Text:
Genesis 22:1-14:
1 And it came to pass after these things, that God did tempt Abraham, and said unto him, Abraham: and he said, Behold, here I am.
2 And he said, Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of.
3 And Abraham rose up early in the morning, and saddled his ass, and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son, and clave the wood for the burnt offering, and rose up, and went unto the place of which God had told him.
4 Then on the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes, and saw the place afar off.
5 And Abraham said unto his young men, Abide ye here with the ass; and I and the lad will go yonder and worship, and come again to you.
6 And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering, and laid it upon Isaac his son; and he took the fire in his hand, and a knife; and they went both of them together.
7 And Isaac spake unto Abraham his father, and said, My father: and he said, Here am I, my son. And he said, Behold the fire and the wood: but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?
8 And Abraham said, My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering: so they went both of them together.
9 And they came to the place which God had told him of; and Abraham built an altar there, and laid the wood in order, and bound Isaac his son, and laid him on the altar upon the wood.
10 And Abraham stretched forth his hand, and took the knife to slay his son.
11 And the angel of the LORD called unto him out of heaven, and said, Abraham, Abraham: and he said, Here am I.
12 And he said, Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou any thing unto him: for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son from me.
13 And Abraham lifted up his eyes, and looked, and behold behind him a ram caught in a thicket by his horns: and Abraham went and took the ram, and offered him up for a burnt offering in the stead of his son.
14 And Abraham called the name of that place Jehovahjireh: as it is said to this day, In the mount of the LORD it shall be seen.
Theme:
The Sacrifice of A Son
Introduction:
- The Book Of Genesis is the first book of the Bible, the first book of the Old Testament, the first book of the Biblical books of History, the first book of the Pentateuch, and the first book of the Torah.
- Genesis literally means “in the beginning”
- Genesis spans the lives and accomplishments of its five main characters
- Adam, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, & Jacob
- Genesis outlines the beginnings of God’s plan for:
- The universe
- His chosen people
- Our lives
- This story within the 22nd chapter finds Abraham in a peculiar predicament with his son, Isaac.
- Abraham is the one that God established as the patriarch of the Hebrew Nation
- Genesis 15:1, “After these things the word of the LORD came unto Abram in a vision, saying, Fear not, Abram: I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward.”
- Genesis 15:6, “And he believed in the LORD; and he counted it to him for righteousness.”
- Isaac is the “miracle child” that was conceived by Abraham and his wife, Sarah, at an old age.
- Abraham laughed à Genesis 17:17, “Then Abraham fell upon his face, and laughed, and said in his heart, Shall a child be born unto him that is an hundred years old? and shall Sarah, that is ninety years old, bear?”
- Sarah laughed à Genesis 18:12, “Therefore Sarah laughed within herself, saying, After I am waxed old shall I have pleasure, my lord being old also?”
- Genesis 18:14, “Is any thing too hard for the LORD?….”
- Now Abraham has to face SACRIFICING his own son to God on an altar.
- Genesis 22:2, “And he said, Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of.”
- “Take NOW thy son”
- Abraham had to do it himself
- No time to think, figure or avoid
- “Thine ONLY son Isaac”
- Isaac was Abraham’s only son
- God did not promise a replacement
- “Whom thou LOVEST”
- Abraham had to sacrifice one whom he loved
- This was Abraham’s predicament!
- “Take NOW thy son”
- Genesis 22:2, “And he said, Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of.”
- Abraham is the one that God established as the patriarch of the Hebrew Nation
Body:
- What did it take for Abraham to do God’s Will in this predicament??
- Abraham had to be OBEDIENT
- 1Peter 1:2, “Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ….”
- Abraham had to be STRONG
- In spite of the opinions of others
- In spite of the stress and pain this will put in your life right now
- In spite of the sight of his only son being sacrificed.
- Abraham had to be strong!!!!
- Abraham had to LEAN ON GOD’S UNDERSTANDING
- Even though Abraham did not understand, HE STILL DID WHAT GOD SAID!
- Even though Abraham did not understand, HE STILL REPRESENTED GOD IN ANSWERING ISAAC’S QUESTION à “The Lord Will Provide!”
- Even though Abraham did not understand, HE KNEW THAT GOD KNEW!!
- Proverbs 3:5, “Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.”
- Abraham had to KILL HIS SON
- Over and over again Abraham had to mentally and emotionally kill Isaac as they approached the moment of the knife taking Isaac’s life!
- Before Abraham had drawn the knife over his head, he had already felt the pain of killing and then losing his only son!
- Abraham had to be OBEDIENT
Conclusion:
- Abraham’s obedience ensured God getting the glory in what took place!
- Genesis 22:9, “And they came to the place which God had told him of; and Abraham built an altar there, and laid the wood in order, and bound Isaac his son, and laid him on the altar upon the wood.”
- “And they came to the place which God had told him of”
- Abraham made it to his appointed destination.
- “Abraham built an altar there”
- Abraham WORKED! Abraham built a building for God!!
- “laid the wood in order”
- Abraham did things decently and in order. Abraham made sure that he did what he was told by truly making it an official, certified altar for the purpose of glorifying God.
- “bound Isaac his son”
- Isaac had to watch all of this preparation. Isaac was obedient and submissive to his father’s will.
- Why can’t we be as that child!!
- Isaac is representative of Jesus as He was submissive to God’s Will in His dying for our sins.
- “laid him on the altar upon the wood”
- In doing God’s will we have to lay it ALL on the altar
- All of the pain — All of the problems — All of the sins — All of the troubles
- ALSO….
- All of the joys — All of the strengths — All of the blessings — All of the gifts
- GOD HAS TO GET IT ALL!!!!!!!!!!
- All of the joys — All of the strengths — All of the blessings — All of the gifts
- In doing God’s will we have to lay it ALL on the altar
- Isaac had to watch all of this preparation. Isaac was obedient and submissive to his father’s will.
- “And they came to the place which God had told him of”
- Genesis 22:9, “And they came to the place which God had told him of; and Abraham built an altar there, and laid the wood in order, and bound Isaac his son, and laid him on the altar upon the wood.”
- We must give God the glory…
- In our joy — In our pain — In the sunshine — In the rain — In our homes — On our jobs — In our families
- In the angry mobs
- GIVE GOD THE GLORY!!
- God saved Isaac and then provided the “ram in the bush” for Abraham to use to complete the sacrifice!
- Genesis 22:13, “And Abraham lifted up his eyes, and looked, and behold behind him a ram caught in a thicket by his horns: and Abraham went and took the ram, and offered him up for a burnt offering in the stead of his son.”
- Genesis 22:14, “And Abraham called the name of that place Jehovahjireh: as it is said to this day, In the mount of the LORD it shall be seen.”
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