Today's Bible Reading Sunday May 15, 2022

[CajunBass]

Old Testament: NKJV

Genesis Chapter 22, Verses 1-24

1 Now it came to pass after these things that God tested Abraham, and said to him, "Abraham!" And he said, "Here I am."

2 Then He said, "Take now 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 of which I shall tell you."

3 So Abraham rose early in the morning and saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son; and he split the wood for the burnt offering, and arose and went to the place of which God had told him.

4 Then on the third day Abraham lifted his eyes and saw the place afar off.

5 And Abraham said to his young men, "Stay here with the donkey; the lad and I will go yonder and worship, and we will come back to you."

6 So Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on Isaac his son; and he took the fire in his hand, and a knife, and the two of them went together.

7 But Isaac spoke to Abraham his father and said, "My father!" And he said, "Here I am, my son." Then he said, "Look, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?"

8 And Abraham said, "My son, God will provide for Himself the lamb for a burnt offering." So the two of them went together.

9 Then they came to the place of which God had told him. And Abraham built an altar there and placed the wood in order; and he bound Isaac his son and laid him on the altar, upon the wood.

10 And Abraham stretched out his hand and took the knife to slay his son.

11 But the Angel of the Lord called to him from heaven and said, "Abraham, Abraham!" So he said, "Here I am."

12 And He said, "Do not lay your hand on the lad, 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."

13 Then Abraham lifted his eyes and looked, and there behind him was a ram caught in a thicket by its horns. So Abraham went and took the ram, and offered it up for a burnt offering instead of his son.

14 And Abraham called the name of the place, The-Lord-Will-Provide; as it is said to this day, "In the Mount of The Lord it shall be provided."

15 Then the Angel of the Lord called to Abraham a second time out of heaven,

16 and said: "By Myself I have sworn, says the Lord, because you have done this thing, and have not withheld your son, your only son--

17 blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply your descendants as the stars of the heaven and as the sand which is on the seashore; and your descendants shall possess the gate of their enemies.

18 In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice."

19 So Abraham returned to his young men, and they rose and went together to Beersheba; and Abraham dwelt at Beersheba.

20 Now it came to pass after these things that it was told Abraham, saying, "Indeed Milcah also has borne children to your brother Nahor:

21 Huz his firstborn, Buz his brother, Kemuel the father of Aram,

22 Chesed, Hazo, Pildash, Jidlaph, and Bethuel."

23 And Bethuel begot Rebekah. These eight Milcah bore to Nahor, Abraham's brother.

24 His concubine, whose name was Reumah, also bore Tebah, Gaham, Thahash, and Maachah.

[digthemup]

'Then He said, "Take now 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 of which I shall tell you.'

This is a very interesting statement which I have heard many interpretation and misunderstandings of it. God's ways are mysterious, and though He clearly knew of the other children Abraham many have had, Isaac was considered the only blood lineage.
Some have used this sentence to show that God does test men, yet, they fail to see that God was testing Abraham's faith and his true acceptance of the covenants made with him.

My personal believe is that Isaac is a preemptive manifestation of Jesus's conception and birth.

[CajunBass]

My old Bible College Professor, Dr. Brown explained it as God wasn't "testing" Abrahams faith. God knew how much faith Abraham had. After all, God gave it to him. The "test" was to demonstrate to Abraham how much faith he had. Abraham knew what God wanted, but he wasn't sure he could go through with it, right up until the moment the angel stopped him. It also says something about Isaac's faith. We often picture Isaac as a young boy, but he most likely was a young man. He must have known or at least had an inkling of what was going on. He looked around and asked "aaaahhhh where's the lamb?" He was told "Don't worry about it. God will provide." He even allowed his father to bind him, which must have been a pretty good clue as to what was going to happen, yet apparently he offered no resistance. He accepted God's will, even if it meant his death. Abraham accepted God will, even if it meant he had to kill his son. They both accepted God's will, because they had enough faith to simply trust God.

I've told this story before, but I'll tell it again. On the night of November 27, 2007, my wife lay in the hospital ICU hooked up to every machine they had. I lay there across her bed, praying for God to spare her life. Out of nowhere, she and I were the only ones in the room, and she won't talking, I heard a voice, an audible voice say "You're praying for the wrong thing." Being sort of slow, it never occurred to me to question who/what the voice was. "Praying for the wrong thing? What does that mean?" That same voice replied "Genesis Chapter 22."

I racked my brain. Genesis Chapter 22? What does that mean? Then it hit me. That's where Abraham is called upon to sacrafice the thing he loves the most. His son Isaac. I came to realize that I had no right to ask for Sandy "back." She wasn't mine to get back. She belonged to Jesus. She had given herself to Him years before she ever heard of me. I have come to call this my "Abraham Moment." I either trusted God...or I didn't. I changed my prayer. I still asked God to spare her life, if that was in His will. But I promised that I would accept His will whatever it was. And whatever His will was, I would praise Him either way.

Sandy survived, and is still with me today. When we have an argument, she will put her hands on her hips and remind me..."You told God you wanted me back." Talk about an argument ender. (Sometimes I will wink, and reply...Yea...but He asked me..."Are you SURE?" I hope God will forgive that little white lie as a joke.")

Anyway, I try to tell that story to anyone who's unlucky enough to get cornered by me long enough for me to get my foot in the door and priase God another time. You reading this, are just the unlucky ones this time.

[digthemup]

Should I be this unlucky more often, so that I may reap the blessings from reading this again. This is a very challenging chapter that leaves interpretations in the area of perception in the believer's personal experiences needs.
I believe that Abraham trusted God's promises and covenants so much that though he had no idea how God would be doing it, Isaac would live due to God's promise and covenant that through Isaac all the nations future depended on his existence into old age. Since Isaac conception was from God, he could not have been the first one resurrected by God, due to that honor being reserved for our Savior, Jesus the Christ.

Be blessed
Frank

[1Holeshot]

Cajun, thank you for sharing such a personal and moving time in your life and the life of your bride.

I have to remind myself frequently what faith the size of a mustard seed can do.