Morning Moments

Today we shall consider the ultimate altar – The Altar of Glory, where resurrection is seen. This is so important because nothing in my life will have life unless it dies. It is why Jesus spoke of taking up the cross daily. It is a continuing result of our identification with Christ in His death and resurrection.

Consider with me from Genesis 22 –

The Cherished Possession

Gen 22:1-24 And it happened after these things, testing Abraham, God said to him, Abraham! And he said, Behold me. (2) And He said, Now take your son, Isaac, your only one whom you love, and go into the land of Moriah. And there offer him for a burnt offering on one of the mountains which I will say to you.

For years Abraham had waited for God to fulfill His promise to him. Maybe he thought from time to time that God had forgotten, but He never forgets a promise. Finally, through the laughter at the revelation, and the languish of the realization, Isaac was born. Oh, to be sure he had another son with Hagar, and would have six more with Keturah, but none like this one for this was the son of promise – this was the type of Messiah for he was consider his “only begotten son.” This was Abraham’s cherished possession.


The Chilling Predicament

(3) And Abraham started up early in the morning and saddled his ass, and he took two of his youths with him, and his son Isaac. And he split wood for a burnt offering, and rose up and went to the place which God had said to him. (4) And on the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes and saw the place from a distance. (5) And Abraham said to his young men, You stay here with the ass. I and the boy will go over there that we may worship and may return to you.

Life brings some pretty scary situations, but isn’t God to protect us from them? No, He is there to protect us in them. He is often the designer of them to test our obedience. As long as we are confident in our ability to handle things and as long as we can see a way out we remain calm.

Remember the “House of Horrors” at the fair? We know the law will not allow us to be hurt so even if we are frightened, we know we are safe. But here the law of life says that if a knife is plunged into you and you are burned you will die. So Abraham moved against all odds.

The Careful Preparation

(6) And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on his son Isaac; and he took the fire and the knife in his hand. And the two went together. (7) And Isaac spoke to his father Abraham and said, My father. And he said, Behold me. 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 see to the lamb for Himself, for a burnt offering. And the two of them went together.

Think about this! All her life Sarah had wanted a boy and she had to wait 90 years for him. Then a brief 16 or 17 years later when she could really see the fruit of her laborious investment of teaching and loving investment of time, she has to watch her husband take this boy away with the probability that he will never return.

We know from the eleventh chapter of Hebrews that Abraham had such confidence in God at this time that he believed God would raise Isaac from the dead. You would be considered delusional if you told someone you believed that. That is why Abraham is called the Father of the Faithful.

The Confident Persuasion

(9) And they came to the place which God had said to him. And Abraham built there the altar, and arranged the wood. And he bound his son Isaac and laid him on the altar, on the wood. (10) And Abraham put out his hand and took the knife to slay his son.

Wow! We do not know at what point Isaac realized the seriousness of this situation but I think it is safe to say that if there were an altar before you and me and someone bound us, we would have a clue.
Do you see the confident persuasion of all of them here? Do you see that the boy did not run, and the mother did not scream, and the father did not flinch? This is totally amazing to me. I tend to panic when I see relationships dying, financial security dying, and job security dying. I find it hard to kill a rabbit in the road, but much easier to kill the feelings of others.

I love me and I would be kicking and screaming and running and this only reveals the shallowness of my faith. I may see all that is near and dear to me die, but to see me die? Now that is another matter. But that is my fallen nature, not my godly nature.

The Covenant Promise

(11) And the Angel of Jehovah called to him from the heavens and said, Abraham! Abraham! And he said, Behold me. (12) And He said, Do not lay your hand on the boy, nor do anything to him. For now I know that you are a God-fearer, and you have not withheld your son, your only one, from Me. (13) And Abraham lifted up his eyes and looked. And behold! A ram behind him was entangled in a thicket by its horns. And Abraham went and took the ram and offered it for a burnt offering instead of his son.

God never made a promise He broke. I like to think I am a man of my word and that I would keep my word if it cost me to do it, but I must confess I do not always do it. There are what we call “providential hindrances” that occur. Things over which we have no control that keep us from doing what we sometimes say we will.

Not so with God! Nothing keeps Him from fulfilling His promise, even if He has to sacrifice HIMSELF, which is precisely what He did on Calvary. Here in the thicket was a ram (a lamb) that God directed to the spot for the specific purpose of sacrifice. INCREDIBLE!

The Compelling Praise

(14) And Abraham called the name of that place Jehovah Will See; so that it is said until this day, In the mount of Jehovah it will be seen. (15) And the Angel of Jehovah called to Abraham out of the heavens a second time. (16) And He said, I have sworn by Myself, declares Jehovah, that on account of this thing you have done, and have not withheld your son, your only son, (17) that blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply your seed as the stars of the heavens, and as the sand which is on the shore of the sea. And your Seed shall possess the gate of His enemies. (18) And in your Seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed because you have obeyed My voice. (19) And Abraham returned to his young men, and they rose up and went together to Beer-sheba. And Abraham lived at Beer-sheba.

Jehovah Jireh – The self existent, covenant keeping God will provide. SAY THAT WITH ME – The self existent, covenant keeping God will provide. God swore by Himself blessing upon those who offer on the Altar of Glory their most cherished possession (your life and all that comes with it). It may be a scary thought for us in the flesh, but it is a sacred thought for us in the spirit.

For too long many of us have held on to our way of thinking, our way of feeling, our security, our morality, our goodness, our whatever – but it all has to die in order for it to live. It is God’s way and it is our choice.

No one can do it for us – it must be our choice and to fail to make it is to make it.