WEBVTT 00:00:01.449 --> 00:00:04.910 This is your daily reminder. God has not run 00:00:04.910 --> 00:00:08.609 out of mercy, not for you, not today. Welcome 00:00:08.609 --> 00:00:12.400 to the New Mercies Podcast. Welcome. Today is 00:00:12.400 --> 00:00:16.420 April the 2nd, and we are in Genesis 22 today. 00:00:16.640 --> 00:00:19.059 If you're new here, be sure you follow the podcast 00:00:19.059 --> 00:00:21.300 so you don't miss an episode Monday through Saturday, 00:00:21.420 --> 00:00:24.760 all leading up to our time together on Sunday 00:00:24.760 --> 00:00:26.440 morning. If you're a part of our New Providence 00:00:26.440 --> 00:00:29.100 Church family, or if you watch us online, basically 00:00:29.100 --> 00:00:32.200 I'm giving you my notes and all of my cross -references 00:00:32.200 --> 00:00:34.299 to what I'm going to be preaching on Sunday. 00:00:34.439 --> 00:00:37.020 So today we are going to look in Genesis 22, 00:00:37.299 --> 00:00:39.500 one of the most beautiful pictures in the Old 00:00:39.500 --> 00:00:43.250 Testament about a father and son and sacrifice 00:00:43.250 --> 00:00:45.770 and what this looks like. I was telling my small 00:00:45.770 --> 00:00:48.469 group this past week that I love this text because 00:00:48.469 --> 00:00:50.590 it's really the best place in the Old Testament 00:00:50.590 --> 00:00:53.469 that gives us a picture of what happens at Calvary 00:00:53.469 --> 00:00:56.609 at the time of Jesus's sacrifice from the... 00:00:56.810 --> 00:00:59.310 Father's perspective. We can read Genesis 22 00:00:59.310 --> 00:01:02.469 multiple times. In fact, I was preaching at this 00:01:02.469 --> 00:01:04.310 church as a guest preacher a couple of times 00:01:04.310 --> 00:01:06.709 in a row, and I actually preached this exact 00:01:06.709 --> 00:01:09.469 same text just from three different perspectives. 00:01:09.810 --> 00:01:12.069 The first time I did it, I was from the perspective 00:01:12.069 --> 00:01:14.709 of Isaac. And then the next... Next perspective 00:01:14.709 --> 00:01:17.290 was of Abraham. And then the next one was of 00:01:17.290 --> 00:01:19.790 those that were onlookers. And here's what I 00:01:19.790 --> 00:01:21.890 noticed. If you read that text in those different 00:01:21.890 --> 00:01:24.109 perspectives, you get a completely different 00:01:24.109 --> 00:01:26.510 understanding of what's going on. And it helps 00:01:26.510 --> 00:01:29.290 to give you a little more robust, a little bigger 00:01:29.290 --> 00:01:32.010 picture of what's actually happening here. And 00:01:32.010 --> 00:01:34.689 it gives you a little more insight into the father's 00:01:34.689 --> 00:01:37.400 perspective specifically. As I was looking at 00:01:37.400 --> 00:01:40.040 it from Abraham's perspective, it was very rich 00:01:40.040 --> 00:01:43.140 and very awesome. Here's what I know as we read 00:01:43.140 --> 00:01:45.659 this text today. Read all of Genesis 22. I'm 00:01:45.659 --> 00:01:47.120 going to give you a little summary of it and 00:01:47.120 --> 00:01:48.799 just give you a couple highlights, and then I 00:01:48.799 --> 00:01:51.359 want to talk about something that maybe, just 00:01:51.359 --> 00:01:54.519 maybe, you didn't see, hopefully. But what I 00:01:54.519 --> 00:01:56.140 want to talk about is as we look through the 00:01:56.140 --> 00:01:58.719 text, you see God is testing Abraham from the 