WEBVTT

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 We hope that you enjoy this teaching from Christchurch.

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 This material is copyrighted and no unauthorized duplication, redistribution, or any other use of any part is permitted without prior consent from Christchurch.

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 Good morning. My name is Brian and I am a member of the Alameda Community Group. It's good to be here this morning.

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 Today's Old Testament lesson is a reading from the book of Genesis.

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 Some time later, God tested Abraham. He said to him, Abraham, here I am, he replied.

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 Then God said, take your son, your only son, whom you love, Isaac, and go to the region of Moriah.

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 Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on a mountain I will show you.

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 Early the next morning, Abraham got up and loaded his donkey.

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 He took him with two of his servants and his son Isaac.

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 When he had cut enough wood for the burnt offering, he set out for the place God had told him about.

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 On the third day, Abraham looked up and saw the place in the distance.

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 He said to his servants, stay here with the donkey while I and the boy go over there.

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 We will worship.

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 Then we will come back to you.

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 Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and placed it on his son Isaac.

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 And he himself carried the fire and the knife.

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 As the two of them went on together, Isaac spoke up and said to his father Abraham,

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 Father?

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 Yes, my son.

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 Abraham replied, the fire and the wood are here, Isaac said.

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 But where is the lamb for the burnt offering?

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 Abraham answered, God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.

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 And the two of them went on together.

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 When they reached the place God had told him about, Abraham built an altar there and arranged the wood on it.

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 He bound his son Isaac and laid him on the altar on top of the wood.

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 Then he reached out his hand and took the knife to slay his son.

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 But the angel of the Lord called out to him from heaven, Abraham, Abraham.

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 Here I am, he replied.

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 Do not lay a hand on the boy, he said.

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 Do not do anything to him.

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 Now I know that you fear God because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son.

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 Abraham looked up and there in a thicket he saw a ram caught by its horns.

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 He went over and took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering instead of his son.

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 So Abraham called that place, the Lord will provide.

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 And to this day it is said, on the mountain of the Lord it will be provided.

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 The angel of the Lord called to Abraham from heaven a second time and said,

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 I swear by myself, declares the Lord, that because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son,

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 I will surely bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore.

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 Your descendants will take possession of the cities of their enemies.

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 And through your offspring, all nations on earth will be blessed because you have obeyed me.

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 Then Abraham returned to his servants and they set off together for Beersheba.

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 And Abraham stayed in Beersheba.

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 The grass withers and the flowers fade, but the word of our God stands forever.

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 Thank you, Brian.

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 Good morning.

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 My name is Andrew and happy to open up God's word with you this morning.

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 Let's pray.

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 Father, we ask that you would make our hearts tender to receive your word.

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 Open up our eyes to see who you are.

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 The kind of God you reveal yourself to be in this incredible passage of scripture.

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 Would you help us to see your fatherly heart?

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 Would you help us to feel your heart in this passage?

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 And to encounter you in a fresh way, Lord God.

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 In a way that allows us to live the way you want us to live.

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 Offer up to you what you want us to offer up to you.

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 With gladness and with faith.

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 So, Lord, we ask that you be present to us.

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 In Jesus' name.

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 Amen.

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 Alright, so we've got five more Sundays in our series in the book of Genesis.

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 But today is our last Sunday in the story and life of Abraham.

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 And what a crazy way to end, right?

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 This passage, Genesis 22, it's wild.

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 I remember back in seminary, this passage was a passage that we were tested on in my Old Testament history and theology course.

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 We had to be able to parse every single word and translate every single sentence from the Hebrew into the English.

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 And so I remember just sitting in my bedroom at my tiny little desk, just going through this text.

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 And this is a story that, you know, I had been exposed to since I was a child.

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 I grew up in the church.

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 I knew this story.

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 But reading this in the Hebrew, it really just was like relearning the story.

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 It really just stirred my heart.

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 It mesmerized me.

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 This is an incredibly rich, incredibly beautiful passage.

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 This narrative in the book of Genesis.

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 Some people say this is one of the most beautiful pieces of literature of all time.

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 And so I was telling Jonathan, I was like, oh yeah, I get to preach it, Genesis 22.

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 I'm glad it's me on that day in our preaching calendar.

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 But then Jonathan reminded me, it's also like crazy challenging.

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 This passage is incredibly challenging as well.

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 And I think it's pretty clear why, right?

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 It's a story about a God who tests his servant Abraham

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 by commanding him to offer up his son, it says here, as a burnt offering.

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 As a burnt offering, right?

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 So it's no wonder Jonathan was glad not to preach today, right, on this text.

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 So the question is, what do we do?

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 What do we do with this morally reprehensible, emotionally disturbing,

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 and also theologically confusing story?

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 That's also at the same time a divinely inspired story from God.

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 It's a big question for us this morning.

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 What kind of God would write such a story?

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 What kind of God would give such a command and expect such faith from his servants?

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 And is this God worthy of our worship?

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 Worthy to receive what he asks of us?

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 If you're here this morning and the story unsettles you,

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 makes you recoil in horror and disgust,

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 whether you're a Bible-believing Christian or not,

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 I want you to know that that's exactly how you're supposed to feel

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 when you come to this passage.

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 That's how Abraham felt.

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 That's how we're all supposed to feel.

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 And get this, God himself, the writer of the story, he gets it.

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 He's not offended.

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 He's not surprised by or even unfamiliar with our reactions to the story.

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 No, he gets it.

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 And he even intends for us to have these reactions.

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 So I'm not here to defend God this morning.

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 That's not my job.

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 Only God needs to defend himself.

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 What my role is is to help us see more clearly this God who reveals himself

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 through incredibly provocative stories like the one we just heard.

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 So as we open up this difficult passage today from the Bible,

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 I want to ask you to consider this question.

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 What if, what if the true scandal of this text isn't that God asks for what we love most,

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 but that he's the only one safe enough to give it to?

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 I want to suggest that the real scandal of this text isn't that God asks us for what we most cherish,

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 but that he's the only one good enough to receive such an offering.

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 So let's open up God's word together.

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 Verse 1.

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 Some time later.

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 Okay, so what do we know about Abraham up to this point?

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 Abraham's been on a journey.

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 He's left everything.

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 He's left his hometown of Ur, all for some like relatively vague,

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 yet grand and even cosmic promise of blessing from God.

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 And though this faith has wavered, God's faithfulness has not.

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 God protected him from Pharaoh, from the Philistines.

