Read Genesis 21:1-22:19.

Introduction⤒🔗

In Psalm 66 we hear the Psalmist pray,

¹⁰You, O God, have tested us; you have tested us just as silver is tested. ¹¹You brought us into prison; you laid great burdens upon our backs. ^12aYou caused men to ride over our heads. We went through fire and through water. Psl. 66:10-12a

Writing to the churches of Asia Minor, the Apostle Peter exhorts them with these words,

¹²Beloved, do not be surprised by the fiery trials among you (that have come for the purpose of testing you), as though a strange thing has happened to you. 1 Pet. 4:12

Like Old Testament Israel and like the New Testament church, we, too, may expect to encounter periods of testing and trial in our lives. We must understand that the LORD, who Himself is faithful, possesses the divine prerogative to test our faithfulness. Because the LORD exercises His divine prerogative as He sees fit, you may expect to have your faithfulness tested.

In Genesis 22 we have recorded for us that occasion when Abraham encountered such a test. As we study this passage of Scripture let us consider the subject, “What to Do When You Are Tested by God.”

When You are Tested by God, Recognize that He is God←⤒🔗

Verse one of Genesis 22 introduces the events recorded in this chapter with the words, “God tested Abraham.”

We must understand that God possesses the divine prerogative to test our hearts and to test the genuineness of our profession of faith:

²You shall remember all the way in which the LORD your God led you in the wilderness for these forty years, he led you in this way so that he might humble you, in order to test you, so that he might know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep his commandments.Deut. 8:2

⁶...now for a little while, since it is necessary, you have been brought to grief by all kinds of trials. ⁷This has happened so that the genuineness of your faith—being of greater value than gold that perishes—having been tested by fire, may be verified, resulting in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. 1 Pet. 1:6-7

Because the LORD exercises His divine prerogative as He sees fit, you may expect to have your faithfulness tested.

Job was tested to see whether he really loved God, or just loved the blessings God gave him:

⁸Then the LORD said to Satan, Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one on earth like him, a blameless and upright man, one who fears God and turns away from evil. ⁹Then Satan replied to the LORD, Does Job fear God for no reason? ¹⁰Have you not put a hedge all around him, as well as around his household and all that he owns? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his flocks spread out over the land. ¹¹But now stretch out your hand and strike everything he has, and I swear that he will renounce you to your face. ¹²The LORD said to Satan, Look; everything that he has is in your power; only do not lay your hand upon the man himself. So Satan went out from the presence of the LORD. Job 1:8-12

The Lord Jesus was tested to verify that He really meant it when, by submitting to baptism, He indicated His total commitment to God His Father:

¹³Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan River to John, in order to be baptized by him. ¹⁴But John would have prevented him, saying, I have need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me? ¹⁵But Jesus answering said to him, Allow it now; for it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness. Then he allowed him to be baptized. ¹⁶And Jesus, when he had been baptized, immediately came up out of the water; and the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending as a dove and coming upon him. ¹⁷And a voice was heard speaking from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son with whom I am well pleased. ^4:1Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. Matt. 3:13-4:1

Here in Genesis 22, we find Abraham being tested. Specifically, what the LORD required of Abraham was the offering up of his son Isaac unto the LORD as “a burnt offering” (Gen. 22:2). The burnt offering was the Old Testament sacrifice that was a declaration of the worshiper’s wholehearted devotion and commitment to the LORD his God. The burnt offering was a testimony that he was committed to obeying the first great commandment, “You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. ³⁸This is the first and greatest commandment” (Matt. 22:37-38). In the case of Abraham, the LORD was requiring an actual demonstration of that commitment, not just a symbolic token of such devotion by means of an animal sacrifice. Whenever we are confronted with similar life-challenging tests, the LORD is requiring the same thing of us.

