Abraham

The Season of Sacrifice

As we move into the season of resurrection, it made me think about the ultimate sacrifice that Jesus made for us. It also makes me think about all the people who made great sacrifices for God and His kingdom. As we go into our season of sacrifice, there is no kingdom access without sacrifice. Jesus gave us all access through the sacrifice of laying down His life.

Sacrifice changes you... To live a life of sacrifice is so rewarding. It starts with:

• a PROMPTING from the Lord
• then you get EXCITED
• then FEAR kicks in
• LOGIC comes after fear
• then comes DOUBT
• if you overcome all that, you will have FAITH in your heart to do what the Lord tells you to do.

Main Text: Genesis 22:1–19 (NLT)

Genesis 22:1 (NLT)
Some time later, God tested Abraham’s faith. “Abraham!” God called.
“Yes,” he replied. “Here I am.”

• Testing precedes elevation
• God tested Abraham’s worship
• Just as fire refines ore to extract precious metals, God refines us through difficult circumstances.
• When we are tested, we can complain, or we can try to see how God is stretching us to develop our character.

Steps of Faith

#1 Genesis 12:1–7 | Test of the Unknown

• Test: Abraham left Ur and Haran for an unknown destination at God’s direction.

#2 Genesis 13:8–13 | Test of Family Separation

• Test: Abraham directed a peaceful separation from Lot and settled at the oaks of Mamre.
  Do I trust God with my interests even when I seem to be receiving an unfair settlement?

#3 Genesis 14:17–24 | Test in Giving

• Test: Abraham gave a tithe of loot to the godly king of Salem, Melchizedek, and refused the gift of the king of Sodom.
  Am I watchful in my dealings with people that I give proper honor to God and refuse to receive honor that belongs to Him?

God Tests His Worship

Genesis 22:2 (NLT)
“Take your son, your only son—yes, Isaac, whom you love so much—and go to the land of Moriah. Go and sacrifice him as a burnt offering on one of the mountains, which I will show you.”

• That morning Abraham began one of the greatest acts of obedience in recorded history.
• Obeying God is often a struggle because it may mean giving up something we truly want.
• Obedience will often cause short-term discomfort.
• We should not expect our obedience to God to be easy or to come naturally.

3 things God shows us:

• God knows what you have
• God knows what’s important to you
• God knows what you love

Genesis 22:3–4 (NLT)
The next morning Abraham got up early. He saddled his donkey and took two of his servants with him, along with his son, Isaac. Then he chopped wood for a fire for a burnt offering and set out for the place God had told him about.
On the third day of their journey, Abraham looked up and saw the place in the distance.

• Three days to think about it — chiefly speaks of the protracted test and sustained obedience.

Worship Is Part of Sacrifice

Genesis 22:5 (NLT)
“Stay here with the donkey,” Abraham told the servants. “The boy and I will travel a little farther. We will worship there, and then we will come right back.”

• Your worship is a part of your sacrifice
• We give as an act of worship
• Abraham speaks faith in spite of his situation

Romans 12:1 (AMP)
Therefore I urge you, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies [dedicating all of yourselves, set apart] as a living sacrifice, holy and well-pleasing to God, which is your rational (logical, intelligent) act of worship.

Carrying the Wood

Genesis 22:6 (NLT)
So Abraham placed the wood for the burnt offering on Isaac’s shoulders, while he himself carried the fire and the knife. As the two of them walked on together.

John 19:17 (NLT)
Carrying the cross by himself, he went to the place called Place of the Skull (in Hebrew, Golgotha).

Matthew 16:24–26 (AMP)
Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone wishes to follow Me [as My disciple], he must deny himself [set aside selfish interests], and take up his cross [expressing a willingness to endure whatever may come] and follow Me [believing in Me, conforming to My example in living and, if need be, suffering or perhaps dying because of faith in Me].”

God Will Provide

Genesis 22:7–8 (NLT)
Isaac turned to Abraham and said, “Father?” “Yes, my son?” Abraham replied.
“We have the fire and the wood,” the boy said, “but where is the sheep for the burnt offering?”
“God will provide a sheep for the burnt offering, my son,” Abraham answered.
And they both walked on together.