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 He gave him victory over four powerful kings who threatened his family.

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 And finally, after 25 years of waiting for God to fulfill his promise of an heir,

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 when Abraham is 100 years old, God grants he and Sarah a son, Isaac.

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 And so now, it's some time later.

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 We don't know how many years have gone by since Isaac's born.

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 We know he's at least old enough to carry some wood on his back.

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 All right?

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 That's about all we know.

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 Let's say he's 15 years old, okay?

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 Probably the best 15 years of Abraham's life up to this point.

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 15 years as a father, finally living up to his name, the father of multitudes, right?

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 And just like, you know, 15 years of marveling at this miracle in his household.

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 15 years of enjoying how God had done the impossible and brought laughter to their household.

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 Imagine those 15 years living in the bliss and the blessing and the literal fulfillment of God.

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 But, sometime later, verse 1 says, God tested Abraham.

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 And that word tested is super important.

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 I want to make this very clear that God is testing Abraham and not tempting him.

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 There's a huge difference.

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 God doesn't tempt people.

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 He doesn't entice them to fall or fail.

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 He isn't up in heaven hoping to trip people up.

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 The Hebrew word here for test, nasah here, means to prove genuine, to reveal what's real,

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 to bring to light what's already inside, to show forth and demonstrate the nature and character of a thing.

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 So, really, a divine test isn't meant to make you fail.

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 It's meant to reveal what's true and refine what's already there.

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 And just to be clear, this test isn't God trying to find out something he doesn't already know.

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 He's not scratching his chin like, hmm, I wonder if Abraham fears me or not.

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 No.

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 God is all-knowing.

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 This test isn't for God's sake.

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 It's for Abraham's and ours.

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 It's kind of like when I challenge my daughter, Cammie, in basketball.

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 All right?

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 Sometimes I'll take her out to the backyard and I'll say, you can't do anything else.

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 You can't even go back into the house until you make three baskets.

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 Got to give me three buckets, little girl.

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 And then, like, sometimes it takes a while.

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 All right?

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 Fifty shots or more.

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 And she'll tell me she cannot do it.

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 And she'll cry.

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 And she'll stomp her feet.

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 And she'll slam the ball because three buckets feels impossible to her.

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 But here's the thing.

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 I'm her dad.

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 And I know what she's capable of.

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 She and I both have seen her do it more than once.

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 And eventually, Cammie always gets her buckets.

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 That's what Ongs do.

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 We get our buckets, all right?

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 Even if there are a lot of air balls in between, we get our buckets.

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 Cammie gets her buckets.

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 But the point is never to berate her for all her missed shots.

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 No, it's to show her what she can do.

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 It's to prove to her.

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 It's for her to prove to herself what she's capable of when she focuses and when she doesn't

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 give up.

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 And it's to remind her that she can trust her father who only wants to help her strengthen

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 and grow and who will never put her in a situation where she's left out in the hot sun or in the

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 pouring rain all day long.

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 So come to our children's parenting seminar next week with me teaching it, all right?

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 But this is what God is doing when He tests Abraham and when He tests all His children,

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 us included.

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 Remember what the Apostle James says.

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 He says, consider it pure joy, brothers and sisters, when you face trials of many kinds.

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 He doesn't say if.

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 He says when.

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 And maybe that's where you are today, many of you, walking through something hard, confusing,

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 painful.

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 You may not realize it, but your faith is being tested.

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 And not to break you, but to show you something true and good about yourself and about God.

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 Would you consider that this morning?

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 That maybe the hard thing you're going through isn't random, but part of God's good plan for

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 you.

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 Here in this passage, God's not playing games with Abraham.

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 He's inviting him into deeper faith, deeper communion.

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 God tests us, and His tests are never random, but they're always relational.

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 He has something He wants Abraham and the world to see through Abraham's faith in even the

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 most unbearable trial.

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 Another thing I love here in verse 1 is how when God approaches Abraham to test him, and

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 Abraham has no idea what God is about to say, you can tell that they've cultivated a beautiful,

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 intimate relationship.

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 God calls him by name, Abraham, father of multitudes.

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 And Abraham simply responds, here I am.

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 In the Hebrew, hineni.

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 Hineni means literally, behold me.

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 He's saying, look, I'm here.

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 Here, you have made my, you have, God, you have my whole and undivided attention.

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 So say what you will because your servant is listening, even if what you're about to say

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 is hard to hear.

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 And then, in the still, in the matter-of-factness of that moment, Abraham stands there, right,

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 open and ready to receive yet another word from God, maybe a word of blessing, maybe a

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 word of warning, maybe a command he's about to find out.

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 But in this moment, the one whom God called father of multitudes now hears these words

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 of command.

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 And these are the words that brought tears to my eyes the first time I translated this.

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 Abraham, father of multitudes, take your son, your most treasured possession, the one you

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 waited all your life for, the one you've been enjoying for the last decade or so, my greatest

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 gift and fulfilled promise to you.

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 Take your son, the one through whom all the nations of the earth will be blessed.

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 And then he further specifies, your only son, you and Sarah's only son, Ishmael's gone,

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 there's no plan B, take your only son.

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 And then he presses even further like he knows exactly what he's saying to Abraham, almost

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 like he himself feels the full weight of what he's commanding.

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 Your son, your only begotten son, whom you love.

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 And by the way, this is the first time in all of the scriptures that the Hebrew word for

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 love is used right here to describe the father's love for his son.

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 Take your only son whom you love, Isaac, your son of laughter and joy, God says.

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 And go to the region of Moriah, sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on a mountain, I will

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 show you.

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 The story ends much the way it began in Genesis 12 when he tells him to go to a land I will

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 show you.

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 He's doing again, once again here in Genesis 22.

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 And parents in the room, really anyone with a heart or an imagination, can you feel Abraham's

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 heart stop?

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 His knees buckle.

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 The air sucked out of him.

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 Because again, remember Isaac was so much more than just a child to a loving parent.

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 He was the child of promise.

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 Through him was supposed to come the Savior of the world, the living proof that God keeps

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 his word.

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 For over a decade, Abraham had watched this boy grow up, laugh, stumble, pray.

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 He'd been teaching this boy about the kindness and the goodness and the generosity of God and

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 how worthy this God is of our worship, including burnt offering sacrifices.

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 And every night, because of Abraham's faith in God's word, he could look upon his slumbering

00:15:57.099 --> 00:16:00.419
 son in bed, thanking God that this boy would be safe.

