Sermon Tone Analysis

TEXT: Genesis 22:1-14

TOPIC: A Sneak Preview of Coming Attractions

Pastor Bobby Earls, First Baptist Church, Center Point, Alabama

Sunday morning, January 15, 2012

(A sermon by Dr. James Merritt)

Genesis 22:1–14 (NKJV)

1 Now it came to pass after these things that God tested Abraham, and said to him, “Abraham!”

And he said, “Here I am.” 2 Then He said, “Take now your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.” 3 So Abraham rose early in the morning and saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son; and he split the wood for the burnt offering, and arose and went to the place of which God had told him.

4 Then on the third day Abraham lifted his eyes and saw the place afar off. 5 And Abraham said to his young men, “Stay here with the donkey; the lad and I will go yonder and worship, and we will come back to you.” 6 So Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on Isaac his son; and he took the fire in his hand, and a knife, and the two of them went together.

7 But Isaac spoke to Abraham his father and said, “My father!”

And he said, “Here I am, my son.”

Then he said, “Look, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?”

8 And Abraham said, “My son, God will provide for Himself the lamb for a burnt offering.”

So the two of them went together.

9 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.

10 And Abraham stretched out his hand and took the knife to slay his son.

11 But the Angel of the Lord called to him from heaven and said, “Abraham, Abraham!”

So he said, “Here I am.” 12 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.” 13 Then Abraham lifted his eyes and looked, and there behind him was a ram caught in a thicket by its horns.

So Abraham went and took the ram, and offered it up for a burnt offering instead of his son.

14 And Abraham called the name of the place, The-Lord-Will-Provide; as it is said to this day, “In the Mount of the Lord it shall be provided.”

I read once about a couple who had their first little baby, and the father had been assigned the unenviable task all fathers have of eventually changing his first dirty diaper.

Well he dreaded it like the bubonic plague, but finally gritting his teeth he took off the diaper of his little baby, only to discover that it was only just a little bit dirty.

Well, he breathed a huge sigh of relief and was kind of chuckling to himself when his wife walked into the room, immediately sized up what had happened, and said, "If I were you, I wouldn't be too happy because that is just a sneak preview of coming attractions."

That is exactly what we have in the 22nd chapter of Genesis.

Here we see one of the clearest pictures and prophesies of the Lord Jesus Christ found in all of the Old Testament.

It is important to keep in mind as you read the Old Testament that all of the Bible is about the Lord Jesus Christ.

Jesus Himself said on one occasion, "Search the scriptures for...these are they which testify of Me."

Of course, when he said those words he was speaking only of the Old Testament.

Again, Jesus said in John 8:56, "Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day, and he saw it and was glad."

I believe there were a number of times that Abraham saw Jesus in the Old Testament, and I believe here in this 22nd chapter of Genesis is one such occasion.

In Genesis 22, Abraham receives a firsthand lesson from the Master Teacher Himself about Christ, Calvary, and the cross.

One commentator called this chapter "A dress rehearsal for Calvary."

Because we see here in picture and in type a clear portrait of what the Bible is truly all about; a Savior dying for the sins of the world.

I.

A Startling Statement, Genesis 22:2

“Take now your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love."

Never in all of the Bible does God ever make a stronger or a stranger demand on one of his children than the one found in these first two verses: "Now it came to pass after these things that God tested Abraham, and said to him, 'Abraham!'

And he said, 'Here I am.'

And He said, 'Take now your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.'"

(vv.1-2)

We immediately discern that this meant two things for Abraham:

A. A Powerful Trial

Abraham had waited one hundred years for this son Isaac to be born.

Like another Son, born thousands of years later by a miracle birth, Isaac was a son of promise and prophecy.

God had prophesied that Abraham and Sarah would have a son, and He promised them that this son would be the son of blessing.

All of Abraham's hopes, dreams, aspirations and goals, were wrapped up in that young man.

God was asking Abraham to give up his son of promise forever.

Even more, God asked Abraham to offer him as a sacrifice upon an altar.

Can you imagine how Abraham must have felt?

His heart sank, his knees buckled, his stomach twisted into a knot.

For a brief moment despair, doubt, disillusionment, and disappointment must have flooded his soul.

Notice the emphasis that God places on just exactly what this son means to Abraham.

He didn't just say "get up Isaac."

He says in v.2, "Take now your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love."

Abraham had been through many trials and troubles, but never one like faced him now.

I am sure you are asking the question, "How could God ask a man to give up his only son for Him?" Well, I think there is an even bigger question, how could God give up His only Son for man?

Because that is exactly what God did when He gave his only begotten, beloved Son for you and for me.

But an even greater question than how, is the question why?

Why did God make this demand upon Abraham?

B. A Purposeful Test From the very beginning we are told "God tested Abraham," v.1

Now the King James Version has the word tempt, but the Hebrew word Nasa literally means "to test."

There is a tremendous difference between tempting and testing.

A temptation is a demonic device meant to defeat us.

A test is a divine device meant to develop us.

One gives you a choice to do what is wrong.

The other gives you a chance to do what is right.

One is meant to cause you to stumble.

The other is meant to help you to stand.

We know that God never ever tempts anyone to do evil.

For the Bible says in James 1:13, "Let no one say when he is tempted, 'I am tempted by God'; for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone."

Now in school a test is given to evaluate your level of learning.

But in the school of life God gives a test to evaluate your level of living.

This test was a climax of tests that God had given to Abraham throughout his life.

In chapter 11 God gave Abraham the family test.

He called upon Abraham to leave his home, his mother and father and relatives, to move out of Ur and go to the land of Canaan.

In chapter 12 he was given the famine test.

For when a famine came to Canaan the Bible says he departed the will of God and went down to Egypt.

In chapter 13 he was given the fellowship test.

When a conflict arose between him and his nephew Lot, instead of demanding his way, he gave Lot his choice of land.

In chapter 14 he was given the fight test.

Because we are told there he defeated all of the kings of Sodom who had kidnapped Lot, and he rescued him.

He also was given in that chapter the fortune test because he was offered all of the wealth of Sodom, but he turned it down.

In chapters 15 and 16 he was given the fatherhood test.

God had promised to Abraham and Sarah they would have a boy.

But they were impatient; they would not wait on God and he fathered the child called Ishmael by his servant Hagar.

But here in chapter 22 God has reserved for Abraham the greatest test of all, the faith test.

God wanted to know and to show whether Abraham's faith was in his only Son, or his faith was in an omnipotent God.

It's so important to understand that God did not want Isaac's life, he wanted Abraham's loyalty.

God did not want Abraham's son, he wanted Abraham's heart.

He wanted Abraham to see that he could do without Isaac, but he could not do without God.

That's why the Lord said to Abraham in v.12, "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.'"

Child of God, you need to remember that every trouble and every trial that comes into your life is a test.

God is not nearly concerned with what happens to you as He is with how you respond to what happens to you.

Elizabeth Elliott said, "Every experience of trial puts us to this test: 'Do you trust God, or don't you?'"1

II.

A Submissive Servant, Genesis 22:5-6

5 And Abraham said to his young men, “Stay here with the donkey; the lad and I will go yonder and worship, and we will come back to you.” 6 So Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on Isaac his son; and he took the fire in his hand, and a knife, and the two of them went together.

Now you will not fully understand this story until you go beyond it, and get behind it, and see in Abraham a picture of God the Father, and in Isaac a picture of God the Son.

Verses 5 and 6 tell us that Abraham and Isaac left their party behind and went up the mountain together alone.