3.058 Can I Be Strong Like Abraham?
Show Notes
In this Savory Salt episode, Allen Roberds reflects on Genesis 22:2, exploring God's command for Abraham to sacrifice Isaac. He reveals the profound symbolism of Abraham's willingness to offer "thine only son, whom thou lovest" as a powerful foreshadowing of Heavenly Father's sacrifice of His Son, Jesus Christ, and the Atonement. Discover the incredible faith of Abraham and what it means for us to strive for similar spiritual strength.
Key Points
- The episode analyzes God's command in Genesis 22:2 for Abraham to sacrifice his only son, Isaac, highlighting the emotional weight and profound faith involved.
- Allen emphasizes the specific phrasing, "thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest," drawing a direct parallel to Heavenly Father sacrificing His only beloved Son, Jesus Christ.
- Abraham's immediate obedience and lack of hesitation in Genesis 22:3 demonstrate his unwavering faith in the Lord's plan and provision.
- The story serves as a tender Old Testament moment testifying of the Savior Jesus Christ and the ultimate sacrifice of His Atonement for humanity.
- The host challenges listeners to cultivate faith and strength akin to Abraham, trusting that God's requests are always for their ultimate good.
Man, Allen, can you be strong like Abraham? Can you have faith to know that whatever the Lord asks of you will be for your good?
Episode Resources
Full Transcript
In Matthew 5, Jesus calls us the salt of the earth and the light of the world, reminding us that our lives are meant to preserve, illuminate, and point others to Him. This season on Savory Salt, we'll walk through the Old Testament, one verse and one thought each day. Perhaps these moments will add greater savor and brighter light to our lives as we seek to truly live as savory salt.
Hello, my friends. It's a new day with new opportunities. Choose you this day whom you will serve.
When we talk about strong people in the scriptures, who comes to mind for you? We're reading this week Genesis chapters 18 through 23. We know it is the Abraham, Sarah, Isaac story.
And inside of it, we get to the point in our readings here that can be pretty difficult to read, at least part of it. The Lord commands Abraham to sacrifice Isaac, his son. One of the verses, you know, it made me ponder on phrase that Jesus Christ gives us in the New Testament as he's teaching when he said, "Those that have ears, let them hear." Because there's a phrase here that hit differently than it has for me in the past.
And it was so clear to me this time what God was saying that perhaps I've missed in the past. And maybe I'm just a little bit slow on the uptake. So if you've already recognized this years ago, don't worry, guys, I'm just catching up with you.
But our verse for today is in Genesis chapter 22 and it's verse 2. This is God talking directly to Abraham. Verse 2 says, "And he said, Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah, and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains, which I will tell thee of." Now, aside from the emotional toll that that had to have played on Abraham, even with the faith that he had in the Lord, he's got to have some PTSD flashbacks of him being a boy and being sacrificed or almost sacrificed, attempted sacrifice from his father.
But did you catch the phrase at the beginning of this one? This is what I want to really zero in on that stuck with me this time. The Lord says, "Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest." It almost like I don't think he needs to put the qualifiers in there.
Abraham knows he's got one son. So he could have said, "Just take your son." But then he specifies, "Your only son Isaac." And then he specifies, "Whom thou lovest." My friends, who is Heavenly Father's Son? His only Son, whom He lovest.
As we look at this story and we truly see the symbolism of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, we can see the parallels in the Father and the Son with Abraham and Isaac that we can with our loving Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. This story certainly is an emotionally charged story, but it's also one that shows us incredible faith from Abraham. In fact, if you go on to verse 3, we won't read it, but Abraham seemingly has no hesitation in this process.
He gets up, he takes off, he takes Isaac with him, they get everything ready for the burnt offerings, and off they go. And even when he's questioned, he says, "The Lord will provide." My friends, I look at that and I say, "Man, Allen, can you be strong like Abraham? Can you have faith to know that whatever the Lord asks of you will be for your good?" We talked about that in the past of Savory Salt.
I want to really continue to push myself, to encourage myself, to hold the faith that all things will turn out good for those who seek to live their covenants and live righteously with the Lord. I'm grateful for this tender mercy here. As we see an Old Testament moment testifying of our Savior Jesus Christ. "Take now thy son, thine only son, Isaac, whom thou lovest." My friends, the Lord sacrificed His Son for us.
His only Son. His Son that He loved. He sacrificed Him for us.
And through that Atonement, we have the opportunity to live with Him again, be whole and perfect. What a beautiful moment for us as we see this play out here with Abraham and Isaac in the Old Testament. That's all for today, my friends.
You and I have come here for such a time as this. Step forward in faith, and let's be savory salt. We will be here tomorrow, and we hope you are too.
This transcript was generated using AI and may contain errors. I do my best to review and edit them when I can.