00:01:58.719 --> 00:02:01.180 beginning. He says, Abraham, take your son, your 00:02:01.180 --> 00:02:05.650 only son Isaac, whom you love. Well, what we 00:02:05.650 --> 00:02:07.790 will notice is if you read this story and you 00:02:07.790 --> 00:02:10.110 look at what happens in Passion Week and up to 00:02:10.110 --> 00:02:13.330 Easter Sunday, Resurrection Sunday, you'll see 00:02:13.330 --> 00:02:16.050 a lot of parallels, a lot of things that God 00:02:16.050 --> 00:02:18.729 is saying to us through his son Jesus and what 00:02:18.729 --> 00:02:22.009 Abraham says to his son Isaac and how these symbols 00:02:22.009 --> 00:02:24.449 play over. I mean, it is a beautiful, you can 00:02:24.449 --> 00:02:26.330 almost lay the two stories over side by side, 00:02:26.330 --> 00:02:28.289 one on top of the other, and it looked exactly 00:02:28.289 --> 00:02:32.949 the same because Isaac is Abraham's. one and 00:02:32.949 --> 00:02:34.969 only son. Now, Abraham did have another son, 00:02:35.090 --> 00:02:37.969 but God was making a promise through this one. 00:02:38.110 --> 00:02:41.030 He was making a faithful covenant through this 00:02:41.030 --> 00:02:44.849 one son. I think it's very important for us to 00:02:44.849 --> 00:02:47.330 know, he says, Abraham, take your only son, whom 00:02:47.330 --> 00:02:50.370 you love, Isaac, and I want you to take him and 00:02:50.370 --> 00:02:53.680 I want you to sacrifice him. Now Abraham doesn't 00:02:53.680 --> 00:02:55.259 understand this, but he says, I want you to take 00:02:55.259 --> 00:02:58.219 him to a place. I want you to pick up, get together, 00:02:58.419 --> 00:03:01.819 go for a journey. You're going to go, you're 00:03:01.819 --> 00:03:03.159 going to take three days, and you're going to 00:03:03.159 --> 00:03:04.900 get to this place. When I show you the place, 00:03:05.000 --> 00:03:07.539 you'll know that's the place to stop. I keep 00:03:07.539 --> 00:03:10.340 saying the phrase, the place, because you'll 00:03:10.340 --> 00:03:12.900 read it over and over again in Genesis 22. I 00:03:12.900 --> 00:03:15.620 did it on purpose. I wasn't just stuttering over 00:03:15.620 --> 00:03:17.939 myself over and over again. Over and over you'll 00:03:17.939 --> 00:03:20.159 hear it says, when he got to the place, when 00:03:20.159 --> 00:03:22.500 he looked at his head and saw the place. And 00:03:22.500 --> 00:03:25.560 that phrasing is the same that is used when Jesus 00:03:25.560 --> 00:03:27.280 gets crucified. It said when they took him to 00:03:27.280 --> 00:03:29.360 the place of the skull. You may have read that 00:03:29.360 --> 00:03:32.900 in Luke 23 a couple of weeks ago. He says, when 00:03:32.900 --> 00:03:34.900 you get to the place, I will show you where you 00:03:34.900 --> 00:03:36.979 are to sacrifice your son. And then there's a 00:03:36.979 --> 00:03:39.120 moment at the bottom of this hillside where he 00:03:39.120 --> 00:03:41.719 tells the servants that are with him, hey, you 00:03:41.719 --> 00:03:44.159 guys stay right here. We're going to go a little 00:03:44.159 --> 00:03:46.520 bit further. We're going to worship. going to 00:03:46.520 --> 00:03:49.360 come back to you. And then there's a little journey 00:03:49.360 --> 00:03:50.819 that takes place, depending on the perspective 00:03:50.819 --> 00:03:53.599 that you look at. Sometimes I think of this as 00:03:53.599 --> 00:03:56.219 the