The Test of Faith

Text Gen 22 Vs 1-19

Trials test our faith. They reveal what is really in our heart. What do we really love, the Giver or his gifts? Do we really believe that God is sovereign and good, that he will intervene in my life’s circumstances if I obey him? In the words of Hebrews 11, do we really believe that God rewards those who seek him?

My recent bicycle accident tested my faith. It was a small test, but nevertheless it was a test. Was it really an accident, was it a matter of blind chance, or was it planned by God for my good? Would I believe that God loved me even when I felt depressed and hopeless? Was I willing to fight through my feelings and live by faith?

In the same way, the story in Genesis 22 tests Abraham’s faith. This is not the first time. God has previously tested Abraham, and his response has been mixed.

God tested Abraham’s faith when he asked him to leave Ur of the Chaldees for an unknown land. By faith he left not knowing where he was going.

He passed the test.

God tested Abraham’s faith when he went down to Egypt, but this time he failed the test.

God tested Abraham with Sarah’s unbelief, and he failed again. He slept with Hagar and produced Ishmael. In today’s passage God tests him for the final time. The first chapter of the epistle of James provides and excellent summary.

(James 1:2–4) "2 Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, 3 for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. 4 And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing." Genesis 22 is a classic example of James “testing.” Here is how it begins. Verse 1 “After these things God tested Abraham."

Main Point: God Tested Abraham’s Faith

Gordon Wenham feels that this chapter “constitutes the aesthetic and theological summit of the whole story of Abraham…No other story in Genesis, indeed in the whole OT, can match the sacrifice of Isaac for its haunting beauty or its theological depth.”1

SECTION 1. THE TEST

God custom designs the perfect test for each Saint. Like Abraham, each of us will experience many tests throughout life.

When God tested Abraham he put his finger on the one thing our hero was most apt to put before God—his beloved son, Isaac, the one through whom all of God’s promises would be realized.

Peter writes about “faith more precious than gold though tested by fire” (1 Pet. 1:7). God tested Abraham’s faith with fire. He emerged with faith more precious than gold. Let look at five marks of that “faith.”

1st True Faith ripens into trust.

2nd True faith is sacrificial.

3rd True faith is single-minded.

1 Gordon Wenham, Genesis 16-50, (Nashville, Thomas Nelson, 2000) pg 99, 112

2 of 11 4th True faith obeys without demanding an explanation.

5th True Faith is validated by works.

1.1. True faith ripens into trust

True faith is a synonym for Trust.

Trust is more than mental assent to truths.

Trust in God is never perfected in this life.

Trust in God grows through testing. In Abraham’s case it grew through his failures. Through his failure Abraham has learned to trust God in a profound way. This passage contains two references to that trust.

(Genesis 22:5) "5 Then Abraham said to his young men, “Stay here with the donkey; I and the boy will go over there and worship and come again to you.”"

(Genesis 22:7–8) "7 And Isaac said to his father Abraham … “Behold, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?” 8 Abraham said, “God will provide for himself the lamb for a burnt offering, my son.” So they went both of them together." You never know if you trust God until it costs you something (Money, time, vocation, relationships, submission to authority, confrontation, etc.)

1.2. True Faith is Sacrificial

(Genesis 22:1–2) "1 God tested Abraham and said to him, “Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” 2 He said, “Take 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.”" God’s words drive home what it will cost Abraham to obey.

3 of 11 Last week we discussed a father’s love for his son. We felt Abraham’s pain as he sent Ishmael away.

Verse 1 begins “After these thing.” meaning that some time has passed since Isaac’s weaning in the previous chapter. The Rabbis believed that Isaac was in his twenties. Whether 10 years or 20 a second paternal bonding has occurred. But this bond is even stronger. Isaac is the miracle son through his wife, Sarah. In addition, God has specifically confirmed that Isaac is the heir. All of God’s promises will come through him.

God doesn’t hide the pain from Abraham. Verse 2 reads “Your only son…whom you love.”

In addition, God asks him to“Offer him there as a burn offering.” When a burnt offering took place the worshipper slit the animals throat, cut up the carcass into pieces and burned them on the altar one at a time. It was worship. The worshipper was giving himself entirely to God.

God didn’t tell him the name of the Mountain in advance. Verse 2 ends “On one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.” It reminds us of God’s command to Abraham in Genesis 12, forty years prior. “Go…to the land that I shall show you.”

In other words true faith motivates lavish sacrifices for God. God is testing Abraham Abraham’s willingness to do this. Does he have this kind of faith?

