24.1 Genesis 22: Father and Son went together

Series 24

Episode 1

Prologue

Brothers and sisters, today’s topic of Treasures for the Soul is “Genesis 22: Father and Son went together.” Genesis chapter 22 is very special. The event of Abraham offering Isaac as a burnt sacrifice depicts how the Father forsook His only begotten Son. This chapter foretold what the Father and the Son would undergo to accomplish the salvation. For instance, Isaac, the only son of Abraham, represents that Jesus is the only begotten Son of the Father. The journey taken by Abraham and Isaac together to Mt. Moriah represents the Father and the Lord’s journey to the cross. Moreover, the Father intensely experienced what the Lord endured on the cross. Through this passage, I hope that we can have a deeper understanding of the Father’s heart.

Message

Genesis chapter 22 is very special because it speaks about the Father. Verses 1-3 reads, “After these things God tested Abraham and said to him, ‘Abraham!’ And he said, ‘Here I am.’ He 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.’ So 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.”

“He said, ‘Take your son, your only son’”–I’m quite sure you will think of John 3:16: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son…” This expression is truly extraordinary because it reminds us of God’s love for the world, and He gave His only Son. This act is beyond what man can imagine. Being the only begotten Son of the Father, the Lord is very different from those one and only sons on earth: the Lord is God; He and the Father are one. Their relationship is far beyond any father-son relationships on earth, which merely gives us a glimpse of the relationship between the Lord and the Father.

God did not reveal Abraham’s feelings to us in detail. Abraham has faith, but it doesn’t mean he lacks compassion and affection. What was in Abraham’s heart? You can ask him in the future in heaven: How did you feel on that day?

It’s precious that verse 1 reads, “After these things God tested Abraham.” God had prepared Abraham through many challenges and trials. He had experienced a lot. He went through many difficulties and he stumbled at times. However, he overcame each challenge. Time after time, he reached from one peak to another. After all the previous challenges, God tested him with this special trial. 1 Peter 1:7 says, “The tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire…” This verse can be applied to Abraham. The “test” is actually God’s training for us. When we did not know Him well, we would keep asking “Why?” You have to know God well enough to “rise early in the morning,” just as Abraham did in responding to God’s test. Otherwise, you will find ways to delay. But Abraham rose early and prepared the wood.

We strive on earth to accomplish the Lord’s will. At the same time, the Lord is preparing and uplifting us for the Father’s great business. He is enhancing our qualifications. He wants us to receive many rewards and glory from Him, and become a blessing to many. Can you see? There are so many who have been helped by this passage over so many generations. And how many more throughout eternity? They will learn from Abraham’s life and what he imparted to us. Likewise, in eternity, we will greatly help many. Abba will lead you and me, together with many sons, to glory!

Genesis 22: 3-4 reads, “…And he cut the wood for the burnt offering and arose and went to the place of which God had told him. On the third day…”

This task was not quick and easy. Though with the help of two young men, they still needed to carry the wood.

Genesis 22:4-5 reads, “Abraham lifted up his eyes and saw the place from afar. Then 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.’”

Here is foreshadowing the Lord being alone in the garden of Gethsemane. Three disciples were with Him, but they fell asleep while the Lord was praying earnestly. The Lord stayed alert. He went forward and foretasted the bitter cup in the garden by Himself.

Genesis 22:6 reads, And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on Isaac his son. And he took in his hand the fire and the knife. So they went both of them together.

“Took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on Isaac his son”: I believe you can relate this to the Lord carrying the cross for us.

The sentence “So they went both of them together” appears more than once. Of course this refers to Abraham and his son. You may think of the suffering endured by the Lord, whether in the garden, on His way to the cross, or right before He was crucified. He suffered much for the whole journey, yet the Father also went with Him. He felt deeply the pain that His beloved Son was going through. When the Lord bore the stripes, the Father went with Him. The Lord despised the shame and experienced many sufferings before His crucifixion; the Father also went with Him.

Genesis 22:7 reads, “And Isaac said to his father Abraham, ‘My father!’ And he said, ‘Here I am, my son.’ He said, ‘Behold, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?’”

When we get to heaven, you may ask Abraham how he felt when Isaac asked him this question.

Genesis 22:8 reads, Abraham said, ‘God will provide for himself the lamb for a burnt offering, my son.’ So they went both of them together.”

How did Abraham know there would be a ram for the burnt offering on the mountain? I treasure his faith. He also has compassion and affection.

Genesis 22:9 reads, “When they came to the place of which God had told him, Abraham built the altar there and laid the wood in order and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood.”

Please take note of “So they went both of them together.” I hope you realize what the Lord experienced before going up to the cross; and the moment when He cried out on the cross, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Matthew 27:46) Before the Father struck and forsook the Lord, He was walking with the Lord. What do you think? How would the Father have felt when the Lord was whipped? Genesis chapter 22 is very precious because it helps us to understand what the Father has gone through for us. Certainly, He also endured great pain for His beloved Son. The pain of the cross is too deep for us to fully comprehend even through all eternity. We’ll understand it better if we truly understand how the Father loves His beloved Son, and the meaning of these expressions: “in the bosom of the Father,” “His beloved Son,” “the Lord and the Father are one,” and “His only begotten Son.”

