Tested Faith
God's testing reveals our true reason for being in relationship with Him.
Genesis(44) (Part of the Origins(43) series)
by Stuart Johns(47) on June 8, 2025 (Sunday Morning(58))
Faith(4), Obedience(9), Salvation(13)
Origins
Tested Faith
(Genesis 22:1-19)
INTRODUCTION
“Robert Chesebrough believed in his product. He's the fellow who invented Vaseline, a petroleum jelly refined from rod wax, the ooze that forms on shafts of oil rigs. He so believed in the healing properties of his product that he became his own guinea pig. He burned himself with acid and flame; he cut and scratched himself so often and so deeply that he bore the scars of his tests the rest of his life. But he proved his product worked. People had only to look at his wounds, now healed, to see the value of his work--and the extent of his belief.”
[#1 – Young people, what product did Robert Chesebrough believe in. (Vaseline)]
Source: Ralph Walker, Concord, North Carolina. Leadership, Vol. 12, no. 1.
[https://www.preachingtoday.com/illustrations/1998/august/3952.html]
BODY
ME
Testing
After being laid off from the headquarters of Child Evangelism Fellowship, I worked several jobs (construction, Walmart, and Administrative Pastor)
During that time I was working multiple jobs, so I could pay the bills
God had provided for us during the years I served with CEF
He had guided and directed our steps
Faith
I accepted Jesus as my Savior at the age of 4
I believed in God and had a personal relationship with Jesus, but I would probably have characterized my relationship as nominal
After being laid off, I started taking my relationship with the Lord more seriously
I committed to reading the Bible and praying every day
I didn’t do it perfectly, but I was improving
The older I’ve gotten the more committed I have become to spending time with the Lord every day
On Monday of this week, I was spending time with the Lord when my oldest granddaughter came into our bedroom and asked me what I was doing. I told her that I was spending time reading and studying God’s Word. She wanted to know why I did that. I was able to share my reason why – simply to be with the Lord
WE
Testing
Every one of us has probably experienced testing in our lives
Take a moment to reflect of those times of testing
Faith
Perhaps all of us can say that our faith has grown through those times of testing
Have those times of testing drawn us closer to the Lord – are we simply wanting to be with Him
Abraham probably thought that everything was going really well at this point. The promised heir, Isaac, had been born, the tension between Sarah and Hagar had been resolved when Abraham sent her and Ishmael away, the treaty between he and Abimelech had been completed. Surely, his time of testing had ended. However, the Lord had another test for him. “The test is one of obedience and trust. In essence, it is a test of Abraham’s relationship with Yahweh. It asks whether Abraham’s trust is really in God, and not simply in what God has promised.” [Walton, the NIV Application Commentary, Genesis, 515] What we will learn today from Abraham’s example is that . . .
BIG IDEA – God’s testing reveals our true reason for being in relationship with Him.
Let’s pray
GOD (Genesis 22:1-19)
Introduction (v. 1a)
Some time later
This is letting us know that probably a significant amount of time has passed between the great feast Abraham gave when Isaac was three years old and the current narrative
“…22:1 indicates enough time has elapsed for Isaac to have grown from a toddler (ca. two to three years old) in 21:8 to an adolescent in chap. 22. Isaac is old enough to endure a climb bearing wood (v. 6) but is still considered a ‘boy’ (naʿar, vv. 5, 12).” [Mathews, The New American Commentary, Volume 1B, Genesis 11:27-50:26, 289]
Some scholars believe that Isaac could have been in his thirties at this point, which would have been a “boy” compared to Abraham in his hundreds
God tested Abraham
This was not the first time that Abraham was tested, as Wiersbe points out [Wiersbe, The Bible Exposition Commentary, Pentateuch, 103]
“Family test” – left loved ones and stepped out in faith to go to a new land (11:27-12:5)
“Famine test” – Abraham failed this test by doubting God’s provision and going down to Egypt (12:10-13:4)
“Fellowship test” – he gave Lot first choice of the pasturelands (13:5-18)
“Fight test” – defeated the kings (14:1-16)
“Fortune test” – said no to Sodom’s wealth (14:17-24)
“Fatherhood test” – Sarah got impatient with God and suggested that he have a child with Hagar (Gen. 16)
“Farewell test” – sent Ishmael away (21:14-21)
[#2 – Young people, how many tests had Abraham already been through? (7)]
“God’s test is designed to uncover what is in people’s hearts (Deut. 8:2) and to do so by seeing ‘whether someone will obey God’s command or not.’” [Goldingay, Baker Commentary on the Old Testament, Pentateuch, 348]
Deuteronomy 8:2, Remember how the Lord your God led you all the way in the desert these forty years, to humble you and to test you in order to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep his commands.
