Sermon Tone Analysis

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Do You Obey in Faith?
Background Passage
Genesis 20:1-23:20
Lesson Passages
Genesis 22:1-6,9-18
Lesson Passages Outline
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Does God Command Us? (Gen.
22:1-2)
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When and How Do We Respond? (Gen.
22:3-6)
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Do We Follow Through? (Gen.
22:9-10)
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Do We Experience God's Affirmation and Insights?
(Gen.
22:11-18)
Biblical Truth
God wants His people to obey Him promptly and thoroughly.
Life Impact
To help you obey God in faith
Prepare
Working with students is a joyous but sometimes frustrating experience.
When assigning a paper I have to specify what I am looking for, because many students like to find and use every loophole.
Some students want to receive full credit for half-done work.
They ask such questions as: What size font can we use?
Can we expand the margins?
Does the length also include the bibliography page?
Do we get extra credit for doing it early?
How many points are taken off for late work?
Do we have to follow the model exactly or can we modify it?
They want to obey only some of the instructions.
Likewise, some Christians only want to obey God partially.
For example, Hank wants to wait until he feels more spiritual to serve God.
This lesson will help him realize obeying God deepens and strengthens faith.
The lesson also encourages people like Ellen, who ignores God's will, to obey God.
The lesson also challenges people like Lois and Paul, who volunteer but then do not follow through.
In what ways do you sometimes only partially obey God?
Abraham provides an example of fully obeying God.
As you study about Abraham's obedience when God told him to sacrifice his son Isaac, focus on ways you can encourage adults to experience the *Life Impact* of the lesson by obeying God in faith.
As you continue your personal Bible study, prayerfully read the *Background Passage* and respond to the *Study Questions* as well as to the questions in the margins for the February 10 lesson in /Explore the Bible: Adult Learner Guide/.
The Bible in Context (Gen.
20:1-23:20)
Following the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, Abraham settled down in Gerar.
When Abraham told the people of Gerar that Sarah was his sister, their king Abimelech brought her into his harem.
God warned Abimelech in a dream that his nation faced destruction because he had brought a married woman into his household.
Abimelech stated his innocence and God commanded him to return Sarah to Abraham and to have Abraham pray for him (Gen.
20:1-18).
Next, as God had promised, Sarah became pregnant by Abraham and delivered a son at the exact time God had specified.
Abraham named his son Isaac and obeyed God by circumcising him on the eighth day after his birth.
Sarah insisted Abraham send Hagar and Ishmael away.
After assurances from God, Abraham reluctantly did so.
God cared for Hagar and Ishmael and gave them a future (21:1-21).
Abimelech asked Abraham to enter a covenant with him.
When Abraham protested that Abimelech's men had seized a well from him, Abimelech stated he knew nothing of the seizure.
As the two men made a covenant, Abraham gave Abimelech sheep and cattle.
After the covenant ceremony, Abraham worshiped God (21:22-34).
God tested Abraham by asking him to sacrifice Isaac as a burnt offering.
Immediately Abraham set off to obey God, taking Isaac and two servants to travel to an area of Mount Moriah.
When they arrived at the specific place God had selected, Abraham built an altar, arranged the wood, bound Isaac, and placed him on the altar.
As Abraham prepared to sacrifice his son, God stopped him, stating Abraham had passed the test.
God reaffirmed His promises to Abraham, who then returned to Beer-sheba.
In Beer-sheba Abraham learned how God had blessed his brother Nahor with children (22:1-24).
Sarah died when she was 127 years old.
Abraham asked his Hittite neighbors to allow him to purchase the cave of Machpelah in which to bury his wife.
Ephron offered to give the cave and the field around it to Abraham, but he insisted on buying them.
Abraham and Ephron agreed on a price and Abraham buried Sarah in the cave (23:1-20).
Does God Command Us? (Gen.
22:1-2)
1 After these things God tested Abraham and said to him, "Abraham!"
"Here I am," he answered.
2 "Take your son," He said, "your only [son] Isaac, whom you love, go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains I will tell you about."
*Verse 1.
After these things* refers at least to the events of Genesis 20:1-21:34 and possibly to everything that had happened thus far to Abraham.
The birth of Isaac had brought joy to Abraham and Sarah and the initial fulfillment of God's promise of numerous descendants.
In making the covenant with Abraham (12:1-2), God had promised to bless the nations through him and give him a place in the land.
Abraham could begin to see the fulfillment of God's promises.
When life seemed to be going well, God *tested* Abraham.
Testing involves putting a person or nation through a difficult time to determine or strengthen the person's or nation's character.
God tested Israel through hunger and thirst in the wilderness (Deut.
8:2-3,16), through false prophets (13:3), and through conflict with other nations (Judg.
2:22).
*/And Today./*
God tests His people to strengthen their faith and trust, not to cause them to abandon faith in Him.
God tested Abraham to determine the level of his commitment.
From the outset God planned to stop Abraham from sacrificing Isaac, but Abraham did not know that.
God's command constituted a genuine test for Abraham.
*Verse 2.* Fully aware of the difficulty of the test, God ordered Abraham to do what seemed unthinkable.
In the Hebrew text the word for "I pray thee" or "please" follows the command *take*.
Thus as kindly as possible God tested Abraham, telling him to sacrifice his son Isaac as a burnt offering.
People in other nations offered human sacrifices to their gods and those in Israel sometimes did the same (Judg.
11:30-40; 2 Kings 3:27), but God detested human sacrifice (Jer.
32:35; Mic.
6:7).
Abraham did not have Moses' law or the prophets' words, but God had revealed He was not like the gods of the nations.
This command to Abraham resembled God's first command to the patriarch (Gen.
12:1).
God had begun with the easiest thing for Abraham to leave (his land) and ended with the most difficult (his father's house).
God's command to Abraham to sacrifice his son followed the same pattern of increased difficulty with each phrase.
God tested Abraham by asking him to take his *son,* his *only son* (through whom God had said He would fulfill His promises), and to *offer* (sacrifice) *him.*
God instructed Abraham to go to *the land of Moriah* [muh RIGH uh] for this sacrifice.
Solomon later constructed the temple on Mount Moriah (2 Chron.
3:1), leading many Bible students to believe the temple rested where Abraham prepared to sacrifice Isaac.
God told Abraham He would show him the exact spot for the sacrifice.
God commanded Abraham to sacrifice Isaac as a *burnt offering*.
For the burnt offering, the worshiper placed the entire animal, except for the hide, on the altar and burned everything.
Since the worshiper kept no part of the sacrifice, the burnt offering represented the most costly gift a person could make.
*/And Today./*
As we study God's testing of Abraham, we need to remember that Abraham's test was unique in the Bible.
God did not ask other people to sacrifice their children to prove their faith.
Instead, God offered His Son as a sacrifice for our sin.
While God will not ask us to offer someone as a human sacrifice, God will command us to deny our selfish desires and comforts and sacrifice our time, talents, and financial means to serve Him.
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