Essential 100—Read:
Genesis 21:1-22:9
“Some time later God tested Abraham…‘Take your son, your only son, Isaac, whom you love, and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains I will tell you about.’” ~Genesis 22:1
I’m guessing this story in Genesis 22 raises a few questions for you. I mean, doesn’t this “Divine ask” violate everything we know and trust about the character of God? How could a loving God ask such a cruel thing of Abraham? And if God did that to Abraham, doesn’t that raise the question of what kind of tests will he put me through?
If you’re feeling a little upset with “the God who tests” about now, here is my advice: Relax, take a deep breath, and step back for a broader view of God. Once you go a little deeper into this story and look at it through the lens of the entire Bible, here is what you will come to understand about Divine tests:
First of all, God’s tests are never without preparation. Notice the very first line of this story: “Some time later…” With God, time comes before testing. Typically, the word “test” conjures up negative images. Tests are the enemy; they are set-ups for failure; the harder the test, the more unfair the teacher. But those kinds of tests and that kind of teacher have no place in an accurate theology of God. This test came only after the events of Abraham’s life that took place between Genesis 12 and Genesis 22.
God didn’t suddenly spring this test on Abraham—and he’ll never spring one on you. This is no pop quiz; it is not without context. Abraham has now walked with God for about 30 or 40 years, and God has been preparing him through lesser tests all along the way. God didn’t test him like this until he knew Abraham was equipped for it. And God will never give you a test that you cannot pass.
Divine tests only come when you are prepared!
Second, God’s tests are never without purpose. In Genesis 22:12, the Lord stops Abraham from slaying Isaac, and says, “Now I know that you fear God.” This word “test” is used eight times in the Old Testament when God does the testing and each time it is used in the Old English sense of the word, “to prove.” God’s testing is not to expose, but to establish. When God says, “now I know”, that wasn’t for God’s benefit, it was to give Abraham confidence that his faith in God was no foolish faith. You see, Abraham’s faith was tested, God’s faithfulness was tested, and both were established as trustworthy in Abraham’s mind.
Divine tests will always prove that your faith in God is never misplaced.
And third, God’s tests are never without provision. Genesis 22:14 says, “So Abraham called the place ‘The LORD will provide.’” The emphasis here is not on the provision, but “the Lord who provides.” The most important provision for Abraham is a prophetic revelation of the person of God and his plan. The physical provision, whatever that might be, is always secondary to a deeper revelation of the One who provided it, and his purpose for providing it. Through this test, Abraham learned what God wants you to learn: He is the Lord who provides!
Divine tests always result in a deeper revelation of God to you.
Now that you know about divine tests, dare you say, “bring it on!”?
“All I have seen teaches me to trust the Creator for all I have not seen.” ~Ralph Waldo Emerson
Reflect and Apply: Are you going through a test of faith right now? If so, begin to look for a deeper revelation of who God is, a clearer sense of what God has planned, and a practical way to express trust in his character.
There are two reasons this is one of my favorite passages in the Bible: Abraham’s faith and its prophetic nature. What it teaches us about God could be a third.
Never did Abraham question what was spoken to him. You may suggest he accepted it so readily because he knew God and his angel so well. So in recognizing the voice he would know it was God. I cannot see a modern Christian doing this. Christians are often told that Satan is a deceiver and a counterfeit. When something would seem to violate God’s character, he would assume it to be the deceiver speaking. “Get thee behind me, Satan,” would be the first words out of his mouth.
Job was quick to answer his three friends as they criticized and rebuked him for his wickedness. Why should he not? They were offering only their opinions. Elihu he did not answer. He said not a word to him. Why? As soon as this young man began speaking he professed to speak for God. As Elihu spoke of the creation and things too great for him to know, all as ammunition to use against him, Job remained silent. Even if he knew the young man to be lying, he dared not open his mouth to a man claiming to be a prophet. Among what he said was that Job had brought all these terrible things upon himself because of his wickedness, but if he repented, God would refresh his days and restore his riches. Neither did any of the elders who were there interrupt the young man. God appeared in the whirlwind to set the record straight. If Elihu was speaking for him, he never would have appeared. But appear, he did. Elihu was the first to be rebuked. He was multiplying words in God’s name to counsel Job. Job was later rebuked for contending with the Lord. While there is no record of Elihu again speaking, Job did and he was justified before his three friends and before all the people of that region.
How about Joshua? In Joshua 5:13-15 a man, a stranger who had infiltrated their ranks with a sword faced him. When Joshua questioned him, that man claimed to be captain of the host of the Lord. The leader of Israel fell on his face before him and he did all that was commanded of him. Jericho fell because of his obedience.
What would you do if someone stepped into your church making such claims? Would you do as he commanded? I trust not. Would you ever suffer to hear what he had to say?
Abraham was commanded to sacrifice Isaac. Can you not see Satan standing before God in heaven? God would say: “Have you considered my servant Abraham? There is none like him on the face of the earth. He has done all I have spoken to him. He has left his entire family and heritage behind for the sake of a promise I made to him. There is not a man of such great faith upon the face of the whole earth. Yet there is nothing he would withhold from me.” Satan might answer: “If you take away from him that is most precious to him, he will deny you. And if you command him to offer up his son for a burnt offering, then he will curse you to your face.”
So God commanded the angel to go and tell Abraham to offer up his son Isaac on a mountain in the land of Moriah. When Abraham heard it he never doubted the promise. He knew if he did this terrible thing yet would God raise his son again from the dead. For all things God says must come to pass. He knew not how, but Isaac must live no matter what happened that fateful day.
Three days Abraham’s resolve was tested as he journeyed northward. What he was told about this site he recognized from a distance. It was probably a hill outside a town called Jebus, which we call Jerusalem. It was probably called “The Skull.” We now call it Calvary. “In this mount it shall be seen.”
God would never ask anyone to do something he himself would not do/will not do.
He stopped Abraham from fulfilling his task, but God himself fulfilled it upon Christ on that same site.
The ram Abraham offered wore a thorny crown, for it was caught in the thicket by its horns, just as Absolom, the son of David, was lifted up from the earth by his thorny crown, only to be killed by three darts, representing the three nails which hung our Lord on the cross.
As we see, God had a very much broader view of what would need to transpire to bring in his everlasting salvation. None of these soldiers of faith faltered when they were tried. They knew God’s will would be done, and nothing comes to pass apart from his will. They all put themselves in jeopardy because of their faith, and God saw them through their trials. They remain examples faith because of what others called foolishness.
michael