Wednesday, June 2, 2021

Reflection - Number Our Days - In This Place

Source (book): "Teach Us to Number Our Days", Chapter 7, "In This Place", Page 40.
By David Roper, Pastor, and regular and popular writer for Our Daily Bread.


Being born is the front end of our troubles. - Mister Rogers
PHOTO: Being born is the front end of our troubles. - Mister Rogers

As a young man I was led to believe that the end of life would be easier than its beginning, but as I've aged I've come to the conclusion that some of the hardest tests are farther along.

Take Abraham, for example. After enduring a lifetime of difficulty, the old patriarch finally retired to a life of ease and affluence near the wells of Beersheba. He and Sarah enjoyed good old age with Isaac, their love and laughter. They were in their "golden years."

One night Abraham put his head on his pillow, thanked God for His goodness, and went to sleep, only to be jolted awake in the middle of the night by a voice beckoning him. "Abraham!"

"Here I am," Abraham replied.

"Take your son, your only son, Isaac, whom you love, and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains I will tell you about." (Genesis 22:1-2).

Isaac was the son of Abraham's old age, the promised child through whom God pledged to make him great. Abraham knew that the gods of the Chaldeans and Canaanites demanded human sacrifice. Was his God now demanding this of him? (Leviticus 18:21; 20:2; Deuteronomy 12:31; 18:10). Why?

Indeed, we ask when life is sweet and then turns bitter, "Why?"

Did Abraham tell Sarah? I don't know. The ancient rabbis thought so, and said that Sarah held Isaac all that night, and that the ordeal contributed to her death. (Genesis 23:1-2). But, for myself, I think Abraham told no one. This was a matter he had to work out with God alone.

Early the next morning Abraham packed up and started his terrible journey to Mount Moriah. There, the two - Abraham and his son - began their ascent to "the place" that God had revealed. (Genesis 22:3-19).

Isaac turned to his father and spoke: "Father, the fire and wood are here, but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?" Abraham replied, "God himself will provide." With these words he rested his case.

You know the story: "Abraham looked up and there in a thicket he saw a ram caught by its horns. He . . . took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering instead of his son." Thus "Abraham called that place The Lord Will Provide," a saying that has been preserved to this day as a proverb and a promise: "On the mountain of the Lord it will be provided."

So, what of Abraham's stern "test"? What does it mean for me?

It comes to this: Can I endure the loss of anything I deem essential to life and believe that "in this place" of death and grief my God can and will provide?

I think of this as I stare in stark unbelief at what God is asking some of my friends to endure: critical illness, crippling infirmity (fragility), isolation and dislocation, the inability to use the talents and abilities with which they hoped to serve God to the end of their days. "Is this what He is asking of me?" my heart cries out.

Yet I know that there is love and logic in all God will ask of me. My losses - whatever they may be - are to the end that He may use me in a greater way to bring glory to His name and salvation to the world. Thus God swore to Abraham: "Because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, I will surely bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will take possession of the cities of their enemies, and through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed me."

Now, God said to Abraham, the fruitfulness of your life will be manifested.

When you and I come to "the place" where we offer up all that we are and have to God - even the best gifts He has given us - then we will become a blessing to everyone we touch. This is the record of all whose lives have counted for God.

Is this not what Jesus meant when He promised, "Whoever loses his life for my sake will find it"? (Matthew 10:39)

An afterthought . . .

I cannot leave this story without mentioning that David purchased Moriah from Aravnah the Canaanite to mark the place where Abraham offered up Isaac. It was there that Solomon built the temple. Moriah is not a single peak, but an elongated ridge that begins at the junction of the Kidron and Hinnom Valleys and rises to its summit just northwest of the present Damascus Gate. There is sound archeological evidence to suppose that Jesus was crucified there on the summit, "on that place." And I fail to see how anyone reading about old Abraham, leading his dear son up the flanks of Mount Moriah, binding him to the altar while his heart breaks within him, can fail to miss the parallel with God leading His own Son to that same mountain centuries later "to the place of the Skull" (John 19:17). There He made the provision upon which all other provisions are based.

