The Test of Faith [This chapter is based on Genesis 16; 17:18-20; 21:1-14; 22:1-19.] Abraham had accepted without question the promise of a son, but he did not wait for God to fulfill His word in His own time and way. A delay was permitted, to tes
- From: Bang Sapri <djunus0724@xxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Thu, 11 Feb 2010 00:17:35 -0800 (PST)
The Test of Faith [This chapter is based on Genesis 16; 17:18-20;
21:1-14; 22:1-19.] Abraham had accepted without question the promise
of a son, but he did not wait for God to fulfill His word in His own
time and way. A delay was permitted, to test his faith in the power of
God; but he failed to endure the trial. Thinking it impossible that a
child should be given her in her old age, Sarah suggested, as a plan
by which the divine purpose might be fulfilled, that one of her
handmaidens should be taken by Abraham as a secondary wife. Polygamy
had become so widespread that it had ceased to be regarded as a sin,
but it was no less a violation of the law of God, and was fatal to the
sacredness and peace of the family relation. Abraham's marriage with
Hagar resulted in evil, not only to his own household, but to future
generations. Flattered with the honor of her new position as Abraham's
wife, and hoping to be the mother of the great nation to descend from
him, Hagar became proud and boastful, and treated her mistress with
contempt. Mutual jealousies disturbed the peace of the once happy
home. Forced to listen to the complaints of both, Abraham vainly
endeavored to restore harmony. Though it was at Sarah's earnest
entreaty that he had married Hagar, she now reproached him as the one
at fault. She desired to banish her rival; but Abraham refused to
permit this; for Hagar was to be the mother of this child, as he
fondly hoped, the son of promise. She was Sarah's servant, however,
and he still left her to the control of her mistress. Hagar's haughty
spirit would not brook the harshness which her insolence had provoked.
"When Sarai dealt hardly with her, she fled from her face." She made
her way to the desert, and as she rested beside a fountain, lonely and
friendless, an angel of the Lord, in human form, appeared to her.
Addressing her as "Hagar, Sarai's maid," to remind her of her position
and her duty, he bade her, "Return Page 146 to thy mistress, and
submit thyself under her hands." Yet with the reproof there were
mingled words of comfort. "The Lord hath heard thy affliction." "I
will multiply thy seed exceedingly, that it shall not be numbered for
multitude." And as a perpetual reminder of His mercy, she was bidden
to call her child Ishmael, "God shall hear." When Abraham was nearly
one hundred years old, the promise of a son was repeated to him, with
the assurance that the future heir should be the child of Sarah. But
Abraham did not yet understand the promise. His mind at once turned to
Ishmael, clinging to the belief that through him God's gracious
purposes were to be accomplished. In his affection for his son he
exclaimed, "O that Ishmael might live before Thee!" Again the promise
was given, in words that could not be mistaken: "Sarah thy wife shall
bear thee a son indeed; and thou shalt call his name Isaac: and I will
establish My covenant with him." Yet God was not unmindful of the
father's prayer. "As for Ishmael," He said, "I have heard thee:
Behold, I have blessed him, . . . and I will make him a great nation."
The birth of Isaac, bringing, after a lifelong waiting, the
fulfillment of their dearest hopes, filled the tents of Abraham and
Sarah with gladness. But to Hagar this event was the overthrow of her
fondly cherished ambitions. Ishmael, now a youth, had been regarded by
all in the encampment as the heir of Abraham's wealth and the interior
of the blessings promised to his descendants. Now he was suddenly set
aside; and in their disappointment, mother and son hated the child of
Sarah. The general rejoicing increased their jealousy, until Ishmael
dared openly to mock the heir of God's promise. Sarah saw in Ishmael's
turbulent disposition a perpetual source of discord, and she appealed
to Abraham, urging that Hagar and Ishmael be sent away from the
encampment. The patriarch was thrown into great distress. How could he
banish Ishmael his son, still dearly beloved? In his perplexity he
pleaded for divine guidance. The Lord, through a holy angel, directed
him to grant Sarah's desire; his love for Ishmael or Hagar ought not
to stand in the way, for only thus could he restore harmony and
happiness to his family. And the angel gave him the consoling promise
that though separated from his father's home, Ishmael should not be
forsaken by God; his life should be preserved, and he should become
the father of a great Page 147 nation. Abraham obeyed the angel's
word, but it was not without keen suffering. The father's heart was
heavy with unspoken grief as he sent away Hagar and his son. The
instruction given to Abraham touching the sacredness of the marriage
relation was to be a lesson for all ages. It declares that the rights
and happiness of this relation are to be carefully guarded, even at a
great sacrifice. Sarah was the only true wife of Abraham. Her rights
as a wife and mother no other person was entitled to share. She
reverenced her husband, and in this she is presented in the New
Testament as a worthy example. But she was unwilling that Abraham's
affections should be given to another, and the Lord did not reprove
her for requiring the banishment of her rival. Both Abraham and Sarah
distrusted the power of God, and it was this error that led to the
marriage with Hagar. God had called Abraham to be the father of the
faithful, and his life was to stand as an example of faith to
succeeding generations. But his faith had not been perfect. He had
shown distrust of God in concealing the fact that Sarah was his wife,
and again in his marriage with Hagar. That he might reach the highest
standard, God subjected him to another test, the closest which man was
ever called to endure. In a vision of the night he was directed to
repair to the land of Moriah, and there offer up his son as a burnt
offering upon a mountain that should be shown him. At the time of
receiving this command, Abraham had reached the age of a hundred and
twenty years. He was regarded as an old man, even in his generation.