00:16:00.939 --> 00:16:03.639
 Because God had promised descendants and a nation through this boy.

00:16:03.759 --> 00:16:09.159
 Abraham was living every parent's dream, the guarantee of safety, security, prosperity,

00:16:09.339 --> 00:16:10.639
 and greatness for our children.

00:16:11.799 --> 00:16:16.039
 And now God is saying, take him and offer him back up to me.

00:16:16.039 --> 00:16:22.459
 So Abraham isn't just caught up in the conundrum of a parent, but he's caught up in the conundrum

00:16:22.459 --> 00:16:23.500
 of a theologian.

00:16:23.559 --> 00:16:24.779
 Why would God give me this command?

00:16:24.879 --> 00:16:28.620
 How do I reconcile this command of God with the promise of God?

00:16:29.959 --> 00:16:34.099
 See, sometimes the test of faith isn't just a struggle between faith and unbelief, but

00:16:34.099 --> 00:16:35.599
 between faith and faith.

00:16:36.719 --> 00:16:40.719
 And it's not just the conundrum of a parent or a theologian, but for many of us, it's the

00:16:40.719 --> 00:16:42.360
 conundrum of an ethicist too, right?

00:16:42.360 --> 00:16:45.080
 Like, what kind of a God would even ask this?

00:16:45.159 --> 00:16:49.659
 We ought to recoil at the prospect of human and specifically child sacrifice.

00:16:49.800 --> 00:16:51.399
 Child sacrifice is evil.

00:16:51.680 --> 00:16:52.580
 It's always been evil.

00:16:52.680 --> 00:16:53.620
 It always will be evil.

00:16:53.700 --> 00:16:55.220
 The law of Moses forbid it.

00:16:55.279 --> 00:16:55.960
 It's crystal clear.

00:16:56.060 --> 00:17:00.180
 It was evil when the ancients practiced it to manipulate the gods, and it's evil even

00:17:00.180 --> 00:17:00.600
 today.

00:17:02.100 --> 00:17:08.200
 But again, why would God ask him to do this?

00:17:08.640 --> 00:17:09.819
 This thing that God hates.

00:17:09.819 --> 00:17:13.879
 How can he command Abraham to practice child sacrifice?

00:17:15.379 --> 00:17:20.519
 Well, this is where the Hebrew helps us, because it's worth noting that in the Hebrew, God, he

00:17:20.519 --> 00:17:25.379
 doesn't literally say slay or kill or burn or even sacrifice your son.

00:17:25.439 --> 00:17:26.319
 There's another word for that.

00:17:26.899 --> 00:17:34.279
 Instead of sacrifice, the Hebrew literally says, olah, which means cause him to go up.

00:17:35.159 --> 00:17:36.460
 It doesn't say sacrifice.

00:17:36.619 --> 00:17:37.899
 It says call him to go up.

00:17:37.900 --> 00:17:39.420
 It doesn't even say burnt offering.

00:17:39.540 --> 00:17:45.740
 Actually, the word for burnt offering is olah, which is literally the going up offering.

00:17:46.900 --> 00:17:50.900
 So he says, cause him to go up as a going up is literally what it says.

00:17:50.960 --> 00:17:53.500
 And I'm not saying that the NIV translation is bad or wrong here.

00:17:53.620 --> 00:17:54.920
 Sacrifice him as a burnt offering.

00:17:54.920 --> 00:17:59.440
 That's exactly how people would have read and understood this, especially in light of the

00:17:59.440 --> 00:18:04.120
 Hebrew sacrificial system, an offering that was going up to God in smoke.

00:18:04.200 --> 00:18:09.460
 But most literally, the command is simply this, cause him to go up as a going up.

00:18:10.480 --> 00:18:13.160
 And that is a window into the heart of God's command here.

00:18:13.820 --> 00:18:18.460
 See, he's not commanding Abraham to do something radically irrational and violent in the name

00:18:18.460 --> 00:18:20.259
 of faith or to prove his devotion.

00:18:20.480 --> 00:18:20.700
 No.

00:18:21.140 --> 00:18:26.900
 He's calling Abraham to lift Isaac up with open hands, to surrender and offer Isaac back

00:18:26.900 --> 00:18:29.559
 up to the one whom Isaac always belonged.

00:18:30.539 --> 00:18:34.680
 And Abraham and the original audience of this story would have understood this, especially

00:18:34.680 --> 00:18:38.480
 considering Isaac's firstborn status to Abraham and to Sarah.

00:18:38.660 --> 00:18:41.779
 See, in the ancient world, the firstborn represented the whole family.

00:18:41.779 --> 00:18:44.700
 The life of the firstborn stood for the life of the whole household.

00:18:44.839 --> 00:18:48.399
 He was the heir, he was the future, and he was the continuation of the family story.

00:18:48.500 --> 00:18:51.839
 This is why the firstborn are made such a big deal of in the Old Testament.

00:18:52.460 --> 00:18:57.680
 Remember after passing over the firstborn in Israel, over those doors that were covered

00:18:57.680 --> 00:19:01.960
 in blood in Egypt, God then claimed that every firstborn belonged to him.

00:19:02.920 --> 00:19:07.980
 And then remember how these firstborn were to be redeemed year after year through the sacrifice

00:19:07.980 --> 00:19:09.279
 of firstborn lambs.

00:19:09.279 --> 00:19:15.720
 So what God is asking of Abraham on Moriah, which by the way, Moriah is the same place

00:19:15.720 --> 00:19:19.440
 where Solomon's temple was built and where countless firstborn animals would be sacrificed.

00:19:19.559 --> 00:19:25.680
 What God was asking of Abraham wasn't random, cruel, or pagan, but covenantal.

00:19:26.299 --> 00:19:27.119
 It was covenantal.

00:19:27.160 --> 00:19:30.940
 And this is so key because so many Christians have like moralized this story.

00:19:31.359 --> 00:19:36.099
 They've reduced it to basically, no matter how crazy or outrageous the command, just obey.

00:19:36.279 --> 00:19:36.980
 Just obey God.

00:19:36.980 --> 00:19:38.500
 That's what he demands of you.

00:19:38.500 --> 00:19:43.279
 And the measure of your faith is how extreme, irrational, and radical your obedience is.

00:19:44.220 --> 00:19:47.500
 And while, yes, Jesus does teach us to love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, mind,

00:19:47.519 --> 00:19:50.160
 and strength, he tells us to deny ourselves and take up our cross.

