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God Testing Abraham - The Book of Genesis · Bible in a Year with Jack Graham

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  Speaker 1: Let us pray. And he said, Take now thy son,
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  Speaker 1: thine only son, Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee
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  Speaker 1: into the land of Moriah, and offer him there as
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  Speaker 1: a burnt offering upon one of the mountains, which I
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  Speaker 1: will tell thee. Genesis 22.2 Dear Lord, Today I choose
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  Speaker 1: the ultimate sign of worship. I choose to render my
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  Speaker 1: life to the workings of your hand. Like Abraham and Isaac,
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  Speaker 1: I choose to live in total obedience to the plans
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  Speaker 1: you have for me. Even when I don't understand your methods,
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  Speaker 1: even though it may look like I could lose everything,
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  Speaker 1: I will trust your character, knowing that no eye can
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  Speaker 1: see as far as you can see. Holy Spirit, give
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  Speaker 1: me the understanding to know that once you give a promise,
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  Speaker 1: you never go back on your word. With this truth,
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  Speaker 1: I choose to understand that in order for my life
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  Speaker 1: and dreams to go forward, they must first go upward.
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  Speaker 1: I now know that the secret to my provision is
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  Speaker 1: being able to give my dreams back to you, because
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  Speaker 1: only in your hands will they flourish, multiply, and be
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  Speaker 1: given life. Thank you for providing the sacrifice needed for
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  Speaker 1: me to hold on to my promise. Thank you for
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  Speaker 1: giving me the ultimate gift in your Son, Jesus. And
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  Speaker 1: thank you for always providing a way when it seems
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  Speaker 1: as though there is none. You are a miracle-working God.
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  Speaker 1: In Jesus' name.
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  Speaker 2: Amen.
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  Speaker 1: Listening to these daily prayers strengthens your relationship with God.
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  Speaker 1: Continue hearing from the Lord by listening to today's Bible
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  Speaker 1: in a Year. Brought to you by BibleInAYear.com.
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  Speaker 2: God Testing Abraham Before this story, we heard the unfolding
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  Speaker 2: of God's great promises. Abraham and Sarah finally bore a son,
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  Speaker 2: and his name was Isaac. Now we learn of Abraham's
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  Speaker 2: true devotion to God. Will he, after waiting decades to
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  Speaker 2: have a child, choose his relationship with God over his son?
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  Speaker 2: Inspired by the book of Genesis.
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  Speaker 3: Hello, I'm Pastor Jack Graham with today's episode of the
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  Speaker 3: Bible in a Year podcast. Today's reading is about a test,
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  Speaker 3: the most difficult test a parent could imagine, in fact.
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  Speaker 3: Just think about how you would feel if you finally
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  Speaker 3: received something you'd worked hard and waited for so long
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  Speaker 3: to receive. And then in an instant, you're told to
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  Speaker 3: give this thing that God had promised back. How devastating,
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  Speaker 3: how confused you would be. That's exactly where we find
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  Speaker 3: Abraham today. Isaac had finally arrived and all seems well
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  Speaker 3: in the world. But now, some years later, God commands
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  Speaker 3: Abraham to offer Isaac as a sacrifice. If he wanted
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  Speaker 3: to test Abraham's faithfulness and trust, there could be no
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  Speaker 3: better or more painful way to do that than what
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  Speaker 3: he is telling him to do now. As you listen,
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  Speaker 3: pay attention to how Abraham responds. Are we going to
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  Speaker 3: see the fearful Abraham who lied about Sarah being his sister? Or,
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  Speaker 3: Will we see the faithful Abraham who refused to align
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  Speaker 3: himself with the king of Sodom, but instead honored God
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  Speaker 3: with an offering and thanksgiving for delivering him in battle?
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  Speaker 3: What could have possibly been going through his mind as
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  Speaker 3: he climbed a mountain, that mountain with Isaac? And what
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  Speaker 3: must Isaac have been feeling, probably now a teenager, realizing
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  Speaker 3: the meaning of the events that are about to happen
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  Speaker 3: to him? Notice how Abraham is confident that God would provide.
