The Moriah Test

V1-2, Some time later God tested Abraham. He said to him, "Abraham V1-2, Some time later God tested Abraham. He said to him, "Abraham!" "Here I am," he replied. Then God said, "Take your son, your only son, Isaac, whom you love, and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains I will tell you about."

Peterson wrote, “When we engage in an act of faith we give up control Peterson wrote, “When we engage in an act of faith we give up control. When we engage in an act of faith we choose to deal with a living God whom we trust to know what he is doing.”

Abraham was a veteran in sacrificial business. After leaving Ur he built an altar near Bethel, after he separated from his nephew Lot he built an altar near Hebron. Wherever he camped, he built altars and made sacrifices to God.

A sacrificial life is the means to grow his and our faith.

V3, Early the next morning Abraham got up and saddled his donkey V3, Early the next morning Abraham got up and saddled his donkey. He took with him two of his servants and his son Isaac. When he had cut enough wood for the burnt offering, he set out for the place God had told him about.

V4, On the third day Abraham looked up and saw the place in the distance. 5 He 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."

Abraham was a veteran in leaving and yielding. Leaving Ur and Haran, yielding the right to choose the best land for himself, leaving Shechem and Bethel, leaving Egypt and Gerar and now leaving Beersheba for Mt. Moriah.

V6-7, Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and placed it on his son Isaac, and he himself carried the fire and the knife. As the two of them went on together, 7 Isaac spoke up and said to his father Abraham, "Father?" "Yes, my son?" Abraham replied. "The fire and wood are here," Isaac said, "but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?"

V8, Abraham answered, "God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son." And the two of them went on together.

V9-10, When they reached the place God had told him about, Abraham built an altar there and arranged the wood on it. He bound his son Isaac and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. 10 Then he reached out his hand and took the knife to slay his son.

V11-12, But the angel of the LORD called out to him from heaven, "Abraham! Abraham!" "Here I am," he replied. "Do not lay a hand on the boy," he said. "Do not do anything to him. Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son."

V13-14, Abraham looked up and there in a thicket he saw a ram caught by its horns. He went over and took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering instead of his son. 14 So Abraham called that place The LORD Will Provide.

Abraham faith is real because it has been tested. He passed the test when he left Ur, he passed the test when he let his nephew Lot picked first, he passed the test when he had a child with Sarah even though he was already 99, and now he passed the test by not holding on to his only son Isaac.

He didn’t always pass the tests. Abraham failed the test in Egypt, he was afraid of losing his wife so he lied to the Pharaoh; he failed the test in Gerar, he was again afraid of losing Sarah so he lied to Abimelech; and he failed the test at 85 when he had a child with Hagar instead of waiting.

V15-18, The angel of the LORD called to Abraham from heaven a second time 16 and said, "I swear by myself, declares the LORD, that because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son … because you have obeyed me.

The Moriah test took only three days but it can only be understood in the full context of Abraham’s faith journey that took over a hundred years from Ur to Haran to Canaan, the detour to Egypt and Gerar, and the intercession for Sodom and Gomorrah.

1 Cor. 10:13 (Message), No testing that comes your way is beyond the course of what others have had to face. All you need to remember is that God will never let you down; he will never let you be pushed past your limit; he will always be there to help you come through it.

Do we lean on our own understanding or trust God? The test will tell us. Do we give up what we can’t keep – temporal things & life on earth – because we have already received what we can’t lose – eternal life with God? The test will tell us.

Do we love the gifts of God or God? The test will tell us. Does God serve us or do we serve God? The test will tell us. Do we glorify self or glorify God? The test will tell us.