Yahweh Mekeddeshem (Exodus 31:13) life application, 7/24/2009

Read Exodus 31:12-18

Some are too young to even know that there was a time when “Google” wasn’t even a part of everyday vocabulary. Google hosts a fact sheet on itself. As for the meaning of “Google,” it plays on the term “Googol,” which is the mathematical term for a 1 followed by 100 zeros (10¹⁰⁰ = 10000000000,0000000000,0000000000,0000000000,0000000000,
0000000000,0000000000,0000000000,0000000000,0000000000).[i] And, it says that the company’s mission is to organize the immense amount of information available on the web. Information overload is the reality today and Google is capitalizing on us trying to make sense out of the complex web of highly hyperlinked world.

In the ancient world of Israel, it wasn’t Google that helped them make sense, but God alone.

Consider Yahweh Mekeddeshem (Exodus 31:13), which means, “I am the LORD who makes you holy, to set you apart holy, to sanctify you.” Today, this will be like God saying to us, “The way you are going to make sense is not by immersing yourself in the world of information and entertainment overload. The way you are going to make sense is by drawing near to me into my kingdom where I am your Creator, your Deliverer, your Provider.

• How do you think taking the Sabbath, which meant stop working and resting on the seventh day, allowed the Israelites to make sense?

Read Exodus 23:10-12 about the Sabbath year.

• Who benefited when the Israelites faithfully observed the Sabbath rest of the land on the seventh year?
• Taking the Sabbath year of rest required trusting in God to provide and learning to express God’s generosity. How does the act of trusting and being generous help you make sense?

Read Matthew 11:28-30.

• Take time to discuss what’s confusing, unnerving, or disappointing in your life and how you are trying to make sense of it all.
• The Sabbath rest faithfully obeyed allowed the Israelites to live out the set apart life unto God. Share what you are doing to take regular, on going, proper rest in Jesus?
• The image of shedding your heavy weariness and burdens while picking up the easy and light yoke and the burden of Jesus Christ is what is like to shed selfishness to gain the ministry of Jesus as the light and the salt in the world. How are you moving from selfishness to grace-giving generosity?

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[i] http://www.google.com/press/facts.html

Yahweh Mekeddeshem - I am the LORD who makes you holy (Exodus 31:13)

Cornerstone Mission Church, Sunday Sermon July 19, 2009

Today, I would like to explore with you another way God made himself known in the Old Testament, namely, Yahweh Mekeddeshem, which means, “I am the LORD who makes you holy, sets you apart as holy, or sanctifies you.”

Ephesians 1:4, “For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. 1 Peter 1:16, “Be holy, because I am holy.” God’s purpose for you and me is that we become like him in his holiness. What we are going to learn today is that becoming holy and blameless in God’s sight happens when you and I remind ourselves of God’s grace giving character and when we demonstrate God’s grace to others.

The particular passage which includes Yahweh Mekeddeshem that I would like to draw your attention is Exodus 31:12-17. Please, turn your Bible to Exodus 31:12-17 and let’s stand together for God’s word.

• Ways to be reminded of God’s grace giving character.

What is stated in this text is how the practice of the Sabbath resulted in knowing God as grace giving God, Yahweh Mekeddeshem, “I am the LORD who makes you holy.” Yahweh Mekeddeshem is grace giving God because it is his grace that allows us to be holy.

For God to be Yahweh Mekeddeshem, the One who makes you and me holy, he would have to be holy God. Consider these verses: Leviticus 11:44-45, “be holy, because I am holy… I am the LORD who brought you out of Egypt to be your God; therefore be holy, because I am holy.” Leviticus 19:2, “Be holy because I, the LORD your God, am holy.” When God who is holy calls you and me to relationship with him, he calls us to become like him in his holiness.

God who is holy is completely free from the moral imperfections, impurity and frailties. Unlike you and me, no flaws can be found in him; he never gets tired of being good; never fails to be good and perfect. He is sinless. God who is holy is also completely faithful to his own promises again unlike us who can be unreliable as faulty bows when it comes to keeping our promises.[i] Psalm 105:42 speaks to his holy character of his promises, “For he remembered his holy promise given to his servant Abraham.” Exodus 15:11 speaks of holy God as one who redeems, who saves, “Who among the gods like you, O LORD? Who is like you-majestic in holiness, awesome in glory, working wonders?”

