FROM ‘THE LORD WILL PROVIDE’ TO CALVARY
Rev. Bernt P. Tweit
Epistle Lesson;
Romans 8:31-39
Gospel Lesson;
Mark 1:12-15
Sermon Text;
Genesis 22:1-14
Our sermon text for today begins with the three words, "Some time later." I want to just fill in what happened before "Some time later" came. Remember that Abraham was 75 years old, when God called him from the north in Haran, to go to a land that He promised him. That land would come to Abraham’s descendants. It would be the land of Israel. Remember, too, that when Abraham was 75 years old, God told him that he would be the father of many nations. Being seventy-five years old and his wife 65 years old, Abraham and Sarah did not have a son. First off we might say, "How can you be the father of many nations, if you don’t have any children, or you don’t have a son." But, that is what God promised.
Ten years went by and Abraham and Sarah still did not have a son. And so, Sarah and Abraham agreed that Abraham, through Sarah’s maidservant Hagar, would have a son. And a year later, they did. His name was Ishmael. Scripture tells us that Abraham was 86 years old when Ishmael was born. But God came to Abraham and said, "This is not the son of the promise. This is not the son through whom you will be the father of many nations."
Thirteen more years went by. And when Abraham was 99 years old, God came to Abraham and said, "A year from now, a son will be born to you. He is the son of the promise."
And, what God said came true. When Abraham was 100 years old and his wife Sarah was 90 years old, they had a son. They named their son Isaac. He was the son of the promise, through whom Abraham would be the father of many nations.
Well, there was a little turmoil in Abraham’s household. Ishmael became a little bit jealous, he being 14 years older than his half brother Isaac. And he began to pick on Isaac, until Sarah came to Abraham and said, "Hagar and Ishmael can no longer be a part of this household, because Isaac is the son of the promise."
And so, Hagar and Ishmael left, and we are left with Abraham, Sarah, and Isaac, the son of the promise.
How happy that family must have been - having the son that God had promised (granted it took 25 years, but they finally had the son God had promised.) How happy they must have been.
Now, "some time later" comes. And, God asks Abraham to do something that would be very difficult for any mother or for any father. God asks him to sacrifice his one and only son.
I. A Father’s Willing Sacrifice
Here in our text, we see a father’s willing sacrifice. God comes to Abraham and says, "Take your son, your one and only son…" And then, He identifies him and says, "Isaac". We are not talking Ishmael here, we are talking Isaac. I want you to "take your son, your one and only son Isaac, whom you love."
Now, in our household, if a question is asked, or if a statement is said that we just don’t quite understand we say the word, "What?" And, we can almost hear Abraham saying that in his own mind. "What? God, you want me to do what? He is the son of the promise!"
But, Abraham doesn’t say, "What?" Abraham follows God’s command and we see the father’s willing sacrifice. Our text for today tells us even the place to which Abraham and Isaac were to go. It was a journey of about 50 miles. They were in Beersheba, and they were to go to the region of Moriah. Our text tells us it was a three-day journey. You can almost imagine the conversations that were taking place, during those three days.
Then, very specifically, God says, "Sacrifice him (Isaac) there as a burnt offering."
A father’s willing sacrifice.
Our text tells us that Abraham didn’t waste anytime, because it was early the next morning, when he set out for that place to which God had told him to go. He cut the wood. He and his son carried that wood. He carried the fire. And, he carried the knife. And, they went off to that place where God had told them to go.
As they arrive at the place of Moriah, we see the faith of Abraham really play itself out. He tells his two servants to stay where they are, and he and Isaac would go a little bit farther. Notice the wording that is used here. Abraham says, "We will worship and then WE WILL come back to you." Now, obviously both Abraham and Isaac would go to worship, but following God’s command, only one person would be coming back and that is Abraham. So, how is it the case that Abraham could say, "We will come back?" The New Testament answers that question for us. In Hebrews, chapter 11, (often times referred to as the ‘Heroes of Faith’ chapter in scripture), it tells us what Abraham was thinking. It says, "By faith, Abraham, when God tested him, offered Isaac as a sacrifice." He, who had received the promise, was about to sacrifice his one and only son, even though God had said to him, "it is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned." Abraham reasoned that God could raise the dead, and figuratively speaking, he did receive Isaac back from death.
