isaac – Grace Still Amazes

Faith Rests in God’s Promises for the Future, part 1 (Hebrews 11:20-22)

One thing the Puritans did that seems to have disappeared in our evangelical churches today is emphasizing the importance of and preparing people in dying well. In today’s world, if you Google the term “die well,” most of the articles are about palliative care during suffering or about “dying with dignity” that preserves the dying person’s wishes. These represents the world’s resignation that there is nothing you can do about dying except to make yourself or your loved one as comfortable as possible and to fulfill your or their “bucket list.”

But, in the Puritan’s day, to “die well” most simply meant that you were prepared to meet God, that you had lived your life well, and that you were ready to move into eternity. The English Puritan Edmund Barker said, “Every Christian hath two great works to do in the world, to live well, and to die well.”

Philip Ryken, the former senior pastor of Tenth Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia after James Montgomery Boice, wrote a 2006 article entitled “Dying Well” on Tenth Presbyterian’s website.

Ryken said, “… not everyone dies well, but only those who are strong in faith, bold in courage, and well prepared to meet their God… We can prepare to die well by thinking often about death and the life to come.”

Paul was ready to live or die for the glory of God. In Philippians 1 he stated that he desired that “Christ will even now, as always, be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death.” Matthew Henry wrote:

“Though the grace of faith is of universal use throughout our whole lives, yet it is especially so when we come to die. Faith has its greatest work to do at last, to help believers to finish well, to die to the Lord, so as to honor him, by patience, hope, and joy-so as to leave a witness behind them of the truth of God’s word and the excellency of his ways.” (Matthew Henry’s Commentary [Revell], 6:946).

When he was on his own deathbed at age 52, Henry said to a friend “You have been used to take notice of the sayings of dying men—this is mine: that a life spent in the service of God and communion with Him, is the most pleasant life that anyone can live in this world.”

Facing death still trusting in Christ’s sufficiency and looking forward to the fulfillment of all His promises is the acid test of our faith. Will our faith sustain us at that time? We will be confident in the face of death, or filled with fears and anxieties?

As the author of Hebrews gives to us multiple examples of those who lived and died in faith, he briefly mentions Isaac, Jacob and Joseph. He calls attention to each man’s life just before each of them died. In Isaac’s case, he does not state specifically that he was near death, but this incident did happen when he was very old, feeble, and blind. In the case of Jacob and Joseph, our author states specifically that they were in the process of dying. In each case, as they faced death, none of the promises of God were near fulfilling. All circumstances seemed contrary to their fulfillment. But like Abraham (11:13-16), these men had lived all their lives hearing about and believing in God’s promises, even when all hoped seemed lost, even when fulfillment seemed impossible, and how God had fulfilled some of those promises (the birth of Isaac). Even so, these men all died with their faith and focus on things yet to come, believing that God would keep His word. They teach us that faith faces death trusting God to fulfill His future promises, even when circumstances seem to contradict those promises.

That is found in Hebrews 11:20-22.

20 By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau in regard to their future. 21 By faith Jacob, when he was dying, blessed each of Joseph’s sons, and worshiped as he leaned on the top of his staff. 22 By faith Joseph, when his end was near, spoke about the exodus of the Israelites from Egypt and gave instructions concerning the burial of his bones.

Notice that their faith is oriented towards the future. Each of them peered a little further in the future than the preceding man. Isaac saw the future for his children Jacob and Esau. Jacob gave blessings to his grandchildren, Joseph’s sons. Joseph spoke of the generation that would leave Egypt. People of faith influence the future by living a legacy of faith that they pass on to future generations.

While there are some different lessons to be learned from the life of each of these patriarchs, the author uses them together to drive home the same basic point. Each one died with faith in God’s promises, even though their circumstances seemed to contradict those promises. They all were convinced that death would not frustrate God’s purposes—that his word would be fulfilled.

Of the three, Isaac and Jacob had some glaring failures in their life of faith, and yet, by God’s grace, they crossed the line with a strong flourish of faith. They illustrate what Paul wrote in Philippians 1:6, “being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.”

What God has started in your life He will bring to completion. Even “if we are faithless, he remains faithful, for he cannot disown himself” (2 Timothy 2:13). If, by God’s grace, you and I have begun the life of faith, by that same grace we will die resilient in faith, demonstrating to others that God’s promises are true, no matter the odds.

At your funeral, what kind of testimony do you want to have? Will people be able to see that you walked by faith, believing God’s promises even when everything shouted against them? Will your life impact future generations because they see true men and women of faith among us?

The principle here is that each of these men expected something greater to happen because of the promises of God. This gave the generations the expectation that something greater and better would happen, despite the current circumstances. We need that kind of faith today!

Will the next generation want our God? Statistics show that the kind of God we believe in is not one that wins the loyalty of this current generation. The reason is that we believe in a God who is weak and does not keep His promises, at least that is how we live.

Don’t get your definition of life from the daily news, but rather in the historic faith of the Christian church that points forward to an adventure with God!

