September 29, 2013 AD, by Pastor Ben Willis

Genesis 22:1-14 [NLTse]

1 Some time later, God tested Abraham’s faith. “Abraham!” God called.

“Yes,” he replied. “Here I am.”

2 “Take your son, your only son – yes, Isaac, whom you love so much – and go to the land of Moriah. Go and sacrifice him as a burnt offering on one of the mountains, which I will show you.”

3 The next morning Abraham got up early. He saddled his donkey and took two of his servants with him, along with his son, Isaac. Then he chopped wood for a fire for a burnt offering and set out for the place God had told him about. 4 On the third day of their journey, Abraham looked up and saw the place in the distance. 5 “Stay here with the donkey,” Abraham told the servants. “The boy and I will travel a little farther. We will worship there, and then we will come right back.”

6 So Abraham placed the wood for the burnt offering on Isaac’s shoulders, while he himself carried the fire and the knife. As the two of them walked on together, 7 Isaac turned to Abraham and said, “Father?”

“Yes, my son?” Abraham replied.

“We have the fire and the wood,” the boy said, “but where is the sheep for the burnt offering?”

8 “God will provide a sheep for the burnt offering, my son,” Abraham answered. And they both walked on together.

9 When they arrived at the place where God had told him to go, Abraham built an altar and arranged the wood on it. Then he tied his son, Isaac, and laid him on the altar on top of the wood. 10 And Abraham picked up the knife to kill his son as a sacrifice. 11 At that moment the angel of the LORD called to him from heaven, “Abraham! Abraham!”

“Yes,” Abraham replied. “Here I am!”

12 “Don’t lay a hand on the boy!” the angel said. “Do not hurt him in any way, for now I know that you truly fear God. You have not withheld from me even your son, your only son.”

13 Then Abraham looked up and saw a ram caught by its horns in a thicket. So he took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering in place of his son. 14 Abraham named the place Yahweh–Yireh (which means “the LORD will provide”). To this day, people still use that name as a proverb: “On the mountain of the LORD it will be provided.”

“Yahweh–Yireh” is most literally is translated, “The Lord will see”, but it carries with it the implication that “The Lord will provide” because for God to see a need among His children indicates His commitment to provide for that need. The way we sometimes say, “I see,” when we’re implying that we will see to it, or that we will take care of it. That is the meaning here.

In addition to the confusion at being asked to sacrifice his child, a variety of other issues likely plagued Abraham’s mind and tempted him to disobey God as he made provisions for the journey and across the days they travelled to Moriah. Abraham must have been thinking about his wife, Sarah, and wondering how she would react if she heard he’d sacrificed their son; he must have wrestled through the promises God had made he and Sarah that were wrapped up in Isaac’s life and future; I can only imagine he must have wondered how Isaac would respond and what Isaac would think of him, his father, binding him and raising a knife to him; and, perhaps, if he had any energy left, his mind might even go to the response his friends and neighbors might have to his act of slaying his son in the name of God.

And yet the only response we see from Abraham concerning these temptations was his resolute focus on God’s faithfulness. When Isaac asked, “We have the fire and the wood, but where is the sheep for the burnt offering?” Abraham replied, “God will provide a sheep for the burnt offering, my son.” …

I have us focusing on Abraham’s faithful obedience and God’s faithful provision this morning because I owe you all an apology. For the past two or three years I have preached nothing about money. As the economy got bad and then stayed bad I had (and continue to have, in many ways) much compassion for those who are hurting because of job-loss or salary-reductions and the effects of the loss of overtime, etc… And I am aware that when the church talks about money during times when money is tight that listeners can sometimes be deceived into thinking that all the church ever cares about is money, and I didn’t want you to be tempted to think that.

However, I’ve come to realize that, by not talking about money these past years, what I’ve done is stopped encouraging us about God’s provision, and stopped giving us any guidance on God’s plans for the use of whatever money we do have (whether we have a lot of it or only a little). And with society constantly feeding us selfish, greedy, and heart-hardening messages, by not preaching about these things I have left you undefended to fight off such attacks. I am sorry for that.

So I wanted to stand before you today and remind you about the good news of tithing!

“Tithe” is an Old English word meaning “a one-tenth part of something”. So when the Lord calls us to tithe across the Scriptures He is calling us to take one-tenth of all that He has given to us in our income and return it to Him for His purposes through His church.

Pastor and author Tim Keller, in his book, “Counterfeit Gods”, writes about the idolatry of money and the issue of tithing. He writes, “There have been times when people have come to me as a pastor, and asked about ‘tithing,’ giving away a tenth of their annual income. They notice that in the Old Testament there are many clear commands that believers should give away 10 percent. But in the New Testament, specific, quantitative requirements for giving are less prominent. They often asked me, ‘You don’t think that now, in the New Testament, believers are absolutely required to give away ten percent, do you?’ I shake my head no, and they give a sigh of relief. But then I quickly add, ‘I’ll tell you why you don’t see the tithing requirement laid out clearly in the New Testament. Think. Have we received more of God’s revelation, truth, and grace than the Old Testament believers, or less?’ Usually there is uncomfortable silence. ‘Are we more ‘debtors to grace’ than they were, or less? Did Jesus ‘tithe’ his life and blood to save us or did he give it all?’

