God, to revere Him. Genuine faith reveres God. Genuine faith acknowledges that He is the provider, the owner, the possessor, the ruler of all, that my devotion and my obedience are His. He is my King. He is my Maker. That's---that's fearing God. And so, genuine faith, saving faith, is always accompanied by the fear of God.
The fourth thing that comes right out of this---notice, this next phrase, he says, “Now I know that you fear God” and notice, “since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me.” You see the same thing down in verse 16, “you have not withheld your son, your only son.” Three times in this passage we find that, “your son, your only son.” Now reverent faith---I'm giving you, at least what I see here, is a fourth characteristic of saving faith here---reverent faith that confesses, acknowledges, that God has the right to demand of me anything and everything, even that which is the most precious to me, “your son, your only son you,” you have not withheld from Me that which is the most important thing to you. Isaac was more important to Abraham than Abraham's own life himself. This was the future and He says, “You have not withheld him from me.” When Abraham bound Isaac, and put him on that altar, Abraham was doing what Romans 12 one tells us to do. He was offering himself to God. That which was completely the most precious thing he had, he offered to God. That's characteristic if you want to include in the third one, I put is a fourth one. That's a characteristic of saving faith. God has that right. He deserves the absolute best; everything I have. And Abraham acknowledged that and God says, “Now I know that you fear me.”
Now, there's---so, so, what do we see in the New Testament, for sure, we see this as it comments on this account. We see that that saving faith, that is the faith of Abraham, the faith, the same faith, that all have who really belong to God, that that faith first of all, is based, its grounded on a certain and confident knowledge of God's character and His very person. We’ve seen secondly that genuine faith is obedient. It obeys faith that does not obey cannot save. And that's what James clearly tells us. So, the question is, “Am I,” if we can stop for a minute on that second one, “Am I intent on obeying all of God's commands? Is that the intention of my heart? Because that's what saving faith looks like. You can't, you can't come up with the command any more difficult than this. That's the intention of faith. So, is that the intention of my heart? A third thing we notice is that faith fears God. These things all go together. And that faith fears God to the extent that again it offers to Him the most precious thing, and acknowledges that God has that right to demand that of me. Now it seems to me--- to be honest with myself, that when I read the account of Genesis 22, there's a part of me, at least in my flesh, that wants to object a little bit to this. There's a part of me, that sinful part of me, that's offended that God should ask such a thing. This just seems a little bit unfair, as I think about some ways, that God should actually ask Abraham to do this. It just seems a little bit too much. And that's a big objection. And I think if were honest, that's the---we struggle with that, even as believers, but certainly the world could not imagine thinking about this. But just a couple of real, quick thoughts on that objection. The first answer to that objection that comes to mind is what we just said, and it is this, this is God's right. He made us, He gave to us everything He has. It’s His right as the Ruler, as the Creator. And with that, God expects us to do as Abraham. He expects us to trust Him just like Abraham did. He expected the nation of Israel to trust Him regardless of the fact that they were thirsty at that time and again to the waters of their Meribah and at Massah. He expected them to trust Him. When the spies came back from the land said, “There's actually no way! These guys are huge!” He expected them to trust Him and they didn't. That's why His judgment on the most severe and immediate. So, so, God expects this. He expects us to reason this out, that God is able, He's absolutely faithful, there's nothing too difficult for Him to do, and His word is as good as done. If He's made a promise it will be fulfilled. And again, looking at the example of Abraham, we’re assuming he'd never heard anything about resurrection but, this had to be. God can do anything and this kid has to live. My son has to live. So, that's maybe one answer to the objection. I'm sure there's others.
