Nepaug Bible Church - http://www.nepaugchurch.org - Pastor's Evening Sermon Notes - http://www.nepaugchurch.org/ev/ev19991128.htm

GENESIS: THE SOURCES OF GOOD AND CALAMITY IN OUR ORIGINS
Part III - God's Ongoing Program Of Countering Man's Apostasy At Babel
M. Round Twelve - God's Encouraging EXPOSURE Of One's PROGRESS In Living By Faith
(Genesis 22:1-19)
  1. Introduction
    1. God's goodness, being an infinite goodness, equips Him to go beyond giving good things TO His people to transform THEMSELVES from sin-defeated people to mature, exemplary followers of God.
    2. In the first eleven rounds of his life of faith, Abraham learned faith by usually experiencing correction. However, in the end, Abraham was fully committed to trusting the Lord, and God exposed that maturity in a test. It provides a real encouragement for us in facing some of the tests of exposition from the Lord:
  2. God's Encouraging EXPOSURE Of One's PROGRESS In Living By Faith, Genesis 22:1-19:
    1. After God had wonderfully provided the beloved, chosen son, Isaac to the aged couple, Abraham and Sarah, God exposed Abraham to a huge test of faith to expose his level of faith in God, Gen. 22:1-2:
      1. Genesis 22:1 tells us that God put Abraham to the test. This was not a temptation for him to do evil as God tests no man to do evil according to James 1:13-14; rather, it was an exhibition of the level of faith in God to which Abraham's experiences in Canaan had led him, compare James 2:20-22.
      2. The test involved God's charge for Abraham to take the promised son miraculously born to him and Sarah in their old age, and to offer him up as a sacrifice on one of the mountains of Moriah, Gen. 22:2.
      3. This test challenged Abraham's faith in God regarding the provision of Isaac as the promised seed:
        1. God had provided Isaac miraculously from what would be considered "dead" reproductive systems in both Abraham and Sarah, cf. Genesis 17:15-17 with Genesis 21:1-2.
        2. Now God was asking Abraham to kill Isaac as an order to fulfill a command for a sacrifice, 22:2.
        3. If Abraham considered how God had already supplied Isaac from the "dead" re: his birth, he would believe God could now raise Isaac from the dead again to fulfill His promise in Isaac, cf. Gen. 17:21
        4. On the contrary, had Abraham doubted God's ability to raise Isaac from the dead, he in no way would have slain him as a sacrifice, showing his faith to be imperfect!
    2. As it turned out, Abraham passed this test of faith with flying colors, Gen. 22:3-14:
      1. As soon as God gave the command for the sacrifice, Abraham proceeded to heed it, rising early in the morning and taking Isaac and the materials needed for the sacrifice to the place of offering, Gen. 22:3.
      2. When Isaac asked Abraham about what animal they would use for the sacrifice, Abraham stated God would provide the sacrifice Himself: Abraham thus believed God would have to do something for Isaac to end up eventually living, Genesis 22:4-8 in light of Hebrews 11:17-19.
      3. When Abraham tied Isaac up and laid him on the altar, and had lifted the knife to plunge it into his son, God restrained Abraham from harming Isaac, Genesis 22:9-12. God stated that He saw in Abraham a respect for God that produced this faith through Abraham's willingness to slay Isaac, Genesis 22:12.
      4. True to Abraham's faith, God supplied a substitute ram for Isaac, Genesis 22:13. This event must have taken place on EITHER Mount Calvary, one of the mountains of Moriah where Christ, prefigured in the ram, took Isaac's place as his substitutionary atonement, or on what later became the TEMPLE site where the sacrifices of Israel were performed (cf. 2 Chronicles 3:1)!
      5. Thus, the saying was begun that "In the mount of the Lord (Moriah), it shall be seen," or the Lord would see to it that man's needs for atonement would be met, Gen. 22:14. This is a marvelous saying!
    3. For Abraham's passing this test, God expanded His Covenant (Gen. 22:15-17), promising Abraham's seed would rule over its enemies (by conquering Canaan). This promise would mean much to Abraham who had recently struggled to gain ownership of his Beersheba well from the Philistines in Genesis 21:22-34!
Lesson: God's test of Abraham regarding the offering up of Isaac EXPOSED to MAN'S view the MATURITY that Abraham had REACHED in his walk with God. This test ENCOURAGED him!

Application: SOME tests God allows are NOT aimed to correct or teach us, but only to ENCOURAGE us as they REVEAL how much God as achieved IN us. If we face a test with no correction or lesson in it, and we pass it, take it as God's encouragement on how far He has matured us!