Did Abraham know? Perhaps this is what Jesus meant when He said, "Abraham rejoiced at the thought of seeing my day; he saw it and was glad" (John 8:56).
Picture posted by Vecteezy
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https://es.vecteezy.com/foto/901736-mujer-sentir-libertad-y-disfrutar-la-naturaleza


Being born is the front end of our troubles. - Mister Rogers

As a young man I was led to believe that the end of life would be easier than its beginning, but as I've aged I've come to the conclusion that some of the hardest tests are farther along.

Take Abraham, for example. After enduring a lifetime of difficulty, the old patriarch finally retired to a life of ease and affluence near the wells of Beersheba. He and Sarah enjoyed good old age with Isaac, their love and laughter. They were in their "golden years."


Abraham after enduring a lifetime of difficulty, the old patriarch finally retired to a life of ease and affluence near the wells of Beersheba.
PHOTO: Abraham after enduring a lifetime of difficulty, the old patriarch finally retired to a life of ease and affluence near the wells of Beersheba. He and Sarah enjoyed good old age with Isaac, their love and laughter. They were in their "golden years."
Picture posted by The best stories on Monday, 12 October 2020 at 12:30 am
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNz4zxDij9f1iUTPDFldhOlO41w_3YaYfxLS8GyNbrU1wCuOeXvJm0EQ29A_BxDRc4LdqOxt_ITC_IIL7Sbjz1eHGM_UTDnr7pgxA4SPKkkwmlrAkCm26_Ve3ihr17I5YDdEP8YP9JV7g/s1258/121060568_167162911721081_6453416278648637181_n_1.png
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https://www.facebook.com/احسن-القصص-113335920437114/photos/167162908387748


One night Abraham put his head on his pillow, thanked God for His goodness, and went to sleep, only to be jolted awake in the middle of the night by a voice beckoning him. "Abraham!"

"Here I am," Abraham replied.

"Take your son, your only son, Isaac, whom you love, and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains I will tell you about." (Genesis 22:1-2) [39]


Take your son, your only son, Isaac, whom you love, and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains I will tell you about.
PHOTO: "Take your son, your only son, Isaac, whom you love, and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains I will tell you about." (Genesis 22:1-2)
Picture posted by TimeToast
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgu8NDERNZvh_UMBbSRbThhytsa24wktJsOD2jvXU_C62KuG6DbfoNEOu1plDQM2LG7urMf-Sh_lo6FQ08T7xYAae9Cifdetf11SiUJsCLUuEGsEmnoUFFnN4S3xAsVhkDW5rhecz9DWc/s640/581ea6bd469da4cc01ab590cf1f103d1.jpg
https://s3.amazonaws.com/s3.timetoast.com/public/uploads/photo/12260986/image/581ea6bd469da4cc01ab590cf1f103d1
https://www.timetoast.com/timelines/linea-del-tiempo-desde-los-origenes-de-israel-hasta-el-dominio-babilonico-d62284f7-d46b-4730-8fda-151d55ad994d


Isaac was the son of Abraham's old age, the promised child through whom God pledged to make him great. Abraham knew that the gods of the Chaldeans and Canaanites demanded human sacrifice. Was his God now demanding this of him? (Leviticus 18:21; 20:2; Deuteronomy 12:31; 18:10) [40] Why?

Indeed, we ask when life is sweet and then turns bitter, "Why?"

Did Abraham tell Sarah? I don't know. The ancient rabbis thought so, and said that Sarah held Isaac all that night, and that the ordeal contributed to her death. (Genesis 23:1-2) [41] But, for myself, I think Abraham told no one. This was a matter he had to work out with God alone.

