COME AS A CHLD - LESSON 62 - THE DEATH AND RESURRECTION OF SARAH

(Written by Sheila Gail Landgraf)

We know that Abraham went back to Beersheba after the Akadah.  One would expect to hear of how he returned to Sarah and told her the good news; but instead we hear of Abraham going back to Beersheba and many think at this point in time that Sarah had returned to Mamre, in Hebron to live in the tents they inhabited there before they came to live in Beersheba.

No one knows the reason for this; perhaps she just loved the place and wanted to be there again.  Perhaps she was not fond of being so close to Hagar and Ishmael.  Perhaps she was grieving about her son going away for so long and wanted to be in the land where she had first learned of his birth.  Perhaps she knew she only had a short time left to live and she wanted to die in the land where they had decided to purchase their family burial grounds in the cave of Machpelah.  

We know that Sarah was a prophetess.  We know that she just somehow knew things directly from God and perhaps she had acted on a KNOWING as her own death was approaching that made her just want to be back in the land where she had experienced so much happiness and had called home for so long.  

Legend has it that Sarah had discovered the Caves of Machpelah before Abraham did.  They tell us that she had requested of Abraham that she be buried there when she died.  The Oral Torah speaks of Abraham stumbling across the cave as he was chasing the calf that he would prepare for The Three Angels who came to visit to tell them of Isaac’s soon coming birth.  These three then left Abraham and Sarah headed for the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah.  Abraham and Sarah had received good news on that day, but others were not so fortunate.  

There are also tales of the first time Abraham saw the cave and realized, just as Sarah had previously, that it was the grave site of Adam and Eve.  How did they know this?  It is not explained.  

There are even old stories told of Adam burying Eve in the cave, which is said to be near the door to The Garden of Eden.  The old tales say that when Adam went to lay Eve in the cave he could smell the delicious smell of the Garden.  He too was buried there.  It is said that somehow, the prophet in Sarah knew these things and she shared them with Abraham.  They, together decided to be buried in the same place one day.  After all, God had led them to this place, just beyond the trees of Mamre.  

At any rate and for whatever reasons she had, Sarah returned to Hebron where she died at the age of 127.  There are also many legendary stories around Sarah’s death.  We cannot prove them with scriptures, but some of the old sages teach that Sarah realized Isaac was going to be offered in the Akadah and she pleaded with God to let her die in his place.  Many think that she died the instant that the ram appeared in the the thicket and The Angel of The LORD called out for Abraham not to take the boy. 

When Abraham heard of Sarah’s death, as he was sojourning in Beersheba on his way back from Moriah; he returned  quickly to Hebron and mourned many days for her.  He buried her in the cave at Machphelah, as she had desired according to their plan.

You hear so many stories of all the hard trials and tests and temptations that Abraham had to endure over the years of his lifetime, but you never hear that Abraham wept until you hear of how he mourned for Sarah, his beloved wife, the Mother of his only begotten son.  He wanted to grant Sarah this last request, her request to be buried in the Caves at Machpelah.

There are other Jewish legends which state that these caves were bought from the money that was left in Sarah’s dowry when she died.  She had made clear her request that Abraham buy the caves for a family burial ground.  The place most likely needed to be purchased by Abraham instead of Sarah to be legal, as men were usually the only legal property owners in those days.

Abraham eager to fulfill Sarah’s last wishes and knowing the importance of their joint burial in this spot, offered to buy the cave from Ephron, The Hitite. 

As was the custom, Abraham spoke to the Hitite people at the gates of Hebron asking to purchase the caves in order to bury his wife.  He mentioned that he was a sojourner in the land and needed a burial place for his family.  The Hitites living in the area knew and loved Sarah very much.  They greatly admired and respected Abraham.  They referred to him as being A Great Prince.   They offered him his choice of any of their burial places for free.  

Abraham thanked them for their offer but again expressed his desire to purchase the property so that it could be used as a family burial ground.  He specifically expressed his interest in the Cave at Machpelah that belonged to Ephron the Hitite.  

Machpelah means “double” and the cave was said to be a double space, suitable for burying several couples together.  No one mentioned the fact that this was probably the burial site of Adam and Eve.  Perhaps the Hitites did not know this.   This was probably hidden by God in order to protect it, and Abraham did not bring the subject up to them.  He asked to buy the property for full price so that he could be the legal owner and obtain the deed to the cave. 

