Can we turn, please, to the book of Genesis and chapter twenty two. Genesis chapter twenty two, and we'll take time to read this chapter together. As it came to pass after these things that God did tempt Abraham and said unto him, Abraham. And he said, Behold, here I am. And he said, Take now thy son, thine only Isaac, whom thou lovest, 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. And Abraham rose up early in the morning and saddled his ass and took two of his young men with him and Isaac his son, and clave the wood for the burnt offering and rose up and went unto the place which God had told him. Then, on the third day, Abraham lifted up his eyes and saw the place afar off. And Abraham said unto his young men, Abide ye here with the ass, and I and the lad will go yonder and worship, and come again to you. And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it upon Isaac his son. And he took the fire in his hand and the knife, and they went, both of them together. And Isaac spake unto Abraham his father and said, my father. And he said, here am I, my son. And he said, behold the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering? And Abraham said, my son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering. So they went, both of them together. And they came to the place which God had told him of. And Abraham built an altar there, and laid the wood in order, and bound Isaac his son, and laid him on the altar upon the wood. 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 thy hand upon the lad, neither do thou anything unto him. For now I know that thou fearest God, seeing 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 for a burnt offering in the stead of his son. Abraham called the name of that place Jehovah Jireh, as it is said to this day, in the mount of the Lord it shall be seen. And the angel of the Lord called unto Abraham out of heaven the second time and said, by myself have I sworn, saith the Lord, because thou hast done this thing and hast not withheld thy son, thine only son, that in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of heaven, and as the sand which is upon the seashore, and thy seed shall possess the gates of his enemies. And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed, because thou hast obeyed my voice. So Abraham returned unto his young men, and they rose up and went together to Beersheba, and Abraham dwelt at Beersheba. And it came to pass after these things that it was told Abraham saying, Behold, Milcah, she hath also borne children unto thy brother Nahor, Huz his firstborn, and Buzz his brother, and Kenel the father of Amram, and Shez- Shezed and Hezu, and Hildash, and Jidlath, and Bethuel. And Bethuel begat Rebekah. These eight milk had did bear unto Nahor, Abraham's brother. I'm going to read the New Testament commentary of these events in the Epistle to the Hebrews in chapter eleven. Hebrews chapter eleven, and we'll read at verse seventeen. mhm 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. Now we do look to the Lord for his help as we consider these, I think, well-known passage together, uh, this evening. Now from Hebrews chapter eleven, it is clear that we are to see in Genesis, uh, twenty a trial of faith. That's clearly what is said by faith Abraham when he was trialed. And so Genesis chapter twenty two is certainly a trial or a test of Abraham's faith. But we're going to see as well, and I think, uh, uh, any spiritual mind looking at this chapter will, will see, uh, what I'm going to say in the chapter, that we see Abraham here as a type of God the Father. In the book of Genesis and in the New- the Old Testament in general, there are, there are many types of the Lord Jesus the Son. We, we think of Isaac, he's obviously a type of the Lord Jesus in this context, in this thought of sacrifice. And we can think of Joseph, uh, and other Old Testament characters are seen as pictures of types of the Lord Jesus. But we're going to see this evening, as we do these verses, that Abraham is called upon to enter into experiences with the Father. And you can almost just hear, for example, in verse two, the words of, uh, uh, as God speaks to him, take now thy son, thine only Isaac, whom thou lovest. And you almost get the sense of, of the, the Father's feelings towards the Lord Jesus, his son, the only begotten son, the son of his love. And so we're going to see Abraham in these two ways, uh, this evening. We think of it as a trial of faith, and for that, of course, there are practical lessons for ourselves. But we also see Abraham in, in, as it were, entering into the feelings of God the Father as Abraham s- delivers up his son, and as we think, of course, of the New Testament answer to all of this, when God spared not his own son, but delivered him up for us all. Now, just back to help us consider this chapter together, we're going to notice in verses one and two that we have the instruction given to Abraham. That's verses one and two. Then from verse three down to verse eight, we have the journey described for us and the conversation that took place on that journey. And so we learn that in verse number three, and Abraham rose up early and and so on. And so we have the journey in verses three to eight. Then from verse nine to verse eighteen, very simply, we are at the place. Verse nine says, and they came to the place which God had told him of. And so we're at the place of sacrifice, and of