Tag: divine testing

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The Rewards of Passing a Divine Test

Passing a divine test brings extravagant rewards.

passing a divine test

In the previous posts we have seen in Genesis 22 that God tested Abraham by commanding him to journey to a distant mountain and there sacrifice his son Isaac. Abraham obeyed God, to the point that he was moments away from slaying his son—when the Angel of the Lord interrupted him.

And suddenly everything returned to normal. The Angel of the Lord tells Abraham, “Do not lay your hand on the boy or do anything to him, for now I know that you fear God, seeing you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me.” Notice what God commends in Abraham: “Now I know that you fear God.” Abraham’s reverence for God’s holiness results in obedience without reservation. This is true love for the Lord. If we fear him, we withhold nothing.

Behold

Abraham looks around “and behold, behind him was a ram, caught in a thicket by his horns” (v. 13). The narrator used “behold” twice in this story. Behold adds emphasis. The narrator first used behold when Isaac was carrying the wood up the mountain and said to his father, “Behold, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?” (v. 7). Isaac’s question is ultimately answered in verse 13 with the matching “Behold, behind him was a ram.” In this way the narrator highlights these two sentences in yellow and draws a line between them. Abraham takes the ram and offers it in Isaac’s place.

However, an important shift has occurred. Ascending the mountain, Isaac had asked about the lamb for sacrifice, and Abraham had spoken in faith that God would provide the lamb (vv. 7–8). A lamb is a young sheep, but what Abraham found caught in the thicket was a ram, a mature male sheep with horns. This shift is not accidental. The two beholds mentioned above focus attention. From our perspective having both the Old and New Testaments in our hands, we know there is more to this story than the testing of Abraham. This event foreshadows Jesus. It ultimately pictures the Lamb who is a Ram. He is both. He is the sacrificial Lamb killed as a substitute, but he is the powerful Ram with horns of royal authority. Jesus is the Lord. Yet, as Abraham said, this is the Lamb God would provide. Just as Isaac was bound and silently, willingly let himself be placed on the wood, so our Lord and Messiah let himself be arrested, was silent before his shearers, and willingly died on the wood he had carried. Jesus’ death on the cross was a sacrifice.

Surely

After Abraham sacrifices the ram on the altar in Isaac’s place, the Angel of the Lord calls to him a second time from heaven: “By myself I have sworn, declares the LORD, because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, 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, and in your offspring shall all the nations of the earth be blessed, because you have obeyed my voice.” (vv. 16–18)

Once again a test functions as a bridge to a glorious future, as a stairway to a higher calling. Notice the repetition of “surely”: “I will surely bless you, and I will surely multiply your offspring.” The repetition reinforces the certainty intended by the opening words, “By myself I have sworn.” By passing this test, Abraham made something certain that apparently would have been uncertain had he withheld Isaac. God would not bless what Abraham withheld to the degree he would bless what he surrendered. The Lord reaffirmed three previous promises—(1) blessing [Gen. 12:2], (2) numerous offspring [Genesis 15:5. This is the first time that God says Abraham will have offspring as numerous as the sand on the seashore], (3) and being a blessing to the nations [Gen. 12:3]—and added a new promise: Abraham’s offspring will possess the gate of his enemies.

Jesus

This added promise is significant. The offspring to whom it refers is Jesus Christ, and his enemies are the demons of this world and their ruler, the archenemy of God, Satan himself. God is promising Abraham that Jesus will completely defeat Satan and his kingdom of darkness. As Jesus promised Peter, “I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it” (Mat. 16:18). In other words, through Abraham’s offspring Jesus Christ, God will remedy the problem of evil. It is evil that has brought pain and sorrow to humanity throughout history, and it is Jesus who will conquer it.

God links that reversal in the world’s fallen condition to Abraham’s obedience. Abraham could not save the world, for he too is marked by sin, but because of Abraham’s obedience God made the sinless Savior his offspring. Because Abraham passed the test, Jesus the Redeemer would be his descendant.

Passing a divine test brings increase

In this narrative God commends Abraham for three things. “You fear God” (v. 12). “You have not withheld your son” (v. 12). “You have obeyed my voice” (v. 18). God tested Abraham for these qualities and likewise tests us. Do we fear God, revering him as holy and trembling at his words? Will we withhold anything from him, in particular what we love most? Will we obey his voice, taking all his words seriously? If we pass the test, God’s heart is to reward us extravagantly.

In some way God always increases what we surrender to him. Sooner or later he rewards sacrifice in larger, lasting ways, in this age or the age to come, in physical or spiritual blessings. One Isaac surrendered to God became offspring as numerous as the stars in the sky and the sand by the seashore. One difficult act of obedience led to the descendent whose perfect obedience leads all God’s people to obedience and salvation. Jesus said, “Everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or lands, for my name’s sake, will receive a hundredfold and will inherit eternal life” (Mat. 19:29). And, “Unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit” (John 12:24). By surrendering Isaac, Abraham kept him for the rest of his life and forevermore. God is infinitely good to those who pass the trial of surrender.