Ephron the Hitite was sitting among those who were mourning for Sarah.  They were  all at the city gates, which was also the place of conducting important business.  All the Hitites were gathered to hear this business transaction that the grieving Abraham was making with Ephron the Hitite. 

Ephron the Hitite answered Abraham's request to buy the cave:  “ No, my lord, I will not accept payment for it, I would be honored to give it to you.  Furthermore, listen to me:  You only asked for the cave, but as far as I am concerned, I have already given you the entire fieild as well.  And as for the cave within it, I have already given it to you; and I have given it to you in full view of my compatriots.  Bury your dead.”

The fact that Ephron offered to give Abraham the entire field suited Abraham because he wished for the place to be an area used for a family burial ground.  He would do well to own the whole field and not just a part of it.  I'm sure Abraham was thinking too of God's promises that his descendants would inherit all the land one day.  Perhaps Abraham even wanted Sarah's death to be honored by making this long ago promise finally come about.  It was something that they had dreamed of and hoped for together.  It was what they had built all of their life around.  It was part of her last wishes.

Abraham replied to Ephron:  “If only you would listen to me!  I do not want to accept the field for free.  I am giving you the money for the field.  It is here in my hand, take it from me so that I may bury my dead there.”

At this point Ephron replied saying:  “My lord, listen to me.  What’s four hundred silver shekels worth of land between friends like you and me?  Forget about the money and bury your dead.” 

This was quite an understatement, because four hundred shekels was a huge amount of money!  Way more money than most would consider the field was worth.  Ephron continued to flaunt his generosity and pretended to refuse payment.  He was only using this technique for setting the price at a higher amount in the long run.  Abraham understood this.  Nevertheless, he weighed out for Ephron the whole amount of silver that he had mentioned the property was worth, every penny of the four hundred shekels.

Abraham did not try to bargain.  He paid full price in front of the whole community of Ephron the Hitite’s most trusted neighbors.  Ephron accepted Abraham’s offer and Abraham became the legal owner of the caves and the field and the trees surrounding the field and in the field.    Because of the purchase price of the field it was recorded in the records as no longer being simply a community property, but it was now considered to be the property of a nobleman.  Abraham buried his beloved wife in a cave located in what was considered to be the field of a noble.  This would mean that Sarah had a royal burial. 

The purchase of this land was extremely important because it was the beginning of the time of the descendants of Abraham owning the Land of Canaan.  It was the first property owned outright, though water rights had previously been obtained for the well in Beersheba.  This was actual land with caves and a field and trees.  It was the perfect place for Abraham’s family to be buried.  Abraham knew it was the will of God and he was very happy to obtain this property.  It partially fulfilled God’s promise that Abraham and his descendants would own the land of Canaan.

This cave and this field are still in existence.  Some believe the cave is under what is now a Muslim Mosque located in Hebron.  Today Jews are usually forbidden entrance into that particular place.  This location has become a very popular tourist sight.  Other’s believe that the popular tourist sight is not actually the true location, and another place has been spotted which is suspected to be the true burial place.  Right now, only God knows for sure.
    

 You would think at this point that the story of Sarah and all that we know of her would be over? Right?  

Wrong!  

We hear of her again, indirectly in The New Testament. 

Do not forget that Sarah and Abraham believed in the promise of a coming Messiah.  They believed even before they had the evidence that we now have of Christ coming and dying on a cross as a perfect sacrifice for the sins of mankind.  Sarah had great faith.  In her long and blessed life full of strange trials and even huge mistakes and sins, she trusted that God loved her and forgave her.  She trusted that The Messiah would save her one day.  She was a believer!
  

Even as Sarah died and Abraham laid her in her grave in the Cave at Machphelah; Sarah had always carried in her soul the belief that she would one day be resurrected.

It was long after the death of the faithful Sarah that Jesus came to walk the earth. He lived and died for all of mankind.  He lived a perfect sinless life, and that great day came when He was resurrected from the dead!  He was found alive again!  This month, in the Feast of First Fruits we celebrate His resurrection!
  

Sarah had kept that feast all of her life.  She KNEW things.  She saw the fulfillment of it even before it happened.  Sarah KNEW that the waiving of the barley of the early harvest meant much more than a Thanksgiving offering for the first crops of the farmers.  She knew it was all a type of symbolism that stood for the Messiah and she understood that He would

raise her up in resurrection one day also. 

No names are mentioned specifically, but when Jesus rose from the grave on the third day, there was a great earthquake and many others were also resurrected with Him.  They were the first fruits of His labor; the early harvest of the souls of God.  Christ was the first; they were His first fruits after Him. 

Would not Abraham and Sarah be among these who were risen?  

Who among the people of the earth were more faithful?

Who  among mankind walked with God more than these two?  

Who among the dead of Israel would you expect to have believed in the Messiah with such great faith as to have believed without seeing?  

It was Abraham and Sarah and many of their loved ones who rose on that day after Christ, and perhaps even Adam and Eve!  They were the first to look for a Messiah who would cure the curse of the sin that they had fallen into.  God had told them there would be One.  They had believed and brought their insufficient sacrifices until God had provided The Perfect One.   They had passed this truth on  through the generations and this truth had come to be very significant in the lives of Abraham and Sarah.
 

I firmly believe that when Christ rose on the third day, Sarah rose right after him and greeted him soon after the event inside the City of Jerusalem! 

Did people recognize her?  It is doubtful that anyone would have recognized any of these Saints who had died many, many years before The Resurrection.  They would not have known what they looked like or who they were. 

So we only have vague references to this event; but they are plain enough to tell us that most likely Sarah obtained the resurrection of the early first fruits.  We can read Matthew 27:50-52 and conclude that Sarah surely would have been one of the ones mentioned:

“Jesus, when he had cried again with a loud voice, yielded up the ghost.  And, behold the veil of the temple was rent in twain from top to bottom; and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent; and the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints which slept arose, and came out of the graves after His resurrection and went into the holy city, and appeared unto many.”

What more amazing truth could there be?  

Do you think after all that God had been through with Abraham and Sarah that He would not have granted them a little time to be with The Messiah as He walked the earth here in His resurrected body?  What a wondrous day this must have been for Sarah and Abraham!

What conversations do you think they had?  

It must have been quite a reunion for them with The Messiah, because they had known Him, even though they had not physically met Him!  They had believed in faith and they actually got to see and participate in the evidence they had believed in!  Their faith had come full circle.  It must have been a wonderful thrilling reward from God, one of many that I suspect are still going on in heaven!

This is one discussion that you will not find in the writing of the Jews.  Of course not; as they have not yet believed in Christ.  Not all of them anyway, but there is that exception; where two of their founders. Abraham and Sarah, most likely rose from the dead and met The Messiah they had always believed in person!  

The scriptures tell us that the rulers of the day tried to cover up the true events of Christ’s resurrection.  There is not a written record of the names of these Saints of the earth; the only exception would be the holy writing in The Book of Life that is kept by God in Heaven. 

There must have been quite a family reunion with Abraham, Sarah and Isaac on that day.  Abraham and Sarah would also have had the opportunity to meet many of their descendants that they had only dreamed of, but never lived to see; their grandchildren and their great grandchildren.   

But what happened to Sarah after this?  There is yet even more to her awesome story, and the last part is the very best part! 

We find the answer to this question in Ephesians 4:8:

“Wherefore He saith, when He ascended up on high, He led captivity captive and gave gifts unto men.”

The resurrected bodies of the founders of The Nation of Israel were positive proof to the people of earth that faith in Messiah guarantees a resurrection from the dead and eternal life with God.  Sarah and Abraham now get to reside in Heaven together with God.   When Jesus ascended 50 days later, they also went with Him.

This was yet another proof; this marvelous event for Sarah and her family, of God’s plan for mankind, and how it will always be completely successful and perfect.  Sarah got to be a part of it all! 

 After Jesus was on the earth for 50 more days following His Resurrection, He Ascended back into Heaven to sit at the right hand of His Father.  He took all of those who rose from their graves after Him back with Him.

And this is the miracle of resurrection; the whole story.  Our Messiah, Jesus Christ made it all possible.  He will make it possible for you too if you let Him.  He gave His life to be able to offer you this gift!  

 Sarah was blessed to be a part of this whole process!  Will you be so blessed with her?  

