Abraham's Promised Possession Could Only Come Through the Resurrection Part 2

By John Foll, written between 8/11/2017 and 8/13/2017, 9/14/2018 - 9/25/2018.
© Copyright 2018 John Foll

List of Articles

If you have not read Part 1, we recommend that you read it first: Abraham's Promised Possession Could Only Come Through the Resurrection Part 1

God’s Conditions for the Everlasting Possession:

After the children of Israel came out of Egypt, they had to wander in the wilderness for 40 years, after many of them lost faith in God and rebelled against Him. See Hebrews 3:5-19, and see the book of Numbers, starting with Numbers 14:20-35, and onward throughout the end of the book. Then they came into the Promised Land. See the book of Joshua for this. But they lost a lot of their promised possession after the days of David and Solomon, when the Israelite kingdom was at its peak, power and size. They were not able to get or continue to keep all of their inheritance after they came into the Promised Land, because of lack of faith, fear, and slackness at times to do what God had commanded them to do, in conquering the land that was given to them, and repeated infidelity to God. After Solomon died, because of Solomon’s sins and the sins of his wives sacrificing to the pagan gods, Israel was split into two different kingdoms, with * 9 ½ tribes going to Israel and 2 ½ tribes going to Judah. See 1 Kings 11:29-39; 2:1-17. Then later these tribes left God, never to return again as a whole back to Him, and many of them lost their national and religious identity as Israelites, and served other gods and idols! In the Old Testament, these 9 or 10 lost tribes are generally referred to as ‘Ephraim.’ But Ephraim was actually a tribe itself, the largest tribe of Israel, who defected from God as a tribe, along with the 8 other tribes. And since then, the remaining tribes of the children of Israel have lost even more of their inheritance, until we get to our day. Throughout their history as God’s chosen people, there was almost a constant round of backsliding by them, then God would raise up someone to help save them and help them to return to Him, then later they would backslide again. But this constant round of backsliding also describes much of the history of Christianity as well. This is human nature at its best, when they don’t continue to put their trust in God all-the-way. That is why Isaiah later declared that ‘all we like sheep have gone astray,’ because humanity is prone to wander from God. Isaiah 53:6 KJV.

* We say 9 ½ tribes instead of 10, because part or all of the tribe of Benjamin returned back to God we believe. See 2 Chronicles 15:1-7, where God uses the phrase king ‘Asa, all Judah and Benjamin.’ And there is other evidence as well. Note that Paul himself was of the tribe of Benjamin. Philippians 3:5. And though the Levites were scattered throughout Israel, many of them were in Judah and its surrounds because of their service to the temple, for the sacrifices for sin, and we also believe that some of them left the areas where the 9 ½ tribes were, to return back to Israel. See also 2 Chronicles 15:8-9 too. In that text part of the tribes of Ephraim, Manasseh and Simeon returned as well.

So we see that the ‘everlasting possession,’ promised to Abraham, is held on the condition of obedience to God. This concept that God’s best blessings are given only to the faithful, can be illustrated by the fifth commandment: “Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee.” Exodus 20:12 KJV. This commandment can also be worded as: ‘Obey and love and cherish your father and your mother, that you may live long on the land which the Lord your God gives you.’ What does this have to do with the everlasting possession? We think that when the children of Israel were departing from God, that they were rebelling against the teachings of their parents. We think that a lot, if not all of the ills in this world can be linked to people not obeying their parents, ‘in the Lord’. Obviously if the parents are teaching something wrong, their children should not heed these teachings, but they should still respect them and heed what they were taught that was right. This commandment declares that those who want to live forever must love and obey and respect their parents. Thus obedience is linked to eternal life. So obedience is linked to ‘the everlasting possession’ that God had promised Abraham.

Not convinced yet that obedience to God is linked to ‘the everlasting possession’ that God promised Abraham? Note what Moses told the children of Israel, in his final message to them before he died: * “Now it shall be, if you diligently obey the LORD your God, being careful to do all His commandments which I command you today, the LORD your God will set you high above all the nations of the earth. All these blessings will come upon you and overtake you if you obey the LORD your God: Blessed shall you be in the city, and blessed shall you be in the country. Blessed shall be the offspring of your body and the produce of your ground and the offspring of your beasts, the increase of your herd and the young of your flock. Blessed shall be your basket and your kneading bowl. Blessed shall you be when you come in, and blessed shall you be when you go out. The LORD shall cause your enemies who rise up against you to be defeated before you; they will come out against you one way and will flee before you seven ways. The LORD will command the blessing upon you in your barns and in all that you put your hand to, and He will bless you in the land which the LORD your God gives you. The LORD will establish you as a holy people to Himself, as He swore to you, if you keep the commandments of the LORD your God and walk in His ways. So all the peoples of the earth will see that you are called by the name of the LORD, and they will be afraid of you.” Deuteronomy 28:1-10 NASB.

Now when could this promise that Moses gave to them from God have been fully fulfilled in the Israelite kingdom? If you study their history, you will never see all of them being faithful to God or for very long, just like Christians for a very long time have had a problem with their faithfulness to God too, with round after round of backsliding in many of the ages past. And there is so much infidelity and backsliding in our day as well! So the children of Israel did not have all of these blessings, or for very long. So you will never find a place in time where this promise, which was given to the Israelites by God through Moses, has fully taken place or fully happened yet, or for very long! Why haven’t these promised blessings by Moses fully taken place yet? See Deuteronomy 28:15-68. This is a very long list of curses for disobeying God, and we don’t wish to list them all here, but if you read it you will see. To summarize it, God’s best continued full blessings are given on the condition of continual obedience to Him. All of the above blessings in Deuteronomy 28:1-10 were removed when they disobeyed God and didn’t repent and return to Him fully. This is what happened, unfortunately. So we think that it is clear that God’s promise to Abraham and to His children has not been totally fulfilled yet at any point, since ‘the everlasting possession’ must be everlasting, and because only those faithful to God can have it forever. We see here that the promised blessings of God, including the ‘everlasting possession’ that was promised to faithful Abraham, can only be had and kept by obedience to God. For these blessings to be everlasting, there must be and everlasting obedience to God.