Series 24

God prepares for us

Message Date: 2020-04-05

One of God’s names is “God will provide.” This name is recorded in Genesis chapter 22, which says that Abraham and Issac walked together, and they went to the mountains of Moriah. As instructed by God, Abraham was to offer Issac as a sacrifice. When he was about to slay his son, God called him and stopped him. God had prepared a lamb to replace Issac, to be offered as a sacrifice. Through this, God illustrated to us that the heavenly Father had long prepared His beloved Son to be a sacrificial lamb for our sins. God loves us, and what He has prepared for us for this life and eternity are extremely abundant and precious; He even prepared Himself to be given for us. God not only prepared all things and the whole world for us, He prepared a body for the Lord so that He could accomplish the salvation. The Lord rose and ascended to heaven. He went to prepare a place for us, that is the New Jerusalem in heaven, our eternal dwelling place. He has prepared for us better things: blood that speaks a better word, a better covenant, a better country… All these are better, both in this generation and in eternity! He prepares feasts for us: when we were saved, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit threw a feast for us; They danced, made music and celebrated. He prepares a table before us in the presence of our enemies. In the future, there will be the marriage supper of the Lamb… The Lord Himself is our most precious feast; He is the bread of life. Having prepared all, what He desires most is for us to enjoy Him, and He to enjoy us.
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24.1 Genesis 22: Father and Son went together

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24.2 Genesis 22: For us, the Father gave His only Son

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24.3 Genesis 22: The Lord will provide

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24.4 God’s preparation for us

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Introduction

01 Introduction of Treasures for the Soul

Series 1: Being Heart to Heart with the Lord

1.1 The Most Blessed Generation
1.2 Message from John the Baptist
1.3 Abide in the Lord Always
1.4 Abide in the Lord’s Love at All Times
1.5 The Lord Speaks to Us and Helps Us in Our Hearts

Series 2: Being Heart to Heart with the Lord Throughout this Year

2.1 God’s Greatest Work Starts in Our Hearts
2.2 To Be Heart to Heart with the Lord Throughout the Year
2.3 Our Spirits can Feel God and Have Fellowship with Him
2.4 The Importance of Peace
2.5 Our Spirits Need the Words of God
2.6 Give the Lord Time and Space to Speak in Our Hearts

Series 3: Let Our Hearts be Influenced

3.1 The World Needs People Who Deeply Experience God
3.2 Just as His Anointing 
Has Taught You, 
Abide in the Lord
3.3 Be Influenced 
by the Lord Throughout 
this Year

Series 4: The Importance of Peace

4.1 Enjoying God’s Peace in Your heart
4.2 Let Not Your Hearts be Troubled, Neither Let Them be Afraid.
4.3 How Should Our Spirit Respond to the Lord?

Series 5: Our Spirit Being Able to Enjoy the Lord

5.1 Our Spirit is Satisfied Only When We Worship God and Deeply Experience Him
5.2 How to Worship God with Our Spirit
5.3 Looking at the Lord with our Inner Eyes
5.4 Our Spirit Needs to Enjoy the Lord Himself
5.5 The Song of Solomon Often Mentions About “Eyes”
5.6 Realize Being Heart to Heart with the Lord in Singing and Worship

Series 6: Live out the Life of being Heart to Heart with the Lord

6.1 Living a life of union with the Lord in a stable pattern every day
6.2 Enjoying the Lord and not being disturbed
6.3 The Importance of Seeing Him with Our Spiritual Eyes

Series 7

7.1 Learn to Protect Our Spirits From Virus Prevention
7.2 Our Spirit Can Hear, Think, and See
7.3 How to Live a Life of Faith
7.4 The Importance of the Mind
7.5 David’s Eyes Beheld the Lord Always

Series 8: During the last supper, the Lord spoke about the essence of the blessings of the new covenant.

8.1 The Lord established with us the eternal love covenant by His blood
8.2 The Lord Treasures the New Covenant and Break-Bread Meeting the Most
8.3 Love Encounters
8.4 Before His Crucifixion, the Lord clearly explained the essence of the blessings of the new covenant: the fourth blessing
8.5 Before His Crucifixion, the Lord clearly explained the essence of the blessings of the new covenant: the first blessing (1)
8.6 Before His Crucifixion, the Lord clearly explained the essence of the blessings of the new covenant: the first blessing (2)

Series 16: We Have Come to Mount Zion and the Heavenly Jerusalem

16.1 See that the Lord is at the right hand of the Father
16.2 Coming to Mount Zion (1): the meaning of Mount Sinai
16.3 Coming to Mount Zion (2): the difficulty in forgiveness of sins
16.4 Coming to Mount Zion (3): to Live in Grace
16.5 Having Come to the Heavenly Jerusalem
16.6 What is in the heavenly Jerusalem (1)?

