Scripture: Genesis 22:1-14
Every time I read this story – I always have the same thought that crosses my mind. What on earth did Isaac have to be thinking?
“Yeah, sure – hey dad, let’s go on this trip and make a sacrifice. We’ve got ourselves some wood, some fire, some… ummm… hey, dad… uh… where’s the sacrifice? Where’s the ram, or the goat, or the lamb that we’re supposed to be using?
Oh, God will provide. Ok. Cool… but… wait… ummm… why exactly are you binding my hands and feet? And putting me on top of the wood, and lighting the fire… and pulling out that knife … uh… hey! Wait a second!!”
Many will say this is a story about how God tested Abraham’s faith – though you have to admit, Isaac’s kinda up there on the whole faith thing, too, in this story. Not sure how willingly I’d allow myself to be bound and tossed upon a pile of burning wood.
And you have to think that there were some pretty deep father-son issues from that point forward. “Hey dad, remember that time you tried to sacrifice me on Mt. Moriah? Yeah, good times.” I think a family therapist would have a hey day with that one.
And while this is a story about how God tested Abraham’s faith … the message of this story runs much deeper and is making several points.
1) The story itself is a commentary, a counter-story, to the culture in which Abraham and Isaac lived. A culture where child-sacrifice in order to appease the gods was common-place. Kings would make their eldest son walk through rings of fire that would consume them, and when they built new cities, they frequently would entomb their first-born son in the foundation of the city.
So while we find this a very disturbing move on the part of God – asking for a child sacrifice… it’s also a commentary on the difference between the gods of the surrounding nations, and the God of Abraham. Whereas all the other nations would go through with their sacrifices, God stops and says “no – I will provide the sacrifice.”
It makes one think – in our own culture and society – in what ways do we sacrifice at times our own children to other gods? Other priorities?
2) It’s a story that highlights, for all of us, the reality of life’s extremely difficult times. The Bible isn’t dealing in a fantasy-land. It is dealing with the culture, the times, the realities of the world in which both they and we live in. It’s about dealing with disappointment and despair. Where is that loving God in the midst of all this? From the outset of this story – He doesn’t seem to exist.
I mean, here is Abraham, God has FINALLY fulfilled his promise, fulfilled his and Sarah’s dream and given him a son in his old age! God has performed this miracle – and now… it seems as though that promise, that miracle, that joy at having a son is being threatened. The Blessing is given – then it is taken away. We have all heard the phrase, “The Lord giveth, and the Lord taketh away.” I mean really, isn’t faith supposed to always be about feeling happy and joyful and God is just going to shower me with good things all the time as long as I praise His name and do all the things I’m supposed to do? So what happens then… when disaster strikes? Where do I find God in the midst of that?
Most of us, if we were in Abraham’s shoes, I think would begin questioning – what kind of God is this, really?
We heard last week how God was a creator God. A God of life. A God of blessing. A God of laughter! Remember, that’s what Isaac means, “laughter” because Sarah laughed when God told her she would bear a son in her old age.
So it seems, at least for a while, that this God is maybe not quite what we thought He was. The giver of life is now demanding life.
And this is important to think about – because how you view God in regards to this will shape who you think God is. What you think God is all about.
If God is a promise-breaker, and God gives blessings only so he can stick his tongue out at you later and say, “Oh, never mind,” – what kind of God is that?
3) So what kind of God did Abraham think he was dealing with? Well if we go back and really dig into this story – we see that either Abraham is either slightly delusional, or there is a very, very deep conviction regarding who God is operating within Abraham – a conviction that life will somehow prevail.
Because if you look at verse 5, you read, “we will worship, and then WE will come back to you." Abraham fully expected that his son would be coming back with him. He knew that His God was a God of life, knew that His God would not make him this promise – then snatch it back.
So in the midst of this despair, this horrible thing that it seemed God was going to ask of him, he KNEW, somehow, some way, in the end, that would not be the case.
When Isaac asks – “where is the sacrifice?” – Abraham’s response still is “God will provide.” Right up until he bound his son, put him on the wood, got ready to make him the sacrifice, Abraham still believed, someway, somehow, God would be faithful to Him – no matter what it may have felt and looked like leading up to that point.
4) And indeed – God, at the end, finally reveals Himself. Reveals what kind of God He really is. That he is the one who does not demand the sacrifice of humans, but rather, provides the sacrifice FOR humanity.
A God who says, “I will not make you sacrifice your only son, because instead, I will sacrifice MY only son for the entire world.” Jesus, the lamb of God. The sacrifice made on behalf of the world that is alienated from him.
In fact, Mt. Moriah is mentioned only one other time, in 2 Chronicles, where Solomon eventually builds his temple. This “almost sacrifice” of Isaac is where countless rams and lambs are sacrificed for the sin of the people. This is the place where for centuries, God was seen. Where God was revealed. Where God will “see to it” or “provide” for his people.
Jesus, of course, then becomes not just the sacrifice, but the temple itself. He literally becomes where God is revealed.
It is through Him that God provides, that God reveals Himself, where God sees to it that we are forgiven and reconciled back to Him.
