Speaker 1: 0:09

Welcome and thanks for joining us on this episode of the Midweek Podcast brought to you by A Fresh Wind Church. Each week, our team brings you new content to help you take steps towards Jesus and discover more in Christ. Today's episode is hosted by Pastor Ryan.

Speaker 2: 0:27

Hey, welcome back to the Midweek Podcast, pastor Ryan joining again with Pastor Tim, and we are in week two of our sermon series Come to the Mountain and Tim. Just already we're two weeks in, but I'm loving this series and this whole idea of bringing people to the mountain to meet God. And so in week one we looked at the call to meet God at Mount Sinai. In the sermon this week we went up to Mount Moriah, where God had called Abraham up to sacrifice the son whom he loved.

Speaker 3: 0:59

Wow.

Speaker 2: 1:00

Here we go.

Speaker 3: 1:01

Here we go.

Speaker 2: 1:01

Jumping right into it on the podcast today.

Speaker 3: 1:04

I want to reiterate this because the optics are really important on how we look at this. We say come to the mountain and meet God. Well, in our vernacular, the way we think about meeting God is I'm going to go to God and he's going to tell me how bad I am, and this is what you've got to do to fix it and. I want you to do these things, and so we think meet with God is to go get the orders right.

Speaker 2: 1:30

Not only go to the principal's office Right.

Speaker 3: 1:33

What this is about.

Speaker 3: 1:34

Meeting with God is going to the mountain to learn about him to meet him and to speak with with him and to understand who he is, and this is probably one of the greatest mountain experiences in the Bible and a lot of people resist it. A lot of people who look at Christianity and Judaism see this situation as why would God do that to somebody? Why would God put him through that emotional torture? Why would he do that? And a lot of people reject God because they're like I can't be with someone who would ask that of me, and you need to slow down and take a better look at this story, cause you're missing a lot.

Speaker 3: 2:28

I know I'm jumping into like the third part of this, but um, this situation is is one of the greatest um promises that we can, that we can wrap our minds around, that God gives us. He is telling us something about himself that he really wants us to know, and that's why it's so dramatic. Now, this is not taking your son up to the mountain to sacrifice him. This is not going to be repeated and I think that's what we miss about this story. It's not like, okay, god's going to all the churches, are going to go to Canaan and drive out the bad people so Israel can have Canaan again.

Speaker 3: 3:15

No, that was one time. That was one order at a certain time with a certain people. That doesn't apply to us and this won't ever apply to you either. This is you're missing the point of this, and we'll get into that, but let's get started in the front. What? Kind of emotional turmoil would you be in if God asked you to do that?

Speaker 2: 3:40

And that's. You know, I try to bring that out in the sermon on Sunday, I like when I'm preaching, because you know, a lot of us were in, you know, even our church council. We're in a Bible reading plan, right, and so every year we're trying to read through the Bible together and I think that's how a lot of people approach, you know, reading the Bible is. We got a plan, we're going to read these things, or you pick up a devotional maybe. But it's so easy to read a story like this and just treat it like an everyday story, Like this is an everyday occurrence, you know, all right, Brought them up to the mountain, god provided, and we just kind of keep going next page, next page. But to remind ourselves like this isn't a novel, this isn't fairy tale, this is real history. There was a man named Abraham who God called to leave his homeland and eventually, at 100 years old, had a son.

Speaker 2: 4:35

And then God said, hey, this son is who I'm going to, through him, make you into a great nation that I can bless the whole earth, and then I want you to bring them up on the mountain and sacrifice them. That emotion I tried on Sunday to get people to that place to walk in Abraham's sandals a little bit and be like man. What would you be thinking? I mean all the dreams, all the plans that you had for them. All the times you went out, you know, outside the tent and threw a rock back and forth. You know, like all of that's gone. I don't think they had baseball, so what?

Speaker 3: 5:13

were they going to throw? I'm sure they came up with something. They weren't cavemen.