Now to explore this concept more fully, especially note what Moses declared in our above passage of Deuteronomy 28:1-10: “and He will bless you in the land which the LORD your God gives you. The LORD will establish you as a holy people to Himself, as He swore to you, if you keep the commandments of the LORD your God and walk in His ways.” Take this with the beginning of this passage: ““Now it shall be, if you diligently obey the LORD your God, being careful to do all His commandments which I command you today, the LORD your God will set you high above all the nations of the earth. All these blessings will come upon you and overtake you if you obey the LORD your God.” Also especially note: When Moses gave this last message to the Israelites, it was just before they went into the Promised Land to receive their inheritance, that God had promised Abraham! Do you see here that their ability of living in the land of their ‘everlasting possession’ was granted, if they wanted to obey Him? Can there be any doubt here? Also note here that God’s word was that His people, if they obeyed Him would be a holy people for Himself. When has this ever fully happened? And it says quite clearly here, that the only way that God’s people can be holy, is if they obey Him! Those who don’t want to obey God should not expect to have an ‘everlasting possession’, which is eternal life in Heaven and on the earth made new. We believe that this promise of God’s people becoming holy would start to be fulfilled when John the Baptist, Jesus and His disciples began to preach the word, with great power, but this will not be complete until Heaven.

* Note: For all who believe that the 10 Commandments in the Old Testament are only for the Israelites or the Jews: They should not be able to argue here that the Israelites or the Jews were not to keep and obey all of God’s commandments. Moses clearly told them that the blessings of their possessions and life in the land of Canaan were dependent on their obedience to God. Thus for the children of Israel to hang on to their ‘everlasting possession,’ that God had promised Abraham, they had to obey God. But it is a grave mistake for anyone to believe that God doesn’t want Christians to obey Him too! Or for anyone to believe that they can be saved, who knowingly or willingly disobey God. Or for anyone to think that they can be saved without confession and repentance. But there is forgiveness and mercy and help for all who want it, so there is no reason for anyone to be disobedient to God or to be lost. Because God has made a provision for everyone, through the forgiveness of sins and through the power of the Holy Spirit – through the power of a changed life that He will give to all who really want it.

To Be Continued…

Click here for a Free PDF of this article!

Blog Edited by John Foll.

List of Articles

---

From the Editor: “The Everlasting Covenant” has had a very great impact on my life! These articles, with its stories from the Bible, led me to fall in love with God, there is no other way of putting it. The thing I was needing the most in my life was given to me after I learned how much He loved me in “The Everlasting Covenant” by E. J. Waggoner.

It is my prayer, dear reader, that God will richly bless you, as you learn more and more about His great love for you as presented by E. J. Waggoner in “The Everlasting Covenant”, as we continue to present more articles from it.

May the grace of God, and the priceless, precious fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you, as you go down this journey of falling totally in love with God! Riches beyond measure await you, if you will just get to know Him and His great love for you!

Listen to these articles at:  http://www.whiteraimentevangelism.com/recommended.

Watchword:

“Jesus answered and said to him, ‘If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him, and make Our abode with him.'” John 14:23 NASB.

 

White Raiment Evangelism Revelation 3:18:

In Revelation 3:18 Jesus said, "I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, and white raiment, and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest be clothed, that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear, and that thou mayest see." (Paraphrase of the KJV.)


#God #Abraham #Israel #Egypt #Wander #Forty #Years #Rebel #Promise #Land #Moses #Obedience #Everlasting #Possession #Inheritance #Blessing #Curse #Sin #Lost #Tribe

Abraham's Promised Possession Could Only Come Through the Resurrection Part 1

By John Foll, written between 8/11/2017 and 8/13/2017, 9/14/2018 and 9/25/2018.
© Copyright 2018 John Foll

List of Articles

See the related article by E. J.  Waggoner’s The Everlasting Covenant: 09 The Test of Faith.

And you may also want to read our related commentary article: 09 The Test of Faith: Editor’s Notes (The Everlasting Covenant)

Recap From Our Previous Commentary:

“Now it came about after these things, that God tested Abraham, and said to him, ‘Abraham!’ And he said, ‘Here I am.’ He said, ‘Take now your son, your only son, whom you love, Isaac, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I will tell you.’” Genesis 22:1-2 NASB.

The story of God asking Abraham to sacrifice his only son on a mountain in the land of Moriah is such an amazing story! Abraham had been promised by God that through his seed, all nations of the earth would be blessed, which was a prophecy about Jesus. Genesis 12:1-3; 17:1-8; 18:18. Jesus, the Messiah could only be born through his son Isaac, according to God’s promise to Abraham, so if Abraham sacrificed his son Isaac who was childless, how could Jesus be born through Abraham? And only through Jesus’ death on the cross can anyone ever have forgiveness of sin. And only through Jesus death and resurrection can anyone ever be resurrected after they die, because Jesus is the resurrection and the life! John 11:25. And if Jesus wasn’t born as a babe, who is the Resurrection and the Life, how could Abraham be resurrected? And if Abraham wasn’t resurrected, how could he ever get his inheritance? (Because he never got his inheritance while he was alive, as we will see.) Do you see the problem that Abraham had? (He most likely didn’t have a full understanding at this time, of the plan of salvation like we have now, because God was starting to unfold it; he only had the testimony of the patriarchs who came before him.)

