Cost of Obedience Images of Sacrifice, Part 1 New Life Assembly April 10, 2011 AM Genesis 22; 1 Samuel 1:21-28

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Marilyn Atkinson
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1 Cost of Obedience Images of Sacrifice, Part 1 New Life Assembly April 10, 2011 AM Genesis 22; 1 Samuel 1:21-28 Main Sermon Point: Sacrifice brought the power of God into the lives of people in the world. Introduction What comes to your mind when I say sacrifice? Some people may have the image of some animal being slaughtered. Others may have the painful notion of losing something you don t want to lose. Sometimes, that means gaining something better, but most of the time it just means losing. We don t like the connotations of sacrifice. We don t like losing stuff. We don t like giving something up. Sacrifice is not by any means a manmade thing! As we come into the Easter season, there are several different ways of understanding the Cross in the Bible. Some of these ways are as follows. You can look at the relational understanding of what Jesus did on the cross as restoring relationship between God and humanity, or reconciliation. You can look at it legally, like Jesus dying on the cross, and my obedience to Him, means that I m justified and stand innocent as He is innocent. You can look at the cross as a military analogy of God winning the victory over death and hell and the grave, and saving us all. But one of the images I want to focus on this Easter is what is called Penal Substitutionary Atonement. This is the image that Jesus death on the cross ends the need for a sacrificial system and that He died in my place. Jesus innocent death is the ultimate sacrifice, according to the writer of Hebrews. He died once and for all. No more need for sacrifices. Let s take a look at sacrifice through this series, starting of course where it all started, in the Old Testament. I want to focus on some types of Christ s sacrifice in the Gospels, but I will offer a short history of sacrifice first. Let s turn to Genesis 22. A History of Sacrifice Up to Abraham First Sacrifice made by God in the Garden of Eden (Gen 3:21). God covered Adam and Eve with animal skins. The Bible does not specifically say this, but you must kill the animal to use the skins. God makes the first and ultimate final sacrifice! Cain and Abel were well aware of what it meant to sacrifice. Cain sacrificed from his farming produce while Abel sacrificed from the flocks he shepherded. Something in Cain s sacrifice did not please God. It could have been his method in sacrificing, the kind of sacrifice he made, or his attitude or motive in sacrificing (Gen 4:1-7). Noah offered a burnt offering from all the clean animals and clean birds to the Lord after the flood (Gen 8:20ff.). 1

2 God tells Noah to not eat flesh with its lifeblood in it and talks about requiring a reckoning for the shed lifeblood of animals and people (Gen 9:4-6). There are several other times, especially through covenant making where sacrifice would have been part of the ceremony, but let s now look at Genesis 22. I. The sacrifice of a son tests the parent s obedience (Gen 22). A. God challenges with an extreme proposition. 1.Sometimes we can t understand why God would take us to the edge. a. One of the most effective ways to test a person is to take them to the most extreme case to find out how they would react. Here, the text tells us what Abraham might have already realized, that God was testing him. b. You see, there is a history here that we must first understand to put this sacrifice into context. Back when God had promised Abraham an heir by Sarah, he waited and waited and waited. c. But alas, it didn t seem like God would do what He had promised, so it came time when Sarah told Abraham to take Hagar, her maidservant, and have a child by Hagar. d. So Abraham went ahead and did this, and Hagar bore a son named Ishmael. But this of course caused jealousy and bickering between the two women and Abraham allowed Sarah to decide to send Hagar and Ishmael away. e. Fast forward to the promise coming from God and not through human wisdom when Sarah is supernaturally pregnant in her later years with Isaac, and the promised son, the vehicle for promise, comes into the world. f. It s most likely around the time that he is a growing boy, able to communicate and understand things, perhaps right before he becomes a man, that Abraham is tested by God. His faith is being tested. He tried to fulfill God s promise on his own once before, would he try that again? g. Application: The first lesson we can learn from the sacrifice of the promised son Isaac is that when we repeatedly turn to our own means and human resources to fulfill God s promises, we will be tested in our trust in the Lord. We must trust that when God promises something, He will fulfill it, not us! What has God promised to you today? Are you waiting on His perfect timing, or are you trying to do it on your own? Such an accomplishment 2

