Genesis 22:1 Commentary - Dr Peter Masters

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Genesis 22:1

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This great chapter is about the trials of faith. ‘That the trial of your faith,’ says Peter, ‘being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ’ (1 Peter 1:7). Precious faith: this is about the trial of the believer's faith. Faith is given, of course. It is the gift of God to his people: faith that puts trust in God entirely. It is against all human inclination to trust God above all else, to put him first, to put the spiritual above the material. ‘It came to pass after all these things, that God did tempt Abraham.’ The reference to what is past is not necessarily to the things that have been recorded in the immediately preceding chapters. The reference is to all the things that are recorded of Abraham: the problems that occurred in faith and trust, and the triumphs. He is now an old man. He is not quite at the end yet – he may not have known it, he had rather a lot further to go – but he is virtually at the end of his life, and yet there was still a temptation, a major trial, that is, to come. The word ‘tempt’ suggests temptation to evil. Of course, it was not that. God never tempts to do evil. It was a test, a trial of faith, to refine and strengthen faith, but more to prove faith, and it was very important that there should be such a test. About the same time as this – perhaps a little before; we are not too sure – Job had his great test of faith. Job’s test is a great mystery, but it is put to us in very human terms, as if Satan challenged God directly, and in effect said, ‘Job does not trust you for nothing. He believes and he has faith only for what he can get out of it. Take away all his benefits and blessings, and you will find he will deny you.’ That was essentially the claim, because Satan does not believe in grace given to Christian people or in conversion, in the new birth, and so that was the taunt. So everything was taken away from Job, and he held up magnificently, marvellously. Yes, he said some pretty sad things, and he was rocked onto his heels, but nevertheless he never turned his back on the Lord. He was very perplexed about what had happened to him, but he held on to the end. And here is Abraham being tried also. God called him by name. It appears to have been some kind of a night vision or appearance, because the following morning, Abraham obeys immediately. Abraham is in no doubt. He has had these experiences before with God communicating with him directly, and there is no doubt that it is the voice of God, and this is a direct command he has from on high.

Application

You and I will never have a trial as great as this, a trial like that given to Abraham at the end of life’s journey, or even near it. Why not? Because he is a special case; he was the father of the faithful. He is to have outstanding instrumentality; he is to be the head of a race and the head of the spiritual race of those who trust in Christ. Not the head in terms of any kind of ruler, but he is in that privileged position of being at the very beginning of the unfolding of the great plan of redemption. That is a wonderful privilege and instrumentality. So he has a test of faith far beyond anything we shall have, but nevertheless the tests go on, and if we are 70, 80, 90, approaching the end of life, many tests have occurred in the past, but there will still be tests to come. Faith is always being refined. It is always been tried, and here is Abraham at a great age, after all, with this pinnacle of a test of faith. Faith must be tried, because faith must be expressed, and you can only express it under trial.

There is in the flats where I live in the garage, a younger city highflyer who has a magnificent, fabulous sports car. It is canary yellow. It always looks as though it has just come out of the showroom. It has fastidious care lavished upon it. It is taken out and given full cleaning and polishing treatment on such a regular basis and, even within the car park, it is very often covered to protect it. If only we would take care of our faith, precious faith, the gift of God given to us to exercise and safeguard and improve throughout life's journey. It is by far the most precious thing you possess, the capacity to trust your God, to trust in Christ in every condition, in all circumstances. That is what we are looking at in this remarkable, unusual chapter.

Faith in God is foreign to us. We trust ourselves, we trust other people, we trust gadgets and machines, trust plans and provisions: anything but God. But when God works in our hearts and draws the soul to himself and makes him or her his child, then faith is given, the capacity to trust, to exercise faith in God. It's a gift from God, as the Scripture tells us, and it comes with conversion. Faith to believe, faith to seek, faith to yield to him, is something which is provided by God. And yet it's described in scripture as precious faith. Faith, hope, and love: the three graces above all others which endure into eternity. But when you cross the threshold into eternity, as someone saved by Christ, belonging to God, that faith is turned into a total unwavering, unshakable trust, which is part of you. You no longer voluntarily exercise it. It's wholly natural, spontaneous for you. It is one of those big three, and among the most precious graces you have. And yet, even as saved people, it is so little looked after. We don't think about it. We exercise it when we feel the need, but we don't think about it as a possession, more than a possession, something which is now part of us, which needs nurturing and exercising.

Every child of God will have tests of faith, sometimes frequently, sometimes less frequently. But do you think that as gain experience in the Christian life, and the more we know the Lord and walk with him, the fewer tests there will be? Just remember Abraham's great age, the length of years which he journeyed and walked with God. He is now a very old man and he gets the greatest test of all.

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Genesis 22:1 Commentary and Bible Study