From a human standpoint, Abraham was asked to sacrifice his own eternal life! Or ‘to put a knife to his own throat, and to cut off the hope of his own salvation,’ as Waggoner put it! From a human standpoint, he was also asked to sacrifice the eternal life of everyone in the world! Wow! We learned from the previous articles listed above that he would receive his promised inheritance through the resurrection. So how could he receive the promise if he had to take his son’s life as a sacrifice to God? Would he continue to believe God’s promise, that he would personally have an ‘everlasting possession’ (Genesis 17:8) in the land of Canaan, which could only come to him through the * Resurrection, and that from one born to him would all the nations of the earth be blessed? Or would he lose his faith in God’s promise? This was the test! Wow! What a test!

God’s Promise of the Everlasting Possession:

We want to show you from the Bible what God had promised Abraham, and why this promise to Abraham could only come to him personally through the Resurrection, and why the children of Israel could only fully get this promised inheritance through the Resurrection as well.

* Many years before God had asked Abraham to sacrifice his son Isaac, note what God said to him: “And the LORD said unto Abram, after that Lot was separated from him, Lift up now thine eyes, and look from the place where thou art northward, and southward, and eastward, and westward: For all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed for ever. And I will make thy seed as the dust of the earth: so that if a man can number the dust of the earth, then shall thy seed also be numbered.” Genesis 13:14-16 KJV. And later God said to Abraham: “And he said unto him, I am the LORD that brought thee out of Ur of the Chaldees, to give thee this land to inherit it. And he [Abraham] said, Lord GOD, whereby shall I know that I shall inherit it?” Genesis 15:7-8 KJV. God had him make a sacrifice of a 3 year old heifer, a 3 year old ram, a turtle dove and a pigeon, then Abraham fell into a deep sleep and God answered him, saying that his descendants would be strangers in a land that was not theirs, and enslaved and oppressed for 400 years, and then they would come out with much possessions. Genesis 15:13. It is clear that Abraham’s descendants, during their 400 years in their captivity as slaves, never received their possession that God had promised Abraham and his descendants. But God had promised all of the land that Abraham could see northward, southward, eastward and westward to him and his descendants forever, not just to his descendants after they left Egypt.

Note again what God promised Abraham regarding the land the He showed him: ‘to thee will I give it’ and ‘to thy seed forever.’ God promised this land to Abraham personally and to Abraham’s children forever! It was to be their possession forever! Do not miss this! If either Abraham or Abraham’s children (those faithful to God) did not receive this possession forever, then this promise has not yet been fulfilled. Note what Abraham said: ‘How will I know that I shall inherit it?” This makes it clear that Abraham expected to receive the inheritance for himself, not just for his posterity. For those who think that the children of Israel, delivered from their bondage in Egypt, coming into the Promised Land of Canaan was the complete fulfillment of this promise, think again, because it was not forever. In the dream that Abraham had, God answered Abraham and said that his posterity would come out of the land of Egypt with ‘many possessions.’ We believe that this was a partial fulfillment of the promise, when they got their inheritance in the land of Canaan. This was the beginning of the fulfillment of this promise.

Abraham did not have the Promised Land as an eternal possession for himself, since he died and was never in control of the land at any time in his life, that was to be given to him (and to his descendants). Yet God had promised it to him and to all of his descendants, which also includes those who came after him, before the children of Israel came out of Egypt, since it included all of his descendants. (But based on other places in the Bible its continued possession was dependent upon being faithful to God, or by God’s grace.) There is no place in Genesis that ever declared that Abraham was ever in possession of it. So there is simply no way that the promise was fulfilled in Abraham’s day, to the days of the children of Israel’s slavery in Egypt! After David and Solomon’s day it wasn’t totally fulfilled either, because the children of Israel lost a lot of it. But God had promised Abraham and his descendants that they would get it as an eternal possession forever, including Abraham himself! God always keeps His promises! Please do not think of this promise as merely a returning of the Jews to the land of Israel for a modern Israeli state, an ‘earthly kingdom,’ which some today think is the fulfillment of prophecy. This promise was for a spiritual kingdom that would last forever, not just for temporal blessings, as we shall see!

Some may think that we are making too big of a deal about ‘the everlasting possession’ that God promised Abraham in Genesis 17:8, as meaning that the possession must be everlasting. They may think that it is a figurative expression that God made to Abraham. The rationalistic humanistic mind is ever ready to try to turn everything into the mundane and ordinary, to match their ideas and non-belief in God or their non-belief in His miracles. Many people probably think that He didn't really mean that Abraham himself should personally, literally have the promised possession. Or that those who followed after Abraham, until the generation of those who came out of Egypt, would personally have it either.  Meaning that the promise was fulfilled only when the children of Israel came out of Egypt to receive their inheritance in the Promised Land, and that was the complete fulfillment of the promise, end of story. And they probably think that the ‘everlasting possession’ means that the many generations of Abraham’s offspring living in the Promised Land was the fulfillment. This is the way human beings think a lot of the time. More than likely many people haven’t studied this out, and have no thoughts on it whatsoever. Some people may think that they have everlasting life vicariously through their children, and their grand-children and their great grand-children, etc. Another words eternal life only happens through having children and that we ourselves won’t get it; that our life is passed down to our posterity from generation to generation. This humanistic view of eternal life is incorrect, and is not eternal life by any means! It leaves out God and His supernatural power, and it leaves out the salvation that God wants to provide us and leaves out real eternal life. And it throws out the teachings of the Bible. It is not much different than someone thinking that they can save themselves by their own merit, skill or will or ability, or by their own hard work, etc. This is salvation by works. No miracles needed for the humanist, they die at death, and this is the end of the show for them. Their beliefs can be explained only in naturalistic terms and human philosophy. But where does this leave God? Where does this leave the Bible and its teaching of salvation? As we shall see, God has a better plan, much better! And you will see that God’s salvation is salvation indeed! It is miraculous and supernatural, completely beyond the ability of mankind!

