Title: Mount of Abraham
Contents
Bible Text: Genesis 22:1-14
Abraham's Mountain
Abraham had a son when he was 100 years old. He became a father more like a grandfather than a father. The son, who was born at the age of 100, was so precious that it would not hurt to put it in his eyes. The son grew up in good health. Then one day, the voice of God was heard like a clear blue sky. “Take your son Isaac, the only one you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on the mountain I have told you about,” said the LORD.
No, when you give it to them, they are all raised at any time, so they are offered as burnt offerings. It's not about making sacrifices with animals. It is to offer “your son” and “the only one you love, Isaac,” as a burnt offering.
What is a burnt offering? The animals are caught, skinned, and cut into pieces. Blood is sprinkled on the altar, the intestines and shins are washed with water, and the whole is burned on the altar.
After three days, we arrived at Mount Moriah.
Abraham hears the word of God and quickly puts into practice. “Abraham rose from work in the morning, saddled his donkey, took his two servants and his son Isaac, and cut the wood for the burnt offering, and left, and went to the place God had told him. looked at afar” (verses 3 and 4).
We set off early the next morning after God said it. On the third day, Mount Moriah could be seen in the distance. How many thoughts ran through your head as you rode the donkey for three days? Does it have to be like this? Is it really right to offer a son as a burnt offering?
How many thoughts and prayers must have been repeated as we headed towards Mount Moriah for three days. I heard the voice of human nature in my heart. As a parent, you must have blamed yourself for whether you were really a human being who went to kill your children. As the mind of the spirit and the mind of the flesh struggled, we arrived at Mount Moriah in three days.
How far was the road to Mount Moriah? How hard and troubled was it? But Abraham arrived on Mount Moriah with his son.
They took the wood of the burnt offering and went up to Mount Moriah.
Abraham said to the servants who had been with him, “Wait here with the donkey, and I and the child will go over there to worship, and we will return to you” (verse 5). A person accompanies them (verse 6).
The tree that Isaac is taking up now is called the tree of burnt offering. The person who is going to burn himself carries the propitiatory wood that will burn himself. Here is a scene that comes to mind. It is the scene of Jesus carrying the cross on which he was to be crucified. “Jesus carried his cross and went to a place called the skull (Golgotha in Hebrew). (John 19:7)
Jesus said to his disciples, “If any man would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. (Luke 9:23) “Whoever does not take up his cross and does not follow me cannot be my disciple. will do” (Luke 14:27).
Jesus prayed while looking at the sufferings of the cross. “Father, Father, all things are possible; remove this cup from me. But not as I will, but as you will. Then he woke the sleeping disciples and said, “Get up and go with me, the one who betrays me is near.” (Mark 14:36,42) But all the disciples abandoned Jesus and ran away. Jesus was crucified and put to death for the charge of “blasphemy” at the gathering of the chief priests, elders, and scribes.
Isaac obeyed his father, and Jesus followed God's will. If you do not deny yourself, you will disobey your father. The fear of God and respect for the Father are in the same vein.
Do you love your children? Then give your children to God. It is difficult to give yourself to God, but it is also difficult to give your children to God.
Isaac asks his father. “The fire and wood are there, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?” Abraham said, “My son, God himself will provide a lamb for a burnt offering” (verses 7-8), and he still climbs up the mountain.
He built an altar on Mount Moriah and sacrificed his son.
“When he came to the place that God had told him, Abraham built an altar there, and laid the wood, and bound Isaac his son, and laid it on the wood of the altar, and stretched out his hand, and took the sword, and seized the son” (verses 9-10). .
When Abraham ascended Mount Moriah, he first built an altar. He laid the wood for the burnt offering on the altar and laid his bound son on it.
“By binding his son” Here we see Isaac's faith and obedience. Isaac is the son of promise. He is the son God promised Abraham and gave him as he promised. The son of promise has no complaints. Isaac, who grew up watching the sheep slaughtered and put on the altar to offer burnt offerings, cannot understand why his father bound him. He voluntarily chooses to die.
Isaac's obedience was not at the level of following his father's will as a child. It was absolute faith in God. He believed the words that came out of his father's mouth, saying that God would prepare a lamb for a burnt offering.
Hebrews writes it this way: “When Abraham was being tested, he offered up Isaac by faith, and he was the one who received the promise, but he gave his only son. (Hebrews 11:17) To pass the test, you must have skills, and to pass the test of God, you must have faith. . The father gave his son by faith, and Isaac gave himself by faith.
It is a picture of faith that cannot be found in homes these days. To obey the Father's will is to submit to God's will. You must know that disobeying your parents is coming from the devil who disobeys God.
“Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. Honor your father and mother, which is the first commandment with a promise, that it may go well with you and you may live long on the earth” (Ephesians 6:1-3).
I showed you the fear of God.
When Abraham drew his sword and was about to kill his son, the angel of the Lord called from heaven, "Abraham, Abraham, Abraham." Abraham said, “Here I am. “And the angel said to him, “Do not touch the child, do nothing to him. I know now that you fear God, for you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me” (verses 11 and 12).
Reverence is respect and fear of God. Noah feared God. Without awe, the ark could not be built according to the Word of God. Without the fear of God, Abraham could not offer his son Isaac.
“Blessed is everyone who fears the Lord and walks in his ways. (Proverbs 14:27)
Isaac was blessed wherever he went and whatever he did. Isaac's success is because his father became a channel of blessing. The father must live according to the will of God, and the son must live according to the will of God.
In Genesis 26, God said to Isaac, “Do not go down to Egypt, but live in the land I will show you. If you sojourn in this land, I will be with you and bless you, and I will give all these lands to you and to your descendants. I will fulfill the oath I swore to your father Abraham, and I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky, and I will give all these lands to your descendants. and in your descendants all peoples under the heavens will be blessed, because Abraham obeyed my word and kept my commandments and my precepts” (Genesis 26:2-5).
“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge” (Proverbs 1:7). The rewards of humility and the fear of the Lord are riches, glory, and life. It is said that there are thorns and a snare in the way of the rebellious (Proverbs 22:4-5).
Parents, everyone! Fear God and be blessed. Dear all, I hope you will fear God and receive blessings.
Christianity is awe. In awe is obedience. Isaiah said, “The fear of the Lord is your treasure” (Isaiah 33:6). It is a heart that respects smiling adults as smiling adults. From now on, I hope you will fear God and receive blessings.
“Abraham lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, there was a ram behind him, and his horns were hanging in the bushes. So Abraham went and took the ram and offered it as a burnt offering in his son's place. Because Abraham called the name of the land Jehovah Jireh, to this day people say, “It will be prepared on the mountain of the Lord” (verses 13-14).
Sudden questions are likely to be disconcerting. “The fire and the wood are there, but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?” He answered, “My son, God himself will provide for himself a lamb for a burnt offering,” and it came true. He said this to reassure his son, but God actually prepared a lamb for a burnt offering.
Only those who climb the mountain can conquer it. Abraham conquered Mount Moriah. The mountain that Abraham conquered is more difficult to conquer than Everest. Mount Everest can be climbed by climbers, but Mount Moriah can only be conquered by those who believe and fear the Lord. God saw Abraham's faith there. He was recognized as one who feared God. Abraham is absolute faith and absolute obedience.
A luxury life is not built with your innate status and inherited wealth, but with sincerity to yourself in the face of fate. Fidelity to God is what created a luxury faith. The people who made their lives a luxury, lived by faith "notwithstanding", not "because".
The place where he obeyed despite the command to offer his son as a burnt offering is Mount Moriah. True religion originated in the mountains. Mount Moriah, that mountain, raised Abraham as a great believer.