course, not only the place of sacrifice, but the place of revelation, because Abraham got a revelation here. Uh, God spoke to him on two occasions, and so it was the place of sacrifice, but it also was the place of revelation. It was also the place of divine provision, of course, and hence he, he calls the place in verse fourteen Jehovah Jireh, and the margin of my Bible, as as yours will possibly say, Jehovah will see or Jehovah will provide. And then in verse twenty to the end of the chapter, we have the, uh, report. So verse nineteen, we have his return, and then verse twenty to twenty four, we have the report that was given to him. And it's interesting that, of course, Rebecca's name is mentioned. A chapter, uh, of of course, when we come to chapter twenty four, Rebecca comes on the scene as a bride for Isaac. I'm sure that you've noticed the dispensational setting of these chapters. In Genesis twenty two, we obviously have a picture of the cross. When we come to chapter twenty three, we have the death of Sarah, the death and burial of Sarah, Sarah, and Sarah would stand here as a picture of the nation of Israel, and we have a picture of Israel temporally being set aside. And then in chapter twenty four, we have a bride for Isaac and a picture of the present work of the Holy Spirit in bringing that bride back to our heavenly Isaac, and that is the kind of teaching of Genesis twenty four. And so these passages in the history of Abraham, as I'm sure you've noticed, uh, are not kind of random events that are left on the page of scripture, but they follow God's program in a bro- a broader sense, and it shows to us the wonderful inspiration of the word of God, that God is behind it all, and we have God in the life of Abraham really giving to us a picture of his program that he's going to work out and has worked out, and is doing so in the day in which we live. Now let's think then in a very simple way, as time permits, of Genesis chapter twenty two. The chapter begins with the words, and it came to pass after these things. Now I suppose in its immediate context, these things includes the events of the previous chapter. But I think in general terms, Abraham's life of faith was really leading up to this great test. This was going to be the great pinnacle of Abraham's life, and really all the previous, his previous experience was really a preparation for the events of this chapter. And after these things, it came to pass. You sometimes in life, as you look back over your experiences with God, you wonder how it all fits together. But sometimes events happen in life, and you can see, as Abraham doubtless would see, that the previous years of experience were really leading up to this great event, to this great test that Abraham and perhaps us, uh, ourselves will face. Then we learn in verse, uh, one that God did tempt, is the word that we have here in an authorized version, did tempt Abraham. Now we need to be clear exactly what God was seeking to do, and they under- understand precisely the meaning of this word. The idea of tempting here is to try, to prove. That's the significance, of course, in the verses we've read in the Epistle to the Hebrews. By faith, Abraham, when he was tried. And you may ask the question, what exactly was God doing when he tried Abraham in Genesis chapter twenty two? Well, the first thing we need to be clear about is this. God did not need to find anything out about Abraham. God didn't try Abraham in this chapter in order for God to find something out that he did not already know. But the point of Genesis chapter twenty two is this, to bring out in Abraham's experience, in terms of practical obedience and faith, to bring out what was in him. And God, in a like a similar way in our experience, he knows us through and through. And the, the, the trials of life and trials of faith are not to find out about us, but to bring out and to provide the practical opportunity for our faith to rest on God, and for us to show that obedience that is Abraham was commended for later in the chapter. You notice what is said in verse eighteen: And thy sha- thy seed shall be, uh, shall be, and in thy seed shall all nations of the earth be blessed, because thou hast obeyed my voice. And here are two thoughts that are linked together in this chapter. His obedience. And in Hebrews chapter eleven, what is emphasized, of course, by faith. And here are two thoughts that the Spirit of God brings to us in other places. We think of Romans chapter one, the apostle speaks of the obedience of faith, and here we have Abraham's faith. Undoubtedly, this was a trial of his faith, but it was also a test of his obedience, and we cannot separate faith and obedience. The two are intrinsically linked together. The faith in God must be a faith that results in my obedience to God's command, and this is what we see, uh, so beautifully in the life of Abraham here. Verse one continues, just looking at the, the text, uh, expression by expression. Uh, God did test Abraham and said unto him, Abraham. And he said, Behold I. There's a beauty in the way in which we have relationships between Abraham and Isaac in this chapter, and also the relationship between Abraham and God. And although it's so simple and on the surface of the chapter, isn't it beautiful that God addresses Abraham by name? It shows the personal relationship that Abraham had with God. He was a man that knew his God. He was the God of Abraham. He was