To Be Continued…

Click here for a Free PDF of this article!

Blog Edited by John Foll.

List of Articles

---

From the Editor: “The Everlasting Covenant” has had a very great impact on my life! These articles, with its stories from the Bible, led me to fall in love with God, there is no other way of putting it. The thing I was needing the most in my life was given to me after I learned how much He loved me in “The Everlasting Covenant” by E. J. Waggoner.

It is my prayer, dear reader, that God will richly bless you, as you learn more and more about His great love for you as presented by E. J. Waggoner in “The Everlasting Covenant”, as we continue to present more articles from it.

May the grace of God, and the priceless, precious fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you, as you go down this journey of falling totally in love with God! Riches beyond measure await you, if you will just get to know Him and His great love for you!

Listen to these articles at:  http://www.whiteraimentevangelism.com/recommended.

Watchword:

“Jesus answered and said to him, ‘If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him, and make Our abode with him.'” John 14:23 NASB.

White Raiment Evangelism Revelation 3:18:

In Revelation 3:18 Jesus said, "I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, and white raiment, and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest be clothed, that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear, and that thou mayest see." (Paraphrase of the KJV.)


#Abraham #Seed #Offspring #Faith #God #Promise #Land #Canaan #Everlasting #Possession #Inherit #Spiritual #Kingdom #Forever #Life #Resurrection #Isaac #Death #Jesus #Israel

09 The Test of Faith: Editor’s Notes (The Everlasting Covenant)

Theme Text from the article by E.  J. Waggoner from The Everlasting Covenant: 09 The Test of Faith, from The Present Truth, July 2, 1896:

So “it came to pass after these things, that God did prove Abraham, and said unto him, Abraham; and he said, Here am I. And He said, Take now thy son, thine only son, whom thou lovest, even Isaac, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of.” Gen. 22:1, 2.

Please read this article now before reading our notes on them: http://whiteraimentevangelismfaith.blogspot.com/2018/08/09-test-of-faith-everlasting-covenant.html

Editor’s Notes by John Foll:

This is such an amazing story, when God asked Abraham to sacrifice his only son on a mountain in the land of Moriah! From a human standpoint, Abraham was asked to sacrifice his own eternal life! Or ‘to put a knife to his own throat,’ as Waggoner put it! And he was asked to sacrifice the eternal life of everyone in the world. Would he continue to believe God’s promise, that he would personally have a possession in the land of Canaan, which could only happen for him through the * Resurrection, and that from one born to him would all the nations of the world be blessed? Or would he lose his faith in God’s promise? This was the test!

* We will post an article soon on this called: “Abraham's Promised Possession of Canaan Could Only Come Through the Resurrection”. E. J.  Waggoner already covered the fact that Abraham was asked to sacrifice his own eternal life, and that Abraham could only gain the promised inheritance through the resurrection, but we want to go through it again and ‘make it plain’ in a separate article.

How many people are willing to go through the test of faith like Abraham went through? Without faith it is only natural to question how God could save the world through Jesus, if Jesus had to be born through Isaac, the child of the Promise, but then Isaac was slain! How could this even be possible? But this is not the path of faith!
 
How many are really willing to do whatever God asks, regardless of the cost to themselves? This was the strongest test that any human being has ever been asked to do by God, which was put on Abraham, but thank God he passed the test for all of humanity! Did you know that what Abraham did here was for all of humanity? Abraham was a type of ‘Christ’ here or a type of the ‘Father.’ What would have happened to God’s promise to save the world through the offspring of Abraham, if Abraham had failed? God would have still found a way to keep His promise, but Abraham would have lost out, and it would have brought dishonor upon God. John the Baptist said, ‘God is able to raise up children of Abraham from these stones.’ Matthew 3:1-2, 9; Luke 3:2-3, 8. Another words, God can raise up someone faithful to Him from the very rocks if needed, like Abraham. How God would have kept His promise to Abraham, if Abraham had failed, we cannot tell. Would Abraham believe that God is love, pure, just and holy? Would he believe God’s promise to him of eternal life, through the offspring of his son Isaac, if he obeyed God’s command to sacrifice his son? But by faith Abraham did not fail! Yes he did believe! WOW! That is faith! Thankfully Abraham passed the test! This is why he is called the father of the faithful or the father of them that believe. Romans 4:11-16.

