Sermon26-5 Gen22 Guide

Genesis 22:1-19 theme verse Genesis 22:8

The praise and honor and glory be to our heavenly Father who seeks true worshipers who worship Him with the Spirit and truth.

In this last Sunday of the year 2025, I pray that His grace of the application of all the benefits which Jesus earned for our salvation and also the glorious ministry of the proclamation of His kingdom by the power of the Holy Spirit may be full in our life. During the past four weeks of the Advent, we looked at the kingdom of God which our Lord came and inaugurated was the kingdom of righteousness, peace and joy in love and then last Thursday, on Christmas day, we celebrated His first coming, while waiting His second coming, yet this week, on the last Sunday of the year 2025, we would like to count God’s grace this year to give thanks to Him together.

1)    To summarize today’s text, Genesis 22:1-19, as this is one of the well-known stories of Genesis. God who called Abraham from Ur of the Chaldeans when he was 75 years old, appeared again at around 115 to 137 years old and commanded to sacrifice his son whom God gave at 100 years old, as a burnt offering at a mountain in Moriah that God would show him. Then next early morning, after loading the woods for the burnt offering onto a donkey, Abraham set out with two servants and Isaac. And after three days, when they arrived at Mount Moriah, Abraham placed the woods on Isaac's shoulders, climbed the mountain, bound him, and laid him on the altar of wood. Then when he took the knife and was about to kill him to sacrifice him as a burnt offering, at that moment, the angel of the LORD called him from heaven and stopped him, saying, "Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me."

And then Abraham looked around and saw a ram caught in a thicket so that he took the ram and offered it as a burnt offering instead of his son. And Abraham named that place "Jahweh-Yireh" which means "The Lord will provide.”

Then the angel of the LORD called Abraham a second time from heaven, saying, “By myself I have sworn, declares the Lord, that because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, I will surely bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will take possession of the cities of their enemies, and through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed me.”

2)    Through today’s text, we would like to learn few lessons together, by looking at several key points more deeply. First, we would like to compare two callings of Abraham. I mean, as Abraham narrative is a well-structured as a large literary unit, the beginning and end of the Abraham narrative are very closely well-connected. First, as the introduction begins with the genealogy of Terah, which introduces Sarah's infertility, today’s text concluded with the genealogy of Nahor, announcing the birth of Rebekah, who was also unable to conceive as mentioned in Genesis 25:21. And secondly, God who called Abraham from Ur of the Chaldeans and sent him to the land of Canaan now again called him to send to Mount Moriah. Yet thirdly in His first calling, God called Abraham with promises and mission and hope for future, to follow trusting in Him after cutting off the past as Gen 12:1-3, yet at His second calling, God demanded a great decision of Abraham to trust in God, even after cutting off his only hope for the future. And Abraham obeyed to God in great faith.

3)    However, this event on Mount Moriah has different perspective per each person. I mean, from Abraham's perspective, this event was clearly a great act of faith and obedience. Even with God's incomprehensible commandment to sacrifice his only son, Isaac, whom God had given him in his old age through barren Sarah, he rose early in the next morning and set out for the land of Moriah to obey God's commandment and even in the Mount Moriah, he tried to kill and sacrifice him and was known for his faith in God. As Hebrews 11:19 says, since Abraham believed God could raise Isaac from the dead, he could demonstrate great faith and absolute obedience to God, believing God's promise that his descendants would be called through Isaac. Through this test of faith, he passed God's test and finally received again the promise of blessings, the multiplication of his descendants, and the promise that all nations of the world would be blessed through him.

However, for Sarah's perspective, she was not informed that Abraham, her husband would sacrifice her loving son, Isaac, based on the fact that Abraham set out for the land of Moriah early in the next morning after receiving God's command, because if Abraham had told Sarah that he was going to sacrifice Isaac as a burnt offering in obedience to God's command, she probably wouldn't have allowed it. Anyway, even though it is recorded that Abraham returned to Beersheba after this event, but in the next chapter, chapter 23, it is recorded that Sarah died at the age of 127, not in Beersheba, but in Hebron. Based on this, we can infer that Abraham and Sarah may have separated after this incident and Isaac stayed with Sarah.