Note that Abraham readily complies with the LORD’s demand:

³So Abraham got up early in the morning and saddled his donkey. He took with him two of his servants and Isaac his son. Then he cut the wood for the burnt offering and departed, journeying to the place of which God had told him. Gen. 22:3

One of the reasons for his prompt compliance was the fact that he understood who God is. Here we must appreciate the significance of Abraham’s act recorded in Genesis 21:33, “[Abraham] planted a tamarisk tree in Beer-sheba, and there he called on the name of the LORD, the Everlasting God.” Abraham worshiped and trusted “the LORD, the Everlasting God”—the living God who is both sovereign and faithful—note Isaiah 64:8, “O LORD, you are our Father; we are the clay and you are our potter; and all of us are the work of your hand.” Here is the recognition that the LORD is both “our Father” (who loves us) and “our Potter” (who has a sovereign right over our lives); note Jeremiah 18:3-6,

³Then I went down to the potter’s house, and I saw him making a vessel on his pottery wheel. ⁴When the vessel he was shaping from the clay was marred in his hand, the potter reshaped it into another vessel, as it seemed good to the potter. ⁵Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying, ⁶O house of Israel, cannot I do with you as this potter does with the clay? says the LORD. Look, as is the clay in the potter’s hand, so are you in my hand, O house of Israel. Jer. 18:3-6

When you are tested by God, first of all recognize that He is God—He is the LORD, the Everlasting God.

When You are Tested by God, Render Obedience with Confidence←⤒🔗

Another reason Abraham was able to respond promptly to the LORD’s command with devotion and confidence was his past experiences with God. Abraham had witnessed and had been the personal beneficiary of the LORD’s covenant faithfulness to those who trust Him and serve Him. Genesis 21:33 describes Abraham as planting a tamarisk tree. The tamarisk is a long-lived evergreen; symbolizing the LORD’s perpetual faithfulness to the covenant he established with Abraham.¹

Abraham knew that the LORD had demonstrated Himself faithful to fulfill His promises (cf. Gen. 21:1­ 5). In verse one of Genesis 21 the emphasis is on God’s commitment to His word and His faithfulness to His promises: “The LORD came to Sarah as He had said, and the LORD did for Sarah what He had promised.” Previously, the LORD had declared, “my covenant will I establish with Isaac, whom Sarah shall bear to you next year at the appointed time” (Gen. 17:21). He had then reiterated that promise, “I will certainly return to you about this time next year; and Sarah your wife shall have a son” (Gen. 18:10).

In verse two of Genesis 21 the emphasis is on God’s ability to do whatever He desires and whatever is necessary to fulfill His promises: “Sarah bore Abraham a son in his old age, at the appointed time of which God had told him.” We should also take note of the LORD’s inquiry and word of assurance, “Is anything too difficult for the LORD? At the appointed time I will return to you, about this time next year, and Sarah shall have a son” (Gen. 18:14).

Abraham knew that the LORD had proven Himself faithful in past times of testing (cf. Gen. 21:8-21). We tend to forget that Isaac was not the first son whom Abraham was required to give up, Ishmael was. When Sarah sees Ishmael mocking little Isaac, with angry indignation she demands Abraham to get rid of Hagar and Ishmael (vs. 10). This matter was “very distressful to Abraham because it concerned his son” (vs. 11). But God instructed Abraham to comply with Sarah’s demand (vs. 12), and God comforted Abraham with the assurance that He would look after Ishmael and bless him, because Ishmael was Abraham’s son (vs. 13). Consequently, despite the heaviness of his heart, buoyed up by God’s promise, Abraham obeyed. He sent Hagar and Ishmael away into the barren wilderness (vs. 14­ 16) where they would die, were it not for the LORD’s promise and His faithfulness to keep that promise. God spared the boy, providing water in the wilderness—and God was with the boy, and he grew (vs. 17-21).