But a second answer comes to mind when it comes to this test, that God should test Abraham's faith in this way. Look, look over at Deuteronomy real, quickly, Deuteronomy chapter 8. I have a couple of interesting verses here that I think bear on what we’re looking at here. Deuteronomy chapter 8 and verse two. And Moses is reminding the nation of visual this point of some of the history, and he says, “You shall remember all the way which the Lord your God has led you in the wilderness these 40 years,” notice, “that He might humble you, testing you to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandment or not.” So, God when He tests, and He has a right to do this, it's to examine, it’s to humble us before Him, because we, we get so caught up with ourselves. It’s to examine our hearts. Are we really devoted to Him? But then notice verse 16, “In the wilderness He fed you manna, which your fathers did not know,” why “that He might humble you again that He might test you,” now notice this, “to do good for you in the end.” This is the purpose that God tests. He has a glorious purpose behind---or beyond this test. Turn back to Genesis 22 and you see this, because if you read from verse---starting in verse 13, we know the account we won’t read it all, but he sees that ram, and he takes it, he offers in the place of his son and he names the place, “The Lord Will Provide,” and then notice verse 15 and 16, “The angel of the Lord called Abraham a second time and he said, by myself I have sworn,” and the writer of Hebrews refers to this amazing statement, to make--- to impress upon Abraham, the absolute, unchangeableness, and the certainty, God says, “by Myself I have sworn, declares the Lord, because you have done this thing,” because you passed the test, “and have not withheld your son, your only son,” now notice this, “I will greatly bless you, I will greatly multiply your seed as the stars of the heaven and as the sand which is on the seashore, and your seed shall possess the gate of their enemies and in your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed my voice.” So, you see, what is God's purpose? What's His objective in testing us, in testing our faith? “To do good for us, to accomplish that which is good so that He might then reward, that He might honor. That's His purpose in this. And so, when we object, if were tempted to object, that man, that just seems over the top. We have to remember this. This is because right. And we have to remember that God, in His goodness, the reason He does this, is because of what His object is. He wants to be able to say, and He's able to say to Abraham, “By Myself. I've sworn, because you've done this, I will greatly bless you.” Now, again we looked at the fact that the New Testament seems to clearly indicate that it's people who have the faith of Abraham, the faith that Abraham had, who are those who are really Abraham's descendants, who belong to God. So, the point is what we’re looking at this morning very quickly. This is what it means to believe God. This is what it means to believe Him, to have faith in Him. This is the kind of faith that saves---faith that so honors God. Faith knows God, and so faith that obeys Him and trusts Him completely. This is the kind of faith and is the only kind of faith that finds approval with God, that receives His blessing.
Now, one more thing before we stop this morning it's---it's almost impossible to look at this passage when you see that ultimately God spared Abraham from killing his son. It seems impossible to look at this passage without realizing this is a picture for us of God's plan, because we read in Romans 8:34, that “He who did not spare His own Son.” This was Abraham's only son, and God spared him. But God didn't spare His own Son for us, And know we have in---we have in Exodus chapter 34 what’s really a great dilemma that’s set before us in Scripture, because in Exodus chapter 34 and verses 6, we’ll quick read that, in Exodus 34 verse 6 it says this---the Lord's making Himself known to Moses, He “passed by in front of him and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord God, compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in lovingkindness and truth who keeps lovingkindness for thousands, who forgives iniquity, transgression and sin; yet He will by no means leave sin unpunished.” How can this be, He is said what appears to be two opposite things in one sentence. He forgives, He shows lovingkindness, He forgives iniquity, transgression and sin, yet He will not leave unpunished sin. How can that be, those are two apparently opposite things, and the way God resolves what appears to us to be a great perplexion is that He spared not His own Son. God didn't leave our sin unpunished. When He sent His Son to this earth, He punished Him in our stead. So, as we think about the faith of Abraham, we also can't but help but think about that God didn't spare His own Son. And that's the God who demands, requires that we so trust Him that we so honor Him. The God who didn't spare His own Son. So, I hope that just thinking about these things again will be a blessing to you as it has been to me.
A number of years ago while I was preparing lessons from the book of Genesis to teach--- to teach to Mongolians---we as much as possible---we have always started in the book of Genesis, to try to lay a foundation, because you have just so many foundational principles there. But I as I came to Genesis 22, I was personally greatly challenged by the account here, and it is obviously very, very, well-known account--- and in considering again just recently, I was again edified, and so I wanted to share this with you this morning. And I don't remember---it's possible that I have even spoken to you before on this passage---I don't remember--- it’s been many years ago, but reminders are good. So, we’ll look again together at this.