Difference between trials/tests and temptations
“The devil tempts us to bring us down, but God tests us to bring us up.”
Source: Jerry W. Mixon in Along the Way. Christianity Today, Vol. 33, no. 13.
[https://www.preachingtoday.com/illustrations/1997/may/4564.html]Many times we fall for temptations, because we think they are logical, while we fail at the trials/tests because they seem very unreasonable [Wiersbe, 103]
Truths about God’s testing [Goldingay, 348]
He tests the faithful, not the faithless
It is kind of a compliment when God tests us
Psalm 11:5, The Lord examines the righteous, but the wicked and those who love violence his soul hates.
God does not test people in a way that might break them
1 Corinthians 10:13, No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. 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 stand up under it.
Matthew 6:13, And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.
Matthew 26:41, “Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the body is weak.”
This test was different from the other tests Abraham had experienced
“The test is one of obedience and trust. In essence, it is a test of Abraham’s relationship with Yahweh. It asks whether Abraham’s trust is really in God, and not simply in what God has promised. Abraham has built altars before and sacrificed to this God, when God renewed the promises. Is he willing now to build an altar and sacrifice the promises themselves, embodied in his son, in order to demonstrate his unswerving trust in the God who stands behind the promises?” [Thomas Mann cited by Walton, 515]
God’s testing reveals our true reason for being in relationship with Him.
We have to ask ourselves some tough questions and be brutally honest with ourselves [Walton, 520]
“Would we give up eternity in heaven for God?”
“Would we give God a chance if there were nothing in it for us?”
“Would we give God our lives if he gave nothing back but himself?”
“God asks no less of us than to be our all in all.” [Walton, 520]
#1 – My Next Step Today Is To: Honestly, ask myself if God is my all in all, or if I have another reason for being in a relationship with Him.
We have set the stage for the Biblical narrative that unfolded
Abraham had three conversations that required a response or an action
God (vv. 1b-6a)
Invocation/Summons/Appeal [the action of invoking something or someone for assistance or as an authority] (1b)
God called Abraham by name
It was a way of getting his attention
We are not told how God spoke with Abraham (vision, appearance, or messenger)
Answer (1b)
Abraham recognized the voice of God and responded
He said, “Here I am.” [#3 – Young people, how did Abraham respond to the voice of God? (Here I am)]
My prayer is that every one of us would respond to God in the same way that Abraham did
Speech (2)
Take
This was the first part of the Lord’s command
It is not evident in the English translations, but there is a small Hebrew participle that precedes the command to “take”
The Hebrew word is nā’ (naw) and means “I (we) pray, now, please” and is used in entreaty or exhortation [blueletterbible.org lexicon entry for Strong’s H4994]
“. . . nā’, which occurs more than sixty times in Genesis, is used only five times in the entire OT when God speaks to a person. Each time God asks the individual to do something staggering, something that defies rational explanation or understanding.” [Hamilton, The New International Commentary on the Old Testament, The Book of Genesis, Chapters 18-50, 101]
The Lord asked nicely for Abraham to take his son
Son, only son, Isaac
The Lord went from the general to the specific
We know from early in Genesis that Isaac is not Abraham’s only son, so what does it mean here?
We know that Abraham and Hagar had Ishmael together
We also know that God told Abraham to listen to his wife Sarah and send Hagar and Ishmael away
At this point, the covenant family had only one son, Isaac
It was through Isaac that the covenant/promise continued
The Lord recognized the love that Abraham had for Isaac, especially since Ishmael was no longer in the picture
The second part of the Lord’s command was to go
Go
Go
This is reminiscent of the Lord’s command to Abraham in Genesis 12:1, The Lord had said to Abram, “Leave your country, your people and your father’s household and go to the land I will show you.
