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Hebrews 11:17-19 By faith Abraham, when he was tried, offered up Isaac: and he that had received the promises offered up his only begotten son, (18) Of whom it was said, That in Isaac shall thy seed be called: (19) Accounting that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead; from whence also he received him in a figure.
So far we’ve learned the history of how God promised Abraham and Sarah a son in their old age, and then they had to wait several years for that promise to come to pass. Now, we see that God was calling on Abraham to give his son back to God by offering him on an altar. You can read about this account in Genesis 22:1 – 12.
As you could probably imagine, this would be extremely difficult for anyone who did not have strong faith in God, and an understanding of how God operates, as Abraham did. When Abraham obeyed the Lord, it wasn’t out of blind faith because God doesn’t call anyone to obey Him simply out of blind faith.
When Abraham obeyed God, it was from a place of intelligent faith; meaning he understood how God actually operated and he understood that this commandment was not in keeping with God’s normal way of doing things.
One thing we learn from Abraham is that after you have been in relationship with God for a while, you also learn God’s character and how God does things. Learning God’s character helps you depend upon Him and trust Him even more because you know how He really is instead how people think He is.
So, what did Abraham know about God? The Bible says he knew “…that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead…”. Another thing Abraham knew was that God did not accept human sacrifices, as the idolatrous religions of the land.
Knowing these two things, Abraham basically realized that God must be up to something if He is allowing this to take place. Abraham also knew that if he would just trust God, everything would turn out alright and he would receive a blessing for the simple act of trusting the way God was doing things!
God did not allow Abraham to go through with this sacrifice. We now know that it would serve as an illustration of how one day God would give His only begotten Son and, instead of stopping that sacrifice, God would allow the sacrifice of His only begotten Son to be carried through to completion because it was necessary to redeem the world from the penalty of their sin.
Of course, this redemption is only effective when we receive Jesus Christ as our Savior and Lord. Have you made Jesus Christ your personal Savior from the penalty of your sin and the Lord who directs your future? Doing this takes Faith that Trusts God’s Way of Doing Things!
If you find these Five Minute Faith Talks to be valuable, please consider subscribing and sharing them out to all your social media pages so our community may grow and so that others may also learn to have stronger faith in God!
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