Genesis 5/6/17

GENESIS

May 6, 2017

By Pastor Kim Hickcox

 

(All Scripture taken from One New Man Bible unless otherwise noted)

 

Genesis 22 is where Abraham is told to sacrifice his son Isaac to God. “And it happened after these things that God tested Abraham and said to him, ‘Abraham.’ And he said, ‘Here I am.’ ²And He said, ‘Now take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love! Get yourself into the land of Moriah! Offer him there as an offering upon one of the mountains of which I tell you!’” (vss1-2)

 

Pretty harsh considering he had just had to cast Hagar and Ishmael, his first born, out on God’s order, NOW He wanted his (and His) promise too!?! And the Lord now called Isaac Abraham’s only son! 

 

I have had a few theories about this over the years, as it is a difficult scripture or even concept to grasp considering what we know about our loving God and how He was so upset with Israel (the Northern Kingdom) when they started doing that. True, they weren’t worshipping Him with human sacrifices, but they were killing His innocents as well as paying homage to a demon. Double indemnity. 

 

Sometimes I would like to think that Abraham just heard wrong. That he was so familiar with all the idols from his youth that he considered it a possibility the whole time and just dealt with it. 

 

But knowing that he was raised by Noah and Shem puts a whole new light on that theory. So why on earth did God tell Abraham to sacrifice his son to Him? He doesn’t do literal/physical human sacrifices! 

 

Well, first and foremost, we must remember that He knew that He was going to supply a sacrifice for Abraham and Isaac when all was said and done and Abraham believed that too (see vs 8). So we can only surmise then, that this was a test. Was God still first in Abraham’s heart now that he had what he had been dreaming of and waiting for, for most of his life? A son! An heir! 

 

We Westerners, globally speaking, don’t as a general rule, burn incense or give food offerings to idols (statues) per se, but what we must always remember is that ANYTHING that is more important to us than our loving God and Savior IS by definition an idol. And He knows about it! He either knows who or what it is or who or what it will be or has the potential of being. 

 

When I moved to Orlando, I was given a choice, and I KNEW that that choice would determine what (or rather Who) was the most important to me: my church, my ministry, my family (which all totaled my comfort zone) or my God. I wasn’t TOLD what to do like Abraham was, I was given a choice. But that choice would have shown me(because He already knew) what was most important to me – God or all the things and relationships He had blessed me with: my church, my ministry, my family, my friends…

 

He had given them ALL to me, so was I now still seeking His Face, His Will and His Presence in my life, or was I just seeking His Hand. I had a grateful heart, but again – for Him or just for all His blessings, pushing Him aside?

 

And even though I made the right choice, it wasn’t for the right reason. How can that be? Well, His answer to my question of Should I stay or should I go? Was: You don’t have to go, but if you don’t you will not fulfill your destiny and you will be miserable very soon. SO I made the right decision, but was my heart with Him? Not at first. As I am not necessarily the sharpest knife in the drawer, it took me a while. The Holy Spirit ever so gently (more gently than I deserved) started to open my eyes as to WHY I should have made that right decision, because He knows I’m a WHY person. Some people just need to know how to do something or what to do and they’re fine. I need to know why I’m doing it in the first place, because if the motive isn’t what I agree with, I’m not doing it.

 

Let’s look at Jeremiah 17:9-10, “The heart is deceitful above all things, desperately sick. Who can know it? ¹⁰I, the LORD, search the heart, I try the heart, even to give each man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his doings.” When I [finally] figured out that if had I chosen to stay, it would have made my entire life in Clearwater an idol – more important to me than the God Who gave it to me, I was horrified! THEN when I figured out that even my answer was selfish because my destiny was first and His Will was second, even though they were one-in-the-same…you guessed it – horrified again! So I spent some time repenting. Aren’t you glad God allows as many mistakes as you need to make? I sure am!!

 

So this week, may I suggest we all take a little personal inventory? Perhaps it’s been a while, perhaps not – but let’s just go before God and ask the Holy Spirit if there’s anything askew within us. If we’re sincere, He will let us know, then we can repent (which means to change our mind) and fix it. Call it spring cleaning of the heart. I pray the Lord will gently guide you in the Way you should go and tweak anything that needs tweaking. 

 

Be blessed dear friends and remember that “…the Creator of the ends of the earth, does not faint nor is weary. This is no searching of His understanding. ²⁹He gives power to the faint and to those who have no might He increases strength. ³⁰Even the youths will faint and be weary and the young man will utterly stumble, ³¹but they that wait upon the LORD will renew their strength. They will mount up with eagle’s wings. They will run and not be weary. They will walk and not grow faint.” Isaiah 40:28-30

 

His promises are AMAZING!! But I think Matthew 6:33 says it all and is where we all want to stay, “But you must continually seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, then all these things will be provided for you.”

 

SHALOM!