Faith produces certainties — not hope so, maybe, if you’re lucky, answers. There is a sureness, a divine guarantee, an absoluteness about faith. The Bible declares that faith is the victory that overcomes the world (I John 5:4). When you get yourself into a tight corner, be encouraged with the truth that your faith will see you through.
Abraham is given as an example of the fulfillment of faith in Hebrews 11:17-19. When he was 75, God had promised Abraham that he would be the father of a child from whom would come a large and mighty nation. Abraham was 100 when Sarah gave birth to Isaac, and there was much rejoicing.
Now Abraham is 125 and God speaks to him again. “Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering…” (Genesis 22:2). Now that is a test of faith! The one from whom the new nation is to come is now to be killed as a sacrifice. Yet the Bible says in Romans 4:3 that “Abraham believed God…” The promise of the nation was sure and certain, and it was God’s opportunity to make it come to pass.
With a calm and deliberate faith, Abraham makes preparation to journey to the land of Moriah (the hills around Jerusalem, of which the highest point was Mount Calvary). The repeated use of the word “and” in verse 3 is a figure of speech emphasising the calm, deliberate actions of Abraham: “And Abraham rose up early in the morning, and saddled his ass, and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son, and clave the wood for the burnt offering, and rose up, and went unto the place of which God had told him.”
When they were close to the spot, “Abraham said unto his young men, Abide ye here with the ass; and I and the lad will go yonder and worship,and
On the way to the place of sacrifice, Isaac asked his father, “Where is the lamb for a burnt offering?” (verse 7). Notice Abraham’s positive reply: “God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering.” It was not until Isaac lay bound on the altar and Abraham raised the knife to shed his blood, that God commanded him to stop and look behind him – and there was a ram caught by his horns in a bush. He took Isaac off the altar and sacrificed the lamb instead of his son. Faith wins the victory every time!
“Abraham called the name of that place Jehovah-jireh…” (verse 14), which means The Lord will see or provide. The God of vision is also the God of provision. God repeated His promise to Abraham that there would be a great nation and that in his seed all the nations of the earth would be blessed.
The key statement in this situation is given in Hebrews 11:19, where is states that Abraham was “accounting [reckoning] that God was able to raise [Isaac] up, even from the dead; from whence also he received him in a figure [or, in a figurative sense].” Faith is not a wishy-washy, magical experience. Faith can be reckoned, accounted for. Abraham had learnt his lesson of faith regarding the birth of the promised son, and he figured that if God could produce a miracle like that in the golden years of Sarah and himself, then he would believe God and not the appearances!
What is the application of this account to our lives? Your faith in God will see you through! Hang in there; if necessary, tie a knot on the end of the rope and hang on. “This is the victory that overcomes the world, even our faith” (I John 5:4). Faith always has its fulfillment.
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