THE HOPE OF GOD’S GRACE IN THE PAST
God tested Abraham and said to him, "Abraham!" And he said, "Here am I." 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 (Genesis 22:1-3, ESV).
On the third day 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." 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. And Isaac said to his father Abraham, "My father!" And he said, "Here am I, my son." He said, "Behold, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?" Abraham said, "God will provide for himself the lamb for a burnt offering, my son (Genesis 22:4-8, ESV).
Then Abraham reached out his hand and took the knife to slaughter his son. But the angel of the Lord called to him from heaven and said, "Abraham, Abraham!" And he said, "Here am I." He said, "Do not lay your hand on the boy or do anything to him, for now I know that you fear God, seeing you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me." And Abraham lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, behind him was a ram, caught in a thicket by his horns. And Abraham went and took the ram and offered it up as a burnt offering instead of his son. So, Abraham called the name of that place, "The Lord will provide (Genesis 22:10-14, ESV).
We who are born again in Christ Jesus and walk with Him as our Lord, know that everything that we have or will receive is a gift from God. Everything. We enter this world with nothing, but our birthday suit and we leave in the same condition. We bring nothing with us in the beginning and we take nothing with us when we leave. Everything we have is a gift of God by His grace.
For those who don’t know God personally and even some that do have a personal relationship with Him, hope is at best a crapshoot with the chances of future grace about as good as a Powerball lottery ticket.
However, for those of us who love and serve Him, our hope is spiritual in nature and comes from God. Abraham was such a man. His hope was in God as he took Isaac to the top of the mountain for the sacrifice. He had the promise from God that Isaac would be the father of a whole new generation of people who would be God’s possession. As a result, Abraham thought that if he took Isaac’s life, God would raise his son from the dead (Hebrews 11:17-19). At the point of Abraham’s conciliatory action, God stepped in and provided a ram for the sacrifice. Abraham’s hope in God was brought to fruition by an act of the grace of God.
Job knew God on a very personal basis. God described Job as, “blameless and upright, and one who feared God and shunned evil” (Job 1:1). Later in Job 1:8 and 2:3, when being challenged by Satan, God described Job by adding to His original statement, “Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil."
God allowed Satan to attack Job with all the power that this despicable fallen angel had in his possession. Job lost everything (Job 1:13-18), was stricken with disease (Job 2:7-8), was discouraged by his wife (Job 2:9-10), and verbally assaulted by his friends (Job chapters 4-37). Job responded to Bildad the Shuhite’s charge that he was suffering and being judged by God because he was an unrighteous man as are all men by saying these words.
As long as my breath is in me, and the spirit of God is in my nostrils, my lips will not speak falsehood, and my tongue will not utterly deceit. Far be it from me to say that you are right; till I die I will not put away my integrity from me. I hold fast my righteousness and will not let it go; my heart does not reproach me for any of my days (Job 27:3-6, ESV).
For what is the hope of the hypocrite, Though he may gain much, If God takes away his life (Job 27:8, NKJV)?
In Job 32:8-10 and 18 we see the final attack of the Devil on Job’s faith issued in the terse words of the youngest of the four who chided Job, Eliphaz.[2] However, Job, in all his agony, discouraged by the reality of his suffering, and the attacks of men whom he considered to be his friends, was not willing to vacate hope. His hope was evident throughout his long ordeal. At the end of the all long discourses in this account in the Old Testament, God rewards Job’s hope. In all that happened to Job, he never wavered in his faith. He never doubted that his faith in God would prevail.
Now the Lord blessed the latter days of Job more than his beginning; for he had fourteen thousand sheep, six thousand camels, one thousand yoke of oxen, and one thousand female donkeys. He also had seven sons and three daughters. And he called the name of the first Jemimah, the name of the second Keziah, and the name of the third Keren-Happuch. In all the land were found no women so beautiful as the daughters of Job; and their father gave them an inheritance among their brothers. After this Job lived one hundred and forty years and saw his children and grandchildren for four generations. So, Job died, old and full of days (Job 42:12-17).
[1] J. Hampton Keathley III, Hope, © 2016 Bible.org, bible.org/article/hope.
[2] Dr. Henry M. Morris, The Remarkable Record of Job, © 1988,2000 by Dr. Henry M. Morris, All Rights Reserved, Master Books.
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