“Tithing is a minimum standard for Christian believers. We certainly wouldn’t want to be in a position of giving away less of our income than those who had so much less of an understanding of what God did to save them.” (Tim Keller, Counterfeit Gods,p. 62)

And, of course, Mr. Keller is right. However, It think it’s true that the typical Christian today does not seem to see the idea of tithing as good news! And that tells me that the world’s messages of selfishness, greed, and hard-heartedness are winning in our souls.

So I have linked the Lord God’s command for us to tithe (and more than tithe) with the Lord God’s provision of a ram for Abraham to sacrifice in Isaac’s place this morning because I believe that tithing (and more than tithing) not only gives us opportunity to demonstrate how greater a debtor to God’s grace we are than those Old Testament saints, but because I believe that in giving us tithing that the Lord desires to give us opportunities to experience His grace more than we ever would otherwise.

Like weapons in the hands of a warrior, tithing and the more-than-tithing-generosity-that-demonstrates-the-Holy-Spirit-is-within-us are the weapons the Lord gives us, His children, to combat greed and materialism and the temptation to put our hope in money. Now, we may not look at our lifestyles and spending habits as being “greedy” or “materialistic” or even “idolatrous”, but that’s part of the enemy’s deception as we live in this world, isn’t it? Yet the Lord reveals the presence of these traits within us when He calls us to tithe (and more than tithe) and we balk and recoil at His call.

Because if we truly trusted God to take care of us and to provide for our every need as He’s promised, then none of us would ever pause or delay in giving God His tithe, nor would we hesitate in giving to any and all of those around us whom we see in need: We would see the need and then give to help provide for the need, trusting that the Lord also sees our needs and readily gives to help us provide for them.

Tithing (and more than tithing) has been transformative to me in helping me trust God for my daily bread instead of trusting my job or any investments over my life in Christ. Now don’t forget that I know the same pressures you know: We have a mortgage and bills that need paying; and we homeschool (which means we pay school taxes but also have to pay for all of our own curriculum and school expenses – basically, paying double for our kids’ education); our seventeen year old will be going to college in two years, and our fifteen year old the year after that, (and our youngest’s time will come soon); and Amy’s and my parents are at the age of needing our care and attention and, perhaps, our financial assistance; and, of course, seeking to save for retirement (God willing), etc…

But as those pressures tempt me to ignore the sound of God’s voice calling me to tithe and promising to bless me in tithing (and more than tithing), I seek to follow the example of Abraham and focus my thinking on God’s promises to provide.

After listing many of the pressures of the world the Lord Jesus charges us, “Don’t worry about these things, saying, ‘What will we eat? What will we drink? What will we wear?’ These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers, but your heavenly Father already knows all your needs. Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and He will give you everything you need.” (Matthew 6:31-33)

After talking about the Lord’s provision for him, the apostle Paul writes to the Philippian Christians, “And this same God who takes care of me will supply all your needs from His glorious riches, which have been given to us in Christ Jesus.” (4:19) And King David sings, “Once I was young, and now I am old. yet I have never seen the godly abandoned or their children begging for bread.” (Psalm 37:25)

So every time I get my paycheck from the church I immediately write my tithe check back to the church. When Amy and I first started tithing it was a challenge: There were some comforts, entertainments, and extras we’d gotten used to that we had to give up. But now, as long as I write the check as soon as I get paid, the money’s not in my account long enough for us to even miss it! And I find that living with 10% less money than we did before gives me and my family so many opportunities to worship God and celebrate His grace and provision to us. Because, since we’re tithing, money is much tighter and Amy and I find many more opportunities to pray about and even argue about money than we used to. (Now, that may not sound to you like good news but the reality is that because money is tighter Amy and I need to seek our Father’s provision for paying bills more often than we did when we didn’t tithe. And then we get to see and experience His miraculous provision when He’s made clear that we have enough!

In addition, the added pressures on me as provider and husband get me needing to seek our Father to provide me with the grace I need to be a better husband. And as I get to see His provision and Amy gets to see His provision, it gives us cause to celebrate Him in ways we wouldn’t have if we didn’t tithe! And as we see His provision for our household and for our marriage – sometimes with plenty of time to spare, sometimes right at the last minute – we both get to know the Lord better, and know a closeness to Him and to each other that we never would have without tithing.

God is the same today as He was in Abraham’s day. In the hour of Abraham’s great need, when there seemed no hope and he was out of options, the Lord saw Abraham and provided for his need. And He promises the same to all the children of Abraham – including us – today.

The Lord has saved us, and wants to direct our lives as our Lord. Sometimes those directions make sense to us, but other times they do not. But as we trust, follow, and obey Him – in the hour of our utmost need – God has promised and proven to see us, and in seeing our need, provide for us.

Money seems to be one of the biggest items we trust in, thinking that having more and more of it will make us happy. But, in truth, we are happiest when we are close to, enjoying, and trusting in God!

So I charge each of us to tithe – to give away to Christ 10% of all that God gives into your lives – and to give ourselves opportunities to need God and experience Him providing for our needs. And as we tithe I charge you to let your tithing grow you closer to God, grow you in knowing your need for Him, and grow you in experiencing His provision to meet your every need.

He is Yahweh–Yireh, the One Who Sees and Provides!