The Lord Indeed Sees to Your Salvation :: Genesis 22:1-14

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And it came to pass, after these words, God tested Abraham and said to him, Abraham! And [Abraham] said, Behold me. And [God] said, Take, please, your son, your only [one] whom you love, Isaac, and go to the land of Moriah yourself and cause him to ascend there (as) a burnt offering upon one of the mountains that I will tell you [about] (vv 1-2).

Thus, the word for our meditation begins.

[Introduction]

There are not many words of God that are more shocking ... staggering ... horrendous ... than this one we just heard. Is heinous too strong?

I. What must we think?

What must the world think when you hear God Almighty asking Abraham to sacrifice his son, the only son he loves? Take a knife and slaughter your son, the one you love!? Cut him into two!? Burn the body!? The smoke from the sacrifice that ascends into the heavens, it will be a pleasing aroma to God!? 

What must the world think when you hear that God also said please? Most English translations of this text ... not all of them ... gloss the detail that God said please. But make no mistake, this Hebrew word the ESV doesn’t render in translation is a word of exhortation. Please, I pray, do this, God said. Please, I entreat you, do this. ... Please, I’m asking you earnestly, do this. ... Take, please, your son, your only one you love ... And offer him as a burnt offering. I’ll show you where to go.

What must the world think when you realize that Abraham then says the equivalent of: Yeah, No problem, Lord ... I’m on it! ... Could you do that ... after sleeping on it? Could you vindicate the faith God gave you in this way? 

Moses writes: So Abraham was given an early start in the morning. Then he saddled his donkey, and took two of his young male servants with him, and Isaac, his son. And he cut the tree of burnt offering, and he arose and went to the place that God told him about. And on the third day ... you remember what happens on the third day, right? ... Abraham lifted his eyes, and saw the place from afar. Then Abraham said to his young male servants, Stay here with the donkey. I and the boy will go over there, and we will be brought to worship and return to you. And Abraham took the tree of the whole sacrifice and set it on Isaac, his son. And he took in his hand the fire and the knife. So they went, the two of them, together (vv 3-6).

What must the world think of this promised son, Isaac, actually being a willing participant in the whole ordeal? Isaac isn’t just a little boy here. The Hebrew word indicates he’s probably at least a teenager. Isaac knows what’s going on. He knows what the knife is for. He knows why they are carrying fire with them. He knows what’s involved in burnt offerings, or a lifting up offering (Lev 1). This type of offering, which is also known as whole offerings, normally involves a bull, a ram, a goat or lamb, a pigeon, or turtledove. They are entirely consumed by fire. The smoke ascends to the Lord, hence it’s an offering of lifting up. And Isaac is going quietly.

Then Isaac said: My Father. And [Abraham said to his son], Behold me, my son. And [Isaac] said, Behold, the fire and the tree, but where is the lamb for the burnt offering. And Abraham said, God will see to it, the lamb for the burnt offering, my son. So they went, the two together (vv 7-8). 

And Isaac said OK, let’s do this according to your will. 

When they came to the place that God told them about, Abraham built there the altar, and he arranged [the pieces of the tree], and he bound Isaac, his son, and set him upon the altar of sacrifice upon the tree. Then Abraham stretched out his hand and took the knife to slaughter his son (vv 9-10).

Why, Lord, why? Why would the Loving God ... the Holy God ... the All-Knowing God ... the All-Powerful God ... the Righteous God ... test a man in such a shocking way? And to suggest that the sacrifice of Abraham’s only son, the one he loved, would be pleasing to God? 

Brothers and sisters in Christ, God doesn’t give us the answer directly in our reading, but he does tell us through his Word. 

He says, do this. And because Abraham actually has faith ... that is, because Abraham actually has complete trust in the promises of God, believing the Word that he would be the Father of many nations through this son, the only son he loved ... because Abraham has actual true reverential fear of God, knowing God always provides for those he loves ... because he actually believes in the resurrection of the dead ... Abraham actually obeyed every jot and tittle. 

That’s faith! That is what complete trust in God’s Word actually looks like. 

