Genesis 22

Faith Tested and Confirmed

After all the blessings and privileges which God had given Abraham, the word of Genesis 22:2 must have pierced his very soul. God commanded Abraham to sacrifice his son Isaac to him on Mount Moriah. The writer tells us that this was a test from God, and Abraham willingly went through it.

It is true, as James reminds us, that God does not tempt any man to sin (James 1:13). But he does test his people. Peter talks of the testing of our faith, which is the testing of something more precious than gold (1 Peter 1:7). God submits his people to testing times, not in order that he might know what they are like (this he knows already), but so that they will discover what they are like in themselves, and so that they will appreciate what God is like for them and on their behalf.

Such was Abraham's trial. There are three things in connection with it brought out in Genesis 22:

1. The Testing of Faith

Isaac was the son of promise, the covenant heir of blessing. It was in Isaac that God was to make good the promised salvation covenanted to the world through Abraham. It is in covenant that God works, and it is through the grace of his covenant that he saves sinners. Those who trust in Christ walk in the steps of their father Abraham (cf. Romans 4:11).

For God to demand the life of Isaac was like God demanding us to give up our Bibles, our covenant assurance, and our Gospel. Isaac was the focus of Abraham's soul-interest. And now God was demanding something that seemed to undercut all that Abraham held dear.

Sometimes our times of trial focus on what we love best in this world. This trial was hard for flesh and blood to bear. Abraham had a father's heart, and loved Isaac because of it. The demand of God went through him like a knife, because of the ties of flesh and blood that bound him to his son.

But did not Jesus speak of the cost of discipleship in these terms? Those who love father, mother, sister or brother more than him are not worthy of him (Matthew 10:37-38). God called Abraham to sacrifice his son, and although Isaac came through the experience unhurt and unscathed, he had been sacrificed; in Abraham's heart he had already given Isaac up to God, and put God first in his life.

That is the real test of discipleship and faith: is God first? Or do we put other things, other people, before him? Maybe God is testing us today to see what it is that holds first place in our lives. Will we be prepared to let these things go, in order that God will have the chief place in our hearts and lives?

2. The Obedience of Faith

Abraham obeyed, and for three days walked his long, lonely walk to the mountain. Faith obeys God and asks no questions. It takes God at his word. As Isaac walked in obedience behind his father, Abraham walked in obedience behind God, his father.

Hebrews 11 tells us about Abraham's faith. It tells us that he knew that God "was able to raise him up, even from the dead, from which he also received him in a figurative sense" (Hebrews 11:19). Abraham put his PROMISE before his PROVIDENCE, and read the latter in the light of the former. In other words, he did not say, "God's promise cannot be valid, because I have to offer Isaac"; he said rather "Even though I must offer Isaac, God will still keep his promise". That is how faith looks out on life. Even in harsh times and in difficult times he will remain faithful.

I believe that spiritual depression sets in the moment we reverse this order, and read everything in the light of our own situation. That is a recipe for depression indeed. We take the Bible, and read it in the light of what we are going through, and it makes little sense. We get little or no comfort from it. But when we read our situation in the light of the Bible, then it makes sense. Then we know that even the most difficult circumstances of life cannot threaten our relationship with God.

That is how Abraham was. Faith obeyed, because it knew that no matter what life threw at him - and what could be more difficult than the call to sacrifice his son? - God would be faithful.

3. The Reward of Faith

Faith was rewarded. Isaac was spared. God provided a substitute for sacrifice. A ram took Isaac's place. God provided, and the promise was renewed.

There is a substitute provided for us also, in the person of Jesus Christ, the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. He is our blessing. In him we have all things, and lack nothing. The blessings of the covenant are not only renewed in him; they are yea and amen in him. He is the one in whom the faith of his people is rewarded and their trials prove a blessing.

May we know what it is to follow God in this world, our gaze firmly fixed upon the greatest son of Abraham, the Lord Jesus Christ, who is our life.

Genesis 22:7

Where Is The Lamb?

