2026.08.16 District Message Week 33
“God Tested Abraham” (Genesis 22:1-19)
Genesis 22:1-19
Some time later God tested Abraham. He said to him, “Abraham!”
“Here I am,” he replied.
2 Then God said, “Take your son, your only son, whom you love—Isaac—and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on a mountain I will show you.”
3 Early the next morning Abraham got up and loaded his donkey. He took with him two of his servants and his son Isaac. When he had cut enough wood for the burnt offering, he set out for the place God had told him about. 4 On the third day Abraham looked up and saw the place in the distance. 5 He said to his servants, “Stay here with the donkey while I and the boy go over there. We will worship and then we will come back to you.”
6 Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and placed it on his son Isaac, and he himself carried the fire and the knife. As the two of them went on together, 7 Isaac spoke up and said to his father Abraham, “Father?”
“Yes, my son?” Abraham replied.
“The fire and wood are here,” Isaac said, “but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?”
8 Abraham answered, “God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.” And the two of them went on together.
9 When they reached the place God had told him about, Abraham built an altar there 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 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.”
15 The angel of the Lord called to Abraham from heaven a second time 16 and said, “I swear by myself, declares the Lord, that because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, 17 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, 18 and through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed me.”
19 Then Abraham returned to his servants, and they set off together for Beersheba. And Abraham stayed in Beersheba.
Summary
Prayer 300%, land — fertile soil, well — later generations (100-fold, source)
We finished the Remnant Convention well, but starting anew is even more important. The Remnant must not use shortcuts in studying, nor invest by chasing money-making methods. Abraham lived that way. Although God told him to go to the promised land, he thought it would be better to go live in Egypt after all. He nearly died along the way, kept trying to use his nephew, even lost his wife, and came to the point of nearly dying himself. Only then did Abraham come to his senses, yield everything to his nephew, and start anew, beginning to build altars. He recovered his faith. With the bartizan, journey, and guidepost of the Throne, he thoroughly prepared 300% through prayer, turned an abandoned mountain into fertile soil, and dug wells in many places. He prepared the fundamental 300%.
▣ Introduction — Throne — Altar
Building an altar is connecting with the Throne. Abraham, who had always lived by focusing on food and money and had nothing work out, began to build altars. Abraham passed this down through prayer to future generations. Isaac farmed for one year and reaped a hundredfold harvest, and obtained a source of springs.
▣ Main — Test
At this point God tested Abraham once again. There are two kinds of tests — the test the devil gives, and the test God gives. Neither one causes us any real loss. But the test the devil gives is meant to tear us down, while God tests us in order to bless us. What He tested Abraham with was to offer up his only son Isaac.
1. Only son
Every year they offered a sheep sacrifice, but this time he was told to offer his only son Isaac as the sacrifice.
2. Response
Hebrews 11:8-12 records that he went to the land God pointed out to him, and believed that if his son died, God would raise him back to life. He obeyed exactly as told. Abraham had ten reasons he could have refused, but because he truly obeyed, God spoke to him then. It confirmed Abraham’s faith.
3. True faith
It confirmed his true faith. At that time, in Genesis 22:15, God sent an angel to deliver a message. And in Genesis 22:16 He said, “God has sworn by Himself to Abraham. I will multiply your descendants greatly. And I will open the door of world evangelization.” This was conveyed again by the angel.
▣ Conclusion — Later generations
This fact was passed down to future generations. This faith was passed down to Isaac. So the person who lived the cleanest faith-filled life was Isaac.
1. 100 years — He received the blessing of farming for 100 years. That’s how he could raise servants and accomplish world evangelization.
2. Source of springs — Because they kept blocking his wells, He caused him to obtain a source of springs.
3. Rehoboth — When trouble arises, He gives an even broader place — the blessing of Rehoboth.
▷ Our Remnants over a lifetime bring in much unbelief because of other people. There is too much lying, and that makes evangelism difficult. Saying that living in the world is hard — that’s all false. Not only the Remnant but adults too must gain strength as they age. We must study English and build physical strength for the sake of the 5,000 people groups. Remnants, prepare your future firmly. Prepare 300%.
Transcript
We finished our Remnant Convention well. Finishing is important, but starting anew is even more important.
Our Remnants will often learn various study methods from outside. “Do it this way and this way and you’ll get good grades,” people will say. “Do it this way and it’ll help.” Some people even write things down in their dreams. And that way, they end up passing exams too. The Remnant must not become that kind of person. Also, “There’s a way to make money — invest here,” you’ll hear such talk. Going forward that kind of talk will multiply tenfold. You must not do such things. It will get even worse ahead.
