God Who Keeps His Promises

Genesis 22:1-5

1After these things God tested Abraham and said to him, “Abraham!” And he said, “Here am I.” 2He said, “Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.” 3So Abraham rose early in the morning, saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him, and his son Isaac. And he cut the wood for the burnt offering and arose and went to the place of which God had told him. 4On the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes and saw the place from afar. 5Then Abraham said to his young men, “Stay here with the donkey; I and the boy will go over there and worship and come again to you.”

God directs Abraham to the place that He will show him. Verse 4 says that on the third day Abraham saw the designated place afar off. God tells Abraham to sacrifice his only son and then has him travel three plus days to get to the place.

What must that journey have been like for Abraham? Was it agony or resolve? Was he taking the opportunity to enjoy these last days with his son or was he rejoicing in the promise of God made so many years ago that Isaac would be the father of a great nation.

Hebrews 11 offers an answer. Hebrews 11:19 – Abraham reasoned that God was going to raise Isaac from the dead. Now there is great faith. Abraham is still wrestling with the fact that he is going to have to plunge a knife into the heart of his son and that was no pleasant thing, but he believed that Isaac was going to live again if he killed him.

What promises from God do we have that the circumstances of life seem to be telling us will not come true? We may not understand how the promise can be kept in view of the crisis and we may, like Abraham, come up with a scenario that is not right on in terms of how God is going to keep the promise. But of this we can be sure. God will keep His promises to us – all of them.

We also must not forget that the promise Abraham is trusting God to keep is that he will be the father of a great nation and that Isaac is the first step toward that. The ultimate Son to fulfill that promise was Jesus Christ. See all the events in the Old Testament that threatened to prevent the promise of a child to save the world. All they did was further the promise into being realized.

Consider the events that transpired to bring you to faith in Christ. That was God keeping His promise to Abraham. (Galatians 3:7)

Our faith is going to be tested, but God will not let it fail and He will not deny Himself. Today, in whatever trial God has seen fit to allow you to travel, find courage in the faithfulness of God to Himself and to you. He will not lie to you. He will bring it to pass.