Speaker 2: 5:19

You know that's one thing you don't want to miss. You take a rock to the forehead. We know how that went for another guy, but all those, those moments had to be just come flooding into Abraham's mind and man I just I struggle with that, to say God, would I be willing to put it all, put it all on the line like that, it's, it's, I don't know. You know there's, there's definitely moments I can look back and see where God has asked me to give something up and generally, I've tried to do it, but man, this just seems heavy.

Speaker 3: 5:57

When, when we look back, we got to figure out where we are in the timeline to, uh, old Testament. We kind of throw everything together, you know, and um, we get. We need to understand that this is the very beginning. God said I'm going to pick Abraham, and all we know to this point is that God is speaking to one guy, this Abraham, and he's proved himself. But he hasn't proved himself to Abraham like he proved himself to the children of Israel when he led him out of Egypt. That's hundreds of years down the road. That's not even going to happen yet. Nobody knows anything about that. Nobody knows anything about this God, except for Melchizedek, which I don't know what was going on there, but maybe one day we'll talk about him.

Speaker 2: 6:47

This is a good point. I even said on Sunday, when we think resurrection, we think of someone in the room, Jesus. Well, yeah, he didn't have that point of reference. He didn't even have the Exodus reference where God showed up and did all this. He has none of that to go off of and we can read that back into this story and assume he knew all the stuff that we know.

Speaker 3: 7:08

Right, he did not know all of those things he did not know. He knew that there was this guy because he shows up in person. It was Jesus incarnate, not incarnate but he showed up there and led him, you know, and he spoke with them and he talked with them about Sodom and he came and ate with them and this was. He knew this guy, but he didn't know him like the Israelites saw him in power. He hasn't seen that yet, except for you know, sodom and Gomorrah, where he destroyed those cities. So he knows he's powerful and so we really need to lean back on our personal walk with God. And how much do you trust God? You've been walking with the Lord for a few years. Where's your trust level? And that's where Abraham. He seemed to have a huge level of trust and I don't see a lot of whining and crying like Gideon Remember Gideon? You want me to do what?

Speaker 2: 8:18

Yeah, well, hold on, I'm going to need some do on this side. Well, maybe the other side, right?

Speaker 3: 8:24

And who am I going gonna pick to do this? Yeah and uh, but no, he's like, okay, get the donkey, let's go. And he had this faith that god had said and everything god had said he had done. And god had said that his son was going to be the father of a great nation. And so he said I don't know how this is going to work, but God is going to take care of it.

Speaker 3: 8:57

If you say so, yeah if you say so, we all assume that he believed that he was going to be resurrected, but we don't know what Abraham knew about what God could do. Remember, he's living where people are worshiping all kinds of gods and they've got all kinds of different powers, and this one true God that is communicating with them, is asking them to do something that, let's face it, all the other gods were asking of their people too right, yeah, so we read this and it's shocking to our system, right, but to Abraham maybe it wasn't quite so shocking, because this is what the people around him did.

Speaker 2: 9:42

People would sacrifice their children to God other gods, all the time. If we need a good harvest, or we need to thank God for a good harvest, or the harvest hasn't been so good, and so we got to try to get the gods favored. I mean, they were doing all kinds of stuff to try to appease the gods.

Speaker 3: 9:59

Right, and it would have made sense to him that God asked for his Right, and it would have made sense to him that God asked for his firstborn child. That is the type of thing that we think. Well, archaeologists, this is what was going on. This was the ultimate. If you really wanted a God's support, this is what you had to do. So you don't see a. It's almost like I knew you were going to ask this, because all the other gods asked this.

Speaker 2: 10:30

Yeah, and I wonder what that moment was like. Did it seem out of character for God? I mean how Abraham had come to know God. Did this seem out of character? You know, I don't know. And again I try to put myself in his shoes a little bit and try to man God. How would I respond at that request? All we know is God calls Abraham, take a three-day journey with his son and says early the next morning Abraham got up and left.

Speaker 2: 11:01

He did it Now that emotional weight, right, I would imagine, was crushing, because even if you have all the faith in the world I mean Scripture takes time to point out this is the son whom he loved. This is what everything was dependent on.

Speaker 3: 11:21

There had to be a kernel of doubt in there. How could there not be?