All you have to do is have faith in Messiah.  All that is required of you is that you BELIEVE.  If Sarah could believe this even before she saw the proof of the Messiah's resurrection, how much more so should all of us be able to believe this?

We have all now lived to see the days of proof.   Let us continue to believe.  Let us continue to follow.  Let us all be looking forward to our own reunion,  just like the one of Abraham, Isaac and Sarah when the time comes for yet another resurrection, let us all be ready to join Him!

COME AS A CHILD - LESSON 61 - I WILL BLESS YOU

^{(Written by Sheila Gail Landgraf)}

^{“After Abraham and Isaac together offered up the mysterious ram that was caught in the thicket, they again heard a voice calling out to Abraham.  The words that Abraham heard from God were: “I swear by myself, declares the LORD,  that because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, I will surely bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore.  Your descendants will take possession of the cities of their enemies, and through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed me.”}

                ^{Even with all the mistakes that Abraham had made in his life, he had passed this final and last test from God!  God was pleased and he gave Abraham the desires of his heart; the promise of many descendants to carry on his family line.  Abraham must have been very, very happy.  Do you think he tried to guess at how many stars were in the sky or how many grains of sand were on the seashore?  God might as well have said, I will make you into a multitude of uncountable people who will fill the earth.  This was all Abraham had ever hoped for.  Most of all he had wanted to please God, and his heart must have been singing as they parted and he left the mountain that day.}

                ^{Many think that Abraham left Isaac up on the mountain with Shem to learn more of the mysteries of God.  Isaac too had passed the test of total obedience and he had shown that he was willing to lay down his life if God so commanded him.  Isaac was now ready and prepared to receive more of the truth of God, and what better man to learn it from than Shem; who was the high family priest that had passed the Order of Melchizedek on to Abraham. Abraham too had learned the scriptures from Shem.   Abraham’s legacy would now  be safe with Isaac. One day Abraham would pass the family priesthood ordination on to Isaac.  He must be taught all he needed to know for this important position.    There was much for both men to celebrate!  So they left one another with joy, Isaac staying with Shem for schooling, and Abraham returning back down from The Mountain Of God to his servants.}

                ^{How much of the story do you think Abraham told Ishmael and Eliezer when he returned?  They must have been curious about what had happened on the mountain.  Do you think they asked questions?  They must have wondered where Isaac was.  Shem’s school was probably hidden from the rest of the world for safety and security.  Abraham might not have wanted to reveal its location to anyone else.  Do you think he let them think he had sacrificed Isaac?  There is much left to the imagination here and no one really knows.} 

                ^{At any rate, they would have known he was joyful and not sad.  I doubt there was a prouder father anywhere in the land.  Perhaps, with Isaac settled into such a good place for a while in order to learn more of the mysteries of God, it might be time for Abraham to spend some quality time with Ishmael.}  

^{The scriptures tell us that they set off together for Beersheba and Abraham stayed in Beersheba.}

COME AS A CHILD - LESSON 60 - THE LORD WILL PROVIDE THE LAMB

(Written by Sheila Gail Landgraf)

It was the third day of their journey and Abraham walked on in faith, straight up the mountain that God showed him with his son Isaac by his side. 

Abraham carried the knife and the fire and Isaac carried the wood.

Not a word was heard from Abraham.  It was Isaac who broke the silence.  Isaac called out to Abraham; “My Father.”  “Here I am, my son” Abraham answered. 

Isaac noted that he saw the fire and the wood but asked where is the lamb for the burnt offering?  Abraham answered:  “God will provide the lamb for the burnt offering my son.”  

We read in the midrash that when Abraham answered these words Isaac put his head between his hands and wept, then asked Abraham if this was from the Torah that he had heard Abraham discuss with Sarah.  The midrash speaks of Abraham weeping at this point and mentions that Isaac sought to comfort him and a conversation took place where Isaac gave his father permission to fulfill God’s will through him.  Isaac states that he wished for his blood to provide atonement for the Jewish people.  Both the Torah and the Midrash state that the father and son walked on together in agreement.  

It seems that Isaac, probably in his mid to late thirties now, understood and went willingly to a sacrificial death, Abraham leading him there and willingly giving him over to God.

