Trials Reveal What’s In Our Heart
How do we know what’s in our heart? How can we measure our affections for God?
Arguably one of the most dependable guides to teach us what’s in our hearts are trials. There’s nothing like a day where nothing goes as planned to show us what’s really in our hearts!
When things that we love are threatened, what we worship is revealed. In the heat of battle, our actions reveal our affections. Our response to God during trials exposes our allegiances.
I once heard a pastor tell a story of having dinner with John Piper. This pastor was telling Piper about his cancer diagnosis and how hard it’d been on him. He said that Piper just looked at him and said, “Suffering is a good hermeneutic.” What did he mean? He meant that suffering helps us interpret our lives, that suffering helps us see what’s really true about us.
Our text this morning, Genesis 22, teaches us that trials reveal our treasures. God tests Abraham to reveal what’s in his heart, to see whether his relationship with God is more important to him than the blessings of God. God must be Abraham’s greatest treasure, not Isaac. The Giver must be loved more than the gift.
The main point of this chapter is that Abraham’s faith in God creates obedience to God during a test from God. We’ll see God’s test (vv. 1-8), Abraham’s faith (vv. 9-14), and God’s love (vv. 15-22).
God’s Test
In verses 1-8, God tests Abraham. Verse 1 sets the stage for all that happens here. “God tested Abraham” tells us how we should understand what looks like a demand for a human sacrifice. God forbids human sacrifice in the law (Lev. 18:21, Deut. 18:10) and says in the prophets that such an idea for his people “never entered his heart” (Jer. 19:5).
Without this opening comment by the narrator Moses, God’s command would be inexplicable. This allays any doubt about God’s purpose here. There’s no thought of an actual human sacrifice, though Abraham doesn’t know this.
Why Does God Test His People?
Taking tests is not what most of us enjoy. Exam week is probably not your favorite week of the year. How many have agonized over taking the SAT, ACT, GRE, MCAT or some other test?
Tests are part of life. They can be difficult and painful, but they’re also an opportunity for us to prove ourselves, to show what we know, to demonstrate our capability.
God gives his people tests throughout the Bible, not because he’s mean, but so we can prove ourselves, so we can show what we’re really like. Deuteronomy 8:2 says, “You shall remember the whole way that the Lord your God has led you these forty years in the wilderness, that he might humble you, testing you to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep his commandments or not…to do you good in the end” (v. 16).
Why does God test his people? To see what’s in their hearts, see whether they’ll obey or not, to humble them, and ultimately to do them good. The tests aren’t because God is a cruel teacher, but because God wants to give us opportunity to demonstrate what’s really in our hearts. Tests show us what we’re really like. “Suffering is a good hermeneutic.”
God Demands All
The test that God gives Abraham is absolutely gut-wrenching (v. 2). This test means sacrificing the son Abraham has waited 25 years. The test touches the foundations of Abraham’s life.
Notice how the Lord describes Isaac. He could’ve just said, “Take Isaac.” But the Lord is showing him, and us, that the preciousness of Isaac to Abraham is what’s precipitating this test. In his book Counterfeit Gods, Tim Keller says, “This was the ultimate test. Isaac was now everything to Abraham…Abraham’s affection had become adoration…God was not saying that you cannot love your son, but that you must not turn a loved one into a counterfeit god.”[1]
There’s a parallel between the first call of Abraham in 12:1 and this “second call” of Abraham.[2] Both calls move from the general to the specific. In 12:1, Abraham was called to walk away from his past. Here he’s called to walk away from his future. The Lord has asked Abraham to put his whole life in his hands.
Following God has always required total devotion. “Trust in the Lord with all your heart” (Pro. 3:5). “You shall love the Lord your God will all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength” (Mk. 12:30). “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me” (Lk. 9:23). “I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord” (Phil. 3:8).
