Many people who read the story in Genesis 22 – the one about God requesting Abraham to bring his beloved son, Isaac, as a burnt offering – think that God is too much in asking this from Abraham, and Abraham was too strong in faith (something which they can never achieve) to trust God to such an extent.
However, the reality behind the scenes in this story is slightly different. Abraham knew God; he was the friend of God; he obtained God’s promise concerning the seed and God fulfilled His promise by bringing forth Isaac at a time of life when it was humanly impossible for both Abraham and Sarah to have a son.
Abraham had God’s appearing, he was being infused with God, and faith was growing in him. When God required him to bring his son as a burnt offering on Mount Moriah, Abraham trusted in God and believed that, if God would require such a thing from him, He will surely raise Isaac from the dead (Heb. 11:17-19). Abraham obeyed God in faith, and this faith was a result of God’s appearing, again and again, to infuse Abraham with faith.
Today it is the same with us: as long as we enjoy the Lord, have His appearing, eat of Him as the tree of life and drink of Him as the water of life, and live Christ in the church life, faith is rising in us, growing in us, and maturing in us. When God considers we are there, He will require that we would bring our “Isaac” as a burnt offering to Him, and the faith He has infused into us will meet this need!
In such a place, on Mount Moriah (which is also Mount Zion), we can see everything clearly – God sees us and we see Him, we see His heart’s desire, and we are supplied with His divine provision.
God is not “a mean God” requiring us to give to Him what we have most precious – for the sake of it; rather, God wants us to see Him and for Him to see us, and for this He will require us to go up the mountain on Moriah (spiritually speaking) and receive His provision, have a clear vision, and make the sacrifice.
Obeying God in Faith
When Abraham did what God told him to do concerning Isaac his son in Genesis 22:1-18, he obeyed God in faith. Faith is not something “up in the air” or us believing “in someone unseen” with no apparent practical application.
Rather, if faith is genuine, it will issue in an obedient action toward God. God’s requirement for the entire human race is to believe into the Son of God and be saved, and those who believe into the Lord “obey the gospel” (2 Thes. 1:8).
God is the One who initiates everything: He comes to us, shines on us, appears to us in His glory, and draws us to Himself; we obey by letting Him infuse us, and faith is generated within us to believe into Him.
Abraham didn’t initiate the offering of Isaac, neither did he do anything according to his own concept; rather, God initiated this, He told him what to do, and Abraham obeyed God in faith. We shouldn’t “take the initiative” to go to Mount Moriah; rather, we should be where we are and enjoy Christ as much as we can in the wonderful church life at Beer-Sheba, and in His time, when we have the faith and the constitution that would do this, God will lead us to Mount Moriah.
We need to live an inwardly simple and pure church life by enjoying Christ as the tree of life, drinking the water from the well at Beer-Sheba, and experiencing the mysterious eternal God as life in the church life, and God will take care of everything.
When Jehovah called Abraham to go to Mount Moriah and offer up Isaac there, the faith that has been infused into Abraham supplied him and strengthened him to obey God in faith (see Gen. 22:1-2; 2 Chron. 3:1).
When God calls us to bring our “Isaac” to Him as a sacrifice, the faith that has been infused into us through our many times of fellowship and prayer with Him will supply us. The faith infused into us enables us to be brought to Mount Moriah and give back to God what He has given to us. We may not even know it or realize this, but we will be able to do it effortlessly because of the faith God infused into us.
Having a Clear Vision with the Divine Provision
After God provided the ram for replacing Isaac as the burnt offering to God, Abraham called the name of that place, Jehovah-Jireh, “as it is said to this day, in the mount of the Lord it shall be seen” (Gen. 22:14). Other translations render this as, “in the mount of the Lord it shall be provided”. Also, the word “Moriah” means “the vision of Jah”, that is, the place where we see the Lord and the Lord sees us.
When we are on Mount Moriah we have a crystal clear vision, our heart is purified, and we see God and God sees us. When God leads us to Mount Moriah, we will have a clear vision with the divine provision like Abraham did.
If you “think about it” and analyze what will happen when God will request your “Isaac”, you will have no provision and no clear vision. Overthinking, worrying, analyzing, and introspection is not God’s way or His purpose.
God’s provision is for today, for right now. Right now, enjoy God as the tree of life, drink Him as the water of life, and enjoy the Lord in and with the saints in the church life, and God will provide for everything. He will bring us to the place where we clearly see Him and what is on His heart, and He sees us.
God’s provision with a clear vision is in the church life today on Mount Zion (Mount Moriah). When we are in the church life enjoying the Lord with those who call on His name out of a pure heart, we have a clear vision of God’s economy, God’s purpose, and God’s heart’s desire.
Here, in the church life enjoying the tree of life and the water of life with all the saints, we see everything crystal clear, and we have the sense that God sees us. Today God’s provision is in the church life, where we have the full provision with a clear vision.
In our experience of Christ in the church life in the Lord’s recovery today we are the Isaacs journeying upwards to Mount Moriah (not downward to Egypt as Ishmael did), where we will offer our Isaac, enjoy God’s provision, and have a clear vision. How wonderful!
We shouldn’t “try to work this out” or “run to Mount Moriah”; rather, all we need to do is be what we are until we will be something else, and enjoy the Lord where we are with the saints until He will take us to Mount Moriah.
One day we will be where we have never been before, offering up to God what He has given to us, and we will believe that God is able to raise him from the dead. In such a situation the provision will come, and the vision will be crystal clear: we will see God and God will see us.
Thank You, Lord, for bringing us into the proper church life in the Lord’s recovery where we can eat Christ, drink Christ, and enjoy Christ with the saints in one accord. Keep infusing us with faith as we enjoy You personally and corporately, and bring us on as You see fit and as faith grows in us. Lord, we are here for You alone. We love to have a crystal clear vision with the divine provision in the church life today. We love seeing You and being seen by You, enjoying Your provision and living a life for Your heart’s desire.
References and Hymns on this Topic
- Inspiration: the Word of God, my Christian experience, bro. Ron Kangas’ sharing in the message for this week, and portions from, Life-study of Genesis (msg. 57), as quoted in, the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Crystallization-Study of Genesis (2), week 11 / msg 11, The Offering of Isaac and Experiencing God as the One who Gives Life to the Dead.
- Hymns on this topic:
# We love the church life, eating, / drinking, breathing Jesus. / We love the church life, taking / in God’s Word. / We love to hear those “O Lord, / Amen, Hallelujahs!“ / We love the church life, feasting / with the Lord. / When He fills our inward parts, we’re never quite the same, / So much richness we can taste by calling on His name. (new song on the Church Life)
# My Jesus, as Thou wilt! / Oh, may Thy will be mine! / Into Thy hand of love / I would my all resign; / Through sorrow, or through joy, / Conduct me as Thine own, / And help me still to say, / My Lord, Thy will be done! (Hymns #384)
# My heart longs for absolute surrender / That I’d wholly consecrated be, / Not in word alone but all my being / Would be fully given unto Thee. (Song on Consecration)
# Thus within the church-life garden / There’s a fruit-producing tree / Full of life and so available to eat. / So be simple, don’t be hardened, / Drop your concepts—eat that tree! / Take in Jesus every moment—He’s so sweet! (Hymns #1237)
May the Lord caause me to be obedient to Him in faith and wait and remain what and where I am until His appearing. Amen!!!