Have you ever had to “walk on?”  Sometimes walking on is a very hard thing to do.  Sometimes we are asked to do very hard things, like carry wood and fire and a knife.  Everything feels like a struggle of the will.  Life is full of sacrifices that must be made.  They usually come through the things we cherish and the ones that we love the most.  

Walking on takes great courage, but more than that; walking on takes great love.  Abraham and Isaac walked on completely submitted to God’s will because of the great love they both shared for God and each other.  The story of the Akadah is the first place in the bible where we hear of the Hebrew word for love.  There is no greater love than this, that a man would lay down his life for his brothers or that a father would give his son in exchange for other people’s lives. 

So they came to the designated place that God showed them.  Most believe this was the very same place that Adam had offered sacrifices to God, a place that had been destroyed during the great flood.  After the flood Noah had rebuilt the place of the altar and offered up offerings to God there with his family.  Nimrod had destroyed this place after the fall of the tower of Babel, and now Abraham rebuilt the altar in this exact same spot.  He laid the wood in order.  As Abraham built, Isaac had every opportunity to escape and run away.  He stayed, submitted and humble, ready to do his Father’s will, believing that God would save them both through this offering. 

Abraham bound a submitted and willing Isaac who laid himself down on top of the wood.  It is very significant that Isaac laid himself down on top of the wood.  We know of many years later when another Son would come from another Father and willingly lay himself down on top of the wood of a tree,  just as Isaac laid atop this altar of wood that his  father built.

In offering the sacrifice it was important for the throat of the sacrifice to be slit quickly.  The scriptures say Isaac set his face like a flint to fulfill God’s will.  Isaac lay with his eyes directed toward heaven.   Abraham stretched out his hand to make the cut.  For a few seconds Abraham examined the knife to be sure it was ritually fit for the cut.  It was in that very moment that The Angel of the LORD called his name from heaven!  “Abraham! Abraham!” 

The Angel of The LORD told Abraham not to lay a hand on the boy and not to harm him.  “For now I know that you fear God, seeing that you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me.”

With joy Abraham immediately released Isaac and recited the prayer of blessing:  “Blessed are You LORD, who revives the dead!”

Abraham lifted his eyes from the prayer and beheld a ram caught by the horns in the thicket.    Abraham took the ram and offered it up on the altar in the place of his son.  With the thought in mind of a substitute offering, Abraham prayed while sacrificing the ram that God would regard the offering as though it were his son.  God accepted Abraham’s offering in place of Isaac. 

It is said in the midrash that Abraham, after making the sacrifice, prayed to God and mentioned that he had not questioned or argued when God had made the request of him, but that he had willingly offered up his son until God stopped the action.  Abraham requested that God remember this each time one of the sons of his later generations sinned and Abraham requested that God would have mercy on their sins because of this and always forgive them.  Many of Abraham’s descendants can be very thankful for that prayer. 

The Talmud mentions that God asked Abraham to sound the sound of the rams horn before him each year so that He would remember the binding of Isaac and count it as mercy toward the children of Abraham forever.  This is why we blow the shofar at Rosh Hashanah, to remind God to be merciful to His children who are doing their best to be faithful.  Each year at the sound of the shofar, God is reminded of the prayer of blessing from Abraham.

This place where God had called for the sacrifice of Isaac is a very sacred place.  Abraham called it Adonai Yireh which means “The LORD will provide” because God had provided a ram in place of Isaac.    

Moriah comes from the verb “ra’ah,” which means “to see.”  It was said on Mt. Moriah that the LORD saw the need of the people and made provision for a substitute sacrifice that would save them. 

Mt. Moriah, which is called Zion has been the place for many, many sacred events ever since.  Many years later Jacob,  the son of Isaac dreamed here of a ladder that reached up to heaven.  Years after that, the Temple was built on the very spot where Isaac was bound and Jacob dreamed of Heaven. 

It was in this very place where another Son, the true Son of God, the perfect lamb, was eventually sacrificed on a cross of wood for all of the sins of mankind.  Isaac, as brave and courageous as he was, is only a shadow of the great and awesome love of Jesus Christ for His people.  He died for us all right in this very same spot on Mt. Moriah. 

On The Mountain of The Lord God truly provided a lamb.