Now, when confronted by this latest test, Abraham rendered obedience with confidence. Having demonstrated Himself faithful in the past, Abraham was confident that the LORD would continue to be faithful on this occasion as well; Hebrews 13:8 testifies, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today, and forever.” In comparing the events of Genesis 21:8-21 with those of Genesis 22:1-19, you find that they both begin with the same phrase, “Abraham got up early in the morning,” to carry out God’s instructions, (Gen. 21:14 and Gen. 22:3). When it came to the offering up of Isaac, Abraham had been through this before; and his previous trial had prepared him to handle this one with confidence in the LORD.

But also, note the contrast between the account given in Genesis 21 and that given in Genesis 22. The deep sense of grief Abraham expressed in Genesis 21 (vs. 11) is absent in Genesis 22. This is not to say that Abraham felt no sense of sorrow; rather, it is to say that his confidence in God was far greater, being confirmed by the LORD’s past act of faithfulness displayed in His taking care of Ishmael.

Abraham expressed to his servants his confidence that both he and Isaac would return after offering their sacrifice to the LORD: "Abraham said to his servants, Stay here with the donkey, while I and the boy go over there; we will worship, and then we shall return to you"(vs. 5). Hebrews 11:17-19, reveals the mind and confidence of Abraham in the LORD his God,

¹⁷By 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, ¹⁸even though God had said to him, It is through Isaac that your offspring will be counted. ¹⁹Abraham reasoned that God could raise the dead, and figuratively speaking, he did receive Isaac back from death.

When Isaac inquires about the lamb for the burnt offering, Abraham replies, “God Himself will provide the lamb” (vs. 8). At the last moment, the LORD demonstrated Himself faithful by preventing Abraham from slaying Isaac and providing the ram for sacrifice:

¹¹...the angel of the LORD called to him out of heaven and said, Abraham, Abraham. And Abraham said, Here I am. ¹²Then he said, Do not lay your hand upon the boy, neither do any harm to him; for now I know that you fear God, seeing that you have not held back your son, your only son, from me. ¹³And Abraham looked up and saw that behind him there was a ram caught by his horns in the underbrush. Abraham went over and took the ram, and offered him up as a burnt offering instead of his son. ¹⁴Abraham named that place “Jehovah Jireh.” To this day it is said, On the mountain of Jehovah it shall be provided. vs. 11-14

When you are tested by God, render obedience with confidence.

When You are Tested by God, Realize His Divine Purposes←⤒🔗

The LORD’s words of instruction to Abraham in Genesis 22:2, "God said, Now take your son, your only son, the son whom you love, Isaac, and go to the land of Moriah. Offer him there as a burnt offering, “are an unmistakable echo of John 3:16, “for God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son.” The LORD was not requesting of Abraham anything that He Himself was not willing to do. On the contrary, the LORD’s purpose was for Abraham to become like the LORD Himself: to experience and imitate God’s own self-giving devotion to those whom He loves.

The event recorded in Genesis 22:12b-13—the LORD providing a ram as a substitute for Abraham’s own son—is what Jesus is referring to in John 8:56 when He testifies to the Jews, “Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day; and he saw it, and was glad.” It was God’s purpose that through his obedience, Abraham would gain a deeper understanding and appreciation of God’s plan of redemption: the wonder of it, the cost of it, the love revealed in it.

In Genesis 22:12b the LORD declares, “Now I know that you fear God.” Abraham’s act of obedience to God’s command that he offer up his beloved son was a demonstration that Abraham placed God above all others—here to “fear God” has the primary connotation of reverencing God as the One who is worthy of supreme and total obedience. Thus, God’s purpose was to prove (and demonstrate) the genuineness of Abraham’s faith and devotion unto the glory of God, the same purpose as taught by the Apostle Peter,

⁶...now for a little while, since it is necessary, you have been brought to grief by all kinds of trials. ⁷This has happened so that the genuineness of your faith—being of greater value than gold that perishes—having been tested by fire, may be verified, resulting in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. 1 Pet. 1:6-7

The “praise and glory” of which Peter speaks are praise and glory given to God for creating a being that loves Him and is voluntarily true to Him no matter what God may see fit to bring into his life. The “honor” of which he speaks is the honor to be bestowed upon the obedient Christian for loving the LORD his God and being true to Him no matter what He may see fit to bring into his life.

