"By Myself I have sworn, declares the LORD, because you have done this thing and have not withheld your son, your only son, indeed I will greatly bless you, and I will greatly multiply your seed as the stars of the heavens and as the sand which is on the seashore; and your seed shall possess the gate of their enemies. In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice."
As we view the scene of Abraham's ultimate surrender, a supreme obedience to the voice of God to sacrifice his only son, whom he loved, and as we witness the staying hand of God right at the last moment, intervening with a sacrifice of His own, we see a great God and a grateful man coming together in an awe-inspiring moment. Heaven has come down to earth. Concerning this moment, A.W. Tozer writes: "The old man of God lifted his head to respond to the Voice, and stood there on the mount strong and pure and grand, a man marked out by the Lord for special treatment, a friend and favorite of the Most High. Now he was a man wholly surrendered, a man utterly obedient, a man who possessed nothing... I have said that Abraham possessed nothing. Yet was not this poor man rich? Everything he had owned before was his still to enjoy: sheep, camels, herds, and goods of every sort. He had also his wife and his friends, and best of all he had his son Isaac safe by his side. There is the sweet theology of the heart which can be learned only in the school of renunciation. The books on systematic theology overlook this, but the wise will understand," (The Pursuit of God). Because of one man's full surrender, in total obedience to the voice of God, the nations of the earth are blessed. The same principle holds true in each of our lives. As Tozer so aptly put it: "...our whole future will be conditioned by the choice we make," (Ibid). Richard Foster is right in saying, "This is Tozer at his best calling us to the obedience of the cross life, which he reminds us is 'the blessedness of possessing nothing,'" (Spiritual Classics, 117). Bless you, Abraham!
As we view the scene of Abraham's ultimate surrender, a supreme obedience to the voice of God to sacrifice his only son, whom he loved, and as we witness the staying hand of God right at the last moment, intervening with a sacrifice of His own, we see a great God and a grateful man coming together in an awe-inspiring moment. Heaven has come down to earth. Concerning this moment, A.W. Tozer writes: "The old man of God lifted his head to respond to the Voice, and stood there on the mount strong and pure and grand, a man marked out by the Lord for special treatment, a friend and favorite of the Most High. Now he was a man wholly surrendered, a man utterly obedient, a man who possessed nothing... I have said that Abraham possessed nothing. Yet was not this poor man rich? Everything he had owned before was his still to enjoy: sheep, camels, herds, and goods of every sort. He had also his wife and his friends, and best of all he had his son Isaac safe by his side. There is the sweet theology of the heart which can be learned only in the school of renunciation. The books on systematic theology overlook this, but the wise will understand," (The Pursuit of God). Because of one man's full surrender, in total obedience to the voice of God, the nations of the earth are blessed. The same principle holds true in each of our lives. As Tozer so aptly put it: "...our whole future will be conditioned by the choice we make," (Ibid). Richard Foster is right in saying, "This is Tozer at his best calling us to the obedience of the cross life, which he reminds us is 'the blessedness of possessing nothing,'" (Spiritual Classics, 117). Bless you, Abraham!
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