If you pass the test (Gen 22:9- 14)

If you pass the test (Gen 22:9- 14) 

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

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

¹¹ And the angel of the Lord called unto him out of heaven, and said, Abraham, Abraham: and he said, Here am I.

¹² And he said, Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou any thing unto him: for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son from me.

¹³ And Abraham lifted up his eyes, and looked, and behold behind him a ram caught in a thicket by his horns: and Abraham went and took the ram, and offered him up for a burnt offering in the stead of his son.

¹⁴ And Abraham called the name of that place Jehovahjireh: as it is said to this day, In the mount of the Lord it shall be seen.

 

Intro)

1. During the medieval era two young men went to a monastery to become monks. The chief monk gave them a little test. The chief monk wanted them to plant a cabbage but to plant the root of cabbage to face the sky. one of them did exactly what the monk told him to do. on the other hand, the other man planted the cabbage the normal way. The chief monk then called upon the man who planted the cabbage the normal way and told him, “We don’t need a smart person like you; you may become a good teacher but not a good follower. Please leave now.” Obedience is one of the ways to be blessed by God. God makes good followers his servant.

 

Body)

A) Test of faith

1. God gives a mission or test to all people who believe in Jesus. He tests you and sees if you are qualified for the blessing He wants to give you.

 

2. If we look at the life of Abraham, when he was almost 100 years old, God tested him and told him to sacrifice Isaac, his own son.

In fact, what God wanted from Abraham was ridiculous. Abraham could not understand why God wanted him to sacrifice his son. After all, God had promised Abraham that Isaac would be the father of many races. The test He gave Abraham was really hard to pass; it was not rational, even for God. However, Abraham decided to believe in God, instead of his rational thought and judgment. After he decided to sacrifice his son, he understood and thought that God must have a bigger plan beyond his imagination.

As a result, Abraham passed God’s most challenging test, and they both survived. Hebrews 11, describes this moment as “Accounting that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead; from whence also he received him in a figure.”

Many Christians give up when they face hardships, and disappointment. However, with faith we can overcome anything.

 

2. After Abraham passed God’s test, God promises him bigger blessings. Let us read verse 15-18 together.

“¹⁵ And the angel of the Lord called unto Abraham out of heaven the second time,

¹⁶ And said, By myself have I sworn, saith the Lord, for because thou hast done this thing, and hast not withheld thy son, thine only son:

¹⁷ That in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies;

¹⁸ And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice.”

We must obey God to be blessed like Abraham.

 

B) The Peak in the life of Abraham. Jehovah- Jireh

The highlights in Abraham’s life, the father of faith, are the three tests that God gave him.

First, God ordered Abraham to move out from his father’s house and go to God’s designated area for him. Second, God told him he would have child at a time when this was deemed impossible, when Abraham had neared the age of 100 and Sara was barren. The last one is the test that we just talked about before: the sacrifice of Isaac.

 Every one of them was not an easy test; however he passed them all. The last one was the hardest one. God tested Abraham on more than just faith.

C) Three Meanings of Jehovah Jireh

 

1. God challenges, tests, and trains His children. (Gen 22:1, Job 1:12, Job 2:6, Proverbs 17:3, 1 Corinthians 10:13). Why? It is to make our faith as strong and as pure as gold. If a baby stays the size of a baby forever that would be unhealthy. Like this, if a believer’s faith is not growing, then we can determine that as unhealthy.

 God keeps challenging believers, like he did with Abraham, Moses, Elijah who wanted to die under the tree, Jeremiah, and Jonah who didn’t want to go to Nineveh. God can challenge us too; there is no exception. 

2.  Jehovah Jireh. When we go closer to God when He calls us, like He did to Abraham and Isaiah, God will bless us. When Abraham obeyed God, he found a male lamb trapped in the bushes. Job saw God, and Elijah heard the voice of God.

3. Jehovah Jireh, prepared from the mountain of God.

[Gen] 22:14

“And Abraham called the name of that place Jehovah-jireh: as it is said to this day, In the mount of the LORD it shall be seen” in easy english

“On the mountain of the LORD it will be provided ”

 

People who obeyed received blessings in many different ways but there is something they all had in common: they experienced a flood of the Holy Spirit washing over them and breaking through every worry in their mind. They could experience the living God. Jehovah Jireh!

We have to keep running until the end. Suicide won’t help you overcome hardships.

We cannot avoid God!

 

D) The Moriah Incident is the Model of Jesus Christ.

 Genesis 22 is like a model of what happened to Jesus. Abraham offered his most beloved son to God. God gave his only son to save us.

Jesus Christ is Jehovah Jireh, Jehovah Jireh for whom? For you and me.

 

What should we learn from today’s text?

We should know that, like Abraham who was in agony when God asked him to offer his son,

God must have been in agony and pain when Jesus was crucified.

⁴⁴ And it was about the sixth hour, and there was a darkness over all the earth until the ninth hour.

⁴⁵ And the sun was darkened, and the veil of the temple was rent in the midst.

⁴⁶ And when Jesus had cried with a loud voice, he said, Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit: and having said thus, he gave up the ghost.

⁴⁷ Now when the centurion saw what was done, he glorified God, saying, Certainly this was a righteous man.

⁴⁸ And all the people that came together to that sight, beholding the things which were done, smote their breasts, and returned.

⁴⁹ And all his acquaintance, and the women that followed him from Galilee, stood afar off, beholding these things.

 

For three hours there was no light on the Earth but only darkness. This darkness represents the pain and agony of God that no one else can understand.  

 

Salvation is not free; it is the result of the humble sacrifice of Jesus. It is because of the love of God given onto us. We cannot handle the love of God.

So, true faith needs to have determination to abandon my thought and plan.

I see some people who don’t come to church for service saying, “I am saved. I really serve my Lord Jesus with all of my heart.” Well, that is not a very ordinary thing to hear from people who don’t come to church. If you are saved you have a great passion and love for the church service. If you are not, then your faith is currently dead. I do not think even the Holy Spirit wants to stay in a person who does not love to go to church. Maybe the person knows about the Bible and hearing Jesus knocking on his/her door, but Jesus did not enter the person’s heart yet. It just makes it hard to ask for blessings from Jesus if you love yourself more and place yourself higher than Jesus. Let us grow our faith; let’s go to the next level; let us go beyond; let us show our new selves to God. Let us have a faith with which God can bless us. Satan loves people who are lukewarm and “in between”; we must get out of that place.

Brothers and sisters, do you really love God with all your heart? Ask yourself.

 

Conclusion) 1 Samuel 15: 22 says “And Samuel said, Hath the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams.” We should have the faith which Abraham had; the faith with which God wants to bless us. Love is better when it’s hot; we should love and have faith that is hot.

 

I hope and pray for all of us here to have a living faith like Abraham, to pass the tests of God and be blessed in the future. In Jesus Christ’s holy name, amen