Participants: Shakeela Yasuf
Series Code: DOA
Program Code: DOA000006
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00:41 As-Salaam-Alaikum to our Muslim brothers and sisters,
00:45 Shalom to our Hebrew cousins, 00:48 and welcome to our Christian friends. 00:51 We're happy today that you're joining 00:53 us on "The Descendants of Abraham." 00:55 And in today's program we're going to draw closer 00:59 to father Abraham as he faces the test the ultimate test, 01:04 test of all test of his faith, his faith in the Creator God. 01:08 And today I'm going to have Brother Manoukian, 01:11 Steven Manoukian join me as we discuss 01:14 this very, very important lesson that is not only 01:19 for father Abraham but it is for us today. 01:22 Abraham at this point he was 120 years old, 01:26 even in his generation this was old. 01:28 And he was looking forward to his retirement. 01:32 He was wealthy, he had honor among friends 01:36 and neighbors where he lived. 01:37 He was living in Beersheba at this time. 01:40 And his life was filled with the blessings of God. 01:43 I mean, you know, at this point 01:46 he needed nothing else and he was at the best time 01:50 of his life, wasn't he? 01:52 That's true. He thought probably, 01:55 you know, the life trials were pretty much over 01:57 and he settled down in Beersheba and he was doing well. 02:01 And then the ultimate test came and he was facing 02:05 a much larger test than probably he would have ever faced before. 02:10 Actually, I believe it's one of the greatest acts 02:12 of obedience in recorded history. 02:14 Let's take a look at that, that scripture verse, okay. 02:19 It's in Genesis 22:1-2. 02:22 And we'll take a look at that now. 02:24 "Now it came to pass after these things that God tested Abraham, 02:30 and said to him, "Abraham!" 02:33 And he said, "Here I am." 02:36 And He God said, "Now take your son, 02:39 your only son Isaac, whom you love, 02:43 and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there 02:46 as a burnt offering on one of the mountains 02:50 of which I shall tell you." 02:56 Brother Manoukian, you have children. 03:00 I do. What if God 03:03 came to you today with that command, 03:07 how would you feel? 03:09 I don't know what my response would be but I would 03:12 probably be doubtful and angry. 03:17 I cannot imagine taking 03:19 my little daughter and sacrificing her. 03:23 It's just too much to bear as a parent. 03:26 It's just extremely hard. 03:28 And that's what happened here. 03:32 Lord, coming to Abraham 03:33 and asking him to sacrifice his only loved child. 03:40 I cannot imagine that it's beyond me actually. 03:43 It is, isn't it for us. 03:44 But, you know, do you think Abraham would have questioned, 03:49 is this from God or is this from Satan. 03:53 You know, what--this request, 03:55 do you think he at anytime questioned this command. 03:59 Probably he would have questioned it. 04:02 See, we've got to understand 04:04 that God is the author of life and God is love. 04:08 And so whatever God proposes everything 04:11 that He does is to give life to human beings. 04:14 And of course, Satan is the author of death. 04:17 And here he is, the Lord coming to him and saying take your son 04:23 and sacrifice your son, which was very, 04:27 the opposite of God's character. 04:30 So yes, I believe that probably he was in a lot of doubt 04:37 and he wasn't probably, he wasn't sure 04:39 what was happening there. 04:41 We also got to understand that during those time, 04:44 the heathen sacrificed people. 04:47 They had human sacrifices. 04:50 And here the Lord who is the author of life 04:53 and detested that human sacrifices 04:55 that these heathen nations did. 04:58 He was asking Abraham to do the same thing. 05:01 And so I believe that probably, yes, 05:04 Abraham was struggling 05:05 with what the Lord had requested from him. 05:07 Right, because when he was living in Ur, 05:11 God called him out of that, right, out of all of the pagan, 05:16 paganism that was going on, which child sacrifice 05:19 was part of that and the idolatry 05:21 and called Abraham. 05:22 And at that time he obeyed and he came out and left Ur, 05:27 to go into this foreign land and left everyone behind. 05:30 And now it's seemed like he was saying well 05:34 take part of that religion. 05:38 Yeah, exactly. And that couldn't 05:40 have been easy for him. 05:45 What do you think or how do you think he felt. 05:49 Do you think, you know, sometimes we read about this 05:52 and we think that God gave him the command and he said, 05:57 okay, and he took Isaac and he went and tried to, 06:02 you know, obey and slay his son. 06:06 And that's it but they had to have been 06:11 lot of pain there, didn't there? 