This is not a white knuckle club. Why? True faith wants to please God even if it means suffering. That is because true faith has God as its object. That means that it increasingly sees the nature of God’s love and wants to imitate it. God’s love is sacrificial. It is willing to suffer for our happiness. In other words, God’s love is our happiness at God’s expense. Because God

4 of 11 is the object of true faith, the response is a growing desire to love sacrificially.

1.3. True Faith is Single Minded

Abraham responds with single-minded devotion. Last week, when God told Abraham to send Ishmael away, he didn’t argue with him. He didn’t take a few days to think about it. He didn’t procrastinate. The text says that he arose the next morning and sent Hagar and Ishmael into the wilderness of Beersheba. Several years have passed, but Abraham’s decisiveness has only sharpened.

(Genesis 22:3) "3 So Abraham rose early in the morning, saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him, and his son Isaac. And he cut the wood for the burnt offering and arose and went to the place of which God had told him.” God is testing Abraham. Is his faith divided? Is there something else that Abraham loves more than God? If so, God knows that he will serve that thing rather than God. He will compromise God’s will to serve his real god. He will argue with his conscience. He will convince himself that he is really serving God even while he is disobeying. We always serve our real god. And God sends Tests to help us identify the nature, name, and location of that idol.

Abraham was decisive because he had settled the issue of ultimate happiness. He loved Isaac greatly, but he knew Isaac was not the source of his ultimate happiness. In the words of Hebrews 11:11, Abraham “was looking forward to the city that has foundations whose builder and maker is God.”

5 of 11 The greatest temptations to idolatry often come from the gifts that God gives us. It can be the gift of financial prosperity. It can be the gift of relationships. It can be the gift of fame, success, or reputation.

Eve was God’s greatest gift to Adam. When tested, however, Adam chose Eve rather than God.

(Genesis 3:6) "6 So when the woman saw that the tree was good… she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate." God designed this test to sift Abraham’s heart. What does he love? Does he love the gift or the Giver?

Abraham passed the test. He chose the Giver!

1.4. True Faith obeys without demanding an explanation.

God has promised to make Abraham into a great nation—a nation as numerous as the sand on the sea shore and the stars in the sky. He has promised Abraham that kings will proceed from him. This requires a son, but Abraham and Sarah were barren.

Then at age 100 Isaac, the miracle baby, is born.

Now God is asking him to sacrifice Isaac. If Isaac dies, all of God’s promises to Abraham will die also. God will prove himself a liar and deceiver. Wenham says the Abraham is torn between his faith in the divine promises and obedience to the command that threatens to nullify them.”2 God is asking Abraham to obey a command that doesn’t make sense.

In addition, throughout the OT God thoroughly condemns child sacrifice. This was the abominable practice of those who worshipped Baal, Molech, and Chemosh.

2 Ibid, Wenham, pg 113

6 of 11 Despite all of this, Abraham trusts God. He believes to understand. He doesn’t understand to believe. He doesn’t know how God is going to work it out, but he is so convinced of God’s faithfulness, that he is willing to slay his son. He knows that God can never lie or renege on his promises. So, he is convinced that God will raise Isaac from the dead rather than prove himself a liar.

(Hebrews 11:17–19) "17 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." God often asks us to obey him without telling us everything we want to know. He wants us to trust him not our knowledge of the future.

How about you? Are you willing to obey even when you don’t understand?

1.5. True fait is always validated by Works

For all of the above reasons true faith and works can never be separated. Growing obedience testifies to the existence of True Faith.

(James 2:20–24, pg 1012) "20 Do you want to be shown, you foolish person, that faith apart from works is useless? 21 Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up his son Isaac on the altar? 22 You see that faith was active along with his works, and faith was completed by his works; 23 and the Scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness”—and he was called a friend of God. 24 You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone." James point? We are justified by faith alone. James chaired the Counsel at Jerusalem that established this principle. However, James is concerned

7 of 11 that someone would think faith without works is possible. It is not. Works always follow true faith. James point is that on the Day of Judgment God will look at our works to see if we have True Faith.

SECTION 2. THE REWARD

God rewards those who pass his tests. The reward is not eternal life. Why do we say that? God only tests his children, those who belong to him, those already reborn by the power of the HS. So the reward is never eternal life. But God does give temporal rewards, and enhanced eternal rewards to those who pass his tests. Verses 15-18 describe how God rewarded Abraham for passing this difficult test.