Speaker 2: 11:25

You know, man, is this really happening? Is this really what I ought to do? Is this really what God said? Yeah, and In our own lives there's going to come times, I think, when God calls us to do things and it seems out of place, or we have these emotional attachments to things and God's saying, hey, I need you to lay that thing down. Obedience so often feels costly. I love that song we sang right before the sermon on Sunday. That one line in particular. I'll bless God with the praise that cost me. Obedience always doesn't come free. It costs you. You've got to give something up to obey. We see Abraham willingly taking the journey to do just that.

Speaker 3: 12:27

And then we see him down at the bottom of the mountain. He tells his servant, he says we'll be down late, we're going to go up and worship and we'll be back. Both of us, plural, we'll be back. Right, he has, he has. By the time he gets there he's already decided that if God is going to be true, then Isaac's going to live. Yeah, he's going to have to do something. He's going to have to do something. So he goes up to the mountain. I'm sure Isaac's pretty confused, but Isaac has seen this guy too. He's seen Yahweh. He knows Abraham talks to him all the time. I don't know what Isaac's walk at this point was, so it's all speculation when we get there and he asked Isaac to lay down there was not a wrestling match, you know, we see him in the uh, in the great painting. Oh, who painted that painting anyways?

Speaker 3: 13:31

he's got his hand, he's got his hands tied and um the whole bit, uh, but I don't think that happened. I think he just got up there because he trusted his dad and his dad trusted God and and that is the way a man should raise his kids I trust my dad and he trusts God and I can trust him too. And he raises up that knife and the angel says don't do it, stop, god will provide. And that's where we stop with that whole idea. We don't look forward at anything else. We say, okay, he stopped them, he tested them and he passed the test. What a rotten test. And I don't think I think we're missing it. I think God is saying look, all these other gods would ask you to do this. I will not allow this to happen.

Speaker 3: 14:22

I never will. I never will. And you see, israel, when they fall into this nastiness, they have to go to other gods. You don't see them ever trying to sacrifice someone at least we don't know of. In the Old Testament to Yahweh they're like well, we know he's against this. Because of Abraham, right, this is not going to happen. It's never going to. I'll never approve of this. Abraham, you're the beginning of this. You need to know, isaac needs to know, and everyone down, no matter what happens. I'm not going to ask this of you. I'm going to provide you something else.

Speaker 2: 15:05

That's an amazing thing because and again, it doesn't I don't know if it resonates with us the same way it would have for an ancient Israelite Right, but everyone around them, like we said, were doing these things. I mean, people were sacrificing their babies to these other gods, I mean the god Melech. They laid their babies on the altar and light them on fire. There's some wicked, evil things going on and so, like I said for Abraham maybe it was I wondered when this day was going to come. Right, you know like, maybe that's the thought, because he sees it happening everywhere. Right, and this is how people sacrifice to the gods and appease the gods, and then for God to step in and provide. It says a lot.

Speaker 2: 15:52

But one of the things he's telling Abraham is I will never require this. This is not how I operate, and so it took a dramatic test, I think, to prove the point. How else would you get it? You know, like to say I'm different, I'm not like those other gods, I am set apart, I'm something completely different and I don't require this. I never require this.

Speaker 3: 16:19

And God does it again when he gives the law to Moses. You know, hundreds of years later, the altar is still there, people are still sacrificing things to God, and the altar is insatiable. You can't give enough. You know, I got a great harvest this year. I better give more to get a great harvest next year. Or I didn't get a good harvest this year, I better give more. It's always give more, give more, give more.

Speaker 3: 16:47

And when God gave the law to Moses, he's like I want you guys to know where you are in our relationship. If you can afford a calf, bring me a calf. If you can only afford a sheep, bring me a calf. If you can only afford a sheep, bring me a sheep. If you can't afford that, bring me a pigeon. If you can't afford a pigeon and you can't catch one, I'll take a little flower. But I want you guys to know where we stand in our relationship, our relationship. The altar is not insatiable. I'm going to ask you to do something that you can do and I'm going to provide you a way to do that, even when you think you can't.