06:13 Definitely, when we read the scripture 06:16 what happens is we see the story is flowing 06:21 and the emotion element probably isn't revealed as it should be. 06:27 And so I believe there was a lot of emotions 06:31 involved in this whole process. 06:33 And it's not as simple as we think it is. 06:38 Isaac was supposed to be the promised son, right. 06:43 The son of the blessing. Yes. 06:47 Why would God then ask Abraham to kill him? 06:54 Why do you think He would ask him 06:57 that--what would Abraham be thinking at that time? 07:01 I think what the Lord was trying to do is test Abraham 07:06 to the limit, that his priority was God. 07:11 And God came first in his life and of course, 07:15 there was his son Isaac as well. 07:18 So it was a test between Isaac and God. 07:21 And we know what happened as a result of story. 07:26 You know, it is clear in the Bible 07:28 what Abraham had to choose or what he chose. 07:31 Right and I mean when God tested him by asking him to come out, 07:38 leave his relatives, leave his land, leave everything 07:40 behind him and come to this foreign land. 07:43 And that land had to be where the Canaanites dwelled, right. 07:46 It was to Canaan. 07:48 And so he obeyed God without questioning all this time. 07:53 Yes. Why this test. 07:55 I mean why this one. 07:57 Didn't he-- wasn't he obedient all along. 07:59 He was obedient if you look at the story. 08:02 The Lord came to him and asked him to leave Haran, 08:04 he left Haran, he went to Canaan 08:07 and he was dwelling in Beersheba. 08:09 At the same time we also-- he had been obedient 08:12 to the Lord throughout this whole time. 08:15 But this was like the ultimate test in my opinion. 08:18 It was an ultimate test. 08:19 The only son through whom is the descendants 08:23 had been promised was to be sacrificed. 08:26 It was the greatest test in the test of obedience. 08:30 And do you think because sometimes I wondered, 08:34 did this test come to him because of what him and Hagar 08:41 did regarding trying to get involved in the son of promise. 08:47 And Ishmael, you know, was the result of that. 08:53 And so in a way he failed there, didn't he? 08:57 He did, we know from the story, 09:00 you know, he had mistrusted God at a certain point. 09:05 And had of course gone with Hagar 09:09 and then Ishmael was born as a result of that. 09:12 And there was a bit of mistrust but it seems that the Lord 09:16 came back to the-in fact came back 09:18 to Abraham to try him again. 09:21 And this time he did not failed. 09:23 This time he did not failed and this time 09:25 it is the ultimate test, isn't it? 09:29 You know, when we read about this part, 09:33 this part of Abraham's life and we look into 09:38 the Book of Genesis the book of the beginnings, 09:40 you know, and read about what happened here. 09:45 It doesn't tell us anywhere when we read the story 09:48 that Abraham talked to Sarah his wife about Isaac, 09:54 about the sacrifice of Isaac, does it? 09:57 No, the Bible does not mention Abraham talking to Sarah. 10:02 I believe the mother-instinct would have come in there 10:05 and she would have resisted Abraham going or leaving. 10:09 I'm sure there would have been a battle 10:10 between Sarah and Abraham. 10:12 After so many of years of waiting, 10:14 here was the promised son, and all he was going to do now 10:17 is take him sacrifice him. 10:19 So I think Abraham was trying to avoid that. 10:23 So he did not even shared with Sarah. 10:26 I think so. I think so because 10:27 it doesn't mention anything about Sarah 10:29 and Sarah's involvement in this and probably. 10:32 That's true. Probably she would 10:33 have gotten in the way of that. 10:37 Let's, you know, I think at that time 10:40 do you think Abraham had to hold on to something. 10:44 He had to have, you know, you talk about 10:47 he had the relationship he knew God's voice, right. 10:50 He had that relationship 10:52 with the Creator God in the beginning. 10:58 We got to understand something here. 11:00 As I mentioned a bit earlier on, Abraham on one side knew 11:07 that God was the God of love and the author of life. 11:11 And here he was being tested by God to go and sacrifice his son. 11:18 I believe that it was his strong relationship with the Lord, 11:22 with God that strengthened his faith 11:25 to go and to go on that journey. 11:29 And I believe that it was his experience previously 11:31 with the Lord, with the Lord coming to him and telling him 11:34 to leave Haran and going to the Promised Land 11:37 that he had been promised. 