In his earlier years he had been strong to endure hardship and to
brave danger, but now the ardor of his youth had passed away. One in
the vigor of manhood may with courage meet difficulties and
afflictions that would cause his heart to fail later in life, when his
feet are faltering toward the grave. But God had reserved His last,
most trying test for Abraham until the burden of years was heavy upon
him, and he longed for rest from anxiety and toil. The patriarch was
dwelling at Beersheba, surrounded by prosperity and honor. He was very
rich, and was honored as a mighty prince by the rulers of the land.
Thousands of sheep and cattle covered the plains that spread out
beyond his encampment. On every side were the tents of his retainers,
the home of hundreds of faithful servants. The son of promise had
grown up to manhood by his side. Heaven seemed to have crowned with
its Page 148 blessing a life of sacrifice in patient endurance of hope
deferred. In the obedience of faith, Abraham had forsaken his native
country--had turned away from the graves of his fathers and the home
of his kindred. He had wandered as a stranger in the land of his
inheritance. He had waited long for the birth of the promised heir. At
the command of God he had sent away his son Ishmael. And now, when the
child so long desired was entering upon manhood, and the patriarch
seemed able to discern the fruition of his hopes, a trial greater than
all others was before him. The command was expressed in words that
must have wrung with anguish that father's heart: "Take now thy son,
thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, . . . and offer him there for
a burnt offering." Isaac was the light of his home, the solace of his
old age, above all else the inheritor of the promised blessing. The
loss of such a son by accident or disease would have been heart
rending to the fond father; it would have bowed down his whitened head
with grief; but he was commanded to shed the blood of that son with
his own hand. It seemed to him a fearful impossibility. Satan was at
hand to suggest that he must be deceived, for the divine law commands,
"Thou shalt not kill," and God would not require what He had once
forbidden. Going outside his tent, Abraham looked up to the calm
brightness of the unclouded heavens, and recalled the promise made
nearly fifty years before, that his seed should be innumerable as the
stars. If this promise was to be fulfilled through Isaac, how could he
be put to death? Abraham was tempted to believe that he might be under
a delusion. In his doubt and anguish he bowed upon the earth, and
prayed, as he had never prayed before, for some confirmation of the
command if he must perform this terrible duty. He remembered the
angels sent to reveal to him God's purpose to destroy Sodom, and who
bore to him the promise of this same son Isaac, and he went to the
place where he had several times met the heavenly messengers, hoping
to meet them again, and receive some further direction; but none came
to his relief. Darkness seemed to shut him in; but the command of God
was sounding in his ears, "Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac,
whom thou lovest." That command must be obeyed, and he dared not
delay. Day was approaching, and he must be on his journey. Returning
to his tent, he went to the place where Isaac lay sleeping the deep,
untroubled sleep of youth and innocence. For Page 151 a moment the
father looked upon the dear face of his son, then turned tremblingly
away. He went to the side of Sarah, who was also sleeping. Should he
awaken her, that she might once more embrace her child? Should he tell
her of God's requirement? He longed to unburden his heart to her, and
share with her this terrible responsibility; but he was restrained by
the fear that she might hinder him. Isaac was her joy and pride; her
life was bound up in him, and the mother's love might refuse the
sacrifice. Abraham at last summoned his son, telling him of the
command to offer sacrifice upon a distant mountain. Isaac had often
gone with his father to worship at some one of the various altars that
marked his wanderings, and this summons excited no surprise. The
preparations for the journey were quickly completed. The wood was made
ready and put upon the ass, and with two menservants they set forth.
Side by side the father and the son journeyed in silence. The
patriarch, pondering his heavy secret, had no heart for words. His
thoughts were of the proud, fond mother, and the day when he should
return to her alone. Well he knew that the knife would pierce her
heart when it took the life of her son. That day--the longest that
Abraham had ever experienced--dragged slowly to its close. While his
son and the young men were sleeping, he spent the night in prayer,
still hoping that some heavenly messenger might come to say that the
trial was enough, that the youth might return unharmed to his mother.
