GENESIS CHAPTER 22: GOD'S CHALLENGE TO ABRAHAM'S FAITH

Introduction: Abraham's Faith in God is Revealed in this Trial that the Lord agave him.

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 here for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of".  

In this paragraph God tempts Abraham. Why would he do this? God tempted Abraham to see the depth of his faith. Abraham already knew God was an Almighty God. That is to say that the God he worshiped could  do anything that he put his mind to...eke giving Sarah and Abraham a son at the ages of ninety (90) and ninety-nine (99). God gave Isaac to Abraham to raise, therefore Abraham trusted God that He would hold true his promise to make Abraham's seed many nations. But at the same time Isaac was his only son born from Sarah and he musts have loved him so dearly. Nevertheless as we will see Abraham obeys God command and experiences God grace. 


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 into 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 lad 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 Jehovahjirah: as it is said to this day ,' In the mount of the Lord it shall be seen.'

As we see here God's plan came to the end of which he had hoped; Abraham would chose to obey His will. Abraham knew that God would supply all his needs. At this time he needed a lamb to offer as a sacrifice to the Almighty God. In Abraham's heart he knew the power of God. In this instance God taught Abraham his mercy and grace. And that what God wanted was not Isaac to be sacrificed but to see the depth of Abraham's faith through obedience as to what God commanded him to do. What a true blessing of happiness Abraham must have felt to be so worthy of God's attention to provide the ram for the offering for the sacrifice.  And what and life lesson that was passed on to Isaac to see and experience the true God's mercy and grace. Learning of the faithfulness and loving care that the true living God has for his peoples. 

15. And the angel of the Lord called Abraham out of heaven the second time, 16. And said, "By myself have I sworn, saith the Lord, for because thou hast done this thing, and has not withheld they son, thine only son: 17. That in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heavens, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies; 18. And in they seed shall all the nations of the earth e blessed; because thou has obeyed my voice". 19. So Abraham returned unto his young men, and they rose up and went together to Beer-Sheba.
  
20. And it came to pass after these things, that it was told Abraham, saying "Behold, Milcah, she hath also born children unto thy brother Nahor; 21. Huz his firstborn, and Buz his brother and Kemuel the father of Aram, 22. And Chesed, and Hazo, and Pildash, and Jidlaph, and Bethuel. 23. And Bethuel begat Rebekah: these eight Milcah did bear to Nahor, Abraham's brother. 24. And his concubine, whose name was Reumah, she bare also Tebah, and Gaham, and Thahash, and Maachah.

 These are the beginning generations of Abraham and his brother Nahor. 

The Road to Salvation (KJV)

Romans 3: 23, 24 “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; Being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.”

Romans 5:8 “But God commended His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”

John 3:15 “For God so loved the world That He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”

1 John 4:9”In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world that we might live through Him.”

John 6: 47, 48 “Verily, verily, I say unto you He that believeth on me hath everlasting life.  I am that bread of life.”

Romans 10:9 – 14 “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. 10 For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. 11 For the scripture saith, whosoever believeth on Him shall not be ashamed. 12 For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek; for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him. 13 For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. 14. How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed: and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard: and how shall they hear without a preacher?”

II Corinthians 5:17 “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.”

If you are not saved, I pray you will accept Christ as your Savior to day. We are not promised another minute on this earth. We are but on a journey, passing though this world to the next, and you have a choice of where you will spend eternity. I pray you choose to spend it in Heaven with the Father, and the Son and the Holy Spirit and all those who believe that Jesus is the Son of God and paid our sin debt for us.

Seek out a Bible preaching church in your area, one where God word is preached and  is the center of their service, study and devotion.