Early the next morning Abraham packed up and started his terrible journey to Mount Moriah. There, the two - Abraham and his son - began their ascent to "the place" that God had revealed. (Genesis 22:3-19) [42]


Early the next morning Abraham packed up and started his terrible journey to Mount Moriah.
PHOTO: Early the next morning Abraham packed up and started his terrible journey to Mount Moriah. There, the two - Abraham and his son - began their ascent to "the place" that God had revealed. (Genesis 22:3-19) Painting by Henry Seabright - Abraham and the Sacrifice of Isaac (1964)
Picture posted by The Book Palace
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https://bookpalace.com/acatalog/SeabrightAbrahamLL-G.jpg
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Isaac turned to his father and spoke: "Father, the fire and wood are here, but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?" Abraham replied, "God himself will provide." With these words he rested his case.


Isaac turned to his father
PHOTO: Isaac turned to his father and spoke: "Father, the fire and wood are here, but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?" Abraham replied, "God himself will provide." With these words he rested his case.
Picture saved by Alan Godlas to Biblical Themed Paintings by Great Masters
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGkjwKvW8sBD06gLUPWv_yLJlGiqn0sBd5bsTYl9K_w-fyD5A2ecUZoRy6-id1odj3MXVa8TbYNFuKE2f94w6XfX0nJBBK_t5h18CdvSrmYHJByoE5JmAqyci145TwSVdSv_p3VHhyjQA/s2048/e84dc8dd50b2776d4623f3f3d10f8a3f_11.png
https://i.pinimg.com/originals/e8/4d/c8/e84dc8dd50b2776d4623f3f3d10f8a3f.jpg
https://www.pinterest.com/pin/383298618255367807/


You know the story: "Abraham looked up and there in a thicket he saw a ram caught by its horns. He . . . took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering instead of his son." [43] Thus "Abraham called that place The Lord Will Provide," a saying that has been preserved to this day as a proverb and a promise: "On the mountain of the Lord it will be provided."


Abraham looked up and there in a thicket he saw a ram caught by its horns. He . . . took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering instead of his son.
PHOTO: "Abraham looked up and there in a thicket he saw a ram caught by its horns. He . . . took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering instead of his son."
Picture posted by Marcel Hubers on 17 August 2017 - The sacrifice of Isaa
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZFx7epT1FTfcX8lv7LFFzLOTTCZWSPlX1W8xIDQVAF3u6e4aWdjKGCPCTvDPd69AcNFTzWipOPidYrRDx2UxlmC4N8MSWljlWV5NaoNWkKjvgINT8bYPMAcCipTWVgyElTkyaa3G-Pg0/s2048/36914181236_c67454ff77_5k_1.png
https://live.staticflickr.com/4364/36914181236_c67454ff77_5k.jpg
https://www.flickr.com/photos/beyondthegrave/36914181236


So, what of Abraham's stern "test"? What does it mean for me?

It comes to this: Can I endure the loss of anything I deem essential to life and believe that "in this place" of death and grief my God can and will provide?

I think of this as I stare in stark unbelief at what God is asking some of my friends to endure: critical illness, crippling infirmity (fragility), isolation and dislocation, the inability to use the talents and abilities with which they hoped to serve God to the end of their days. "Is this what He is asking of me?" my heart cries out.


What does it mean for me?
PHOTO: What does it mean for me?
It comes to this: Can I endure the loss of anything I deem essential to life and believe that "in this place" of death and grief my God can and will provide?
I think of this as I stare in stark unbelief at what God is asking some of my friends to endure: critical illness, crippling infirmity (fragility), isolation and dislocation, the inability to use the talents and abilities with which they hoped to serve God to the end of their days. "Is this what He is asking of me?" my heart cries out.
Picture posted by iStock
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https://www.istockphoto.com/es/foto/handicapped-male-with-a-light-cross-in-meadow-gm628280816-111488689
https://media.istockphoto.com/photos/handicapped-male-with-a-light-cross-in-meadow-picture-id628280816?s=2048x2048


Yet I know that there is love and logic in all God will ask of me. My losses - whatever they may be - are to the end that He may use me in a greater way to bring glory to His name and salvation to the world. Thus God swore to Abraham: "Because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, I will surely bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will take possession of the cities of their enemies, and through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed me."