Isaac’s Faith—Trusting God with Your Children’s Future

First, notice the importance of blessing your sons. Isaac does that for Jacob and Esau, then Jacob does that for Joseph’s sons (and all of his sons, too). That’s it. That’s what put these patriarchs onto the same list that includes Abraham (who obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going), Joseph (who endured years of persecution), and Moses (who received the Ten Commandments & performed incredible signs and wonders).

It doesn’t seem like much, but it was an important act of faith. This is a lost rite of passage today and yet it is something that our children need as well.

In that culture, a blessing implies a guaranteed future. If you don’t receive a blessing about tomorrow, then you aren’t assured a destiny. We live so much in the “here and now” and give little thought to the future or to eternity. Blessings like this orient us to the future.

Second, blessing is given only when you have something to offer. While our blessings today might come in the form of material possessions or money, what Isaac and Jacob offered to their sons was related to the promise of God, specifically the promises that God had made to Abraham.

And that reminds us that the most important thing that we can leave to our children and grandchildren is not an inheritance of material possessions, but rather a strong foundation of faith in God and a strong expectation of God’s future grace.

Finally, blessing implies that I see this life as about more than me. Blessing is oriented towards others and their lives. For example, even though David was not allowed to build the temple, he spent a lot of time and effort getting contacts and workers and materials ready for Solomon.

How are you investing in the next generation? What example of faith are you leaving them? What blessings can you pronounce over them?

My dad left me an example of integrity, kindness, patience and wisdom.

Isaac’s story comes from Genesis 27. At this point Isaac was old and practically blind. Knowing that his death was on the horizon, he called his favorite son, Esau, and requested that he go hunting for some fresh game and cook it up his favorite way. That would be the occasion on which he would give Esau his blessing.

Now, in the Ancient Near Eastern culture, a father’s blessing involved conferring a double portion of the family inheritance on the firstborn son, coupled with prophetic words guaranteeing a good future. But this had been complicated by the birth and subsequent divine prophecy given about Jacob at their birth.

21 Isaac prayed to the LORD on behalf of his wife, because she was childless. The LORD answered his prayer, and his wife Rebekah became pregnant. 22 The babies jostled each other within her, and she said, “Why is this happening to me?” So she went to inquire of the LORD. 23 The LORD said to her, “Two nations are in your womb, and two peoples from within you will be separated; one people will be stronger than the other, and the older will serve the younger.”

So Esau and Jacob were twins and although Esau was born first, God had chosen for Jacob to receive the blessing, saying that “the older will serve the younger.” Isaac, however, had a liking for Esau, so on this occasion Jacob was either ignorantly or obstinately attempting to give the blessing to Esau.

When Rebekah overheard that Isaac was about to do this, she sprung into action with a plan to secure the blessing for her favorite son, Jacob. Whether she thought that she was rescuing God’s prophetic word from oblivion or whether she was just running interference for her favorite son, isn’t obvious, but the evidence seems to lean toward the latter.

Isaac may not have been going against God’s Word, but just didn’t remember it or understand its significance. He was just following custom. We don’t see much effort in inquiring of God about the meaning of the prophecy or how to apply it. He seems to be ruled more by his stomach than his spirit.

You know what happened. Jacob dressed in his brother’s garments, probably smeared some animal secretions on himself, and took Rebekah’s stew to his aged father to con him and his brother out of the blessing. In being deceived, Isaac inadvertently fulfilled God’s earlier prophecy to Rebekah by conferring the blessing on Jacob. He said…

28 May God give you heaven’s dew and earth’s richness— an abundance of grain and new wine. 29 May nations serve you and peoples bow down to you. Be lord over your brothers, and may the sons of your mother bow down to you. May those who curse you be cursed and those who bless you be blessed.”

One might wonder, “How did Isaac act “by faith” (Heb. 11:20) when he was deceived (Gen. 27:35)?

I think it is likely that his faith was exercised not in who was being blessed, but in passing on the Abrahamic blessing to his son. He did believe in the promise so surely that he passed it on to his son, whether Jacob or Esau.

To his credit, when Isaac did discover that he had been deceived, he did not revoke the blessing in anger or prejudice. Rather, he seemed to recognize in these events that God’s word to Rebekah at the birth of the twins had truly been fulfilled. So he told Esau that he had blessed his brother and then affirmed, “and indeed he will be blessed!” (Gen. 27:33).

Then, just before Jacob fled to Haran, afraid of his brother’s anger, Isaac charged him not to take a wife from the daughters of Canaan. Then he prophesied over Jacob, “May God Almighty bless you and make you fruitful and increase your numbers until you become a community of peoples. May he give you and your descendants the blessing given to Abraham, so that you may take possession of the land where you now reside as a foreigner, the land God gave to Abraham” (Gen. 28:3-4).

