Pastor Jason BauerDecember 9th 2020
1Some time later God tested Abraham. He said to him, 'Abraham!' 'Here I am,' he replied. 2Then God said, 'Take your son, your only son, Isaac, whom you love, and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains I will tell you about.' 3Early the next morning Abraham got up and saddled his donkey. He took with him two of his servants and his son Isaac. When he had cut enough wood for the burnt offering, he set out for the place God had told him about. 4On the third day Abraham looked up and saw the place in the distance. 5He said to his servants, 'Stay here with the donkey while I and the boy go over there. We will worship and then we will come back to you.' 6Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and placed it on his son Isaac, and he himself carried the fire and the knife. As the two of them went on together, 7Isaac spoke up and said to his father Abraham, 'Father?' 'Yes, my son?' Abraham replied. 'The fire and wood are here,' Isaac said, 'but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?' 8Abraham answered, 'God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.' And the two of them went on together. 9When they reached the place God had told him about, Abraham built an altar there and arranged the wood on it. He bound his son Isaac and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. 10Then he reached out his hand and took the knife to slay his son. 11But the angel of the LORD called out to him from heaven, 'Abraham! Abraham!' 'Here I am,' he replied. 12'Do not lay a hand on the boy,' he said. 'Do not do anything to him. Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son.' 13Abraham looked up and there in a thicket he saw a ram caught by its horns. He went over and took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering instead of his son. 14So Abraham called that place The LORD Will Provide. And to this day it is said, 'On the mountain of the LORD it will be provided.' 15The angel of the LORD called to Abraham from heaven a second time 16and said, 'I swear by myself, declares the LORD, that because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, 17I will surely bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will take possession of the cities of their enemies, 18and through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed me.'
1A psalm. A song. For the Sabbath day. It is good to praise the LORD and make music to your name, O Most High, 2to proclaim your love in the morning and your faithfulness at night, 3to the music of the ten-stringed lyre and the melody of the harp. 4For you make me glad by your deeds, O LORD; I sing for joy at the works of your hands. 5How great are your works, O LORD, how profound your thoughts! 6The senseless man does not know, fools do not understand, 7that though the wicked spring up like grass and all evildoers flourish, they will be forever destroyed. 8But you, O LORD, are exalted forever. 9For surely your enemies, O LORD, surely your enemies will perish; all evildoers will be scattered. 10You have exalted my horn like that of a wild ox; fine oils have been poured upon me. 11My eyes have seen the defeat of my adversaries; my ears have heard the rout of my wicked foes. 12The righteous will flourish like a palm tree, they will grow like a cedar of Lebanon; 13planted in the house of the LORD, they will flourish in the courts of our God. 14They will still bear fruit in old age, they will stay fresh and green, 15proclaiming, 'The LORD is upright; he is my Rock, and there is no wickedness in him.'
17By faith Abraham, when God tested him, offered Isaac as a sacrifice. He who had received the promises was about to sacrifice his one and only son, 18even though God had said to him, 'It is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned.' 19Abraham reasoned that God could raise the dead, and figuratively speaking, he did receive Isaac back from death. 20By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau in regard to their future. 21By faith Jacob, when he was dying, blessed each of Joseph's sons, and worshiped as he leaned on the top of his staff. 22By faith Joseph, when his end was near, spoke about the exodus of the Israelites from Egypt and gave instructions about his bones.