God who is holy has the quality of otherness about him; because he is transcendent beyond our ordinary limits of moral imperfections and sins, to sin ridden, imperfect, unreliable people holy God is utterly unapproachable. According to Colossians 1:21, human condition is such that of being alienated from God and being his enemies in minds because of evil behavior (Colossians 1:21). You may see a blatant and hostile attitude towards God, or you may see the attitude that treats God as irrelevant; “God doesn’t matter to me,” some might say and live accordingly. God who declares, “I am holy” will not be reduced to irrelevancy. God who declares, “I am holy” will not tolerate those who rebel against him. There will be a day when holy God will judge the attitudes, the lifestyle, and the deeds of those who insist God as irrelevant to them, those who continue to oppose God and refuse to yield to him.

So, when this holy God declares, Yahweh Mekeddeshem, “I am the LORD who makes you holy,” this is God’s message of his grace giving character. Your best of best shots at shunning evil, moral imperfections and failures, temptations, your most sincere intent to be good and holy will never measure up to God’s standard of holiness, his goodness. Your best of best effort and striving will not get you anywhere but restless and fruitless life. Holiness for Christians as it was for the Israelites is something that cannot be conceived outside of God’s intervention. It is God’s grace of making you holy that enables your effort and striving to bear lasting fruit.

To help the people of Israel know this grace giving God, God gave them the Sabbath; the Sabbath practice was a way to be reminded of God’s grace, the One who makes his people holy. So, let’s consider how the Sabbath was a way of God reminding his grace.

The verbal form of the Sabbath means to cease, to pause. What were they to stop, to cease? They were to stop doing things that sustained them. Consider when God gave manna when the Israelites lived in the desert. On the sixth day, God gave them a double portion of manna so that next day on the Sabbath they wouldn’t have to work to collect manna (Exodus 16:22-26). This law of stop working after six days and resting on the seventh day was so important that non-compliance was dealt with death penalty (Exodus 31:14). God called the Sabbath a sign, which allowed the Israelites to remember important things about God; their week in and week out of stop working and resting on the Sabbaths was designed so that the Israelites would grasp God’s grace giving character.

In Exodus 20, you will find the Sabbath as one of the Ten Commandments. Exodus 20:11, you read the connection between the Sabbath and God’s creation account of creating for six days and resting on the seventh day from the work of creating. So, the weekly practice of the Sabbaths was designed as a sign that would point them to God as their Creator.

In Deuteronomy 5, you also find the Sabbath listed as one of the Ten Commandments. But, here the emphasis that comes after the Sabbath is the call to remember their former condition as slaves in Egypt and how it was Yahweh who brought them out of there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm.

In their weekly practice of resting by pausing from working, they were reminded God was the Creator who provided for them and that it was God who delivered them out of bondage. It wasn’t their labor, but it was the grace of the Creator who provided for them and the grace of the Redeemer who delivered them. So, the Sabbath was designed as a sign to point the Israelites to the grace giving Creator, Redeemer.

Jesus said in Matthew 12:8, “… the Son of Man is the Lord of the Sabbath.” The way it works for Christians now is not by observing the Sabbath as the Israelites did, but by finding ourselves in the Lord of the Sabbath, Jesus Christ.

He said in Matthew 11:28-29, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart; and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

It is only in Jesus Christ, you and I can become holy, be set apart for God. Yahweh Mekeddeshem, “I am the LORD who makes you holy,” Yahweh calls you and me to rally around Jesus, to come under him, to find ourselves in him, for through Christ’s blood, his death and resurrection, we can become holy.

How you spend the sacred time with Jesus will determined if you will grow in holiness. For some of you, the struggle is overworking.  You need to learn to take time to rest in Jesus Christ.  But, many of you, the struggle is not so much about overworking, but taking wrong kind of rest. In your spare time, if your goal is simply to vege out in front of TV, mindlessly surfing on your computer, this wouldn't fit the kind of rest Jesus envisions for you. 

For the Israelites, the Sabbath keeping was a sign that pointed them to God's grace giving character.  What kind of rest would point you to God's grace?  Are you taking such rest on ongoing base? 

• Ways to love others through demonstrating God’s grace to others:

When you read carefully Exodus 21:10 and Deuteronomy 5:14, you will find a comprehensive list of who were to remember the Sabbath. “On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your manservant or maidservant, nor your animals, nor the alien within your gates.” It was for the whole people, whole creation that were to pause from work of labor and to rest in God, the Creator, the Redeemer. So, through the practice of the Sabbaths, the Israelites were called to love people and love creation. Loving people meant tangibly allowing others to stop working and experience God’s grace.

The principle of the Sabbath extended not weekly, but on every seventh year as well.

Exodus 23:10-11… Consider the Sabbath year. God promised to bless on the sixth year, to produce enough for three years that can last until the harvest of the eighth year. So, they were told to give the land a Sabbath of rest (Leviticus 25:4); During this Sabbath year of rest, then the poor would be able to eat from the land at the Sabbath rest. Consider Deut 15:1-3… the Sabbatical year for canceling debts… “At the end of every seventh years you must cancel debts.”