First of all, you recall that--- that Abraham is a very, very, large figure in God's revelation, in the Bible. The Jews, of course, looked upon Abraham---looked upon themselves as Abraham's offspring. You recall in John 8:39 that that the Jews when arguing with Christ they said, “Abraham is our father.” They took pride in that and they had confidence in that. And Jesus’ response to them was, ‘If Abraham is your father than do the deeds of Abraham.’ And later on, He said, in that same chapter, John 8 He said, “Abraham rejoiced to see my day and he saw it, and was glad,” Speaking of Abraham's faith. So, so, the references to Abraham in Scripture, again, those were references from the Gospels---they’re very numerous, and it is particularly---generally, particularly his faith, concerning which the Holy Spirit directed the New Testament writers of Scripture---its concerning his faith to which they called us to direct our attention. And so that's what we want to again consider this morning.
So, if you’ve turned to Genesis 22--- backup one chapter, just to Genesis 21, and we’ll read the first verse.
“Then the LORD took note of Sarah as He had said, and He did for Sarah as He had promised.” Verse 2. “So Sarah conceived and bore a son to Abraham in his old age, at the appointed time of which God had spoken to him.”
So, at least three times in these two verses, when we’re told about the birth of Isaac, we are reminded that this was, “as God had said,” “as God had promised.” But what we need to remember that help us as we look at 22---Just to remind ourselves that they waited 25 years for this, if we understand the chronology right. Abraham was 75 years old when God spoke to him in Genesis 12:1, and promised that there would be a nation that would come through him. And so, 25 long years. And during that 25 years---first of all, when God spoke that promise in Genesis 12, the likelihood of that coming true was--not very good, because Sarah couldn't have children. But now it’s 25 years later, and so the impossibility of this actually taking place is even that much more, clear, and yet God did for Abraham and for Sarah as He had promised. And you recall that on the one occasion when he had told them again, renewed this promise to them several times during this 25 years--- If I’m remembering right, I think it's the time when he had visited them, and Sarah was in the tent and almost laughing to herself, “How could this possibly be,” and He said, “Is anything too difficult for the Lord?” And so, He, over 25 years, is demonstrating this. And that's probably one of the reasons He waited so long, to make it clear that He's the one doing it and nothing is too difficult for Him. So, they have this son for whom they've waited 25 years, of the son of promise. And so, we come to chapter 22 and again we’re not told exactly, but it seems that by this---the events from Genesis 21:1, when Isaac is born, to the events chapter 22, it's supposed that, you know, 10 years of past at least, maybe 15 years. We don't know for sure, but Isaac's not a little baby anymore. And we read in the first two verses,
“Now it came about after these things, that God tested Abraham, and said to him, “Abraham!” and he said, “Here I am.” 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.”
So, we’re told that God tested Abraham. Now we’re told this. There's no indication that when God gave Abraham this command, He prefaced it by saying, “I'm testing you.” He gave him this command. And we have read this so many times that perhaps the significance of this command is lost on us. What an unbelievable thing! What a difficult thing that God is asking, that God is telling Abraham to do! And again, we know the whole story, But, we need to put ourselves as much as possible in Abraham's place. What an unbelievably difficult thing that He commands Abraham here. And notice in verse two, notice how---what God says. He doesn't say, “Take now your son Isaac,” “Take now Isaac.” He doesn't say it that way. He says, “Take now your son, your only son, whom you love.” By referring to Isaac in such a way God makes it clear to Abraham exactly what it is He is demanding. This is the one for whom you've waited. This is the one you love. He is asking Abraham to sacrifice to himself that which is by far the most precious thing. Abraham's life is bound up in his son. All of the promises that God has given to him, they're all related. They're all bound up again in Isaac. So, all is Abraham's life, all of his goals, all of his dreams, they’re tied to his son Isaac. This is the son of his old age, for whom he waited 25 years, and now God says, “This son, your only son, whom you love,” offer him up. And we’re not told here in the passage what Abraham was thinking, but it that it sure seems fair to assume that the struggle in his heart must have been intense, must have been very intense. Why would God demand such a thing? Why would He do this?
A time or two, as I thought about this passage, I’ve attempted to put myself in Abraham's place and imagine how I might respond, and I honestly am unable to get more than a few seconds passed that because I just becomes become too difficult for me to contemplate what that would mean. So, I have a hard time identifying because I just am unable to put myself in Abraham's place for very long period of time. But this is the test that is put before him. Now notice we’ll read verses three and four, so it says,
“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. On the third day Abraham raised his eyes and saw the place from a distance.”
