Genesis
22:1-3 Now it came to pass
after these things that God tested Abraham, and said to him, “Abraham!” And he
said, “Here I am.” Then He said, “Take now your son, your only son Isaac,
whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt
offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.” So Abraham rose
early in the morning and saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with
him, and Isaac his son; and he split the wood for the burnt offering, and arose
and went to the place of which God had told him.
Last
Sunday, Pastor Kyle continuing in his Sermon series based on the book of
Genesis started out by explaining that the practice of sacrificing your
children is a pagan practice and not God’s practice. The point of God’s request
was to test Abraham’s faith. Year’s before, God made a covenant promise with
Abraham: Genesis 17:19-21 God said: “No,
Sarah your wife shall bear you a son, and you shall call his name Isaac; I will
establish My covenant with him for an everlasting covenant, and with
his descendants after him. And as for Ishmael, I have heard you. Behold, I
have blessed him, and will make him fruitful, and will multiply him
exceedingly. He shall beget twelve princes, and I will make him a great nation. But
My covenant I will establish with Isaac, whom Sarah shall bear to you at
this set time next year.” God will never tempt us with a sinful, evil temptation.
Plenty of historical record points to God’s testing of his people’s obedience
to Him.
Deuteronomy
8:2 “And you shall
remember that the Lord your God led you all the way these forty years
in the wilderness, to humble you and test you, to know what was in
your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not.”
Abraham
knew that the request came from Creator God, who has always provided for him
and never let him down. Abraham believed in his heavenly Father God’s promise
and trusted that God had a plan, even though he did not know or see it yet. Hebrews
11:17-19 tells us: “By faith Abraham,
when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises was
in the act of offering up his only son,18 of whom it was said, “Through
Isaac shall your offspring be named.”19 He considered that God was able
even to raise him from the dead, from which, figuratively speaking, he did
receive him back.” Know that relational strife is a constant in a fallen
world. Do not make the mistake in believing that God will never put anything in
front of us that we cannot handle. What we can trust in is that we will never
be in a temptation or trial that God cannot or will not get us out of.
1
Corinthians 10:13
“No temptation has overtaken you that is
not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted
beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of
escape, that you may be able to endure it.”
God
never tempts us, but our faith will be tested. We are not to tempt or test God.
In Luke
4:12, Jesus answered him, “It
is said, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’” God
is our Sovereign Lord. His testing reveals the true colors of our faith, which
is the true condition of our heart.
Let
stop here and continue Pastor Kyle’s message on the subject of ”the testing of
our faith” on the next post.
In
Christ, Brian
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