11:38 He had heard the voice of God, he knew he was the Lord 11:42 and he was sure of it. Okay. 11:45 And so that is why he went I believe, 11:46 with the journey that he was going to go on. 11:49 Yeah, you know, let's take a look 11:52 at another scripture here from from the Genesis 15:5 12:00 and the scripture is here. 12:02 And it says, "Then He brought him 12:04 outside and said, "Look now toward heaven, 12:08 and count the stars if you are able to number them." 12:12 And he said to him, "So shall your descendants be." 12:19 Do you think Abraham had to remember that promise, 12:22 that promise was made to him 50 years 12:25 before this time of God asking him to sacrifice Isaac, right. 12:30 It's true. Approximately that. 12:33 Do you think that he had to hold on to that promise 12:39 because again just like you said in the beginning, 12:42 I wouldn't do it. 12:44 I would not take a knife and put it in my daughter or my son. 12:49 I know I couldn't do that. 12:52 You know, and at least not today 12:55 but then again we have high insight. 12:59 We have so many stories that the patriarchs left for us. 13:05 Yeah. To show us who God 13:06 is but at the same time at that time, 13:09 Abraham didn't have the Torah. 13:12 He didn't have any scriptures, he didn't have anything except 13:16 his relationship with the Creator God. 13:20 Here is one point here, we also got to remember 13:23 is that every time that the Lord promises something to Abraham, 13:27 He delivered it. The Lord came 13:30 to Abraham and Sarah and said, of course, 13:33 you're going to have a child. 13:34 And out of your child there is going to be a descendant. 13:36 Now they weren't young when the Lord made that promise. 13:39 True. And here lo and behold, 13:41 at a very ripe age, Sarah bears a child, a son, 13:45 and Abraham is really ripe in age as well. 13:48 And there, the Lord delivered His promise. 13:51 That's right. And that I think gave him 13:53 the power and the boost to trust in the Lord 13:55 and put his faith fully in the Lord. 13:59 True, at the same time when God was asking him to do now 14:03 wasn't really, he wasn't giving him, 14:06 he wasn't saying that if you do this I will do. 14:09 He just says, take your son, your only son 14:12 and go and sacrifice him and take his life, 14:17 offer him as a burnt offering. 14:19 There was no promise as such there at that time, was there? 14:25 No, he took it by faith, I believe. 14:27 He took it by faith. 14:29 Just being that's where the obedient comes in, right. 14:32 Exactly. I think Abraham probably was thinking, 14:35 I'm going to take my son and I'm going to sacrifice him 14:39 just as the Lord had asked me. 14:41 But if I sacrifice my son, the Lord had the power 14:45 to resurrect him from the dead. 14:47 And so probably he was-- he I believed 14:50 he was going with that faith. 14:53 That even if he had to sacrifice his son, 14:55 he was going to be resurrected and the Lord 14:57 could have done that. 14:58 And that is why he went ahead with his journey. 15:01 So you think that he believed that the Lord 15:07 would have raised Isaac back 15:10 from the dead and given him back to. 15:13 I do believe that he believed in that but it wasn't easy. 15:18 A lot of times as we think that is easy. 15:22 But he should have really 15:24 really struggled in the meantime. 15:27 We've got to also keep in mind 15:28 that there was a three days journey 15:30 from Beersheba all the way to Mount Moriah. 15:31 Right. During that three days, 15:34 I'm sure Abraham was negotiating and struggling with the Lord 15:39 just as he was trying to negotiate with the Lord 15:42 with regards to Lot in Sodom and Gomorrah. 15:45 Yeah, I believe that, and you know 15:48 we talk about the three day journey. 15:50 But what about that night, I'm sure he prayed, 15:54 he prayed to the Creator God begging Him 15:58 for maybe confirmation, maybe clarity, you know. 16:02 And then he had to go to his son 16:07 until his son-- pack your things, we're leaving. 16:14 And yet he doesn't tell him why yet. 16:19 We just have to go and make an offering. 16:22 We have to go, you know, and Isaac 16:24 is used to go and making offerings and sacrifices 16:27 with this father but Abraham had to hold that in his heart. 16:33 Yes. When he is saying 16:35 to his son, let's go to Moriah. 16:41 He had to go and get him. 16:43 What do you think must have been going on in his soul 16:49 at that time as a father 16:51 and you can't tell your child what it is. 16:54 I personally would be torn apart. 