Pastor Mark Nieting
Genesis 22: 1-14
The first promise in Scripture was recorded in these words, pronounced by God upon Satan. “I will make you and the Seed of the woman enemies. You will bruise His heel, but He will crush your head.” (Gen 3:15) Satan had plenty of reason to tremble, even given the power he had as an archangel from creation. And Adam and Eve had plenty of reason to hope.
When Cain was born, Eve remembered the promise. She held her first-born son and marveled, “I have received a man, the Lord.”
But Cain wasn’t the Promised One. Neither was Abel.
Generations would come and go, LONG generations. Seth, Enoch, Methuselah, Noah, Heber, Terah, Genesis 6, 10 and 11 tells the whole story, they all carried the Seed. Finally, on a starry night in the Land of Ur of the Chaldees, God chose Abraham as the one who would carry the Promise.
Abraham and Sarah moved on into Israel, and the years moved on, and on, and on, and still no Seed was born. A CHILD was finally born, to Abraham’s servant girl….but it wasn’t the child of the promise.
More years passed. In a time when God had put a limit on life-spans, Abraham neared the century mark and Sarah was 90. The promise, GOD’S promise, hung by a thread, or so it seemed. Until God came by one day and reminded Abraham…and Sarah… of His promise. The line, and the promise, would be continued!
Nothing is ever too hard for God!
In time the child was born; a son named Isaac, which means “laughter.” The name reflected Sarah’s incredulous response and, ultimately, the joy of both of them. Was THIS the One who would crush the Evil One?
Isaac grew: a toddler, a child, a teen, finally a young man.
Then came the time of testing. You know the story well; Genesis 22 is the text for today. God came to Abraham with a horrible request. The God of promises became the God of the dreadful command.
“CHOOSE, Abraham! Choose ME or choose Isaac!”
What would YOU have done?
Abraham had made his choice decades ago. He would serve the Living God.
The next morning he got out of bed without arousing his dear wife. He called Isaac and they left the tent, gathered wood and headed toward Mount Moriah……a 3 day walk.
It must have been long for both of them; Isaac wondering why his father was so quiet, Abraham wondering what he had done to offend God. But neither of them looked back until they arrived, tied up the donkey and went to the top of the hill. Isaac carried the wood. Abraham carried only a knife.
The legacy of Abel lived on……Isaac expected a LAMB to be the sacrifice, and there wasn’t one. “Where is the Lamb,” he asked his father.”
“God will provide, my son,” Abraham answered. Isaac laid the wood on the altar he had built and Abraham tied Isaac up and laid him on the wood. Scripture records no dialog. Abraham wasn’t going to argue with God as he had done several times earlier. He knew arguing with God wasn’t an option.
WHAT, Abraham must have wondered, would happen? What would become of the PROMISE? Who would crush Satan’s head? It all seemed to be coming to an end on the altar of Mt. Moriah.
Doesn’t your mind become cluttered with “what if’s” at this point? Mine has, quite often!
- What if Abraham offered his own substitute?
- What if Abraham had chosen his son and not his God?
- What if Isaac had taken off running?
- What if Abraham had told his son it was his idea, not Gods?
- What if Isaac had seen his father’s hand tremble, even for a second?
Would there be bargaining with God? No! There would be no “what if’s.” Faith came first and faith was foremost. Aware of the loneliness that would follow; aware of the ending of the promise, Abraham’s hand was poised for the blow.
“Abraham! Abraham!” An angel intervened at the very last opportunity.
Faithful no matter what…..Abraham passed His Lord’s test.
The angel pointed to the ram, the male sheep, caught by its horns in the brambles of the hilltop. Imagine Isaac’s relief as he helped his father tie the lamb onto the same firewood that still held his imprint? As he saw the flames leap and rejoiced he wasn’t in them?
When their worship was over, Abraham named the place, “Jehovah-Jireh; God will provide.” I’m sure Isaac didn’t argue with him.
Abraham is the father of all who are faithful to God; first of the Jewish tradition and finally of the Christian faith as well. His story has been told for millennia: his faithfulness has never been missed, the lamb has always been there……a substitute sacrifice provided by God for God’s people to go on living in God’s promise.
Last week we talked “TYPES,” shadows of things to come.
There is shadow…..then there is substance.
There is type……….then there is reality.
What are the lessons of the Lamb on the Mountain?
Let no man, ever in time, forget that God is perfect….and that we are sinners. One cannot abide the presence of the other: my sin, God’s righteousness…..they are mutually exclusive. “The wages of sin is death,” Paul would write to the Romans….and the Virginians.
Aren’t we all Isaacs…..doomed by the perfection of God and His demands that we too be perfect? Isn’t that what Jesus told us in the Sermon on the Mount? (Matt 5: 48) Isn’t God as Good as His Word?
But there is a Lamb on the Mountain…..caught in the bushes. He has become entangled in the terrible arms of the wood of the cross; a substitute has been offered on the altar before God, crucified to carry my sins and your sins straight to hell.
Better them…… than us. Bet HIM than me…. or you.
The Lamb is bound by nails……offered in unending obedience; the Son’s offering to the Father……and as a result, we are set free. We are loosed from what binds US.
Some day some enterprising archeologist like Paul Maier may find the pillar of stones called Jehovah-Jireh. Until then, it will remain lost.
But the LAMB….. the LAMB that God provided, has NEVER been lost.
He is ours.
He is our Savior!
