Come to Mt. Moriah 2

We need to stand on nothing less than the character of God.  The promises are good and true, but we know God.  We know his character first and then His power.  I think Abraham believed in the resurrection.  I think he thought he was going to have to kill Isaac.  He was willing to do it because he knew God would bring a Godly resolution.  He did so as a covenanted follower of God in obedience to His revealed Word.
Abraham knew that God is not safe, not to be controlled, not to be mocked or tampered with.  He knew that God was God.  And he intended to treat him that way.
This faith to which Abraham is called and for which he is celebrated–particularly in the New Testament–means the acknowledgement of a particular God.  A God who means business.  Who calls us to Mt. Moriah . . .Abraham trusts in a God who can violate religious conventions, shatter normal definitions of reality, and can bring about newness.  Isaac–long anticipated, finally given, is suddenly demanded back–and he is the embodiment of the newness god can bring to us.  To us.  To a people who know only three cars and two color TV’s and affluence.  To a people who really know only barrenness.  This God who calls us to Mt. Moriah has no parallel, no analogy.  This God we serve is not predictable, not safe, and not controllable.  He loves whom He wants to love–even those whom we cannot forgive.  He saves those whom He chooses.  He is a God who cannot be controlled by our minds, by our political situations, or by our religions.
On Mt. Moriah God brings something new–a young ram.  He does not merely patch up what is old.  He makes something entirely new.  And, on Mt. Moriah, we find that all that we once believed, all that once demanded our allegiance has come in question.
The theologian Walter Brueggemann, in his exposition of this passage, challenges us to embrace the God on Mt. Moriah.  The modern world that so celebrates freedom also believes that present life is closed and self-contained in known natural laws just waiting to be uncovered.  In this world there can be no real change, no newness.  But our world is not after all a human artifact; it is created by God.  And He shall not be thwarted by our puny efforts to control Him.  Abraham knew that our world needs more than a faith whose only claim is that its god can be served without cost.  No!  The God on Mt. Moriah wants everything we have . . .This God we serve is determined to have His own way with us–no matter what the cost.
When Abraham comes down from Mt. Moriah he is a new man.  God has demanded all and Abraham has delivered.  God provides a substitute but that is incidental.  This faith of Abraham is replicated throughout history.  Moses foolishly stands before Pharaoh and demands that he let God’s people go.  Moses has been to his Moriah.  Shadrach, Meshak, and Abednego have been to Moriah too.  During the Babylonian captivity they are told to worship the Persian King.  They refuse.  They will be burned alive in the fire.  “God will deliver us.  But if He does not, we shall still refuse to worship you,” they defiantly tell the king.  They have met a God who demands everything and then more.  They have been to Moriah.
My prayer is that these 50 review lessons will take you to Mt. Moriah, so, that when you do well on the ACT—and I believe you will—and you do well in college, that you remember that you serve a mighty, an awesome, a loving God.  The God who calls us to Mt. Moriah.

We need to stand on nothing less than the character of God.  The promises are good and true, but we know God.  We know his character first and then His power.  I think Abraham believed in the resurrection.  I think he thought he was going to have to kill Isaac.  He was willing to do it because he knew God would bring a Godly resolution.  He did so as a covenanted follower of God in obedience to His revealed Word. Abraham knew that God is not safe, not to be controlled, not to be mocked or tampered with.  He knew that God was God.  And he intended to treat him that way. This faith to which Abraham is called and for which he is celebrated–particularly in the New Testament–means the acknowledgement of a particular God.  A God who means business.  Who calls us to Mt. Moriah . . .Abraham trusts in a God who can violate religious conventions, shatter normal definitions of reality, and can bring about newness.  Isaac–long anticipated, finally given, is suddenly demanded back–and he is the embodiment of the newness god can bring to us.  To us.  To a people who know only three cars and two color TV’s and affluence.  To a people who really know only barrenness.  This God who calls us to Mt. Moriah has no parallel, no analogy.  This God we serve is not predictable, not safe, and not controllable.  He loves whom He wants to love–even those whom we cannot forgive.  He saves those whom He chooses.  He is a God who cannot be controlled by our minds, by our political situations, or by our religions.   On Mt. Moriah God brings something new–a young ram.  He does not merely patch up what is old.  He makes something entirely new.  And, on Mt. Moriah, we find that all that we once believed, all that once demanded our allegiance has come in question. The theologian Walter Brueggemann, in his exposition of this passage, challenges us to embrace the God on Mt. Moriah.  The modern world that so celebrates freedom also believes that present life is closed and self-contained in known natural laws just waiting to be uncovered.  In this world there can be no real change, no newness.  But our world is not after all a human artifact; it is created by God.  And He shall not be thwarted by our puny efforts to control Him.  Abraham knew that our world needs more than a faith whose only claim is that its god can be served without cost.  No!  The God on Mt. Moriah wants everything we have . . .This God we serve is determined to have His own way with us–no matter what the cost. When Abraham comes down from Mt. Moriah he is a new man.  God has demanded all and Abraham has delivered.  God provides a substitute but that is incidental.  This faith of Abraham is replicated throughout history.  Moses foolishly stands before Pharaoh and demands that he let God’s people go.  Moses has been to his Moriah.  Shadrach, Meshak, and Abednego have been to Moriah too.  During the Babylonian captivity they are told to worship the Persian King.  They refuse.  They will be burned alive in the fire.  “God will deliver us.  But if He does not, we shall still refuse to worship you,” they defiantly tell the king.  They have met a God who demands everything and then more.  They have been to Moriah. My prayer is that these 50 review lessons will take you to Mt. Moriah, so, that when you do well on the ACT—and I believe you will—and you do well in college, that you remember that you serve a mighty, an awesome, a loving God.  The God who calls us to Mt. Moriah.

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