Title: Obedience of Abraham (Genesis 22:1-19)
Contents
Abraham's Obedience (Genesis 22:1-19)
There are people whom God really likes. It is a man of obedience. Why? It is because obedience not only includes the elements of respect, faith, love, and all kinds of beautiful faith for the one who spoke, but also because obedience to the Word brings blessings to God's children.
In today's text, there is a story of Abraham offering his only son, Isaac, whom he loved, to God, but in fact, this story foreshadows that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, will obey the Father's word and die for us in the future. In fact, Mount Moriah, where Abraham sacrificed Isaac, is the very place on Mount Calvary where Jesus died on the cross. How beautiful was the obedience of Abraham and Isaac, how could they have been a type of Jesus Christ? I hope that all of our members will become obedient people that will please God the most.
So what kind of obedience was Abraham's obedience?
1. It was obedience of love.
Verse 2 says, “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 a mountain as far as I will show you,” says the Lord. Please remember what you did.
He was the son that Abraham loved. He was the son he had waited for for decades and was born at the age of 100, so he had no choice but to be so precious. Besides, how obedient is Isaac? In the text, he is a child who obeys even though his father is about to make a sacrifice by tying him up and stabbing him with a sword. But Abraham obeyed God's word.
In this way, God wants us to give up even the things we love the most for His sake. People are easily obedient to things that have little to do with them, but they are not very good at things related to their own interests or greed. It is as if King Saul kept the good things for himself and destroyed all the low things in the words of God to destroy everything. But when I am able to obey even the most cherished thing before God, that becomes true obedience. This is the obedience of love that comes from loving God.
2. It was humility and obedience.
Verse 1 says, "God called Abraham to the test, and he said, "Abraham," and he said, "Here I am." The answer “Here I am” is not a simple answer, but a confession of one’s position, always ready to submit to God.
With such humility, he obeyed even when he did not understand. God commanded the sacrifice of Isaac without any explanation. You always gave it, but now you have to give it. Why does God give it to you in the first place and then take it away? It's incomprehensible. However, because I was humble before God, I was able to obey without knowing the will.
There are many things that we do not understand when we are living our life of faith. However, as time passed, I realized that there was a deep will of God. It was a request that made no logical, common sense, or doctrinal understanding. However, as time passed, I realized God's deep will. Because Jesus was also humble, he was able to obey the Father's words.
3. It was zealous obedience.
Verse 3 says, “Abraham got up early in the morning, saddled his donkey, and took his two servants and his son Isaac.” Getting up early in the morning shows that Abraham was immediately obedient. I didn't hesitate in the slightest. I did not hesitate to say that I was crippled despite the huge requests. It was obedience without delay, unlike Lot of Sodom, where an angel grabbed his hand and dragged him.
God designated a mountain to glean, and it was three days long. Isn't that the way to go by car? Moreover, since it is the road of death, how heavy is the heart of an ordinary person? It was a difficult and difficult road. Still, Abraham did not use his own expedient, but obeyed the word.
Conversely, look at his zealous nephew Lot. When the angel told Lot to flee to the mountains to escape Sodom and Gomorrah, didn't he refuse and choose Zoar, which is small and easy to avoid? Abraham's obedience was not such a reluctant obedience. No father would enjoy the death of his son, but if it was God's word, it was more than obedience.
4. It was constant obedience.
Verse 4 says, “On the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes and saw the place.” It took three days to reach Mount Moriah, which God had instructed. Why did God not tell us where to go, and tell us to go three days and make sacrifices? This included God's intention to test Abraham. Three days is a period when you can change your mind.
There is a saying in Korean, ‘Jaksim 3 days’. Even if you make a big decision, it is normal to falter after three days. Even now, God sees a considerable period of time when he tests us.
5. It was the obedience of faith.
Verse 5 says to the servants, “Wait here with the donkey, and I will go over there with the child to worship, and then I will return to you.” The word return is in the first person plural, which means "we will return." Obviously, after sacrificing his son, he would have to come alone, but he said we were. But Abraham had faith that even if he sacrificed Isaac, God would raise him up.
That's why the writer of Hebrews said, "He thought that God was able to raise him from the dead, so in a parable, he received it back from the dead" (Hebrews 11:19). Why would you think that? Because God promised that he would make a great nation through Isaac, and that the Messiah would come from his descendants, he was convinced that God's words were never spoken with one mouth or two. Because of this faith, he tied up Isaac and raised his sword high.
How great is this belief? Even if Isaac is stabbed to death by the sword, it would be difficult to live, but the burnt offering is a sacrifice that is made by cutting the body parts and burning them into ashes. So Abraham's obedience is the obedience of faith. As a result of obedience, God praised Abraham and granted him all kinds of beautiful blessings.
6. It was complete obedience.
Although it is not recorded, Abraham obeyed, removing even the temptation factor that might hinder his obedience. I did not discuss it with my wife Sarah. Men are rational, but women are not emotional? If he had consulted with such a wife, Adam would have listened to Eve and became a group eating good and evil. And even though I am a person of faith, it is difficult to say positively because I am a person who has listened to me on one leg. So he may have offered to offer some good cows instead of Isaac. Or maybe I would have died for you.
Also in verses 5 and 6, Abraham had his servants wait at the bottom of the mountain, and he had Isaac go up with a load of wood. Abraham had his servants stay there because it might interfere with his obedience. Therefore, for complete obedience, Abraham cast aside all elements of temptation and obeyed.
Dear saints,