Sermon - Audio
Gen 22-24 - Audio
Gen 22-24 - Daily Reading
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Step 3 – Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him.
22.1 God tested Abraham. The particular form of the verb “tested” makes this phrase a summary of the whole passage and clarifies the meaning of the events. God tested Abraham, not to trip him and watch him fall, but to deepen his capacity to obey God and thus to develop his character. Just as fire refines ore to extract precious metals, God refines us through difficult circumstances.
22: 7, 8 Why did God ask Abraham to perform human sacrifice? Pagan nations practiced human sacrifice, but God condemned this as a terrible sin (Leviticus 20.1-5). God did not want Isaac to die, but he wanted Abraham to sacrifice Isaac in his heart so it would be clear that Abraham loved God more than he loved his promised and long-awaited son. At times God may ask of us painful sacrifices, the benefits and blessings that He has in mind always lead to our healing and growth.
23. 10-15 The polite interchange between Abraham and Ephron was typical of bargaining at that time. Ephron graciously offered to give his land to Abraham at no charge; Abraham insisted on paying for; Ephron politely mentioned the price but said, in effect, that it wasn’t important. Abraham purchased the land, thus not insulting Ephron, who then would have rescinded his offer.
23.20 Abraham’s purchase of the field and cave meant that his descendants would own this land in perpetuity. Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Rebekah, and Leah would later be laid to rest in this cave.
24.1- 66 The story of how Rebekah becomes Isaac's wife has many different twists and turns. The author highlights how God controls events so that, after a long journey of roughly 500 miles, Abraham's servant is led to Rebekah. Then, like Abraham, Rebekah must leave her family and country in an act of faith in order to journey to Canaan and marry Isaac, whom she has never met. (I don’t think my kids would go for this!)
In light of Step 3 these chapters in Genesis remind us that God is always faithful to His promises. Through all the twists, turns, and distances, God is control blessing and leading His people. Like Abraham we are invited to put our complete trust in our Savior.
QA #1 What is your only comfort in life and in death? That I am not my own, but belong – body and soul, in life and in death to my faithful Savior Jesus Christ. He has fully paid for all my sins with his precious blood, and has set me free from the tyranny of the devil. He also watches over me in such a way that not a hair can fall from head without the will of my Father in heaven; in fact, all things must work together for my salvation. Because I belong to him, Christ, by his Holy Spirit, assures me of eternal life and makes me wholeheartedly willing and ready from now on to live for him
4 comments:
How old was Isaac when Abraham was going to sacrifice him?
Hi Rebecca,
The beginning of the chapter says, "After these things" which is just another way of saying, "Sometime in the future". So we don't know Isaac's exact age. What we do know is that Isaac was 3 years old when Ishmael was sent away and that he is now old enough to both carry the wood for the sacrifice and ask intelligent questions about what is happening.
There is one other important thing to notice in this passage. Genesis 12-22 form a unit in the book of Genesis. It is a unit that begins and ends with amazing obedience by Abraham. The JPS Torah commentary gives us a good sense of this all, "The first time God bids him to take leave of his father and to cut himself off from his past; now, in this last theophany that he is to receive, God asks that he sacrifice his beloved, longed-for son and thereby abandon all hope of posterity. On both occasions Abraham responds with unquestioning obedience and steadfast loyalty."
Also Remember that Abraham was an old man and was probably incapable of binding up a teenager/adult by himself. It is believed that Isaac was bound willingly and that he could have gotten out of it had he chose to.
"If it seems barbaric to command Abraham to offer his beloved son, Isaac, God did not ask any more than He would do in sacrificing His beloved Son for the sins of the world." - Apol. Study Bible -
I have always been amazed at the beautiful picture of God's sacrifice of his only son, Jesus, for the sins of the world.
Also, in Hebrews 11:17-19 the author gives their thoughts on the "faith aspects" from this story:
"By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises was in the act of offering up his only son, of whom it was said, “Through Isaac shall your offspring be named.” He considered that God was able even to raise him from the dead, from which, figuratively speaking, he did receive him back."
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