Speaker 2: 17:39

And I'm going to do that, so you know where we stand, which is so important because the other nations around them didn't know.

Speaker 3: 17:41

No, they didn't know.

Speaker 2: 17:42

They were always trying to appease the gods and we see that, with Elijah on the mountain, they're trying to bring fire down from heaven to consume their sacrifice and he just starts to taunt them. Maybe your God went to relieve himself?

Speaker 3: 17:55

Hey, that's mine next week. We can't talk about that yet.

Speaker 2: 17:59

But they're trying. What is he saying? He said you guys try to appease your gods all the time. And God, yahweh, is saying again that's not how I operate and I get it. It's grueling sometimes to try to get through Leviticus and Numbers when you're reading through your Bible reading plan, so many people stop there. But if you understand what God is doing, he's saying here's the rules, do this and we're good. No other nation had that. No, not with their God.

Speaker 3: 18:32

No, because he could ask that the priest can come and say well, he changed his mind, he's going to do it this way. And God, god, through this situation with Abraham, he is telling the people of God I want you to live free. I don't want you to live under bondage. My altar is for freedom. Jesus is for freedom, it's not for bondage. I don't want you to live under bondage. I am a God who has come to set you free and right now your problem is sin. And in Exodus he gives them here's how we're going to deal with that. And then, when Jesus comes, he says here's how we're going to deal with it forever. And here we are. And everybody looks at this story like man. What kind of God would ask that? A God who had to prove something to a people who had a bad idea of who he was. That's right, and it had to be in your face. Listen, you need to understand me. I'm not this thing that you think I am. I'm completely different.

Speaker 2: 19:45

Yeah, what a powerful illustration, and I think it's the only thing that could have worked. And then you see, every time child sacrifice is brought up in Scripture, from this point on, God always takes one side.

Speaker 3: 20:09

He's against it Right, violently. Against it, violently To the point where they've gone too far.

Speaker 2: 20:11

I want you to wipe them all out? Right, because we're not doing that. This is not acceptable to me. This is who God is proving himself to be, and so we're, as we meet God on the mountain. Who is God? He's this God. I want you to know where you stand with me, and I want you to know what is required in this. I will never ask. And so we see, then.

Speaker 2: 20:31

God provide for Abraham a sacrifice. And so we dove in a little bit on Sunday to that word, and I wish I could roll my R's and pronounce it like a great Jewish man, but I can't, so raha is the best I can do here. But it means to see. Seventy-five percent of the times in Scripture it literally means to see, and so Abraham uses that word that God will provide a sacrifice. And so I tried to flesh this out on Sunday and I didn't have a ton of time.

Speaker 2: 21:04

But this idea of when he says God will provide a sacrifice, you could translate that God will see the sacrifice or he will see the lamb. I think he says God will provide a lamb and God will see the lamb, which immediately draws you all the way to Jesus, the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. And I think, if you're God, just as Abraham lays his son there, knowing because Jesus, scripture tells us, was slain before the foundation of the world, when Jesus died on the cross, it wasn't plan B, it didn't catch God off guard, he wasn't surprised. This has been the plan all along. And I think, as Abraham lays his son there, god sees his son. Yeah and man. It gives me goosebumps every time I think about it, to think God's saying I'm going to have to do this.

Speaker 3: 22:09

I think that rolls us back to the high view of humanity in God's sight. I think we forget not so much how much he loves us but how much he's overjoyed with what humanity is. You know, he made us perfect, he made us good, and you see it in the Tower of Babel when he comes down and he says look at these people, when they get together there's nothing they can't do. He's bragging to his heavenly court. You know, you guys think we got problems up here when these people get together and one day they're going to be together.

Speaker 2: 22:57

You know we, so often, I think, we look at our relationship with God as we're a constant disappointment, right, you know um cause we? We know we suck. We know that all the things that I struggle with um, all the things I've promised to leave behind, and I pick back up and I'll never do it again and I do it again. We know that about us, and so we feel like we're this constant disappointment to God. And scripture says God is right now in heaven singing over you. Right, that's how he thinks of you. Right, we project our own insecurities and shame and guilt on God as if that's how he views us and you have got him wrong. Right, absolutely.