3 could actually set you back a couple of steps and give God reason to test your faith in Him to do the promise! 2.The hardest part about God s challenge is living it. a. So because Abraham did not wait on the Lord to fulfill His own promises, he had strife in his family and a host of problems he wouldn t have had if he had just waited on God and trusted in Him. b. We often get in these situations, doing things on our own, not looking to God, not being patient. Oftentimes, we re the ones getting in the way and prolonging God s fulfillments! c. This is the reason that God goes to such an extreme as child sacrifice. God is not a God who demands child sacrifices ever in the Bible. But here we see Him calling on Abraham to do just that, sacrifice his promised son! d. We must understand that the word sacrifice here means to kill his son, for there must always be blood in a sacrifice, and to burn him has a burnt offering. This was something that the gods of the Canaanites often demanded, but never the Lord! e. I think that Abraham realized that God was testing his faith in asking him to do this extreme thing. We are told in verse one that God tested Abraham. f. Isaac was the promise through whom God s covenant with Abraham would be fulfilled. He was the vehicle, the engine of the promise. Without Isaac, how could Abraham become the father of a great nation? g. So the Lord wanted to see if Abraham would be obedient with this promised son this time and listen to God instead of his own human wisdom. If Isaac was killed, there would be no promise, unless Abraham had the faith that God could raise his son from the dead. h. Look at Hebrews 11: The writer of Hebrews tells us by the revelation of the Spirit that Abraham actually had the faith to believe God could raise Isaac from the dead after he sacrificed his son! B. God provides when we live in obedience. 1.God measures our obedience to Him. a. This whole episode is about God testing the trust of Abraham, seeing if this time Abraham won t rely on his own resources to make sure God s plan happens. b. We get so caught up in making sure God s will happens in our life and our world, as if God could not make sure that His will comes to pass! 3

4 c. In one sense I could ask, Who do we think we are? But in another sense, God does use us and reveal His will to us and command us to be obedient, and our obedience can adversely affect God s will, at least on a minimal level. d. No one truly understands the connection between God s allpowerful will and the human free will, but both are present throughout Scripture. e. Illustration: We have people today that believe that God controls every single atom of existence. We have people that don t believe God is all powerful because of suffering in our lives. If God really is good, wouldn t He step in and use some of that power to make the world a better place? There are so many philosophies out there about God. All of them are the age-old argument over God s will and human free will, and how they work together, or don t work together. f. So God demands a sacrifice from Abraham, the most precious of His life, a son that brought the promise of God to him. What parent would be willing to kill their own flesh and blood? But Abraham trusted in God to restore anyone or anything lost to him. Now that s faith! g. Application: What would happen if God tested your trust in Him today? Would you be like Abraham who expected that God would raise his son after death? How much do we really trust God, not in our heads, but with our hearts and our hands? Do we really live as though what the Bible tells us is the true reality, or do we scratch in the dirt a meager survival at the end of our rope without stretching our hands toward the God who has more than enough life if we would just trust Someone other than ourselves? We can t offer a sacrifice if we re not willing to trust in the one who accepts the sacrifice. Sacrifice is about trust, a deeply rooted issue in all of us. Humans let us down and our trust in them is minimal, but should we treat God with the same distrust? What if God actually won t ever let us down? Are we brave enough to take that opportunity? 2.God reaffirms his blessings through prosperity. a. As we near the end of this dramatic story, there are some heartjerkers in this one. While Abraham and Isaac are traveling to the mountain with all of the tools for sacrifice, imagine being Abraham, hearing his dearly loved son ask, So where s the lamb for the burnt offering, daddy? 4