Abraham passing this test shows everyone that God does indeed keep His promises, and that He will save all to the uttermost who put their trust in Him for salvation! What God did for Abraham He can do for you too, and for everyone else who puts their full trust in His mighty power and promises to save! The blessing of Abraham passing this test has been passed down to mankind, through God being able to keep His promise directly and literally to Abraham, that through his offspring (of Isaac) all nations of the world would be blessed. Genesis 22:15-18. Does this really matter? You bet it does! This was when God sent His only Son Jesus to this world to die on the cross for our sins (John 3:16, 17), and when Jesus showed us how to live, have peace, and be full of love and joy and have eternal life! The result is an object lesson in faith, and that Abraham trusted God enough to be willing to sacrifice his own eternal life to obey God! Wow! Do you see now why it was so important for Abraham to pass this test? It was so Jesus could be born through the offspring of Isaac and die on the cross for our sins! What is the big deal about Him being born through Isaac? It is because God promised it to Abraham! So what is the big deal about whether God kept His promise to Abraham or not, for us today? You had better believe it was a big deal! In this world of evil and shades of grey in between good and evil, great hypocrisy and lies, it is a most wonderful thing to have someone to believe in who is perfect in love and purity, who always keeps His promises. So where would we be now if Jesus had not been born and died for our sins? Where would we be now if we couldn’t trust God to keep His promises?

Isn’t Abraham’s struggle in passing the test of faith similar to what Jesus went through? Jesus had a great struggle too in the Garden of Gethsemane over the fate of all sinners. It tested His resolve to save humanity, and the fate of the entire world hung in the balance! What if His sacrifice hadn’t been accepted by the Father? What if He had sinned even once? Perhaps these were some of the thoughts that Jesus struggled with before and after He came to this earth as a babe, grew up, was baptized and went through that great struggle in the garden and won it, and went through with His great sacrifice to save us, praise God! This in some ways was like Abraham’s struggle to sacrifice his son, only much more severe! Matthew 26:36-46; Luke 22:44-46. Jesus sweat great drops of blood during His great struggle in the garden of Gethsemane!

At the beginning of the world Jesus was asked by the Father to sacrifice His life for the sins of the world, which was like asking Him to sacrifice His own eternal life, because He could have failed in His mission when He was asked to die! Revelation 13:8; John 3:16, 17; Ephesians 1:3-4. Jesus was tried and tempted in all points like we are, yet without sin. Hebrews 4:15. He could not have been tried and tempted in all points like we are without sin, if there was no possibility of His failure. Think on that! The Father asking Jesus to die on the cross for our sins was like Abraham telling is son that he was the sacrifice, and putting him on the altar and getting ready to slay him. Isaac could have easily overpowered Abraham, who was quite old when this story took place! So Isaac cooperated with his father to be the sacrifice, like Jesus did when he cooperated with His Father to be the sacrifice for the sins of the whole world! Beautiful parallel! Jesus had eternal life and power within Himself, and could have changed His mind, and backed out of His Father’s plan to save the world if He had wanted to. But like Isaac he cooperated with His Father to be the sacrifice! He could have called 10,000 angels or 1 Trillion angels to save Himself from the cross, and could have easily slain all of His accusers and those who nailed Him to the cross. He had the power to do this! But He did not, because He loves you and me!

He could not have saved you and me, if He had saved Himself. The priests and rulers said, ‘He saved others, but He cannot save Himself.’ “Likewise also the chief priests mocking him, with the scribes and elders, said, He saved others; himself he cannot save. If he be the King of Israel, let him now come down from the cross, and we will believe him. He trusted in God; let him deliver him now, if he will have him: for he said, I am the Son of God.” Matthew 27:41-43 KJV. Little did they realize the truth behind their mocking statement! - He wasn’t trying to save Himself, but all of mankind! There was no way to save Himself from the death on the cross, and save us too! Oh how most of us, if we had been in this position and had the power He had, would have really given it to our accusers and to the ones torturing us, and would have let them have it and destroyed them all! But thankfully Jesus was not like us! What Jesus did, especially after all of those unholy taunts that were hurled at Him, showed His infinite love and pity for us! The test for Jesus to get revenge on His torturers and abusers would have been very great, considering His Godly power and ability of issuing payback and punishment! This was Satan’s goal in all the abuse that was heaped upon heap upon Jesus.

It has been said that Jesus died ‘the second death’ of unrepentant sinners, to pay the price for our sins, for Him who knew no sin! He died as someone who will die who is lost, without hope. We deserve to die as a lost sinner without hope, but Jesus took our place so we don’t have to, if we believe in Him. He died the death that we deserve, in our place, just like the ram that God gave to Abraham to die in the place of his son Isaac too! Beautiful parallel!

From a human standpoint, all hope was cut off for Jesus when He died, and so His disciples and the world thought. But Jesus had to lose His life in order for God to keep His promise to Abraham! He had thought He was cut off from His Father when He was dying on the cross and said, ‘My God, My God, Why hast thou forsaken Me?’ Matthew 27:46 KJV. From a human standpoint, all hope was apparently cut off to Abraham too, by God’s request that he sacrifice his son Isaac! Abraham was probably tempted with the thought that if he sacrificed Isaac’s life and God didn’t resurrect him back to life, then he would lose his son and the promise of eternal life for himself, and for everyone else in the world! Think about that!

Abraham had to have great faith to do what God had asked him to do. Abraham had to believe the promise of God, against the command of God! Wow! God’s command seemed contrary to His promise. If he had taken his own son’s life that would have been murder, which is sin! Wow! What a test! Jesus could not save the Jews from the hated Roman government rule if He died. This was what the Jewish nation was expecting from the Messiah. But He did die. From a human standpoint at the time of His death, He had failed in His mission, but from God’s promise and plan He had succeeded! His goal at this time was the salvation of the whole world from sin, suffering and death – for all who would believe, not saving the Jews from the Roman rule! So the hopes of those who hoped in Jesus died when He died, or so they thought. But it was only through His death and resurrection that He is able to forgive our sins and impart eternal life to us! It was only through His death that God was able to keep His promise to Abraham!