      

COME AS A CHILD LESSON 59 ABRAHAM'S LAST LECH LECHA

(Written by Sheila Gail Landgraf)

After they had traveled for two days Abraham saw the place that God was showing him from a distance. 

You have to wonder as Abraham plodded down the road if he was considering that again God was asking him to “go to a place that I will show you.”  Abraham had heard those words in his first test of God.  He heard them first when he left the land of his birth and trusted God to lead him into a new place.  That test had taken a different type of courage than what Abraham was experiencing now.  This time took all of the courage that Abraham possessed.   Now he was taking his only begotten son, Isaac to another place, a place that God would show him.  Both times required much faith; this last time the most faith. 

Did the repetition of the same words he had heard from God in the past reassure Abraham that he was still on track? 

The long walk gave Abraham lots of time to think; to be sure that he was doing the right thing.  After all he was going to do a very unreasonable thing in the eyes of most men for God in a place that he did not yet know of.  This type of act is not ever easy; this going to a place that you do not know to do something that you do not totally understand. 

Rabbi Label Lam once said:  “It’s woefully impossible to describe to someone a thing that is qualitatively beyond what they have ever experienced.”  This was a fair definition for what Abraham was being asked to do. Have you ever known or been through such a situation in your own life?  Have you ever had to do a hard thing that you knew was right but you could not explain why to anyone?  It is impossible to describe the experience to others as you are going through it.

There are such experiences that are positive.  You can describe a sunrise in language to someone, but until you take them out in the wee hours of the morning and hike to the top of a mountain cliff and build a fire and brew coffee and wait with them to see their first glimpse of the indescribable art of God; you cannot explain this experience to them properly with words that they will understand.

There are also such unexplainable life experiences that are not positive experiences.  You can try to explain the death of a child to someone, but until they have had to hold their own child cold, dead and lifeless in their own arms, they can never fully understand the agony of this loss.  There are no proper words.  Words do no justice to such experiences.  Perhaps that is why Abraham trudged along is silence for two whole days.  You can tell someone about something, but until they experience it for themselves, they would not ever even begin to understand it. 

Perhaps that is why God did not say to Abraham, go exactly here or go exactly there, but God said “go to the place where I will show you.” God knew Abraham must be allowed to concentrate solely on this experience itself and not be concerned with the logistics or all the unexplainable details of the experience.  So God chose the place and God set up the place before them.

God would show Abraham all he needed to know.  Abraham just had to go.  Lech Lecha.   Abraham trusted and set off on the journey.  At the end of the second day, Abraham looked up and saw the place that God had told him to go in the distance.

Do you ever get a far away glimpse of the place where God is telling you to go, but know it is still in the distance?  Have you ever experienced one of those Isaac moments when the task at hand that lies before you in this place looks too hard from where you are presently standing?

Do you stop and reconsider what you are doing? 

Do you reassure yourself now that you finally see evidence of the place God is pointing to in your life that the experience He has been speaking to you about might just be right on track?  

People of lesser faith lose heart here, and they turn; listening to the voices that are of the enemy which always pop up in these places saying that your imagination is working overtime, or you have over-analyzed the situation, or you have had too much to drink, or you have just been to too many movies, etc.  Not Abraham.  Abraham’s faith had matured to the place of simply obeying God no matter what.

When you reach the place where you see God’s will in the distance it is a time to wake up and take notice, to be reassured that you are on track, and a time to keep on walking toward God’s next experience.  Should you detour here, you might never get back on the right road.  God does not make detours; all detours are made by humans.  Keep looking straight ahead, even if the road looks too rocky or the mountain looks too high.  Do not lose site of the place that God is showing you. Walk on.

The Hebrews have a term in their language for these types of situations, it is called Lech Lecha.  It literally means “Go!”  The implied meaning is to go on in faith and you will know it when you see it.  “It” being the will of God.  This is how Abraham found the mountain where God told him to take Isaac.  He knew it when he saw it.  At that point he asked the other two men to wait while he and Isaac went up the rest of the way.

COME AS A CHILD - LESSON 58 - ABRAHAM FACES HIS HARDEST TEST

(Written by Sheila Gail Landgraf)

After these things, the scriptures say that God tested Abraham.  It happened just the same way that He tested Hagar.  First God called out his name:  “Abraham?”  And we all know the correct answer to this question.  Abraham said “Here I am.”