Now, God said to Abraham, the fruitfulness of your life will be manifested.


Now, God said to Abraham, the fruitfulness of his life will be manifested.
PHOTO: Now, God said to Abraham, the fruitfulness of his life will be manifested.
Picture posted by Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania
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https://wol.jw.org/es/wol/mp/r4/lp-s/lfb/2020/77
https://wol.jw.org/es/wol/d/r4/lp-s/1102016018


When you and I come to "the place" where we offer up all that we are and have to God - even the best gifts He has given us - then we will become a blessing to everyone we touch. This is the record of all whose lives have counted for God.

Is this not what Jesus meant when He promised, "Whoever loses his life for my sake will find it"? (Matthew 10:39) [44]

An afterthought . . .

I cannot leave this story without mentioning that David purchased Moriah from Aravnah the Canaanite to mark the place where Abraham offered up Isaac. It was there that Solomon built the temple. Moriah is not a single peak, but an elongated ridge that begins at the junction of the Kidron and Hinnom Valleys and rises to its summit just northwest of the present Damascus Gate. There is sound archeological evidence to suppose that Jesus was crucified there on the summit, "on that place." And I fail to see how anyone reading about old Abraham, leading his dear son up the flanks of Mount Moriah, binding him to the altar while his heart breaks within him, can fail to miss the parallel with God leading His own Son to that same mountain centuries later "to the place of the Skull" (John 19:17). There He made the provision upon which all other provisions are based.


There is sound archeological evidence to suppose that Jesus was crucified there on the summit, 'on that place.'
PHOTO: There is sound archeological evidence to suppose that Jesus was crucified there on the summit, "on that place." Abraham, leading his dear son up the flanks of Mount Moriah, binding him to the altar while his heart breaks within him, we cannot fail to miss the parallel with God leading His own Son to that same mountain centuries later "to the place of the Skull" (John 19:17). There He made the provision upon which all other provisions are based.
Picture posted by Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvWFq-wLd1pFtJQk-xiBUyVMgFTaCp9QxTzsg_nWGXckIy_oLXQib1VodBKZndg0BQXHmG2kE4SOM85Ew_fCwSbQIUq0Wk9E_f5pnz_1rtAcvtq6J9hXJ4zTPWEBszyfkOP9h6-nzpEyw/s1200/225_1.png
https://wol.jw.org/cmn-Hans/wol/mp/r23/lp-chs/mwb20/2020/225
https://wol.jw.org/cmn-Hans/wol/d/r23/lp-chs/202020083


Did Abraham know? Perhaps this is what Jesus meant when He said, "Abraham rejoiced at the thought of seeing my day; he saw it and was glad" (John 8:56).


Did Abraham know?
PHOTO: "Dear Lord, as a young man we are led to believe that the end of life would be easier than its beginning, but as we've aged we've come to the conclusion that some of the hardest tests are farther along.

Abraham, after enduring a lifetime of difficulty, finally retired to a life of ease and affluence near the wells of Beersheba. He and Sarah enjoyed good old age with Isaac, their love and laughter. They were in their ‘golden years.’

However, when life is sweet, it then turns bitter. God demanded him to offer his only son as a burnt offering on Mount Moriah. When Abraham was about to slay Isaac, an angel stopped him. Abraham looked up and there in a thicket he saw a ram caught by its horns. He took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering instead of his son. God has provide the lamb for the burnt offering.

That was Abraham's stern ‘test’. Lord, we learn to ask ourselves whether we can endure the loss of anything we deem essential to life and believe that ‘in this place’ of death and grief our God can and will provide.