(Genesis 22:15–18) "15 And the angel of the LORD called to Abraham a second time from heaven 16 and said, “By myself I have sworn, declares the LORD, because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, 17 I will surely bless you, and I will surely multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven and as the sand that is on the seashore. And your offspring shall possess the gate of his enemies, 18 and in your offspring shall all the nations of the earth be blessed, because you have obeyed my voice.”" This is the last recorded communication between God and Abraham. Note the parallels with God’s first communication, 40 years prior, in Genesis 12. There God promised, “I will bless you.” And “In you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”

In the same way, Genesis 22 ends “I will surely bless you…In your offspring all the nations of the earth shall be blessed.”

Remember, blessing is one of the key themes of Genesis. Abraham’s story begins (Gen. 12) and ends (Gen. 22) with a test. In Genesis 12 God asks Abraham to leave his country and his father’s house for an unknown land and then promises to bless him if he goes.

8 of 11 In Gen 22 God asks Abraham to go to an unknown mountain in Moriah to sacrifice his son. God also rewards obedience with an even more lavish promise of blessing.

What is the lesson? Do not be surprised if God tests us multiple times. Those who pass God’s tests receive his rich blessings. Then God amplifies the tests so that he can expand the blessings.

SECTION 3. APPLICATION

3.1. “Count it all joy when you face various trials”

Why should we count it all joy? Sometimes the tests hurt. They can be painful. Answer: Because pain is a gift from God, but it is the gift no one wants. So God follows “count it all joy when meet various trials” with verse 3. “For you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. 4 … that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing."

3.2. On the Day of Judgment, God will measure your faith by your Works.

Christians and non-Christians will be judged on the basis of our works. How does this square with Justification by Faith alone? Answer: You would need to be perfect to save yourself. You can’t be perfect, but you do need works. They point to the existence of the True faith that does save. Therefore, God will look for works to see if we have true faith. The more works, the more faith, and the greater the reward.

(Revelation 20:12) ". 12 And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Then another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to what they had done."

9 of 11 3.3. Abraham and his son Point us to God and his Son

This story has Jesus Christ written all over it. For example, Abraham sacrificed Isaac on Mt. Moriah. Moriah means “God will provide.” God provided a substitute for Isaac—a Ram.

1,000 years later Solomon built his temple on Mt. Moriah.

(2 Chronicles 3:1) "1 Then Solomon began to build the house of the LORD in Jerusalem on Mount Moriah..." For the next four hundred years the Jews offered animal sacrifices to YHWH on Mt. Moriah. Like the Ram that God provided, each animal was a substitute for the worshipper. Each sacrifice was an act of faith in the Messiah to come.

In the same way, yhe angel of the Lord stopped Abraham from killing Isaac because he had a Substitute in mind. It wasn’t a ram. It was a better Son of Abraham. Remember Jesus Christ was both a Son of Abraham and the Son of God.

As a human, Jesus was Abraham’s true Son. Paul labors to make this point (Galatians 3:15-20). Because he was Abraham’s son, ultimately Christ was able to take Isaac’s place. Like Isaac, Chrst was a miracle baby. His conception and birth were supernatural. Like Isaac, he was a Son of promise. Ultimately, he was the Son that the word Moriah, “God will provide,” referred to. In fact, he was crucified a stone’s throw from Mt. Moriah, the very place where Abraham attempted to sacrifice Isaac.

There is an irony in this story. The death of Isaac threatened the fulfillment of God’s promises. But the death of Christ, the true Son of Abraham, fulfilled all of God’s promises. The death of Christ, Abraham’s true Son, removed Abraham’s sin, Isaac’s sin, and the sins of Abraham’s

10 of 11 billion plus children. Christ’s death would fulfill God’s promises to Abraham.

In other words, it wasn’t through Isaac that God’s promises would ultimately come to pass. It would take the death of both God’s Son and Abraham’s son to bring the promises to pass.

How does this happen?

When a person believes the gospel their faith unites them with Christ. In God’s sight they become all that Christ was and is.

Jesus was a Son of Abraham so you and I become sons of Abraham.

God the Father tested Jesus’ faith. It happened during a forty day fast in the wilderness. It happened in the Garden of Gethsemane. He passed both tests. When you and I believe, God imputes his faith to us.

 Jesus’ faith was perfect trust.

 Jesus faith motivated sacrificial love.

 Jesus faith was single-minded

 Jesus faith was willing to obey without understanding.

 Christ’s works confirmed his faith.

God tested Abraham’s faith. At some point he tests every believer’s faith. We need to pass those tests, but when we don’t, like Abraham, Christ’s perfections cover our imperfection.

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