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  Speaker 3: even though he has no idea how. This passage is
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  Speaker 3: such a clear foreshadowing of what will come later in Scripture,
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  Speaker 3: as God the Father gives his own Son to be
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  Speaker 3: sacrificed for our sins. So as you listen today, pay
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  Speaker 3: attention to the promise that is yet to come, the
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  Speaker 3: promise that Jesus would die on the cross for our sins.
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  Speaker 3: Let's listen now to today's passage.
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  Speaker 2: At last Abraham held his son in his arms. Sarah
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  Speaker 2: and Abraham, after decades of falling on their knees begging
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  Speaker 2: for a child, had finally seen their prayers answered. Isaac
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  Speaker 2: was growing into a young man with the love and
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  Speaker 2: affection of his parents. Abraham savored every moment he had
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  Speaker 2: with Isaac, for he knew his days were numbered, already
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  Speaker 2: being so advanced in years. Abraham and Sarah experienced the
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  Speaker 2: joys of raising their child together and the highs and
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  Speaker 2: lows of parenthood. Abraham held closely to God's promises, remembering
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  Speaker 2: that God had promised to make a great nation out
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  Speaker 2: of Isaac and his descendants. Hope glistened in Abraham's eyes
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  Speaker 2: as he gazed upon his son, his miracle, his namesake.
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  Speaker 2: One day, God came to Abraham, yet this time, He
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  Speaker 2: did not come with a promise, nor did he come
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  Speaker 2: with a warning. Instead, he came with a command. A
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  Speaker 2: command that would test Abraham's faith to its very core.
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  Speaker 2: A command that would break him completely. Abraham, God called out.
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  Speaker 2: Here I am, replied Abraham. God, with no warning, explanation,
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  Speaker 2: or promise, spoke plainly. Take your son, your only son Isaac,
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  Speaker 2: whom you love, up into the mountains of Moriah and
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  Speaker 2: offer him there as a burnt sacrifice. Abraham was faced
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  Speaker 2: with a command so devastating and seemingly cruel that it
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  Speaker 2: could quite possibly be the end of him. Yet God
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  Speaker 2: had shown Abraham his compassion, his power, and his faithfulness before.
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  Speaker 2: God had promised Abraham that from Isaac on, would come
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  Speaker 2: a great nation of people. If this was God's command,
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  Speaker 2: there must have been something greater at work. So Abraham
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  Speaker 2: rose early in the morning, saddled his donkey, and took
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  Speaker 2: Isaac along with two of his men. Abraham began chopping wood,
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  Speaker 2: the axe methodically and swiftly cutting the kindling that would
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  Speaker 2: burn his son at the altar. How painful it was
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  Speaker 2: to prepare the altar at which your son would be murdered!
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  Speaker 2: SWEAT FELL FROM HIS BROW AND TEARS FROM HIS EYES.
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  Speaker 2: ABRAHAM AROSE, EYES TOWARDS HEAVEN, AND TOOK ISAAC TO THE
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  Speaker 2: BASE OF THE MOUNTAIN. ABRAHAM TURNED TOWARDS HIS MEN AND SAID,
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  Speaker 2: STAY HERE WITH THE DONKEY. MY SON AND I SHALL
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  Speaker 2: CLIMB THE MOUNTAIN TO MEET WITH THE LORD AND WORSHIP.
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  Speaker 2: ABRAHAM AND ISAAC CLIMBED TO THE FACE OF THE MOUNTAIN. ISAAC,
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  Speaker 2: STILL UNAWARE OF WHAT HIS FATHER WAS ASKED TO DO,
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  Speaker 2: HELPED CARRY THE WOOD UP TO THE ALTAR. Abraham prepared
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  Speaker 2: a fire and laid the wood on the altar beside
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  Speaker 2: his son. Seeing the turmoil deep in his father's eyes,
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  Speaker 2: Isaac spoke. My father, he exclaimed. Here I am, my son,
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  Speaker 2: Abraham replied, looking down at the wood, refusing to meet
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  Speaker 2: his son's gaze. We have the fire and the wood,
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  Speaker 2: but where is the lamb for the burnt offering? Abraham
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  Speaker 2: could hardly bear the words coming from his mouth. Oh,
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  Speaker 2: my son, God will provide himself a lamb, I am
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  Speaker 2: sure of it. Anguish filled Abraham's heart and mind. He
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  Speaker 2: took ropes in his hands and bound them to his son.