Pretty radical stuff, right? God has no interest in raising up generations that are self-absorbed and have no interest in demonstrating God's grace to others.  Jesus said the first and the greatest commandment is to Love the Lord God with all our heart and with all our soul and with all our mind. And the second is to love our neighbor as ourselves. One's confession of love to Jesus without following his command to love others is not genuine and downright unchristian. Faith without deeds is dead faith.  Faith must be expressed in good deeds.  So, as we seek to be immersed in God's grace to make us holy, we must seek tangible ways to bless others, to demonstrate God's unearned grace to them. 

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[i] New International Dictionary of Old Testament Theology and Exegesis: Volume 3. 882. Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, © 1997.

Life Group Application: Yahweh Nissi - The LORD is my Banner!

Read Exodus 17:8-16, Deuteronomy 25:17-19, 1 Peter 5:6-9

• The Old Testament’s account of the Amalekites illustrates the spiritual reality of the battle that we Christians face and must prepare for. What is the enemy’s strategy to capture its prey? Who does the enemy go after?

• “When you were weary and worn out, they met you on your journey and cut off all who were lagging behind.” (Deut 25:18) The Israelites’ weariness, being worn out, lagging behind speaks to the spiritual condition that made them vulnerable to attack by the enemy. And, the context of their weariness and being worn out was that they complained and grumbled against God and doubted God who delivered and provided for them numerous times. How does the attitude of complaining, grumbling, doubting make you lag behind? Share the nature of the spiritual battles you face?

• When the Israelites rallied around the concerted effort to raise up the banner (Moses’ raised up hand and the staff), they were winning. What would it look like for you to declare God’s name, Yahweh Nissi, “The LORD is my Banner,” and come rally around the LORD? And, how would it affect your spiritual outcome?

יְהוָה נִסִּי - Yahweh Nissi… The Lord is my Banner! Exodus 17:8-16

Cornerstone Mission Church, Sunday Sermon July 12, 2009

Let me start off by drawing your attention to the words of apostle Peter from 1 Peter 5:6-9. Here he speaks about the spiritual reality, namely the hostile existence of the devil and how we as Christians ought to respond in the light of it. He says, “Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you. Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith…”

There are times when this seems much more of obvious reality than other times. Whether you acknowledge it, or refuse to believe it, or forget to remember it, the spiritual battle is reality. The great problem for so many Christians and non-believers alike today is that they are oblivious to the reality of the spiritual battle. Christians are oblivious to God’s call upon them to resist the enemy, to stand firm in the faith! They think that apostle Paul’s call in Ephesians 6 to put on the armor of God, to pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests, to be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints, is a call for some extraordinarily spiritual Christians. No, to put on armor of God, to pray always, to pray for all the saints, to pray for each other are not just for the select few super Christians. These are mandate to all for all of us in the light of the spiritual reality.

My prayer today is that God would shake us out of spiritual malaise, laziness, naivety, naked vulnerability, that he would awaken us to desperation, urgency and dependence on him. So, it is fitting that I speak to you today about God’s name by Moses, Yahweh Nissi, “The LORD is my Banner!” Before delving into understanding what it means to k now God as Yahweh Nissi, I want you to first consider where this name is found in the Bible and see the spiritual reality.

1. How do you know when you are vulnerable to attack?

Last week, I talked to you about how Yahweh tests us, not because we he doesn’t know us, but to reveal to us our true character, the condition of our hearts. Only after three days since they witnessed God’s deliverance from Egypt, when they arrived at a place called Desert of Shur, they began to grumble against Moses and God because they could not find drinkable water, but only bitter, pungent water. It says in Exodus 15:25, this was no accident, but God’s design to test them to reveal them their own character, their hearts. God turned the bitter water to drinkable and quenched their thirst.

And, in Exodus 16, traveling further south of Sinai Peninsula, we see the Israelites again grumbling. There they complained, “If only we had died by the LORD’s hand in Egypt! There we sat around pots of meat and ate all the food we wanted, but you have brought us out into this desert to starve this entire assembly to death” (Exodus 16:3). Again, by raining down bread from heaven and giving them specific instructions as to how they were gather manna for themselves, it says in Exodus 16:4, “In this way I will test them and see whether they will follow my instructions.”

And, in Exodus 17:1-7, what you find is further south of Sinai Peninsula at Rephidim, we see the Israelites blatantly quarreling with Moses and demanding water since they found absolutely no water this time at Rephidim. Moses questioned them, “Why do you put the LORD to the test?” (Exodus 17:2). Instead of trusting God Yahweh Yireh to provide for them as he rained them the bread from heaven, as turned the bitter water to drinkable, instead they digressed and became cynical and skeptical questioning if the LORD was even among them (Exodus 17:7), if the LORD even cared.