At this point Jacob had no descendants; he didn’t even have a wife. He owned nothing in Canaan except a burial plot. Yet “by faith” Isaac pronounced this blessing over Jacob. He acknowledged that he believed that God’s promises extended to his son and would not fail, even though there was no indication at this time that they would ever be fulfilled. One day, Isaac believed, “you make take possession of the land where you now reside as a foreigner, the land God gave to Abraham” (Gen. 28:4b)

Even though Isaac “trembled violently” (Gen. 27:33) when he realized he had been tricked, the author of Hebrews choses to focus on his faith in making and then reaffirming that God’s promises to Abraham would be fulfilled through Jacob and his descendants. David Guzik says,

When Isaac trembled exceedingly, he was troubled because he knew that he had tried to box God in, to defeat God’s plan, and that God beat him. He realized that he would always be defeated when he tried to resist God’s will, even when he didn’t like it. And he came to learn that despite his arrogant attempts against the will of God, God’s will was glorious.

Isaac recognized that God had chosen to bless Jacob, and that he could not reverse or alter God’s plan. Isaac had already given the primary blessing to Jacob, and so he could only give Esau a secondary blessing. (Genesis 27:30-40). But even though Esau received the lesser blessing, Isaac still fully believed that God would fulfill this blessing in Esau’s life also. And indeed, God fulfilled both blessings in both sons’ lives. In faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau, and in faith Isaac accepted God’s will for his sons as expressed through the blessings.

Well, nobody comes off looking good in this story. Isaac seemed more interested in a tasty meal than God’s prophetic word. Esau was overall a profane man, caring nothing for his spiritual heritage, again only interested in filling his empty stomach. Rebekah was a deceiver and encouraged her son to lie. Jacob went along with those lies, taking advantage of his blind father just as he had earlier taken advantage of his famished brother.

But God used the whole soap opera, even though each character acted selfishly without regard to God or one another, to fulfill His sovereign purpose. You see, God had chosen Jacob and rejected Esau. His purpose according to His choice would stand (Romans 9:11-13).

This all shows us that it does not depend upon us fully understanding God’s purpose. Isaac doesn’t seem to have understood it until afterward. Also, it doesn’t depend upon us obeying Him (although we should). God did use Rebekah and Jacob’s deception to fulfill His purpose. Paul expresses this reality when he says in Romans 9:16 that God’s purpose does not depend on the man who wills (our decisions) or the man who runs (our actions), but on God who has mercy.

The story of Isaac blessing Jacob and Esau (and he did go on to bless Esau, Gen. 27:39-40) is there in the Bible to encourage us to trust God, even when circumstances seem to contradict His promises. This means that we can believe Him even when things seem impossible or all hope seems lost. These predictive future blessings (esp. Gen. 27:28-29; 39-49) demonstrate Isaac’s hope for the future.

Now, this doesn’t mean we should be apathetic and inactive. It ought to encourage us to be faithful in spite of the discouraging realities of sinful people and overwhelming world events. It should encourage us to be steadfast and immovable in the Lord’s work, knowing that our work is never in vain in the Lord (1 Cor. 15:58).

If part of faith is trusting God with the future, then one of the lessons you can learn from Isaac is to trust God with your children’s future. That’s an important lesson to learn, because as a parent you can waste a lot of time and energy worrying about your children’s future. But part of Christian faith is learning to trust God with your children’s future instead. Hebrews 11:20 says: “By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau in regard to their future.”

Jacob’s Faith—Trusting God Rather Than Taking Things into Your Own Hands

Our next example of trusting God with the future comes from Jacob, Abraham’s grandson. Abraham was one hundred sixty years old when Jacob was born, and then Abraham lived another fifteen years, so he got to know his grandson growing up. Maybe Abraham shared stories from his own life with Jacob as he was growing into his teenage years. Maybe he told Jacob about the time he and Sarah tried to “help God out” by sleeping with Sarah’s handmaid Hagar, so that Abraham could have a son and “fulfill” the covenant.

Part of trusting God with the future is learning to trust God rather than trying to control people or events. This is a difficult lesson for anyone to learn, and it was especially difficult for Jacob. In many ways it took him his whole life to learn.

Jacob was born into this world grasping his brother’s heel, and that really became a metaphor for his whole life. Jacob would spend most of the rest of his life grasping for control.

Hebrews 11:21 says, “By faith Jacob, when he was dying, blessed each of Joseph’s sons, and worshiped as he leaned on the top of his staff.”

There are two incidents here—Jacob blessing his grandsons and worshipping on his staff. Since the first action (blessing his grandsons) happened “when he was dying,” this action happened last, but it is mentioned first here because it has to do with the same issue we saw with Isaac and Jacob. Isaac blessed Jacob, assuring his future in the covenant plan of Yahweh. When Jacob blessed the sons of Joseph, he was assuring them of their part (along with Joseph, their father) in the covenant promises to Abraham.

Isaac passed the promises and the blessings along to Jacob (Gen. 27) and Jacob shared them with his twelve sons (Gen. 48-49).