Now I’ll stop there for a minute. Just real, quickly, I want to notice three things in these two verses, about Abraham's obedience here. The first thing is that, in spite of the emotional and mental struggle, and though he could not understand, he immediately took steps to obey. In spite of the fact that this was unbelievable to him. It had to be. In spite of the intense struggle, in spite of the, “why,” the lack of understanding, he took steps to obey, in spite of that.
The second thing about his obedience is, as I have already said the word, it was immediate. He rose early in the morning. So, at what time of day God made this known to Abraham, we’re not told, but the next morning he rose early. That’s the indication in Scripture. He didn’t put this off. He immediately arose, made preparations, and departed. Notice verse three, it says, he, “…rose and went to the place of which God had told him.” You recall that Jonah, when he was told to go somewhere, he went in the opposite direction. But here Abraham takes off to go to the place that God told had him. And verse four it says, “On the third day.” If I understand this rightly, that means that there have been at least three nights and 2 1/2 days for Abraham to be dwelling on all of this. Because he is told to do this. He goes to bed, wakes up the next morning, takes off and it’s the third day. The point is, that his obedience is persevering and unwavering. For 2 1/2 days, at least for three nights he's had to think on this as he's made his progress towards this place. And notice verse five,
“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.” 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. 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? And Abraham said, “God will provide for Himself the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.” So the two of them walked on together.”
Now, in verse five there, we have this this first amazing statement of faith. Abraham says to his servants, he says, “We will worship and return to you.” “We will worship and return to you,” speaking of himself and his son Isaac. And apparently, from the account here, what Abraham is believing at this time is, that God will provide a lamb, which of course he obviously does eventually. But that's apparently what's Abraham is believing, because in response to his son's question “Where is the lamb,” he says, “God will Himself provide the Lamb.” But at any rate, you see this---this statement of faith here. God will provide. Abraham has now walked with God for at least 35 years we’re assuming that Isaac is at least 10 years old here. So, he's walked with God for 35 years. He has knowledge of God and His ways. There is a confidence here in God's character, and that's why he's able to say, “We will worship and return.” We’ll follow that out a little bit. And notice, they “walked on together” than, step-by-step, we read at the end of verse 8. Verse 9,
“Then they came to the place of which God had told him; and Abraham built the altar there and he arranged the wood, and bound his son Isaac and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. And Abraham stretched out his hand and took the knife to slay his son.”
Abraham made all the preparations, he actually went so far as to reach out his hand and take---grab the knife. We’re not told exactly how far he actually brought the knife into position for the final act before the angel Lord stopped him, but the point is, he was going to do it. He was going to do it.
Now, keep your keep your finger there and we’ll turn---we all are very familiar to with the account in Hebrews 11, but let us read it together. Turn to Hebrews chapter 11, and in verse 17 it says, that “when he was tested he offered up Isaac,” and verse 19, notice he says, “He considered that God is able to raise men even from the dead from which he also received him back as a type.” Now, my understanding of this passage is that at this point in time God had not provided a lamb which was at apparently what he was expecting when he first answered his son. But regardless, this was the command, and so perhaps this newer thought entered his mind, that well, then God can raise him up. And we’re not told, for sure, but this is what he was thinking, it says. The New Testament gives us this commentary, that he considered that God was able to raise him back from the dead. Now notice, “from which he also received him back as a type.” In God's eyes. Abraham as good as killed Isaac. He received Isaac back from the dead as a type as it were. He was going to do it. It’s amazing hereto to see this, this act of faith. And you go back to the account in Genesis and we read, “But the angel of the Lord,” right when he's ready to do this---the knife is in his hand, “the angel of the Lord called to him from heaven and said, “Abraham, Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” He said, “Do not stretch out your hand against the lad and do nothing to him.” Now let’s stop there. We’re going to go back to the to the passage in Hebrews 11 in just a few minutes, but first want to consider a fourth thing quickly about Abraham's obedience, and that is that his obedience was complete. He was going to carry through. He not only started out and for three days when about this in order to fulfill God's command, but he---it was complete---he was going to do it. He was going to follow all the way through. And just reminds us quickly of a couple principles of obedience. This first one we were just talking about; incomplete obedience is not obedience it’s disobedience. And of course, remember the example of King Saul when he was told to destroy the Amalekites and he partly obeyed and Samuel said that's the sin of insubordination. So, incomplete obedience is not obedience. Abraham's obedience was complete. He was going to do it.