Every time I read this story – I always have the same thought that crosses my mind. What on earth did Isaac have to be thinking?
“Yeah, sure – hey dad, let’s go on this trip and make a sacrifice. We’ve got ourselves some wood, some fire, some… ummm… hey, dad… uh… where’s the sacrifice? Where’s the ram, or the goat, or the lamb that we’re supposed to be using?
Oh, God will provide. Ok. Cool… but… wait… ummm… why exactly are you binding my hands and feet? And putting me on top of the wood, and lighting the fire… and pulling out that knife … uh… hey! Wait a second!!”
Many will say this is a story about how God tested Abraham’s faith – though you have to admit, Isaac’s kinda up there on the whole faith thing, too, in this story. Not sure how willingly I’d allow myself to be bound and tossed upon a pile of burning wood.
And you have to think that there were some pretty deep father-son issues from that point forward. “Hey dad, remember that time you tried to sacrifice me on Mt. Moriah? Yeah, good times.” I think a family therapist would have a hey day with that one.
And while this is a story about how God tested Abraham’s faith … the message of this story runs much deeper and is making several points.
1) The story itself is a commentary, a counter-story, to the culture in which Abraham and Isaac lived. A culture where child-sacrifice in order to appease the gods was common-place. Kings would make their eldest son walk through rings of fire that would consume them, and when they built new cities, they frequently would entomb their first-born son in the foundation of the city.
So while we find this a very disturbing move on the part of God – asking for a child sacrifice… it’s also a commentary on the difference between the gods of the surrounding nations, and the God of Abraham. Whereas all the other nations would go through with their sacrifices, God stops and says “no – I will provide the sacrifice.”
It makes one think – in our own culture and society – in what ways do we sacrifice at times our own children to other gods? Other priorities?
2) It’s a story that highlights, for all of us, the reality of life’s extremely difficult times. The Bible isn’t dealing in a fantasy-land. It is dealing with the culture, the times, the realities of the world in which both they and we live in. It’s about dealing with disappointment and despair. Where is that loving God in the midst of all this? From the outset of this story – He doesn’t seem to exist.
I mean, here is Abraham, God has FINALLY fulfilled his promise, fulfilled his and Sarah’s dream and given him a son in his old age! God has performed this miracle – and now… it seems as though that promise, that miracle, that joy at having a son is being threatened. The Blessing is given – then it is taken away. We have all heard the phrase, “The Lord giveth, and the Lord taketh away.” I mean really, isn’t faith supposed to always be about feeling happy and joyful and God is just going to shower me with good things all the time as long as I praise His name and do all the things I’m supposed to do? So what happens then… when disaster strikes? Where do I find God in the midst of that?
Most of us, if we were in Abraham’s shoes, I think would begin questioning – what kind of God is this, really?
We heard last week how God was a creator God. A God of life. A God of blessing. A God of laughter! Remember, that’s what Isaac means, “laughter” because Sarah laughed when God told her she would bear a son in her old age.
So it seems, at least for a while, that this God is maybe not quite what we thought He was. The giver of life is now demanding life.
And this is important to think about – because how you view God in regards to this will shape who you think God is. What you think God is all about.
If God is a promise-breaker, and God gives blessings only so he can stick his tongue out at you later and say, “Oh, never mind,” – what kind of God is that?
3) So what kind of God did Abraham think he was dealing with? Well if we go back and really dig into this story – we see that either Abraham is either slightly delusional, or there is a very, very deep conviction regarding who God is operating within Abraham – a conviction that life will somehow prevail.
Because if you look at verse 5, you read, “we will worship, and then WE will come back to you." Abraham fully expected that his son would be coming back with him. He knew that His God was a God of life, knew that His God would not make him this promise – then snatch it back.
So in the midst of this despair, this horrible thing that it seemed God was going to ask of him, he KNEW, somehow, some way, in the end, that would not be the case.
When Isaac asks – “where is the sacrifice?” – Abraham’s response still is “God will provide.” Right up until he bound his son, put him on the wood, got ready to make him the sacrifice, Abraham still believed, someway, somehow, God would be faithful to Him – no matter what it may have felt and looked like leading up to that point.
4) And indeed – God, at the end, finally reveals Himself. Reveals what kind of God He really is. That he is the one who does not demand the sacrifice of humans, but rather, provides the sacrifice FOR humanity.
A God who says, “I will not make you sacrifice your only son, because instead, I will sacrifice MY only son for the entire world.” Jesus, the lamb of God. The sacrifice made on behalf of the world that is alienated from him.
In fact, Mt. Moriah is mentioned only one other time, in 2 Chronicles, where Solomon eventually builds his temple. This “almost sacrifice” of Isaac is where countless rams and lambs are sacrificed for the sin of the people. This is the place where for centuries, God was seen. Where God was revealed. Where God will “see to it” or “provide” for his people.
Jesus, of course, then becomes not just the sacrifice, but the temple itself. He literally becomes where God is revealed.
It is through Him that God provides, that God reveals Himself, where God sees to it that we are forgiven and reconciled back to Him.
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