Could You Pass the Ultimate Test? part 2 (Hebrews 11:17-19)

We are in Hebrews 11:17-19

17 By faith Abraham, when God tested him, offered Isaac as a sacrifice. He who had embraced the promises was about to sacrifice his one and only son, 18 even though God had said to him, “It is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned.” 19 Abraham reasoned that God could even raise the dead, and so in a manner of speaking he did receive Isaac back from death.

Genesis 22 tells us that “God tested Abraham.” We noted that this does not mean that God tempted Abraham to sin (James 1:13). God’s purpose in our trials is the building and perfecting of our faith (James 1:2-4).

Never forget that the one who prescribes the test works from the vantage point of omniscience and ultimate wisdom, from pure goodness and tender-heartedness. That means that each test we undergo is customized to our own individual levels of maturity.

Paul tells us…

No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it. (1 Corinthians 10:13)

We wonder how the sufferer can do it! At times our pain seems unbearable and we cannot endure it. But Abraham did obey. And He obeyed by faith, a faith that believed in God’s promises despite his circumstances shouting against that. Augustine once said: “Give me the grace to do what you command, and then command what you will.”

God knew that Abraham’s faith had grown and deepened over the decades and knew that He could trust Abraham to pass this test.

Notice also that God did not test Abraham with this ultimate sacrifice early in his life, but rather “some time later.” By this time Abraham’s faith had been tested many times and God had proven Himself faithful. Now Abraham is ready to believe the impossible.

Abraham had exercised faith in leaving Ur and marching off the map, going wherever the Lord directed. Abraham had exercised faith in believing that God would give him a son through Sarah, which God ultimately fulfilled.

Faith that remains unexercised atrophies from lack of use. Lesser trials are used in Abraham’s life and in ours to build a stronger faith until we are able to face the ultimate test. Trials are like the gymnastic apparatus that makes the muscles of our faith grow stronger.

Thus, the severity of the trial is in proportion to his faith.

But what was the nature of Abraham’s test?

On one level it was the test of allegiance. Would Abraham value God more than his one beloved, long-awaited son? You could understand if Abraham had attempted to negotiate. He would have gladly sacrificed anything else! He would have gladly sacrificed everything else!

When you have set your heart on something and it is about to be taken away from you, how do you respond? Do you fight with God? Do you bargain with God?

Some of our tests are tests of allegiance. Allegiance to God or allegiance to our families is one. Allegiance to Jesus Christ versus allegiance to our boss is another. How about allegiance to Jesus and allegiance to our girl friend? John Bunyan, in prison for preaching the gospel, grieved for his family, especially his blind daughter. He was given the option of returning home if he promised never to preach the gospel again. But instead he endured that loss out of allegiance to Jesus Christ.

Willim Cowper wrote a hymn with these words:

The dearest idol I have known,

Whatever that idol be,

Help me to tear it from Your throne,

And worship only Thee.

“Abraham, I want your one and only son.” It was a test of allegiance.

But it was also a test faith. There seemed to be an irreconcilable contraction between the command to kill Isaac and the promise that through Isaac would be all of Abraham’s future descendants.

It was one thing to call Abram to leave Ur. There Abram was sacrificing his present comforts for future rewards. But here God seems to be asking Abraham to sacrifice his future. Through Isaac his seed was supposed to be. To kill Isaac meant the death of that vision.

Remember how important the “seed” is even to us! Remember God’s promise to Adam and Eve in Genesis 3:15 that it is through Eve’s seed that Satan would be crushed. Abraham’s seed was intended to be a blessing to the nations, not merely to Abraham. God had made it clear that this “seed” would come through Isaac.

This was affirmed in Genesis 17, when God appeared to Abraham and said:

4 “As for me, this is my covenant with you: You will be the father of many nations. 5 No longer will you be called Abram ; your name will be Abraham, for I have made you a father of many nations. 6 I will make you very fruitful; I will make nations of you, and kings will come from you. 7 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.

Because Abraham had sired a child through Hagar, the Egyptian handmaid, God clarified when Abraham inquired:

18 And Abraham said to God, “If only Ishmael might live under your blessing!” 19 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.

Ishmael was a child of the flesh, Isaac a child of promise, according to Romans 9:8 and Galatians 4:21-31.

So now I hope you see the tremendously high stakes that were in play here. Now you see Abraham’s dilemma, which we should share with him. God, what are you doing?!? This is more than just a heart wrenching story of a father’s love.

The Messiah would come through Isaac. The entire future of God’s purposes was at stake. The sacrifice of Isaac puts all this in jeopardy. Notice Hebrews 11:18. Abraham sacrificed Isaac “even though God had said to him, ‘It is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned.’”

So what does Abraham do? The only thing he can do—he puts it all in God’s hands. He obeyed and headed to Mount Moriah. How? By concluding that it was God’s problem to solve, not his.

It was Abraham’s part to obey by faith, not to be able to figure it out. We don’t have to figure it out before we obey. We just have to obey. It was now God’s problem to reconcile.