What hard thing is the Lord asking you to do? Perhaps it’s a dating relationship with someone who’s not on the same page spiritually. Maybe there’s someone in your life who’s hurt you very deeply and you don’t want to let go of that hurt because if you let go of it you’ll feel like you’re letting them off the hook. Maybe there’s someone you need to forgive, but you feel like if you grant them that forgiveness it’d be saying it’s no big deal and you’re holding on to that bitterness. Maybe you have all the outward appearances of following Christ but you’re really struggling with whether God and the gospel are real and you’re too afraid to talk to anyone about it. Maybe you’re dealing with confusion in your sexuality and everything in the world is telling you to just do what feels good, but you know what God says. Maybe there’s a job offer that will provide lots of money, but you know it’ll be bad for your family and you’ll be in a situation where you’ll have to compromise. What kind of test are you facing?
Immediate, Not Impulsive, Obedience
The Lord asked Abraham to do something unimaginably difficult and he responded with immediate obedience (v. 3). There was no delay. Abraham moved quickly to do the thing God asked him to do.
Verse 4 says that it took three days for them to get to Mount Moriah. This detail is hugely important. It underscores the resolve of Abraham’s faith. This isn’t done impulsively. He had lots of time to consider God’s command, plenty of time to turn back, but he kept going forward in obedience to God. The text doesn’t tell us what he’s thinking or feeling, but you can imagine the existential crisis raging inside him. How can I kill my boy, the promised one, my son?
Jesus Fulfills Prophecies and Patterns
This phrase “on the third day” is found all over the Old Testament. Israel is called to Mount Sinai on the third day (Ex. 19:16). Joshua leads Israel across the Jordan River on the third day (Josh. 3:2). King Hezekiah is healed from his sickness on the third day (2 Kgs. 20:5-6). Esther asks the people to pray and fast and then on the third day she goes before the king to intercede for the life of the people (5:1).
Paul says that “Christ died for our sins…that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures” (1 Cor. 15:3-4). Jesus was raised from the dead on the third day, not in fulfillment of a particular text, but in accordance with a pattern of events that took place in Scripture. Jesus fulfills prophecies and patterns.
Resurrection Logic
There’s even more connection to Jesus’ resurrection in Genesis 22. Notice the plural verbs in verse 5. Given what God has asked Abraham to do, how could he say, “We will come again to you”? Because he believes that not even death can stop God’s promises.
God had reminded him in 21:12 that “through Isaac shall your offspring be named,” so Abraham believes that no matter what happens up on that mountain, Isaac will be returning with him. He’s thinking, “Isaac must inherit the promises, so something has got to happen to bring him out of this death that’s coming.” There’s resurrection logic happening in Abraham’s brain.[3]
The writer of Hebrews confirms this. He says, “By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac…He considered that God was able even to raise him from the dead, from which, figuratively speaking, he did receive him back” (11:17-19). Abraham had faith that God could raise Isaac from the dead.
This kind of faith is the only explanation for why Abraham could go through with this. If he thinks that when he sacrifices Isaac, that’s the end, then he doesn’t do it. But he believes that God’s promises will be fulfilled, so he goes forward in obedience to God.
Nowhere does the New Testament connect the sacrifice of Isaac to Jesus’ death on the cross. But it does clearly connect it to resurrection. Genesis 22 is teaching us that the kind of faith that saves is resurrection faith. Do you believe that God can bring the dead back to life?
“Father, Where Is the Lamb?”
Verse 6 says that Isaac had to carry the wood that he would die on. In verse 7, Isaac breaks the silence with a question. He asks his father where is the lamb for the sacrifice?
The wording of Abraham’s answer in verse 8 may indicate that he’s identifying Isaac as the lamb, “The burnt offering (is you) my son.” Perhaps Isaac understands what’s happening now, but he goes on with his father anyway. A profound silence falls on them. There’s a heaviness and a sadness that pervades this scene.
Abraham’s Faith in Action
In verses 9-14, we see Abraham’s faith. In verses 9-10, there’s no talking. Abraham is all business. The camera zooms in and the action slows down. The conjunction “and” is used seven times in these verses to slow down the reader so that we’ll stop and ponder each movement. This is dramatic storytelling at its finest. This scene is filmed in slow motion, showing us what Abraham is doing step-by-step, building our anticipation.
