To find out more about the Story of Redemption, go to www.StoryofRedemption.com!

#29 - JERUSALEM, the TEMPLE, and THE DOME OF THE ROCK - There are 29 days until the Story of Redemption (SOR) begins filming in Israel, and I want to highlight a different site and / or scene for each day leading up to this filming, beginning with Jerusalem and Abraham. The third lesson in SOR talks about faith and the Story of Abraham. There are some fantastic scenes in the first past of this lesson, but I want to begin with the end of that lesson, leading into lesson 4 on Jesus genealogy and birth in Matthew 1.

Genesis 22 tells the story of God telling Abraham to take Isaac, the son that he had to wait 25 years to receive and the one through whom the promise that all peoples would be blessed would flow through, and to sacrifice him. This was a tremendous test of faith, and one of the most difficult stories in all of the Bible. 

Frankly, this story is so disturbing that I left it out of the original print version of the Story of Redemption. While long time Christians understand it, to someone not familiar with this story, it just seems bizarre and even immoral. We all know that child sacrifice is wrong, and indeed, God condemned it. So why did God do make this ask?

The angel of the Lord stayed Abraham's hand, and he of course, was not allowed to go through with the sacrifice. The story reads like this in Genesis 22:

9 When they reached the place God had told him about, Abraham built an altarthere and arranged the wood on it. He bound his son Isaac and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. 10 Then he reached out his hand and took the knife to slay his son. 11 But the angel of the Lord called out to him from heaven,“Abraham! Abraham!”

“Here I am,” he replied.

12 “Do not lay a hand on the boy,” he said. “Do not do anything to him. Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son.”

13 Abraham looked up and there in a thicket he saw a ram[a] caught by its horns. He went over and took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering instead of his son. 14 So Abraham called that place The Lord Will Provide. And to this day it is said, “On the mountain of the Lord it will be provided.”

So in the story, it seems to indicate that in this test, God "discovers" that Abraham truly places nothing above him--not even his son. Now, this in itself raises questions, as why would an omnipotent God need to do this to know this? This is often interpreted to mean that Abraham is actually the one who comes to know this through this test. There is no simple answer, really. 

However, it is clear that this story points most assuredly to the sacrifice of Jesus for our sins that would take place in Jerusalem thousands of years later. As with the ram in this story, God provided a sacrifice--himself, in the form of his Son--for us. And we see in Abraham's almost having to give up Isaac just how precious this sacrifice was.

Now, how does this relate to Jerusalem? Well, the place that Abraham took Isaac to be sacrificed was Mt. Moriah--which would be the later site where the temple of the Lord would be built there in Jerusalem! The Dome of the Rock is located there as well, which is the third most holy site for Muslims. And most Muslims are Arabs, who were the descendants of Ishmael--the child of Abraham and his handmaiden Hagar. And of course, Jerusalem is where Jesus would die for his people, God provided the ultimate provision. 

So in Jerusalem, their is a powerful coming together of the Story of Redemption through Abraham, the father of many nations, from whom would be born David, and then, ultimately, Jesus Christ, the Messiah. Matthew says says, "1 This is the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah the son of David, the son of Abraham . . . " Mt. 1:1).

We will be filming this part of the SOR right there in Jerusalem. Pretty amazing! Please keep this in your prayers--for the planning, safety, great filming, support raising, and for God to use this ministry!

How do you explain God calling upon Abraham to sacrifice Isaac?

To find out more about the Story of Redemption, go to www.StoryofRedemption.com!