God Has Seen to It!

Genesis 22:1-14

This is a test. This is only a test. You know how those words blare across your screen or across your radio, before that ear-splitting sound comes across, and you know, okay, it’s not really an emergency. Don’t have to worry about it, Abraham got no such warning regarding this. God didn’t say to him. This is a test. This is only a test. Abraham found out later. So just what was the test? There’s a couple ways we could look at it But one of the ways to think about it is God was testing Abraham to see if Abraham was going to be willing to set aside what he could see with his eyes and with his mind and Simply listen to what God said Because as the text begin everything that he sees Looks wrong right I mean the bible is very very clear that god hates god detests human sacrifice And yet here, what does god? Do what does abraham see abraham sees god asking for human sacrifice? Secondly, God has promised Abraham that it’s through Isaac that he’s going to become a great nation, that is, through Isaac that he’s going to inherit the land, and most importantly, it’s through Isaac that the savior of the world is going to come. And what is god telling him to do, sacrifice Isaac? Which all that a person’s logic could see Is that means that I lose the great nation, I lose the land, and most importantly, I lose the savior. So abraham are you going to go by what you see? Or are you going to simply listen to what god says? Not an easy test, amen? So perhaps it’s with some surprise that we read early the next morning Abraham got going, bound up his donkey, cut the wood for the sacrifice Got a couple of servants, got his son isaac and off they went, not really knowing exactly where he was going. God says you worry about that when you get there. I’ll show you I see it And off they go Apparently it was a decent journey because we’re told it wasn’t until the third day That he saw the place now In jewish parlance they will count partians of a day as a full day So it could have been very early on the third day, but there’s some time that has passed How do you think those days were for abraham? What kind of conversation do you have with isaac took that time, huh? And of course god gives us some little insights into a little bit of what was going on Because when they get to the place and abraham recognizes it and god says yep, that’s the place Abraham says to the servants you guys stay here The boy and I are going over there and then we will worship and we will return to you Abraham then takes the wood and puts it on isaac Oh that tells us something That tells us that isaac was not an itty bitty 14 16 18 years old We don’t know what we do know is he had to be big enough strong enough To be able to carry the wood And the hill to which they are on which they are going to be ascending is pretty steep Was isaac willing in this did abraham eventually tell him It kind of seems like maybe he did And we maybe get a peek into isaac’s own willingness To lay aside what he sees And to go with what god says But as they’re walking Isaac says to abraham my father that again the hebrew has the word my Connected to it. I don’t know why the NIV didn’t put it in there My father. Oh, can you imagine Abraham’s heart? When he hears his son say my father And then the emotions of the response yes my son Wow The fire is here, the knife is here, the wood is here for the burnt offering, but where is the lamb? Again, can you imagine Abraham’s heart at that point? Right, Abraham’s answer is accurate. Gentle and really important. What Abraham says is the lord will provide. The hebrew a little more literally, reads The lord will see to it And provide isn’t really a bad translation Because when you take the word provide apart, what is it? pro Video pro is before video is to see so provide is literally to see before Okay, keep that in mind The lord will see to it And Of course in abraham’s mind that probably meant he was sacrificing his son And up they get to the top of that mount it’s not much of a mount but a mount nonetheless And abraham binds isaac Which again, I think tells us something about isaac Could 15 year old isaac have gotten away from 115 year old dad I’m thinking So i’m kind of thinking that at this point abraham must have told isaac what the deal was and isaac Willingly said Okay, if this is what god said for you to do I don’t know that put it on your bucket list But the logic of the situation would seem to make sense And abraham grabs his knife and he’s ready to slay him when all of a sudden from heaven the angel of the lord speaks abraham abraham Here I am Don’t touch him don’t do anything to him now I know That you are a godfuhrer That you are a fuhrer of god Now wait a minute did god know Of course god knew god knows everything But who was it who found out? It was abraham And maybe isaac too That they discovered how much god had grown their faith That they were willing to set aside What their physical eyes and what their human logic could see and deduce And simply listen to what god said And at the end of this my guess is that they walked away from this going wow We did it Kind of like the person who’s training for their first marathon But has never actually run that far And then the day of the marathon comes And they finish And they walk away saying Wow I did it I didn’t know I could do that And I did it And that’s where abraham and isaac get blessed through all of this They did it And then abraham looks up and finally he gets to see something with his physical eyes that makes sense There’s a ram caught in the thicket now A ram who’s caught in the thicket. Do you think that might have made a good deal of noise? I’m thinking, did god miraculously put that ram there at that moment? Maybe, or did the ram just get caught in the thicket at that moment? Maybe, but the ram gets sacrificed in the place of isaac And so the ram becomes a picture of jesus Who is sacrificed in the place of? The people who deserve to die. Oh, but there’s more. Who was it that spoke to Abraham? It’s the angel of the lord And oftentimes when that term angel of the lord is used in the old testament It’s a reference to jesus Oh, who’s speaking to Abraham? Jesus is And oh, is that full of interest? Because later on this site that is that at that point called mount mariah Would have a city built on it. You know the name of that city has Jerusalem, and there was going to be this guy named jesus Who is going to come to Jerusalem? And who is going to carry a cross? And who is going to die on that cross and rise from the dead? As Jesus is talking down from heaven to abraham Where there are some emotions going through Jesus? Obviously we have no idea But just think He is speaking from heaven to say to the father you can spare your son whom you love Put the ram to death in his place A couple thousand years later The father Would look down from heaven and turn his back on his son in anger and judgment And the son would cry out to his father my god my god Why have you forsaken me? Do you think Jesus might have been feeling some emotions as he speaks to Isaac or to Abraham and says spare your son Knowing that a couple thousand years later, he would not be spared. I don’t know, but it sure causes us to think, doesn’t it? And now we refresh a number of the details of this account, and we wonder if god is giving us shadows. Take your son, your only son, whom you love, who is Jesus. He’s the only son whom the father loved Isaac carries the wood up the mountain as jesus carried a wooden cross Isaac seems to be a very willing sacrifice As jesus was a very willing sacrifice That the son was willing to lay down his life So that you and I Would never have to So that you and I Could have a home in heaven because jesus’s forgiving love Opens that door for us And so we’re told that abraham named that place The lord will provide Once again, it’s that same hebrew word The lord will see to it That Right from the very infancy of that nation At that day at that time the nation numbered a whole three abraham, sarah and isaac That was it But from its very infancy god put the region of mariah Also known as mount zion also known as jerusalem Right in the focus of the nation Later on the temple was going to be built in jerusalem The passover sacrifices were only to be made in jerusalem The other sacrifices the burnt offerings and the morning and evening sacrifices were only to be done in jerusalem Why Because that’s the place That’s the place where these sacrifice will be given These sacrifice that wins salvation For us human beings And can you imagine? Abraham had to go along only by what god said to him he could not trust his eyes In amazing grace god has allowed you to see with your eyes No, you weren’t there at the foot of the cross physically But through the eyes of faith in the words of the scripture You know that jesus came to the manger You know that jesus lived you know that jesus died You know that jesus rose You’ve seen it You know it And because god has worked the miracle of faith in your heart you also see What it means That the lord has provided And oh my Has he provided Providing salvation for you for me and for all the world That’s the place On the mountain of the lord The lord will see to it and oh my has he amen And amen