Notice that Isaac doesn’t say anything. He didn’t object or complain when Abraham told him that God would provide the lamb in verse 8. And here he’s silent as what’s about to happen now becomes unmistakable. Isaiah picks up on this pattern and says that the Lord’s servant will “open not his mouth,” but “like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth” (53:7).
Abraham Passes the Test
Verse 11 says that Isaac was saved at the last moment when the Lord intervened. The Lord tells Abraham in verse 12 that he’s passed his test. When he says, “now I know,” that doesn’t mean that God is learning new information here. He’s omniscient so he never learns anything. This test was for Abraham, and for us, not for God. God tested Abraham to show him the genuineness of his faith.
We know that God was testing his faith because he says, “now I know that you fear God.” The Hebrew word for “fear” has a wide range of meanings, from terror to reverence to trust. This episode has revealed that Abraham truly trusts, or “fears,” the Lord.
Those who fear the Lord come to know him in such a way that they’ll do whatever he asks because they deeply trust him and believe that he’s good. Fearing the Lord means trusting the Lord means obeying the Lord. In his book on the fear of the Lord, Rejoice and Tremble, Michael Reeves says, “The fear of the Lord does not keep believers from sin in the sense that it makes us merely alter our behavior for fear of punishment. Rather, it brings us to adore God and so loathe sin and long to be truly and thoroughly like him.”[4]
Eyes to See the Substitute
Verse 13 says that Abraham saw a ram “behind him…caught in a thicket by his horns.” This seems to indicate that the ram was always there, just out of Abraham’s sight. It was “behind him” so he didn’t notice it. The Lord provided a substitute long before Abraham knew he would need one.
This is the second time God’s provision was discovered to be ready and waiting. “God opened Hagar’s eyes” so she could see what was already there (21:19). The way someone becomes a Christian is when God opens the eyes of their heart to see the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ (2 Cor. 4:4-6). When God causes us to see our sinfulness, to see our need for a Savior, to see Jesus as that all-sufficient Savior who substituted himself for us on the cross, taking our guilt so that we can be forgiven, and then rising from the dead on the third day to prove that he was God, then we can’t help but give our lives to him.
May God give any here today who aren’t yet trusting in Christ eyes to see the glory of the Substitute who was provided for you long before you knew you needed one.
Mount Moriah
Verse 14 says that Abraham named that place, “The Lord will provide.” This “mount” is in “the land of Moriah” (v. 2). The location is significant because it’s where David later built an altar and offered burnt offerings that turned away God’s wrath and saved the people of Israel (2 Sam. 24:25; cf. 2 Chron. 3:1). This is where Solomon would later build the temple (2 Chron. 3:1), where Israel offered their sacrifices to the Lord. All this creates a pattern of God saving his people through a wrath-bearing sacrifice.
God’s Love
The last section of the chapter shows us how God responds to Abraham’s obedience (vv. 15-22). The last five verses are a genealogy of Abraham’s brother Nahor. It’s given to introduce Rebekah into the narrative. The promised son Isaac has been delivered from death, but he’ll need a wife to perpetuate the promise. Rebekah will be that wife (ch. 24).
In verses 16-18, the Lord confirms his promises to Abraham with a mighty oath, “By myself I have sworn” (cf. Heb. 6:13-17). The oath is God’s way of guaranteeing his promises. God swears on his own name to show Abraham how serious he is. We may swear on our mother’s grave or swear on the Bible in a courtroom. But we don’t say, “I swear on myself” to indicate that we’re telling the truth. God was already telling the truth, but because we have a hard time believing the truth, he added the oath. And he did this because he loves Abraham. The oath is to encourage him, and us, in the dark moments of our testing. As the hymn says, “His oath, his covenant, his blood support me in the whelming flood; when all around my soul gives way, He then is all my hope and stay.”
God adds a new promise, “Your offspring shall possess the gate of his enemies” (v. 17). In ancient times, the gate was the central place of a city. Here it stands for everything his enemies possess. Notice that it’s the plural “offspring” who “shall possess the gate” of “his” (singular) enemies. A singular seed will defeat the enemies of God (cf. 3:15).
