LESSONS FROM ABRAHAM FOR LIFE TODAY

Abraham is the founding Father of the people of God, the Jewish people.  He is one of, if not the, most outstanding persons in the Old Testament.  The lessons from his life are applicable and useful for us today.  Here are fourteen.

1 The Bible does not Begin with Abraham
Most ancient books dealing with the founding of a nation, its civilization, and its religion begin with the story of the founder.  The founder was a local hero and the civilization and religion of the people was local in scope.  So the gods of Ur, Babylonia, and Egypt are all different because the location and culture in each is different.  But, this is not true in Israel’s or Abraham’s case.

Abraham’s story does not appear in the Bible until chapter 12. In the preceding eleven chapters of the Bible are records of a universal creation (Genesis 1), a universal flood (Genesis 6), the establishment of nations and languages (Genesis 11), and a table recording all the nations (Genesis 10).  The reason the Bible does not begin with Abraham is because Abraham’s God served is not just a family deity or a local God.  He is the only true, and therefore, universal God.

The God you and I serve is the same universal God Bible-believing Christians all over the world know.  Is Genesis 1 – 11 not a great indication that He is the only true God?  I do not want to worship a mere local god, a mere product of a local or regional poet’s imagination.  I want to worship, know, serve, obey, and give myself to the true God, and, if He is the true God, then He necessarily is the only God.  The first eleven chapters of Genesis which precede the story of Abram are an indication that the God who called Abram is the true one.  The first lesson we can learn from Abraham is that the God he worshiped is the only true universal God.

2 Abram Moved from Ur Toward Canaan, but Only Got to Haran
Traveling with his father, Terah, Abram went with his sister/wife Sarai, and nephew, Lot, headed for Canaan (Genesis 11:31), but they stopped and settled in Haran.  Terah did not arrive at Canaan, his intended destination.  He allowed something to interfere with his goal.  He did not manage by objectives.  Haran is the name of Abram’s brother who died in Ur (Genesis 11:28) and also the name of the place they stopped at on the way to Canaan.  This may be a coincidence or it is possible that Terah named the place Haran after his son.  In either case, Terah was content to stay in Haran and not complete his journey to Canaan.  He did not face the future; he faced the past.  The devil wants to talk to you about your past and keep you in your past; God wants to talk to you about your future, possibilities, and opportunities.

Terah was a quitter.  He did not finish.  Until now you may never have even heard of Terah.  The only reason we know of Terah is because his persevering, faith-filled, forward-looking, obedient son, Abram, finished.  Abram worshiped God, received and believed the promise, arrived in Canaan, acted on the promise, and received what the promise promised, what God had for him.  Abram was a finisher.  Terah was a quitter.  Which will you be?  I want to follow Abram’s example.  I want to be a finisher.  God is looking for finishers.

3 God Initiated the Call of Abraham
It is an enormous thought to realize that God is the Prime Mover, the initiator of everything good.  The ideas come to us but they do not start with us.  If they start with our imagination they may lead to failure.  If our ideas originate with God we can depend on God that they will come to pass if we cooperate.

To want to serve as a Christian Leader is a good desire, but how do you know if that idea came from God?  “Here is a trustworthy saying: Whoever aspires to be an overseer desires a noble task” (I Timothy 3:1).  Yet we all know the heart of man is deceitful and wicked.  We are capable of thinking selfish, egotistical thoughts, and harboring vain ambitions.  “The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?” (Jeremiah 17:9).  We cannot even trust our own evaluations of our own character.  Paul the Apostle says that of himself.  “I care very little if I am judged by you or by any human court; indeed, I do not even judge myself” (I Corinthians 4:3).  How then, do we know if we are called of God or we are just following our own imagination?

God uses a wide variety of means to call people to ministry. And He also calls a broad spectrum of people types.  What criterion does God use when He selects those whom He wants to use in His ministry?  We do not have a definitive answer, but someway, somehow, sometime, every minister must find out and then remember that it is the call of God on his or her life that constrains him or her to do the work of the ministry.  Abraham, Jeremiah, Isaiah, David, Amos, and Paul all knew that and you had better know that.