00:19:50.240 --> 00:19:54.180
 He says if we don't hate our mother and father and brother and sister, we are not worthy of

00:19:54.180 --> 00:19:54.440
 him.

00:19:56.380 --> 00:20:02.180
 If our emphasis is simply, though, on reckless obedience, we're missing the point.

00:20:02.180 --> 00:20:07.779
 Look, if God wanted Abraham to do the most outrageous, nonsensical thing, he would have said,

00:20:07.900 --> 00:20:11.519
 hey, Abraham, go slaughter your son in his sleep in his tent.

00:20:11.580 --> 00:20:13.980
 Just go stab him to death again and again and again.

00:20:14.440 --> 00:20:16.000
 And drink his blood and eat his flesh.

00:20:16.060 --> 00:20:17.120
 And then go for Sarah too.

00:20:17.360 --> 00:20:20.340
 That'll be wild and really show how devoted you are to me.

00:20:20.380 --> 00:20:21.480
 That'd be the craziest thing.

00:20:21.480 --> 00:20:24.480
 But no, God calls him by name, Abraham.

00:20:25.400 --> 00:20:26.079
 Take your son.

00:20:26.660 --> 00:20:29.740
 And I know it's your only son, the one whom you love.

00:20:30.480 --> 00:20:33.940
 And trust me when I tell you to cause him to go up as a going up.

00:20:34.220 --> 00:20:37.500
 The point isn't reckless obedience but relational surrender.

00:20:37.660 --> 00:20:40.339
 It's not blind faith but grounded faith.

00:20:41.400 --> 00:20:46.279
 If the meaning of this text is to do radically irrational and even violent things to prove our

00:20:46.279 --> 00:20:52.220
 devotion to God, the religious skeptics and the atheists have every reason to condemn us and our

00:20:52.220 --> 00:20:53.859
 religious beliefs and practices.

00:20:54.200 --> 00:20:57.420
 But this is not at all Abraham's situation.

00:20:58.779 --> 00:21:01.799
 No, Abraham's obedience isn't a blind leap in the dark.

00:21:02.220 --> 00:21:06.579
 It's actually a step into the light of everything he already knew about God.

00:21:06.980 --> 00:21:10.220
 Remember, Abraham had now been walking with God for over 30 years.

00:21:10.700 --> 00:21:14.200
 Speaking with him, hearing from him audibly, seeing visions and dreams,

00:21:14.200 --> 00:21:17.120
 seeing the fulfillment of the most impossible promises.

00:21:17.980 --> 00:21:22.440
 This isn't super subjective, charismatic, God told me to do this crazy thing, Christianity.

00:21:23.539 --> 00:21:27.940
 Abraham isn't being called to demonstrate a speculative faith but a seasoned faith.

00:21:28.799 --> 00:21:34.380
 Abraham didn't act on whim or feeling but on a clear, direct, consistent communication from God.

00:21:34.460 --> 00:21:37.220
 And for us today, that's what the Scriptures are.

00:21:37.980 --> 00:21:40.200
 We don't need to wait for a voice from heaven.

00:21:40.340 --> 00:21:42.019
 God's final word has come in Jesus.

00:21:42.019 --> 00:21:45.019
 And the Scriptures here bear witness to him.

00:21:45.079 --> 00:21:47.160
 That's why we emphasize the Bible so much here.

00:21:47.480 --> 00:21:50.200
 To read it, to meditate on it, to memorize it.

00:21:50.220 --> 00:21:54.339
 Because that's how we hide God's word, his will, and his ways in our heart.

00:21:54.379 --> 00:21:56.480
 And that's how we know what God wants from us.

00:21:57.279 --> 00:22:00.539
 And we need to hide it in our hearts because the truth is when our faith is tested,

00:22:01.339 --> 00:22:05.599
 what God is doing is he's calling us to trust in something that he's already taught us about himself.

00:22:05.940 --> 00:22:07.339
 Something we already know to be true.

00:22:07.339 --> 00:22:12.139
 God's not asking us to trust and believe something new, but something we already know about him.

00:22:13.159 --> 00:22:16.240
 And see, that's what's happening with Abraham here in verse 3.

00:22:16.319 --> 00:22:21.899
 And notice, notice in verse 3, the text gives us no record of what or whether Abraham spoke back to God.

00:22:22.000 --> 00:22:22.899
 There's no protest.

00:22:23.179 --> 00:22:24.119
 There's no bargaining.

00:22:24.720 --> 00:22:26.720
 There's no, like, sleepless night journal entry.

00:22:26.720 --> 00:22:32.600
 As soon as the impossible command is extended, the impossible obedience commences.

00:22:33.380 --> 00:22:35.059
 Early the next morning, it says.

00:22:35.680 --> 00:22:36.240
 No hesitation.

00:22:36.460 --> 00:22:37.240
 He doesn't hit snooze.

00:22:37.279 --> 00:22:37.799
 He doesn't linger.

00:22:37.900 --> 00:22:40.539
 He doesn't procrastinate on the plans and purposes of God.

00:22:40.839 --> 00:22:44.299
 He got out of bed, and he did the hard thing immediately.

00:22:45.100 --> 00:22:46.480
 No deliberation with Sarah.

00:22:46.600 --> 00:22:49.200
 No weighing in his mind whether or not he wanted to obey.

00:22:49.539 --> 00:22:49.960
 Verse 3.

00:22:49.960 --> 00:23:01.980
 The story just begins to slow down here.

00:23:02.819 --> 00:23:04.400
 You're supposed to notice every single verb again.

00:23:04.440 --> 00:23:05.120
 He got up.

00:23:05.920 --> 00:23:06.900
 He loaded the donkey.

00:23:07.620 --> 00:23:09.480
 He took his servants and his son.

00:23:09.900 --> 00:23:12.700
 He even cut the wood for the going up offering.

00:23:12.819 --> 00:23:16.960
 Imagine that, loading up the donkey like you're packing for the worst camping trip of your life.

00:23:16.960 --> 00:23:23.319
 Imagine the stillness and the silence of that morning broken only by the thud of his axe.

00:23:24.740 --> 00:23:26.420
 The silence continues in verse 4.

00:23:27.079 --> 00:23:30.519
 On the third day, Abraham looked up and saw the place in the distance.

00:23:30.640 --> 00:23:32.240
 So for three days, Abraham walks.

00:23:32.319 --> 00:23:33.220
 There are no words.

