The Supreme Test of Abraham's Faith

Christ Triumphant - A Devotional by E.G. White

The Supreme Test of Abraham's Faith

Today's Text: 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. Genesis 22:2

The Message:      In a vision of the night, in his home in Beersheba, when he was one hundred and twenty years old, Abraham received the startling command, "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." His son, his only son, the son of promise, to be sacrificed. There was no more sleep for Abraham that night.... God had promised him that his name was to be perpetuated in Isaac, but here was a severe trial of his faith. Abraham had clung to the promise of a son from his own wife Sarah, and God had fulfilled His promise.... He left Ishmael out of the question, saying, "Thine only son, Isaac."...      God had already told him that through Isaac his seed should be as the sand of the sea for multitude. As he stepped out into the night, he seemed to hear the divine voice that called him out of Chaldea fifty years before and said to him, "Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them.... So shall thy seed be." Can it be the same voice that commands him to slay his son? He remembered the promise, "I will make thy seed as the dust of the earth: so that if a man can number the dust of the earth, then shall thy seed also be numbered." Is it not the voice of a stranger that commands him to offer his son as a sacrifice? Can God contradict Himself? Shall He cut off the only hope of the fulfillment of the promise? Must he become childless?      But Abraham does not reason; he obeys. His only hope is that the God who can do all things will raise his son from the dead. The knife was raised, but it did not fall. God spoke, "It is enough." The faith of the father and the submission of the son were fully tested. "Now I know that thou fearest God, seeing that thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son from me."      Abraham's test was the most severe that could ever come to a human being. Had he then turned from God, he would never have been registered as the father of the faithful. Had he deviated from God's command, the world would have lost this rich example of faith in God and victory over unbelief....      Nothing is too precious to give to God. Confidence in the divine Word will lead to a doing of that Word.-Letter 110, 1897.

Commentary: My friend, in the severe test of Abraham is shown the love of God for all of mankind.  Through this test Abraham was brought into a closer relationship with God in that the sacrifice that he was asked to give foreshadowed the great sacrifice that God the Father made in giving us His Son to die for our sins.  The test that was given to Abraham was a test of his faith in God.  Three times in the past his faith had wavered, and his faith had to be tested that the world and the heavenly intelligence's could see the faith of Abraham manifested. Many claim to have faith in God, but unless that faith is tried and tested it cannot be perfected.  Though this most difficult test Abraham showed that his faith in God was not a mere profession but a reality.  How many of us today would stand the test that God brought upon Abraham?  God did not bring this test upon Abraham without out a purpose, and that purpose was to perfect his faith and to give us an example to us that we may see the love that He has for us, that He would sacrifice His only begotten Son, so that we could be saved. Today, this beautiful demonstration of God's love for man is destroyed by the doctrine of the trinity, for it claims that Son of God is not literally a Son, that it is only a member of the Godhead that is playing the role of the Son.  Now if this is true then the Father is not really a Father, but only God playing the role of a Father.  The church would have us believe that God is only using the role of the Father and the Son as a metaphor to illustrate to us the relationship between the members of the Godhead, but this teaching creates confusion and makes God out to be a deceiver and a liar.  The Bible says in Numbers 23:19 "God is not a man, that he should lie;" and in 1 Corinthians 14:33 "For God is not the author of confusion", so this teaching cannot be from God. I know that many of us today do not really believe that the Father and the Son are only roles that are being played, but the sad truth is that the church has adopted the doctrine of the trinity and this is what it teaches.  The Bible says in 1 John 2:22 "Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist, that denieth the Father and the Son."  What this text is saying is whomever denies that Jesus is the Son of God is a liar and that they are antichrist. My friend, the Bible is very clear that Jesus is the Son of God, not just from His incarnation, but from eternity (Proverbs 8:22-30).  Jesus said in John 8:42 "If God were your Father, ye would love me: for I proceeded forth and came from God; neither came I of myself, but he sent me."  Jesus Himself says that He proceed forth from God, meaning that He is literally the Son of God. My friend, Jesus is really the Son of God, and it is by His sacrifice that we are saved.  To believe otherwise is to believe a lie.  Let us "Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth." (2 Timothy 2:15). God bless,

Video of the Week 3ABN Panel Discussion Commented by Daniel Mesa 3ABN representatives, in a panel discussion, gave their thoughts regarding the trinity. Daniel Mesa takes a few moments of that presentation and gives additional comments regarding another understanding of the Godhead.