We think of this as we stare in stark unbelief at what God is asking some of our friends to endure: critical illness, crippling infirmity, isolation and dislocation, the inability to use the talents and abilities with which they hoped to serve God to the end of their days. Our heart cry out: ‘Is this what He is asking of me?’

Lord, we pray that we know that there is love and logic in all God will ask of us. Our losses - whatever they may be - are to the end that He may use us in a greater way to bring glory to His name and salvation to the world.

Lord, help us, when we come to ‘the place’ we can offer up all that we are and have to God - even the best gifts He has given us.

Then like Abraham, we will become a blessing to everyone we touch.

Through Lord Jesus Christ we pray. Amen!"
Picture posted by Bigstock
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Reflection - Number Our Days - In This Place
Source (book): "Teach Us to Number Our Days", Chapter 7, "In This Place", Page 40.
By David Roper, Pastor, and regular and popular writer for Our Daily Bread.


Other Books

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https://veryfatoldman.blogspot.com/2017/06/reflection-faithful-to-end-links.html


"Finding rest for the soul" Responding to Jesus' Invitation in Matthew 11:28-29, © 2016 by Robert M. Solomon

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https://veryfatoldman.blogspot.com/2018/10/reflection-finding-rest-for-soul-links.html


"God in Pursuit" Lessons from the Book of Jonah, © 2016 by Robert M. Solomon

'Reflection - God in Pursuit (Links) - PART I-III, posted on Saturday, 10 August 2019
Reflection - God in Pursuit (Links) - PART I-III, posted on Saturday, 10 August 2019
https://veryfatoldman.blogspot.com/2019/08/reflection-god-in-pursuit-links-part-i.html


"God in Pursuit" Lessons from the Book of Jonah, © 2016 by Robert M. Solomon

'Reflection - God in Pursuit (Links) - PART IV, posted on Saturday, 10 August 2019
Reflection - God in Pursuit (Links) - PART IV, posted on Saturday, 10 August 2019
https://veryfatoldman.blogspot.com/2019/08/reflection-god-in-pursuit-links-part-iv.html 


"Songs of Christmas", The Stories and Significance of 20 Well-Loved Carols, © 2018 by Robert M. Solomon

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Reflection - Songs of Christmas (Links), posted on Friday, 24 April 2020
https://veryfatoldman.blogspot.com/2020/04/reflection-songs-of-christmas-links.html
 

"Growing Old Gracefully", Following Jesus to the End, © 2019 by Robert M. Solomon

Reflection - Growing Old Gracefully, Part I - III (Links), posted on Wednesday, 09 December 2020
Reflection - Growing Old Gracefully, Part I - III (Links), posted on Wednesday, 09 December 2020
https://veryfatoldman.blogspot.com/2020/12/reflection-growing-old-gracefully-part.html
 

Reflection - Growing Old Gracefully, Part IV - V (Links), posted on Thursday, 22 April 2021
Reflection - Growing Old Gracefully, Part IV - V (Links), posted on Thursday, 22 April 2021
https://veryfatoldman.blogspot.com/2020/12/reflection-growing-old-gracefully-part_9.html
 


Reference
[1] From "Teach Us to Number Our Days", Copyright © 2008 by David Roper, ISBN 978-981-11-7184-0, Chapter 7, "In This Place", Page 40-44.

[39] Genesis 22:1-2. The text draws particular attention to the fact that it was "the God" who spoke to Abraham. The very God who had been so good to him now delivers this awful line: "Take your son . . . your only son . . . the son you love" and put him to death.

[40] It would be over six hundred years later that God registered His opposition to the practice of human sacrifice when He gave the Law to Mosses (Leviticus 18:21; 20:2; Deuteronomy 12:31; 18:10).

[41] Sarah's death came soon after (Genesis 23:1-2).

[42] See Genesis 22:3-19.

[43] This is the first mention of a substitutionary atonement in the Bible. The Hebrew word tahat clearly means "instead of".

[44] Matthew 10:39



Links


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