God's friend. And so God addresses Abraham by name. Abraham, he calls, and he said, behold I. In other words, here was a man that was listening for God's voice. Not only was he called by name, but Abraham was listening, and he recognized that this was God speaking to him. He was quite clear about that. Otherwise, we wouldn't, we, he would not have obeyed in the ready way in which he did. So here are two very beautiful, practical things. God's personal knowledge of Abraham. God's personal dealings with Abraham, seen in the fact that he addresses him by name, Abraham. And the beauty of this, that Abraham was listening to the voice of God. Now you say, how can we hear the voice of God today? Well, I hope we have heard the voice of God today. We hear the voice of God today by reading his words. And God speaks to us. And how good it is if we have that receptive ear to listen and to appreciate that God is speaking to me personally. And so we have the mode of address in verse one. And then in verse two, obviously, we have the specific commandment that God gave to Abraham. Take now thy son, thine only Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah, and offer him for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains, which I will tell thee of. What an extraordinary request. He was the son that God had promised. Isaac was the promised seed. Hebrews makes it clear that Isaac, in Isaac was God's promise, promises were going to be fulfilled, and yet now, God is asking Abraham to sacrifice that very son. And Abraham doubtless would be thinking, apart from the very natural feelings upon his heart and the great tug of his affections, how can God fulfill his promise and yet command me, on the other hand, to offer up my own son. And Hebrews chapter eleven tells us that Abraham's resolution of that problem was this. Abraham believed that God would raise him. And then we're going to see that as we come down the chapter, Abraham is quite convinced of that, and we can see it in the verses that follow. Abraham realized that these were not incompatible parts of God. If God expected him to offer up his son, and Isaac was going to be the, the one in whom the promises were fulfilled, God would have to raise him. And Abraham has that faith to believe in the God of resurrection, just as Abraham had to believe that God could bring out of the dead womb of Sarah life. Abraham here believes that God was able to raise up his son Isaac again, having, if he required Abraham to offer him. And I'm sure you can detect in verse two the echo of another son and another father. Take now, the time had come. And your mind, but mine is coming to Galatians chapter four. when the fullness of the time was come, God sent forth his son. Take now thy son, thine only Isaac. Have you listened to the language of John chapter one? the only begotten in the bosom of the Father. Take now thy son, thine only Isaac, whom thou lovest. Our God appreciated and knew intimately the feelings of Abraham's heart. And we hear the echo of another father's heart. As the Lord Jesus could say in John chapter seventeen, for thou lovest me before the foundation of the world. And Abraham, almost uniquely in scripture, is called upon to enter into the very feelings of the Father in delivering up his own son, his only Isaac, whom he loved. And we notice the detail of the instructions. I'm sure that the place is important. We get it again, of course, in second Chronicles chapter three verse one. And we notice the nature of the offering, and offer him for a burnt offering or for an ascending offering. And the great characteristic of the burnt offering was that it was all for God. And here is the death of Christ in picture seen as that aspect, Christ's death for the glory of God, for the pleasure of God. And Isaac here is to be offered up as a burnt offering. But this is too, in in a practical way, upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of. I'm sure, like me, you can be impatient just to know God's mind. God did not reveal all his instructions to him at this moment. He told him what he was to do. He was told him to go into the land of Moriah, but he had not yet identified to Abraham the mountain upon which he was to go. He says, which I will tell thee of. But God expected and was looking for a response of faith and a response of obedience to the command and revelation that he'd been given. And so often in our lives, this is true. God does not reveal all the pathway to us. Very often it's just a step at a time, because there must be on our part a response of faith and the response of obedience to what we have come to learn of God's will for us. And it's very true that our spiritual progress will be impeded if we do not obey what we know, if we do not put into practice, if we do not respond by faith in obedience to what we have learned from the scriptures, we cannot expect God to give us any more until we do obey it. And I suppose here that is seen in the experience of Abraham in this pressing trial. He, God reveals so much to him, and then he says in the end of verse two, which I will tell thee of. I scarce can really enter into what must have been in Abraham's mind as God spoke this, these words to him. It's little wonder that Abraham rose up early in the morning. I don't think Abraham slept terribly well that night. So many things would be, he would be trying just to grasp and grapple the natural feelings in his heart towards his son