00:23:33.700 --> 00:23:34.579
 There are no new words.

00:23:34.680 --> 00:23:35.779
 No new commands from God.

00:23:35.900 --> 00:23:38.799
 Just the crunch of sand beneath their feet for three days.

00:23:39.559 --> 00:23:41.059
 Three days of heavy heartedness.

00:23:41.680 --> 00:23:43.700
 Three days of one step after another.

00:23:43.860 --> 00:23:45.200
 Each step heavier than the first.

00:23:45.200 --> 00:23:48.519
 Each step inches closer to the worst moment of Abraham's life.

00:23:49.259 --> 00:23:53.920
 Yet each step taken in faith, in trust, in obedience, in loyalty, in allegiance.

00:23:54.039 --> 00:23:56.259
 Each step, a step of surrender.

00:23:56.980 --> 00:23:59.640
 And sure, he's not running ahead, but he's also not turning back.

00:24:00.319 --> 00:24:02.900
 He's just putting one foot in front of the other.

00:24:03.019 --> 00:24:04.279
 This is faith in action.

00:24:04.420 --> 00:24:10.660
 Often not dramatic leaps, but daily, quiet, faithful, and honestly uncertain steps.

00:24:10.660 --> 00:24:13.640
 Until at last, he sees the place.

00:24:14.140 --> 00:24:15.080
 In the distance.

00:24:15.340 --> 00:24:18.680
 And here comes some of the most astonishing lines in the whole story.

00:24:18.779 --> 00:24:20.040
 Verse 5, he said to his servants,

00:24:20.980 --> 00:24:24.100
 Stay here with the donkey while I and the boy go over there.

00:24:24.680 --> 00:24:28.680
 We will worship, and then we will come back to you.

00:24:30.000 --> 00:24:30.700
 Did you catch that?

00:24:31.820 --> 00:24:32.660
 Not I.

00:24:32.660 --> 00:24:33.140
 We.

00:24:33.140 --> 00:24:33.620
 We.

00:24:33.620 --> 00:24:33.820
 We.

00:24:35.180 --> 00:24:36.279
 Was he lying to them?

00:24:37.440 --> 00:24:40.900
 So they wouldn't, like, try to stop him from slaughtering his son, obeying God?

00:24:41.920 --> 00:24:45.820
 Or is it possible that there was another possibility in his mind?

00:24:47.019 --> 00:24:48.620
 The writer of Hebrews helps us out here.

00:24:48.700 --> 00:24:49.920
 Hebrews chapter 11 says,

00:24:49.920 --> 00:25:05.779
 Did you hear that?

00:25:06.460 --> 00:25:10.320
 What did Abraham do when he was tested with an impossible situation?

00:25:10.820 --> 00:25:16.940
 When he found himself caught between the promise of God to bless Isaac and the command of God to sacrifice Isaac,

00:25:16.940 --> 00:25:21.420
 Abraham trusted in what God had taught him about himself.

00:25:22.860 --> 00:25:25.140
 That this was a God who could do the impossible.

00:25:25.340 --> 00:25:26.080
 He'd done it already.

00:25:26.900 --> 00:25:33.299
 He'd always, somehow, even in ways yet unimaginable, he'd always kept his promises.

00:25:34.559 --> 00:25:37.000
 So Abraham, he isn't bluffing here to his servants.

00:25:37.460 --> 00:25:38.080
 He's believing.

00:25:38.620 --> 00:25:43.559
 He's believing even in the yet unseen resurrection power of his God.

00:25:43.559 --> 00:25:47.700
 A God who, up to this point, had never resurrected anyone in history yet.

00:25:48.940 --> 00:25:52.419
 And by this faith, he continues in obedience in verse 6.

00:25:52.480 --> 00:25:53.200
 And look down at the verse.

00:25:53.319 --> 00:25:55.139
 I'm going to read to you my own translation of this.

00:25:55.220 --> 00:25:55.519
 It says,

00:25:56.359 --> 00:25:59.240
 Abraham took the wood, or you could translate it, he took the trees.

00:25:59.419 --> 00:26:00.200
 He took the tree.

00:26:00.779 --> 00:26:05.179
 He took the tree for the going up and placed it on Isaac, his son.

00:26:05.819 --> 00:26:08.539
 And he took in his hand the fire and the cleaver,

00:26:09.339 --> 00:26:11.119
 and the two of them went on together.

00:26:11.119 --> 00:26:16.379
 So now it's just the two of them, one knowing far more than the other,

00:26:17.000 --> 00:26:20.319
 but both ascending, both going up Mount Moriah.

00:26:21.359 --> 00:26:24.059
 Abraham with fire and cleaver in his hand,

00:26:24.159 --> 00:26:29.559
 and Isaac carrying that tree on his back, that heavy load of wood, up the hill,

00:26:30.279 --> 00:26:34.319
 where they will both worship and where they will both sacrifice to God.

00:26:35.259 --> 00:26:37.419
 And as they go, the silence stands out.

00:26:37.420 --> 00:26:42.820
 One commentator says that this is the most poignant and eloquent silence in all of literature.

00:26:44.380 --> 00:26:47.060
 Until at last, Isaac breaks the silence in verse 7.

00:26:47.220 --> 00:26:50.860
 Isaac, son of laughter, spoke up and said to his father,

00:26:51.000 --> 00:26:52.000
 Father of multitudes.

00:26:52.259 --> 00:26:54.680
 Actually, here in the Hebrew, he says,

00:26:54.900 --> 00:26:55.480
 My father.

00:26:56.160 --> 00:26:56.920
 My father.

00:26:57.980 --> 00:26:59.220
 And just can you imagine that dad?

00:26:59.340 --> 00:27:01.220
 It's like, Daddy, my daddy.

00:27:01.220 --> 00:27:05.420
 Abraham answers, as he did to God early.

00:27:05.559 --> 00:27:07.640
 He, Neni, behold me.

00:27:07.920 --> 00:27:09.819
 Here I am, my son.

00:27:10.680 --> 00:27:11.279
 My son.

00:27:11.640 --> 00:27:13.480
 You have my whole undivided attention.

00:27:13.600 --> 00:27:15.559
 He's fully present, trembling but tender.

00:27:15.839 --> 00:27:18.700
 Then Isaac says, quite astutely, he's been discipled, right?

00:27:18.839 --> 00:27:21.600
 He's been discipled well by his father about how to worship God.

