(Part
2)
“Some
time later God tested Abraham. He said to him, “Abraham!” “Here I am,” he
replied. Then God said, “Take your son, your only son, Isaac, whom you love,
and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on one of
the mountains I will tell you about.”
Genesis
22:1-2
Tests
are designed to do four primary things. They are designed to gauge our
proficiency or reliability, reveal our understanding of truth, evaluate
quality/genuineness, and communicate our readiness to move the next level of
learning or promotion.
These
four realities were evidenced in God’s testing of Abraham in Genesis 22.
“Early the next morning Abraham got up
and saddled his donkey. He took with him two of his servants and his son Isaac.
When he had cut enough wood for the burnt offering, he set out for the place
God had told him about.”
Genesis
22:3
In
this passage we read how Abraham’s proficiency or reliability to respond in
obedience to God’s word is revealed. Abraham wasn’t simply a hearer of God’s
word, but a doer of God’s word. His response was not a sudden or sporadic reaction,
but a pattern of obedience.
This
pattern was developed over the course of his life beginning as far back as when
he and his family lived in Ur of the Chaldees. While in Ur, Abraham responded to God’s call to leave his
homeland and go in faith to a place God would later reveal to him; and although
Abraham had his fair share of failures, he persevered to develop a genuine
pattern of obedience.
Abraham’s
testing also revealed his understanding of God, His nature, and promises:
“On the third day Abraham looked up and saw
the place in the distance. He said to the servants, “Stay here with the donkey
while I and the boy go over there. We will worship and then we will come back
to you.”
Genesis
22:4-5
Although
Abraham knew perfectly well that God had demanded he sacrifice Isaac as a burnt
offering, he remembered that God had also promised that he would bless him
through Isaac with many offspring. So Abraham reasoned that even if God
demanded Isaac’s life, He could also raise him from the dead:
“By faith Abraham, when God tested him,
offered Isaac as a sacrifice. He who had received the promises was about to
sacrifice his one and only son, even though God had said to him, “It was
through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned. Abraham reasoned that God
could raise the dead, and figuratively speaking, he did receive Isaac back from
death.”
Hebrews
11:17-19
Although
Abraham proved proficient in obeying God’s word and demonstrated a firm
understanding of God’s nature and precious promises; the genuineness of his
convictions was about to be revealed.
Pastor
Scott Burr
http://faithandworshipseries.blogspot.com/
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