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"For the Lord Most High is awesome; He is a great King over all the earth." Psalm 47:2

Text: Genesis 22:1-24

FULL OBEDIENCE

Abraham and Isaac had come to the exact place God had stipulated. The hour for the burnt offering had arrived. But there was no lamb in sight! Isaac must have wondered about the lamb his father had said that God would provide for Himself!

Then they came to the place of which God had told him.
And Abraham built an altar there and placed the wood
in order; and he bound Isaac his son and laid him on the altar,
upon the wood. And Abraham stretched out his hand
and took the knife to slay his son.”

GENESIS 22:9-10

Isaac watched his father closely as he built an altar to worship the Lord. He went on to lay the wood upon the altar. But still the sacrificial lamb was not in sight! Could his father have been mistaken that God would provide the lamb? Were they supposed to have brought their own lamb?

To his surprise, Isaac found himself bound by ropes! What was his father doing?

Surely he could not mean that he was to be the sacrificial lamb? Could he? How should he respond?

From the corner of his eye, he saw his father take up the knife he had carried all the way from home. He was silent as he approached the altar! So he was to be the lamb after all! Could his father really slay him? Was there not a deep bond of love between them? Isaac had no answer to the many questions that flooded his mind!

He too possessed the faith that his father had! Was this some mysterious word or test that God had given his father? Then he would not plead for his life! If his father could take his life, then he as son, would meet him half-way. He would offer his life and yield that to his father and his God! He would not resist! He would submit himself fully in total obedience!

AT THE VERY LAST MOMENT

Would God have allowed Abraham to slay his only son? Of course not! He monitored Abraham’s heart as he responded to the challenge to offer up his son as a burnt offering! Abraham had not flinched. He had determined that he would fully comply! God was to be honoured through full obedience!

“But the Angel of the Lord called to him from heaven
and said, ‘Abraham, Abraham!’
So he said, ‘Here I am.’
And He said, ‘Do not lay your hand on the lad, or do
anything to him; for now I know that you fear God,
since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from Me.'”

GENESIS 22:11-12

This was the biggest test yet! Abraham had passed this test with flying colours! He had not withheld his only son from being offered as a burnt sacrifice!