The father’s willing sacrifice.
II. A Son’s Unquestioning Obedience
Today from our text, not only do we see a father’s willing sacrifice, but we also see a son’s unquestioning obedience. After all, it was Isaac who carried the wood, the wood that his father had chopped as fuel for the offering. Isaac carried that wood, himself. Isaac even asked a very good question, during that three-day journey, the only question we know Isaac asked, "The fire and wood are here, but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?"
"Dad, we have everything that we need for the sacrifice. We’ve got the wood. We’ve got the fire. We’ve got the knife. Where’s the lamb? Where’s the lamb for the burnt offering?"
Abraham answered, "God, Himself, will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son."
That answer was enough for Isaac. So we see the son’s unquestioning obedience.
Scripture tells us, "Anyone who loves father or mother more than Jesus is not worthy of Him. Anyone who loves son or daughter more than Jesus is not worthy of Him. Anyone who does not take up his cross and follow Jesus is not worthy of Him."
Well, here we have an unquestioning obedient son, carrying the wood, as he is bound to be the sacrifice at God’s command.
III. A Substitute, Which Was Offered
But, finally we see a substitute that is offered. God himself, the Angel of the LORD, comes to Abraham and tells him to stop. He says his name twice, "Abraham! Abraham! Do not lay a hand on the boy."
Do not put your son to death. I know you fear God. I have offered and provided a ram. That ram is caught in the thicket. The Angel of the LORD stopped Abraham and provided a substitute to be offered in place of Isaac.
My dear Christian friends, as we now have entered the season of Lent, our Old Testament text places itself very nicely into the Lenten Season. It is during the Lenten Season, we see a Father’s willing sacrifice. Scripture tells us,
"God so loved the world
that He gave His one and only Son."
(His one and only Son, Jesus, whom He loves)
The Scripture tells us,
"He who did not spare His own Son,
but gave Him up
for us all.
How will He not also, along with Him,
graciously give us
all things?"
We read those words together in our Epistle Lesson today.
The scriptures also say,
"God presented Jesus
as a sacrifice of atonement,
through faith in His blood."
It is during this Lenten Season that we see a Father’s willing sacrifice – God, our Heavenly Father.
But, we also see a Son’s unquestioning obedience.
Just as Isaac carried the wood for the sacrifice, so also it is Jesus, the Son, who carried the wood of the cross, the very thing that would put Him to death on Calvary.
Just as Isaac was to be the sacrifice, he was to be the lamb, so also Jesus calls Himself the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the whole world.
Just as Isaac was obedient to his father, so also Jesus was obedient to His Father.
Scripture says,
"As a lamb before her sheerer is silent,
so He (Jesus) did not open His mouth."
Jesus was unquestionably obedient to the Will of His Father.
But, the best part of all is that Jesus has become the substitute for you and for me. You see, it is you and I who are ‘Isaac.’ And it is we who should have been put to death, because of our sin. But, just as God provided a ram for Abraham and Isaac, God also has provided a Lamb for you and me. Jesus has become that substitutionary sacrifice.
He is that Lamb
who takes away the sin of the whole world.
We have been redeemed.
We have been bought back from our sin, death, and the power of the devil.
And, we have been given eternal life in Heaven.
Scriptures say, "We have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ, once and for all."
One last, interesting, side-note this morning, before I close. The place to which Abraham and Isaac were asked to go was the region of Moriah. In the Old Testament book of 2 Chronicles, we are told where the mountain of Moriah is. Scripture says, "Solomon began to build the temple of the LORD in Jerusalem on Mt. Moriah." It was on that mountain Abraham said, "The LORD will provide." Today, we travel from that mountain, Mt. Moriah, the LORD will provide. And, we travel to Calvary, (which was a mountain right there in the city of Jerusalem),
where we see our Father’s willing sacrifice,
where we Jesus, the Son’s unquestioning obedience, and
where we see a substitute given for your sin and for my sin.
The LORD does provide.
The Lord certainly does provide. And through faith in His one and only Son, we have eternal life, with the Father, in Heaven!
Amen.
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