The Lord Will Provide
Opening Song: https://youtu.be/LuvfMDhTyMA?si=r9jOyuaIwAj5XCcd
This story is about learning to hold on to the people and things we love with an open hand. And with this story we are finishing our series on Abraham. And we are looking at how the Lord provided for Abraham and Sarah from the beginning of the story to the very end. He was faithful through the whole journey. I don’t know about you, but as I look back on my on journey, I can see that there were some tough moments when I didn’t think I could make it another day. There were some nights when tears soaked my pillow. Disappointments, disruptions, pain, and set backs dot the landscape of my journey. But through it all, God has been faithful. How many of you can testify that God has been faithful?
Head/Mind – Helpful Information about our Passage
I want to start with an observation. Christianity and Buddhism agree that the source of most of our suffering comes from trying to hold on to things we cannot keep. Eventually, if we live long enough, we will have to say goodbye to everything and everyone we love. What is the hardest goodbye you have ever had to make? What is the biggest sacrifice that has ever been asked of you?
Read Genesis 22 https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis+22&version=NLT
Verses 1-3 – In our story, God tests Abraham’s faith. The reason for this test is to see whether or not Abraham would still trust God even when the promises of God seemed to be at risk. Now, you may think that this test is unnecessary. After all, isn’t God omniscient? Doesn’t’ he already know the future? The problem with looking at this story as if it were about needing information is that it presumes that all that really matters is what going on within God’s thinking. No one else’s action matter, because God already knows and already controls the outcomes.
But that is not what the Bible teaches. This story is not about whether or not God knows the future. It is about God inviting us to play our part in the story and about how important our role is. If God had only wanted history to be a monologue, played by a singular actor, than creating the universe would have been unnecessary. All he would have really needed was a live studio audience. But that is not the kind of story the Bible is telling or that God has invited us to be part of. Our actions and decisions actually contribute to where the story is going. Thus, they matter. They matter a lot. And so, this story is going to turn in one way or another, based on what Abraham chooses. His decision will open the doors of possibilities, while closing others. This story shows us that, in part, Abraham gets to decide where the story goes next.
Faced with an agonizing choice, would he still trust God, even with his most precious son? The tests will reveal the character Abraham. It will also shape it. Decisions work both ways. They reveal and shape who we are. But what does this test reveal about God’s nature and character?
The gods/goddesses worshiped by Abraham and Sarah’s neighbors often asked for human sacrifices. They were bloodthirsty deities that held human life to be very cheep. The gods Chemosh and Molech craved human blood. Perhaps Yahweh/The Lord was no different from those god’s.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chemosh
Verses 4-5 – This experience would push Abraham to go well beyond anything he has had to do up until this point. His faith would need to stretch like never before, as he steps into the unknown.
When in your life did you have to stretch beyond your comfort zone, beyond what you even thought was possible? When have you had to step into the unknown?
Heart – The Personal Connection
Verses 6 – 8 Isaac asks his father, “Where is the lamb for the sacrifice?” Abraham’s answer shows that he was already beginning to understand that Yahweh/The Lord is very different from the god’s worshiped by their neighbors. Somehow, Abraham knows that the Lord will provide.
Verses 9 – 12 – Yet, it was important for Abraham to trust God completely with his precious son. Abraham had to learn that even this precious promise must be held with an open hand.
The Lord’s answer shows us something about the Lord. He is very different from the god’s worshiped by Abraham and Sarah’s neighbors. He is not a destructive god who wantonly takes life. He is the God who gives life, who is just and good. He is a God who can be trusted in the light of the day and in the darkness hours of the night.
Verses 13 – 14 – As we saw when God cut/made the covenant with Abraham in Genesis 15, God himself will bear the price/cost of our covenant. He himself will give the sacrifice. Of course, as Christians, we see foreshadowed in this story, the Son of God, the sacrifice made on our behalf, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. Ultimately, Abraham didn’t have to give his son away. But millennia later, near that same spot, God would give his Son for us.
Verses 15 – 19 – This episode both reveals something about Abraham and develops within him a more resilient faith. Abraham will be the man of faith it will take for God to move his plans of salvation forward for the sake of the world. Our decisions can bring us into alignment with God’s work in this world or set us in opposition to it. Our decisions reveal and shape our character.
Hands – The Practical Application
Discipleship: Disciples are people who are learning that all things ultimately belong God. And we are learning to hold them with an open hand.
Questions for Discussion: How do we live with gratitude for things/relationships we have, without making the mistake of holding them with a closed hand? How do we learn to hold on to the things and people we love with an open hand?
Closing Song: https://youtu.be/2CeBoSQsBR0?si=qcp_s1zJK96_OLfz