“The proof of Abraham’s faith was his willingness to give back to God everything he had, including the son of promise, whom he had miraculously received because of his faith. After all the waiting and wondering, the son had been given by God. Then, before the son was grown, God asked for him back, and Abraham obeyed. Abraham knew that the covenant, which could only be fulfilled through Isaac, was unconditional. He knew, therefore, that God would do whatever was necessary, including raising Isaac from the dead” (John MacArthur, Hebrews, p. 335).

How can you and I exercise faithfulness to God when confronted with a test that calls for the most extreme kind of personal sacrifice?

First, we must recognize that God is the author of the test. It is no accident, no coincidence. The devil didn’t do it. It was God’s sovereign purpose in our lives. How did Job put it? “The Lord gives, the devil takes away, blessed be the name of the Lord”? NO! “The Lord gives, the Lord takes away, blessed be the name of the Lord.”

Spurgeon said, “though we can’t trace his hand we can always trust his heart.” This test has come from God for our good and for His glory. We only need to trust and obey.

How can you and I exercise faithfulness to God when confronted with a test that calls for the most extreme kind of personal sacrifice?

Second, we recognize that God has omnipotence at his disposal. Look at verse 19, “Abraham reasoned that God could even raise the dead…”

What? Abraham believed that God could raise Isaac from the dead? Had this ever happened before? Was this something Abraham had seen before and hoped that it would happen to his son?

Notice that Abraham “reasoned” this. He hadn’t seen it in his experience; he didn’t conjure it up in his imagination. He counted up and weighed out the reasons why this could happen. It was based upon what he knew about God.

But where does Abraham get the idea that God can bring life out of death? Well, what were Abraham’s procreative possibilities at age 99? Not very good, right? Verse 12 reminds us that “he was as good as dead.” He was totally sterile and Sarah was completely barren. There was no natural ability to give birth to any child.

And yet God resurrected Abraham’s procreative powers, making it possible to have a child. God showed His power by waiting 24 years before fulfilling his promise to Abraham just to show that man’s impotence is merely the stage upon which he can reveal His omnipotence.

So Abraham knew from experience that God could produce life out of death. That is why he told the servants, “I and the boy [will] go over there. We will worship and then we will come back to you.” After all, they were going to worship El Shaddai, God Almighty. That God has the power of resurrection and life.

He reasoned that God even was able to raise someone from the dead.

“The thought of sacrificing Isaac must have grieved Abraham terribly, but he knew that he would have his son back. He knew that God would not, in fact could not, take his son away permanently, or else He would have to go back on His own word, which is impossible” (John MacArthur, Hebrews, p. 335).

Abraham believed that God could raise Isaac from the dead even before God had revealed this as a doctrine. And Abraham “in a manner of speaking he did receive Isaac back from death.” Isaac serves as an illustration of what God can do in His omnipotence. Knowing Abraham’s allegiance and faith, when Isaac was rescued from Abraham’s hand it was as though Abraham received him back from the dead.

For those of us who are well acquainted with the gospel, we can see the parallels with Jesus Christ. He is “the one and only Son.” He is “the beloved.” He is the fulfillment of the promised seed. Both sons were named by God; both were deeply loved by their fathers.

Both Jesus and Isaac were accompanied by two men—Jesus the two thieves and Isaac the two servants.

Mount Moriah is the place where Isaac was offered and Jesus was crucified.

Isaac climbs Mount Moriah with wood strapped to his back just as Jesus went up the hill with his cross.

Both asked a QUESTION of their father:

Isaac asked Abraham “The fire and wood are here,” Isaac said, “but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?” (Gen. 22:7).

Jesus cried “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” from the cross (Matthew 27:46).

Both Isaac and Jesus were “offered up” as burnt sacrifices. Both were sacrificial lambs.

Jesus and Isaac were both completely submissive to their fathers, trusted them and were willing to die.

Both were sacrificed by their fathers. The Father, in heaven, is the executioner, willing to crush his Son. The only difference is that the angel of the Lord did not stay the hand of the Father at the cross, since he was there on the cross.

Both were also raised from the dead on the third day.

The similarities between Isaac and Jesus’ sacrifice are numerous and incredible as you can see. Isaac is a type for Jesus, because God the Father wants to reveal His Son to us through the Old Testament.

Historian Roland Bainton tells this story about Martin Luther: “Luther once read this story [Genesis 22] for family devotions. When he had finished, Katie said, ‘I do not believe it. God would not have treated his son like that.'”

“‘But, Katie,’ answered Luther, ‘he did.'” God the Father did treat His Son Jesus like this.

Jesus also shares similarities with the ram. Just as the ram was offered in place of Isaac as the sacrifice, so Jesus Christ takes our place. We should be the ones who pay for our sins. We should be the ones being judged. Instead, Jesus took our place.