Speaker 3: 23:44

He's overjoyed.

Speaker 2: 23:45

You know he's singing over you right now. How amazing is that.

Speaker 3: 23:50

I think it's. It was one of the things we leave out when we preach, because we're always. We've got to call out sin and and we've got to tell people. You know, righteousness matters. We've got to live the life that God's called us to live in the way that he wants us to live it. And so we get focused on all our failures and we don't see what God sees, because he sees you 10,000 years from now. He sees what you become, what you've done, what you've accomplished, whatever we're going to be doing in heaven. He sees that and he knows who you are, not just who you are at this moment, but he knows you completely, just like when Abraham took his son up on the mountain.

Speaker 3: 24:37

You're like how can God do this? Because he saw Abraham after this, right after that, abraham's coming down the mountain. He's not like those other gods, he's not one of them, you know, and he sees Jesus in that. In that whole idea I'm going to have to give my son, he sees that. He sees Isaac's life all the way through. So we got to grab a hold of who God is when he looks at humanity. One of these days, guys, it's going to be like he meant it to be. We're going to be all together. Just think about what we can do when there's no greed, there's no patents. You know there's no. Oh, I got this drug. It works on cancer.

Speaker 3: 25:35

We're going to make billions and we're not going to share it with anybody until we get a patent. And there's people dying because they got a drug. They just haven't got their patent yet, so they won't let it out. You know all that, all that craziness that we see here. It's all about the money and the greed and the secrets and the conspiracies. We look at what they're doing in the government now that doge, cutting big hunks of just nonsense out of the government. And then there's people mad. Why are you mad? I need to know why you're mad. Well, he can't. Those people.

Speaker 3: 26:17

No you're too mad. I want to know how you're getting part of this money, because that's what's going on and I'm both sides of the aisle there's a lot of emotional attachment to some of those dollar signs there, sure is. And I don't understand.

Speaker 3: 26:39

But one day and one day all our scientists will be oh, what about this, or what about that, or what about this? You work on this. I'll work on that. Well, you know, who knows what we're going to do? I think we're going to do great things in eternity, and the universe will be our playground.

Speaker 1: 27:00

And.

Speaker 3: 27:00

I think we think of God because we think of we suck, we're never going to be good enough, so forth and so on. So when we get to heaven, our reward or our punishment is we'll just be little toddlers in diapers and praise Jesus all day long, you know, and we get this idea that because we suck so bad, that's what we're probably going to have to do for eternity. And we'll, you know we'll be, that'll be our thing, and we think, man, that'll be boring and, first of all, that will be great. But second of all, that's not who he created humanity, humanity to be.

Speaker 3: 27:45

He told Adam and Eve I want you to dominate this planet and I want you to do it in a way that the planet regenerates under you and becomes this garden everywhere. And he sent him to do it. He didn't Go do it. This is the first humans, the cavemen. I don't need to teach you how to walk and talk. I've given you everything you need to teach you how to walk and talk. I've given you everything you need to do what needs to be done? Now go do it.

Speaker 2: 28:10

In a perfect world, in a perfect garden, where God says it's not just good, it's very good, right, he gives them a job. So yeah, we're not sitting on clouds, playing harps and wearing diapers.

Speaker 3: 28:20

Right.

Speaker 2: 28:24

Now, I wouldn't mind a week or so of that. Just give me a break After that, let's go let's conquer the universe. It's going to be great.

Speaker 3: 28:31

I think it's going to be great. I think no eye has seen, no tongue can confess. We talked about the afterlife last night and one of the things that has to be stated, that we're not going to be spirit with God. We're going to be human. We're going to raise again. He's going to resurrect us in our spirit, the thing that makes you you is going to dwell in that new body that's going to be like Jesus and that's how we're going to live for the rest of eternity. And we're going to go back to the human state and because God loves it, he loves it, and it's hard to wrap our minds around it because everybody disappoints us.

Speaker 3: 29:31

We know how that hurts us and it knocks our feet out from under us and we can't see forward and we you know our best friend betrays us and or our husband or our spouse betrays us, or we catch them in a lie and we're like, wow, I didn't know, how can this, how can I get over this? And we project that on God. And God said, hey, don't worry about me, I've figured out a way to take care of this. You know, come on, this is going to be great. Let's go. I've got some things for you and I want to teach you some things right now. So let's go. Let's go do this. Yeah, but God, this, you know I I've betrayed you and I always do, and I always think about me first.

Speaker 3: 30:18

And he's like yeah but I took care of that on the cross, Remember that's taken care of. Yeah, but I feel so I I took care of your shame cross. Remember that's taken care of yeah but I feel so I, I took care of your shame, not just your guilt. So let's go, let's go, yeah, but yeah, but god, you, you don't understand. No, I understand, it cost me everything. It cost me everything.

Speaker 2: 30:39

Let's go, let's go if we could wrap our head around that, it would change the Christian life. It would If we would stop seeing God as the disappointed, disapproving dad and started seeing him as your cheerleader. He is over there saying let's go. I have opened up heaven, eternity, unlimited possibility for you. Let's go and go chase that plan with God. The Christian life all of a sudden doesn't become this grudge.

Speaker 3: 31:14

It's not this well, I got to wait till I die.

Speaker 2: 31:17

This cumbersome thing where I'm just checking off boxes till I get to heaven. Eternity starts right now. Go live it. Go live this rich, satisfying. This is what jesus was talking about. Go and experience that. He's in your corner cheering you on, saying, man, when you and I get together, there's nothing you can't do. Why? Because nothing's impossible for me, right? That's the kind of god you serve. He's not not up in heaven saying, here they go again. He's saying, hey, hey, come back, come back to me, let's go, let's go. Right, that's who he is. I wish I feel like I'm doing a terrible job illustrating it, but I want people to get a hold of that, because it would change everything for you. It would change everything. That's who he is. We're way off topic. So I'm going to try to. No, I don't think that's way off topic.

Speaker 3: 32:08

I think that's what he was proven to Abraham, the father of this nation. This is who I'm going to be to Israel. This is who I'm going to be to humanity, because I want this nation to bless all nations. And and he did it through Jesus he's trying to tell Abraham I'm not this kind of God. I'm not going to ask this from you. I'm always going to provide for you, even when I need a sacrifice. I'll give you the sacrifice.

Speaker 1: 32:38

I'll give it to you and that is.

Speaker 3: 32:43

It's so special. People look at this. This is a hateful, terrible God. But this is a God drilling down in the most tense moment, in the father of a nation's life, saying I won't be that to you, I will not. And Abraham, from that moment on, I mean he's seen God rain down fire on Sodom and Gomorrah, so obviously he knows that God can get fired up about stuff, right. And he's saying I'm not going to be that to you. And I think that's what this is all about. Abraham man, he loves me, that he wouldn't ever ask this of me and it's always been in the back of my head. Can this happen?

Speaker 3: 33:39

And now I know that it'll never happen, and it shouldn't happen with anybody else. So, uh, I don't think we're way off. I think he's saying all right, now that we got this taken care of, let's go. Yeah, you know.

Speaker 2: 33:54

I love what you said a minute ago, that even when God requires the sacrifice, he provides it. You know, and Abraham's up on Mount Moriah getting ready to sacrifice his son and once he raises the knife, you know, it took him all the way to that point, but he raises the knife preparing to sacrifice him, and that's when the angel calls out and says Abraham, abraham, don't do it. And he sees the sacrifice God had already provided, it was already there. God provides. I mean, get this. What God asks and requires, he's already provided.

Speaker 2: 34:35

Yeah, I got to muster up, I got to find no, no, no. He says I've already provided that here. He's already provided the sacrifice that he was going to need. Scripture tells us that he's right now and he has given you everything you need to live a life of godliness. He's giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases him. So what he requires, he's already provided. And that's an amazing thing about our relationship with our God. And we see his provision when he know, when he he calls Joseph to go to Egypt and it looks like a horrible situation because he gets sold by his brothers, but God says there's a famine, getting ready to come into the land, and I need someone who's going to administer this and provide, and he saves generations of families through Joseph.