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  Speaker 2: Tears streaming down his face, he laid Isaac down at
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  Speaker 2: the altar. Abraham, God's chosen hero, stood over his son.
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  Speaker 2: The supposed father of nations, poised to slay his only child.
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  Speaker 2: raised the blade high in the air. With his eyes
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  Speaker 2: looking toward heaven and faith welling up within his heart
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  Speaker 2: that God would make this right somehow, Abraham prepared the
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  Speaker 2: descent of his knife towards Isaac. In that instant, the
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  Speaker 2: heavens opened up violently, booming from the skies, a voice
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  Speaker 2: of deliverance bellowed across the mountaintops. Abraham! Abraham! The voice cried.
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  Speaker 2: Trembling on the floor with tears blurring his vision, Abraham
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  Speaker 2: managed a response. Here I am, he whimpered. Do not
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  Speaker 2: strike your child, God said. Your faith in me will
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  Speaker 2: be spoken of for all eternity, for not even your
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  Speaker 2: own son would keep you from worshipping me. Abraham finally
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  Speaker 2: lifted his eyes, and there in the thicket beside him
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  Speaker 2: was a ram caught by his horns. There he and
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  Speaker 2: Isaac sacrificed the ram to God on the altar, and
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  Speaker 2: they named the mountain, The Lord Will Provide, for God
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  Speaker 2: is the one who would provide the ultimate sacrifice. A
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  Speaker 2: second time God spoke, Since you did not withhold your
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  Speaker 2: son from me, I will make his name great, as
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  Speaker 2: the stars are adorned in the sky, and the grains
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  Speaker 2: of sand scattered across the shore, so I will expand
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  Speaker 2: your offspring. Greatness shall follow you. After that, Abraham and
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  Speaker 2: Isaac left the mountain. God would not require Abraham to
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  Speaker 2: sacrifice his own son. God most of all knows the
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  Speaker 2: love one has for his children. For God himself is love.
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  Speaker 2: And because of this love, God would one day send
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  Speaker 2: his own son to be sacrificed for all. For the
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  Speaker 2: Garden of Eden, the Ark of Noah, and the Son
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  Speaker 2: of Abraham were all pointing towards a greater and more
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  Speaker 2: glorious promise. One that would truly bless all nations and
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  Speaker 2: generations to come.
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  Speaker 3: Isaac is finally born. He is with his parents. He
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  Speaker 3: is growing in strength and stature. Abraham and Sarah, as
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  Speaker 3: they watched their son play, must have been filled with
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  Speaker 3: dreams for their child's future. How he would grow strong
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  Speaker 3: and wise, working alongside his father, fulfilling the promise of God.
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  Speaker 3: How he would meet a woman one day and they
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  Speaker 3: would become one, producing grandchildren from Abraham and Sarah. The
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  Speaker 3: great nation, God's chosen people, was coming to be, and
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  Speaker 3: it was growing up right before their eyes as Isaac
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  Speaker 3: became a man. God had come through in a big
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  Speaker 3: way and now the world was brighter for it. So imagine,
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  Speaker 3: just imagine the suffering, the pain, the agony that stabbed
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  Speaker 3: Abraham's heart as he heard God tell him that a
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  Speaker 3: sacrifice was required. And not the sacrifice of a bull
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  Speaker 3: or a ram, not the first harvest of wheat or
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  Speaker 3: a dove. No, it was so much bigger than that.
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  Speaker 3: a devastating command. God wanted Isaac back and he wanted
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  Speaker 3: the full heart of Abraham. And he wasn't just going
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  Speaker 3: to take him. Abraham would be the one to take
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  Speaker 3: the life of his son and give him back to God.
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  Speaker 3: As a parent, I wonder how Abraham was even able
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  Speaker 3: to function after hearing God tell him to take the
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  Speaker 3: life of his son, his only son, and offer him
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  Speaker 3: as a sacrifice on a mountain. But Abraham, to his credit,
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  Speaker 3: did not question God or even try to bargain with him.
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  Speaker 3: He very simply, painfully, courageously obeyed without hesitation. When God
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  Speaker 3: calls us to do something, how often do we do this?
