Genesis 22:6-8

img_3068-46 “And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering, and laid it upon Isaac his son; and he took the fire in his hand, and a knife; and they went both of them together.”

So many times in this world we are “called” or “nudged” or better yet inclined to do something that we know has the stamp of YHWH all over it, and yet, sadly, we shrink up and do not do it. Why? There are other voices, those in our own mind of doubt, fear and worry, or even perhaps of some “well-meaning” friend or relative that says to you “have you considered the outcome”. These voices are in like manner to those we see here in the telling of Isaac and Abraham.The book of  Jasher gives some additional insight into the situation…. 23:25-28 “And while Abraham was proceeding with his son Yitschaq along the road, Satan came and appeared to Abraham in the figure of a very aged man, humble and of contrite spirit, and he approached Abraham and said to him, Art you silly or brutish, that you go to do this thing this day to your only son? For YAHWEH gave you a son in your latter days, in your old age, and wilt you go and slaughter him this day because he committed no violence, and wilt you cause the soul of your only son to perish from the earth? Dost you not know and understand that this thing cannot be from YAHWEH? for YAHWEH cannot do unto man such evil upon earth to say to him, Go slaughter your child. And Abraham heard this and knew that it was the word of Satan who endeavored to draw him aside from the way of YAHWEH, but Abraham would not hearken to the voice of Satan, and Abraham rebuked him so that he went away.”

Do you know the sound of Satan’s voice? Even when it’s masked by someone humble and contrite? What about those in partnership with you, do they know which is the voice of YHWH? and which is the voice of the Adversary?

Back to Jasher 23:29-33 “And Satan returned and came to Yitschaq; and he appeared unto Yitschaq in the figure of a young man comely and well favored. And he approached Yitschaq and said unto him, Dost you not know and understand that your old silly father brings you to the slaughter this day for naught? Now therefore, my son, do not listen nor attend to him, for he is a silly old man, and let not your precious soul and beautiful figure be lost from the earth. And Yitschaq heard this, and said unto Abraham, Hast you heard, my father, that which this man has spoken? even thus has he spoken. And Abraham answered his son Yitschaq and said to him, Take heed of him and do not listen to his words, nor attend to him, for he is Satan, endeavoring to draw us aside this day from the commands of YAHWEH.”

This is a constant project for Satan, that being, to draaw us away from the commands of  YHWH.

Turning back to Genesis:

7 “And Isaac spake unto Abraham his father, and said, My father: and he said, Here am I, my son. And he said, Behold the fire and the wood: but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?”

8 “And Abraham said, My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering: so they went both of them together.”

Confidence and faith in YHWH is what He requires of us all. Abraham has this in a huge way and nothing will stop him. If we can recall back to Chapter 14 Abraham witnessed YHWH defeat the armies of Giants and in Chapter 19 He decimates 5 cities instantly! Yet, sadly, Satan is relentless. How many times have you felt like there were seemingly insurmountable obstacles to your mission?

Looking again to Jasher 23:34-40 “And Abraham still rebuked Satan, and Satan went from them, and seeing he could not prevail over them he hid himself from them, and he went and passed before them in the road; and he transformed himself to a large brook of water in the road, and Abraham and Yitschaq and his two young men reached that place, and they saw a brook large and powerful as the mighty waters. And they entered the brook and passed through it, and the waters at first reached their legs. And they went deeper in the brook and the waters reached up to their necks, and they were all terrified on account of the water; and while they were going over the brook Abraham recognized that place, and he knew that there was no water there before. And Abraham said to his son Yitschaq, I know this place in which there was no brook nor water, now therefore it is this Satan who does all this to us, to draw us aside this day from the commands of YAHWEH. And Abraham rebuked him and said unto him, YAHWEH rebuke you, O Satan, begone from us for we go by the commands of YAHWEH. And Satan was terrified at the voice of Abraham, and he went away from them, and the place again became dry land as it was at first. And Abraham went with Yitschaq toward the place that YAHWEH had told him.”

Notice how Abraham KNEW this place. This is where he and YHWH communed with one another on several occasions prior. He wasn’t in unfamiliar territory. Does your “mission” [some would say their “calling”] have you in unfamiliar territory? The Bible is our map for life and our “calling”. We are called to “go and make disciples”. How can you make a disciple when you have not trodden the path yourself? Do you feel like you are drowning in a sea of doubt, fear and worry? Or do you know the place you are in well enough to rebuke Satan and keep going?

Leave a Reply

Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in:

WordPress.com Logo

You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. Log Out /  Change )

Twitter picture

You are commenting using your Twitter account. Log Out /  Change )

Facebook photo

You are commenting using your Facebook account. Log Out /  Change )

Connecting to %s

Website Powered by WordPress.com.

Up ↑

%d bloggers like this: