ESOCS Devotional 17 December 2023 – You Will Be Tested
MEMORY VERSE: “And it came to pass after these things, that God did tempt Abraham, and said unto him, Abraham: and he said, Behold, here I am.” Genesis 22:1
TEXT: GENESIS 22: 1 – 19 (KJV)
nd it came to pass after these things, that God did tempt Abraham, and said unto him, Abraham: and he said, Behold, here I am.
2 And he said, Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of.
3 And Abraham rose up early in the morning, and saddled his ass, and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son, and clave the wood for the burnt offering, and rose up, and went unto the place of which God had told him.
4 Then on the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes, and saw the place afar off.
5 And Abraham said unto his young men, Abide ye here with the ass; and I and the lad will go yonder and worship, and come again to you.
6 And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering, and laid it upon Isaac his son; and he took the fire in his hand, and a knife; and they went both of them together.
7 And Isaac spake unto Abraham his father, and said, My father: and he said, Here am I, my son. And he said, Behold the fire and the wood: but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?
8 And Abraham said, My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering: so they went both of them together.
9 And they came to the place which God had told him of; and Abraham built an altar there, and laid the wood in order, and bound Isaac his son, and laid him on the altar upon the wood.
10 And Abraham stretched forth his hand, and took the knife to slay his son.
11 And the angel of the Lord called unto him out of heaven, and said, Abraham, Abraham: and he said, Here am I.
12 And he said, Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou any thing unto him: for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son from me.
13 And Abraham lifted up his eyes, and looked, and behold behind him a ram caught in a thicket by his horns: and Abraham went and took the ram, and offered him up for a burnt offering in the stead of his son.
14 And Abraham called the name of that place Jehovahjireh: as it is said to this day, In the mount of the Lord it shall be seen.
15 And the angel of the Lord called unto Abraham out of heaven the second time,
16 And said, By myself have I sworn, saith the Lord, for because thou hast done this thing, and hast not withheld thy son, thine only son:
17 That in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies;
18 And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice.
19 So Abraham returned unto his young men, and they rose up and went together to Beersheba; and Abraham dwelt at Beersheba.
Read Yesterday’s ESOCS Devotional here
Abraham was known for the faith he had in God. He believed God’s promise to give him and his barren wife a son, and God miraculously did this when Abraham was 100 and Sarah was 90 years old! Our text is a picture of bold faith in action. The supreme test of Abraham resulted in the supreme triumph of faith in God. Let us turn our Bibles now to this passage and read the first two verses. The command is made up of three simple verbs: ‘Take’ ‘get’, and ‘offer him’. Nothing was stated as to why this was to be done. The Bible does not record any response from Abraham to this commandment, except one: Complete obedience. Dearly beloved, how would you have responded, if you had been in Abraham’s place? This was clearly the greatest faith crisis he ever had to face in his life. How would you cope if you were the one facing this crisis?
Have you sometimes felt that way when things did not go very well for you? Have you sometimes questioned God or doubted His goodness in allowing you to experience loss or pain? Well, please understand that such a response is not of faith. It is the response of doubt and unbelief which is the very opposite of faith. Faith is confident that God is always good, righteous, fair, just and loving no matter what He does. And this was true in Abraham’s situation as well.
Just as fire refines ore to mine precious metals, God refines us through difficult circumstances. Abraham trusted that God would keep His word, even if that meant raising Isaac from the dead. Abraham’s story—along with many others in the Bible—entails sacrificing lives, desires, and wishes.
Abraham received abundant blessings for not holding back. God not only gave Abraham’s descendants the ability to conquer their enemies, but also promised Abraham that his descendants would bless the whole earth as a result of knowing his faith. God’s blessings far outweigh our sacrifices. His gifts are meant to overflow to others. The greatest rewards, however, await God’s children in eternity.
- Is God asking you to give up something of great value? What can we learn from Abraham’s example?
- Lord, help to be completely be obedient unto Your instructions even when they seem too difficult because I know that in the end, it will be for my good in Jesus name.
FURTHER READING: Genesis 47:1-26; John 7:25–36; Revelation 11:14–19
ESOCS Devotional 17 December 2023