Last week we looked at this episode in Abraham's life in which God asked his servant to sacrifice Isaac, his dear son and the heir of covenanted promise. We saw that Abraham believed God; it was enough for him to know that God had promised, and God would also perform all that he had undertaken to do.

On the way to Mount Moriah, Isaac was understandably perplexed. He could see that his father had made every preparation for sacrifice, but the one essential element was missing. There was no lamb! How could there be a sacrifice without an animal? 'I see the wood for the offering', he said to Abraham, 'but where is the lamb?' Abraham's classic answer was to be fulfilled in a remarkable way - "God will provide one".

I want us to focus on Isaac's question, and try to answer it out of the pages of the Scriptures. Where is the lamb? John's favourite description of Jesus is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. He is the lamb we need. But, if we can borrow Isaac's question - where is he? What is God's answer to Isaac's inquiry?

4. In the Eternal Covenant

The lamb is, first, in the provisions of God's covenant of grace. He is the lamb slain before the foundation of the world. Before God began to build the universe, he had made provision for the sins of a fallen race. Christ is the chosen one; we are the chosen ones in him. God set him apart to be a Mediator and a Saviour, and all our hope and confidence rest in that fact.

There is a Gospel today because of the wonderful provision God has made for us. Without his sovereign, electing decree, by which Jesus was made Mediator, there could be no salvation and no Gospel. So Christ is the lamb, and the lamb is in God's eternal purposes of grace.

5. In the Promises of the Old Testament

But the lamb is also in the promises of the Old Testament. He is cradled in the womb of the Old Testament, whose types and symbols, promises and prophecies are pregnant with Jesus. He makes himself known among the shadows of the Old Testament church. The Psalms speak of him. The Prophets speak of him. The coming Messiah cuts a remarkable figure within the Scriptures of the Old Testament. Jesus could begin at Moses and the prophets and expound out of these sacred writings the things which concerned himself. He was there and is there. We have light now that the Old Testament church never had. We can read of Solomon and say, 'A greater than Solomon is here'; we can read of Jonah and say 'A greater than Jonah is here'.

6. In the Manger At Bethlehem

The lamb at last comes into the stream of mankind, and lies in a manger at Bethlehem. He is born in a poor, low condition, under the law, and subject to the cares of life. He is a faithful and adequate high priest, precisely because he so identifies with his people that their life is his, and their death is his. What they need, he supplies, and what they experience, he understands.

The greatest miracle of all is that of incarnational redemption - the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.

7. On the Cross of Calvary

The lamb came not to come, but to die. He was born, not to be born, but to give his life a ransom for many. The lamb came to be the lamb of sacrifice. Lambs are beautiful in their lives, playful and carefree. We love to watch them. But this lamb has been marked out for Passover sacrifice. He is called to shed his blood for the redemption of his people. He is a lamb without blemish and without spot; he is Christ our Passover. It was for Calvary he came, and it is only at Calvary that he can say "It is finished; I have done the work".

8. In the Hearts of His People

The lamb is in the hearts of his own. By faith through his Spirit he has come into the hearts of those whom he has redeemed. All that they need he gives, because he is united to them. The Spirit of Christ is in them, and in the lives of his own he does his work, sanctifying, leading, guiding his people and renewing his image in them from day to day. Where he began that good work in them, he will bring it on until the day of Christ.

9. In the Midst of the Throne

Today the lamb is in the midst of the throne, exalted at God's right hand as a Prince and a Saviour. He is the sole occupant of Heaven's throne, and one day his dominion will be acknowledged as spreading far and wide, to earth's remotest bounds. Every eye will see him, and every tongue will confess that he is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

The great confidence of the church is that the Lamb is all the glory of Immanuel's land. And when he comes again to judge the living and the dead, it will be to receive universal acclamation and to vindicate his own name and his own cause.

Where is the Lamb? Praise God that he is on the pages of the Gospel, still saying to men "Come unto me, and I will give you rest".