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In Every Test Is a Moment of Truth

In Genesis 22 Abraham’s action shows the reality of his faith.

Genesis 22 and the moment of truth

In the previous posts we have seen in Genesis 22 that God tested Abraham by commanding him to journey to a distant mountain and there sacrifice his son Isaac. We considered Abraham’s thoughts as he took that journey with attention to what Abraham knew about God that enabled him to obey. Below we see Abraham in the moment of truth.

What Abraham does

By the time they reach the mountain in Moriah, Abraham has concluded that God will indeed provide a lamb that will substitute for the sacrifice of his son Isaac. He stops short of the site for sacrifice and there leaves his two servants and donkey. He puts the wood on Isaac’s back and takes the fire and knife. As they walk to the site, Isaac recognizes the obvious and says, “Behold, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?”

From the overflow of his heart, Abraham’s mouth speaks. “God will provide for himself the lamb for a burnt offering, my son.” The Lord had not told Abraham that explicitly, but Abraham knew God, and based on everything he knew about him and what God had told him he concluded this was what God would do. He set his faith on it. All his life, including decades as a sojourner in the Promised Land, he had seen God provide everything he needed, and what he needed now more than anything was a lamb as a substitute for his son Isaac. Whatever he truly needed, he believed God would provide.

Building an altar

Meanwhile what he needed was to obey the Lord’s command, and that he does. Father and son arrive at the site for sacrifice. With solemn confidence Abraham builds an altar. On it he carefully arranges the wood. He turns to his son, his only son Isaac, and without delay proceeds to bind his hands and feet. His heart is settled; he will not withhold his beloved son from the Lord. He has already given him to God in his heart, and now he will give him as a sacrifice. He wraps his arms around his beloved son, trusting this will not be the last time he holds him close, lifts him, and lays him on the wood of the altar. God gives the old man physical strength to lift his son’s weight, some 50–100 pounds, and God gives him emotional strength to take knife in hand.

Isaac’s trust

Isaac is surprisingly passive. He did not resist as Abraham bound his hands and feet. He did not object. Isaac did not struggle to make it impossible for Abraham to place him on the altar. He does not twist and kick to roll off the altar, as he certainly could have. Why not? Did he have the same confidence as his father? Did he believe what his father had assured him, that God would provide a lamb? Had he surrendered himself to God in the same trusting way his father had surrendered him? Did he trust Abraham the way Abraham trusted God?

The story repeats an important sentence two times: in verse 6 it says, “So they went both of them together.” Again in verse 8 the identical words: “So they went both of them together.” This repetition is wrapped around the crucial interchange in verses 7–8, where Isaac said, “Behold, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?” and Abraham replied, “God will provide for himself the lamb for a burnt offering, my son.” Father and son are in this “together.” They both choose to trust and obey God.

Now that the knife is in Abraham’s hand, God has seen enough. He knows everything he wanted to know from this test. The Angel of the Lord cries out, “Abraham, Abraham!”—a twofold repetition, which conveyed intimacy.

Here am I

This interruption Abraham was expecting. Slowly, firmly, with reverence for the God he loves more than Isaac, Abraham replies. “Here am I.” This is the third time in the narrative that Abraham says, “Here am I.” The first was when the test began. God broke the silence by calling his name, and Abraham replied, “Here am I.” The second time Abraham said this was at the pivotal moment when he and Isaac were climbing the mountain. Isaac broke the silence: “My father.” And Abraham replied, “Here am I, my son.” And Isaac asked the million-dollar question: “Behold, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?” The third time Abraham said these words is now, at the moment of salvation as God intervenes to answer Abraham’s faith and spare Isaac. “Here am I” reveals Abraham’s heart, that he is available to God his Father and Isaac his son, responsive not withdrawing, near not far, open not closed, listening not ignoring. Through the threefold repetition of “Here am I” the author of this narrative calls quiet attention to Abraham’s intimacy with God and Isaac, a closeness that withstood the sternest trial.

A heart of love

In the midst of this test Abraham could have closed his heart toward either God or Isaac in an attempt to maintain emotional consistency. One might think Abraham had to choose between them. But in his holy heart that was not so. Abraham did not close his heart toward either. His wholehearted love for and trust in God were so great that he was able to maintain wholehearted love toward Isaac even as he surrendered him. In relation to God, perfect love, trust, and surrender integrate one’s heart.

an immersion in God's love
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What We Know about God When He Tests Us

Although we know little in a divine test, we do know God can be trusted.

In the previous post we saw in Genesis 22 that God tested Abraham by commanding him to journey to a distant mountain and there sacrifice his son Isaac. Abraham acted without delay to collect the necessary supplies and depart with Isaac and several servants on the journey.

