We Will Never Fully Understand (part 2)
The previous post told of God telling Abraham and Sarah they would have a son when they were both well past the age that such was a practical consideration - yet it happened just as God had said.
In that instance, God had given Abraham news that seemed almost too good to be true, and then God blessed Abraham and Sarah with the joy of their promised son Isaac.
While we might not understand how a couple so advanced in years can conceive and birth a son, we can see how this would be a blessing to Abraham and Sarah. In this case we can easily view God as "good" and "caring".
But just a few chapters later we see God tell Abraham that he is to kill Isaac and present his son as a burnt offering to God. His long awaited son, the son who came so miraculously into their lives, the son who has been so much joy and their hope for the future, offered as a sacrifice to God. What kind of God would require this? Can this possibly be the same God that blessed them to receive Isaac in the first place? It hardly seems so. In light of this request, can we still view God as "good" and "caring"?
Lets read the text.
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Genesis 22:1-18 Some time after these things God tested Abraham. He said to him, “Abraham!” “Here I am!” Abraham replied. God said, “Take your son – your only son, whom you love, Isaac – and go to the land of Moriah! Offer him up there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains which I will indicate to you.”
Early in the morning Abraham got up and saddled his donkey. He took two of his young servants with him, along with his son Isaac. When he had cut the wood for the burnt offering, he started out for the place God had spoken to him about.
On the third day Abraham caught sight of the place in the distance. So he said to his servants, “You two stay here with the donkey while the boy and I go up there. We will worship and then return to you.”
Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and put it on his son Isaac. Then he took the fire and the knife in his hand, and the two of them walked on together. Isaac said to his father Abraham, “My father?” “What is it, my son?” he replied. “Here is the fire and the wood,” Isaac said, “but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?” “God will provide for himself the lamb for the burnt offering, my son,” Abraham replied. The two of them continued on together.
When they came to the place God had told him about, Abraham built the altar there and arranged the wood on it. Next he tied up his son Isaac and placed him on the altar on top of the wood. Then Abraham reached out his hand, took the knife, and prepared to slaughter his son. But the Lord’s angel called to him from heaven, “Abraham! Abraham!” “Here I am!” he answered. “Do not harm the boy!” the angel said. “Do not do anything to him, for now I know that you fear God because you did not withhold your son, your only son, from me.”
Abraham looked up and saw behind him a ram caught in the bushes by its horns. So he went over and got the ram and offered it up as a burnt offering instead of his son. And Abraham called the name of that place “The Lord provides.” It is said to this day, “In the mountain of the Lord provision will be made.”
The Lord’s angel called to Abraham a second time from heaven and said, “‘I solemnly swear by my own name,’ decrees the Lord, ‘that because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, I will indeed bless you, and I will greatly multiply your descendants so that they will be as countless as the stars in the sky or the grains of sand on the seashore. Your descendants will take possession of the strongholds of their enemies. Because you have obeyed me, all the nations of the earth will pronounce blessings on one another using the name of your descendants.’” (NET)
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While it is clear to those of us reading this text today, that God never intended for Abraham to sacrifice his son, Abraham had no way of knowing this. God was testing Abraham's faith to see if he loved God more than his precious son, to see if Abraham would accept God as the ultimate authority in his life or if he would rebel against God for making this request. Abraham passed the test.
Does this view of God shake us up a bit?
Any parent will probably view this test as cruel beyond explanation, we might even ask: Why would God do such a thing? Why would God would put a parent through such agony? What a terrible choice to have to make.
This is a good time to remind readers of a previous post regarding Job. If you recall, Job (a pure and upright man who feared God and turned away from evil) was just minding his own business, when God allowed Satan to so terribly affect Job's life for the purpose of proving Job's loyalty to God. (see previous post for details)
The point of this post, is not to paint God as mean and cruel, but rather, to try and explain that many people have a wrong idea or concept of God. People view Him as all soft and cuddly, a teddy bearish kind of god; an anything goes god; a god that will bless us with endless good things and a life free of problems as long as we "pray" every so often and live a "pretty good" life. A god that will let us into heaven as long as we "do nice things for others", "do more good things than bad", and "try hard to do the right things".
The god described in the paragraph above is not the God that created all things, not the God of the Bible.
The God of the Bible will judge people for their sin.
The God of the Bible demands a level of perfection that we cannot achieve on our own.
The God of the Bible knows that we cannot be perfect, and He developed a plan of salvation involving His Son Jesus Christ as the perfect sacrifice, to pay for the sins of all those who would believe they are sinners and in need of a Savior.
The God of the Bible knows that we could never change from the sinful people we were born as, to become the people we are called to be, without His help and so He sends those who recognize they are sinners and need a Savior, his Holy Spirit to guide and direct us as we grow in our new faith.
We cannot understand the mind of God, and our human minds will never be able to grasp why God does things the way He does. As we read through Scripture we find examples where God appears to be merciful beyond our imagination to people who certainly do not seem to deserve His mercy; while at other times, it may seem to the casual reader of Scripture that He is being harsh in His actions or requirements. It is vitally important that we understand that God has a plan, that He is in charge, that nothing is spinning wildly out of control (even though we might sometimes be tempted to think it is). God is so much bigger, more righteous and just than we could ever imagine.
We must either accept God as the ultimate authority in our life and accept His word (in its entirety - no picking and choosing which sections we will accept), or deny His authority over us. Choose carefully, there is more at stake than you can imagine.
Until next time - May God bless you to know Him.
The NET Bible® is freely available at www.bible.org