covenant

On several occasions, I’ve preached, taught, or blogged about the role of mountains in the Bible.

They’re places of revelation.

• On Mount Sinai, God gave Moses the Law (Exodus 24:12-18).
• On Mount Carmel, God showed Himself superior to the idols of Israel (1 Kings 18:19-39).
• On Mount Zion, God will teach the nations His ways (Isaiah 2:2-3).
• On a mountain in Galilee, Jesus explained what life in God’s kingdom looks like (Matthew 5:1-2).
• On another unnamed mountain, Jesus manifested His glory (Matthew 17:1-8).

Not saying every scriptural reference to a mountain indicates a special revelation. But this pattern exists. In the Word, mountains serve as locations of divine communication.

A few days ago, I finished the book of Revelation in my devotional reading, which means it’s time for me to start over! So during my study in Genesis, I came to the story of Abraham’s sacrifice of Isaac (Genesis 22:1-19). 

God tells Abraham to sacrifice Isaac, his son. The miracle child, the one whom the Lord promised to Abraham and Sarah.

Abraham already had a son, Ishmael, but he wasn’t the fulfillment of God’s pledge. And Abraham had trouble accepting this.

Abraham fell facedown; he laughed and said to himself, “Will a son be born to a man a hundred years old? Will Sarah bear a child at the age of ninety?” ¹⁸And Abraham said to God, “If only Ishmael might live under Your blessing!” ¹⁹Then God said, “Yes, but your wife Sarah will bear you a son, and you will call him Isaac. I will establish My covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his descendants after him. ²⁰And as for Ishmael, I have heard you: I will surely bless him; I will make him fruitful and will greatly increase his numbers. He will be the father of twelve rulers, and I will make him into a great nation. ²¹But my covenant I will establish with Isaac, whom Sarah will bear to you by this time next year. – Genesis 17:17-21

How delighted must these parents have been to receive and care for God’s precious gift!

But a test was coming.

“Some time later God tested Abraham. He said to him, ‘Abraham!’ ‘Here I am,’ he replied. ²Then God said, ‘Take your son, your only son, whom you love–Isaac–and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on a mountain I will show you.’ – Genesis 22:1-2

Abraham obeyed without hesitation.

“Early the next morning Abraham got up and loaded his donkey. He took with him two of his servants and his son Isaac. When he had cut enough wood for the burnt offering, he set out for the place God had told him about.” – Genesis 22:3

The chapter then conveys an odd comment.

“On the third day Abraham looked up and saw the place in the distance. ⁵He said to his servants, ‘Stay here with the donkey while I and the boy go over there. We will worship and then we will come back to you.’” – Genesis 22:4-5

If Abraham sacrifices Isaac on the mountain of Moriah, how will two the two of them return to the servants? Abraham would have to drag the body of his son back to the camp!

But he had a different idea.

By faith Abraham, when God tested him, offered Isaac as a sacrifice. He who had embraced the promises was about to sacrifice his one and only son, ¹⁸even though God had said to him, “It is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned.” ¹⁹Abraham reasoned that God could even raise the dead, and so in a manner of speaking he did receive Isaac back from death. – Hebrews 11:17-19

So sure was Abraham that God would keep His promises that he was willing to sacrifice his son. If the sacrifice forced the Lord to raise Isaac from the dead, well, then, so be it! 

Abraham was ready to follow through.

“When they reached the place God had told him about, Abraham built an altar there and arranged the wood on it. He bound his son Isaac and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. ¹⁰Then he reached out his hand and took the knife to slay his son.” – Genesis 22:9-10

And at the last second, God intervened.

“But the angel of the LORD called out to him from heaven, ‘Abraham! Abraham!’ ‘Here I am,’ he replied. ¹²‘Do not lay a hand on the boy,’ he said. ‘Do not do anything to him. Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son.’” – Genesis 22:11-12

Abraham demonstrated his faith; he proved his commitment to the Lord. 

But God wasn’t finished. He gave Abraham an animal to sacrifice.

“Abraham looked up and there in a thicket he saw a ram caught by its horns. He went over and took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering instead of his son. ¹⁴So Abraham called that place The LORD Will Provide. And to this day it is said, ‘On the mountain of the LORD it will be provided.’” – Genesis 22:13-14

And He also reinforced the covenant.

The Angel of the LORD called to Abraham from heaven a second time ¹⁶and said, “I swear by Myself, declares the LORD, that because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, ¹⁷I 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, ¹⁸and through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed Me.” – Genesis 22:15-18

The Lord blessed Abraham, in the short-term and the long-term, because he trusted Him.

If Abraham’s experience is similar to the ones I listed above, then God shared something with him. He did, but there’s another revelation.

Abraham revealed something to God.

According to Hebrews 11, the patriarch exhibited his faith in God. And according to Genesis 22, Abraham demonstrated total surrender to the Lord.

I find it interesting that the word translated “provide” in Genesis 22:14 means “to see.” No doubt, Abraham received insight into the mind of God, this verb suggests that God saw something about Abraham. He observed the man’s faith in action to the greatest extent possible.

Let’s not forget to treat revelation as relational. Revelation is more than God granting us educational mountaintop experiences. It’s reciprocal. The Lord wants us to share our hearts with Him, too. 

His covenants work both ways.

He speaks to us. He wants us to talk to Him.

He’s given us His Son. He wants us to hold nothing back from Him.

He reveals Himself to us. That’s the primary revelation. And we reveal ourselves to Him. That’s the other revelation.