But no relief came to his tortured soul. Another long day, another
night of humiliation and prayer, while ever the command that was to
leave him childless was ringing in his ears. Satan was near to whisper
doubts and unbelief, but Abraham resisted his suggestions. As they
were about to begin the journey of the third day, the patriarch,
looking northward, saw the promised sign, a cloud of glory hovering
over Mount Moriah, and he knew that the voice which had spoken to him
was from heaven. Even now he did not murmur against God, but
strengthened his soul by dwelling upon the evidences of the Lord's
goodness and faithfulness. This son had been unexpectedly given; and
had not He who bestowed the precious gift a right to recall His own?
Then faith repeated the promise, "In Isaac shall they seed be called"--
a seed numberless as the grains of sand upon the shore. Isaac was the
child of a miracle, and could not the power that Page 152 gave him
life restore it? Looking beyond that which was seen, Abraham grasped
the divine word, "accounting that God was able to raise him up, even
from the dead." Hebrews 11:19. Yet none but God could understand how
great was the father's sacrifice in yielding up his son to death;
Abraham desired that none but God should witness the parting scene. He
bade his servants remain behind, saying, "I and the lad will go yonder
and worship, and come again to you." The wood was laid upon Isaac, the
one to be offered, the father took the knife and the fire, and
together they ascended toward the mountain summit, the young man
silently wondering whence, so far from folds and flocks, the offering
was to come. At last he spoke, "My father," "behold the fire and the
wood: but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?" Oh, what a test was
this! How the endearing words, "my father," pierced Abraham's heart!
Not yet--he could not tell him now . "My son," he said, "God will
provide Himself a lamb for a burnt offering." At the appointed place
they built the altar and laid the wood upon it. Then, with trembling
voice, Abraham unfolded to his son the divine message. It was with
terror and amazement that Isaac learned his fate, but he offered no
resistance. He could have escaped his doom, had he chosen to do so;
the grief-stricken old man, exhausted with the struggle of those three
terrible days, could not have opposed the will of the vigorous youth.
But Isaac had been trained from childhood to ready, trusting
obedience, and as the purpose of God was opened before him, he yielded
a willing submission. He was a sharer in Abraham's faith, and he felt
that he was honored in being called to give his life as an offering to
God. He tenderly seeks to lighten the father's grief, and encourages
his nerveless hands to bind the cords that confine him to the altar.
And now the last words of love are spoken, the last tears are shed,
the last embrace is given. The father lifts the knife to slay his son,
when suddenly his arm is stayed. An angel of God calls to the
patriarch out of heaven, "Abraham, Abraham!" He quickly answers, "Here
am I," And again the voice is heard, "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."
Page 153 Then Abraham saw "a ram caught in a thicket," and quickly
bringing the new victim, he offered it "in the stead of his son." In
his joy and gratitude Abraham gave a new name to the sacred
spot--"Jehovah-jireh," "the Lord will provide." On Mount Moriah, God
again renewed His covenant, confirming with a solemn oath the blessing
to Abraham and to his seed through all coming generations: "By myself
have I sworn, saith Jehovah, for because thou hast done this thing,
and hast not withheld thy son, thine only son, 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 seashore; and thy
seed shall possess the gate of his enemies; and in thy seed shall all
the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed My
voice." Abraham's great act of faith stands like a pillar of light,
illuminating the pathway of God's servants in all succeeding ages.
Abraham did not seek to excuse himself from doing the will of God.
During that three days' journey he had sufficient time to reason, and
to doubt God, if he was disposed to doubt. He might have reasoned that
the slaying of his son would cause him to be looked upon as a
murderer, a second Cain; that it would cause his teaching to be
rejected and despised; and thus destroy his power to do good to his
fellow men. He might have pleaded that age should excuse him from
obedience. But the patriarch did not take refuge in any of these
excuses. Abraham was human; his passions and attachments were like
ours; but he did not stop to question how the promise could be
fulfilled if Isaac should be slain. He did not stay to reason with his
aching heart. He knew that God is just and righteous in all His
requirements, and he obeyed the command to the very letter. "Abraham
believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness: an he was
called the friend of God." James 2:23. And Paul says, "They which are
of faith, the same are the children of Abraham." Galatians 3:7. But
Abraham's faith was made manifest by his works. "Was not Abraham our
father justified by works, when he had offered Isaac his son upon the
altar? Seest thou how faith wrought with his works, and by works was
faith made perfect?" James 2:21, 22. There are many who fail to
understand the relation of faith and works. They say, "Only believe in
Christ, and you are safe. You have nothing to do with keeping Page 154
the law." But genuine faith will be manifest in obedience. Said Christ
to the unbelieving Jews, "If ye were Abraham's children, ye would do
the works of Abraham." John 8:39. And concerning the father of the
faithful the Lord declares, "Abraham obeyed My voice, and kept My
charge, My commandments, My statutes, and My laws." Genesis 26:5. Says
the apostle James, "Faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being
alone." James 2:17. And John, who dwells so fully upon love, tells us,
"This is the love of God, that we keep His commandments." 1 John 5:3.