Abraham was handed the cup of sacrifice, but it was Jesus Christ who drank it to the very dregs. Key passages in the Bible connect God’s wrath with the imagery of a cup. Jeremiah 25:15 tells us, “Thus the LORD, the God of Israel, said to me: ‘Take from my hand this cup of the wine of wrath, and make all the nations to whom I send you drink it.’” Then Isaiah 51:17 says, “O Jerusalem, you who have drunk from the hand of the Lord the cup of his wrath, who have drunk to the dregs the bowl, the cup of staggering.” In Revelation 14, an angel speaks, “If anyone worships the beast and its image and receives a mark on his forehead or on his hand, he also will drink the wine of God’s wrath, poured full strength into the cup of his anger” (verses 9–10).

The cup was filled with God’s wrath upon those who had consistently sinned against him (see Ps. 75:8; Isa. 51:17; Jer. 25:15-16).

Jesus confirms this connection in Gethsemane when he prayed, the cross looming just ahead, “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will” (Matthew 26:39). He drank that cup for us.

As the sinless Son of God, Jesus naturally dreaded the horror of the cross. Thus he asked for “this cup” to be taken from him. But, in the end, he accepted the will of his Father, and chose to suffer and die for the sin of the world. He would drink the cup that was rightly yours and mine, so that we might drink the cup of salvation.

4 Surely he took up our pain and bore our suffering, yet we considered him punished by God, stricken by him, and afflicted. 5 But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed. 6 We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all. (Isaiah 53:4-6)

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. (John 3:16)

But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:8)

Jesus said, “Abraham rejoiced to see my day” (John 8:58). That is because the joy of substitution and the joy of resurrection are the greatest of all joys. That is why our worship should be characterized by so much more than somberness, because we live in light of the resurrection and the reality of substitution.

Do you know these joys? The joy and gladness of substitution—that your sins were satisfactorily punished in another, in Jesus Christ? He said from the cross, “It is finished,” it is fully paid for, there’s nothing else left to do. Do you know that joy?

What about the joy of resurrection? There is no greater joy than the joy of knowing that one day we who believe in Jesus will rise again to new life, eternal life. We will have new bodies, the mortal will put on immorality and the corruptible will put on the incorruptible.

These realities are why we can laugh again! The laughter of salvation found only in Jesus Christ.

Could You Pass the Ultimate Test? part 1 (Hebrews 11:17-19)

Over the last couple of months we’ve been looking at the life of Abraham as recorded in Hebrews 11 and today we come to that part of his story which revealed a mature faith, a faith that believed God for the impossible without question or hesitation. Our passage today is Hebrews 11:17-19.

This presents briefly the greatest act of Abraham’s faith—his trusting in the absolutely unseen, and that at a time when he was bidden to do what seemed to conflict directly with God’s own promise. (R.C.H. Lenski, The Interpretation of the Epistle to the Hebrews & James, 400)

When the grizzled, old patriarch Abraham was just a year shy of a century, God came down and made himself known to Abraham in a way like never before. He used a name never before heard by a human being. He said, “I am El Shaddai, I am God Almighty” (Genesis 17:1).

When God reveals a new name it is usually because He has just performed or is about to perform some significant act that will reveal a vitally important aspect of His nature or purpose. So what is God about to do to justify this fresh revelation of Himself, that He is, in fact, the God of infinite might?

He says, “I want you to change your wife’s name. You’ve known here as Sarai, now I want you to call her Sarah, Princess, because she is going to be the mother of many nations. Kings of people will come from her.” Do you remember how Abraham responded? He fell to the ground in rip-roaring laughter!

At an earlier stage he had responded with more sobriety. He believed God and it was reckoned to him as righteousness (Genesis 15:6). But here, at a later stage, he reckons himself “as good as dead” so that he can’t help but laugh. But why did he laugh? Because what God said was such a cause of joy, but also genuine amusement as he tries to wrap his head around how this might come to pass. “What will people think? They’ll know we’ve been watching those Viagra commercials!” he laughed (Genesis 17:17).

However, his incredulous laughter was only momentary, for when God explained that the birth would take place the following year, Abraham believed with all his heart, as 11:11 has made so clear: “By faith he [Abraham] also, together with Sarah, received power to beget a child when he was past age, since he counted him faithful who had promised” (literal translation).

A short time later, within a few weeks, three mysterious visitors appear on Abraham’s doorstep and promise him “a year from now Sarah will have a son.” She, listening in (having seen a lightness in Abraham’s step lately and wondering why he was now calling her “Princess,” but thinking that maybe it was just because he had read the last Dobson book on cultivating intimacy in marriage), she hears this message and she, too, responds with laughter. “After I am worn out and my lord is old, will I now have this pleasure?” (Genesis 18:12).

She laughs. But it was El Shaddai who had the last laugh because He said, “Name this son Isaac,” which means laughter. God would make his covenant with Laughter. After his birth, Sarah would say, “God has brought me laughter, and everyone who hears about this will laugh with me.” (Genesis 21:6). El Shaddai has displayed his power. He has kept His promise. The outcome: exuberant joy all around—Abraham laughs, Sarah laughs, everyone laughs, heaven laughs. We’re supposed to laugh too!