Paul and Jeremiah could not not minister.  “But if I say, ‘I will not mention him or speak any more in his name,’ his word is in my heart like a fire, a fire shut up in my bones. I am weary of holding it in; indeed, I cannot” (Jeremiah 20:9).  “Yet when I preach the gospel, I cannot boast, for I am compelled to preach.  Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel!” (I Corinthians 9:16).  When many disciples were defecting, Jesus asked the twelve if they would also leave.  Peter answered, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.”  For one who is called, there is nothing else that satisfies.

4 Abraham Began a Journey without Knowing Where it would Lead
“Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you” (Genesis 12:1).  Caution tells us to not release one position until we know our next position.  I was taught in Bible College to not resign one church responsibility unless I had another one to go to.  Usually, this is the correct posture.  Yet, it appears that God reserves the right to sometimes require us to demonstrate absolute confidence, faith, and trust in Him shown by our willingness to leave something even before we know the next step.  God required this of Abraham and Abraham responded correctly.

Yet even in this instance Abraham had some idea of where this might lead him; it was not a total leap into the dark unknown.  His father, Terah, had set out for Canaan.  Why?  Was that just some whim on his part or had God spoken?  Didn’t Abraham know that his father Terah had started for Canaan?  Abram had, at least, a hint of an idea about where God may take him.

These questions concerning blind faith verses making reasonable and rational choices raise a yet more fundamental question for Christian leaders who want to exercise faith but do not want to do something foolish in the name of faith:  What is the relationship between faith and reason in making career or ministry-related decisions?   Faith should not be unreasonable and reason should not always automatically quench faith.  God has given both a measure of faith and also rational decision-making mental powers.  Abilities to exercise faith and to use reason are both from God.  The tension between faith and reason gives man the opportunity to play a kind of adventure game with God.  We constantly search for Him and His will.  We are discoverers, explorers, adventurers, and accomplishers.  It is easier and safer to just stay with routine, the familiar, the proven.  God challenges us to a more interesting and challenging adventure with Him, but we must learn to trust Him and move when, and only when, He says move.

5 Abraham Built Altars Everywhere He Went
When Abram arrived at Shechem, and later in his journey when he arrived in the hills east of Bethel, he built altars (Genesis 12:6 – 8) to the Lord.  What are the implications of these verses?  Abram was not a church, a mission, an organization, or a public entity of any kind.  He was only an individual man with possessions and employees.  Yet, everywhere he went he built an altar to the Lord.

Abraham was a worshipper.  He worshiped.  That is what he did because that is who he was.  Out of who he was, he built altars, and, to be consistent with who he was and what he believed. His behavior would indicate that he believed in family and household worship, leading those with him in worship.  He worshiped the true God.  Out of who he was he gave visible evidence that he was a worshiper of God.

Worship does not depend on location, organization, or facilities.  These factors may help create an atmosphere in which worship can more easily take place, but worship is not limited to, or controlled by, certain locations.  Jesus made this clear in His conversation with the woman by the well at Sychar recorded in John 4:20-24:  “‘Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem,’ ‘Woman,’ Jesus replied, ‘believe me, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem.  You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews.  Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the father seeks.  God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.’”

Being a worshiper is more important than being in a place where people worship, with people who are worshiping, or saying things that people who worship say.  We are not to give up meeting together (Hebrews 10:25) but even in the assembly, the condition of the worshiper’s heart is far more important than merely being among worshipers in a place of worship, saying or singing what worshipers say and sing.  Abram worshiped God on a hill from a home-made altar.

6 Abraham Failed as a Crosscultural Missionary
In Genesis 12:10-20 the narrative tells us of Abram’s experience in Egypt where Abram feared for his own life because of Sarah’s beauty.  Abram put Sarah’s moral purity at risk because of his narrow-minded selfish concern for just his own life.  In Genesis 26:1-11 the same thing happened when Isaac lived in Gerar among the Philistines.  Following his father’s example, Isaac also called his wife his sister in an effort to preserve his own life.  Several important lessons can be learned from Abram’s, then Isaac’s, mistake:

1.  We should not assume there is no fear of God in others even though they are very different from ourselves.  The Pharoah of Egypt and King Abimelek of the Philistines both had a conscience and responded favorably to God’s dealing with them.  Become sensitive to what God is doing among the people where you serve and work with God.
2.  The ethical level of the “heathen” was higher than Abram’s.  Abram was called of God to be a blessing to all nations, but because of his selfishness and failure he almost became a curse to the nations.  We must learn to live right for the sake of the One whom we represent and whose message we carry.
3.  Our children are watching us and may tend to repeat our successes and our failures.  In this case, Isaac repeated Abram’s error in spite of the fact that Pharoah behaved morally better than his father Abram had.  Isaac’s lie, however, was worse because Rebekah was not his half-sister.
4.  A big lesson for women in today’s age of gender competition is that even though Abram made big mistakes, God protected obedient Sarah.  This leads to the next point.