The other thing, just a real, quick observation, is that late, delayed, obedience is not really obedience either. And you see this again in Abraham, at least that is the implication here. He arose early in the morning after he was given his command and he immediately set out to obey. So, incomplete obedience is really disobedience, late obedience is really not obedience either. It is better than out and out disobedience, but is really not obedience either. Now let's consider then again, before you go back to Hebrews 11, that---you remember we said that the New Testament constantly holds Abraham before us, particularly his faith. Look and turn to Galatians chapter 3 real quickly. Galatians chapter 3 and verse 6. We’ll start there.
“Even so Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness.” That's a quote from chapter 15 of Genesis. “Therefore, be sure that it is those who are of faith who are sons of Abraham. The Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, “All the nations shall be blessed in you.” So then those who are of faith are blessed with Abraham, the believer.”
So, it's those who are of faith, like Abraham, they are the ones who are blessed. They are the ones who are saved. Now the book of Romans, go to Romans chapter 4. Romans carries this thought almost just a step farther. Look at Romans chapter 4 and first of all, verse 12, it says, that Abraham was the father, is “the father of circumcision to those who not only are of the circumcision,” but notice this next phrase, “who also follow in the steps of the faith of our father Abraham.” It’s not just those who have faith, but it’s those who have the faith of Abraham. Look at verse 16. “For this reason, it is by faith, that it might be in accordance with grace, in order that the promise may be certain to all the descendants, not only to those who are of the law but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham.” So, the New Testament sets before us that Abraham's faith is an example of saving faith. This is the kind of faith that saves. Who are saved? Who are who are going to receive that promise? Those who follow in the steps of the faith of our father Abraham. Those who are of the faith of Abraham, not just those who have some nebulous faith, but those who have the same faith that Abraham had. That's what the New Testament seems to clearly tell us.
Now, with that in mind, thinking about the account that we read, thinking about the commentary in Hebrews 11, just real, quickly I would like to look at 4---that I think come out of the text here, 4 characteristics of Abraham's faith that we see here.
The first one, going back to Hebrews 11, we’ll just go back there real, quick, the first one is this: Saving faith is grounded in a certain and confident knowledge of God's person and character. Saving faith is grounded in a certain and confident knowledge of God's person and character. Now notice where this---notice how we see this in Hebrews chapter 11. Now let’s read the whole passage starting verse 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; It was he to whom it was said, “In Isaac your descendants shall be called.” He considered that God is able to raise men even from the dead, from which he also received him back is a type.”
Now what's this telling us? What was Abraham thinking? Abraham was thinking, ‘Isaac has to live. There is no possible way that Isaac can remain dead.’ Why, because God had given him promises. “It was he to whom it was said in Isaac your descendants shall be called.” This son of mine has to live, he has to have descendants because that's what God had promised. So, you see Abraham faith was grounded on a certain and confident knowledge of God's person and character. God is good and faithful. He keeps His word. Notice in verse 12 when it’s talking about Sarah---or maybe it’s verse 11, it says, “she considered Him faithful who had promised.” So, genuine faith is grounded in a certainty of God's faithfulness. He keeps His word. He makes a promise, it has to come to pass. He cannot lie. You see that.
It's also based on this absolute confidence and knowledge of God's power. At the time that Abraham believed this, to the best of our knowledge, nothing is ever recorded that Abraham had ever heard anything about resurrection from the dead. He’d never seen this. He’d never been told of this. But his faith reasoned that out, okay. Remember what God told he and Sarah earlier, “Is anything too difficult” for God? And so, because of God's goodness and faithfulness. He knows that Abraham, excuse me---he knows that his son Isaac has to live, and he's confident that God certainly has the power to bring that about. He had never been heard, he had never been specifically told about resurrection from the dead as far as we know, but he reasoned that out. God can bring them back. If I kill him, God can bring back to life. So, faith is grounded in this, this certain and confident knowledge of the very person and character of God. Apart from that certainty, apart from that confidence, faith can't operate.
