Abraham's Sacrifice

Genesis 22: 1-18 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. And God 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.

                                                                                                                    Now I want to clarify the word tempt, doesn’t mean what we normally think of when we hear the word tempt.  We know in the book of James 1:13 is says, ‘let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man.

So the word, ‘tempt’ in this instance literally means to test and to try.  God was testing Abraham to see if he would be faithful and obedient to His word.  And in this passage we will find out that God asked Abraham to do a very hard thing.

I think some of the trials that we go through today, come to test and to try our faith and our obedience to Gods Word.

1^st Peter 1:7 says, ‘That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ.  

Gold when it is made pure is put into a crucible, or a vessel that can withstand extremely hot temperatures, and a blast of fire is put under it. As the pot heats up, the gold first turns to a blood red, and then it changes color again and again as it gets hotter and hotter.  Under such extreme heat, all the impurities in the metal surface and rise to the top.  The Gold smith takes an instrument and draws off all the dross until there is nothing left but pure, yellow gold, so shiny that you can see your reflection in it.

So when we are tried and tested in the fire today, the Master is bringing the dross to the surface and taking it away---taking away all that hinders his image from being seen in us.

Now the land, ‘Moriah’ is very important here and is only mentioned in the Bible two times.  Here in Genesis, and in the 2^nd Book of Chronicles the 3^rd chapter.  It says Solomon began to build the house of the Lord at Jerusalem in mount Moriah.  So from this verse, we can see that the land of Moriah is the mountains of Jerusalem, and in the New Testament we read about some of those mountains. Mount Zion, Mount Olives, and Mount Calvary which is the Highest Mountain in Jerusalem.

Now Abraham and Sarah had waited twenty-five long years to have the son which God promised him, and now God is telling him to go and slay his son as a sacrifice! Abraham rose up early in the morning, and saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son, and cut the wood for the burnt offering, and went to the place where God has told him about.

Then on the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes, and saw the place afar off. And Abraham said unto his young men, abide here with the donkey; and I and the lad will go yonder and worship, and come again to you.  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. And Isaac said unto Abraham his father, behold the fire and the wood:  but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?

And Abraham said, my son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering:  so they went both of them together.  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 Abraham stretched forth his hand, and took the knife to slay his son. 

And the angel of the Lord called unto him out of heaven, and said, Abraham, Abraham, ‘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. And Abraham lifted up his eyes, and looked, and behind him was a ram caught in a thicket by his horns:  and Abraham went and took the ram, and offered him up for a burnt offering, instead of his son.

We can see that God choose the land, ‘Moriah’, He chose the very mountain where the sacrifice would die at, and He provided for Himself the sacrifice for the burnt offering.  And the angel of the lord called unto Abraham out of heaven the second time.  And said, By myself have I sworn, saith the Lord, for because thou hast done this thing, and hast not withheld thy son, thine only son:  That in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore: and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies:  And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed: because thou hast obeyed my voice. 

Abraham was faithful and obedient, and had been willing to give up his son to God, just as God Himself would later give up His only begotten Son, to a sacrifice that was allowed to happen. 

A very interesting point is that the place where Abraham was sent to sacrifice Isaac, Mount Moriah, is today known as the Temple Mount in Jerusalem—Isaac would have been sacrificed very near to the place that Jesus Christ was crucified. Often times we find similarities between the Old Testament book of law, and the New Testament.  And in this story alone there are quite a few things that look ahead and point to Christ.

Abraham’s love for his only son foreshadows Gods Love for His Only conceived Son.  Isaac journeyed 3 ½ days to the place of the sacrifice, parallels to the 3 ½ years Christ ministered before his death.  The wood laid on Isaac who carried it to the site of the sacrifice, parallels to the wooden cross laid on Christ back who carried it to the site of the sacrifice, all on the same mountain in Jerusalem.  And at last we are liken to Abraham’s son in the sense that we have all sinned and deserve God’s judgment, but God in His great mercy has made a way of escape for us, as He did for Isaac, through God’s own provided Sacrifice.

Approximately two thousand years after Abraham prophesied that God himself would provide a Sacrifice, God fulfilled Abraham’s prophecy.  We know today that He was born of a virgin woman who belonged to the family line of Abraham and Isaac.  The Redeemer who was to die in the place of sinners had no earthly father.  He came from heaven, so He did not inherit Adam's sinful nature.  He had no sin; He had no blemish. That is why He was worthy to die as the Perfect Sacrifice.

So who are the true Children of Abraham, and heirs of the promise?

It is important to notice that the promise was made to "Abraham and his seed” and that seed is Christ. The promises go from a natural line of people in the Old Covenant, to a spiritual line of people in the New Covenant. Jesus is the seed of Abraham, and it is those that are in Christ that are the children of Abraham.

Galatians 3:27-29 says, ‘for as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus. And if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise.

Christ is the last in the lineage of Abraham, but it is in Christ that the genealogy continues.  The very seed that gave life to Jesus from Mary’s womb is the same seed that has given us life.  We are not born of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible seed.  We are born again, born from above, born of the Spirit of God. And now we are the sons of God, born through the lineage of Jesus Christ, and heirs according to His promises.

Is it by coincidence that on the night the Lamb of God was born, and God just had to tell somebody the Good News, that He announced it to shepherds who were keeping watch over their flocks?  Is it by coincidence that there was no room in the Inn on that night in Bethlehem, and the Lamb of God was born in a stable, and laid in a manger?  I don’t know about you, but I don’t think so.  I believe it was all in the Masters Plan.

     Rev. James A. Lewis, Word of Life Ministry

                          Hand in Hand Publications January 2009

It is our joy to welcome back to Hand in Hand Publications this month as our Guest Writer, our dear friends from the mountains of Tennessee, Ken and Karen Brooks and their family.     

Karen writes....God has blessed us with two healthy boys, Joshua and Caleb. We reside in the Hills of Tennessee and try to allow God to work in our lives wherever and in which ever way He chooses.

Our calling is Missions and we have been given an internet devotional ministry which we call Daily Bread 4today.  We are also blessed to be a part of a wonderful ministry through Samaritans Purse working as Prayer Coordinator for the Operation Christmas Child project here in East Tennessee. 

We have a website called, Love Notes from Heaven that is accessible 24 hours a day and was also a gift from God and a friend who set that up for us. We love God and we have been saved since we were 12 years of age. The best thing that ever happened to me and the best friend I could have ever found is Jesus, our Lord and Savior. May God bless you today and always! Karen Brooks.

This months Karen's messages entitled, 'Hope in Troubled Times', speaks a very timely message for many people, not only here in the USA, but all over the world. 

Here is an excerpt from Karen's message.....In our Nation and across the world today people are facing troubled times. Many things are changing in people's lives. For some it may be their health, for others it may be a job loss or career change. Granted these are troubled times and hard times but let me remind you Christian brothers and sisters, these are not impossible times, for with God ALL THINGS ARE POSSIBLE!

These are not hopeless times because we have promises in God's living word that cannot and will not fail us. We also have a comforter and guide in the Holy Spirit so therefore, we are not helpless!

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