The same Hebrew word for “go” is used in both places
Notice that when the Lord told Abraham to “leave”, in Genesis 12:1, the list went from the general to the specific (country, people, father’s household)
Region of Moriah [show map]
Most scholars agree that this was talking about Jerusalem
2 Samuel 24:16-17, When the angel stretched out his hand to destroy Jerusalem, the Lord was grieved, because of the calamity and said to the angel who was afflicting the people, “Enough! Withdraw your hand.” The angel of the Lord was then at the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite.
2 Chronicles 3:1, Then Solomon began to build the temple of the Lord in Jerusalem on Mount Moriah, where the Lord had appeared to his father David. It was on the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite, the place provided by David.
What currently occupies the place where Abraham was going are two Muslim shrines, El-Aqsa Mosque and Dome of the Rock
The trek from Beersheba to Jerusalem was about 50 miles
The Lord told Abraham who to take, where to go, and finally what he would be doing there
Sacrifice
The Hebrew word for sacrifice/offer means “to lift up”
Abraham was supposed to lift up Isaac as an entire burnt offering
“God’s command did not contradict moral law because the firstborn always belongs to the Lord (Ex. 13:11-13); however, the command is extraordinary both morally and theologically. … Abraham is asked to behave in a way that is illogical, absurd, and, to say the least, nonconventional from the human perspective. Within the biblical worldview, however, such radical behavior proves the true nature of biblical faith.” [Waltke, Genesis: A Commentary, 306]
God’s testing reveals our true reason for being in relationship with Him.
Even though the Lord asked Abraham to do something illogical, absurd, and nonconventional, he obeyed without a rebuttal (he gave a rebuttal concerning a substitute for the covenant child with Eliezer [Gen. 15:2] and Ishmael [Gen. 17:18; cf. Gen. 21:11])
Response/Action (3-6a)
Early the next morning
Abraham did the same thing with Isaac that he did with Ishmael, he got up early the next morning and obeyed the command of the Lord
He saddled his donkey
Gathered together Isaac and two of his servants
Cut enough wood for the burnt offering
Set out for the place God had told him about
[#4 – Young people, circle all of the items Abraham prepared for his journey. (donkey, wood)]
PRINCIPLE #1 – God is pleased when we obey, by faith, through the trials of life.
Abraham was able to obey without giving a rebuttal, because He knew the character of God – He keeps His promises
We know the character of God through His Word and through our own personal experiences
That should give us confidence to obey Him, by faith, through the trials of life
“Our faith is not really tested until God asks us to bear what seems unbearable, do what seems unreasonable, and expect what seems impossible.” [Wiersbe, 104]
What trial or testing are you currently experiencing?
Are you obeying the Lord’s command, by faith, through the trial or test?
#2 – My Next Step Today Is To: Obey the Lord, by faith, as I go through the trial of ___________.
“Spiritual growth depends on how we handle the tests and trials that come our way.” [Gangel & Bramer, Holman Old Testament Commentary, Genesis, 197]
Abraham got up early the next morning, so he could obey the Lord’s command
On the third day
It is probable that they did not travel three full days, but perhaps only traveled partial days on the first and last day
Abraham saw the place in the distance where God had instructed him to conduct the sacrifice
Final push
Servants stayed
Abraham instructed the two servants to stay with the donkey
They were not permitted to travel to the worship location
That was reserved for father and son
He explained that he and Isaac would continue the journey a little farther, worship the Lord, and then come back to them
This showed incredible faith in the promise from God
Abraham had not forgotten God’s promise concerning Isaac as the covenant son (Genesis 21:1-13)
Hebrews 11:17-19, By faith Abraham, when God tested him, offered Isaac as a sacrifice. He who had received the promises was about to sacrifice his one and only son, even though God had said to him, “It is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned.” Abraham reasoned that God could raise the dead, and figuratively speaking, he did receive Isaac back from death.
PRINCIPLE #2 – “We live by promises, not by explanations.” [Wiersbe, 104]
In our humanness we want to know why God is allowing us to go through the trial or testing
We ask Him, “Why?”
Then we ask Him, “Why me?”
Perhaps you are struggling with the “Why?” questions right now
“Faith does not demand explanations; faith rests on promises.” [Wiersbe, 104]
#3 – My Next Step Today Is To: Rest on God’s promise to _________, as I go through the current testing or trial.