that God had acknowledged. And yet his, his desire to obey the word of God, the command of God to him. And Abraham exercised and burdened with the weight of this upon his heart. He rises up early in the morning. It shows that he was not going to put it off. It shows that he was intent, in spite of all that might naturally be in his heart, he was going to obey God's words. And there is a steadfastness to Abraham in this chapter. There is no wavering in Abraham. There is, there is a determination in the man that is evident in every verse of the chapter. Abraham was resolved to offer up Isaac, not because he could understand why necessarily. I don't suppose he did understand why God had asked him to do this, but God had asked him and he would do it, and he rose up early. It seems to be in the word of God when we have this expression, we find it again in the early chapters of the book of Joshua, when Joshua would lead Israel over, uh, the Jordan, and then again when they would come against, uh, Jericho. You remember too, when on the morning of resurrection of the women, they came early in the morning. You see, it's indicative of the, the exercise of their hearts, the burden of their heart. They could not wait, they could not put it off. It was the first thing, and the very first opportunity and moment he arises, and he makes preparation for his journey. You see these things, earnest, Abraham was in earnest about this. It was no casual matter as far as Abraham was concerned. This was a great burden to him, and with an exercise of heart, he rises up early and he makes this preparation. We're not told anything really about the details of that, that first part of that journey, what was said, the conversation, but in verse number four, we're told, of course, what he took. And then verse number four, then on the third day, Abraham lifted up his eyes and saw the place afar off. So it seems to be that between verse 3 and verse 4, God told Abraham about the place. He had told him that he had to go into the land of Moriah to one of the mountains, but now in verse four, Abraham seems to have been fixed in his mind about which particular mountain it was, and so between verse three and verse four, God further revealed to him the detail of what he was to do. We notice too the expression of verse four? It is one that you will have met already as you read the life of Abraham. Abraham lifted up his eyes. You remember way back in chapter thirteen that God instructed him to lift up his eyes. Verse fourteen: lift up now thine eyes and look from the place where thou art northward and southward and eastward and westward. So he lifted up his eyes by divine instruction. When we come to chapter eighteen, verse two, and he lifted up his eyes, and that was, of course, to see his three visitors, the Lord being one of them, and the fellowship that he then enjoys. In this chapter, of course, later on, he lifts up his eyes to see divine provision. But in our verse, he lifts up his eyes to see the place, and this is a place of sacrifice, a place that was of importance. You notice in verse five there is undoubtedly the faith of Abraham. Abraham said unto his young men, Abide ye here with the aris, and I and the lad will go yonder and worship and come again to you. What tremendous heights Abraham reached in his faith. First of all, how did he view the sacrifice that God was asking him to make? He viewed it as an act of worship. How incredible. The son that God had given him in his old age, the promised seed. And Abraham, as it were, was going to give that son back to God. He didn't do it reluctantly. He did it as an act of worship. But this is too his confidence. I and the lad will go yonder and worship and come again to you. You see, this is Hebrews chapter eleven. God now making it clear by this, in Hebrews chapter eleven that Abraham accounted that God was able to raise him up even from the dead, for whence also who received him in a figure. Abraham had come to the conclusion, the settled conclusion in his heart, that if God was going to fulfill his promise to Isaac, the only way that could happen, if he was to offer up Isaac as a burnt offering, was God would raise him from the dead. Abraham believed that. He had never seen anybody raised from the dead. Unlike ourselves, we have the historical record of the resurrection of Christ. We have the witness and testimony of the apostles who saw him in resurrection, and there are examples in the, in the word of God of men, uh, and women being raised from the dead. But Abraham now, even though he had not that, he believed that God would raise Isaac, and so he says, and come again to you. How wonderful is the language of Abraham's here? What s- what strength of faith that marks him, uh, as we trace the, the his steps here. But then in verse number six, Abraham took the words of the burnt offering, laid it upon Isaac his son, and took the fire in his hand and the knife, and they went, both of them, together. The author of this verse, uh, has been commented upon and noted, wood, fire, a knife. It's been observed that this is not the order of any other sacrifice in the Old Testament. In the Old Testament, an animal would be taken, and the knife would be taken, and that animal would be slain. And the animal's body would be placed, cut into its parts, and placed on the woods. And then there would be the fire. The fire would consume the offering. But the order in Genesis twenty two