7 Abraham’s Wife, Sarai, Demonstrates Great Faith
“When Abram came to Egypt, the Egyptians saw that Sarai was a very beautiful woman.  And when Pharaoh’s officials saw her, they praised her to Pharaoh, and she was taken into his palace.  He treated Abram well for her sake, and Abram acquired sheep and cattle, male and female donkeys, male and female servant, and camels.  But the Lord inflicted serious diseases on Pharaoh and his household because of Abram’s wife Sarai.  So Pharaoh summoned Abram.  ‘What have you done to me?’ he said, ‘Why didn’t you tell me she was your wife? Why did you say, “She is my sister” so that I took her to be my wife? Now then, here is your wife.  Take her and go!’  Then Pharaoh gave orders about Abram to his men, and they sent him on his way, with his wife and everything he had” (Genesis 12:14-20).

So nobly and cooperatively did Sarai conduct herself that she received a very high commendation in I Peter 3:1-6 in which Peter instructed Christian women how to have real, not mere physical, beauty.  In verses 5 & 6, Peter, referring to beautiful behavior and cooperative attitude, writes: “For this is the way the holy women of the past who put their hope in God used to adorn themselves.  They submitted themselves to their own husbands, like Sarah, who obeyed Abraham and called him her lord.  You are her daughters if you do what is right and not give way to fear.”

1. Sarai’s husband was wrong, but she did not argue with him.
2. She allowed herself to be placed in danger, trusting God to protect her.
3. God protected her.
4. We are told to learn from her example.
5. Beautiful behavior and attitude is superior to physical beauty in God’s (and in godly people’s) eyes.

8 Abraham Separates from Lot Honorably
“Go from your country, your people and your father’s household. . .” (Genesis 12:1). “. . . and Lot went with him” (Genesis 12:4). Abram went out of Egypt and back to Canaan land “ . . . and Lot went with him” (Genesis 13:1).  Part of Abram’s problem with Lot may have been due to the fact that Abram did not fully obey God when he allowed Lot to travel along with him.  The command to go to Canaan had included the instruction to leave his people and his father’s household.  We do not know all the details, but we do know that eventually the herdsmen of Lot and Abraham quarreled and that part of the problem was that they both had flocks and herds and tents.  The good aspect of Abram’s example from which to learn is that Abram proposed a peaceful separation: “So Abram said to Lot, ‘Let’s not have any quarreling between you and me, or between your herders and mine, for we are close relatives.  Is not the whole land before you?  Let’s part company.  If you go to the left, I’ll go to the right; if you go to the right, I’ll go to the left” Genesis 13:8 – 9).

There are times when separation is better than trying to harmonize or coordinate highly divergent ministry methods or visions.  Separations occur in the course of doing God’s will.  In the New Testament, for example, Paul and Barnabas, as recorded in Act 15:36 – 41, separated over a disagreement about whether to take John Mark with them on the third missionary journey.  Solomon said, “There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens” (Ecclesiastes 3:1).  The following 7 verses of Ecclesiastes 3 give us 14 illustrations.  ‘A time to join together and a time to separate’ is not specifically in that list, but it is included in the “everything” of verse 1.  There are times in life and ministry when it is appropriate to separate just as there are times when it is appropriate to join.

When it is time to separate we must do it honorably.  Separations can be hurtful, bitter, disappointing, and leave long-term emotional scars.  Yet separations are part of growth.  In family studies and child psychology we learn that a mentally healthy child goes though a developmental process called “individuation/separation.”  The child learns that he or she is an individual separate from his or her parents and gradually grows in the desire and ability to operate independently.  This type of separation is healthy.  Growth and maturity of the individuation process involves separation from those with whom we are joined in the very processes of life God used to develop us up to the point when we are ready for individuation/separation.