16:57 I would probably want to runaway 16:59 from home and not heed to the Lord, voice of the Lord. 17:04 It must have been a very tough situation for him. 17:09 And yet sometimes we tend to think that it, 17:13 oh, it must have been easy. 17:15 He had relationship and we can just, 17:17 he can just take the son and be obedient and move on. 17:22 But that's not the case. 17:24 It's true. When you read the Bible it's presenting facts 17:28 and so the emotions aren't, don't often come through. 17:33 But there I believe there was a lot of emotions 17:35 going on there. There had to be. 17:37 Yeah. I think so there had to be. 17:39 You talk about the three day journey to Moriah. 17:43 You know, we read that God said to him. 17:46 God said to Abraham, you know, 17:49 take your son whom you love and go to the land of Moriah 17:54 and offer him there as a burnt offering 17:56 of which I shall tell you. 17:58 At that time God didn't tell him where, 18:02 right, just with the land. True. 18:04 Even the journey from Beersheba to all the way 18:06 to Jerusalem or Mount Moriah 18:09 I should say, was a act of faith. 18:13 Because Lord isn't going to go reveal to him 18:14 where he was going to sacrifice his son. 18:16 That's right. Just like when he left Ur, right. 18:19 Exactly. You're going to go, 18:21 but we don't where. 18:24 So, you know, you're saying that he had 18:28 the relationship with God. 18:29 He knew his voice, he was sure and even 18:34 so when he got to Moriah, God must have given him 18:39 some sign that's the mountain, that's where you go. 18:42 Do you think that even that conformation, 18:47 even the confirmation, that yes, this is God, 18:50 would have taken away the pain. 18:54 I really doubt that. 18:56 The mere fact taking a knife into your hand 18:59 and sacrificing your child is not an easy task. 19:03 It's not an easy thing and that pain and I think 19:05 that's what sometimes we need to realize that when God 19:09 asks us to do something, it's not always pleasant 19:14 but we have to be obedient to anyone. 19:16 We have to, we have to listen. 19:20 Let's take a look at Genesis 22:7-8, and it says 19:27 "But Isaac spoke to Abraham his father and said, 19:30 "My father!" And he said, "Here I am, my son." 19:34 And he, Isaac said, "Look, the fire and the wood, 19:38 but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?" 19:42 And Abraham said, "My son, God will provide for Himself 19:46 the lamb for a burnt offering." 19:48 And the two of them went together. 19:52 What do you think about that? 19:54 Here is Isaac looking around and saying, 19:57 "Father Abba, daddy, here's the wood, 20:01 here's the fire, where is the offering?" 20:05 He wasn't sure probably what's happening there. 20:08 And he was beginning to ask, dad where is the lamb 20:11 or the ram that you want me to sacrifice, it wasn't there. 20:15 So he wasn't sure what was going on as well. 20:18 Right, Isaac wasn't sure but Abraham knew. 20:21 Abraham knew and he hadn't told Isaac that. 20:23 He hadn't told Isaac but here it is your son now comes, 20:26 he says daddy, Abba, where is the offering? 20:30 Where is the lamb? 20:31 What are you feeling? 20:34 You can't, you can't say anything yet. 20:37 Yeah, it must have been very hard. 20:39 I mean the mere fact that he had not mentioned it to Isaac, 20:43 I believe he was struggling with it. 20:45 Right. He was struggling 20:46 with him going and sacrificing his son. 20:49 And then we read that Abraham bound him 20:57 and built the altar and laid him on the wood. 21:01 Yes. How old 21:06 was Isaac about that time. 21:07 About I think, believe 20 years old. 21:09 Twenty years old, a very strong young man. 21:12 Abraham is an old 120 year old man. 21:15 That's true. Why didn't Isaac take off? 21:19 Well, if you look at it, there Abraham builds the altar, 21:25 there's you have this young man 21:27 who is alone with this older man. 21:30 All he had to do is just run and take off. 21:34 That's all he had to do. 21:36 Because the servants left them at a certain spot, 21:39 they moved forward and they came to the place of sacrifice, 21:42 he was bound and all Isaac had to do was just runaway 21:47 but he doesn't do that. 21:48 I believe that he also had faith 21:52 that the Lord was going to provide. 21:54 That Isaac had that faith. 21:56 Exactly. And, you know, 21:57 I think that's true because we read this story 22:01 and we say Abraham was the father of faith. 22:03 Well his son Isaac also had to have that faith. 22:07 He could have overpowered his father, 22:09 he could have done anything but he must, 22:11 he must have believed in the God of Abraham. 