In the midst trials and difficulties, their true character was revealed. And, it wasn’t pretty. This is the nature of the spiritual battle. The presence and the power of God was abundantly clear and unmistakably demonstrated, yet, here they were doubting if God was even among them and rejecting him. Forgetting who God was, what he had done, and what he promise, they digressed further becoming discontent, complaining and grumbling and distrusting God’s presence and ultimately rejecting God.

Now enter Exodus 17:8, in the state of forgetting, becoming discontent, complaining, grumbling, and rejecting God, we read, “The Amalekites came and attacked the Israelites at Rephidim.” The Amalekites who lived in the desert, south of Canaan around Kadesh were the descendants of Amalek, the son of Eliphaz, Easu’s eldest boy (Genesis 36:12). In other words, the Amalekites were the cousins of the Israelites. If the Amalekites believed God’s plan to bless all nations through Abraham including Amalek as he said in Genesis 12:3, there should have been no reason for them to feel threatened by the Israelites. But, instead of believing in the promise made to Abraham, the Amalekites came and attacked the Israelites at Rephidim. It is instructive to read Deuteronomy 25:17-19 which explains how they went about attacking the Israelites. It shows that they went after the Israelites who were lagging behind, meaning those who were vulnerable. Numbers 24:20 tells us that they were first among the nations to attack Israel.

As in 1 Peter 5:6-9 which tells us that the devil our enemy prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour, here we see the Amalekites prowling to devour the weak and the vulnerable. Here is how you know if you are nagging behind, if you are weak and vulnerable to attack? You know it when complaining and grumbling defines your heart instead of thankful gratitude; you know it when you feel numb to the presence and the work of God, when you forget God. You lag behind if your character is in shamble, if your heart is divided when God tests you.

2. What do you do when you are attacked, when your character and heart fails?

When the Amalekites came and attack those who were lagging behind, those who were weak and vulnerable, we see two responses. On the ground, Moses charged Joshua to lead the way to fight the Amalekites. And, Moses went on top of the hill and stood there with the staff of God in his hands and he held it up high. Joshua going out with the chosen men to fight the Amalekites is s no brainer. But, what’s with Moses going up to the top of the hill and holding up his hands and how it determined the outcome of the battle?

“The staff of God [Elohim]” symbolized the Yahweh’s powerful presences. A staff in Moses’ hand, which God turned into a snake and back to a staff (Exodus 4:2-4), which Moses struck the water of Nile and turned it to blood (Exodus 7:16-17) and a staff of Aaron which Yahweh turned into a snake and when challenged by the Egyptians who turned their staffs into snakes, the staff of Aaron swallowed up theirs, there on the top of the hill, the staff of God represented the power and the presence of Yahweh.

Exodus 9:22-23 when Yahweh told Moses to stretch out his hand toward the sky so that hail would fall all over Egypt, Moses responded by stretching out his staff toward the sky; Exodus 10:12-13 when Yahweh told Moses to stretch out his hand over Egypt so that locust would swarm over the land, Moses responded by stretching out his staff over Egypt; Exodus 14:16 when Yahweh told Moses to raise his staff and stretch out his hand over the seas to divide the water so that the Israelites can go through the sea on the cry ground, Moses again obeyed. Moses’ held up hands along with the staff of God was the symbol of the power of Yahweh and the conductor of his power upon the fighting men of Israel. It presented Yahweh as the Banner over them, their lead in the battle.

And, here is the key phrase from Exodus 17:11, “As long as”! “As long as Moses held up his hands, the Israelites were winning, but whenever he lowered his hands, the Amalekites were winning.” “As long as” speaks to long journey of perseverance, faithfulness and obedience.

As long as Moses had his hands held up high, the fighting men on the ground was winning. The outcome of the battle was sorely dependant on whether Moses’ hands were held up high or lower, not on the strength of the sword of the fighting men.

Moses’ staff, his hands raised up symbolized the Banner, Yahweh’s abiding and powerful presence that energized the fighting men on the ground and enabled them to overcome the enemy that prowled like a lion to devour.

Moses knew this. So, we see in Exodus 17:12, Moses trying really hard to keep the Banner up high, to bless Joshua and his fighting men on the ground with the power and the presence of Yahweh, but Moses couldn’t overcome the physical fatigue and his arm muscles cramping with burning pain.