perspective of Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane, 00:03:56.219 --> 00:03:58.319 and he tells his disciples, hey, stay right here. 00:03:58.400 --> 00:04:00.479 I'm going a little further, and then I'll come 00:04:00.479 --> 00:04:02.340 back. I'm going a little further, and I'll come 00:04:02.340 --> 00:04:04.960 back. It kind of mirrors that account. But I 00:04:04.960 --> 00:04:06.539 also think there's something really beautiful 00:04:06.539 --> 00:04:09.560 that Abraham says to these servants, we're going 00:04:09.560 --> 00:04:11.719 to a place that only a father and son can go. 00:04:12.240 --> 00:04:15.280 This is just between me and him. This is just 00:04:15.280 --> 00:04:18.279 between us. No other man outside of the family, 00:04:18.319 --> 00:04:20.300 no other person outside of our family can come 00:04:20.300 --> 00:04:22.220 and experience what we are going to go experience. 00:04:22.920 --> 00:04:26.009 That's what happened on the cross. right? It's 00:04:26.009 --> 00:04:29.029 between God and Jesus. Jesus is paying for our 00:04:29.029 --> 00:04:31.529 sins and God is the one that is dealing with 00:04:31.529 --> 00:04:33.930 those sins. When we sin, we sin against God alone, 00:04:34.110 --> 00:04:36.410 right? Our consequences may affect other people, 00:04:36.430 --> 00:04:39.069 but our sin, our direct rebellion is against 00:04:39.069 --> 00:04:41.990 the Lord. Abraham and Isaac go a little bit further. 00:04:42.110 --> 00:04:44.410 And when they are on their way, there's wood 00:04:44.410 --> 00:04:48.550 laid on Isaac's back. Abraham has the fire and 00:04:48.550 --> 00:04:51.129 they've got some stuff that are there with him 00:04:51.129 --> 00:04:53.500 to prepare the sacrifice. And Isaac looks to 00:04:53.500 --> 00:04:57.420 his dad, and he says, Father, here's the wood, 00:04:57.439 --> 00:04:59.500 and here's the fire, and here's our supplies. 00:04:59.560 --> 00:05:03.139 Where is the lamb to be sacrificed? And Abraham 00:05:03.139 --> 00:05:07.040 says, well, God will provide. And that is an 00:05:07.040 --> 00:05:10.240 amazing faith. Now, here's what Abraham believed. 00:05:10.339 --> 00:05:12.319 Now, if we can go into Hebrews 11, and we can 00:05:12.319 --> 00:05:14.579 read about Abraham's thoughts in those days. 00:05:15.450 --> 00:05:17.670 Abraham had so much confidence, he was willing 00:05:17.670 --> 00:05:19.750 to sacrifice his son, believing that God would 00:05:19.750 --> 00:05:21.850 raise him from the dead because he's the child 00:05:21.850 --> 00:05:24.709 of the promise. It's a ridiculous amount of faith. 00:05:24.889 --> 00:05:26.649 There had been nobody raised from the dead at 00:05:26.649 --> 00:05:28.610 this point. There had been nobody had that kind 00:05:28.610 --> 00:05:30.870 of story, but Abraham said, my God is big enough 00:05:30.870 --> 00:05:34.290 to do that kind of story. And now he goes up 00:05:34.290 --> 00:05:36.490 to the mountain, and you can read it in the text. 00:05:36.589 --> 00:05:38.209 I don't want to spoil all of it for you in case 00:05:38.209 --> 00:05:40.290 you haven't read it yet. But he goes up to the 00:05:40.290 --> 00:05:42.290 mountain to sacrifice his son, and right before 00:05:42.290 --> 00:05:44.930 the moment he gets bound, Isaac, the son, It's 00:05:44.930 --> 00:05:48.730 bound up and tied up and laid on an altar. Now, 00:05:48.750 --> 00:05:51.790 