On this past Wednesday night when we were down in Lacon, we looked at Psalm 95. And we looked at that example there, of Israel's unbelief. And we looked at um, I believe it’s verse 10 where it says, on God's evaluation of the nation of Israel, because they did not trust Him, and they did not believe Him, and so they would not obey Him. What was His evaluation? “These are people who err in their heart and they do not know My ways.” That's what He said about them. So, in contrast to that, here’s Abraham. Abraham knows God's ways. He knows who God is. He knows His ways and so that's what his faith is grounded in.
The second thing that we notice about faith, about saving faith, as we consider the New Testament and look at the example from Genesis 22, and that is this, faith is obedient. Faith is obedient. In Romans--- in the book of Romans, twice we find that the phrase, “the obedience of faith.” We find it in the first chapter, we find it in the last chapter, “the obedience of faith.” In other words, the obedience that is produced by faith or the obedience that accompanies faith, the obedience that goes hand-in-hand with faith, okay. And we’ve already noticed that Abraham's obedience, in this case was in spite of the difficulty, in spite of his lack of understanding, in spite of the intense personal struggle, we noticed that it was immediate, we noticed that it was persevering and unwaveringly, we noticed it was complete. So, faith is obedient. Faith without obedience is not really faith, that is, it’s not the faith of Abraham, and is not saving faith.
Another passage right after the book of Hebrews is James. Turn over to James chapter 2. We see this referring to the same exact incident. James chapter 2. Faith without obedience, supposed faith without obedience is not the faith that meets God's approval. Notice how James puts this in verse 14 he starts the subject in chapter 2,
“What use is it my brethren, and if a man says that he has faith but he has no works can that faith save him,” the faith that has no works, the faith that has no obedience. And then he comes down to verse 21 and uses Abraham as an example one of the examples to demonstrate the validity of what he's teaching here.
“Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up Isaac his son on the altar? You see that faith was working with his works, and as a result of the works, faith was perfected; And the Scripture was fulfilled which says, “And Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness,” and he was called the friend of God.”
Now, what--- when Abraham took the knife to slay Isaac, what Scripture was fulfilled? The Scripture that Abraham believed God. That was a Scripture that was fulfilled. Abraham believed God. That's what he was doing. When Abraham was obeying God, he was believing God. It was one in the same. If he really didn't believe God he would not have been doing what he was doing, he would not have taken that knife. His work of obedience was not something added onto his faith. It was his faith! That's what this passage is telling us, that's with James is telling us here. His faith, we saw that in verse 22, his faith was working with his works. His faith and obedience, it's one in the same. Back in Hebrews 11 how did verse 17 start out? “By faith Abraham offered up Isaac his son.” So, faith is obedience. Now this is crucial that we understand this, that faith apart from obedience is not a faith that meets God's approval. It does not save. Our capacity as people for self-deception is very, very, great in this area. And you recall what Christ said on the sermon on the Mount in Matthew chapter 7 verse 21, He said, “Not everyone who says to Me, “Lord, Lord,” will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My father who is in heaven.” He who obeys My father. And He goes on to say, “Many will say to Me on that day, Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name and in Your name perform many miracles in Your name cast out demons, and then I will declare to them, “Depart from Me. I never knew you.”” Now, it’s interesting, a couple weeks ago, we were down at Chapel of the Lake near St. Louis, and we sat in on a Sunday School class that Pastor Dyer was teaching. And he was teaching about something different, he was teaching about the word “know”. But he referenced this Scripture, Matthew 7:22 and he made this statement, and this isn’t a quote, but he said, ‘Those words “depart from Me, I never knew you,” that statement, “I never knew you,” he said those words seem to him to be the most fearful words in the Bible. Why? Because the people Christ is going to say that to, thought they knew Him. They’re going to come to Him, expecting that they will be saved, and He's going to say, “I never knew you.” Our capacity to deceive ourselves is extremely great and that's why it's so important that we understand this lesson that faith obeys. Faith is obedient.
