The 25 Answer that was experienced at Mount Moriah (Genesis 22:9-14)
The 24 Answer of the 1st 2nd 3rd RUTC:
The 25 Answer that was experienced at Mount Moriah (Genesis 22:9-14)
Sometimes, you may have a difficult time with understanding the work that God does. It may come as traumatic or painful. That is why the Israelites in the wilderness resented God and experience tremendous failures (1 Corinthians 10:10-11). God trained Abraham and allowed him a son Isaac at the age of 100. Now, God wants Abraham to give Isaac as a sacrifice offering. Why did God allow such a time to Abraham? There are at least five reasons.
First, this event was the last training for Abraham’s entire life. God chose Abraham as the source of blessings, trained him to become the vessel that would be used for all nations to receive blessings, and gave him a final test (1). There is no condition or training needed to receive salvation (Ephesians 2:8-9). However, to bless and use His people as the ones who will save the age, God trains them. For that training, we need patience, and He gives them tests (James 1:3-4).
Second, that is the time schedule in which the answer of 25 begins. It may seem like a horrible event, but it becomes the greatest time schedule for answers. Later on, Abraham stands as a person that is greatly respected among all Canaanites. As we grow older, we must live this kind of life and stand before God. The blessing of 25 is connected to the blessing of eternity.
Third, after this event, all blessings are inherited down to his son, Isaac. When God called Abraham for the first time, He said, “I will make of you” (Genesis 12:1-3), but after this event, He said, “I will surely bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore”(17-18) “Your descendants will take possession of the cities of their enemies,” “and through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed.” Finally, He says, “because you have obeyed me.” Abraham’s resolution became the covenantal contract for all blessings that Isaac was to receive.
Fourth, this event was a time in which Abraham and Isaac experienced the work of God together. When the father went up to Mount Moriah, tied Isaac, and held up a knife to strike down on him, Isaac was quietly obedient. That was when the covenant was deeply struck into Isaac and when the blessing that God prepared was confirmed. Later, Isaac goes beyond the answers and blessings that his father enjoyed.
Fifth, there is a spiritual reason that is most important. This event foreshadows the Christ that will later die on the cross at Mount Calvary. The event of Mount Calvary, where God sacrificed His son for us to save us was fulfilled on Mount Moriah. This embodies the heart and pain of our heavenly God that had to sacrifice His own son for our lives. That is why we must see the heart of God towards this crumbing field and age through all of our problems and sufferings.
- How was this resolution possible? It was through God’s training.
1) From the moment Abraham was called by God, he knew of the covenant that God gave him (Genesis 12:1-3). It is not about merely going to church. There is a world of difference between people who know the covenant and people who do not. Without the covenant, we do not have a vision for life, and we do not know the conclusion for our lives. How difficult is it to forcibly make it up?
2) It was not only about knowing the covenant. God trained Abraham so that this covenant became Abraham’s imprint, root, and nature. Every problem, event, and failure was a form of training that made this covenant become his imprint, root, and nature. May you receive courage from this. Judas and Peter both failed, but their difference was this. It was the same for David and Saul. One person blamed other things and gave up, but the other repented in humility and got back up again as he looked to God. How trained was Abraham? He believed. That even if God killed his son, He would bring him back to life again (Hebrews 11:19).
3) The resulting resolution. Abraham did not even consult with his wife when God gave his commands. He did not look down on his wife. This isn’t something that can be easily explained. That is because it was a time where Abraham needed to stand before God 1 on 1. This was a time of “only,” and a time for him to make a personal covenantal contract with God. Moreover, he knew the ending. True believers know the resolution and conclusion of all problems and tribulations (James 5:11).
- Draw a picture (CVDIP) looking to the answer of 25 that God has prepared behind and within all problems and events.
1) Abraham took with him fire and wood, knowing that God has already prepared something. When Isaac asked Abraham, “there is fire and wood, but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?” he answered, “God himself will provide” (8). This is DVIP. He knew in advance, believed, drew a specific picture, and challenged.
2) It says, “Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. This is what the ancients were commended for.” (Hebrews 11:1-2). Only when we hold onto the covenant and pray, we will have that faith, see the future, draw a picture, and gain strength to challenge. This is why we must pray the 3,9,3 prayer 24 hours, and look to the blessing and answers of the throne.
- Make a resolution of faithful actions and challenge.
1) Faith isn’t something you simply know or talk about. You must believe in your heart, and carry out faithful resolutions and actions. That is true faith. That is when our faith becomes complete (James 2:21-22). It says that faith without deeds is dead (James 2:26). According to one’s portions, start with rightful and small things (when Joseph was a slave, and when David tended sheep).
2) When deeds of faith begin, the works of the answer of 25 also begin. When Abraham was about to knife Isaac, he heard the angel’s voice say “Abraham!” and he also saw the “prepared ram.” When the feet of the priests who carried the ark of the covenant hit the water, the Jordan river split (Joshua 3:15). After circling the Tower of Jericho every early morning, when they shouted and blew their trumpets of victory on the last day, the tower fell (Joshua 6:16).
3) When you make a resolution of faith and begin prayer, God begins to work. It says that the day Daniel saw the upcoming age of difficulty and resolved to pray, God’s answers began (Daniel 10:12). Even if you begin to pray holding onto the covenant, God will send his angels, and the answer of 25 will begin (Revelation 8:3). William Carey said, “Expect great things from God, and attempt great things.” Satan blocks us from attempting anything by making us look at our current environment and realities.
Conclusion – We live our lives in an age where problems, conflicts, and crises continue. Sometimes it is very difficult to understand, and sometimes we face unjust situations. However, God has prepared from the throne the blessing of the answer of 25. There are separate answers and blessings that we will enjoy. Those things are unprecedented, will be inherited down to our posterity, and are eternal. All that we face, is more than just a sad or a happy ending. It is a “never ending” that fulfills the eternal plan of God. May we all enjoy victory in all the trainings and tests that prepare us for those blessings and answers.