5 b. And Abraham answers, The Lord will provide the lamb for Himself. Isaac s probably thinking, So God s just going to make one appear? That s pretty cool. c. How do you think Isaac reacted when they had prepared the altar and his dad picks him up in his arms and lays him down and starts tying him to the altar? I can t imagine the moment of realization for Isaac, and a trust between father and son broken for a higher trust? How does a dad choose that? How could God do that to a father? d. And then the relief when the angel of the Lord stops him. I can just see the conversation on the way home between Abraham and Isaac. Son I love you, but I had to obey the Lord, and He made me choose between you and Him. I really thought that if He made me go through with it that He would bring you back. e. I ve got to know who Isaac s psychiatrist was! You know that kid s going to have issues growing up, sitting in the playground with his friends. One says, My dad s better than your dad. He trusts God for every crop every season! And then Isaac responds, My dad trusted God to raise me from the dead after sacrificing me to Him. f. It s a wonder that psychiatrists have not been around then! Lord knows Isaac probably could have used one. But Abraham trusted in God, and everything worked out. We don t see any resentment from Isaac all throughout his story in recorded Scripture. g. Then God renews the covenant with Abraham because he was faithful to obey the Lord. Our obedience directly leads to God s blessing and goodness in our lives! h. Application: When we sacrifice to the Lord, even in the pain we can know that God will work out His plan and bless us. Sacrifice means that it costs us something. It might only cost obedience to the Lord. It might cost something we value highly. But are we willing to say with Paul that what we thought was our gain is our loss compared to Christ? We need to be a people willing to sacrifice our lives to the Lord, as Paul says in Romans 12:1-2. Let us offer our sacrifice to Him with gladness! II. The offering of a son brings the joy of blessing (1 Sam 1). A. The offering starts with a desire for blessing. 1.Deepest longings bring pain unfulfilled. a. We turn now to another image of sacrifice, that of the offering in which an actual child sacrifice with the demand of blood is not 5

6 found, but the sacrifice of a beloved son by a faithful mother is the focus. b. The story is told about Hannah, the mother of one of the first prophets of Israel, Samuel. Hannah, like Sarah, was barren and though she was greatly loved by her husband, she could not have children. c. In those days, not having children for a woman was seen as a disgrace, and not being able to produce a son or an heir was just as bad. d. What made things worse for Hannah is that her husband had a second wife who could bear children, and this woman would not stop tormenting Hannah. e. Illustration: I know what it s like to ask God for something for a long time and not receive it. And so did Paul. Paul had a thorn in the flesh, most likely some physical ailment, that God would not take away from him but instead told Paul that His grace was sufficient. I have prayed to see 20/20 since I can remember, and yet I m still legally blind. Most days, it doesn t bother me, but every once in a while, like Hannah, I am keenly reminded how much better it would be if God would answer my desperate prayers. f. Hannah was still faithful to the Lord and still traveled to the temple and offered the sacrifices, even when God did not answer her prayers for a son. g. She endured the torment of the other woman and the constant reminding that she could not bear children. Even her husband could not make her feel better. God was going to have to do something great! h. Application: How many of us would remain faithful and obedient to God despite having what we consider unanswered prayer? We pray and pray and pray. We continue to come before God like the woman who persists with the judge. It seems like we pray without avail and that we are wasting our prayers. Hannah understands this, and many of us have been in that place. Does that mean that prayer is useless? Does that mean that God will never give us these things? Or does it mean we must press on in prayer and keep on praying, acting in faith and obedience to God? Some people turn their backs on God when He doesn t immediately answer their prayer. There are reasons for prayer that goes unanswered. Let 6

7 us remain faithful to God, like Job who said, Though He slay me, I will hope in the Lord! (Job 13:15) 2.God answers prayers for passions that agree with His will. a. But alas, the story does not end there. And for many of us, we think the story is over as we continually go before the Father and ask without receiving. b. So also, Hannah continues to be faithful, to offer up the offering, the sacrifice, of obedience unto the Lord year after year. And that faithfulness is about to be rewarded. c. Many times, we stop being persistent right before a breakthrough. We give up at the eleventh hour! Sometimes, when we are not having our prayers answered, we think that it is a sacrifice just to continue serving the Lord. But there is blessing for obedience and faithfulness! d. Hannah goes to the temple as usual one year during one of the festivals, and she prays so fervently to the Lord that Eli, the high priest, thinks that she is a drunk or mad woman! e. And the Lord then opens up Hannah s womb, and she is able to conceive Samuel! f. Application: The Lord truly does answer prayer. It is not always on our timetable. Sometimes we are the block to the answering of prayer. Sometimes we pray for a lesser good than God wishes to grant us. We may think we know our needs, and God does not answer prayers for those needs because there are greater needs He is answering. Let us walk the path of faithfulness, trusting that the Lord knows what is best for us, and that He is working out our good! B. The offering ends with a blessing to everyone. 1.A special time is given for a special offering. a. After the baby Samuel was born, Hannah took the time to wean him and prepare him to be taken into the care of the high priest. There is often a preparation as part of an offering. b. An offering is different from a sacrifice. A sacrifice must take blood or a life while an offering can simply be given unto the Lord. Here, Hannah gives her son to the high priest in the service of the Lord, an offering. c. But for a parent giving her only son, a son that she could not have because the Lord closed her womb, it might have felt like a sacrifice! 7