Kent Hughes explains:

Isaac’s name was a sure prophecy of what he brought to life. The old couple would take baby Isaac in their age-spotted hands and hold him close before their wrinkled visages, and their eyes would light as the smile lines drew taut—they would chuckle—and baby Isaac would laugh. If there ever were doting parents, Abraham and Sarah were surely prime examples. The boy was everything to them—the amalgam of their bodies and souls, the miraculous fulfillment of prophecy, the hope of the world. Isaac’s every move was lovingly chronicled—his first word, the first step, his likes and dislikes, his tendencies. And as he grew to boyhood and on toward manhood, Abraham and Sarah would see aspects of their younger selves in their son—perhaps Abraham’s height and carriage and Sarah’s stride and grace. (R. Kent Hughes, Preaching the Word: Hebrews, Vol. 2, p. 106).

But then one fateful day God came to Abraham again (Genesis 22) and called out “Abraham.” His immediate response was “Here I am, at your service, Lord.” But his enthusiasm immediately fades away when he heard God’s charge, “Take 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” (Genesis 22:2).

“Surely not, Lord.” His soul would have been terrified and his heart broken. God was calling him to put his beloved Isaac, the son of the covenant, to death by his own hand and then incinerate his remains as a burnt offering to God.

“This divine command was contrary to everything in Abraham—his common sense, his natural affections, his lifelong dream. He had no natural interest and no natural sympathy for this word from God. The only thing natural was his utter revulsion!” (R. Kent Hughes, Preaching the Word: Hebrews, Vol. 2, p. 107)

To put his own son to death as an act of worship to his God was barbaric—the most unthinkable, repulsive thing Abraham could think of. Abraham was no backward, ignorant pagan. He was a man of education and financial means. More importantly, he had come to know a God that was different from all the pagan gods.

This puts the story into an entirely different light. It’s one thing for God to command Abraham to offer up a human sacrifice. But for God to command that he sacrifice Isaac, the one of whom God said “I will establish my covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his offspring after him” is something else altogether. How can this be?

The sentence of death pronounced on Isaac seemed also to be the sentence of death on God’s promise! There seem to be here two mutually exclusive declarations by God. On the one hand, God says: “I will establish my covenant with Isaac.” On the other hand, God says: “Kill Isaac.” Can you now appreciate the seemingly insurmountable and illogical predicament in which Abraham finds himself?

All of a sudden his world goes berserk. But one thing he knows: the originator of this word was the same Voice that had called him more than 35 years ago and the same Voice that had promised him a son.

So at the first gleam of dawn, without arguing or hesitating or questioning, without a word to poor old Sarah, Abraham saddled his donkey, summoned two trusted servants, split wood for the sacrificial pyre, roused Isaac, and began the three-day journey to Moriah.

When they draw close enough to see the mountains in the distance, he leaves his servants behind (likely knowing that they would oppose him as they saw his plan unfold). He and Isaac alone go to worship, but notice that he said they both “will return” (Genesis 22:5). 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 then straps the wood to the back of his son, hides the dagger and trudges on.

Thus lovable, talkative Isaac, happy to be alone with his father, and Abraham, preoccupied and wearier than he had ever felt, began the climb. “So they went both of them together. And Isaac said to his father Abraham, ‘My father!’” (Genesis 22:6, 7a). Isaac used the patronymic “Abi (Abba),” which could well be translated, “Daddy” or “Dearest Father.” “Abi?” “[Abraham] said, ‘Here I am, my son.’ He said, ‘Behold, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?’ Abraham said, ‘God will provide for himself the lamb for a burnt offering, my son.’ So they went both of them together” (Genesis 22:7b, 8). (R. Kent Hughes Preaching the Word: Hebrews, Vol. 2, p. 107)

At this point Abraham felt older than any man who had ever lived. How he managed the ascent, only God knows!

After arriving at the top of the mountain, Mount Moriah (which would play such an important part in subsequent history), we can assume that Laughter begins to shudder. Of course, no one knows exactly how old Isaac was at this point. Given his naivety on the journey my guess is that he is a pre-teen.

He submits as his father begins to bind him to the altar. When the binding is finished, the pumping rhythm of Abraham’s heart begins to intensify in speed and force as he struggles to draw another breath. He finally closes his eyes, raises the dagger and readies it for the final plunge.

Finally, out of nowhere, the deafening silence is shattered by the voice of the Angel of the Lord, likely a Christophany, a pre-incarnate appearance of Christ. He calls out to Abraham from heaven, “Abraham! Abraham!” to which Abraham characteristically replies, “Here I am.”

And God says, “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” (Gen. 22:12)

The text moves on to indicate that Abraham saw a ram caught in the thicket, captured it and offered it as a burnt offering to God.