• Abraham’s “God will provide” was his complete certainty of God, together with complete openness as to detail—this makes it a model reply to an agonizing question.

2 Corinthians 9:10–11 (AMP)
Now He who provides seed for the sower and bread for food will provide and multiply your seed for sowing [that is, your resources] and increase the harvest of your righteousness [which shows itself in active goodness, kindness, and love].

• God gives seed to the sower
• Before you ever sow, God had to provide
• Through this difficult experience, Abraham strengthened his commitment to obey God.
• He also learned about God’s ability to provide.
• God will never ask you for what you don’t have.

The Test and the Blessing

Genesis 22:9–12 (NLT)
When they arrived at the place where God had told him to go, Abraham built an altar and arranged the wood on it. Then he tied his son, Isaac, and laid him on the altar on top of the wood.
And Abraham picked up the knife to kill his son as a sacrifice.
At that moment the angel of the Lord called to him from heaven, “Abraham! Abraham!”
“Yes,” Abraham replied. “Here I am!”
“Don’t lay a hand on the boy!” the angel said. “Do not hurt him in any way, for now I know that you truly fear God. You have not withheld from me even your son, your only son.”

• The exact moment of intervention wrings the last drop of meaning from the experience.
• On the human side, the ultimate sacrifice is faced and willed; on the divine side, not a vestige of harm is permitted, and not a nuance of devotion is unnoticed.

Genesis 15:4 (AMP)
Then behold, the word of the Lord came to him, saying, “This man [Eliezer] will not be your heir but he who shall come from your own body shall be your heir.”

Jehovah Jireh — The Lord Will Provide

Genesis 22:13–18 (NLT)
Then Abraham looked up and saw a ram caught by its horns in a thicket. So he took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering in place of his son.
Abraham named the place Yahweh-Yireh (which means “the Lord will provide”).
To this day, people still use that name as a proverb: “On the mountain of the Lord it will be provided.”
Then the angel of the Lord called again to Abraham from heaven.
“This is what the Lord says: Because you have obeyed me and have not withheld even your son, your only son, I swear by my own name that I will certainly bless you.
I will multiply your descendants beyond number, like the stars in the sky and the sand on the seashore.
Your descendants will conquer the cities of their enemies.
And through your descendants all the nations of the earth will be blessed—all because you have obeyed me.”

• To obey is to find new assurance, as Abraham had discovered.

Abraham and Isaac — Both Making a Sacrifice

• Both father and son stand revealed with special clarity at this supreme moment.
• From Abraham, the harrowing demand evokes only love and faith, certain as he is that the “foolishness of God” is unexplored wisdom.
• In the surrender of his son, he mirrors God’s still greater love, while his faith gives him a first glimpse of resurrection.
• The test, instead of breaking him, brings him to the summit of his lifelong walk with God.
• Isaac too comes briefly into his own—not by what he does but by what he suffers.
• Here is his role: to demonstrate God’s pattern for the chosen “seed” — to be a servant sacrificed.

Hebrews 11:17–19 (AMP)
By faith Abraham, when he was tested [that is, as the testing of his faith was still in progress], offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises [of God] was ready to sacrifice his only son [of promise];
to whom it was said, “Through Isaac your descendants shall be called.”
For he considered [it reasonable to believe] that God was able to raise Isaac even from among the dead.
[Indeed, in the sense that he was prepared to sacrifice Isaac in obedience to God] Abraham did receive him back [from the dead] figuratively speaking.

Discussion Questions

1. What does it mean that there is “no kingdom access without sacrifice”?
2. Why do you think God uses tests to elevate and refine us?
3. Which “step of faith” from Abraham’s journey speaks to you most today?
4. How does obedience challenge your comfort zone?
5. What are some ways your worship can also be an act of sacrifice?
6. How do you recognize when God is prompting you to give or let go of something?
7. What does “God will provide” mean to you personally in seasons of testing?
8. Why do you think God waited until the last moment to intervene for Abraham?
9. How can we reflect both Abraham’s faith and Isaac’s submission in our own walk?
10. What kind of “sacrifice” might God be calling you to make in this season?

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