iNTENDED TO RULE

mANKINDS SIN

GODS DETERMINATION TO PUT THINGS RIGHT

cOVENANT AND pROMISE THROUGH ONE FAMILY ALL THE EARTH BLESSED

kEEP AN eYE ON THAT THREAD gOD IS FAIRLY SINGULAR – ON EWAY OF UNDERSTANDING GODS
WRATH IS TO REGARD HIS HOLINESS OF PURPOSE… PUTTING ALL THINGS RIGHT …FOR all peoples….
SO ANYTHIN THAT HREATENS THAT BECOMES AN OBJECT OF gODS JUDGEMENT,,,

ABRAHAMS STORY BEGINS WITH THIS CALL TO TURST IN GODS COVENAT PROMISE,… THE STORY OF
isAAC BEHGINS WITH HIM BEING THE CHILD OF PROMISE… A PROMISED CHILD…

Once we start thinking bout Isaac in those terms we instantly get something of a foretaste of Jesus…
also a promised child…. Through whom God’s plans would be worked out…

We’ll see this time and time again in the Old testament, snippets foretastes, repetitive patterns,
fractals of the story of salvation God intends to work through jesus Christ……

New testament in the old concealed, and the old testament in the new revealed

The New is in the Old Concealed, the Old is

in the New Revealed
Thus to understand God's cosmic plan in redemption, we must hold all things in the Old Testament
in the light of Christ and the teaching of the apostles, even those that mention Israel.

So…

In order for Gods promise to Abraham to mke sense he is in need of some offspring….. But hes very
old..and understandably he and sarah Doubt God…. 75 when first called and this promise first given.

ABRAHAM is often cited as a man of great faith in God…must have been to go from his father
household to a land he did not know following a god he did not know…right..

But when we consider the promise of offspring we see a fairly chequered approach to Abs trust in
God…….

Twice in the story Abraham basically gives sara away to other men by denying that she’s even his
wife… once in egypt, (cjap 12:10-13) and again in chapter 20IIn the negev….

But the big moment of taking things into their own hands of course comes with the birth of
Ishmael… chapter 16:1-4
Now of course this causes some jealousy between sara and Hagar..and hagar flees… but look how
God deals with Hagar… v 7-10….. echo of the promise….. v11-13… the god who sees me… this is the
god of grace… outside of his promised and preferred plan…but he blesses hagar and her son
ishamel….. who will go on to become the Father of Islam….the one from whom the entire moslim
world trace there origin…

Ok so despite taking plams into their own hands..God persist… in chapter 17 the covenant is
renewed with the mark of circumcision…and god renews his promise to sarayh also 17:15-16 and
abraham laughs…and then in chapter 18 when Ab is visited by three starngers… that turn out to be
god right….where the conversation turns to the promise of a son We see Saraa laughing at the very
thought of it… 18:10-14..and then in chapter 21….. we see God come through on his promise to
Abraham and saras21:1-7… and they nakme him isaac which in Hebrew means laughter!

But this is not good news for Ishmael… two sons… one of whom Is the child of promise…and sara
determines to get rid of hagar and ishmaal…..v 10 v 11 abs distress and again v 12 gods
graciousness…. 14-21……

It aint a smooth journey is it…. Well it could have been… it would have required greter trust and faith
than ab and sarah knew…. And here we see something of Gods persistence in working out his
purposes…. Despite his peoples foibles and bad choices…. God’s promised and preferred future…
running like a golden thread,,..and we see the deviations around that route that Abraham and sarah
take….yet God is faithful…..constantly in driving heis purposes through..and gracious…. Racious to
Abraham, gracious to sarah… gracious to hagar and Ishmael…. I’m not sure that stories finished yet
between those two great nations of Israel into whom we re grafted in Christ, and islaam.

Anyway I digress..watch this space…

Okay so all of that is the background to our reading today… of Abraham being tested …

This story is shocking… or it should shock you… I cannot imagine being in this situation….