Our separations do not have to be and should not be contentious. We can and should maintain unity of the spirit even as we go our separate ways.  We move from place to place, phase to phase, and stage to stage, and ministry to ministry.  Each of these changes can be done honorably, decently, and in order.  God may use a difference of opinion or divergence of vision, focus, or priority to direct us to move or change, but not only are we God’s children, the ones we leave behind or those we release to go are God’s children too.  “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves” (Philippians 2:3).  We must in honor esteem them better than ourselves, wish them success, and celebrate growth and development even as we separate from them.

We have a lot of Lots in the course of a life-time, so we need to learn to separate from them in godly ways.  If someone’s vision, calling, gifts, or ministry operation is different than the one God has given to you, celebrate both diversity of gifts and unity of the Spirit at the same time.  You are free to separate in an honorable way or remain together allowing your different gifts to complement each other.  How many of us have hurtful memories of separations that we wish now we could do over again in an honorable way?  Fix the past hurtful separations if you can, but determine that from now on, separations will be peaceful and celebrative.

9 Abraham Informally, Yet Successfully, Trained His Staff
In Genesis 14 there is no explanation of how Abram’s team received its training.  Viewing the story from the outcome, however, we know they must have been trained and trained well because not only does the Scripture refer to them as “trained men,” also against overwhelming odds they performed with great results.

“The four kings seized all the goods of Sodom and Gomorrah and all their food; then they went away. They also carried off Abram's nephew Lot and his possessions, since he was living in Sodom. A man who had escaped came and reported this to Abram the Hebrew. Now Abram was living near the great trees of Mamre the Amorite, a brother of Eshkol and Aner, all of whom were allied with Abram. When Abram heard that his relative had been taken captive, he called out the 318 trained men born in his household and went in pursuit as far as Dan. During the night Abram divided his men to attack them and he routed them, pursuing them as far as Hobah, north of Damascus. He recovered all the goods and brought back his relative Lot and his possessions, together with the women and the other people” (Genesis 14:11-16).
These household warriors, 318 trained men born in his household, and their commander-in-chief, Abram, recovered from the armies of four kings what five kings and their armies had been unable to defend and protect.  This was an amazing battle.  At night, Abram and his men attacked in multiple groups, routed, then pursued them, recovering Lot and his possessions, women, and other people.  Psalm 91:7 says, “A thousand may fall at your side, ten thousand at your right hand, but it will not come near you.”  This appears to be the basis for such statements as: “How could one man chase a thousand, or two put ten thousand to flight, unless their Rock had sold them, unless the LORD had given them up?” (Deuteronomy 32:30). “With your help I can advance against a troop; with my God I can scale a wall” (Psalm 18:29).
Often in our church work we face overwhelming odds.  Other organizations seem to have human and financial resources, connections, and favor, while we labor faithfully along with few resources, just God.  Take a lesson from Abram.  Train your few.  Prepare them.  Have Bible studies in homes.  Train the people in your church that have leadership abilities.  Remember Abram and his 318 trained men in his household and their victory over four kings and their armies.  God is just the same today.  The day came when Israel had a standing army, but Abram began with 318 men.  You may eventually develop a team of workers, schools, workers, recognition, and many human resources, but you have to begin by training your 318 men first.
10 Abram’s Vision Gets a Revision
“After this, the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision: ‘Do not be afraid, Abram.  I am your shield, your very great reward.’ But Abram said, ‘Sovereign LORD, what can you give me since I remain childless and the one who will inherit my estate is Eliezer of Damascus?"  And Abram said, "You have given me no children; so a servant in my household will be my heir.’  Then the word of the LORD came to him: ‘This man will not be your heir, but a son coming from your own body will be your heir.’  He took him outside and said, ‘Look up at the heavens and count the stars—if indeed you can count them.’ Then he said to him, ‘So shall your offspring be.’  Abram believed the LORD, and he credited it to him as righteousness” (Genesis 15:1-6).

The second vision, recorded in Genesis 15, adds four things to the original promises of Genesis 15:  (1) Protection (Genesis 15:1), (2) reward (Genesis 15:1), (3) offspring (Genesis 15:4-5), and (4) land (Genesis 15:7).  These add fullness to the earlier vision recorded in Genesis 12.  The earlier vision had said nothing about offspring, just that God would make him “into a great nation.”  The earlier vision said nothing about land, but God this time specifically said that He was giving Abram the land of Canaan.