Abraham knew that God his Father, the maker of heaven and earth, still takes care of us. He knew that God gives and gives and gives and gives and keeps on giving, even when we don’t want it. He knew that God would see to it that The Only Son would provide us with the untold riches of heaven ... literally the forgiveness of sins through shedding of his blood, the blood he gives to us. Abraham knew in faith that God defends us against all danger and guards and protects us from all evil. 

Then it happened ... in verse 12, מַלְאַךְ יְהוָה ... the Angel of YHWH ... the Second-Person of the Trinity ... called to [Abraham] from the heavens and said, Now I know that You have the Fear of God, and you would not withhold your son, the only one, from me. And Abraham lifted his eyes and could see. Behold, a ram [was] behind [him] caught in a thicket by his horns. And Abraham went and took the ram, and lifted it as a burnt offering in the place of his son. So Abraham called the name of that place: YHWH will see that it is said of the day on the mountain, YHWH sees (vv 12-14). 

YES, INDEED, THE LORD INDEED SEES TO YOUR SALVATION

II. [The Word has the answer]

Some 40 years before this event happened, God had delivered to Abraham the first promise that he would make him the Father of many nations ... not just the Israelites. And Abraham believed that promise, and he was imputed with righteousness ... that is, he was given faith ... not just any faith ... but The Faith, because there is only one faith ... God-given faith ... the faith that saves (Gen 15:5-6). 

By the time God fulfilled the first part of the promise of giving Abraham the Son of Promise ... Abraham was 100 years old, and his wife, Sarah, the mother of his son, the only one he loved, Isaac ... was 90! Yes, ladies and gentlemen, Sarah was 90 when she gave birth to Isaac ... whose name means laughter because he brought both joy and shame to the people. Ultimately, Isaac gave birth to Jacob, who was renamed Israel, who had 12 sons. Some will believe in the Messiah with joy, and others will disbelieve in shame.

It was through Israel that God chose to send his only begotten Son, the Son He Loved, into the world so that many nations would see their sin die with Jesus on the mountain that God saw. Jesus willingly carried his tree of whole offering up this mountain called Moriah, a word that means seeing. The Father saw to it that the tree Jesus carried was arranged in the shape of a cross. On this mountain, God’s only Son, the One He Loved, was bound ... nailed ... to that cross. There, on that altar of sacrifice made of wood, God ensured that all sin ... your sin, my sin, the world’s sin ... was punished once for all. There, the world saw Jesus lifted up high upon a cross.

As Isaiah will later describe: He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, acquainted with grief, a man of pain and knowing sickness, like one from whom men hide their faces. ... Because who wants to see their sin on the cross? ... Like a ewe before its shearers is silent, he opened not his mouth (Isa 53:3, 7b). Yes, like Isaac before him, Jesus quietly did the dirty work of the Father, laying down his own life for his friends. 

[Conclusion]

Brothers and sisters in Christ, there are people today who curse God for writing such a word as this. They laugh in disbelief that God would write such a word. And while we sometimes struggle to listen to this, like Abraham, we have the joy of faith in this Word. Our sins are forgiven because of Jesus. God even gave us witnesses to confirm it all! (v 19).

Though it wasn’t included in our lectionary reading, I want you to hear the rest of the story, as Paul Harvey would say. It is too important to the preaching of the Gospel, and our repentance. Moses writes, The Angel of the Lord called to Abraham a second time from the heavens, and he said, By myself, I have sworn, declares YHWH, because of you’ve done this word, and did not withhold your son, your only one, I will certainly bless you, and I will certainly multiply your offspring like the stars of the heaven and like the sand that is upon the shore. ... And in your offspring all nations of the earth will be blessed. So Abraham returned to his young male servants and they arose and went to Beersheva (vv 15-19). 

And now they testify: The Father and the Son are together. They came back (v 19). 

Jesus, the Only Son of the Father, the One He Loved, has come back. He has risen from the dead and he has been seen where two or three witnesses were gathered. And they saw him ascend into heaven and now they too testify: He is coming back. You have God’s promise ... in Jesus’ name.

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