The servants stayed with the donkey as Abraham and Isaac continued on
Father and son went
Abraham put the wood for the burnt offering on Isaac
He carried the fire and the knife
Abraham was obedient to the Lord’s command
As Abraham and Isaac continued their journey, we see the second conversation Abraham had
Isaac (vv. 6b-10)
Invocation (6b-7a)
Isaac spoke up
He addressed Abraham as Father
Answer (7a)
Abraham responded to Isaac with a Yes!
He addressed him as son
Speech (7b)
Isaac recognized two of the three elements needed for a sacrifice
Abraham was carrying the fire
Isaac was carrying the wood
Isaac was curious about the lamb
I am certain by this time in his life, Isaac had witnessed his father making sacrifices to the Lord
He knew what was needed, which is why is asked the question
Response/Action (8-10)
Abraham reassured his son that God would provide the lamb for the burnt offering
This again proved Abraham’s trust in God, especially as it concerned His promise about Isaac
Abraham knew that the Lord had asked him to sacrifice his only son and yet Abraham believed that God would provide the sacrificial animal
How many of us have that kind of faith?
They went on together
Abraham prepared for the sacrifice
He built an altar
He arranged the wood on top
He bound Isaac and laid him on top of the wood
I don’t know about you, but I’m not sure I would have cooperated at this point
Isaac certainly was strong enough and fast enough to avoid being bound and placed on the altar
“If Abraham displays faith that obeys, then Isaac displays faith that cooperates.” [Hamilton, 110]
Abraham had modeled faith in the Lord for his son, Isaac
I wish the conversation between Abraham and Isaac had been recorded for us, leading up to Isaac being bound and placed on the altar
And yet, that is not the focus of this passage
As Isaac lay there, Abraham prepared to sacrifice his only son
He took the knife to slay his son [#5 – Young people, what was Abraham going to use to slay his son? (knife)]
Perhaps as Abraham said his final goodbyes, the angel of the Lord interrupted this second conversation
Angel of the Lord/Jesus (vv. 11-18)
Invocation (11a)
Most scholars believe the angel of the Lord was the pre-incarnate Jesus (Christophany)
The fact that the angel of the Lord said his name twice showed urgency
How many of us have done that with our children or grandchildren?
“Stop what you are doing and listen to me! I have something important or urgent to tell you.”
Answer (11b)
Abraham recognized the voice of Jesus and responded
He said, “Here I am”
Speech (12)
Jesus told Abraham not to do anything to Isaac
Feared God
The Lord now knew that Abraham reverenced Him above everything else – even his only son
“We must differentiate between knowledge as cognition and knowledge as experience. We can agree that God knew ahead of time what Abraham was going to do. But there is ample evidence throughout Scripture that God desires us to act out our faith and worship regardless of the fact that he knows our hearts. God wants us to pray even though he knows what we are going to say and may already have the answer in motion. He wants us to praise him even though he knows how we feel. God asks us to express our faith and love. It is honoring to him for us to demonstrate those things that he knows exist because it pleases him.” [Walton, 514]
How many of us would say we prefer to hear and experience demonstrations of love from our parents, spouse, and children, instead of just knowing that they love us
There is a story of a husband who never told his wife that he loved her. He said that he told her on their wedding day and if anything changed he would let her know
James 2:21-22, Was not our ancestor Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did.
Abraham’s actions proved that he was willing to sacrifice his only son to be obedient to the Lord
“The sacrifice was already accomplished in his heart, and he had fully satisfied the requirements of God.” [Keil & Delitzsch, Commentary on the Old Testament, Volume 1, The Pentateuch, 160]
Abraham trusted God with his future even though it appeared as though his son would be killed
PRINCIPLE #3 – God is glorified when we trust Him with our future.
Do you trust God with your future as you experience His testing?
Abraham passed the test!
Response/Action (13-14)
He looked up and saw a ram caught in a thicket by its horns He took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering in place of his son, Isaac [#6 – Young people, what did God provide as a substitute for Isaac? (ram)]
Abraham called that place The Lord Will Provide
The Hebrew word translated “provide” can also be translated as “sees” or “to see”
“When we say ‘I will see to it that the report is done on time,’ we are using the verb ‘to see’ to convey that the details will be taken care of.” [Walton, 511]
The Lord saw to the details of the sacrifice on Mount Moriah
Abraham knew the character of God as we saw back in verse 8
Then, Abraham experienced the character of God first hand
PRINCIPLE #4 – God is our Provider!