We may relish the idea of God being our shield (Protector) and our great reward, (close Friend, Helper, Comforter, Blessing and Source of blessings, etc.), but remember that God said this after Abram obediently traveled into the unknown by faith.  God rewards faith.

How long has it been since your vision was revised?  How long has it been since God spoke to you?  Is your vision out-of-date?  Has your passion cooled?  Has your faith grown through the passing of time as you continue to wait on the Lord for the fulfillment of your vision?  Has your vision lost its clarity?  These questions are designed to help us open our hearts to the fine-tuning, refocusing, or clarification God may want to make in our visions.  We need to stay current with God.  Our plans should be flexible and our visions current.  God spoke again to Abram and He will speak again to you.

11 Abraham Tried to Help God Fulfill His Promise
“Now Sarai, Abram's wife, had borne him no children. But she had an Egyptian servant named Hagar; so she said to Abram, ‘The LORD has kept me from having children. Go, sleep with my servant; perhaps I can build a family through her.’  Abram agreed to what Sarai said. So after Abram had been living in Canaan ten years, Sarai his wife took her Egyptian servant Hagar and gave her to her husband to be his wife.  He slept with Hagar, and she conceived.  When she knew she was pregnant, she began to despise her mistress” (Genesis 16:1-4).

With the passing of time and with no apparent miracle child from God, Abram and Sarai develop a human plan.  So different from each other are God’s miracle plan and Abram and Sarai’s human plan that centuries later in the New Testament the two are referred to in contrast.  Galatians 4:21-31 tells of the two Covenants and the children of the slave woman in contrast to the children of the free woman.  Here is Paul’s conclusion:

“Now you, brothers, like Isaac, are children of promise. At that time the son born in the ordinary way persecuted the son born by the power of the Spirit. It is the same now. But what does the Scripture say? ‘Get rid of the slave woman and her son, for the slave woman's son will never share in the inheritance with the free woman's son.’ Therefore, brothers, we are not children of the slave woman, but of the free woman” (Galatians 4:28-31).

Every time we do not wait for God’s miracle, take things into our own hands, trust in the arm of flesh, get ahead of God, and do things our ways, we are following the slave woman spirit.  When we wait for God, experience his miracles, do things His way and in His timing, we are following the spirit of the free woman.  Ishmael and Isaac each represent these two entirely different principles.  Abram’s attempt to help God keep God’s promise to Abram includes this very important lesson—wait for God’s miracles; don’t “help” God with your own human plan.

This does not mean that all the physical descendants of Ishmael on earth today are of the spirit of the slave woman.  I, personally, have some very fine Palestinian and Arab friends who are wonderful Christian people.  This is a spiritual matter and what spirit (attitude, philosophy or method of operation) one follows is symbolized by the two women.  Let’s wait for God’s promise and do things God’s way.

12 Abraham’s Covenant with God was Confirmed by Circumcision
“When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to him and said, ‘I am God Almighty; walk before me faithfully and be blameless. Then I will make my covenant between me and you and will greatly increase your numbers.’ Abram fell facedown, and God said to him, ‘As for me, this is my covenant with you: You will be the father of many nations.  No longer will you be called Abram; your name will be Abraham, for I have made you a father of many nations.  I will make you very fruitful; I will make nations of you, and kings will come from you. I will establish my covenant as an everlasting covenant between me and you and your descendants after you for the generations to come, to be your God and the God of your descendants after you.  The whole land of Canaan, where you now reside as a foreigner, I will give as an everlasting possession to you and your descendants after you; and I will be their God.’  This is my covenant with you and your descendants after you, the covenant you are to keep: Every male among you shall be circumcised.  You are to undergo circumcision, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and you. (Genesis 17:1-11)