In response to Abraham’s obedience—his acceptance of God’s will—the LORD further confirms His promises with a personal oath:

¹⁵Then the angel of the LORD called to Abraham out of heaven a second time ¹⁶and said, I have sworn by myself, declares the LORD, because you have done this thing—you have not held back your son, your only son, ¹⁷I will surely bless you and I will surely multiply your offspring as the stars of the heavens and as the sand of the seashore. Your offspring shall take possession of the city of his enemies. ¹⁸By your offspring shall all the nations of the world be blessed. I solemnly pledge to you these things because you have obeyed my voice. vs. 15-18

As a result of Abraham’s obedience, the LORD granted him a greater assurance of his standing in the LORD’s covenant. To those who obediently pass through deep or exceptional trial there is granted a corresponding measure of assurance with regard to their standing in Christ and their sharing in His salvation and victory.

When you are tested by God, realize His divine purposes: His intention 1) for you to become more like the LORD your God, by imitating more of His self-giving character; 2) for you to gain a deeper understanding and appreciation of God’s plan of redemption and its cost to God Himself; 3) to prove the genuineness of your faith unto God’s glory and your honor; and, 4) to grant you a greater assurance of your standing in Christ and His salvation.

Conclusion←⤒🔗

Because the LORD does possess the divine prerogative to test our hearts and the genuineness of our faith, and because the LORD does exercise that divine prerogative as He sees fit, we may expect to encounter times of testing.

By the grace of God, may we respond like our father Abraham:

• Recognizing that the LORD is God—the faithful and sovereign God;
• Rendering unto Him confident obedience; and
• Realizing the divine purposes He desires to accomplish by means of the testing.

Discussion Questions←⤒🔗

1. What do we learn about the LORD from Genesis 21:1? See Lam. 3:22b-23; Psl. 36:5 What is significant about the change from “LORD” (Gen. 21:1) to “God” (Gen. 21:2)? See, for instance, Psl. 89:8; note, also, Gen. 18:14a According to Genesis 21:2b, when did God fulfill His promise? Given these facts, is there any valid reason for the Christian not to trust in the LORD? What should the Christian do? See Jn. 2:5; Jn. 11:40.

¹The LORD came to Sarah as he had said, and the LORD did for Sarah what he had promised. ²So Sarah conceived and bore Abraham a son in his old age, at the appointed time of which God had told him. Gen. 21:1-2

^22b...his compassions fail not. ²³They are new ever morning; great is your faithfulness. Lam. 3:22b­-23

⁵Your lovingkindness, O LORD, is in the heavens; your faithfulness [reaches] to the skies. Psl. 36:5

⁸O LORD, God of hosts, who is a mighty one, like you, O LORD? And your faithfulness is round about you. Psl. 89:8

^14aIs anything too hard for the LORD? Gen. 18:14a

⁵His mother said to the servants, 'Whatever he says to you, do it.'Jn. 2:5

⁴⁰Jesus said to her, 'Did I not tell you, that if you believe, you should see the glory of God?' Jn. 11:40

2. What happens at the feast celebrating the day Isaac was weaned? See Gen. 21:8-9 What does Sarah demand that Abraham do? See Gen. 21:10 How did Abraham react to Sarah’s demand? See Gen. 21:11 What does God tell Abraham to do? See Gen. 21:12 What promise does God give Abraham in Genesis 21:13? How does Abraham respond to God’s command? See Gen. 21:14a Has God ever called you to make a very hard, or even grievous, decision? Have you responded like Abraham?