When I see this in my mind’s eye I picture Abraham praying all alone beside his altar at the old well.  God told Abraham to take his only son (remember that Abraham had legally disinherited Ishmael not so long ago) to the Land of Moriah and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains that God would show him.  To make this very clear God also called out the name of Isaac.

Nothing could have ripped out Abraham’s heart more than this test.  He loved Isaac more than anything or anyone and God was asking him to offer him up as a burnt offering. 

We would do well to take a history lesson at this point.  Was it just a casual thing for a man to offer up his son as an offering to God in those days?  No!  It was a common thing for the pagans living in the land.  They would offer up their sons and daughters to the idols that they worshiped in exchange for prosperity, but The God of Abraham had never demanded such a thing of anyone. 

I wonder, did it cross Abraham’s mind to question this?  Isaac was the promised son.  Isaac was irreplaceable.  All of Abraham’s dreams and hopes were all wrapped up in what God would do with Isaac.  Yet, we see in the scriptures that Abraham did not question anything.   Abraham loved God enough to trust Him with his dreams and hopes.  Have you ever had to let go of your dreams and wait on God to give you His dream?  It happens sometimes.  In taking Isaac up to the altar Abraham would be giving up every dream he had ever hoped for.  This takes great faith.  

Why would Abraham not question this? 

One thought is that since Abraham was from the Godly line of Seth and Shem he would have believed in the promise from God of the coming “seed of the woman” who would be sent to reverse the curse on humanity.  Remember how Abraham had planted the Tamarisk tree?  There was so much deep significance in that one act.  Another aspect could have been that Abraham was also remembering The Tree of Life that originally grew in the Garden of God.  Did Abraham look at this tree and remember how God had promised to restore the world?  At the altar at the well so close to this tree, had he asked God about this very thing?  Did Abraham believe that Isaac was this redeemer who would restore the world?

This wasn’t the first time God had tested Abraham, but this was definitely the greatest test God had ever given to Abraham.  We can look back and see that there were ten tests altogether:

Test One:  When as a very young man God had asked Abraham to stand up to his father and deny his religion of idolatry.

Test Two:  When later God told Abraham to leave the country of his birth for an unknown destination.

Test Three:  When a famine came to the promised land after Abraham had moved there.

Test Four:  Sarah’s abductions by foreign kings.

Test Five:  Fighting against the four kings and interceding for Lot.

Test Six:  Seeing a vision of a future captivity just before the covenant was made with God.

Test Seven:  Circumcision at age 99. 

Test Eight:  Sarah’s years of infertility.

Test Nine:  Evicting Hagar and Ishmael.

Now Abraham comes to the test of his life that will affect everything and everyone all throughout humanity from the moment the testing is over.  This is the big one.  God had tested Abraham many times, but this one test was the BIG test, the final exam.  Abraham had done the undergraduate work, but now he had to pass the test that would assure full graduation into God’s good grace.  This was it!

It started out like all the others, with God calling him by name; “Abraham!  Abraham!” and with Abraham’s answer being:  “Here I am.”

This time the “Here I am” was extremely significant because it was the only sound that we hear from Abraham for the next three days as they journeyed to Moriah.  Other than to answer God with that one phrase, Abraham walked in silence.

We are told that Abraham rose early the next morning and saddled his donkey and took two of his young men with him.  Many think the two young men were Eliezer and Ishmael (both of them by now had lost all hopes of being the one to inherit Abraham’s wealth and had returned to being nothing but honored servants.)  Since Eliezer led the soldiers that guarded Abraham’s tents, it is easy to suppose that Ishmael had perhaps joined this group, but that is merely speculation.  At any rate, these two were probably the two chosen to go with Abraham and Isaac on this journey of agony. 

Many old sages have pointed out the progression of the spirituality of Abraham between the first test and the tenth test.  In the first test he is asked to leave things of the flesh, things of the earth, things that are material.  In the tenth test he is being tested on a much higher spiritual level, being asked to leave and go to a place of atonement and sacrifice, to attain something of significance in the spiritual realm.  Abraham has grasped the fact that God is Eternal, that He sees the beginning from the end and everything in between. 

