This week, I would like for us to continue to look at a
section of the very first letter that is recorded for us in the Bible, called
the book of Genesis. And as we jump back into the book of Genesis, we are going
to see the Lord engage Abraham in a conversation that is perhaps one of the most
disturbing conversations in the entire Bible. And it is in this conversation,
and Abraham’s response to the conversation, that, we will discover another
timeless truth regarding God and God’s promises. So let’s discover this truth
together, in Genesis 22:1:
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."
You see, I told you it was a disturbing conversation,
didn’t I? Moses gives us a glimpse into this conversation by explaining that
some time after the events that we looked at last week occurred, that God
tested Abraham. Now, while we do not know exactly how much time elapsed between
what we looked at least week and this conversation, most scholars believe that
this conversation occurred between 20-35 years after the events that we looked
at last week.
However, while we cannot be exact as to when these events
occurred, Moses makes absolutely certain that we know how God tested Abraham.
God commanded Abraham "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."
Now if this conversation between God and Abraham was
occurring today, this command would have sounded something like this: “Abraham
would you please take your son, your only son, you know that son that I gave
you in your old age and would you kill
him and offer him on an altar as an act of worship to me”.
Now, I don’t know about you, but this conversation
provokes several questions doesn’t it? I mean what is going on here? The first
question that naturally comes to mind here is “well why is God testing Abraham
anyways?” The word test here literally means to test to prove and provide
evidence that demonstrates the truth of what someone or something is really
like. So, God is providing a test to Abraham to see if there was any evidence
to prove that Abraham was in possession of something.
On the one hand that makes total sense doesn’t it? I
mean, that is why we take tests, isn’t it? It isn’t enough to say that we know
how to drive a car; we have to take a driving test to prove that we know how to
drive a car. It is not enough to say that I know what I have studied; we have
to take a test to prove that we know what we have studied. It is not enough to
say we are patient. It is only when we have our patience tested that we prove,
or demonstrate whether or not we are actually patient. But what does Abraham need to prove and
provide evidence about? What does he need to demonstrate that he possesses that
requires God to test him? And doesn’t God already know the answer?
A second question that comes to mind here is “why would
God command Abraham to kill and offer his son Isaac as an act of worship? I
mean that command seems extreme.” By commanding Abraham with the words please
take, we see the Lord acknowledging to Abraham that he is fully aware of the
gravity of what He is commanding him to do. With this phrase God is
acknowledging to Abraham that He fully recognizes the great cost of what He is
commanding him to do. God knows how much Abraham cares for Isaac and how much
this will cost Abraham.
Now this leads to a third question, which is “why would
Abraham even consider following this command? Doesn’t God know that Abraham
would recognize that this contradicts God’s character?” The reason that Abraham
would not object to God’s command as being strange can be explained by
understanding two aspects of the context that this conversation takes place in.
First, at this point in God’s story, the Ten Commandments had not been given.
And God had not given any instructions regarding the worship of Him, as we will
see later in the Bible.
Second, the cultures that surrounded Abraham and his
family frequently killed their children and offered them up as an act of
worship. While we look at this as morally reprehensible today in light of what
God has revealed to us through His word and character, Abraham had not been
exposed to that yet.
You see, the test for Abraham was not the unusual and
potentially morally objectionable nature of the command. The test was for
Abraham that God was asking Abraham to kill and sacrifice as an act of worship
to God the one person who could fulfill God’s promise that had been made to
him. God commands Abraham to give up to death what was closest to himself, which
would put to death God’s promises to Abraham.
I mean, how would God’s promises to Abraham be fulfilled,
if his son, who was the one through whom the promise was to be fulfilled, was
killed. Now this morning, imagine yourself as Abraham. Place yourself in his
shoes. What would you be thinking? How would you be feeling? How would you
respond? You see, Abraham does not know that this is a test. All Abraham knows
is that God has just commanded him to kill and offer up his only son as an act
of worship. Do you think Abraham had questions?
Tomorrow, as Moses continues to record this story, we will
see more questions arise as Moses shifts to focus on Abraham’s response to
God’s command…
No comments:
Post a Comment