is exactly the order of Calvary. It was the woods. Our Lord was nailed to the cross. There was the fire of God's judgment in those three hours of darkness, and it was only then that the Lord Jesus laid down his life. His blood was shed. The sacrifice was made. And so uniquely in the New to the Old Testament, the order of verse number six follows the order of the cross. Our Lord Jesus nailed to the cross, and those hours of darkness enduring the fire of God's judgment, and then finally laying down his life, as we have the order here in Genesis twenty two. And I repeat, that was not the order when it comes to Old Testament sacrifices. The o- the order was the knife, the wood, the fire. But not surprisingly, I suppose, verse seven, Isaac has a question. But notice the intimate language that is employed in verse seven. I, I was going to mention too, they went both of them together, the, the harmony, the oneness of a father and a son. And of course, we have that in the, particularly brought out in the gospel by John. In John's presentation of the truth, we have the, the son moving in oneness with the father. And here in verse seven, Isaac says, my father. The enjoyment of that relationship, my father. And Abraham says, my. What intimacy and love there was between this father and son, and yet I'm sure we can f- uh, appreciate an echo of another father and son. God the Father with his dear son, the Lord Jesus. My father. My son. You think of the times when the Lord Jesus would lift his eyes and, and pray to the Father and speak in that way, Father, and God would hear him as his son. And here the question, the fire, the wood, but where is the lamb? And Abraham's response seems to me to go far beyond the immediate circumstances of Genesis twenty two. Abraham says, my God, my son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering. I don't know how you view this, this verse. It's not simply, in, in my way of reading it and looking at it, it's not simply that Abraham said, God will provide a lamb. He didn't just say that. God would provide a lamb. Of course, that becomes evident later on, uh, the ram caught, uh, in the thorns by the horns in the thicket. Abraham, the the ram that was later taken. Abraham didn't simply say that. God shall provide himself. And I suggest to you this evening that himself is the provision. It's really anticipating those words of John the Baptist. Behold the Lamb of God. Not just the Lamb of God's providing, but God himself would be that Lamb, the Son, one of the Godheads. God would provide himself, the lamb for the burnt offering. And what is beautiful is this, that answer was sufficient for eight for for Isaac. So they went, both of them together. Verse nine, the journey comes to an end, and they come to the place. I don't know how strong Isaac was, but I'm sure that when you think of Abraham as an old man and Isaac as a young man, Isaac could have overpowered Abraham if he wished. But what you have in verse nine is the submission of Isaac to his father. And that in, in that sense, again, we have a lovely picture of our Lord Jesus in his willing submission to his father's will. And as he expresses it in John fourteen, that the world might know that I love the Father, and as the Father gave me commandment, even so I do. Arise, let us go hence. And the Lord Jesus willingly goes to the cross. Here, Isaac is bound and laid upon the altar, and it is clear that Abraham would have carried out God's instructions had God not intervened in verse eleven. And I take it the reason for the double call, and I'm sure you've traced these double calls in the scriptures, was simply an act of grace to ensure that Isaac came to no harm. But how beautiful is these, are these words? God calls the angel of the Lord, and I think that is, is God really, really speak, the Lord called out of heaven, later it's the angel of the Lord. I think again, uh, uh, pre-incarnate manifestation of the Lord Jesus. Abraham, Abraham, God, Lord calls, and he said, here am I. In verse one he says, behold, here am I. And now, in the midst of the trial, he still says, here am I. And here is a man that had listened to God's voice in verse one, and he was still listening for God's voice. Now, in all the pressure of this trial of his faith, his ear is still open at the very point of crisis to hear God's voice. I don't know how it is with you, but very often when the pressure is on, and in the crisis, the last thing that we are doing is listening for God's voice. Here is Abraham, at the very point of greatest trial and the greatest test of his obedience and faith, and he's still listening for God to speak. And God reckons that Abraham had gone through with the whole thing. God reckoned it unto Abraham, lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou anything unto him, for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thine only son from me. He was willing to give up the dearest object of his heart. And God made provision. And again, in verse number thirteen, Abraham lifts up his eyes, and he sees something, I think, which is obviously quite extraordinary. A ram is a s- would have strength, and the horns, of course, are always indicative of power. Yet it was caught by his horns in the very part of the ram's body that would always speak of power and strength. And Abraham offers the ram, and of course the ram again would be a beautiful foreshadowing of the Lord Jesus in his consecration to fulfill