Today’s Scripture for our yearlong series, Blogging Through The Bible in 2020, comes from Genesis 22. Genesis 22:5 says, “And Abraham said his young men, ‘stay here with the donkey; the lad and I will go yonder and worship, and we will come back to you.”
The story of Abraham and Isaac going up the mountain is a pretty familiar story to many people, including many who are not regular church-goers. For those who are not believers, this is a very strange story, because it doesn’t make sense why God would ask Abraham to sacrifice his son in the first place. Having the benefit of being able to read the rest of the story, we know how it ends. However, as a father, I try to put myself in Abraham’s shoes. The four children that God has given me are absolutely blessings from God. I love them, and I am willing to sacrifice my life for the safety of their lives. While I like to think, just as most Christians would, that I would be willing to love God so much that I would obey Him no matter what He asked me to; I have to admit, if He asked me to sacrifice one of my children to demonstrate my love and trust for Him, I would struggle and pause. Maybe this shows a lack of faith on my part, and if so, I praise God that He has revealed to me the lack of faith, and I pray that He would help me to grow in my faith so that my faith would not be lacking in anyway.
Then there is the flip side of this story, Isaac’s side. As a son, I have often tried to put myself in his shoes. While we often think of Isaac as a young boy in this text, the details of the story do not support that conclusion. Isaac was old enough to go and participate in sacrifices to God, and he was strong he enough to be able to carry the wood and supplies for the sacrifice. It is within the realm of reason to believe that Isaac was most likely between 10-13 years old at the time of this event. When we think of it this way, it somewhat changes the story for us. Isaac isn’t some small child just wanting to be with his dad, wherever his dad goes. He is what we call a pre-teen or maybe even a teenager. He was smart enough to recognize that they had everything for a sacrifice, except the sacrifice. Then we see him willing obey his father and lay down on the altar. I love my dad, but I think I might have a few questions for him if all of the sudden he is telling me to get on an altar because I am going to be a sacrifice to God as a demonstration of his love and devotion to God. Again, maybe that is revealing a deficiency in my faith. But it is in these two views that we learn some amazing truths about God, and ourselves.
One of the lessons we learn about God is His all-powerfulness. At just the right time, a ram not only got caught in a thicket, but it was close enough that Abraham could respond to God and go offer the ram instead of Isaac. From this we also get a glimpse again of a substitute being provided by God. When Abraham responds to Isaac, “God will provide Himself a lamb”, it truly takes on a double meaning. First, God is going to provide the lamb for the sacrifice. The second one is that God, Himself, is going to provide Himself as the sacrifice. And it is in this second meaning that we clearly see the picture of the cross come into focus. God’s plan from the beginning was to provide a substitute not only for Isaac, but more importantly for the world. That substitute for man was none other than God Himself. What God stopped Abraham from doing to Isaac on Mt. Moriah, God Himself did to His own Son at Calvary. Abraham’s sacrifice would have been for one person, himself. God’s sacrifice of Jesus was for the world.
What we learn about ourselves is ultimately where our faith is. I can’t imagine being Abraham. He is asked to not only sacrifice his son, but the magnitude of the sacrifice. Isaac wasn’t just any boy, he was Abraham’s son, the son of the promise. Do you think Abraham had some questions going through his mind on that three day journey? I know I would. Isaac was the promised son, how could God fulfill His promise to Abraham if Abraham had to kill the promised son? Again, this is pointing us to a greater fulfillment accomplished by Jesus. In Isaac, we see a steadfast love, trust, and devotion to his father. It was no small feat to put himself up on that altar and let himself be bound. In this way, Isaac points us to Jesus, who said that He came to do the will of the One who sent Him (John 6:38). As much faith as it took for Abraham to do what he did, it also took a tremendous amount of faith for Isaac to do what he did. This is the definition of worship. Abraham said in our verse, “the lad and I will go yonder and worship.” It is clear that Abraham believed that was he was going to do was an act of worship. To worship means to ascribe worth to someone or something. It is to declare through your actions that someone is bigger than you, greater than you, and that they are worthy of your love and devotion. As much as Abraham loved Isaac, he loved God more. Can the same be said of us?
True worship comes from deep pain and sacrifice, and it’s not a sacrifice if it doesn’t cost of something. We must be willing to follow God’s lead no matter what. But we can know that the greatest blessings are birthed out of the greatest pains. And that anything we sacrifice on the altar as worship to God pales in comparison to His glory and His surpassing worth. Let us be challenged today to ask God to reveal any deficiencies in our faith, and ask for His help to grow us to the point that we see our lives as a continuous sacrifice to Him.
By His grace and for His glory,
Pastor Justin