The third thing that we notice about faith---now let's go back to Genesis 22 we looked at some of the New Testament commentary on this, but let's go back to Genesis 22. We sort of left off in the middle of the account. Let’s start at verse 11. So, Abraham has grabbed the knife, he has stretch out his hand, he had grabbed the knife, and “the angel of the Lord calls to him from heaven, and said, “Abraham, Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” And he said, “Do not stretch out your hand against the lad and do nothing to him. For now, I know,” and notice this, “that you fear God.” Here’s the third principal, faith fears. Faith in God and the fear of God also go together. These two things are also inseparable. The angel of the Lord says, “Now I know that you fear God.” Faith sees and knows and comprehends that God is God, that of Him and through Him and to Him are all things. Faith perceives the glory and majesty of God. Faith recognizes His authority and His power. Faith humbly acknowledges that He is the provider, He is the owner, He is the possessor, He is the ruler of all things. My devotion belongs to Him. That's a very succinct, but that's at least part of the definition of what it means to fear God, to revere Him. Genuine faith reveres God. Genuine faith acknowledges that He is the provider, the owner, the possessor, the ruler of all, that my devotion and my obedience are His. He is my King. He is my Maker. That's---that's fearing God. And so, genuine faith, saving faith, is always accompanied by the fear of God.
The fourth thing that comes right out of this---notice, this next phrase, he says, “Now I know that you fear God” and notice, “since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me.” You see the same thing down in verse 16, “you have not withheld your son, your only son.” Three times in this passage we find that, “your son, your only son.” Now reverent faith---I'm giving you, at least what I see here, is a fourth characteristic of saving faith here---reverent faith that confesses, acknowledges, that God has the right to demand of me anything and everything, even that which is the most precious to me, “your son, your only son you,” you have not withheld from Me that which is the most important thing to you. Isaac was more important to Abraham than Abraham's own life himself. This was the future and He says, “You have not withheld him from me.” When Abraham bound Isaac, and put him on that altar, Abraham was doing what Romans 12 one tells us to do. He was offering himself to God. That which was completely the most precious thing he had, he offered to God. That's characteristic if you want to include in the third one, I put is a fourth one. That's a characteristic of saving faith. God has that right. He deserves the absolute best; everything I have. And Abraham acknowledged that and God says, “Now I know that you fear me.”
Now, there's---so, so, what do we see in the New Testament, for sure, we see this as it comments on this account. We see that that saving faith, that is the faith of Abraham, the faith, the same faith, that all have who really belong to God, that that faith first of all, is based, its grounded on a certain and confident knowledge of God's character and His very person. We’ve seen secondly that genuine faith is obedient. It obeys faith that does not obey cannot save. And that's what James clearly tells us. So, the question is, “Am I,” if we can stop for a minute on that second one, “Am I intent on obeying all of God's commands? Is that the intention of my heart? Because that's what saving faith looks like. You can't, you can't come up with the command any more difficult than this. That's the intention of faith. So, is that the intention of my heart? A third thing we notice is that faith fears God. These things all go together. And that faith fears God to the extent that again it offers to Him the most precious thing, and acknowledges that God has that right to demand that of me. Now it seems to me--- to be honest with myself, that when I read the account of Genesis 22, there's a part of me, at least in my flesh, that wants to object a little bit to this. There's a part of me, that sinful part of me, that's offended that God should ask such a thing. This just seems a little bit unfair, as I think about some ways, that God should actually ask Abraham to do this. It just seems a little bit too much. And that's a big objection. And I think if were honest, that's the---we struggle with that, even as believers, but certainly the world could not imagine thinking about this. But just a couple of real, quick thoughts on that objection. The first answer to that objection that comes to mind is what we just said, and it is this, this is God's right. He made us, He gave to us everything He has. It’s His right as the Ruler, as the Creator. And with that, God expects us to do as Abraham. He expects us to trust Him just like Abraham did. He expected the nation of Israel to trust Him regardless of the fact that they were thirsty at that time and again to the waters of their Meribah and at Massah. He expected them to trust Him. When the spies came back from the land said, “There's actually no way! These guys are huge!” He expected them to trust Him and they didn't. That's why His judgment on the most severe and immediate. So, so, God expects this. He expects us to reason this out, that God is able, He's absolutely faithful, there's nothing too difficult for Him to do, and His word is as good as done. If He's made a promise it will be fulfilled. And again, looking at the example of Abraham, we’re assuming he'd never heard anything about resurrection but, this had to be. God can do anything and this kid has to live. My son has to live. So, that's maybe one answer to the objection. I'm sure there's others.