Do you know the character of God through His Word?
Have you experienced the character of God through His provision?
The greatest thing that God has provided for us is eternal life
“I can never think about the willingness of Abraham to offer up his son Isaac without thinking of the willingness of God to offer up His son Jesus.” [LaSor cited by Gangel & Bramer, 199]
Romans 8:32, He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?
John 1:29, The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!
2 Corinthians 5:21, God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
Romans 3:23, For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.
Romans 6:23, For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
John 3:16, “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.
#4 – My Next Step Today Is To: Repent of my sins, believe in Jesus Christ, and receive eternal life.
The angel of the Lord had one additional thing to communicate to Abraham
Covenant (vv. 15-18)
Swore by Himself
The Lord cannot swear by anything or anyone else, because He is the King of kings and Lord of lords
He confirmed His covenant with Abraham by walking between the animal halves [Waltke, 308]
He affirmed His covenant by assigning circumcision [Waltke, 308]
He now swears to His covenant promise [Waltke, 308]
The reason that the Lord swore to His covenant promise is because Abraham willingly gave Him the most prized thing he had, the miraculous son that Yahweh had designated as the covenant promise [Goldingay, 357]
God’s testing reveals our true reason for being in relationship with Him.
Reaffirmed His covenant
There are some things to note about the reaffirmation of the covenant [Mathews, 298]
The word “surely” is added to the original phrase about blessing Abraham (Gen. 12:2)
Abraham’s descendants will surely be as numerous as the stars in the sky – again the idea of surely is added to the original phrase from Gen. 15:5
Here we see another analogy of how numerous Abraham’s descendants will be – as numerous as the sand on the seashore
The foreshadowing of Abraham’s descendants taking possession of the cities of their enemies is new to the covenant promise
Through Abraham’s offspring, all nations on earth will be blessed
Abraham’s obedience is mentioned again
After the reaffirmation of the covenant, we see an quick succession of events
Conclusion (v. 19)
Abraham returned to his servants
They set off for Beersheba
Abraham stayed in Beersheba
YOU
Do you need to honestly, ask yourself if God is your all in all, or if you have another reason for being in a relationship with Him?
What trial do you need to obey the Lord, by faith, as you go through it?
What promise from God do you need to rest in, as you go through your current testing or trial?
Are you ready to repent of your sins, believe in Jesus Christ, and receive eternal life?
WE
What trial do we need to obey the Lord, by faith, as we go through it?
What promise from God do we need to rest in, as we go through our current testing or trial?
CONCLUSION
“There was a family in the San Francisco Bay area that grew up with commitment. The son's name was David Kraft. His father was a pastor, a godly pastor in the South Bay. David Kraft grew up with a father who constantly remembered God's faithfulness in the past so that David might trust in God in all of his tomorrows. David grew up in love with Jesus, and he felt the call of God into the pastoral ministry. He went to Denver Conservative Baptist Seminary.
David was a big, athletic young man. At the age of 32, he was six feet two inches tall and weighed two hundred pounds. He worked with the Fellowship of Christian Athletes. That dear young man was diagnosed as having cancer. It wracked his body, and, over a period of time, he dropped from two hundred pounds in weight to eighty pounds.
When he was about ready to pass from this life into eternity, he asked his father to come into his hospital room. Lying there in the bed, he looked up and said, ‘Dad, do you remember when I was a little boy, how you used to just hold me in your arms close to your chest?’
David's father nodded. Then David said, ‘Do you think, Dad, you could do that one more time? One last time?’
Again his father nodded. He bent down to pick up his 32-year-old six-foot two-inch, eighty-pound son, and held him close to his chest so the son's face was right next to the father's face. They were eyeball to eyeball. Tears were streaming down both faces. The son said simply to the father, ‘Thank you for building the kind of character into my life that can enable me to face even a moment like this.’”
Source: "Introducing Christ to Your Child," Preaching Today, Tape No. 92.
[https://www.preachingtoday.com/illustrations/1996/september/301.html]
