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BY FAITH ABRAHAM OFFERED ISAAC AS A SACRIFICE

"By faith Abraham, when God tested him, offered Isaac as a sacrifice. He who had received the promises was about to sacrifice his one and only son, even though God had said to him, "It is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned. "

Thank God that he has shown us a clear direction and vision for the year 2010 through Hebrews 11:6. For us last year was a year of prayer. This year our focus is to have faith that pleases God. To deepen our understanding of what true faith is, we have been studying Hebrews 11.  Last week we learned about the faith of Abraham and Sarah. Abraham came to God by responding to God’s call.  He walked with God by living in the Promised Land. He earnestly sought God by hoping for his heavenly home. Today’s passage covers God’s test of Abraham and the faith of Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph. Through this message God may help us to learn how to become a blessing in this world, pass through God’s tests, and die with glorious faith.

First, God’s test of Abraham. (17) Look at verse 17: “By faith Abraham, when God tested him, offered Isaac as a sacrifice. He who had received the promises was about to sacrifice his one and only son.” According to Genesis 22:2, God’s test was very clear. God said, “Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains I will tell you about.” Abraham knew exactly what that meant. His son Isaac had to be burned to death by fire and offered to God. Even if we consider the fact that human sacrifice was practiced by pagan worshippers in Abraham’s time, it is very hard to understand why God would give such a test to Abraham.  We need to understand this from the perspective of the relationship between God and Abraham.

First we must consider the timing of this test. It was the right time for Abraham. The purpose of a test is not to fail students. It is to measure what the students have learned and retained. So a good teacher writes a test at the level of their students. In our American school system, students start from kindergarten and can advance to achieving a Ph.D. degree or other advanced degrees. The level of tests in grade school is not the same as that of Ph.D. students. In the same manner, spiritual life has different degrees of maturity. God had given Abraham many tests and saw his steadfast growth. God was confident that this was a kind of test that Abraham could take and pass. God challenged Abraham’s faith through many trials. When Abraham left his home country and came to the Promised Land, he did not have any security. He lived in tents as an alien. He had to constantly defend himself from all the hostile inhabitants of the land. He had to go down to Egypt to just survive during the famine. He even had to bear the departure of his nephew Lot and his eventual destruction.

Through many trials, God stretched his narrow mind and he became a very influential person among the people of the land. He learned to bear and work with all different kinds of people. Abraham was treated as a prince by the people in the land. At times God turned him upside down through his mistakes and failures. Many times he failed, but many more times he succeeded. At this time, God knew about Abraham’s spiritual capacity. When Abraham was tested he had a vision for eternal life. Genesis 21:33 says, “Abraham planted a tamarisk tree in Beersheba, and there he called upon the name of the LORD, the Eternal God. For the first time Abraham called God “Eternal God.” It shows that he had resurrection faith. Abraham was prepared to take the test. God does not test those who are not ready. It was a test for Abraham. Abraham passed the test and set an example to all of us how to come to God in times of testing.

God’s test was very hard. What made the test so hard? First of all, it was a test of love. It was a test of loving God more than God’s blessings. Abraham was asked to give God’s blessing—Isaac—back to God. It is our human nature to hold onto what we love dearly, more so when that is what God has given us. Abraham was no exception. Abraham finally got what he wanted from God—his son Isaac. He was getting old and settling with petty pleasures of just being a good father for Isaac. Now God asks Abraham to give this up in a very painful way. We can only imagine how Abraham might have felt. He must have wondered about how he would communicate this to his wife Sarah. Abraham did not have any good answers to all these questions.

God saw that Abraham was falling into the danger of behaving like he owned God’s blessings. God loved Abraham so much that he was giving Abraham the opportunity to love God more than his son Isaac through this test. So many nations and individuals were destroyed not in the time of hardships but in the time of blessings.  A truly blessed life is to love God more than his blessings.  

Second, it was test of his obedience beyond human thinking. First Abraham had to believe in God’s goodness. He heard about many idol-worshipers who offered their sons for sacrifices in the fire. Maybe, he thought that his God would never ask such a thing. But one day he was asked to do the very thing he saw others doing. He had to trust God’s absolute goodness. Abraham also had to believe in God’s faithfulness. Isaac was given as a sign of the promise that God would make Abraham a great nation. It was difficult for Abraham to understand why God would want Isaac back. Without even one son how would Abraham become a great nation and a blessing to the world? God seems to be contradictory. But Abraham believed that God is faithful. Abraham obeyed God’s command by going beyond the limits of his human thinking.

God wanted to bless Abraham to be a blessing for the whole world. He needed to rise above the level of an ordinary and good man─to become an ancestor of faith. All of God’s people on the earth would follow his footsteps. For this purpose God disciplined him. When Abraham was ready to offer his son Isaac, God stopped him from doing so. We must believe that God’s purpose of testing his people is to grow them in the deeper knowledge of God.

Second, Abraham’s response. (18-19) Look at verses 18-19: “Even though God had said to him, `It is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned.’ Abraham reasoned that God could raise the dead, and figuratively speaking, he did receive Isaac back from death.” How did Abraham handle the test? Abraham’s faith was not blind obedience. Rather, Abraham “reasoned” based on the truths he knew. Abraham trusted God who said that it was through his son Isaac that a great nation would arise. Yet, a burnt offering meant that Isaac would definitely die. The only possibility was that even though Isaac died, God himself would raise him up again. Abraham was able to reason in the time of testing because he grew deeper in the knowledge of God through many previous tests and trials. All the tests and trials of his life did not make him become bitter toward God but strengthened his love relationship with God. Abraham did not accept God’s promise superficially. He accepted it deeply into his heart.  As Abraham faced the test by faith, he came to learn and experience resurrection faith─faith beyond death.