00:27:21.680 --> 00:27:22.200
 He asks,

00:27:22.200 --> 00:27:26.680
 The fire and the wood are here, but where's the lamb for the going up?

00:27:27.840 --> 00:27:29.259
 Such an innocent question.

00:27:30.160 --> 00:27:31.779
 Such a loaded answer.

00:27:33.000 --> 00:27:35.100
 What was Abraham supposed to say to that?

00:27:36.319 --> 00:27:37.039
 Verse 8.

00:27:37.880 --> 00:27:38.620
 Abraham answered,

00:27:38.759 --> 00:27:41.140
 God himself will provide, or you can translate this as,

00:27:41.400 --> 00:27:46.160
 God will provide to himself or for himself the lamb for the going up offering, my son.

00:27:46.740 --> 00:27:48.360
 And the two of them went on together.

00:27:49.259 --> 00:27:51.340
 This is actually where we get Jehovah Jireh from.

00:27:51.339 --> 00:27:52.959
 Yahweh, Yerah.

00:27:53.240 --> 00:27:54.759
 Yerah literally means to see.

00:27:55.079 --> 00:27:57.379
 Literally means Yahweh will see to it.

00:27:57.899 --> 00:27:58.720
 He will see to it.

00:27:58.759 --> 00:27:59.359
 He will provide.

00:28:00.240 --> 00:28:02.939
 So Abraham is not just confessing that God is the one who will provide,

00:28:03.039 --> 00:28:05.299
 but that God is the one who sees what he cannot see.

00:28:05.539 --> 00:28:08.419
 And he will see to it that his promise will still be fulfilled,

00:28:08.679 --> 00:28:12.319
 even as Abraham continues to obey this crazy command.

00:28:12.720 --> 00:28:13.980
 That's what Abraham says here.

00:28:14.259 --> 00:28:15.119
 Jehovah Jireh.

00:28:15.559 --> 00:28:18.359
 This is what Abraham knows of Jehovah.

00:28:18.839 --> 00:28:20.359
 And therefore, this is what he confesses.

00:28:20.359 --> 00:28:22.719
 And even dares to prophesy about.

00:28:23.139 --> 00:28:26.199
 As they continue going up Mount Moriah, the Lord will provide.

00:28:26.859 --> 00:28:31.379
 Abraham's faith and now his son's faith are in the Lord who will provide for himself,

00:28:31.639 --> 00:28:33.319
 the lamb for the going up offering.

00:28:35.199 --> 00:28:36.939
 So now they reach the place in verse 9.

00:28:37.819 --> 00:28:38.139
 And it says,

00:28:38.379 --> 00:28:41.019
 Abraham built an altar there and arranged wood on it.

00:28:41.099 --> 00:28:41.839
 Think about that.

00:28:41.919 --> 00:28:42.819
 Stone by stone.

00:28:42.819 --> 00:28:45.319
 The heaviest he'd ever lifted, right?

00:28:45.740 --> 00:28:49.639
 All while wondering, how am I going to go home and tell Sarah about this?

00:28:50.740 --> 00:28:52.759
 How am I going to explain this to my community?

00:28:53.460 --> 00:28:56.179
 That God asked me to sacrifice our son.

00:28:56.659 --> 00:28:57.519
 Our only son.

00:28:58.019 --> 00:28:59.399
 The son whom we love.

00:28:59.460 --> 00:29:00.319
 The son of promise.

00:29:01.159 --> 00:29:02.500
 What are they all going to think about me?

00:29:02.899 --> 00:29:05.139
 What are they all going to think about my God?

00:29:05.140 --> 00:29:11.360
 But again, Abraham is committed to acting in line with what he knows to be true about God.

00:29:11.440 --> 00:29:13.259
 He knows this is the God who called him out of Ur.

00:29:13.900 --> 00:29:15.720
 Who gave him a son from a barren womb.

00:29:16.080 --> 00:29:18.180
 Who has never once lied or failed to him.

00:29:18.259 --> 00:29:20.320
 And by faith, he builds that altar.

00:29:21.400 --> 00:29:22.980
 Then it says he arranged the wood.

00:29:23.440 --> 00:29:27.140
 And then fascinatingly, and without any extra detail, verse 9 says,

00:29:27.140 --> 00:29:38.380
 And like, all there is is just more silence here.

00:29:38.740 --> 00:29:39.540
 There's no struggle.

00:29:39.740 --> 00:29:40.480
 There's no questioning.

00:29:41.259 --> 00:29:45.240
 Like a lamb that's led to a slaughter or sheep before its shearers.

00:29:45.840 --> 00:29:47.680
 Isaac does not open his mouth.

00:29:49.560 --> 00:29:52.160
 And I mean, we're talking about, you know, he's probably a teenager here.

00:29:52.620 --> 00:29:54.980
 He could have taken this 115-year-old dude, right?

00:29:54.980 --> 00:29:57.960
 If he wanted to get away, he could have gotten away.

00:29:59.200 --> 00:30:00.140
 But he doesn't.

00:30:01.319 --> 00:30:02.259
 He trusts his father.

00:30:03.240 --> 00:30:04.339
 He trusts his God.

00:30:05.819 --> 00:30:08.900
 The one who carried the wood up the hill now lies upon it.

00:30:09.539 --> 00:30:14.860
 The innocent, obedient son, willing to give himself over to the will of his God and father.

00:30:16.180 --> 00:30:18.339
 Then in verse 10, Abraham takes the cleaver.

00:30:19.480 --> 00:30:22.380
 With every intention of obeying God's command.

00:30:22.380 --> 00:30:27.000
 And just as he raises the knife, the angel of the Lord, the God who sees, sees again.

00:30:27.120 --> 00:30:28.360
 He comes to the rescue again.

00:30:28.640 --> 00:30:30.780
 Calls him by name, Abraham, Abraham.

00:30:31.820 --> 00:30:32.900
 And Abraham says,

00:30:33.580 --> 00:30:36.940
 Behold, me.

00:30:38.120 --> 00:30:38.780
 Here I am.

00:30:40.040 --> 00:30:40.860
 The angel of the Lord says,

00:30:41.000 --> 00:30:42.080
 Do not lay a hand on the boy.

00:30:42.160 --> 00:30:43.780
 Do not do anything to him.

00:30:43.880 --> 00:30:45.820
 Now I know that you fear God.

00:30:46.400 --> 00:30:48.880
 Because you have not withheld from me your son.

00:30:49.740 --> 00:30:50.740
 Your only son.

