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Abraham and Sarah were enjoying
their golden years together when God instructed them to
pack up all their earthly belongings and move to a new
place. Tearfully the couple said goodbye to family and
friends knowing that they would never see them again and
embarked on a new adventure. God promised them a child
in their advanced age. Both Sarah and Abraham had a
good laugh at the notion of having a child later in
life. Couples their age did not start families. What
seemed impossible to them was indeed possible with God.
God had promised Abraham that he
would have as many descendents as there were stars in
the sky. Abraham believed God’s promise even though he
had every reason to doubt. Abraham would wait
twenty-five years until the birth of his son, Isaac. I
cannot help but wonder if during those years Abraham
questioned whether he understood God correctly in the
first place. Twenty-five years is a long time to wait
for the fulfillment of a promise especially when you are
not getting any younger. Many might very well have
given up and moved on to other projects after such a
lengthy delay but not Abraham.
Abraham believed that God would
keep God’s promises. It was a miracle when Isaac was
born. Both Sarah and Abraham loved their son very
much. Perhaps they loved their son a little too much.
Some time had passed. God had one more test for
Abraham. When God called Abraham he responded, “Here I
am,” revealing his readiness to do whatever God asked of
him. Then God instructed him, “Take your son, your only
son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah,
and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the
mountains that I shall show you.” There could hardly
have been more shocking news. The son that they loved
and had waited many years for Abraham was told to offer
as a sacrifice. It was an unreasonable request that
continues to make us feel uncomfortable. Abraham
might have wondered if he heard God correctly. What
kind of a God would make such a demand? The whole notion
is repugnant to us. The only explanation offered is
that God was testing Abraham. Did not God already know
the heart and character of Abraham? Why asked him to do
something so horrendous?
At
other times Abraham enters into dialogue with God but
not here—he remains silent. In fact he goes to sleep.
Who could sleep after receiving such an outrageous
command to offer his only son, the one he loves, as a
sacrifice. The next day Abraham set out with his son
Isaac along with some servants. The journey would take
three days.
I
cannot even imagine what they might have talked about on
that journey. Did they travel in silence? Did Abraham
repeatedly tell Isaac how much he loved him? Could he
even say those words without breaking down? Did Isaac
have any inclination that he was in danger? Abraham
knew what he had to do.
When they arrived Abraham instructed the servants to
remain and went with Isaac to the mountain as he was
instructed. Isaac carried the wood, while his father
took the fire and the knife. “So the two of them walked
on together” it must have been a sad sight father and
son walking off in the distance in silence.
Isaac broke the silence by asking his father, “The fire
and the wood are here, but where is the lamb for a burnt
offering?” Did Isaac begin to sense that something was
wrong? Or was this just logical question? Abraham
replied, “God himself will provide the lamb for a burnt
offering, my son.” Abraham the father of faith believed
in all his heart that God would provide. God would keep
God’s promise!
Once they reached their destination Abraham built an
altar. Abraham did as he was instructed; bound his son,
laid him on top of the altar. Just as he raised the
knife above his head ready to strike, an angel of the
Lord called out, “Do not lay your hand on the boy or do
anything to him; for now I know that you fear God, since
you have not withheld your son, your only son, from
me.” Abraham had passed the test. Isaac would live to
see another day.
Abraham spotted a ram nearby and offered that as a
sacrifice. He called that place “The Lord will provide”
because that is what he believed. He believed in God’s
promise of becoming the father of a great nation even
when he had no children. There on the mountain, the
scene that makes us cringe, Abraham believed that even
if Isaac died God would provide. God would keep God’s
promises.
If
there is anything positive to come from this episode it
was that it served as a wake up call for Isaac. We
picture Isaac as a young boy, perhaps twelve years old;
however some claim that he was older. In Jewish thought
Isaac might have been as old as his mid-thirties. It
was time for him to make a break from his over
protective parents and set out on his own. It was time
for him to move out of his parents’ basement and begin a
life of his own. This was exactly what happened.
Abraham returned home alone, while Isaac finally set out
on his own.
We
believe in God’s promises but there are times when we
must act. Our faith is defined by both our belief and
our action. The practical question is how we live out
our faith on a daily basis. As Abraham’s life revealed
there is risk involved in living out our faith. It is
not always easy, we sometimes face tough choices. We
know from our own experience that anything worthwhile
requires sacrifice on our parts. There is a cost as well
as pain. Instead of living self-centered lives we focus
on the needs of others. Faith also takes commitment on
our parts. Like Abraham we continue to believe even
when life is not going exactly as planned. We continue,
living out our faith though the good times and the not
so good times believing that God will see us through.
The outrageous request to sacrifice Isaac continues to
raise the question of whether or not Abraham heard God
correctly in the first place. Some suggest that maybe
Abraham did not hear correctly and that is why God was
so quick to intervene. Others claim it was to test
Abraham to see if he was obedient. We pray each week,
the Lord’s Prayer asking that we be spared, “lead us not
into temptation” we pray. How might we respond to such
times of testing? Will we respond out of obedience, out
of love or will we respond out of anger? Abraham of
course, responded out of obedience. When we remain
faithful even in the face of terrible circumstances, the
God who provided the ram will provide for you as well.
Many years later, on another hill, our Heavenly Father
sacrificed his only Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. It must
have been hard for God to watch as his Son died a slow,
painful death upon the cross at Calvary. Jesus died
that we might have life. God provided a way for sinful
humanity to restore its severed relationship. Jesus
summarized God’s love for us and all people when he
taught, “For God so loved the world that he gave his
only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not
perish but may have eternal life.” (John 3:16) To
that belief we cling, knowing that God will provide no
matter where we find ourselves, no matter what happens
to us. God keeps God’s promises.
Amen.
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