God Tested Avraham

This week is the week of the Jewish “Feast of Trumpets!” It is called Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year. During this week the passage that is read by all observant Jews is Genesis 22:1-18.

The chapter begins with the statement, “That the Lord tested Avraham, and said to him, “Avraham!” And Avraham answered the Lord saying, “Here I am.”

In the very first verse of this chapter we learn five very important attributes about God and about Avraham.

The Lord tested Avraham.
God spoke to Avraham audibly.
Avraham heard the Lord.
Avraham new the Lord’s voice.
Avraham answered Him.

How Avraham answered the Lord in Hebrew bears no relation to what is written in English.

Avraham answered the Lord saying, “He-nae-nee,” in Hebrew. This goes far beyond the meaning “here I am.”

It means, Lord here I am, Lord I hear you, and Lord I will obey You!

It is the attitude of Avraham’s heart that we see expressed here in his reply to the Lord. Avraham knew God’s voice, and he responded immediately from his heart.

Moving to verse two, we have one of the most famous verses in the Old Testament.

“Take now your son, your only son, whom you love, Isaac, and go to the land of Moriah; and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I will tell you.” Genesis 22:2.

What an incredible command this must have been to Avraham! Take your son, your only son, whom you love, to mount Moriah and sacrifice him there to Me!

God was testing Avraham, and He knew how much he loved him, because this is the very first time the word “love,” is used in the Bible.

Notice, Avraham did not debate with God, question God, or negotiate with God. He obeyed God immediately!

When God tests you and me, and speaks to you and me, what is our response?

How often we ask, “Is that really you God?”

Or we say, “You can’t really mean that Lord!”

When we do, we fail the test before it even takes place, because we do not trust God!

Our testing is not only for times of crisis, but in our everyday walk with the Lord. How we walk and live our daily lives, prepares us for the times of crisis.

In a time of crisis, as in our daily lives, it is not what we say, but what we do, that reveals what we believe about God!

Avraham’s obedience was immediate, and after three days of travel on foot and by donkey, he says to his servants, “Stay here with the donkey, and I and the lad will go yonder; and we will worship and return to you.” Genesis 22:5.

It is implied here that Avraham believed even if he killed his son, the Lord would resurrect him, in order to fulfill His covenant promises to him.

Avraham believed God, that through his seed, Isaac all the nations of the earth would be blessed.
That through the descendants of his seed Isaac, they would possess the land of Canaan as an everlasting possession.
Avraham is undoubtedly the first person in the Bible to believe in God’s power of resurrection!

We also find in this verse the word “worship,” which is also used for the first time in the Bible!

To most people reading this verse, the word “worship,” means to go and praise the Lord through singing.

The Hebrew meaning is much different, and here has a much deeper and fuller meaning. Here the word “worship,” means, “to sacrifice!”

Avraham was saying, “We are going to go “Sacrifice” before the Lord and we will return to you.

Most believers today do not ever associate “worship and sacrifice”, in the same sentence, much less the same meaning.

Avraham was saying, “I am going to sacrifice to the Lord, and give back to Him what He gave to me!”

This fact is evidenced by the very next verse in the chapter.

“And Avraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on Isaac his son, and he took in his hand the fire and the knife. So the two of them walked on together.” Genesis 22:6

Isaac fully understood that the word “worship,” meant sacrifice, and he certainly knew something unusual was taking place. So he asks his father, “Behold the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?” Genesis 22:7

Avraham’s answer is one of the most famous verses in the entire Bible.

“God will provide for Himself the burnt offering, my son.” Genesis 22:8.

Here, the Hebrew interpretation is quite different from the English version.

The Hebrew says, “God will see for Himself My son the lamb for sacrifice!

In the verse 8 in English, there is a comma after the word offering, however there is no comma in the Hebrew.

In these verses we see God’s eternal plan for the redemption of mankind. His son, the Lamb of God was to be sacrificed for our sins!

The story continues toward its climax as they came together, father and son to the place of sacrifice.

“Then they came to the place of which God had told him; and Avraham built an altar there, and arranged the wood, and bound his son Isaac, and laid him on the altar on top of the wood.” Genesis 22:9

The situation here is one where Avraham is old, and Isaac is young and strong. Yet, Isaac willingly allows himself to be bound like a lamb for sacrifice. He could have resisted, but he yielded to the will of his father.