Series 9: Being Heart to Heart with the Father

9.1 Being Heart to Heart with Abba (Part 1)
9.2 Being Heart to Heart with Abba (Part 2)

Series 10

10.1 The Love Desire in the Depths of Abba and the Lord’s hearts
10.2 Fruit of the Lord’s Crucifixion: Eternal Life
10.3 The Lord Came to Manifest the Father’s Name
10.4 The Father Sent His Only Begotten Son
10.5 Reminders on enjoying heart to heart with the Father
10.6 The Father’s Desire for Me is Forever Steadfast

Series 11

11.1 The preciousness of the Letter to Philemon
11.2 The most profitable; the most accepted.
11.3 Charge That to My Account
11.4 The Father made the Lord our eternal High Priest by an oath (1)
11.5 The Father made the Lord our eternal High Priest by an oath (2)
11.6 We are the Lord’s darling love

Series 12

12.1 The Lord’s Words at the Last Supper
12.2 Apart from the Lord, we can do nothing.
12.3 What is true faith?
12.4 Look upon the Lord in glory
11.5 Trust and Peace (1)
12.6 Trust and Peace (2)

Series 13: The Lord’s Gentleness and Humility

13.3 The Lord’s Gentleness and Humility (Part 2)

Series 14: Manifold evidence

14.1 How does the infinite Lord see us?
14.2 We are the ultimate and final love of the Lord
14.3 The Lord is forever a Man; He once died for us
14.4 The Lord’s manifold love evidence (Part 1)
14.5 The Lord’s manifold love evidence Part 2

Series 15: Understand How Our Spirit Works And Be Heart To Heart With The Lord Continuously

15.1 We Can Only Enjoy God By Faith
15.2 His Words Abide In Us
15.3 Live With The Lord
15.4 Seek The Things That Are Above
15.5 Understand How Our Spirit Works: Will, Mind And Feelings
15.6 Guard And Uplift Our Mind

Series 17: Know that the Church is the Firstborn

17.1 Know that the church is the firstborn
17.2 The Blessing of the Firstborn (Part 1)
17.3 The Blessing of the Firstborn (Part 2)
17.4 The Lord redeemed us to be the firstborn (Part 1)
17.5 The Lord redeemed us to be the firstborn (Part 2)

Series 18: The Blessings to be the First Born

18.1 Israel is God’s Firstborn Son (Part 1)
18.2 Israel is God’s Firstborn Son (Part 2)
18.3 To be united with the Lord and become the Firstborn
18.4 The Lord is the Firstborn
18.5 The Blessing of the Firstborn: Kingship
18.6 The Blessing of the Firstborn: a Double Portion of the Blessings

Series 19: Coming to Mount Zion to Appear Before God

19.1 The Lord is the way, and the truth, and the life
19.2 Live in Grace. Enjoy the Father and the Lord
19.3 Mind the things that are above (1)
19.4 Mind the things that are above (2)
19.5 Appear before God in Mount Zion

Series 20: The final destination of our spirit and eternity is the heavenly Jerusalem

20.1 The Lord Desires Most for Us to Draw Near to Him (1)
20.2 The Lord Desires Most for Us to Draw Near to Him (2)
20.3 The Lord Becomes the Way so that We can Come Before God with Confidence
20.4 The Heavenly Jerusalem, Destination of Our Spirits and Eternity (1)
20.5 The Heavenly Jerusalem, Destination of Our Spirits and Eternity (2)

Series 21: Live Out the Life of the Firstborn: Be A Priest

21.1 The Father made the Lord the High Priest
21.2 Priesthood: One of the Blessings of the Firstborn
21.4 The Precedents of Priests in the Bible (2)

Series 22: When Believers Die, They Will Go to the Heavenly Jerusalem

22.1 The Heavenly Jerusalem is paradise (1)
The Heavenly Jerusalem is paradise (2)
The Spirits of the Righteous Made Perfect

Series 23: New Jerusalem is a real city

God has prepared a heavenly home for us
Is the heavenly new Jerusalem a real city?
Satan causes man not to be clear and assured about the things in heaven
Are physical substances not spiritual?
New Jerusalem is a real city (1)
New Jerusalem is a real city (2)

Series 24: God prepares for us

Genesis 22: Father and Son went together
Genesis 22: For us, the Father gave His only Son
Genesis 22: The Lord will provide
24.4 God’s preparation for us

Series 25: The Father and Son Affection

25.1 The Lord Came to Make Known the Father
25.2 The Father and Son Affection (Part 1)
25.3 The Father and Son Affection (Part 2)

Series 26: We are a royal priesthood

26.1 God who alone does wondrous things
26.2 The Lord is the High Priest
26.3 We are a royal priesthood (1)
26.4 We are a royal priesthood (2)