22:16 Exactly. Also and submitted 22:21 to his father, as his father submits to the Creator God. 22:25 Exactly, here I believe we see the faith 22:27 of Abraham as well as Isaac. 22:30 Lot of times we don't look at Isaacs's faith here. 22:33 But Isaac had very strong faith 22:35 I believed because he could have runaway. 22:37 That's right, that's right. 22:39 Let's take a look at one more-- couple of more verses 22:43 here in Genesis 22:11-13. 22:48 And that says, "But the Angel of the Lord 22:50 called to him from heaven and said, 22:52 "Abraham, Abraham!" And he said, "Here I am." 22:56 And He said, "Do not lay your hand on the lad, 22:59 or do anything to him; for now I know 23:01 that you fear God, seeing you have not withheld 23:05 your son, your only son, from me. 23:08 Then Abraham lifted his eyes and looked, 23:11 and there behind him was a ram 23:13 caught in a thicket by its horns. 23:15 So Abraham went and took the ram, 23:18 and offered it up for a burnt offering instead of his son. 23:22 And Abraham called the name 23:24 of the place The Lord-Will-Provide." 23:28 There's a lot being said in there, isn't there? 23:31 True, there is a lot in that little passage. 23:37 So Abraham has got the knife 23:38 and he is about to slay his son Isaac. 23:43 And right the last second the Creator 23:48 waited before he said no. 23:50 Yes, that's exactly what happened. 23:53 I mean, it was a last minute thing, 23:56 the Lord spoke to him. 23:58 And Lord had to speak to him because and then he looked back 24:01 and there was the ram that was provided for sacrifice 24:04 and it was the ultimate test to the last second. 24:10 To the last second and both 24:12 Abraham and Isaac passed that test. 24:15 True. They both passed 24:17 that test. They both did. 24:18 And they must have been so relieved and thankful to God. 24:23 That's true. 24:25 For providing and He did provide. 24:28 In verse 18 of that same chapter 24:33 Genesis 22:18, that promise was repeated 24:40 after Abraham and Isaac were faithful. 24:42 It says, "In your seed 24:44 all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, 24:47 because you have obeyed My voice." 24:51 All the nations of the earth shall be blessed 24:54 because you've obeyed My voice. 24:56 So again, God repeated that promise. 24:59 True. Do you think 25:02 that all of heaven were witnessing this awesome scene? 25:06 They had to have been witnessing this awesome scene. 25:09 Not only testing the faith of Abraham 25:11 but the submission of the son. 25:14 That's true. Heaven must have been watching and looking 25:20 at this man who was just going to go sacrifice his son, 25:23 100% depending on the Lord. 25:29 And I believe heaven was pleased 25:32 whether his by his obedience, by his faith in God. 25:35 Today we touched on father Abraham 25:38 and the sacrifice of his son 25:41 that the Creator God asked him to do. 25:44 Does not mean that our Creator God 25:48 believes in human sacrifice 25:50 and the sacrifice of children in taking their lives. 25:54 I would like to say absolutely not. 25:57 No, He does not. 25:59 This was a test of faith of father Abraham 26:03 but I believe that God would never have allowed 26:07 him to take Isaac's life. 26:10 And, you know, he didn't have to find out, 26:13 we didn't have to find out because God 26:15 stepped in at the right moment and says, stop. 26:20 That is proof enough that He never would have done, 26:23 and He just wanted to see and test Abraham's faith 26:27 that was so important. 26:31 If you would like more information 26:33 on the God of Abraham, the Creator God 26:36 and or you have any questions about this program 26:39 or any of the programs that we have done. 26:42 Please, write to us. 26:44 Go to the website www.descendantsofabraham.org. 26:51 All correspondence is kept confidential. 26:54 We will never give your name, or your contact information. 26:58 Please contact us. 26:59 Tell us if you're enjoying the program. 27:01 If you have any questions, we have material 27:04 we can send to you. 27:06 We will answer all questions as best as we can. 27:11 And if we don't have the answer, 27:14 we'll find out and get it to you. 27:16 Please contact us. God bless you. 27:21 When you get to the Descendants of Abraham, 27:23 you can be sure that you're lighting the way for all 27:26 in search of the Creator God and His message of love 27:30 and forgiveness to all nations. 27:32 Thank you for your support and for your prayers. 27:35 All contributions are tax deductible. 27:38 Please visit us online today at www.descendantsofabraham.org 27:43 or write to us at the address you see listed on your screen. 27:47 All correspondence will be kept confidential. |
Revised 2014-12-17