ABRAHAM’S FINAL TEST
There are many important truths that our pastors don't teach us, which we should pay close attention to. Take Abraham, for example. If God truly intended for him to sacrifice Isaac, it wouldn't be a problem, since God is the creator of all things. This may sound like a strange argument, but it likely explains why Abraham was prepared to follow through. Psalm 24:1 states, "The earth is the LORD'S, and the fullness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein."
The owner has all the rights over everything he created, which forms the ideological basis for the first commandment: "Thou shalt have no other gods before me" (Exodus 20:3, KJV). The principle that we should not hold any idea greater than the greatest idea should guide our lives, yet unfortunately, it often doesn't.
In asking Abraham to sacrifice Isaac, God sought to demonstrate that Abraham finally understood this profound truth. Abraham was already old, and if he lost Isaac, the chances of having an heir would diminish even further. However, all these practical and reasonable considerations were set aside for the ultimate reason: every word of God.
Religion, then, is not just something we practice on Sundays, nor is it merely an act we engage in when we pray or seek something from God; it is a guiding principle that should influence everything we do in life. When God called Abraham, He instructed him to leave his extended family, which included his father, Terah, who was an idolater. Had Abraham not been willing to leave his family and follow God, his story would have been very different. Perhaps God would not have entrusted him with the plan of salvation, since Jesus is of Abraham's lineage.
Today, we often find ourselves captivated by many things: family, relationships, education, and jobs. In doing so, we risk losing sight of the most important aspect of life, our relationship with God and our commitment to the values He represents.
As it is written, "But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him" (1 Corinthians 2:9, KJV).
Often, Christianity is presented as a boring and tasteless lifestyle when this is the furthest thing from the truth. What's is even more unfortunate is that our version of Christianity is always a misrepresentation of the truth that involves showing off as holy rather than actually obeying God, "But all their works they do for to be seen of men: ..." Mathew 23:5 (KJV). The Jews, for example, made the Sabbath a burden, they took a beautiful commandment and recreated it according to their human mind.
This is a strategy that Satan has always used to destroy truth and make a Godly lifestyle a burden.
So darkened were the minds of the Jews so much that when the lord of the Sabbath came, they couldn't identify him (Mark 2:28). Not only did they accuse him of desecrating the Sabbath by healing the sick, but they also accused him of working with demons to perform miracles (Mathew 12:27). True religion is never a burden, it makes life easy for life is best understood by its creator:
"Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest."
Mathew 11:28 (KJV).
The truth came through Abraham, and therefore, by examining Abraham's life, we understand how God works, "Ye worship ye know not what: we know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews." John 4:22 (KJV). The first symbol that we derive from Abraham's life is unrelenting obedience, which was based on having faith in God's word. Jesus therefore distinguished between the hypocrisy of the Jews and Abraham. He told them that while they were ready to murder him, Abraham had no such thoughts. So obedient was Abraham that God had full confidence in him:
"For I know him, that he will command his children and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of the LORD, to do justice and judgment; that the LORD may bring upon Abraham that which he hath spoken of him."
Genesis 18:19 (KJV)
When God has confidence in us, there are secrets that He will reveal to us, to guide our path in life. When the shepherds of Lot and Abraham quarrelled over pasture and water, the two had to separate to avoid escalating the disputes. There were two lands between them, one was more fertile than the other.
Though Abraham was the senior because Lot was his nephew, he let the younger Lot choose (Genesis 13:9). In so doing, Abraham manifested a Godly selflessness which saved him, his family, and wealth from the destruction that would later come upon Sodom and Gomorrah, "There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death" Proverbs 14:12 (KJV). Lot's eyes had not yet been spiritually opened, and without that divine insight, he couldn't have realized that living close to Sodom would eventually lead him to live and become part of that evil city. As a result, he eventually lost everything:
"And Lot lifted up his eyes, and beheld all the plain of Jordan, that it was well watered every where, before the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, even as the garden of the Lord, like the land of Egypt, as thou comest unto Zoar."
Genesis 13:19(KJV).
Before the angels of destruction came to Sodom and Gomorrah, they passed through Abraham's home. God couldn't destroy Sodom without consulting Abraham and it is through his intercession that Lot is saved. On his part, through righteous conduct, Lot also saves the angels and protects them from the evil people of Sodom whose greatest desire was to have unholy intercourse with them. Sin had totally blinded them, just as the angels also blinded them.
In obedience, we automatically appropriate the secrets of God because everything we need to know is contained in God's word, "The secret of the LORD is with them that fear him, and he will shew them his covenant" Psalm 25:14 (KJV). Though he made a great mistake in living in Sodom, his dealing with angels saves him more than Abraham's intercession, an indication that righteousness not only builds but saves us from trouble:
"A prudent man foreseeth the evil, and hideth himself: but the simple pass on, and are punished."
Proverbs 22:3 (KJV).
The word of God is the tree of life. Its leaves and fruit ensure eternal life for those who eat from it. In the recreated Earth the redeemed have to eat from it, to live forever (Revelation 22:2). Thus, the tree is both real and symbolic. Death must always be the result of any divorce from the Word of God, "... for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die" Genesis 2:17(KJV). In Eden, this tree of life was in the middle of the Garden, another hidden symbol that implies that all life is created and revolves around the word of God. Unless our lives are centred on God, we are lost:
"And out of the ground made the Lord God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, ..."
Genesis 2:9 (KJV)