And then from Isaac's perspective, as we infer, when Isaac experienced this event, he was likely between 15 and 37 years old.  So, the fact that a young man like Isaac was bound and placed on the altar by his father whose age was 115 to 137-year-old suggests that Isaac did not resist to his father, rather completely obey to him, I mean, to God. Yet, even with this another great obedience, this event seems to have been deeply traumatic for him, since Genesis 24:62 says that he came from Beer-lahai-roi and settled in the Negev region, after his mother Sarah was dead. And also based on the verse 24:67 saying that Isaac brought Rebekah into his mother Sarah's tent, it seems that after the incident on Mount Moriah, Sarah took the traumatized Isaac to Hebron and stayed with him and then after Sarah's death, Isaac didn’t come back to Beersheba where his father was, but instead took his mother's tent to Beer-lahai-roi, seemingly since his father's act of drawing a knife to sacrifice him left a deep and lasting trauma on Isaac.

4)    Anyway, the Bible is silent on these so Nobody except God knows about Sarah and Isaac, yet it is clear that Abraham's faith is truly amazing. I mean, first, Abraham obeyed to God who said him to send Hagar and Ishmael away, saying God will bless them also in Genesis 21:12, as he was deeply troubled when Sarah told him to send Hagar and Ishmael away, because Ishmael was also Abraham's son, even though Ishmael was only Hagar's son to Sarah. Furthermore, when God commanded him to offer his only son, Isaac, as a burnt offering, whom he had at the age of 100, Abraham did not hesitate and leave early in the next morning to the place God commanded, even though Isaac was his only son and the son who would inherit God's covenant.

However, from a perspective of an ordinary person, like me, I cautiously speculate that he probably didn't sleep at all that first night, agonizing over the decision. And also he must have experienced great internal conflict during those three days on the journey to the land of Moriah too. He could ignore this commandment as not coming from God, since even God hated the act of sacrificing children to idols as Leviticus 20:2-5 says that if any of the Israelites or any foreigner residing among them sacrifices their child to Molech, they will be stoned to death and cut off from their people.

However, Abraham, having received God's command, did not cry out to God or question Him, nor did he complain, wondering if this was why God had given him a son, or why God was now demanding him back after giving him to him. He didn't even engage in theological debate about whether God truly desired human sacrifice, or why God, who clearly stated in the Bible that He did not desire human sacrifice, was making such a contradictory demand. Amazingly, he simply obeyed to God. As verse 3 simply says, "Abraham rose early in the morning and went three days to the land of Moriah," revealing his simple yet active obedience, after taking all the burdens of all the questions and complex emotions such anxieties, fears, frustrations and sorrows he wanted to express to God.

And finally after three-day journey of obedience, without understanding or knowing the reason, he simply obeyed because God had commanded it. Yet, here in verse 5, we can find a clue to the essence of Abraham's faith that enabled him to obey, saying  “Then Abraham 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.’” In other words, he knew he had to go up the mountain and offer his son as a burnt offering, but he also believed that they would return together, as Hebrews 11:17-19 says, “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 even raise the dead, and believed that he did receive him back from death.”

The act of offering Isaac as a burnt offering clearly presupposed his death, yet Abraham's statement that they would return together shows that he believed God was able to raise Isaac from the dead, even after he was sacrificed. He believed that just as God's command to sacrifice Isaac was true, so too was God's promise that through Isaac he would have many descendants and be a blessing to all nations. Although he didn't fully understand how these two seemingly contradictory statements would be reconciled, he trusted and obeyed God. This is the essence of Abraham's faith as described in this passage.

5)    And also through today’s text, we could clearly understand one thing that God asks His people to love Him above all else. I mean, God asks if we can trust Him even to the point of giving up our dreams, hopes, and all the values ​​we have pursued in this world. Even with all good and bad and dangers and opportunities, yet, we are asked in all these circumstances still to love God above all else, and even in moments when it seems like His promises are failing, we are asked to continue to trust Him. Certainly, our health, our families, our jobs, prosperity of our business, our wealth and our all successes are blessings from God. However, if we forget our priorities and focus on these things, causing our hearts to be distracted, we have to remember that these things can become idols before God, hindering our progress in faith journey. Therefore, we hope to live our life to remove daily any idols which we have placed before God.