Abraham lived that way too. Before this, he nearly died. He had lived like that before. “No matter how much God tells me to go to the blessed land, wouldn’t it be far better to go live in Egypt?” He nearly died going that way. Everywhere he went, it seemed to go well at first, but death kept approaching. He was clearly told to leave his homeland, relatives, and father’s house, but he kept trying to use his nephew — kept doing this. This became the problem. How far did it go? He lost his wife, and things nearly got to the point of him dying. If a person dies, they can’t do anything after that. It got to that point for Abraham. Only then did Abraham finally come to his senses. He yielded everything to his nephew and started fresh. He began to build altars. And so he recovered a firm faith.
You might think, “He recovered his faith, so now we can just do anything and it’ll work out.” That’s not it. That’s Don Quixote thinking, not real faith. How did Abraham recover his faith?
Prayer 300%, land — fertile soil, well
With the bartizan, journey, and guidepost of the Throne, he thoroughly prepared 300% through prayer. And it’s more than that. He turned an abandoned mountain into fertile soil. Abraham did this himself. It’s not about where to go live. In the very land given to him, he made that land into fertile soil. He found what would become the most economically valuable thing. He dug wells in many places. Now wells may not be necessary, but back then, that was everything. He prepared this fundamental 300% thoroughly.
Remnants must remember this well. We tend to keep avoiding what is right to do and keep pursuing what won’t work. Even church members do this. There are people who consult me. “Should I do this?” they ask. I tell them not to. “Don’t do that. You’ll fail within six months, so don’t.” I even explained why it would fail. That’s really unfortunate. And so they go and borrow money and start anyway, and then can’t repay the debt or the interest — how hard is that? Abraham kept doing that until he suffered for it.
▣ Introduction — Throne — Altar
“Abraham built an altar” — truly by God’s grace — this means he saw the bartizan, journey, and guidepost of the Throne. Building an altar connects to the Throne, doesn’t it? He came to realize this belatedly. Why? Because food was right in front of him. So he thought food was everything. He thought money was needed first — that money was everything, this way of thinking.
I know you’re praying about this right now, but some among our small groups have attacked me over money issues — well, that’s just their own habitual assumptions. We have nothing like that. I’ve said we’re doing fine. Please wait.
If you live that way, it doesn’t work. Abraham always lived that way. In the end, nothing worked. No — he began to build altars. To someone without true faith, this sounds absurd. “You need money. You need food. What throne?” That’s what everyone around Abraham thought. It’s a mistaken idea.
Prayer 300%, land — fertile soil, well — later generations (100-fold, source)
As Abraham prayed, he passed this (prayer 300%, land-fertile soil, well) down to later generations. And how fertile was the land for Isaac? He farmed the land his father gave him and reaped a hundredfold harvest. That is what must be done. That’s obtaining a source of springs.
A certain Remnant went to work at an insurance company. There’s nothing wrong with that. But I told this friend, “Prepare your future now. Don’t prepare money — prepare your future.” How unfortunate it is. If you live that way, later when things don’t work out, you resent God, you resent the church. You go to this church, then that one. Wherever you go, it’s the same God. You go from church to church doing this same thing.
This is what I’m telling the Remnant. The Remnant must not grow up that way. Even if you’re a bit poor right now, that’s not really being poor. Even if your parents made mistakes, that has nothing to do with it. That is a springboard. So Abraham finally realized this, and God blessed Abraham this much (Prayer 300%, land-fertile soil, well-later generations (100-fold, source)). Isaac never even needed to dig wells. Why? Because he had already obtained the source of springs.
“Test”
At this point God tests Abraham again. There are two kinds of tests. There is the test the devil gives, and the test God gives. Neither will cause us loss. But the test the devil gives is meant to tear us down. If we don’t fall, it becomes a great help. But this test is not from the devil. God tests to bless us. He tested Abraham. What was it?
1. Only son
He is told to offer his only son Isaac. This is the sheep offering made every year — he is told to do this to Isaac instead. Scripture says, “Offer your only son Isaac as a burnt offering.”
2. Response
This is God now testing Abraham, and this is Abraham’s response. Hebrews 11:8, 12 says that God let him go to the land he pointed out, and he believed that if his son died, God would raise him. He obeyed exactly as told.