What Abraham knows

All the while Abraham is thinking. As he rides his donkey for three days to the mount in Moriah, as he lay each night under the stars—reminding him, no doubt, of God’s promise to give him offspring as countless as the stars—he tries to understand what is happening. He pieces together clues from what God has revealed about himself. Abraham knows that the Lord wants committed relationships, for God had made a covenant with him. That means he is a faithful God who would not revoke his promises. Abraham never forgot his vision in which God appeared in the form of a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch and followed the human practice of covenant-making by passing between the sundered halves of slaughtered animals (see Genesis 15:17). By this God said that if he breaks the covenant, let the same happen to him that happened to the slaughtered animals. Abraham knows beyond doubt that the Lord is not betraying him.

God understands your situation

He also knows that his other son Ishmael, who is the offspring of his union with Sarah’s servant Hagar, is not the son through whom the chosen people would come. God told him years before, “Through Isaac shall your offspring be named” (Gen. 21:12). So Abraham knew God had chosen Isaac alone as the line of descent through which he would fulfill his promises to Abraham. When God commanded Abraham to sacrifice Isaac, he even called attention to Isaac’s crucial role by calling him “your son, your only son Isaac” (Gen. 22:2, italics added), although Abraham also had Ishmael.

This was God’s subtle reminder that he had not forgotten what he said about Isaac. As Abraham rode his donkey for three days to the mountain in Moriah, perhaps God’s words repeated in his mind, like a clue to a puzzle, “your only son Isaac…your only son Isaac…your only son Isaac.” By these words Abraham knows that somehow, despite this sacrifice, Isaac must live.

God can do anything

He knows more. He knows nothing is impossible for the one who enabled him and Sarah to have a child in old age. God told him that when he appeared to Abraham one year before Isaac’s birth and announced that the promised child was soon to come. Sarah overheard the announcement and laughed, and the Lord took issue with her. “The LORD said to Abraham, ‘Why did Sarah laugh and say, “Shall I indeed bear a child, now that I am old?” Is anything too hard for the LORD?’” (Gen. 18:13–14, italics added). Abraham now reasons that the one who can do anything can raise the dead.

The New Testament actually provides an inspired glimpse into Abraham’s mind during this test:

“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, of whom it was said, ‘Through Isaac shall your offspring be named.’ He considered that God was able even to raise him from the dead, from which, figuratively speaking, he did receive him back.” (Heb. 11:17–19, italics added)

God only does what is right

He knows more. He knows the Judge of all the earth does only what is right. Abraham himself had said that to God many years earlier when the Angel of the Lord came to him and revealed his intention to investigate the outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah. Abraham interceded for the cities in order that his nephew Lot and his family would not perish with them. He asked God to spare the cities if 50 righteous people could be found in them and appealed to God’s nature: “Far be it from you to do such a thing, to put the righteous to death with the wicked, so that the righteous fare as the wicked! Far be that from you! Shall not the Judge of all the earth do what is just?” (Genesis 18:25)

Knowing that God only does right, Abraham knows that in this current test God is doing right. Abraham is not suspicious of his purposes. He does not entertain the preposterous notion that maybe God is not entirely good, for that would mean we humans are the standard of goodness, knowing better than God what is moral. No, the fallen creature of Adam’s race is not morally superior to the perfect and unchanging Creator. There is much Abraham does not know in this test, but what he does know with certainty is he does not need to question the goodness of God.

In a test, things turn upside down

Abraham knows one more crucial thing that enables him to navigate this situation. Knowing all the above, he had to realize this is a test. He knew God had tested him before. If we know God is testing us, then we understand why the situation is upside down, and we do not lose our bearings. In a test, the Lord’s normal ways with us are temporarily suspended in some way, though not in every way. Instead of peace, there is trouble. Instead of full provision, there is lack. Or instead of health, there is sickness. What the Bible says is the normal portion of God’s people suddenly departs. Though God does not change, his way of working in us might change for a season.

In Abraham’s current test, God certainly suspended what was normal. With God, normal is not death, but life; not taking, but giving; not losing what God has promised, but keeping what God has promised. Above all, normal is not sacrificing one’s beloved son. So Abraham knew this was a test, and he was determined not to fail. To pass, he knew he had to trust God with childlike simplicity and do precisely as commanded. Obedience and trust are always the keys to passing a test, especially the daunting, once-in-a-lifetime sort of trial Abraham was navigating.

God supplies what we lack

All things considered, Abraham reaches a conclusion. If God wants him to go through with the slaughter and fiery offering of Isaac, God will raise him from the dead, even raise him from ashes. God the Creator will resurrect the one and only son.