6)    And here are one thing which we would like to reflect on. I mean, the verse 1, 7, and 11 says "Here I am," which is translated from a single Hebrew word, "Hineni”. Although it is translated as "Here I am" in English, its meaning is not that simple. I mean, it signifies a willingness to completely dedicate oneself, meaning "I am totally ready to obey to You, my Lord." In today's passage, when God came to Abraham and asked him to offer his only son as a sacrifice, Abraham responded, "Hineni!” as Moses responded, "Hineni!", when God called Moses from the burning bush and also Samuel responded, "Hineni! I will listen!”, when God called young Samuel three times, and also the prophet Isaiah readily exclaimed, "Hineni! Send me!”, when God asked who would go for Him in Isaiah 6 hundreds of years later.

As such, when Abraham, after receiving his first calling at the age of 75 and being trained and refined through his faith journey for about 50 years, was commanded, he said "Hineni!" "I am ready to obey your word,” to become a hero of faith—a hero of obedience. Dear sisters and brothers! We too are all called on a journey of faith. I pray that we may also be able to stand before God's calling with a prepared faith, always saying, "Here I am. Command me, my Lord." I believe that when we entrust ourselves to God, He will work and make a way for us, providing everything for us.

7)    As such, in obedience to God's word, when Abraham climbed Mount Moriah, bound Isaac, and placed him on the altar for a burnt offering and without hesitation, drew his knife to strike Isaac, God urgently called out to him, twice, saying, “Now I know that you fear God” (verse 12). Of course, this doesn't mean that God was intellectually unaware of him and now came to know it. as the Hebrew word "yada"ידע) ) in this passage means to know through experience, this is a truly remarkable statement expressing that God experienced and became to know Abraham's faith.

Yet, sisters and brothers! It seems not only God who became to know, I mean, Abraham also became to know God in a new way. I mean, after God stopped him, when Abraham looked around and saw a ram caught in a thicket, he realized that this ram was prepared by God and provided so that he named the place "Jahweh-Yireh”. While "Jahweh-Yireh" is often understood as "God provides," yet a direct translation from the Hebrew text means "God sees."  In other words, Abraham, having obeyed God's command and stood in that place, realized that God had been watching for him all along and had already prepared a provision for him.

8)    Dear sisters and brothers! When we heard and obeyed to God to follow Him, there are times when we feel confused and overwhelmed by worries, anxieties, and fears in our hearts and also when we are filled with doubt and uncertainty, wondering if God truly sees us and understands our pain. However, I really hope that we may remember that in every moment and every situation, God is watching over us. We are not alone in this world, nor are we alone in our mission. We are not alone in facing difficulties or carrying the burdens of the world. God is watching over us. God is taking care of us. And God is preparing all we need and provides us. The reason why we sometimes don't feel God watching over us, caring for us, and preparing things for us is because we do not want to go to Mt. Moriah. I hope we may remember that Abraham only heard the voice of the angel of the Lord when he climbed to the top of Mount Moriah, drew his sword, and raised his hand, as Daniel experienced nothing until he entered the lion's den, and Daniel's three friends only met the Son of God walking with them after they entered the fiery furnace. Therefore, I pray that we will not easily give up or be afraid, instead open our eyes of faith to see God and give thanks to God who has been watching over us, caring for us, and preparing everything for us in every situation.

Key Questions as Small Group Activity

Q1 Through today’s text, we became to know that after Abraham followed God in his faith journey for 50 years after he was called, he became a great person of faith and obedience. So, after reflecting our life and thinking about where our faith arrived in our way ot follow our Lord, I hope we could share our thought and experience with our team members together to learn from each other.

Q2 And also, we became to know that in this faith journey, God always watches over us, caring for us and preparing and providing all that we need. So after reviewing our life this year and checking whether God of Yahweh-Yireh provided, I hope we could share our thought and experience with our team members together to learn from each other.

Love you. Thank you. God bless you.

Prayer Note

Dear ( God’s attribute which you found Today ) God!

Thanks for ( something you received through the sermon or  even during the week )

Praise, gratitude and glory be to You, Lord!

Today, I realized my sin (pains) that ( the sin God reminded through the sermon ),

please forgive (or heal) me and help me not to repeat ( the sins you recognized   ).

I learned that ( something you learned through the sermon                                    )

Please help me to live in that (  learned way of life                                                )

I pray in ( Jesus’ attribute you find ) Jesus’ name. Amen.