Someone once analyzed this. They said Abraham had ten conditions he could have used to refuse. “Wait, God made a promise and now is doing something completely contrary?” — one could raise this. “You said blessing would come through my son, and now you tell me to offer him up? Does that make sense?” Also — “If this happens, my wife will collapse. Let me persuade her first, then I’ll do it.” He could have responded this way. “Wait, what is this all of a sudden? Won’t people laugh at me?” There were many things he could have said. “Until now I offered sheep — why suddenly demand my son? And I’m too old now to travel all the way to Moriah.” That, too, would take a three-day journey. People can change their minds within three days — there’s a saying about resolve lasting only three days.
But notice — whenever he went, he always brought a servant. Before Abraham went up the mountain, he told the servant to wait there. Why? Because this master was old, and he thought the man might act strangely and try to stop him, so he told him to wait there. As they went, his son asked him. “Father, why is there no sheep this time?” he asked. At that point Abraham needed only to say, “God’s tastes must have changed — He wants you instead.” If he had said that, Isaac would have been shocked and thought, “Father has gone mad,” and probably would have run away. Instead he said, “God Himself will provide it.” Because he truly obeyed, God spoke to him then. It confirmed Abraham’s faith.
3. True faith
So this confirmed his true faith. At that time, Genesis 20:15 (a reference in the original text, meaning the passage) — it says God sent His angel. This is something many believers don’t believe or don’t understand — even now, God invisibly sends His angel to us, blesses us, and gives us His word. And Genesis 20:16 (the original citation) — what does it say? It says God swore by Himself. He said everything possible. “Abraham, I swear by Myself to you.” That fact was delivered by the angel. “I will multiply your descendants. And I will open the door of world evangelization.” With this, God made His promise once again.
▣ Conclusion — Later generations
So this fact was passed to future generations. This faith was passed to Isaac. So the one who lived the cleanest life of faith is Isaac.
1. 100 years
The blessing of farming — no, of farming for a hundred years. Wouldn’t one good harvest year be enough? Why a hundred years? So that he could raise servants and accomplish world evangelization.
2. Source of springs
Because they kept blocking the wells, this made him obtain a source of springs.
3. Rehoboth
An even broader place. The more trouble arises, the broader place — the blessing of Rehoboth.
You must remember this. Our Remnants, throughout their lives, will bring in much unbelief because of other people. There’s too much lying, which makes evangelism hard. Seeing people who suffer in the world groaning and saying life is hard — all of that is false. There’s just no money, no power. Things are just that hard. It’s people flailing about. Watching them and thinking life is hard — that’s not true at all.
So we, the Remnant, and not only the Remnant but adults too — you must gain more strength as you age. I told a certain Remnant this recently — that I studied English hard when I was young, but these friends were so good at it that I felt I had no reason to bother anymore. But then I thought, “As I pray these days about reaching the 5,000 people groups, I should probably do this.” So I newly started studying English. I’m doing it every day. And also, then, shouldn’t I build up my physical strength more? This is a funny thing to say, but I told the Remnant this. I’ve tried every other kind of exercise, but there was one I hadn’t tried. So now I’ve registered to try that. There’s simply no time, but I made a promise with a friend anyway — that whenever I do have time, I’ll do it. What is it? I registered at a boxing gym. So that friend recognized me and said, “Whenever it is, midnight or dawn, if you call, I’ll come running.” “Okay, got it.” Why? Because we must prepare for the future.
Remnants must not keep seeking after gain, seeking money first — that must not happen. The older you get, the more strength you need to gain. Don’t just think, “Oh, I’m old now,” but you must exercise and stay active, do things this way. Not long ago on TV there was someone who had colon cancer and had part of it removed. It then spread completely to the colon, so they removed that too. Then it spread to the liver, so they removed part of that too. Now he’s living perfectly fine and treating friends to meals, and he’s healthier than his friends. What’s his secret? From the day he was diagnosed with cancer, he started exercising. He said he’d do it until he died, and just started. He didn’t follow any particular diet — no “eat this, don’t eat that.” He simply ate a lot. Now he’s completely recovered. Simply put, his immune system regenerated. That tells me — that person really has some kind of substantial faith, from what I could see. He actually appeared on a broadcast a few days ago.
So we, the older ones among us, must gain even more strength and pray harder. Remnants must firmly prepare for the future. Prepare 300%. Today I’ll share a bit more during 1st service as well. Let us pray.
Prayer
We thank You, God. Open our spiritual eyes so we can enjoy what You have given us. Let today be a day of receiving grace. We pray in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.