This is when Aaron and Hur stepped in. Exodus 17:12, they got a stone and put it under Moses so he could sit on it. And, “Aaron and Hur held his hands up- one on one side, one on the other- so that his hands remained steady till sunset.” Exodus 17:13 says that because Moses’ hands were held up high steady until sunset, “Joshua overcame the Amalekites army with the sword.”

As the phrase, “As long as” speaks to remaining faithful and persevering, “remained steady” in verse 12 speaks to faithfulness, steadfastness and patience under severe trials.[1] As long as, they remained steady by raising up the Banner of Yahweh high, as long as they let the fighting troop know who was in charge of the battle and who was fighting for them, as long as the Israelites rallied around the Banner of Yahweh, they were victorious.

So, we see Moses in Exodus 17:15 making this confession, Yahweh Nissi, “The LORD is my Banner.” As Walter Kaiser says, “There was no such thing as a “holy war” in the OT, but there were “wars of Yahweh.””[2] Yahweh Nissi, “The LORD is my Banner,” means the battle belongs to the LORD; not only is he in charge, it is he who fights the battle and determines the outcome. And those who rally to the Banner, Yahweh, fight his battle. So, the Banner of Yahweh defines their identity and orients them to who they are, and gives them courage, hope, strength and the ultimately victory.[3]

So, what do you do when you are attack? What do you do when you notice the noise of grumbles, complaining, and distrusting in your heart? What do you do when you see your character failing? You declare, Yahweh Nissi, “The LORD is my Banner,” and you look to him and you rally around him, you recognize that you are fighting the LORD’s battle, and he is fighting for you.

Isaiah 11:10 reads, “In that day the Root of Jesse will stand as a banner for the peoples; the nations will rally to him, and his place of rest will be glorious…” The Root of Jesse is a Messianic phrase that points to Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ, he stands as the Banner for the peoples, for the nations to rally to him and there they will find rest, security, and hope.

Another passage, namely Numbers 21 also foreshadows the Messiah as the Banner. It’s an account of the Israelites en route to the Promised Land. Along the way, they grew impatient… they spoke against God and against Moses and said, “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the desert? There is no bread! There is no water! And we detest this miserable food [manna]!” Yahweh responded by sending venomous snakes that bit and killed many of the Israelites. People came to Moses and confessed their sin against Yahweh and against Moses and pleaded for Yahweh to take away the snakes. To this Yahweh told Moses, “Make a snake and put it up on a pole; anyone who is bitten can look at it and live.” Here, the word, “pole” is the same Hebrew word, “nes” used for “banner” in other places.

Jesus quoted this account in talking to Nicodemus to speak of his death on the cross, “so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life” (John 3:14-15). It was grotesque to look upon the bronze serpent but utterly necessary to live and to the Jews the crucifixion was a sign of curse, repugnant to behold, but again utterly necessary for eternal life. So, the Banner of the snake raised up is a picture of Jesus Christ cursed, who became sin for us as He hung on that awful tree.[4]

What do you do when you are attacked? You declare Yahweh Nissis, “The LORD is my Banner.” You rally to Jesus Christ and behold the cross where he died, you rally to Jesus Christ who died and was raised from the dead. He is your Banner over you!

Application

• Pray… Practically speaking, what was Moses doing while he had his hands lifted up high with the help from Aaron and Hur until sunset? Philip Graham Ryken thinks that while Joshua fought with sword, Moses fought with prayer[5] And, I quote, “In our prayer we acknowledge our absolute dependence on God to conquer the enemies of our faith.”[6] What do you do when you are under attack, when you notice the noises of grumbling, complaining, and distrusting in your heart? You declare Yahweh Nissis, “The LORD is my Banner,” and turn to Jesus in prayer.
• Understand and remember the battle belongs to Yahweh… Exodus 17:14, we see Yahweh’s command to write this on a scroll as something to be remembered and make sure that Joshua hears it…” Joshua was on the ground with sword fighting the Amalekites and didn’t have grasp on what took place on the top of the hill. Understanding it is God’s battle you fight, understanding God is in charge of the battle, of you, and actively remembering this fact Yahweh Nissi, “The LORD is my Banner” … this is the key to be victorious and not become a victim to the enemy that prowls to destroy.
• Confess you have no strength apart from God’s strength… Confess you have no strength apart from strength in the Lord as it says in Ephesians 6:10-11. “Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes.”
• Rally around the Banner of the cross… Remember that your rally point is the Banner of the cross. Colossians 2:13-15 says, “When You were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, having canceled the written code, with its regulations, that was against us and that stood opposed to us; he took it away, nailing it to the cross. And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.” It is there at the cross, you know the power of death, the power of the enemy, the power of the sinful flesh was nailed to the cross, there at the cross, you know the resurrection followed. And, when you rally around the cross and behold the Banner of Christ, you will be able to sing victoriously as in Revelation 19:2, “Hallelujah! Salvation and glory and power belong to our God, for true and just are his judgments. He has condemned the great prostitute who corrupted the earth by her adulteries. He has avenged on her the blood of his servant.” And, Revelation 19:6, the roar of a great multitude in heaven will be heard, “Hallelujah! For our Lord God Almighty reigns.”