8 d. Then the time came to offer her son to the Lord for His service. We often think of dedications when we have babies in the church, and this is where the idea for baby dedication comes from. e. While we mean baby dedications in the sense of dedicating ourselves to bringing up the baby in an environment of godliness, Hannah literally gave her only son up to the service of the Lord. f. Application: Is there something in your life that you have to offer unto the Lord? An offering goes above and beyond what we regularly give to the Lord and is given out of a cheerful heart, out of a generous and thankful spirit. Let us be people willing to bring the offering we have into the Lord s presence. We can offer ourselves in other ways than just giving money. We can offer our time, our skills, our gifts, our help, and many other offerings. 2.The whole nation and beyond is blessed with Hannah s offering. a. Samuel is quite the important man in Israel as he grows into his role. He is the first to anoint kings and the man of the hour for so much of Israel s beginning era of kingship. b. Samuel is a powerful man of God who guides the Israelites and leads them by God s Spirit. He is indispensible to the nation s affairs, all because his mother was willing to lend him to the Lord for his whole life. c. Hannah was so grateful to the Lord for His goodness to her in opening her womb that she gave to Him the very gift she was given. d. When God answers our prayers, giving Him an offering of ourselves is one of the ways that we can be grateful. There are several times where offerings are mentioned in the New Testament. e. Paul talks about being poured out like a drink offering before the Lord. Paul also tells us to be living sacrifices, those who live for the Lord s purposes. f. There are also images of offering and sacrifice in Acts, especially the image, although it is negative, of Ananias and Sapphira in Acts 5. God wants more than 10% of us in the New Testament. He wants all of us. g. But then again, He wanted all of us in the Old Testament too! Remember the Shema of Deuteronomy 6:4-9? We shall love the Lord with our whole being! h. Application: What impact could your offering have? Do you offer it with gratitude, or begrudgingly? God loves a cheerful giver. We 8

9 can always sacrifice beyond what we think we can give to the Lord, and not just talking about money here. But what kind of offering can we give? How far are we willing to go in our own sacrifices and offerings? Abraham sacrificed his promised son, and Hannah offered her only son. What will you give? Conclusion So what does the sacrifice of Abraham in offering his son Isaac to be slain on altar when God asks him and the offering of Hannah of her son Samuel have to do with Easter or Jesus? Abraham offered the promised son, the one who would bring about the Covenant of God. God, like Abraham, offered to us Jesus, His promised Son who would bring about the New Covenant in His blood. Isaac was a foreshadowing of Jesus, except for one major detail. God the Father had to allow the sacrifice of His Son to save the world. God gave up that Son, and did indeed raise Him from the dead! Samuel is also a foreshadowing of Jesus in that he was Hannah s only son. Jesus is God s only Son. He is, as John calls Him, the only begotten Son. God gave up not just a Son, but His only, precious, beloved Son, all for you and for me. He offered us the only one who could restore our relationship with Him, and bring in the era of His blessing upon those who trust in His Son. Isaac and Samuel are all images of Jesus who came, was sacrificed and offered up for each of us, the promised and only Son of God. On Good Friday, we will conclude our message on the Sacrificial system that brought God s peace to all who will trust on Christ. Be here for that Good Friday message to hear the culmination of the cost of sacrifice. 9

Hebrews 11:4 The testimony of Abel. the writer defined it for his readers. In verses 4-7 he illustrates the definition by going

Hebrews 11:4 The testimony of Abel I. Introduction II. Vs. 4a True sacrifice III. Vs. 4b True righteousness IV. Vs. 4c True witness I. Introduction The theme of the 11 th chapter of Hebrews is obviously