“And Jesus answered them, saying, ‘The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains by itself alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. He who loves his life loses it; and he who hates his life in this world shall keep it to life eternal.’” John 12:23-25 NASB. This was not only what Jesus taught His disciples to do, it is also what He did Himself! He lost His life for our sake, and gained His own life back again and thus helped us gain eternal life too! Don’t you love Him? He had to trust in the Resurrection, just like Abraham did and we do. But He is the Resurrection and the Life! John 11:25; 10:17-18. From a human standpoint, it was foolishness for Christ to die on the cross for our sins! “For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God.” 1 Corinthians 1:18 KJV. But thank God, Jesus did just that – dying on the cross for our sins! Otherwise we would have no hope. So Jesus went through a very great struggle to save humanity, and won it for our sakes! Amen.

So now we see more clearly why Abraham had his big test of faith, where God asked him to sacrifice his only son. It was a type of what God and Jesus went through, when Jesus agreed to die on the cross for our sins, all the way until His death on the cross! Note what Abraham told Isaac, when Isaac asked him where the lamb for the sacrifice was: he said, ‘God will provide.’ Genesis 22:7-8. And that is exactly what God did! Genesis 22:10-13. God provided! What faith this was! God did provide, not just the ram caught in the thicket to die in the place of Abraham’s only begotten son Isaac, but He also provided His only begotten son Jesus too, as ‘the lamb of God’, to die in the place of every believing sinner in the world, including Abraham and Isaac too! Praise His name forever! Amen!

May the grace of God, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all! Amen.

© Copyright 2018 John Foll


Blog Edited by John Foll.

Click here for a Free PDF of this article!

 

List of Articles

If you were blessed by this article, why not read all of it starting from the beginning of it?
Click here to read Part 1 of the Everlasting Covenant.

---

From the Editor: “The Everlasting Covenant” has had a very great impact on my life! These articles, with its stories from the Bible, led me to fall in love with God, there is no other way of putting it. The thing I was needing the most in my life was given to me after I learned how much He loved me in “The Everlasting Covenant” by E. J. Waggoner.

It is my prayer, dear reader, that God will richly bless you, as you learn more and more about His great love for you as presented by E. J. Waggoner in “The Everlasting Covenant”, as we continue to present more articles from it.

May the grace of God, and the priceless, precious fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you, as you go down this journey of falling totally in love with God! Riches beyond measure await you, if you will just get to know Him and His great love for you!


Listen to these articles at:  https://www.whiteraimentevangelism.org/recommended.


#Faith #Sacrifice #Resurrection #Test #Keep #Promise #Command #God #Provide #Lamb #Jesus #Begotten #Son #Eternal #Life #Death #Struggle #Garden #Gethsemane #Sinners

09 The Test of Faith (The Everlasting Covenant)

We pass by a period of several years.

The number of years we cannot tell, but Isaac, the child of faith and promise had been born, and had grown to be a young man. Abraham’s faith had grown stronger and more intelligent, for he had learned that God fulfills His own promises. But God is a faithful teacher, and does not allow His pupils to leave a lesson until it is thoroughly learned. It is not enough for them to see and acknowledge that they have made a mistake in the lesson that He has given them. Such acknowledgment of course insures forgiveness; but, having seen the error, they must go over the same ground again, and possibly many times, until they have learned it so well that they can do without stumbling. It is solely for their own good. It is no kindness on the part of a parent or teacher to allow his children to pass by lessons that are unlearned, simply because they are difficult.

So “it came to pass after these things, that God did prove Abraham, and said unto him, Abraham; and he said, Here am I. And He said, Take now thy son, thine only son, whom thou lovest, even Isaac, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of.” Gen. 22:1, 2.

In order to understand what this proving meant, we must have a clear idea of what was bound up in Isaac, — of what was embraced in the promise that had been made to Abraham, which was to be fulfilled through Isaac. We have already studied it, and so have only to recall the fact. God had said to Abraham, “In thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed,” and, “In Isaac shall thy seed be called.” As we have seen, the blessing was the blessing of the Gospel, the blessing which comes through Christ and His cross. But this, since God had so said, was to be fulfilled through Isaac. The promised seed, consisting of Christ and of all who are His, was to come through Isaac. Thus we see that to human sight the requirement of God seemed like cutting off all hope of the promise ever being fulfilled.

* That he was not a little child, as our ideas of the word “lad” might lead us to suppose, is evident from the fact that he was able to carry the wood for the sacrifice up the mountain. Josephus says that he was twenty-five years old, and that age is indicated by the chronology in the margin of our Bibles.

But the promise was the promise of salvation through Jesus Christ, the seed. The promise had been very explicit, “In Isaac shall thy seed be called,” and that seed was first of all Christ. Therefore Christ the Saviour of all men could come only in Isaac’s line. But Isaac was yet a young man and unmarried. To cut him off would be, so men would reason, to cut off all prospects of the Messiah, and so to cut off all hope of salvation. To all appearance Abraham was called upon virtually to put the knife to his own throat, and to cut off the hope of his own salvation.

Thus we can see that it was not merely Abraham’s fatherly affection that was tried, but his faith in the promise of God. A severer test no man was ever called upon to undergo, for no other man ever could be in the same position. The entire hope of the whole human race was bound up in Isaac, and Abraham was asked apparently to destroy it with a stroke of the knife. Well might the one who could stand such a test be called “the father of the faithful.” We may well believe that Abraham was strongly tempted to doubt if this requirement came from the Lord; it seemed to be so directly contrary to God’s promise.