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[1] Kaiser, Jr., Walter C. “Exodus Note 17:12” In The Expositor's Bible Commentary: Volume 2. 410. Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, © 1990.

[2] Kaiser, Jr., Walter C. “4. The war with Amalek (17:8-16)” In The Expositor's Bible Commentary: Volume 2. 409. Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, © 1990.

[3] Philip Graham Ryken, Exodus, Crossway, 2005, p. 466.

[4] Earl D. Radmacher, Ronald Barclay Allen and H. Wayne House, Nelson's New Illustrated Bible Commentary (Nashville: T. Nelson Publishers, 1999), Nu 21:7-9.

[5] Phlip Graham Ryken, Exodus, Crossway, 2005, p. 462.

[6] Ibid., p. 463.

CMC Life Group: Yahweh Yireh, the LORD will provide!

Read Genesis 22:1-19

Genesis 22	Read the verses below and write down your own observation on how they relate to the Genesis account.
Genesis 22:6… the wood… placed… on his son Isaac…	John 19:17
Genesis 22:9…Isaac’s silent trust in Abraham and ultimately in Yahweh	Isaiah 53:7 Isaiah 53:10 1 Peter 1:19-20
Genesis 22:10… Abraham didn’t hold back his son Isaac from God.	Hebrews 11:17-19 Romans 8:31-32

• Yahweh Yireh tests you… Why did God test Abraham?
• Worship your Provider, Yahweh Yireh… Abraham to his servants in Genesis 22:5, “We will worship and then we will come back to you.” In Genesis 22:10, you see Abraham drawing the knife to slay his son, not withholding Isaac from God. How does Abraham’s response to God’s command reflect the heart of worship?
• Trust your Provider, Yahweh Yireh… How did Abraham trust Yahweh Yireh? How did Isaac trust Yahweh?

Share & Apply…

• Share how Yahweh Yireh has tested you or is testing you to reveal your heart and what you are made of?
• Worship is matter of priority. How are you worshiping Yahweh Yireh, your Provider?
• Reflecting Hebrews 11:1, “faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see,” what does it mean for you to trust Yahweh Yireh, your Provider?
• Pray for each other that worship and faith in Yahweh Yireh is restored and revived.

Yahweh Yireh, the LORD Will Provide, Genesis 22:1-19

Cornerstone Mission Church, Sunday Sermon, July 5 2009

During my college years, my summer job was painting. I remember having a conversation with one of the painters about Christianity. He not as a believer had real doubts about the Bible. And, I remember him citing the story of the binding of Isaac when Abraham was tested by God in Genesis 22. He was adamant in his belief that God of the Bible is cruel to order Abraham to sacrifice Isaac. And, he couldn’t believe in God who he saw as cruel and unjust. My goodness that was over twenty years ago.  I don’t remember what I told him as a young Christian. But, I am sure I tried to answer him the best I could.

The name of God, Yahweh Yireh, or popularly known as Jehovah Jirah, that I would like to introduce to you this morning comes from Genesis 22. Yahweh Yireh means the LORD will provide. The personal I AM, who was, who is and who will be, who is personally grieved by our sins, who redeems us from our sins, this Yahweh is God who provides. This morning my prayer is that you encounter Yahweh Yireh and walk in confidence in him that the LORD will provide!

1. Yahweh Yireh tests you.

During my family time in Michigan, I met Brian Hommel who was a former professional baseball player and has been the chaplain for the Arizona Diamonbacks. He gave me a little book he wrote, ‘dropping the fig leaves.’ In defining his struggle in his own life, he wrote, “It is human nature to want the greatest amount of happiness with the least amount of pain.”[1] This is twisted sin nature of self-serving that only knows “My life for my life.” When we try to know God as the Provider through the eyes of self-serving, “My life for my life” attitude, we inevitably reduce God to the one who exists to make us happy; our self-serving selfish attitude seeks to domesticate God to our likes and wants.

But, Yahweh, the Great I AM, who was, who is, and who will be, the LORD has never allowed and will never allow his creation to usurp his authority as the Creator, the LORD, the Master, the Owner, the King.