Abraham has learned that God’s understanding of things is so much higher than his could ever be.  He has by this time in the process of all these tests gained the knowledge that you do not need to question God.  When God speaks you are only to obey.  Such a simple fact had been learned from so many complicated situations that God had led Abraham through.   This last test would require his greatest trust, his strongest faith.

This wasn’t the first trip to Moriah for Abraham, he had been there many times.  He understood that it was the place where God had created the universe.  It was the place from whence the dust had been taken when God created Adam.  It was the place where Adam and Eve and their sons had offered sacrifice to God.  It was the place that Noah had offered sacrifice after the flood.  Noah’s son, Shem, had been commissioned right at Moriah to be the family high priest after the Order of Melchizedek.  

How did Abraham know all of this?  He knew it directly through Shem.  Shem  had established a school in the land of Moriah for Torah study after the great flood.   Abraham had attended his teachings.  In the lineage of the geneology from Adam to Noah, Abraham was the next to be appointed after Shem as family high priest.  When Shem, representing The Order of Melchizedek, met Abraham in the valley after the Battle of The Kings, Shem had blessed Abraham with the blessing that passes the appointment from the serving family high priest to the next serving family high priest.  Melchizedek was the order of this family of high priests.  Shem had passed the order on to Abraham, who would in turn pass it on to Isaac.  

Yet, here they were walking to Moriah to offer Isaac up as a burnt offering.   What would Shem say about this?  Shem had called the place on Moriah where they were headed  Shalayim, which means “perfect.”  This spot later came to be known as Jerusalem.  Many people still do not realize that Shem, though much older than Abraham, actually out-lived Abraham.  Abraham had learned much from Shem.  Shem lived to be 602, and 35 years beyond the years of Abraham, which is pretty amazing.   

Abraham did not consult Shem.  He quickly followed God.  If he had consulted Shem, perhaps Shem would have suggested, like many others have thought over the years that Abraham misunderstood God’s words to take Isaac and “offer” him there.  Some think that God was only asking Abraham to take Isaac to Moriah and dedicate him to the work of THE LORD that was going on there.  The same words that describe a burnt offering also describe the act of ascending, or going up, as smoke rises.  If you trade the similar Hebrew words for each other the Hebrew words for “offer him up” could also translate to “cause him to ascend.” 

We all know how Abraham’s logic could be at times.  Perhaps he got it right, or perhaps he got it wrong, it does not matter, as God was in control of this whole event, and God called the shots.  The important thing was only for Abraham to follow to the very best of his ability whatever he understood God to be saying to him.  It was only important that he did this willingly and without a moment’s hesitation, showing great courage and bravery and with a totally pure desire to be used of God in any way that God saw fit.   By now the rules of Abraham's life had been reduced to two little words:  Follow God.  Abraham had come to know that all other things fell into place around those two little words.

Instead of questioning anything that God had asked of him, Abraham immediately began to prepare for this sacrifice.  He went to chop the wood for the altar.  Could this have been some of the wood from the Terebinth tree that he had planted at the grove of the trees that grew in Mamre, where he had lived so happily in his tent with Sarah and sat under when The Angel of The LORD came calling to tell him that Sarah would have a son?  We do not know. 

Perhaps the chopping of some of this tree for wood for this altar was Abraham’s way of saying to God, will you cut off this branch that we have planted together and you have promised me?   Once it is chopped and burned, it cannot be replaced.  This part of the tree can never be again.  Was it a prayer of action instead of words?  We have no way to know.   All we know is that Abraham chopped the wood himself and made sure that it was all kosher for the altar of God.

Abraham then saddled his own donkey.  He did not ask his servant to do this for him because he wanted to take all responsibility for this strange journey on his own shoulders.  He was taking Eliezer and Ishmael along; so he did not want anyone blaming them for whatever transpired.  They were easy suspects.  They had many reasons for wanting Isaac out of the way but had always been too noble to implement or exercise these reasons.  Abraham wanted no one taking the blame, so he saddled his own donkey in front of all the other servants as proof that he had not just been dragged along into a concocted scheme, but had taken this journey because he chose to do so of his own free will.

He said his goodbyes, probably allowing Sarah to believe that he was taking Isaac to visit Shem for schooling, and they all started on a long, three day journey, Abraham and the three who were like sons to him, the most beloved son, Isaac, carrying the wood for the sacrifice.