Obedience Leads to Assurance
But the main thing to notice here is why God gave Abraham this added assurance that he’ll fulfill his promises. Verse 16, “Because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son.” Verse 18, “Because you have obeyed my voice.” God affirmed his promises in response to Abraham’s obedience.
The Lord isn’t saying, “I’m going to do what I said I would do based on your obedience.” The ground of God’s blessing is always his free mercy. But Abraham’s willingness to choose the Giver over the gift is what guarantees that his seed will receive the blessing.
Abraham’s obedience is what proved his faith. His obedience gave him the confidence that he really was the recipient of God’s covenant blessings.
When we’re breaking God’s commands and living for ourselves and not for God, we question whether we’re actually saved. Why? Because our obedience to God increases our assurance that we belong to God.
Abraham’s Works Proved His Faith
Abraham’s response to the commands of God proves that he’s in covenant with God. His obedience to God proves his trust in God. James points this out in the New Testament. “Do you want to be shown, you foolish person, that faith apart from works is useless? Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up his son Isaac on the altar? You see that faith was active along with his works, and faith was completed by his works” (2:20-22).
Abraham’s works proved his faith. He passed God’s test because he truly feared the Lord, so the Lord affirmed his promises to him because of his obedience.
God tested Abraham to reveal what’s in his heart. The Giver must be loved more than the gift. Genesis 22 leads us to consider whether we love God or God’s gifts. Genesis 22 teaches us that our actions reveal our affections. Our response to the commands of God reveals whether we’re in covenant with God. Our obedience to God proves our faith in God.
Another Sacrifice on the Mountain
The trouble is that our lives are littered with disobedience to God, of every variety, every day. And it all starts with our inability to obey the first of the ten commandments, “You shall have no other gods before me” (Ex. 20:3). But don’t we put 1,000 things before God? Our business, money, sex, family, friends, future, motherhood, job performance, education, comfort, control, health? We look to these counterfeit gods to give us hope and security and identity instead of God.
God is holy and created us to live for him. But we choose to live for ourselves and choose our ways over his ways. We prefer things God created over God himself.
What is God supposed to do about this? He’s just so he can’t let sin go. How is the sin and idolatry in our hearts resolved? Through a sacrifice on a mountain.
There was another Son who walked with his Father up a hill. He knew what the plan was and yet he went anyways, walking bravely and silently to whatever God had for him. He didn’t try to sneak away. He didn’t argue or complain. He resolved to do exactly what God asked him to do.
Why? Because his Father had a people that needing saving from their sins. And the only way to save them was through a substitute who would do for them what they couldn’t do for themselves. We need a substitute because we’re by nature guilty. But in mercy God chose to send Jesus as our substitute, as the sacrifice needed to pay for our sins.
God’s only Son, the Son whom he loves, Jesus, carried the wooden instrument of his death up the mountain. He was the Lamb God provided for the sins of the world. He was bound and put on a piece of wood, but unlike Isaac he didn’t escape death. He was slaughtered like an animal.
But the cross wasn’t the end of his journey. He and his Father walked up the mountain, so to speak, and they both returned together. Jesus went through death and came out the other side alive and victorious, so that everyone who “confesses with their mouth that Jesus is Lord and believes in their heart that God raised him from the dead will be saved” (Rom. 10:9).
The truth, goodness, and beauty of Jesus compels us to stay close to him, to keep trusting him, to want to serve him and obey him, to worship and enjoy him. If Jesus isn’t the highest treasure in your heart, then you need to consider whether you love the Giver or his gifts. Many people come to Christianity for forgiveness, but we stay for the Forgiver.
[1]Quoted in Peter J. Gentry and Stephen J. Wellum, Kingdom through Covenant: A Biblical-Theological Understanding of the Covenants, 2nd ed. (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2018), 322.
[2]Ibid., 321.
[3]James M. Hamilton, Typology: Understanding the Bible’s Promise-Shaped Patterns, How Old Testament Expectations are Fulfilled in Christ (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2022), 210.
[4]Michael Reeves, Rejoice and Tremble: The Surprising Good News of the Fear of the Lord (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2021), 138.