So, what we see in Genesis 22:1 is God, Elohim, testing Abraham. Do you know that God tests to reveal what we are made of? He doesn’t test us because he doesn’t know us, for he knows us better that we know ourselves. He tests us in order to show us what we are made of. Are we the kind of people who are willing to love God with all our hearts, minds and souls? When God tests us, what would be revealed as most important to us? When God tests us, are we going to be revealed as people who simply trust God because he is beneficial to us, or we trust him with our lives?

Now, we as readers know what’s going on since the narrator tells us what’s going on here, namely that Abraham is being tested in this chapter. But, Abraham didn’t know any of this. Job was put through the fire of test and just like Abraham, he didn’t know what was going on either. So, imagine the shock when Abraham heard from God, “Take you son, your only son, Isaac, whom you love.” Do you notice how this is getting more personal for Abraham? “Take your son, your only son, Isaac, whom you love, and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains.” Ouch! Can you feel the pain Abraham must felt here?

This is Abraham who waited for 25 some years for Isaac to be given to him. In the previous chapter, there was this great joy of seeing beginning of the fulfillment of God’s promise to make Abraham a great nation with his offspring as numerous as stars.

But, when Isaac was old enough to wean off probably two or three, things got ugly in Abraham’s household. Sarah saw Ishmael mocking and she would have none of it. She demanded of Abraham. “Get rid of that slave woman and her son, for that slave woman’s son will never share in the inheritance with my son Isaac,” Genesis 21:10. 21:11 says that the matter distressed Abraham greatly because it concerned his son. But, soon he found that God’s was on Sarah’s side on this. God came to Abraham. God addressed first Abraham’s distress and told him, “Do not be so distressed about the boy and your maidservant.” And, he told him why he should listen to whatever Sarah told him, it was because it is through Isaac that his offspring would be reckoned. And, God gave Abraham hope for his son Ishmael for he had a plan for Ishmael, to make him into a nation. So, in Genesis 21:14, we see him sending away his firstborn son Ishmael and Hagar. Here, although in distress Abraham submitted to God’s will for Ishmael.

This is the backdrop of when God came to test Abraham in Genesis 22. He’d been through a lot, but God wasn’t done with Abraham, more testing was required. God was going after Abraham’s heart, you will see.

A commentator writes that God’s command to Abraham in Hebrew has the sense of unusual gentleness. So, the nuance in Hebrew would be something like, “Please, take your son.” God understood the difficulty of the test and he spoke to Abraham with gentleness.^[2]

Genesis 22:1... "Sometime later God tested Abraham..." This would be the answer to the doubt of the painter I mentioned earlier.

In later revelation, God clearly forbad in Leviticus 18:21 the Israelites from sacrificing of any of their children as offering to Molech for this would have profaned his name. He repeats this command in Deuteronomy 18:10 and 12, “Let no one be found among you who sacrifice his son or daughter in the fire,” for “Anyone who does these things is detestable to the LORD.” One thing that you can count on God is he is consistent. So, we must understand Genesis 22, the binding of Isaac as in God testing to reveal what was most important to Abraham as well as for his son Isaac. God’s purpose of testing was to confirm what he knew of Abraham and Isaac; his intention was never to sacrifice a child. No doubt this command to sacrifice Isaac consumed Abraham, but for God the command was only an instrument of his testing. [3] God is not cruel as my painter friend understood him."

God also tested later time during the wilderness. After three days into from escaping Egypt, when they arrived in the desert and found only bitter water they couldn’t drink, people began to grumble against God. There, he turned the bitter water into sweet and drinkable. Exodus 15:25 says, “there he tested them.” Victor P. Hamilton says, “Will the Israelites take freedom with all the insecurities that freedom brings, or will they take incarceration and the guarantee of regular meals? That is the test,” says in his commentary. God tests to reveal what we are made of, what is most important to us, whether we will treasure him over all others.[4] Are we going to be lorded over by gifts from God or by Yahweh Yireh, the Provider, the gift Giver?

Consider God’s testing. “Take your son, your only son, Isaac, whom you love, and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering” Genesis 22:2. Ouch! The burnt offering, Hebrew in ola, is translated as holokautoma in the New Testament where we get holocaust.[5] The burnt offerings of animals were to be completely burned except for the hide on the altar (Leviticus 1). I remind you that Isaac was the very fulfillment of God’s own promise to make Abraham into a great nation, to bestow him great blessing, to make his offspring numerous as stars. God was asking Abraham, “Abraham, will you give up your son whom I gave to you?