Then how does God test us? Would God give us the same test as he did to Abraham? It is easy for us to avoid struggles in life. Some people want a test-free and trial-free life. Yet, such a life is not worthy to live because such a life is meaningless and fruitless. However, God disciplines those whom he loves. Those who are disciplined in faith will grow. They become a blessing in this world.  God gave this test only to Abraham and no one else. God made Abraham an “ancestor of faith.” The difficulty of God’s test might be different for each person but the basic principle remains the same: our capacity to love God grows through tests.

When we are tested we must reason based on the truth we know. Blessings are good but God himself is more important than the blessings. We must offer God’s blessings to God whatever that may be: health, job, children, and sheep. We may not behave as if we own them. May God help us to put our hope in God and his kingdom rather than things of this world.

Third, Spiritual fathers of faith; Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph. (20-22) These men passed on God's blessings and hope to the next generation. They did not pass on huge material possessions. Rather, they passed on God's promises and precious faith as their inheritance.  Each one had a unique role and purpose in God’s work in their generation.  They had very different God-given characters and personalities.  Yet, they passed on the chain of blessing for 4 successive generations.  In doing so, God then formed a nation where he could preserve a remnant throughout the rest of history. By faith, we are actually the spiritual descendants of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph.  Their lives in the book of Genesis are worthy of deep consideration and study.  Today we will think about them briefly based on Hebrews which focuses on how they ended their lives as spiritual fathers.  

Look at verse 20: “By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau in regard to their future.” The greatness of Isaac is that he actually received and inherited the faith of his father Abraham, succeeding faith.  Like his father, he also had a no child issue and many problems with the locals, but with the faith of Abraham he overcame them without much problem.  He also married very well.  His wife Rebekah was another key to his success as a man of God.  Near the end of his life, Isaac blessed both of his sons in regard to their future.  He blessed them according to their faith.  Esau’s blessing was not that great compared to Jacob’s, but that was due to Esau’s faith.  Isaac did not just say nice words, but with the help of his wife, he saw how Jacob was actually the one most influenced by his faith.  Even though Isaac liked Esau better, it was Jacob who would carry the spiritual birthright and blessings of Abraham forward.  Spiritual fathers receive the faith of their predecessors and pass it forward by faith. 

Look at verse 21: "By faith Jacob, when he was dying, blessed each of Joseph's sons, and worshipped as he leaned on the top of his staff." Jacob was a goal-oriented man of great ambition.  He deceived his brother Esau. Then he went to his uncle Laban’s house. There, he spent twenty years to build up his family of four wives and twelve children. Out of him, the twelve tribes of Israel were brought forth. When Jacob was dying, he blessed each of Joseph’s sons, his grandchildren, and worshipped God as he leaned on the top of his staff.  Jacob changed from a man of selfish goals and ambition to a man who had the life experiences and desire to bless others and to worship God with all the strength he had left.  He was changed from an earthly man to a spiritual father of faith.  Spiritual fathers have rich life experiences and desire to bless others and to worship God to the end. 
 
Look at verse 22: "By faith Joseph, when his end was near, spoke about the exodus of the Israelites from Egypt and gave instructions about his bones." Joseph went through a great deal of unjust sufferings.  As a teenager he was sold as a slave by his own brothers.  With God’s help, through an amazing chain of events, he became the Prime Minister of Egypt.  But at the point of his death, he spoke about the exodus of the Israelites from Egypt and gave instructions about his bones.  God had revealed to him what would happen in the coming years.  The 12 sons of Jacob and their families, 70 or so people, would stay in Egypt.  Eventually they would become slaves and suffer greatly under a new Pharaoh.  At the same time, they would multiply rapidly and become more than 1 million people, a nation.  Joseph made his brothers swear to him that their descendants would carry his bones out of Egypt and bury them in the Promised Land.  Whenever people remembered these instructions, it planted hope for the exodus to come.  In that way, Joseph’s bones kept the hope of God alive.  When God eventually delivered the Israelites out of Egypt they carried out Joseph’s bones as promised.  Spiritual fathers are visionaries who can see the bigger picture and can take practical steps to prepare for it.  They keep the hope of God alive for future generations.

Personally, I am only beginning to take on the image of a spiritual father.  This is possible because of God’s grace, deep Bible study, the influence of my father, and other spiritual fathers who have cared for me over the years.  Still, the challenge I face is how to bless others and pass on my faith to my children and to my Bible students.  I want my faith to make a difference in future generations.  For this, I need greater understanding of my role in God’s work.  I need deeper faith in God, God’s word, and God’s vision for my life.  I need continuous growth, training, and rich life experiences.  Please pray for me to mature as a godly, healthy, and influential spiritual father.

In conclusion, today we learned about the faith of spiritual fathers.  Spiritual fathers have faith that is tested, faith that reasons through life’s challenges.  Spiritual fathers have faith that is received and passed on to others.  Spiritual fathers have rich life experiences that put them in the position to bless others, and they worship God with all their strength.  Spiritual fathers are God’s visionaries who can see the bigger picture, prepare for it, and keep God’s hope alive.  God may help us to pass on our faith to others and to raise many spiritual fathers of faith among us.

January 17, 2010; M. Peter Park and S. Greg Lewis; Toledo, UBF

Scripture taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION ®. NIV®;. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society.
Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved.