THE GOD OF ISAAC
MEMORISE: That in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies; Genesis 22:17
READ: Genesis 22:1 -18
1 And it came to pass after these things, that God did tempt Abraham, and said unto him, Abraham: and he said, Behold, here I am.
2 And he said, 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 upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of.
3 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.
4 Then on the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes, and saw the place afar off.
5 And Abraham said unto his young men, Abide ye here with the ass; and I and the lad will go yonder and worship, and come again to you.
6 And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering, and laid it upon Isaac his son; and he took the fire in his hand, and a knife; and they went both of them together.
7 And Isaac spake unto Abraham his father, and said, My father: and he said, Here am I, my son. And he said, Behold the fire and the wood: but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?
8 And Abraham said, My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering: so they went both of them together.
9 And they came to the place which God had told him of; and Abraham built an altar there, and laid the wood in order, and bound Isaac his son, and laid him on the altar upon the wood.
10 And Abraham stretched forth his hand, and took the knife to slay his son.
11 And the angel of the LORD called unto him out of heaven, and said, Abraham, Abraham: and he said, Here am I.
12 And he said, Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou any thing unto him: for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son from me.
13 And Abraham lifted up his eyes, and looked, and behold behind him a ram caught in a thicket by his horns: and Abraham went and took the ram, and offered him up for a burnt offering in the stead of his son.
14 And Abraham called the name of that place Jehovahjireh: as it is said to this day, In the mount of the LORD it shall be seen.
15 And the angel of the LORD called unto Abraham out of heaven the second time,
16 And said, By myself have I sworn, saith the LORD, for because thou hast done this thing, and hast not withheld thy son, thine only son:
17 That in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies;
18 And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice.
MESSAGE
The God of Isaac is the God of laughter (Genesis 21:1-7). He is not just the God of laughter, but also the God of multiplication. Our Bible reading today tells us how God asked Abraham to offer Isaac as a sacrifice and how he (Abraham) was about to do so before God stopped him. God later on blessed Abraham:
…in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies. Genesis 22:17
How does He multiply? In Genesis 26:12-14, the Bible tells us that when Isaac sowed, in the same year, he had a hundredfold return. This therefore means that the God of Isaac is the God of a hundredfold returns. When you look at the last promise in Genesis 22:17, you see God saying that Abraham’s seed will possess the gate of his enemies. In those days, the gate was the centre of a city’s economy.
This means that when the God of Isaac is your God, you will become so prosperous that whether nations like you or not, they would have to do whatever you say.
It is unfortunate however, that many Christians are not this prosperous and this is because they are not like Isaac. When Abraham was going to offer a sacrifice to God, Isaac asked his father, “I can see the wood, I can see the fire, where is the animal to be sacrificed?” (Genesis 22:7). Abraham said God would provide the lamb. The moment Abraham started binding him, Isaac know he was the sacrifice. Abraham bound him and laid him on the wood, yet Isaac cooperated all the way. If he had decided to struggle just a little, he would have won because there is no way a man who is over a hundred years old can hold a teenager down. However, Isaac was ready to give himself as a sacrifice to the Most High God. Only those who can sacrifice their all can enjoy the kind of multiplication that the God of Isaac gives. Solomon sacrificed what no man ever did and God blessed him more that every other man. Sow a seed that will really cost you – a sacrificial offering. If you want to be so prosperous that you will control the economies and politics of nations, then nothing must be too big for you to give to God.
ACTION POINT
Give a sacrificial offering to a church , person or project that you are sure is for God.
BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Nehemiah 2-5
HYMN 25: TO GOD BE THE GLORY GREAT THINGS HE HAS DONE
1 To God be the glory, great things He hath done,
So loved He the world that He gave us His Son,
Who yielded His life our redemption to win,
And opened the life-gate that all may go in.
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord,
Let the earth hear His voice;
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord,
Let the people rejoice;
Oh, come to the Father, through Jesus the Son,
And give Him the glory; great things He hath done.
2 Oh, perfect redemption, the purchase of blood,
To every believer the promise of God;
The vilest offender who truly believes,
That moment from Jesus a pardon receives.
3 Great things He hath taught us, great things He hath done,
And great our rejoicing through Jesus the Son;
But purer, and higher, and greater will be
Our wonder, our transport when Jesus we see