It also isn’t the god I know…. To sacrifice my children… ..er no…

Iget devotion to God… love the lord you god with all your heart mind soul and strength…have no
other gods before me right… don’t be mistaken..family and our need to provide security for our
family can become an idol.. jesus himself said…"Anyone who loves their father or mother more than
me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves their son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.
Matthew 10:37…again this about devotion to jesus first and foremost above all other things.. but
child sacrifice… Uh uh.
This god calling Abraham to sacrifice his child…the child of promise the long hoped for child..all that
mess he’s gone through…for this!!!!

It should shock us… but look v 3…. So he does…. There is no quiblling here….. he argued more about
Sodom and Gomorrah than this….

But heres the thing…. This was normal…..

Remember we need to look through the eyes of the people of the time….. gods were capricious and
demanded placating…. Crops fail…sacrifice…. … next time you have a harvest ..sacrifice… the whole
system based on uncertainty on knowing how the gods would act so this sort of religion builds into
itself anxiety …the gods are angry and if you don’t please them they will punish you…and if things go
well…you better be grateful…so how can you show how much you honour them..by giving them the
that which is most precious to you….offer them your child…again take a survey of ancient peoples
around the world and this faulty line of thinking can be found in human history time and time and
time again…..

More than that in the cananite religions, of which Ab was surrounded,…child sacrifice seems to have
been normative….oh yeah the evil in the world was great…Sodom and Gomorrah were truly truly
corrupt and wicked places…. Remember gods purpose is to restore and redeem the entirety of the
created order and anything at odds with that is at odds with gods holy pupose… anyway I digress…

The point is this , for Abraham this is normative. Remember when he started following god he was a
god he did not know… he is learning who this god of grace and promise is….

We come to this through a completely different lens…. Helpful to hold our two persectoves in mind
here….

Ok…so he travels for three days to the place where this is going to happen v 4…… any clues here
about what this might foreshadow?..any foretastes..any fractals of the bigger story of Gods salvation
plan???

But then get this…… v5 he says to his servants…..

Wait..what? does Abraham know something we don’t?....

We get the same a moment later…v 7-8 god will provide…

Bluff an bluster?... or trust borne of expereicne…. Gone through a lot right…. He must have learnt
something by now…..

Interestingly the writer of Hebrews saw it like this…. Hebrews 11:17-19

But its weird because Abraahm doesn’t go up the mountain top and sit down wink at his son and say
watch this…

He gets on with it…9-10

And then God steps in….an angel shows u …stops him… and a ram is provided for the sacrifice ..and
then more than that the promise the covenant is renewed…..

Now again…do you spot the fractal, the shadow of the bigger story.. this has jesus written all over
it..3 days…a resurrection of sorts… god providing the lamb for the sacrifice…

Now imagine we are the earliest listeners to this story…. The first part of it would make so much
sense to us… the call to sacrifice that which is most valuable to us…the gods are like that… we would
be totally in on that part of the story… but then there is this massive departure from the norm..this
God doesn’t actually Demand that… worship and sacrifice are about you giving what you should
give to the Gods’’ but this god… gives to you…just take a moment to realise how out of left fiueld this
idea was for ancient peoples….. this gOd our God is a god who gives and blesses….

You wouldn’t cath anyone today thinking that’s a remarkable idea…you wouldn’t catch us surprised
by that kind of grace right!!!!

And yet again we find his intent is to bles all peoples…

And what is required of Abraham..or of us…. Trust.faith and belief…that this god can be trusted…

Noahs ark… a promise of rescue…. Isaac the promise of provision ….

It still elaves us with questions…. Why the drama… I don’t know…god knew what was in abrahas
heart why go through with it… Iperhaps there is something about the enacting of faith and trust that
is required… one things for sure Abraham learnt something as did Isaac as did his servants as did
everyone who ever heard this story…
But it does tell us something about the nature of god