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” (Genesis 22:14)

God reveals Himself here as Jehovah-Jireh, the “Lord who provides.” What a relief! Isaac is saved and the covenant is secure.

What a joy this must have been to Abraham, to find a substitute in place of his one and only Son Isaac! It reminds us that we have a Substitute who died in our place.

And it also reminds us that God never asks us to sacrifice something without promising us a much greater reward. Thus, A. W. Pink said, “The bounty of God should encourage us to surrender freely whatever He calls for, for none ever lose by giving up anything to God” (Arthur W. Pink, An Exposition of Hebrews, 745). And, of course, Jim Eliot taught us, “He is no fool who gives us what he cannot keep, to gain what he cannot lose.”

Now, this story terrifies us, then it leaves us with hope. But let’s be honest. It is not an easy story to live with. We could wish that it never appeared in the Bible. Yes, Abraham comes off as a man of faith, but it poses some extremely uncomfortable questions about God. It paints the picture of a God that is very difficult for such self-centered, self-important Americans to digest.

What kind of God would demand such obedience? What kind of God would put any father through such mind-numbing, heart-breaking pain, only to prove that that father loved God more than he loved his son?

And then we have to ask ourselves, “Could I have been as obedient as Abraham?” What if God had come to me with that request? Am I that strong in my faith? Would I have the same unhesitating, unquestioning obedience to a command that seemed so wrong?

But with Abraham there was no hesitation, no negotiation, no procrastination. He didn’t remind God how long he and Sarah had waited for a son or how God had promised that this son was the “son of promise.” He obeyed God to the letter, right away. In fact, notice what Hebrews 11:17 says, “By faith, Abraham…offered Isaac as a sacrifice.” God considered Abraham’s obedience complete, even though He stopped it from happening. He saw Abraham’s heart of faith-filled obedience. The perfect tense indicates that it was a completed action, in God’s eyes.

Abraham … offered Isaac as a sacrifice. The command was to “offer him as a burnt-offering,” which first had to be killed and then consumed by fire. So the apostle affirms that Abraham offered Isaac as a sacrifice, whereas we know how he was delivered. But this means that Abraham fully obeyed God’s command here. He did it in his will, heart, and affections, although it was never eventually carried out. The will is accepted for the deed. The correct meaning is that Abraham fully obeyed God’s command. (John Owen, Hebrews, 227)

It shows that Abraham’s obedience was not only immediate and unquestioning, but that his resolve was firm to the end. Abraham obeyed immediately and completely. And we ask, “How does a father do such a thing?”

How can you exercise such faith in God that when confronted with a test that calls for the most extreme level of personal sacrifice, you do it without question or hesitation?

Your sacrifice may not be the sacrifice of a child, but it may involve the sacrifice of a distinguished career, a 4.0 grade point average, a starting spot on the basketball team, a long-standing relationship or a new relationship. It may be the sacrifice of a dream house.

Is God asking you to sacrifice anything right now? What is your response. “No, Lord, you can’t take that away from me.” Is that your response? It may be our natural response. It wasn’t Abraham’s.

So that brings up the question: How can you and I exercise faithful obedience to God when confronted with a test that calls for some kind of extreme sacrifice on our part?

The answer, in part, is by casting yourself upon two important truths:

The first is this: recognize that God Himself is the author of this test.

Here that reality is implied, “when he was tested.” “God” is not mentioned in the text, but this is what is called a “divine passive.” The ESV is right in assigning God as the author of this test, which is exactly how Genesis 22:1 reads, “Some time later…” or “after these things God tested Abraham.”

Now remember the distinction, God never tempts us to sin. James 1 is emphatic on this point: “When tempted, no one should say, ‘God is tempting me.’ For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone;” (James 1:13).

When God takes us through difficult and trying circumstances (trials), it is not for the purpose of causing us to sin. When God does test us, it is to prove that we can stand the test. Trials are not designed to induce us to sin, but to reveal our real character—not so much to God, but to ourselves and others.

You’ve seen this happen before, maybe in your own life or in the life of someone else. You see a woman who remains faithful to Jesus after being abandoned by her husband. You see a man who remains faithful to Jesus when his wife has just died from leukemia.

You have watched them go through a very trying situation and you see their trust, their hope, their loving responses, their compassion.

Here’s the thing. God and Satan can use the same situation but have different goals in mind. God brings difficult situations into our lives to build us up, while Satan uses those same situations to trip us up. As my beloved Bible College professor, Dr. Charles Willoughby used to say, “God sends trials into our lives as stepping stones; Satan sends trials into our lives as stumbling stones.”

God has a totally opposite purpose in our trials. As A. W. Tozer has said” The God we love may sometimes chasten us, it is true. But even this He does with a smile—the proud, tender smile of a Father who is bursting with pleasure over an imperfect but promising son who is coming every day to look more and more like the One whose child he is. (A. W. Tozer, Whatever Happened to Worship, 29)

We don’t have to stumble. Abraham didn’t. He grew stronger in his faith by showing faith-filled obedience when God tested him.