2,000 years later, like Isaac, Yeshua would be taken to the exact same mountain to be the sacrificial Lamb of God.

Yeshua, like Isaac would carry the wood, the wood of the cross.

Yeshua, like Isaac would willingly allow himself to be bound.

Yeshua, like Isaac could have resisted, yet He went to the cross saying, “Not My will, but Thy will be done.”

Yeshua, like Isaac became the sacrifice in obedience to the will of His Father.

Yeshua, like Isaac was the lamb to be sacrificed.

One final thought. When Avraham laid Isaac on the altar, what position do you think he was in?
I believe he was laid on his back, facing upward, so like Yeshua, he could look up, right into the eyes of his father as he stretched out his hand and took the knife to slay his son. To slay his only son, the son whom he loved!

Yet, in His infinite mercy, the Lord called to Avraham from heaven saying, “Avraham, Avraham!”

And Avraham said, “He-nae-nee.” Lord here I am, Lord I hear you! Lord I am here obeying your command to sacrifice my son, my only son. The one whom I love!

And the angel of the Lord said, “Do not stretch out your hand against the lad, and do nothing to him, for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son from Me.” Genesis 22:12

It was then that, “Avraham looked and saw a ram caught in a thicket by his horns, and Avraham went and took the ram, and offered him up for a burnt offering in the place of his son.” Genesis 22:13

It says further, “Avraham called the name of that place “The Lord will provide.” Jevoah Jireh!” Genesis 22:14

2000 years later, on the same mountain, the Lord sacrificed His Son, His only Son, the Son whom He loved. He was the Lamb of God, offered up for our sins. His blood was shed that we might have remission of sin, and eternal life.

At this time each year, we are called to remember that Yehsua is our Jevoah Jireh! Our provider.

In life He is our provider of all we have and will ever need.

In death He is our provider, giving us eternal life with Him!

The Lord then says to Avraham, “I will greatly bless you, and I will greatly multiply your seed as the stars of the heavens, and as the sand which is on the seashore; and your seed shall possess the gates of their enemies.” Genesis 22:17

We are the seed of Avraham, and through the seed of Isaac came the covenant and the Messiah of the Jews and the Gentiles, Yeshua, Jesus Christ!

Today, the enemy is at our gates in Israel and in America. Yet, the Lord declared, the seed of Avraham will possess the gates of their enemies!

The reason we shall posses the gates of our enemies is revealed in the last verse of our study.

“And in your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice.” Genesis 22:18

  The Hebrew here says, “Because you have heard My voice.”

The Lord puts a high priority on “hearing His voice.”

Do you hear God’s voice? If not, you are in trouble at the very heart of your relationship with God.

The apostle John said it clearly, “He who is of God hears the words of God; for this reason you do not hear them, because you are not of God.” John 8:47.

Israel and America have the enemies of God at their gates, seeking their destruction. Yet, the Lord says we shall posses their gates, if we turn back to Him, hear His voice, and obey His commandments!

We pray, like Avraham, you will hear the voice of the Lamb of God, and turn to Him. For through Him, and by Him comes forgiveness of sins, and eternal life.

“If My people who are called by My name humble themselves and pray, and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.” 2 Chronicles 7:14

Shana Tova = Good Year to all of you!
 
This is the time set aside for Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, a time of contemplation and accounting. A time in which we withdraw from the physicality of the world to reflect on our spiritual side. Like a progressive company that views all the actions of the firm each year to assess its policies and production if its goal has been reached; and if not, what remedies are needed. We also must utilize these special days that none other than G-d sent aside for our benefit to contemplate our progress. Have we come closer to Him? Have our actions been basically in an upward direction, or have we made a dip? What can we do to remedy those actions that we did not desire and how can we increase those positive aspects of life?

by Kurt Kransfer 

Taken from: Jewish Magazine.
  

 
 
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 Deuteronomy 12:4-6

You shall not worship the LORD your God with such things.

"But you shall seek the place where the LORD your God chooses, out of all your tribes, to put His name for His dwelling place; and there you shall go.

There you shall take your burnt offerings, your sacrifices, your tithes, the heave offerings of your hand, your vowed offerings, your freewill offerings, and the firstborn of your herds and flocks


All these are what God sees as Worship: burnt offerings; sacrifices; tithes; the heave offerings; vowed offerings; freewill offerings; firstborn.
 
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