2. Worship your Provider, Yahweh Yireh

Please, look down to Genesis 22:5 to how Abraham responded to his two servants, “We will worship and then we will come back to you.” Abraham did not understand that God was putting him through a test, but what he understood was that obedience was a matter of worship. I think Abraham understood that the demand upon him from God went straight to the matter of priority. What made Abraham truly happy, was it because God promised and fulfilled his promise and gave him a son? Was he happy because of the gift he possessed or was he happy because of the gift Giver?

Worship is matter of priority. What does it mean to love God with all our heart, all our mind, all our strength, all our soul? What does it mean to offer our bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God, as our spiritual act of worship? Abraham understood this that worship is matter of priority. It is no worship to love gifts more than the Giver of gifts. So, Abraham, without understanding that God’s purpose was to test his heart, not the actual act of child sacrifice, Abraham understood that God was more important than his son, his only son, whom he loved. This is worship to love the Giver of gifts more than gifts he gives.

3. Trust your Provider, Yahweh Yireh

Going back to his response to his servants, “We will worship and then we will come back to you.” We as in himself and Isaac will worship and then we as again himself and Isaac will come back to you. Hebrews 11:17-19 interprets for us clearly what was going through Abraham’s mind. It says, “By faith Abraham, when God tested him, offered Isaac as a sacrifice. He who received the promises was about to sacrifice his on and only son, even though God had said to him, ‘It is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned.’ Abraham reasoned that God could raise the dead, and figuratively speaking, he did receive Isaac back from death.”

When God tested Abraham, when God confronted his heart and mind for his allegiance, his love, his delight, his trust, he could only reconcile the fact God was demanding back the gift of his son Isaac God gave to him only through his belief in God’s power to raise the dead.

Already in Genesis, thousands of years before Jesus Christ, Abraham held on to faith of being sure of what he hoped for and being certain of what he could not see. He trusted Yahweh Yireh, the LORD will provide!

And, this is exactly what he believed and how he answered his son Isaac when Isaac asked him, “The fire and wood are here… but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?” He answered Isaac, “God [Elohim] himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.” Abraham trusted in Yahweh Yireh, the LORD will provide!

Now, let’s look at Isaac. Back to Genesis 22:6, it says, “Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and placed it on his son Isaac.” This image foreshadowed of what was to take place on the Golgotha in John 19:17 where Jesus carried the cross.

Isaac was young, but strong enough to carry the wood for the burnt offering. Genesis 22:9, we see Abraham binding (the aquedah) his son Isaac and laying him on the altar. And, there Abraham drew his knife to slay his son. What you don’t see is Isaac trying to fight the rope and escape the certain death at the hands of his own father. [6] Again, it wasn’t because Isaac was weak and unable to fight off, but Father like son, as Abraham trusted in Yahweh Yireh, Isaac too trusted in Abraham, and ultimately Yahweh Yireh. That’s what you see here.

And, what’s significant is that Isaac’s obedient silence is captured in Isaiah 53:7. It speaks of the suffering servant, Jesus Christ… “He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth.”

Isaiah 53:10 says, “it was the LORD’s will to crush him and cause him to suffer, and though the LORD makes his life a guilt offering.” And, 1 Peter 1:19-20, “but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect. He was chosen before the creation of the world, but was revealed in these last times for your sake.” The difference is that Isaac was redeemed and was not killed while the ram Yahweh Yireh provided was killed and was offered as the burnt offering.

In Abraham’s determination to carry out sacrifice his child which was stopped by God foreshadowed Yahweh Yireh who didn’t hold back his One and only Son, Jesus Christ. Romans 8:31-32, “If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all- how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?”

4. Conclusion

Here is how it works. Yahweh Yireh wants to give himself, his One and only Son Jesus Christ to you and me. And, the only way to accept God Son into our lives is through worship and trust. Philippians 4:19, "But my God shall supply all your needs according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus." 

God is testing you to see if you love him more than all the gifts he gives? God is testing you to see if you know him, Yahweh Yireh, the Great Provider, who demands everything from you, your life, your possession, all that you treasure, in return Yahweh Yireh gives you Jesus Christ.

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[1] Brian S. Hommel, A Search for Authenticity: dropping the fig leaves. Movement Publishing: Chandler, Arizona, 2008, p. 17.

^[2] Gordon J. Wenham, vol. 2, Word Biblical Commentary : Genesis 16-50, electronic ed., Logos Library System; Word Biblical Commentary (Dallas: Word, Incorporated, 1998), 113.

[3] Sailhamer, John H. “4. The binding of Isaac (22:1-14)” In The Expositor's Bible Commentary: Volume 2. 167. Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, © 1990.

[4] Victor P. Hamilton, The Book of Genesis, Wm. B. Eerdmans, Grand Rapids, Michigan, 1995. p. 101.

[5] Ibid., p. 103.

[6] Ibid.. p. 110.