00:30:50.740 --> 00:30:54.599
 This is the sign of Abraham's faith.

00:30:55.319 --> 00:30:56.940
 This is a sign of his fear of God.

00:30:57.059 --> 00:30:58.380
 He did not withhold his son.

00:30:58.740 --> 00:30:59.660
 His only son.

00:30:59.920 --> 00:31:00.620
 Whom he loved.

00:31:00.880 --> 00:31:03.620
 And this is why we call him the father of our faith.

00:31:05.160 --> 00:31:09.720
 But lest we think that this whole story is about the demonstration of this great hero of faith.

00:31:09.839 --> 00:31:11.900
 Verse 13 invites us to lift up our eyes.

00:31:12.279 --> 00:31:13.559
 As Abraham's eyes were lifted.

00:31:13.700 --> 00:31:14.220
 Verse 13.

00:31:14.220 --> 00:31:15.319
 And Abraham looked up.

00:31:16.259 --> 00:31:19.559
 And there in a thicket, he saw a ram caught by its horns.

00:31:19.660 --> 00:31:22.500
 He went over and took the ram and caused it to go up.

00:31:23.140 --> 00:31:23.500
 Instead.

00:31:24.539 --> 00:31:25.460
 Instead of his son.

00:31:26.740 --> 00:31:27.860
 And that's the gospel.

00:31:29.000 --> 00:31:30.120
 That's the key word.

00:31:31.079 --> 00:31:31.559
 Instead.

00:31:33.440 --> 00:31:34.460
 Now don't get me wrong.

00:31:34.600 --> 00:31:35.740
 Isaac points to Christ.

00:31:35.740 --> 00:31:42.480
 But even more so, Isaac's substitute, the ram, caught in the thicket, is a picture of Christ.

00:31:42.559 --> 00:31:43.819
 The true lamb of God.

00:31:43.900 --> 00:31:47.680
 Whose own head would one day be caught in a thickety crown of thorns.

00:31:48.640 --> 00:31:50.160
 But there was no substitute for him.

00:31:50.960 --> 00:31:53.259
 Because he was the substitute for us.

00:31:53.259 --> 00:31:57.240
 So what kind of God writes a story like this?

00:31:57.539 --> 00:31:59.400
 Gives such commands as these?

00:31:59.500 --> 00:32:01.319
 And expects such faith from us?

00:32:02.559 --> 00:32:04.819
 It's the one who did not spare his own son.

00:32:05.660 --> 00:32:06.559
 His only son.

00:32:07.339 --> 00:32:08.559
 The son he loved.

00:32:09.079 --> 00:32:10.079
 From all eternity.

00:32:11.220 --> 00:32:14.900
 But gave him up as a going up offering for us all.

00:32:15.460 --> 00:32:19.579
 And who promises to graciously give us all things in Christ.

00:32:19.579 --> 00:32:23.720
 He alone is worthy of our worship.

00:32:23.859 --> 00:32:25.319
 Our utmost for his highest.

00:32:25.460 --> 00:32:29.539
 Because this God who so boldly asks for our most cherished treasure.

00:32:29.759 --> 00:32:32.220
 He's already given his to us.

00:32:33.139 --> 00:32:34.759
 And has raised him up again.

00:32:36.079 --> 00:32:40.039
 There is no one safer to give our everything to.

00:32:41.419 --> 00:32:45.539
 When we behold the way our Father in heaven has not withheld his son.

00:32:45.919 --> 00:32:46.859
 His only son.

00:32:47.119 --> 00:32:47.839
 Whom he loves.

00:32:47.839 --> 00:32:50.279
 We have every reason to say now we know.

00:32:50.779 --> 00:32:52.879
 Now we know that you truly love us.

00:32:53.220 --> 00:32:55.059
 Because you have not withheld your son.

00:32:55.199 --> 00:32:56.759
 Your only son whom you love.

00:32:58.019 --> 00:32:59.359
 The beauty of the gospel.

00:33:00.759 --> 00:33:03.220
 Is that the God who asks for our everything.

00:33:03.980 --> 00:33:06.500
 Is the same God who gives us everything in Christ.

00:33:07.659 --> 00:33:08.959
 And you can never.

00:33:09.159 --> 00:33:11.000
 You can never out give this God.

00:33:12.240 --> 00:33:12.779
 Because listen.

00:33:12.899 --> 00:33:14.240
 Our going up offerings.

00:33:14.559 --> 00:33:16.319
 They could never go all the way up.

00:33:16.319 --> 00:33:20.799
 So this is the kind of God who comes down to meet us.

00:33:21.200 --> 00:33:23.220
 Descends into human flesh.

00:33:23.539 --> 00:33:25.839
 To carry on his own raw naked back.

00:33:25.960 --> 00:33:26.339
 That tree.

00:33:26.579 --> 00:33:28.000
 That heavy wooden cross.

00:33:28.220 --> 00:33:32.200
 Offering himself to be our perfect coming down and going up sacrifice.

00:33:32.559 --> 00:33:33.799
 He's the God who provides.

00:33:33.960 --> 00:33:35.319
 And the God who promises.

00:33:35.700 --> 00:33:37.359
 It's so beautiful here in verse 16.

00:33:37.639 --> 00:33:40.059
 God then he swears by himself to Abraham.

00:33:40.059 --> 00:33:42.799
 Meaning that the surety of his promises.

00:33:43.579 --> 00:33:44.899
 It never depends on us.

00:33:45.379 --> 00:33:46.240
 That's good news.

00:33:46.720 --> 00:33:47.559
 It never depends on us.

00:33:47.619 --> 00:33:49.919
 But always and only fully upon God himself.

00:33:50.399 --> 00:33:52.240
 This is God saying even if you fail.

00:33:52.379 --> 00:33:53.200
 I will not fail.

00:33:53.759 --> 00:33:54.720
 Even if you let go.

00:33:54.839 --> 00:33:55.839
 I will never let go.

00:33:56.240 --> 00:33:57.159
 And even if you falter.

00:33:57.259 --> 00:33:58.799
 My covenant will stand forever.

00:33:58.940 --> 00:34:00.779
 For salvation belongs to the Lord.

00:34:01.000 --> 00:34:02.859
 And rests not on our offering to him.

00:34:02.919 --> 00:34:04.659
 But on his offering to us.

00:34:04.660 --> 00:34:07.540
 So what reason could we have?

00:34:08.340 --> 00:34:09.960
 Not to open our hands to him.