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  Speaker 3: Do you respond in obedience without hesitating or rationalizing your
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  Speaker 3: way out of things? Or do you, like Abraham, draw
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  Speaker 3: from your experience of trusting God, God's overwhelming faithfulness and
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  Speaker 3: love and step forward and obey God, knowing that God
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  Speaker 3: will provide according to his will and for your ultimate good.
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  Speaker 3: This is what Abraham does. He knows God must have
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  Speaker 3: a reason beyond his understanding, a reason for his own
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  Speaker 3: plan to be fulfilled. He just can't fathom what it is.
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  Speaker 3: Like Job, he recognized the truth God gives and God
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  Speaker 3: takes away. Blessed be the name of the Lord. I
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  Speaker 3: can only imagine the pain of each question Isaac may
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  Speaker 3: have asked. Where are we going, Dad? What are we
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  Speaker 3: going to do there? And then came the most painful
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  Speaker 3: question of all in Genesis 22, 7. Isaac spoke to Abraham,
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  Speaker 3: his father, and said, My father. And he said, Here
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  Speaker 3: am I, my son. And he said, Behold the fire
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  Speaker 3: and the wood. But where is the lamb for the
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  Speaker 3: burnt offering? How is it possible for Abraham to answer
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  Speaker 3: the question of his son he loves so much? His
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  Speaker 3: answer shows immense faithfulness in God. Verse 8, Abraham said,
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  Speaker 3: God will provide for himself the lamb for the burnt offering,
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  Speaker 3: my son. So the two of them walked on together.
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  Speaker 3: Abraham doesn't know how it's possible, but he trusts that
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  Speaker 3: God will provide. and he remains obedient to the point
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  Speaker 3: of tying Isaac up and raising the knife to kill him,
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  Speaker 3: just as God had commanded. But this would not be
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  Speaker 3: the day when a father would sacrifice his son. God stays,
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  Speaker 3: stops the hand of Abraham in the last moment, and
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  Speaker 3: provides a sacrifice, a ram. There will be blood shed
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  Speaker 3: that day, but not on his only son, Isaac. Because
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  Speaker 3: of Abraham's great faithfulness, because He held nothing back from God.
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  Speaker 3: He and Isaac would be blessed in ways that we
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  Speaker 3: can never fathom. They descended down the mountain knowing God
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  Speaker 3: has a special plan for them and again reassured him,
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  Speaker 3: God reassured them of his incredible love for his children,
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  Speaker 3: for his family. I imagine Jesus looking down on these
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  Speaker 3: events by his father's side, knowing that when it was
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  Speaker 3: his turn, there would be no last minute cancellation, no
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  Speaker 3: reprieve from the soldier's whip. the nails in his flesh,
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  Speaker 3: the death that he would die. God would indeed sacrifice
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  Speaker 3: his only son to bring others to himself, to give
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  Speaker 3: them eternal life. But the sacrifice is not Isaac. The
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  Speaker 3: sacrifice is Jesus, the one perfect sacrifice who would die
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  Speaker 3: once and for all for those who would trust in
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  Speaker 3: him and believe in his salvation. Dear Heavenly Father, Thank
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  Speaker 3: you for today's story and how we see your mercy
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  Speaker 3: and love and grace. Thank you that you spared Isaac
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  Speaker 3: from death, but you chose not to spare your only son, Jesus,
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  Speaker 3: as he went to the cross and was put to
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  Speaker 3: death because of our sins so that we could be saved.
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  Speaker 3: Thank you for how the story reminds us of the
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  Speaker 3: sacrifice and the love that you share with each one
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  Speaker 3: of us in Jesus Christ. Amen. Thank you for listening
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  Speaker 3: to today's Bible in a Year podcast. I'm Pastor Jack
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  Speaker 3: Graham from Dallas, Texas. Download the Pray.com app and make
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  Speaker 3: prayer a priority in your life. And if you enjoyed
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  Speaker 3: this podcast, share it with someone you love. By sharing
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  Speaker 3: this podcast, you can make a difference in someone's life.
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  Speaker 3: And if you want more resources on how to tap
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  Speaker 3: into God's power for your life, be sure to visit JackGraham.org.
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  Speaker 3: God bless you.