this place is a mountain range, and it's Mount 00:05:51.790 --> 00:05:55.029 Moriah. It's a place that's actually where Jerusalem 00:05:55.029 --> 00:05:58.949 sits. So here's what happens in the scene. He 00:05:58.949 --> 00:06:01.990 gets ready to slay his only son that he loves, 00:06:02.149 --> 00:06:05.970 and God provides a ram in the thicket right beside 00:06:05.970 --> 00:06:10.610 him. And as he frees his son and brings the lamb 00:06:10.610 --> 00:06:13.790 out and sacrifices that ram there on that altar, 00:06:14.509 --> 00:06:17.230 Isaac thought, man, right there's my substitute, 00:06:17.490 --> 00:06:20.689 right? Jesus is our substitute. He's the lamb. 00:06:20.810 --> 00:06:22.850 There's all those pictures involved with all 00:06:22.850 --> 00:06:25.329 this. But I think it's very interesting that 00:06:25.329 --> 00:06:28.149 Abraham says, this is the place. This will be 00:06:28.149 --> 00:06:31.850 the place that the Lord will provide. And it's 00:06:31.850 --> 00:06:35.990 the same mountain range where Jesus was sacrificed. 00:06:36.370 --> 00:06:39.209 It's the same mountain range where Jesus was 00:06:39.209 --> 00:06:42.410 crucified. Why? Because the Lord will provide. 00:06:42.449 --> 00:06:44.949 On that mountain range, the Lord will provide. 00:06:45.389 --> 00:06:47.189 Now I want to share something maybe you don't 00:06:47.189 --> 00:06:50.350 see when you read this story. And it's actually 00:06:50.350 --> 00:06:55.050 found in verses 20 through verse 24. It's towards 00:06:55.050 --> 00:06:57.889 the end of the chapter. Here's what happens. 00:06:57.970 --> 00:07:00.300 You read this chapter and you're thinking, man, 00:07:00.339 --> 00:07:02.120 this is a great story. This is awesome. I've 00:07:02.120 --> 00:07:04.060 heard this before. I've read it. I understand 00:07:04.060 --> 00:07:05.980 a little bit of it. But there's something that 00:07:05.980 --> 00:07:08.860 happens after this that almost feels anticlimactic. 00:07:09.279 --> 00:07:12.819 But let me just tell you, it is nothing of the 00:07:12.819 --> 00:07:16.180 sort. It is absolutely beautiful. I want to read 00:07:16.180 --> 00:07:18.860 a couple of verses to you at the end of Genesis 00:07:18.860 --> 00:07:21.579 22, just so you don't think the story's already 00:07:21.579 --> 00:07:23.759 over. Here's what the Bible says in verse number 00:07:23.759 --> 00:07:27.560 20. Now, after these things, it was told to Abraham, 00:07:27.819 --> 00:07:31.759 behold, Milcah also has born children to your 00:07:31.759 --> 00:07:37.199 brother Nahor. Uz, his firstborn, Buz, his brother, 00:07:37.519 --> 00:07:42.839 Chemuel, the father of Aram, Chesed, Hazo, Pildash, 00:07:42.899 --> 00:07:46.300 Jidlaf, and Bethuel. And in verse 23, I want 00:07:46.300 --> 00:07:49.240 to read this. Bethuel fathered Rebekah. These 00:07:49.240 --> 00:07:52.759 eight Milcah bore to Nahor, Abraham's brother. 00:07:53.180 --> 00:07:57.199 I want to stop right there. Verse 23, because 00:07:57.199 --> 00:07:59.459 there's something really awesome that maybe we 00:07:59.459 --> 00:08:03.959 did not see. Why in the world do we start seeing 00:08:03.959 --> 00:08:08.019 children born after this sacrificial moment? 00:08:08.990 --> 00:08:11.050 Well, let's fast forward and let's look at the 00:08:11.050 --> 00:08:14.269 death of Christ and the resurrection of Christ. 