00:34:10.680 --> 00:34:13.220
 Not to offer up our Isaacs to him.

00:34:13.320 --> 00:34:14.840
 What good gifts, friends?

00:34:15.720 --> 00:34:18.960
 From God have we begun to clutch with tight fists.

00:34:21.139 --> 00:34:23.000
 Abraham may not have slaughtered Isaac.

00:34:23.139 --> 00:34:25.500
 But he truly did offer him up as a going up.

00:34:26.119 --> 00:34:27.280
 And we're called to do the same.

00:34:28.200 --> 00:34:30.019
 He walked him all the way up to the mountain.

00:34:30.500 --> 00:34:32.880
 He put him on top of the altar.

00:34:33.579 --> 00:34:34.559
 We're called to do the same.

00:34:34.559 --> 00:34:36.420
 And to respond to God calling our names.

00:34:37.000 --> 00:34:39.039
 With the same way Abraham responded to him.

00:34:39.539 --> 00:34:40.099
 Hineni.

00:34:41.440 --> 00:34:43.559
 That's the word he puts on our lips to say back to him.

00:34:43.639 --> 00:34:44.079
 Hineni.

00:34:44.159 --> 00:34:44.659
 Here I am.

00:34:44.739 --> 00:34:45.360
 Behold me.

00:34:45.719 --> 00:34:47.619
 With faith that the Lord will provide.

00:34:47.799 --> 00:34:49.639
 No matter what he asks of us.

00:34:50.539 --> 00:34:51.880
 So again, what is your Isaac?

00:34:52.820 --> 00:34:55.099
 What in your life are you tight-fisted over.

00:34:55.279 --> 00:34:58.119
 And unwilling to present palms up to God.

00:34:58.199 --> 00:34:58.719
 Your family.

00:34:59.420 --> 00:35:00.119
 Your career.

00:35:00.340 --> 00:35:00.860
 Your future.

00:35:01.059 --> 00:35:01.840
 Your relationships.

00:35:02.139 --> 00:35:02.820
 Your reputation.

00:35:02.820 --> 00:35:07.019
 How might we practice open-handedness this week?

00:35:07.200 --> 00:35:10.000
 Or what's one area in your life that we have yet to trust God with?

00:35:10.039 --> 00:35:12.420
 Maybe one hard obedience that you've been putting off.

00:35:12.640 --> 00:35:12.980
 Delaying.

00:35:13.059 --> 00:35:14.340
 How might you take that step?

00:35:14.920 --> 00:35:17.900
 That small, quiet, uncertain, faithful step.

00:35:18.760 --> 00:35:22.039
 Initiating that conversation with that person you've been putting off.

00:35:22.039 --> 00:35:23.380
 Reconciling with.

00:35:24.340 --> 00:35:25.259
 Asking someone.

00:35:25.380 --> 00:35:29.139
 A brother or sister in Christ to help keep you accountable around your addictions.

00:35:29.920 --> 00:35:30.699
 Your sex addictions.

00:35:30.820 --> 00:35:31.460
 Your porn addictions.

00:35:31.599 --> 00:35:32.579
 Your substance addictions.

00:35:33.739 --> 00:35:35.920
 Or maybe it's just trusting God with your time.

00:35:36.360 --> 00:35:36.860
 It's mine.

00:35:37.960 --> 00:35:45.639
 Surrendering your precious, valuable time to the seemingly inefficient and suboptimal practices of serving other people.

00:35:45.639 --> 00:35:49.400
 Or spending time in silence and solitude with God.

00:35:50.139 --> 00:35:51.400
 Memorizing the scriptures.

00:35:52.119 --> 00:35:56.579
 Giving a whole 24 hours of devotion to the Lord as a Sabbath.

00:35:58.019 --> 00:36:01.559
 What precious going up offering will we lift up this week?

00:36:01.559 --> 00:36:05.860
 I can guarantee you though, whatever it is, He is worthy of it.

00:36:06.860 --> 00:36:09.420
 He is worthy of your surrendered time.

00:36:10.000 --> 00:36:11.239
 Your surrendered treasures.

00:36:11.460 --> 00:36:13.440
 Your surrendered desires and plans.

00:36:14.759 --> 00:36:15.840
 So when you come to Him.

00:36:16.539 --> 00:36:17.779
 When you come to this table.

00:36:19.320 --> 00:36:20.719
 Come with open hands.

00:36:21.480 --> 00:36:23.440
 Come with open hands to your open hearted Lord.

00:36:23.579 --> 00:36:25.460
 Receive this bread and this cup.

00:36:25.920 --> 00:36:28.480
 As a sign and seal of the best news ever.

00:36:28.480 --> 00:36:31.219
 That your abundant and eternal life are being upheld.

00:36:31.420 --> 00:36:32.820
 Not by your devotion to Him.

00:36:33.159 --> 00:36:35.059
 But by His devotion to you.

00:36:35.300 --> 00:36:37.119
 The Lord will provide.

00:36:37.860 --> 00:36:39.760
 The Lord will see to it.

00:36:41.000 --> 00:36:42.159
 So open up your hands.

00:36:42.240 --> 00:36:43.059
 Let's open up your hands.

00:36:43.179 --> 00:36:43.920
 Lift up your eyes.

00:36:44.240 --> 00:36:45.139
 Lift up your hearts.

00:36:46.119 --> 00:36:49.039
 And let's taste and see how good this Lord is.

00:36:49.340 --> 00:36:49.559
 Amen.

00:36:50.659 --> 00:36:51.340
 Let's pray.

00:36:55.780 --> 00:36:58.300
 Lord open our eyes to what we withhold from You.

00:36:59.079 --> 00:37:00.740
 And more importantly open our eyes.

00:37:01.519 --> 00:37:03.679
 To who You did not withhold from us.

00:37:05.659 --> 00:37:08.260
 Lord would that be the best news in our lives.

00:37:09.059 --> 00:37:10.780
 And would that transform the way we live.

00:37:11.579 --> 00:37:14.280
 In love toward You and toward others.

00:37:14.900 --> 00:37:15.940
 To the glory of Your name.

00:37:16.659 --> 00:37:16.920
 Amen.

00:37:16.920 --> 00:37:17.019
 Amen.

00:37:17.019 --> 00:37:17.039
 Amen.

00:37:17.039 --> 00:37:17.059
 Amen.

00:37:17.059 --> 00:37:17.059


00:37:17.059 --> 00:37:17.059