Temptations

To be tempted, and sorely tempted, is not a sin. “My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations.” James 1:2. The Apostle Peter speaks of the same inheritance which was promised to Abraham, and says that we greatly rejoice in it, “though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations; that the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried by fire, might be found unto praise and honor and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ; whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see Him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory; receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls.” 1 Peter 1:6-9.

These temptations cause heaviness, says the apostle. They weigh one down. If it were otherwise, — if it took no effort to endure them, — they would not be temptations. The fact that a thing is a temptation means that it is something which appeals to all the feelings, and to endure which almost takes the very life. Therefore we may know, without casting the slightest reflection upon Abraham’s faith, that it cost him a terrible struggle to obey the command of the Lord.

Doubts were suggested to his mind. Doubts come from the devil, and no man is so good that he is free from the suggestions of Satan. Even the Lord Himself had to bear them. He “was tempted in all points like as we are, yet without sin.” Heb. 4:15. The sin does not consist in the devil’s whispering doubts in our ears, but in our acting upon them. This Christ did not do. Neither did Abraham; yet he who thinks that the patriarch started upon his journey without first having a sore struggle, must be unmindful not only of what was involved in the proposed test, but of the feelings of a father.

The tempter would suggest, “This cannot be the requirement of the Lord, because He has promised you an innumerable posterity, and has said that it must come through Isaac.” Again and again would this thought come; but it could not stand, because Abraham knew full well the voice of the Lord. He knew that the call to offer up Isaac came from the same source as the promise.

The repetition of that suggestion of the tempter would only make more sure the fact that the requirement was from the Lord.

But that would not end the struggle. A strong temptation to disregard the command would be found in his own affection for his son. The requirement probed that very deeply: “Take now thy son, thine only son, whom thou lovest.” And there was the fond and proud mother. How could he make her believe that it was the Lord that had spoken to him? Would she not reproach him for following the fancies of a disordered mind? How could he break the matter to her? Or, if he should proceed to make the sacrifice without letting her know of it, how could he meet her on his return? Besides, there were the people. Would they not accuse him of murdering his son? We may be sure that Abraham had a desperate struggle with all these suggestions that would crowd upon his mind and heart.

But faith gained the victory. His time of wavering had long since past, and now “he staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God.” Rom. 4:20. “By faith Abraham, when he was tried, offered up Isaac; and he that had received the promises offered up his only begotten son, of whom it was said, That in Isaac shall thy seed be called; accounting that God was able to raise him up even from the dead; from whence also he received him in a figure.” Heb. 11:12-19. The whole thing, from first to last, involved the resurrection of the dead. The birth of Isaac was really the bringing of life from the dead. It was by the power of the resurrection. Abraham had once, through hearkening to his wife, failed to trust God’s power to bring him a son from the dead. He had repented of his failure, but must needs be tested upon that point, to insure that he had thoroughly learned the lesson. The result proved that he had.

The Only Begotten Son

“He that had received the promises offered up his only begotten son, of whom it was said, That in Isaac shall thy seed be called; accounting that God was able to raise him up even from the dead.” Note the expression, “his only begotten son.” We cannot read it without being reminded that “God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” John 3:16. In Abraham offering his only begotten son we have a figure of the offering of the only begotten Son of God. And Abraham so understood it. He had already rejoiced in Christ. He knew that through the promised Seed should come the resurrection of the dead; and it was his faith in the resurrection of the dead, which can come only through Jesus, that enabled him to stand the test.

Abraham offered up his only begotten son, in confidence that he would be raised from the dead, because God would offer up His only begotten Son. Nay, more, God had already offered His only begotten Son, “who verily was fore-ordained before the foundation of the world,” but who had yet to be manifested. 1 Peter 1:20. And herein we can see the marvelous faith of Abraham, and how fully it comprehended the purpose and the power of God. For the Messiah, the Seed through whom all the blessings were to come to men, was to be born of Isaac’s line. Isaac was to be cut off without an heir. Yet Abraham had such confidence in the life and power of the word of the Lord, that he believed that it would fulfill itself. He believed that the Messiah who was to come of Isaac’s line, and whose death alone could destroy death and bring the resurrection, and who had not yet come into the world, had power to raise up Isaac from the dead, in order that the promise might be fulfilled, and He be yet born into the world. Greater faith than that of Abraham could not possibly exist.

The Resurrection and the Life

In this we see not only proof of the pre-existence of Christ, but also of Abraham’s knowledge of it. Jesus said, “I am the resurrection and the life.” John 11:25. He was the Word that was in the beginning with God, and that was God. He was the resurrection and the life in the days of Abraham as well as in the time of Lazarus. “In Him was life,” even endless life. Abraham believed it, for he had already proved its power, and he was confident that the life of the Word would bring Isaac to life in order to the fulfillment of the promise.

Abraham started forth on his journey. Three days he pursued his weary way, in which there was ample time for the tempter to assail him with all manner of doubts. But doubt was fully mastered when “on the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes, and saw the place afar off.” Gen. 22:4. Evidently some sign that the Lord had given him appeared on the mountain, and he knew beyond all doubt that the Lord was leading him. The struggle was over, and he went forward to the completion of his task, fully assured that God would bring Isaac from the dead.

“And Abraham said unto the young men, Abide ye here with the ass; and I and the lad will go yonder and worship, and come again to you.” Verse 5. If there were not a single line in the New Testament about this matter, we might know from this verse that Abraham had faith in the resurrection. “I and the lad will go yonder and worship, and come again to you.” In the original it is made very clear: We will go, and we will come again to you. The patriarch had such confidence in the Lord’s promise that he fully believed that although he should offer up Isaac as a burnt offering, his son would be raised again, so that they would both return together. “Hope maketh not ashamed.” Having been justified by faith, he had peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. The trial of his faith had been patiently endured, for we must know that the bitterness of the struggle was now over, and a rich experience of the life that is in the word had come to him, procuring an unwavering hope.