But by faith Abraham also foresees another way, for he knows something else about God. Abraham knows God accepts a substitute. Abraham had offered animal sacrifices before, and he knows what they represent. The lamb was a substitute for the one making the offering. Burning a lamb on an altar was a way of saying, Lord, I give my life to you. Abraham reasoned that God could give a substitute for Isaac that made his death unnecessary. God could provide a lamb for the offering.

Continued next week

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Confidently Waiting on God in the Dark

Waiting on God in the dark is possible when we know the truth about God.

waiting on God in the dark

In the previous post we learned from Joseph that we can wait a long, long time for God with seemingly nothing happening, and then God suddenly acts to fulfill his Word. In this post we learn from Abraham more about waiting on God in the dark.

Barrenness tests Abraham and Sarah

In Western culture we value the ability to make things happen. We say things like, “I’ll find a way or make a way.” “He’s a mover and shaker.” “They’ll run through brick walls if necessary.” “She stirs the pot.” “Manage by objectives.” “Just do it.”

But God often does not cooperate. In fact you can count on it that he will allow something in your life that no amount of will power and effort can change, something that requires you to wait on him.

Why

He does this because waiting develops spiritual muscle, in particular muscles of faith and hope, in which he delights. Scripture says, “Who hopes for what he already has? But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently” (Rom. 8:24–25, NIV). And, “Faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. This is what the ancients were commended for” (Heb. 11:1–2, NIV). Faith and hope thrive when we must wait.

The benefit of waiting does not end there. Scripture says, “The testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing” (Jam. 1:2–4, NIV). Situations that require steadfastness work like the barbells and machines of a fitness center to develop all aspects of godliness. So if we could fulfill every desire instantly, we would be spiritual weaklings.

The disappointment of barrenness

Abraham and Sarah could not fulfill their desire. They wanted a child but for about 50 years remained barren. By human standards they were a power couple: Abraham was wealthy, and Sarah beautiful. But no matter how much they yearned for a child, they could not conceive. In the culture of that time, children signified the favor of God, and barrenness brought shame. So Abraham and Sarah endured the daily frustration of unfulfilled desire.

When Abraham was 75 and Sarah 65, however, their prospects suddenly improved. God appeared to Abraham and promised, “I will make of you a great nation” (Gen. 12:2). Surely that meant they would soon conceive a child. But for the next 24 years they waited, without knowing how long the wait would last. Since God knows the future he could have told them how long their wait would last, but he did not because being in the dark intensified their test, requiring more trust.

The frustration of not knowing how long the wait will last

Not knowing how long a wait will last makes waiting much harder. When, for example, you wait on the phone to talk with a customer-service agent, patience comes easier when you are told approximately how long until an agent takes the call, even if that will be 45 minutes. But when you do not know what to expect, even a 5-minute wait is frustrating.

Scripture tells how Abraham was able to pass the test of waiting in the dark for almost 25 years:

“Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as it had been said to him, ‘So shall your offspring be.’ Without weakening in his faith, he faced the fact that his body was as good as dead—since he was about a hundred years old—and that Sarah’s womb was also dead. Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised.” (Rom. 4:18–21, NIV)

This Scripture reveals five things about how Abraham was able to wait on God (we will note one principle now and four more in coming posts).

The decisive power of hope

First, he could wait because “against all hope, Abraham in hope believed.” He had hope, not despair. If you have hope, you can wait not only for 25 years, but for 250 years. If you despair, you cannot wait 25 minutes. Hope and despair have enormous power for good or harm. One or the other decides your future. Even though Abraham’s circumstances argued for despair, he had hope.

Hope drove his belief: “Abraham in hope believed.” We cannot believe in God’s promise when our hearts are governed by despair. Bring the candle of God’s promise into a room dark with despair, and despair blows out the flame. Light the candle again, and again despair blows out the flame. Light the candle of God’s promise as many times as you want, and despair will blow it out again and again. Despair cannot believe because despair does not want to believe. The despairing heart wants to believe untrue thoughts about God because it resents the circumstances God has allowed.

The hope that enabled Abraham to believe God’s promise came from somewhere. He was not hopeful because of a sunny personality. He was hopeful because he had true thoughts about God. Abraham was “fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised.” He did not bitterly lower his view of God and resentfully withdraw from him because of Sarah’s barrenness. Rather he chose to believe truth about God, and because he believed truth about him he was able to believe his promises.

Waiting on God in the dark by knowing God even in the dark

Anyone who believes the truth about God’s nature always has cause for hope. That is because, not only does God have power to do what he promises, he also has the grace and love to do wonderful things for those who believe him. The better you know God, the more you have hope; and the more you have hope, the more logical it is to believe even his most amazing promises. With hope and faith established in your heart, you can wait for God as long as necessary.

In the next post we will explore two more principles about successfully waiting on God in the dark.

Jeremiah 9:23–24: “Thus says the LORD: ‘Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the LORD who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the LORD.’” (ESV)