Tuesday: Abraham
While Abraham (first called Abram) is known for his faithfulness, his life experiences are more about God’s faithfulness to him.
Twice God has assured Abraham that he would have a son. He first told him when Abraham was about 75 years old (Gen. 12:2 & Gen. 12:4) , then about ten years later (Gen. 13:16) God told him again.
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Eventually, even after much stumbling on Abraham’s part, the child of promise-the child of the covenant-was born, and God’s faithfulness to His sometimes-wavering servant was revealed (see Gen. 17:19; Gen. 17:21; Gen. 21:3-5) .
Read Genesis 22:1-19. What hope is revealed here in regard to the whole great controversy?
“It was to impress Abraham’s mind with the reality of the gospel, as well as to test his faith, that God commanded him to slay his son. The agony which he endured during the dark days of that fearful trial was permitted that he might understand from his own experience something of the greatness of the sacrifice made by the infinite God for man’s redemption. No other test could have caused Abraham such torture of soul as did the offering of his son. God gave His Son to a death of agony and shame. The angels who witnessed the humiliation and soul anguish of the Son of God were not permitted to interpose, as in the case of Isaac. There was no voice to cry, ‘It is enough.’ To save the fallen race, the King of glory yielded up His life. What stronger proof can be given of the infinite compassion and love of God? ‘He that spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?’” Romans 8:32.
“The sacrifice required of Abraham was not alone for his own good, nor solely for the benefit of succeeding generations; but it was also for the instruction of the sinless intelligences of heaven and of other worlds. The field of the controversy between Christ and Satan-the field on which the plan of redemption is wrought out-is the lesson book of the universe. Because Abraham had shown a lack of faith in God’s promises, Satan had accused him before the angels and before God of having failed to comply with the conditions of the covenant, and as unworthy of its blessings. God desired to prove the loyalty of His servant before all heaven, to demonstrate that nothing less than perfect obedience can be accepted, and to open more fully before them the plan of salvation.”-Ellen G. White, Patriarchs and Prophets, pp. 154, 155.
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What would it take to make the heart of man understand whole heartedly the depth of God's love manifested in Jesus?
Seemingly, Adam and Eve had an easy test in comparison to Abraham. Our first parents failed and incurred suffering to humanity. By contrast, Abraham's obedience earned blessings to all nations.
Today we can add much joy and happiness to our household if we obey simple rules, or we can do the opposite and plagued our family with misery.
Abraham did not immediately understand the significance of the events on Mount Moriah, the future site of the temple of the Lord (Genesis 22:1-19). Most if not all of us may still not grasp fully what happened then.
Abraham could not share God’s instruction with his wife, Sarah, with whom he shared custody of their son, and with whom he was one (Genesis 2:24; 22:1-3), lest she tries to discourage him. His connection to Jehovah was stronger than the closest human bond. He only needed to be sure it was God who spoke, and that his Lord was serious.
The three days which would pass between the instruction and the moment of sacrifice would be enough time for Jehovah to intervene if Abraham was mistaken. Still if mistaken the old patriarch was trusting God to fix things.
When Abraham told his young men, “I and the lad will go yonder and worship, and come again to you” he meant Isaac would return alive (Genesis 22:5) for he expected a resurrection (Hebrews 11:17-19). The open question was would Isaac willingly yield? Given Abraham’s age and Isaac’s youthfulness and strength it would only happen with his son’s consent and submission.
The act of Isaac’s willing surrender was an act of faith not given much attention. Yet it would have a lasting effect on Abraham and angels. It would help prepare both mankind and angels for something they still do not fully grasp, the Son of God willingly surrendering His life for fallen man. Like Abraham the Father looked forward to the resurrection.
Jesus would come forth from the grave and He will come again in the clouds with great power and glory (Mark 16:9; 13:26).
Abraham represents righteous by faith. As can be seen by the fact that Isaac was not born until many years after it was humanly impossible to have a child. So Isaac represents righteous by faith, and Ishmael represents righteousness by works. Our Saviour was born through Isaac linage. And you know what came through Ishmael linage. Jacob represents righteous by works. After Jacob wrestled all night with the Lord, the Lord pointed out how worthless righteousness by works is. Jacob understood and that is why Our Lord changed his name to Israel. And you know the rest of the story.
Thank God for the sacrifice of His only son! Where would I be had it not been for the goodness and love of God!
One aspect that is often overlooked in this story is that God had to warn His people NOT to offer up their sons to strange gods. "'Do not give any of your children to be sacrificed to Molek, for you must not profane the name of your God. I am the LORD." (Leviticus 18:21)
This tells me that child sacrifice was quite common among the heathen, so the real test to Abraham was not just the emotions of killing his son BUT how could God's promise be fulfilled if his son died. The real conflict I think was over the nullifying of God's promise than just losing a son.
My thanks to all contributors to this forum. It shows how much God has blessed us so much that we can read His Word and be able interplate it. It helps me to increase spiritually and in all aspects of my life. Thanks members. That being said, there're many lessons we can learn from the life of Abraham which many of us have stated and I am hoping to see more. But there's this one thing that stroke me as I read through Genesis 22:1-19. That Abraham knew that he was going to sacrifice his only son that he loved so much. He asked his son to accompany him going for a sacrifice at mount Moriah. He never mentioned to his son that God had asked him to give him as a sacrifice and even after his son asked about it he said "God will provide". A very good answer. Question: does this mean that parents can decide not to tell children the truth sometimes when things are too hard to explain? But what about the question from son Isaac,"We have all we need but one thing, the lamb" What this tells me is that Isaac had learnt earlier enough to know about sacrifices and how they are carried out. How often to we take time and teach our children about God, reading the bible for example, attending church and many spiritual related things? It's a clear indication that Abraham was a good parent and we can copy his parenting skills in raising our families. God bless.
The Lord spared not his son for our sins. When we are tried and tested to see if we will obey the Lord the outcome must be that God is our focus and that Satan will lie, cheat and steal what is Christ's. We must always be aware of the trick of Satan and know that it is as it was in the days of old, nothing that Satan does has changed except the faces of those he uses to do his bidding.
The more I think of Abraham's willingness to obey God, the more I understand how much he loved the Lord. His act of faith in God is awesome. I'm certain that he didn't want to sacrifice his son, Isaac but what he wanted most was to obey God. He might have felt that God would bring his son back to life so that the promise God had made in Gen 21:12 would be accomplished. This story is pregnant with significant meaning. First, it clearly prefigured God's greatest gift to humanity. Second, Abraham's affirmation that "God Himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering" this was a reference to the promise of the Lamb of God. His willingness to sacrifice his only so, Isaac, foreshadowed God the Father's willingness to sacrifice His Son only begotten Son, Jesus Christ. Isaac's submission foreshadowed Christ's willingness to lay down His life in order to accomplish God's will. Both Jesus and Isaac carried the wood for their own sacrifice up a mountain. Oh wondrous love that will not let me go!!!
We look for and find parallels and metaphors that say something that we think they should. I try to take things at face value. The text in Genesis 22:12 seems to me to be the main reason for testing Abraham. God said "now I know that you fear God". Abrahams faith is what was being severely tested. Abrams faith was first recorded in Genesis 12:1-5. Hebrews 11:8-12 confirms this kind of faith. A model to emulate.