⁸The child grew and was weaned. And on the day that Isaac was weaned Abraham made a great feast. ⁹Now Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, the son whom she had borne to Abraham, mocking Isaac. ¹⁰Therefore she said to Abraham, Get rid of this maidservant and her son; for the son of this maidservant shall not be heir with my son, Isaac. ¹¹Now this matter was very distressful to Abraham because it concerned his son. Gen. 21:8-11

¹²But God said to Abraham, Do not let this matter concerning the boy and your maidservant be distressful to you. Listen to all that Sarah says to you, because it is through Isaac that your offspring shall be counted. ¹³I will also make the maidservant’s son into a nation, because he is your offspring. Gen. 21:12-13

^14aSo Abraham got up early in the morning; he took some bread and a bottle of water, and gave it to Hagar, putting it on her shoulder. Then he gave her the child and sent her away... Gen. 21:14a

3. What is significant about the statement, “God tested Abraham” (Gen. 22:1)? See Isa. 64:8a; Jer. 18:5-6 Do you acknowledge the fact that God, as your Creator and Lord, has the right to test you? For what purpose does God exercise that prerogative? See 1 Pet. 1:6-7.

^8aBut now, O LORD, you are our Father; we are the clay, and you [are] our Potter... Isa. 64:8a

⁵Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying, ^6'O house of Israel, cannot I not do with you as this potter?' says the LORD. 'Behold, as the clay in the potter’s hand, so are you in my hand, O house of Israel.' Jer. 18:5-6

⁶...now for a little while, since it is necessary, you have been brought to grief by all kinds of trials. ⁷[This has happened] so that the genuineness of your faith, being of greater value than gold that perishes, having been tested by fire, may be verified, resulting in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. 1 Pet. 1:6-7

4. According to Genesis 22:2b, Isaac was to be offered as what kind of sacrifice? What was the significance of this type of sacrifice, what did it represent? Compare Lev. 1:9b with Deut. 6:5 Can a man be a Christian without offering his heart unto Christ as a “burnt offering”? See Gal. 2:20; 2 Cor. 5:14-15.

²God said, Now take your son, your only son, the son whom you love, Isaac, and go to the land of Moriah. Offer him there as a burnt offering upon one of the mountains of which I will tell you. Gen. 22:2

^9b...the priest shall burn all of it on the altar, for a burnt offering...a sweet savor unto the LORD. Lev. 1:9b

⁵...you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might. Deut. 6:5

²⁰I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ living in me; and the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me. Gal. 2:20

¹⁴...one died for all, therefore all died, ¹⁵and he died for all, so that they that live should no longer live unto themselves, but unto him who for their sakes died and rose again. 2 Cor. 5:14-15

5. Consider the results of Abraham’s compliance with God’s command: How does God describe Isaac in Genesis 22:2a? Compare this description with John 3:16. Are you aware that God will never require of you anything that He Himself is not willing to do? What oath does the angel of the LORD swear to Abraham in response to Abraham’s act of obedient devotion to the LORD? See Gen. 22:15-18 Do you realize that to those who obediently pass through deep or exceptional trial there is granted a correspondingly deeper measure of assurance with regard to their relationship with Christ and their sharing in His salvation?

²God said, Now take your son, your only son, the son whom you love, Isaac, and go to the land of Moriah. Offer him there as a burnt offering upon one of the mountains of which I will tell you. Gen. 22:2

¹⁶God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, so that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have eternal life. Jn. 3:16

¹⁵Then the angel of the LORD called to Abraham out of heaven a second time ¹⁶and said, I have sworn by myself, declares the LORD, because you have done this thing—you have not held back your son, your only son, ¹⁷I will surely bless you and I will surely multiply your offspring as the stars of the heavens and as the sand of the seashore. Your offspring shall take possession of the city of his enemies. ¹⁸By your offspring shall all the nations of the world be blessed. I solemnly pledge to you these things because you have obeyed my voice.Gen. 22:15-18