the will of God. And Abraham offers the ram instead of his son. Verse fourteen, Abraham called the name of the place Jehovah Jireh, as it is said to this day in the mouth of the Lord, it will be s- shall be seen, or as the margin suggests, Jehovah will provide. That was an immediate fulfillment. I take it to his words to Isaac in verse eight. but as I've already said, it seems to me that there is a greater fulfillment of it in a day that was for Abraham still to come, that was fulfilled in our Lord Jesus. Abraham now in verse fifteen, and very quickly we'll deal with this. Abraham now receives further revelation. Having shown his obedience, he has assured to him God's blessing upon his seed. And we notice that the seed that is spoken of has two aspects to it. Verse seventeen: in that in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the seashore, and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies. It seems to me that there are two aspects of things brought before us. In the stars of the heaven, it seems to me to indicate to Abraham that there would be a heavenly people associated with him. And then on the sands of the seashore, that there would be an earthly people. But of course, will be seen as we read through the word of God that this is so. I suppose, in a sense, we belong to that heavenly, uh, aspect of Abraham's seed, taking Abraham as the father of faith, the father of those that trust. We are a heavenly people, but there's still Israel, an earthly people who will later come into blessing, uh, in a day to come. And they, I take it, are that earthly people. But in verse number eighteen, we just want to notice what is emphasized. And then thy seed shall all nations of the earth be blessed. And of course, this is taken up in New Testament, in the Epistles of Galatians, and in the Acts of the Apostles. These are crucial verses that will be referred to later on. But I want to just notice this practical little note. Because thou hast obeyed my voice. And here is, in this chapter, an extraordinary command being placed upon a man, an extraordinary request that tested Abraham's faith and love and obedience. But how good it is that this was a man that rose to the challenge, even though perhaps he couldn't understand it, even though doubtless it, it tore his heart in a way that we can maybe scarce, those of us that have never been in the situation, can understand. But he has this commendation, because thou hast obeyed my voice. I suppose the great challenge of this chapter, here is a man that rose to the challenge of God's request, God's command to him, God's instruction. And we ask ourselves this question, I wonder, are we the kind of people that are able to rise to the challenge? And when God asks us to do something, maybe at great personal cost, then by faith we just trust, and we obey his voice. These two thoughts I want us just to connect together in our mind as we bring our little meditation to a close. Genesis twenty two emphasizes his obedience. Hebrews eleven stresses his faith. And as we've already indicated, these two thoughts are linked together. We cannot separate faith from obedience. As Paul speaks in Romans one, we have the obedience of faith. Faith obeys God's voice by trusting in God. This is so beautifully seen, of course, in this chapter. And we just maybe would do well just to close by thinking again of these words in Hebrews eleven: By faith, Abraham, when he was tried, offered up Isaac, accounting that God was able to raise him up even from the dead, from whence also he received him in a figure. So God to Abraham was the God of resurrection, and that was seen in Genesis twenty two. Shall we pray? Our God and Father, we thank you for this unique chapter of thy words. We thank you for the example of Abraham's faith. And our Father, we just feel so inadequate in thy presence as we consider the faith of this dear man, his implicit trust in thee and his obedience. We cannot really grasp how he felt as thou didst ask him to give up the dearest and the promised one. But we think of how thou didst cause Abraham to pass through this experience that he might enter into the feelings of thy heart. We remember again the language of thy word, that God spared not his own son, but delivered him up for us all. And our Father, we thank thee for a foreshadowing of what thou will do, that thou would, thou wouldst do in sending thy son into the world, the one whom thou dost love. And yet, O God, we thank thee that thou didst not spare him, but delivered him up. And so, O God, we thank thee for this chapter of scripture. We pray that we might be enabled just to learn the lessons of it and to yet enjoy the, the foreshadowings of the Lord Jesus. Thank thee, O God, that thou art indeed the God of resurrection. We thank thee there was nothing impossible with thee, and we thank thee that thou art the same. So we thank thee that we look forward to a day of resurrection too. So we just commend thy people here to thee. We thank thee for the opportunity to pray to thee. And we pray to thee because we know that thou art able, and know that thou are able to move in this locality, and we just pray thy blessing upon the assembly here. We pray, O God, that thou be pleased to use the testimony for thy glory and for the salvation of sinners. So now we seek thy parting blessing and ask that thou will take us to our homes in safety, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.