“’Any uncircumcised male, who has not been circumcised in the flesh, will be cut off from his people; he has broken my covenant.’  God also said to Abraham, ‘As for Sarai your wife, you are no longer to call her Sarai; her name will be Sarah. I will bless her and will surely give you a son by her. I will bless her so that she will be the mother of nations; kings of peoples will come from her.’ Abraham fell facedown; he laughed and said to himself, ‘Will a son be born to a man a hundred years old? Will Sarah bear a child at the age of ninety?’ And Abraham said to God, ‘If only Ishmael might live under your blessing!’  Then God said, ‘Yes, but your wife Sarah will bear you a son, and you will call him Isaac. I will establish my covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his descendants after him. And as for Ishmael, I have heard you: I will surely bless him; I will make him fruitful and will greatly increase his numbers. He will be the father of twelve rulers, and I will make him into a great nation.  But my covenant I will establish with Isaac, whom Sarah will bear to you by this time next year.’ When he had finished speaking with Abraham, God went up from him.  On that very day Abraham took his son Ishmael and all those born in his household or bought with his money, every male in his household, and circumcised them, as God told him.  Abraham was ninety-nine years old when he was circumcised, and his son Ishmael was thirteen; Abraham and his son Ishmael were both circumcised on that same day.  And every male in Abraham's household, including those born in his household or bought from a foreigner, was circumcised with him.” (Genesis 17:14 – 27).

The following 8 observations will help us appreciate the spiritual meaning of circumcision and how it deteriorated into a symbol of reliance on doing the works of the law.  They will also caution us to avoid circumcising females.

1. Circumcision is primarily a sign of a covenant between God and Abraham and his descendents.
2. Circumcision signified a convent with God emphasizing the blessing of God and separation from the world.
3. It had a wonderful meaning originally, but has been replaced by a new covenant.
4. Circumcision became a symbol of man’s efforts to keep the law; some Judiastic believers in the New Testament even wanted to require Gentile believers to also be circumcised.
5. Church leaders met and decided that circumcision was not required under the new covenant.
6. Circumcision is not currently required of Christians.
7. Circumcision was for males only, not females.
8. There are many details in God’s instructions to Abram. If God intended circumcision to include females it would have said so.  Circumcision did not include females.

Sexual pleasures are a gift from God to be enjoyed by both males and females within the confines of marriage.  The Song of Solomon portrays the desire for love of the Shummanite shepherdess as something that should and would be fulfilled.  I Corinthians 7 says that married partners should provide sexual gratification to each other.  And Hebrews 13:4 says that the marriage bed is pure.  Furthermore, even though you will not find an instruction that say not to circumcise little girls, yet the Bible teaches against mutilation of our bodies.  "Do not cut your bodies for the dead or put tattoo marks on yourselves. I am the LORD” (Leviticus 19:28).  Circumcision of little girls debases women and robs them of the pleasures God intended women to have in physical experiences with their husbands.  Mutilation of genitals hinders or completely removes sexual pleasure for women. When women are loved they love in response.

13 Abraham Was an Intercessor
“The men turned away and went toward Sodom, but Abraham remained standing before the LORD. Then Abraham approached him and said: ‘Will you sweep away the righteous with the wicked?  What if there are fifty righteous people in the city? Will you really sweep it away and not spare the place for the sake of the fifty righteous people in it?  Far be it from you to do such a thing—to kill the righteous with the wicked, treating the righteous and the wicked alike. Far be it from you! Will not the Judge of all the earth do right?’ The LORD said, ‘If I find fifty righteous people in the city of Sodom, I will spare the whole place for their sake.’  Then Abraham spoke up again: ‘Now that I have been so bold as to speak to the Lord, though I am nothing but dust and ashes, what if the number of the righteous is five less than fifty? Will you destroy the whole city for lack of five people?’ ‘If I find forty-five there,’ he said, ‘I will not destroy it.’  Once again he spoke to him, ‘What if only forty are found there?’  He said, ‘For the sake of forty, I will not do it.’  Then he said, May the Lord not be angry, but let me speak. What if only thirty can be found there?’  He answered, ‘I will not do it if I find thirty there.’  Abraham said, ‘Now that I have been so bold as to speak to the Lord, what if only twenty can be found there?’  He said, ‘For the sake of twenty, I will not destroy it.’ Then he said, ‘May the Lord not be angry, but let me speak just once more. What if only ten can be found there?’ He answered, ‘For the sake of ten, I will not destroy it.’  When the LORD had finished speaking with Abraham, he left, and Abraham returned home” (Genesis 18:22-33).

