God tested Abraham in an area of his life that, perhaps, of which he was holding on too tightly. No parent would want to face this test. Isaac was the long awaited heir to the future fulfillment of the promises of God. In Hebrew the word "test" means "prove". It is one thing to say we believe in God, to say that we trust Him, to say that we are followers of His. It is quite another to actually put it into practice. It is putting our faith in action. It is walking the talk.
Dr. Crawford Loritts, in his excellent book Leadership as an Identity, devotes the last three chapters to what he calls "radical, immediate obedience." No
What was Abraham thinking? He did not know how it would turn out. He did not know when or if God would intervene. He only knew one thing and that was all that he needed to obey. "God will provide..." (v.8). It is from this statement that we learn one of the names of God-Jehovah-Jireh, the LORD will provide. Hebrews 11 helps us to further understand how much Abraham trusted God during this test. "He considered that God was able even to raise him from the dead..." All of God's promises to Abraham and future generations were on the line. Yet, he believed God would be faithful to His word.
There are four discoveries as a result of this one test that our faith needs today.
1. This is a proof of Abraham's willingness. God did not want Abraham to kill his son. He wanted Abraham to be absolutely willing to do whatever God asked him to do; radical, immediate obedience.
2. This is a proof of God's trustworthiness. The commands of God in His Word and the Biblical principles of life are most often counter intuitive. Sometimes what God wants us to do does not make sense to us. Human nature wants to see the outcome in advance. But the believer has been called to walk by faith. If what God wants is clear we will discover 100% of the time that God is worthy of our complete trust.
3. This is a proof of God's faithfulness. He did provide at exactly the right moment. We all wish God would provide in advance so we could avoid a crisis. But faith does not grow in a comfort zone and we do not get to see the faithful hand of God at work when there is no need.
4. This is a proof of God's truthfulness. God made an everlasting covenant to Abraham and his descendants. Then, He miraculously provided Isaac to continue to the promise. To slay Isaac seemed to contradict all that God had said. However, God did not change His mind, or His Word. In verses 17-18, the angel repeated the promise again. God's promises are true and completely reliable in every test.
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