Through type and promise God "preached before the gospel unto
Abraham." Galatians 3:8. And the patriarch's faith was fixed upon the
Redeemer to come. Said Christ to the Jews. "Your father Abraham
rejoiced that he should see My day; and he saw it, and was glad." John
8:56, R.V., margin. The ram offered in the place of Isaac represented
the Son of God, who was to be sacrificed in our stead. When man was
doomed to death by transgression of the law of God, the Father,
looking upon His Son, said to the sinner, "Live: I have found a
ransom." It was to impress Abraham's mind with the reality of the
gospel, as well as to test his faith, that God commanded him to slay
his son. The agony which he endured during the dark days of that
fearful trial was permitted that he might understand from his own
experience something of the greatness of the sacrifice made by the
infinite God for man's redemption. No other test could have caused
Abraham such torture of soul as did the offering of his son. God gave
His Son to a death of agony and shame. The angels who witnessed the
humiliation and soul anguish of the Son of God were not permitted to
interpose, as in the case of Isaac. There was no voice to cry, "It is
enough." To save the fallen race, the King of glory yielded up His
life. What stronger proof can be given of the infinite compassion and
love of God? "He that spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for
us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?"
Romans 8:32. The sacrifice required of Abraham was not alone for his
own good, nor solely for the benefit of succeeding generations; but it
was also for the instruction of the sinless intelligences of heaven
and of other worlds. The field of the controversy between Christ and
Satan--the field on which the plan of redemption is wrought out--is
the lesson book of the universe. Because Abraham had Page 155 shown a
lack of faith in God's promises, Satan had accused him before the
angels and before God of having failed to comply with the conditions
of the covenant, and as unworthy of its blessings. God desired to
prove the loyalty of His servant before all heaven, to demonstrate
that nothing less than perfect obedience can be accepted, and to open
more fully before them the plan of salvation. Heavenly beings were
witnesses of the scene as the faith of Abraham and the submission of
Isaac were tested. The trial was far more severe than that which had
been brought upon Adam. Compliance with the prohibition laid upon our
first parents involved no suffering, but the command to Abraham
demanded the most agonizing sacrifice. All heaven beheld with wonder
and admiration Abraham's unfaltering obedience. All heaven applauded
his fidelity. Satan's accusations were shown to be false. God declared
to His servant, "Now I know that thou fearest God [notwithstanding
Satan's charges], seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only
son from Me." God's covenant, confirmed to Abraham by an oath before
the intelligences of other worlds, testified that obedience will be
rewarded. It had been difficult even for the angels to grasp the
mystery of redemption--to comprehend that the Commander of heaven, the
Son of God, must die for guilty man. When the command was given to
Abraham to offer up his son, the interest of all heavenly beings was
enlisted. With intense earnestness they watched each step in the
fulfillment of this command. When to Isaac's question, "Where is the
lamb for a burnt offering?" Abraham made answer, "God will provide
Himself a lamb;" and when the father's hand was stayed as he was about
to slay his son, and the ram which God had provided was offered in the
place of Isaac--then light was shed upon the mystery of redemption,
and even the angels understood more clearly the wonderful provision
that God had made for man's salvation. 1 Peter 1:12.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_HE79YwImPY
.
- Prev by Date: The Blessings and the Curses [This chapter is based on Joshua 8.] After the execution of the sentence upon Achan, Joshua was commanded to marshal all the men of war and again advance against Ai. The power of God was with His people, and they were
- Next by Date: The Test of Faith [This chapter is based on Genesis 16; 17:18-20; 21:1-14; 22:1-19.] Abraham had accepted without question the promise of a son, but he did not wait for God to fulfill His word in His own time and way. A delay was permitted, to tes
- Previous by thread: The Blessings and the Curses [This chapter is based on Joshua 8.] After the execution of the sentence upon Achan, Joshua was commanded to marshal all the men of war and again advance against Ai. The power of God was with His people, and they were
- Next by thread: The Test of Faith [This chapter is based on Genesis 16; 17:18-20; 21:1-14; 22:1-19.] Abraham had accepted without question the promise of a son, but he did not wait for God to fulfill His word in His own time and way. A delay was permitted, to tes
- Index(es):
Relevant Pages
|
