Today’s Scripture

Psalm 146       Genesis 22:1-19          Mark 7:24-30

 

Genesis 22:1a

            Some time later God tested Abraham.

 

This week in Genesis:

            16:1 – 17:22    Hagar and Ishmael

                                    Isaac promised and named (laughter) Abram laughs

                                    The Covenant of Circumcision

                                    Name change: 

                                    Abram and Sarai now Abraham and Sarah

            18                    Three visitors:  2 angels and The Lord

                                    Isaac promised again, this time Sarah laughs 

                                    Abraham pleads for Sodom where Lot lives

19                                        Sodom and Gomorrah destroyed

                        Lot and family saved except wife

20                                        Abraham and Abimelech – lies about Sarah (again)

                        God’s power revealed and respected

21                                        Birth of Isaac

22                                        Abraham tested (today)

24                    Isaac and Rebeccah

25-26               Jacob & Esau

27                    Jacob gets Isaac’s blessing

 

            Today’s account is one of the most moving moments in the Bible.  Abraham now follows God’s command to sacrifice his only son, Isaac, whom he loved [v.2].  God has told Abraham that his servant Eleazar will not be the one to carry on his name.  Ishmael, Abraham’s son by Hagar (Sarai’s maidservant) is not to carry on his name and the promise.  Now is the miraculous birth of Isaac and there are no other children.  Of all of the things Abraham has been through, none are described as this today, “God tested Abraham.”  It would seem to us that Abraham has been tested enough in his life.  This one stands out beyond all of the rest.

 

            There are some interesting dynamics in this account.  First when God calls Abraham, Abraham answers plainly and simply, “Here I am.”  Abraham knew there is never any hiding from God.  Abraham has experienced God speaking directly to him, visiting him in person, and granting him earthly blessings almost beyond comparison, protecting him in some pretty testy situations, delivering his nephew Lot from destruction in Sodom, and now giving Sarah and him a son of their own in their old age.  Yes, Abraham would answer, “Here I am.”  God has provided above and beyond what one would normally consider.  Abraham trusts God.  Abraham believes God. 

 

            But the instruction to Abraham is to sacrifice his one and only son.  Abraham follows this instruction without challenge (as he did with the situation with Sodom).  Even Isaac notices there is no animal for the sacrifice to which Abraham replies, “God will provide.”  Is it a diversion to Isaac, or is it a statement of faith, or is it a bit of both?  We are perched on the edge of our seats as Abraham is one movement from striking Isaac with the knife when God does provide.  Just in time.

 

            Abraham is tested with this predicament:

A         Trust God and lose your son.

B         Keep your son and lose your faith in your God

 

The test is one you and I face each day in one way, shape or form.  Do I keep something I enjoy and cherish at the expense of true faith in God?  To Abraham, giving up Isaac was tantamount to giving up everything he had.  “How far do I have to go in all of this?” would be a response all of us would likely give.  And we do ask God that very question at different times and in different ways in the trials we encounter in our lives.

 

            We cry out as King David does in Psalm 143.  Throughout the Psalm we cry for God to answer and to answer quickly.  We cry out the agony of suffering the oppressions Satan throws at us in many ways that leave us feel helpless and defenseless and to the point of losing the battle.  We come to David’s last line, “…for I am your servant.” 

 

            Know and be reassured that you are called to be God’s servant just the same as Abraham and David.  Know and be reassured that God does deliver his goodness and promises to you as he did Abraham and David.  Know and be reassured that “…neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord,” [Romans 8:38].

 

            Jesus shows in his healing the daughter of the Syrophoenician woman that God’s love is for all people.  We see Jesus testing her faith not for her behalf, but as a sign to all today that his perfect healing comes by God’s grace alone through faith in his saving work on the cross alone.  This woman too was a child of Abraham.  She trusted God and God provided.

 

            The test.  God did not test Abraham to see him fail.  God tested Abraham to increase his faith in God who would continue to provide.  God tested Abraham to show people of all time what faith is, what trusting God is, what answering God’s call is, what calling on the name of the Lord is, what it means for God to provide is.  All of these are shown us in Abraham.  In Abraham, each then sees himself.  In Abraham, each sees that he/she is a child of Abraham in that God has called you, God wants you to call on his name, God will deliver his promises to you, and God will always provide.  He provides so that you confidently know that instead of your eternal death in hell, he sacrificed his one and only son on Calvary, providing for you and eternal life in heaven.

 

In Jesus’ undying love.           Amen.