The length of this prayer/conversation, Abraham’s insistence and persistence, his courtesy as he appealed to the mercy of God, and his concern for those for whom he prayed, all indicate that Abraham cared about people and was willing to intercede in their behalf.  It is a model for intercessors to examine and duplicate.

History is changed by intercessors.  History is made by intercessors.  Intercessors seek to know the plans of God and then cooperate with Him by interceding to Him in behalf of what He wants to do.  We do not know why God waits for intercessors, but Scripture gives evidence that He does.  Some of the things God is willing to do and wants to do He does not do because there are no intercessors.  “I looked for a man among them who would build up the wall and stand before me in the gap on behalf of the land so I would not have to destroy it, but I found none” (Ezekiel 22:30).

“I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone—for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. This is good, and pleases God our Savior, who wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth” (I Timothy 2:1-4).

14 Abraham was Really Tested
 “Some time later God tested Abraham. He said to him, ‘Abraham!’ ‘Here I am,’ he replied.  Then God said, ‘Take your son, your only son, whom you love—Isaac—and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on a mountain I will show you.’ Early the next morning Abraham got up and loaded his donkey. He took with him two of his servants and his son Isaac. When he had cut enough wood for the burnt offering, he set out for the place God had told him about. On the third day Abraham looked up and saw the place in the distance. He said to his servants, ‘Stay here with the donkey while I and the boy go over there. We will worship and then we will come back to you.’
“Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and placed it on his son Isaac, and he himself carried the fire and the knife. As the two of them went on together, Isaac spoke up and said to his father Abraham, ‘Father?’  ‘Yes, my son?’ Abraham replied. ‘The fire and wood are here,’ Isaac said, ‘but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?’ Abraham answered, ‘God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.’ And the two of them went on together.
“When they reached the place God had told him about, Abraham built an altar there and arranged the wood on it. He bound his son Isaac and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. Then he reached out his hand and took the knife to slay his son. But the angel of the Lord called out to him from heaven, ‘Abraham! Abraham!’  ‘Here I am,’ he replied.
“‘Do not lay a hand on the boy,’ he said. ‘Do not do anything to him. Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son.’
“Abraham looked up and there in a thicket he saw a ram caught by its horns. He went over and took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering instead of his son. So Abraham called that place The Lord Will Provide. And to this day it is said, ‘On the mountain of the Lord it will be provided.’ The angel of the Lord called to Abraham from heaven a second time and said, ‘I swear by myself, declares the Lord, that because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, I will surely bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will take possession of the cities of their enemies, ‘and through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed me.’  Then Abraham returned to his servants, and they set off together for Beersheba. And Abraham stayed in Beersheba” (Genesis 22:1-19).
Today we fail to get the full impact of this story because we already know the end of the story every time we reread it.  Also, we know our God does not require human sacrifices from us.  But other religions and systems in the contemporary world still believe their gods require the life of offspring because they do no know God’s character.  Abraham lived when people did not yet know that the true God would not require human sacrifice.  In other words, this was a real test.  Abraham did not know the end of the story as he went through the process.  Furthermore, Isaac was Abraham’s especially dearly beloved son.  Isaac was born to Abraham in his old age and as a result of God’s unique promise to him years earlier.  This was really difficult test for Abraham.
I would prefer to be able to teach you that after we have passed numerous tests in our formative years of ministry, we coast along gracefully and easily during the final and more productive years.  This simply is not true.  We continue to face tests.  God continues to prepare us for eternal and important assignments and responsibilities in the next life.  He is preparing us in a life-long process.  Be aware of God’s goals for you and pass every test triumphantly.
This test of Abraham’s faith and obedience defies the human imagination to comprehend the trauma and emotional reaction to such a request—to slay your own beloved son.  But Abraham obediently and faithfully did what God said to do.  How will we do in the tests of our faith as we mature and move into the more influential years of mature ministry?  I hope that Abraham’s example of obedience to the end of his life can inspire and encourage us.
Moriah is the mountain on which God showed Abraham to sacrifice his son.  It is very possibly a hill near Jerusalem where Solomon built the temple or even Golgotha where God the Father did to His Son what Abraham did symbolically; God actually did for us what Abraham was willing to do out of obedience.

 

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© 2003 Ron Meyers