00:08:14.470 --> 00:08:17.810 And when Jesus comes back from the dead and he 00:08:17.810 --> 00:08:21.550 is there, the church is born. There is birth, 00:08:21.670 --> 00:08:26.850 new birth that happens after the sacrifice, after 00:08:26.850 --> 00:08:29.290 the... faithfulness, after the obedience, there 00:08:29.290 --> 00:08:32.169 is new birth that takes place. Now here's what's 00:08:32.169 --> 00:08:34.370 awesome. You read these names and you think these 00:08:34.370 --> 00:08:36.490 names, I don't, they sound weird. They don't 00:08:36.490 --> 00:08:38.529 matter to me. I don't understand them. Why do 00:08:38.529 --> 00:08:41.750 they matter? This introduces a lady into the 00:08:41.750 --> 00:08:44.350 story in verse 23. It's found in the parentheses 00:08:44.350 --> 00:08:47.970 in your Bible. Her name is Rebecca. Here's what 00:08:47.970 --> 00:08:50.250 I want you to know. So the children of Israel, 00:08:50.309 --> 00:08:54.379 it's Abraham's lineage, right? Abraham's lineage, 00:08:54.519 --> 00:08:57.879 not Abraham's brother's lineage, Abraham's lineage, 00:08:58.100 --> 00:09:01.940 specifically Isaac's lineage, right? Here's what 00:09:01.940 --> 00:09:06.340 happens. After this moment on this mountain and 00:09:06.340 --> 00:09:09.360 this sacrifice and this death to life moment, 00:09:09.600 --> 00:09:13.179 after this substitute was provided, after Isaac 00:09:13.179 --> 00:09:16.299 is alive coming down to the bottom of this mountain 00:09:16.299 --> 00:09:19.399 to meet those servants once again, after that 00:09:19.399 --> 00:09:23.039 incredible moment, There is new birth, and not 00:09:23.039 --> 00:09:26.139 only new birth, but new birth outside of the 00:09:26.139 --> 00:09:28.960 family, marrying in. You know who Rebecca is, 00:09:29.120 --> 00:09:31.879 right? Rebecca ends up marrying somebody, and 00:09:31.879 --> 00:09:34.980 it's a pretty awesome story. Here's what I love. 00:09:35.909 --> 00:09:39.309 After Jesus died and he rose again, the church 00:09:39.309 --> 00:09:42.889 was born, and it wasn't just born to one nation. 00:09:43.009 --> 00:09:46.029 It was born to all of those even outside of the 00:09:46.029 --> 00:09:49.470 nation. We're able to become a part of his family 00:09:49.470 --> 00:09:53.450 because he is so good and so gracious and so 00:09:53.450 --> 00:09:56.289 loving that he says, even those outside of this 00:09:56.289 --> 00:09:58.870 covenant family are going to be a part of my 00:09:58.870 --> 00:10:01.870 greater family. And so he brings us and marries 00:10:01.870 --> 00:10:04.929 us in as the bride of Christ. It's a beautiful 00:10:04.929 --> 00:10:07.580 story. It's incredible to think about. I hope 00:10:07.580 --> 00:10:09.980 and pray when you read Genesis 22 today, you 00:10:09.980 --> 00:10:11.899 find a little bit more joy, a little bit more 00:10:11.899 --> 00:10:14.519 satisfaction in knowing that God loves you so 00:10:14.519 --> 00:10:18.080 much. He sent his only son to die for you so 00:10:18.080 --> 00:10:22.460 that we might have new birth and live. That's 00:10:22.460 --> 00:10:23.840 what he wants us to do. That's what he wants 00:10:23.840 --> 00:10:26.000 us to be. I encourage you today, read Genesis 00:10:26.000 --> 00:10:28.960 22. Read a couple times if you need to. Find 00:10:28.960 --> 00:10:30.980 something in there that the Lord wants to show 00:10:30.980 --> 00:10:32.440 you and reveal to you today.