The Sacrifice Completed

We all know the outcome. Isaac carried the wood to the appointed place. The altar was built, and he was bound and laid upon it. Here still we have the likeness to the sacrifice of Christ. God gave His only begotten Son, yet the Son went not unwillingly. Christ “gave Himself for us.” So Isaac freely yielded himself as a sacrifice. He was young and strong, and could easily have resisted or fled if he had wished. But he did not. The sacrifice was his as well as his father’s. As Christ carried His own cross, so Isaac carried the wood for his own sacrifice, and meekly yielded his body to the knife. In Isaac we have a type of Christ, who was “led as a lamb to the slaughter;” and Abraham’s statement, “God will provide Himself a lamb,” was but the expression of his faith in the Lamb of God.

“And Abraham stretched forth his hand, and took the knife to slay his son. And the angel of the Lord called unto him out of heaven, and said, Abraham, Abraham; and he said, Here am I. And He said, Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou anything unto him; for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing that thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son, from Me. And Abraham lifted up his eyes, and looked, and behold behind him a ram caught in a thicket by his horns; and Abraham went and took the ram, and offered him up for a burnt offering instead of his son.” Gen. 22:10-13. The son’s life was spared, yet the sacrifice was as truly and as completely made as though he had been put to death.

The Work of Faith

Let us stop a moment to read the words penned by James upon this transaction. “Wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead? Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar? Seest thou how faith wrought with his works, and by works was faith made perfect? And the Scripture was fulfilled, which saith, Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness; and he was called the friend of God.” James 2:20-23.

How is it possible for anyone to suppose that here is any contradiction or modification of the doctrine of justification by faith as set forth in the writings of the Apostle Paul? The Apostle Paul’s writings teach that faith works. “Faith which worketh by love” (Gal. 5:6) is declared to be the one necessary thing. He commended the Thessalonian brethren for their “works of faith.” 1 Thess. 1:2, 3. So the Apostle James uses Abraham’s case as an illustration of the working of faith. God had made a promise to him; he had believed the promise, and his faith had been counted to him for righteousness. His faith was the kind that works righteousness. Now that faith received a practical test, and the works showed that it was perfect. Thus the Scripture was fulfilled which says, “Abraham believed God, and it was imputed to him for righteousness.” This work was the demonstration of the fact that faith had justly been imputed to him for righteousness. It was faith that wrought with his works. The work that Abraham did was a work of faith. His works did not produce his faith, but his faith produced his works. He was justified, not by faith and works, but by faith which works.

The Friend of God

“And he was called the friend of God.” Jesus said to His disciples, “Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth; but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of My Father, I have made known unto you.” Friendship between two means mutual confidence. In perfect friendship each one reveals himself to the other in a way that he does not to the outside world. There can be no perfect friendship where there is distrust and restraint. Between perfect friends there is a perfect understanding. So God called Abraham His friend, because they perfectly understood each other. This sacrifice fully revealed the character of Abraham. God had said before, “I know him;” and now again He said, “Now I know that thou fearest God.” And Abraham on his part understood the Lord. The sacrifice of his only begotten son indicated that he knew the loving character of God, who for man’s sake had already given His only begotten Son. They were united in a mutual sacrifice and a mutual sympathy. No one could appreciate the feelings of God so well as Abraham could.

No other person can ever be called upon to undergo the same test that Abraham endured, because the circumstances can never again be the same. Never again can the fate of the world be bound up in a single person, and hang, as it were, in the balance. Yet each child of Abraham will be tested, because only they who have the faith of Abraham are the children of Abraham. Each one may be the friend of God, and must be such if he is a child of Abraham. God will manifest Himself unto His people as He does not unto the world.

But we must not forget that friendship is based upon mutual confidence. If we would have the Lord reveal Himself unto us, we must reveal ourselves to Him. If we confess our sins, laying out before Him in secret all our weaknesses and difficulties, then He will show Himself a faithful friend, and will reveal to us His love, and His power to deliver from temptation. He will show us how He has been tempted in the same way, suffering the same infirmities, and will show us how to overcome. Thus in loving interchange of confidences, we shall sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus, and may sup together. He will show to us wonderful things; for “the secret of the Lord is with them that fear Him; and He will show them His covenant.” Ps. 25:14.

By E.  J. Waggoner -- The Present Truth, July 2, 1896

Blog Edited by John Foll.

We will follow up this article with our Editor's notes on it soon!

Click here for a Free PDF of this article!

List of Articles

If you were blessed by this article, why not read all of it starting from the beginning of it?
Click here to read Part 1 of the Everlasting Covenant.

---

From the Editor: “The Everlasting Covenant” has had a very great impact on my life! These articles, with its stories from the Bible, led me to fall in love with God, there is no other way of putting it. The thing I was needing the most in my life was given to me after I learned how much He loved me in “The Everlasting Covenant” by E. J. Waggoner.

It is my prayer, dear reader, that God will richly bless you, as you learn more and more about His great love for you as presented by E. J. Waggoner in “The Everlasting Covenant”, as we continue to present more articles from it.

Listen to these articles at:  https://www.whiteraimentevangelism.org/recommended .


#Faith #Lesson #Test #Trial #Sacrifice #Son #Victory #Abraham #Isaac #Doubt #Friend #God #Provide #Love #Works #Temptation #Struggle #Jesus #Resurrection #Altar