We come again to another study in this great chapter that will be on the faith that Abraham had. We have seen two other studies already with Abraham being the primary person that we were studying. We looked at Abraham’s faith as he initially obeyed God to leave his father’s house to follow God. We then looked at both Abraham and Sarah’s faith as they were told of the promise and received the promise of their son Isaac. In this study we will look at the faith of Abraham as he is tested concerning this promised son. We mentioned Abraham even in our last study in the fact that he had faith beyond the temporal promises and looked at the eternal promises that were given to him. This will be the reality of that faith that he had as he is tested by being told that he must take his son to be used as a sacrifice to God.
This must have been some terrible words to Abraham’s ears. He had already let his son Ishmael leave due to the fact that he was not the promised son that would be the heir to the promise and now he is being told that he must kill the promised son. As we look at this we must know that yes we see Abraham act in obedience but I am sure the thoughts that he had were that of wonder at how God would continue the promises that He made. In all of this we know that Abraham has faith in God. Let’s unpack this great look at what faith looks like in the toughest temptation. Let’s look now at our first point.
1.By faith Abraham offers Isaac as a sacrifice to God.
Look with me at Hebrews 11:17-18 By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises was in the act of offering up his only son, 18 of whom it was said, “Through Isaac shall your offspring be named.”
I’m sure that most people know the account that is spoken of here but as I do, we will look at this very account of what happened during this time. We have already in past studies spoken of the promises given to Abraham, concerning having a son of his own. Now we know that Sarah and Abraham jumped the gun on this because of their impatience and Abraham had a son from Hagar whose name was Ishmael. Even though he was technically the first born of Abraham, he was not the heir of the promises given from God. God told Abraham in Genesis 15:4 “This man shall not be your heir; your very own son shall be your heir.”
The Muslim people claim this son to be Ishmael because of the birthright of the firstborn but as we see in Scripture this is not the case. When God told Abraham that Sarah would get pregnant with Isaac in Genesis 17, Abraham could not believe it because of his and Sarah’s age. He was around 100 and Sarah was 90. So this seemed to be a little far fetched when first told. In fact Abraham says this in Genesis 17:18 And Abraham said to God, “Oh that Ishmael might live before you!”
Abraham thought the possibility of them having a baby was out of reach for them but then God replies to Abraham’s suggestion in the next verse. Look with me at Genesis 17:19 God said, “No, but Sarah your wife shall bear you a son, and you shall call his name Isaac. I will establish my covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his offspring after him.
The covenant and the promises would run through the line of Isaac not Ishmael. So the story goes that Ishmael was sent away and now Isaac is the only son of Abraham in the sense of family structure. Isaac is the promised son of the covenant and then we see God test Abraham. Now I want to say before we even get into the text that God already knew the outcome so this test is to show that Abraham truly has faith.
We pick up the story in Genesis 22:1-2 that says After these things God tested Abraham and said to him, “Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” 2 He said, “Take 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.”
Now it was at this time that we see the Scripture say that Abraham did just what God commanded of him. I know that even though he trusted God that this still had to be a difficult task. But there is no doubt in the mind of Abraham of God fulfilling the promises given to him. Remember, Isaac is the child of the promise that will be in covenant with God as well and yet even though we see such a horrific act that needed to be performed, Abraham was up for the task. In fact during their journey to the place of sacrifice Isaac asks Abraham this from Genesis 22:7-8 And Isaac said to his father Abraham, “My father!” And he said, “Here I am, my son.” He said, “Behold, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?” 8 Abraham said, “God will provide for himself the lamb for a burnt offering, my son.” So they went both of them together.
Even these questions from his son would not detour him from being obedient to God. The account of this continues as we see Abraham build an altar and bind his son. I’m sure there was questioning at this point from Isaac at why his father was doing this even though the Bible does not record any conversation. The only thing we see is that Abraham raises his hand, with knife in hand to kill his son Isaac as commanded by God. Then at that very moment an angel called out to Abraham and stopped him from killing his son and instead provided a ram that was stuck in the bushes there. Now I know that a question may arise at why I said God didn’t do this so that God would know when Genesis 22:12 says He said, “Do not lay your hand on the boy or do anything to him, for now I know that you fear God, seeing you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me.”
This seems to be the very reason why God did this but in reality what all of this points to is that Abraham was proving his faith and that this would be an example to us on what real faith is. In fact this will be what the focus of the remainder of this study will be as we look at our next point.
2.The proven faith of Abraham.
Look with me at Hebrews 11:19 He considered that God was able even to raise him from the dead, from which, figuratively speaking, he did receive him back.
Here the writer of Hebrews gives us insight from the inspiration of the Holy Spirit that we do not see in the original story. We see here that Abraham’s faith in God fulfilling His promises was so strong that he knew that God was able to raise him from the dead.
We need to understand that Abraham had never seen a resurrection or any miracle like this but this is what he believed. He was not worried that God would not fulfill His promises. He knew that God had done everything that He said He would up to that point. Yes Abraham could not see his future offspring that was as many as the stars in the sky but he did see the miracle of the birth of his son Isaac. This proved to him that God would fulfill whatever he was told. This act of obedience did not save Abraham, nor did he find some special favor with God because of it. Abraham had been decaled righteous long before this act because of the faith he had in God’s promises back in Genesis 15. So this act of obedience proved or validated that he was a man of faith.
We need to remember that salvation does not come through works but from grace that is received by faith. Romans 4:13 says For the promise to Abraham and his offspring that he would be heir of the world did not come through the law but through the righteousness of faith.
So the actions we do now as believers does not save us or keep us saved but proves our faithfulness. Don’t get me wrong I am not promoting that all people that look good morally on the outside are true Christians because we know the hypocrite will do this well at times too. But what we see in the true believer is their faith not waver when the difficulties and sufferings of life come at them. James speaks of this very thing pointed towards Abraham in James 2:21-24 Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up his son Isaac on the altar? 22 You see that faith was active along with his works, and faith was completed by his works; 23 and the Scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness”—and he was called a friend of God. 24 You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone.
Often we look at this passage of Scripture and nothing but confusion sets in because there seems to be a contradiction to the very thought of salvation being through faith. But we must understand that James is not speaking on how to be saved but rather on how being saved looks. Paul gives us the doctrine of salvation and James gives us the action that shows what true faith looks like. In fact James says this very thing just a few verses prior to this in James 2:18 But someone will say, “You have faith and I have works.” Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works.
To show faith is to exhibit that faith. This is done not through just normal living but is tested when we are faced with the sufferings and trials that we face. Was this a trial for Abraham? Of course it was. Like I said, even though he trusted God this had to be physically and emotionally difficult to deal with but yet his faith did not fail. Abraham’s faith was tested and we see that he passed the test. This reminds me so much of what Jesus says at the end of the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 7:24-27 “Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25 And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. 26 And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. 27 And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it.”
Are living your life believing in what God’s Word has promised or are you believing man-made ideas or by the things that are going on around you? 2 Corinthians 5:7 says For we walk by faith, not by sight.
Just like Abraham we can not allow the reality of what we see with our eyes to persuade us. We must be ready for the test, the trial, the temptation, the persecution or some other type of suffering. We must decide now to live by faith not by sight.
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