But a second answer comes to mind when it comes to this test, that God should test Abraham's faith in this way. Look, look over at Deuteronomy real, quickly, Deuteronomy chapter 8. I have a couple of interesting verses here that I think bear on what we’re looking at here. Deuteronomy chapter 8 and verse two. And Moses is reminding the nation of visual this point of some of the history, and he says, “You shall remember all the way which the Lord your God has led you in the wilderness these 40 years,” notice, “that He might humble you, testing you to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandment or not.” So, God when He tests, and He has a right to do this, it's to examine, it’s to humble us before Him, because we, we get so caught up with ourselves. It’s to examine our hearts. Are we really devoted to Him? But then notice verse 16, “In the wilderness He fed you manna, which your fathers did not know,” why “that He might humble you again that He might test you,” now notice this, “to do good for you in the end.” This is the purpose that God tests. He has a glorious purpose behind---or beyond this test. Turn back to Genesis 22 and you see this, because if you read from verse---starting in verse 13, we know the account we won’t read it all, but he sees that ram, and he takes it, he offers in the place of his son and he names the place, “The Lord Will Provide,” and then notice verse 15 and 16, “The angel of the Lord called Abraham a second time and he said, by myself I have sworn,” and the writer of Hebrews refers to this amazing statement, to make--- to impress upon Abraham, the absolute, unchangeableness, and the certainty, God says, “by Myself I have sworn, declares the Lord, because you have done this thing,” because you passed the test, “and have not withheld your son, your only son,” now notice this, “I will greatly bless you, I will greatly multiply your seed as the stars of the heaven and as the sand which is on the seashore, and your seed shall possess the gate of their enemies and in your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed my voice.” So, you see, what is God's purpose? What's His objective in testing us, in testing our faith? “To do good for us, to accomplish that which is good so that He might then reward, that He might honor. That's His purpose in this. And so, when we object, if were tempted to object, that man, that just seems over the top. We have to remember this. This is because right. And we have to remember that God, in His goodness, the reason He does this, is because of what His object is. He wants to be able to say, and He's able to say to Abraham, “By Myself. I've sworn, because you've done this, I will greatly bless you.” Now, again we looked at the fact that the New Testament seems to clearly indicate that it's people who have the faith of Abraham, the faith that Abraham had, who are those who are really Abraham's descendants, who belong to God. So, the point is what we’re looking at this morning very quickly. This is what it means to believe God. This is what it means to believe Him, to have faith in Him. This is the kind of faith that saves---faith that so honors God. Faith knows God, and so faith that obeys Him and trusts Him completely. This is the kind of faith and is the only kind of faith that finds approval with God, that receives His blessing.
Now, one more thing before we stop this morning it's---it's almost impossible to look at this passage when you see that ultimately God spared Abraham from killing his son. It seems impossible to look at this passage without realizing this is a picture for us of God's plan, because we read in Romans 8:34, that “He who did not spare His own Son.” This was Abraham's only son, and God spared him. But God didn't spare His own Son for us, And know we have in---we have in Exodus chapter 34 what’s really a great dilemma that’s set before us in Scripture, because in Exodus chapter 34 and verses 6, we’ll quick read that, in Exodus 34 verse 6 it says this---the Lord's making Himself known to Moses, He “passed by in front of him and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord God, compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in lovingkindness and truth who keeps lovingkindness for thousands, who forgives iniquity, transgression and sin; yet He will by no means leave sin unpunished.” How can this be, He is said what appears to be two opposite things in one sentence. He forgives, He shows lovingkindness, He forgives iniquity, transgression and sin, yet He will not leave unpunished sin. How can that be, those are two apparently opposite things, and the way God resolves what appears to us to be a great perplexion is that He spared not His own Son. God didn't leave our sin unpunished. When He sent His Son to this earth, He punished Him in our stead. So, as we think about the faith of Abraham, we also can't but help but think about that God didn't spare His own Son. And that's the God who demands, requires that we so trust Him that we so honor Him. The God who didn't spare His own Son. So, I hope that just thinking about these things again will be a blessing to you as it has been to me.