Speaker 2: 35:22

So we see it there. We see it when Israel's been enslaved now in Egypt for hundreds of years and God calls a man to lead them out, and God provides everything that they need. God is constantly providing for his people and it's not this reactionary thing where God's like, oh crap, how did we get here, how am I going to fix this. It is proactive, tied to his plan and his purpose in humanity. God is already going ahead of you in your future, giving you the things that you need. We just need to open our eyes to see it. Open our eyes and recognize his provision that he's already provided for us, and that's what he did here on Mount Moriah. When Abraham looked, he saw God's already provided, and to our greatest need. We needed a Savior, and the thing that God required he provided in his son Jesus.

Speaker 3: 36:20

And that is the greatest thing that we can tell you about this story is that it foreshadowed God giving his son so that we can be free of sin and free.

Speaker 3: 36:38

Free to live, free to be with him forever, Because we weren't free Before Jesus resurrected. When you died and you were faithful to the Lord, you went to paradise, but you didn't go in the presence of God, you still weren't allowed. That sacrifice hadn't been made yet. And that's when Peter says Jesus came and he set the captives free. The captives were in paradise, but he took them to the presence of God. And now, because of Jesus' resurrection, we are. Every one of us is destined to meet God when we die, when we step across that threshold.

Speaker 3: 37:21

Paul said to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord, and he did that for us. He provided that for us and we're going to live with him for eternity, and it's going to be like we said. We can't even imagine what it's going to look like from that day forward. God is good and, if anything on this mountain, he proved it. This is not one of those stories that Christians should shy away from, because I don't know how to answer that. God was proving who he was to Abraham so that all of Israel would know it, so that here we are, 4,000 years later. We know it too.

Speaker 2: 38:09

Yeah, we know. And John later would say I've written all these things so that you might know you have eternal life, God all along. He's proven it here on Mount Moriah. He proved it through the Exodus and giving the Israelites the law. He proved it through Jesus. I want you to know where you stand with me. I don't want you to have questions, I don't want you to wonder, I don't want you to feel like you constantly got to prove yourself. I'm giving you the way. I've provided everything that you need.

Speaker 2: 38:41

And for us on this side of Jesus, what an amazing thing that God said I'm going to send my one and only son the ultimate sacrifice, the sacrifice that was good once for all time. Another sacrifice will never have to be made. Jesus was the perfect, ultimate sacrifice for each of us. What a good God he is. I mean that's. You can't look at it, it's. I guess it's easy to look at it and say what an evil God, what a mean God. Who would require that? But the discerning eye to look at this and say man, God's proven, he's totally different. Man, God's proven, he's totally different. Again, now put yourself in Abraham Sandel's and walk back down the mountain saying he's not like I thought. He's not like any of these other gods. He is wholly different, and I mean that in both sense of the words. I love it.

Speaker 3: 39:43

I love it. Well, pray for us.

Speaker 2: 39:46

Ryan. Father, we thank you that you are a good God and, father, I thank you for this account of Abraham's faith, of Isaac's willingness and trust and submission, and his father and that relationship that his father had with you. Lord, this is just an amazing passage of scripture to reveal to us who you really are, and you're not what people say about you. You're not what the other gods require, god, you are different and, father, everything that we need you have already provided. So, father, I pray that you would give us trust in your provision, the God who sees. You are the God who provides, and, lord, we thank you for it In Jesus' name. Amen, amen and amen.

Speaker 1: 40:39

Thanks again for joining us for this episode of the Midweek Podcast. We'd love to hear from you. Let us know how God is using this resource in your life, or send any podcast questions or topic ideas to podcast at afreshwindorg. If you would like to support this ministry financially and help us continue offering new resources that equip you to discover more in Christ, simply text any amount to the number 84321. We're so grateful for your support. Make sure to tune in next week for a brand new episode of the Midweek Podcast. Be blessed and have a great week.