Knowing God through the unknown mountain

Click here to read Genesis 22:1-18

"...I shall show you..." Genesis 22: 2

One fine day, God tells Abraham: “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 that I shall show you. (Genesis 22: 2) I want you to notice the last part of that verse. It says Abraham was to offer Isaac as a burnt offering on “one of the mountains” that God “will show” him. God does not tell him which mountain. God does not tell him the name of the mountain. He just says it is “one of the mountains” in the land of Moriah. God does not tell him the size of the mountain. God does not tell him the location in Moriah where the mountain is situated. All God says about the mountain is “ I will show you” where it is.

Often when we receive a call from God; a call to obey in some particular, a call to serve, a call to worship, a call to let go etc, the vision may not be all that clear at first. There are things that God may leave untouched and unaddressed. Whenever the call of God comes, our natural instinct is to react and tell Him that He should be clearer about the call. You wish He would tell you exactly “which mountain.” Many times although we feel a tugging at our hearts to obey the call of God in some particular, we often delay it for the lack of “detail.” Although you know you have to obey, it does not make sense to obey because God has not shown you which “mountain”

So the last part of verse 2 says, “…offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains that I shall show you.” Verse 3 says “So Abraham rose early in the morning, saddled his donkey and took two of his young men with him, and his son Isaac; he cut the wood for the burnt offering and set out and went to the place in the distance that God had shown him”. Hold on right there! Verse 2 says that God “shall show” him the mountain. Verse 3 says Abraham set out to the place God “had shown him” So when did the “showing” actually happen?? Well it must have happened before he set out from home because it says Abraham “…set out and went to the place in the distance that God had shown him” How did Abraham know which mountain??

One of the greatest privileges a Christian has is to know God – to know Him, to know His ways. For us to fulfill any vision or call God gives us, we need a revelation of Him and His ways in order to fulfill it. Concerning the ministry of Moses, Psalms 103:7 says, “He made known His ways to Moses…” Once you come into a relationship with God, your greatest priority should be that you might know Him. Paul considered this top priority: “…whatever gains I had, these I have come to regard as loss because of Christ. More than that, I regard everything as loss because of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.” Paul was willing to consider all things in life “rubbish” when compared to the value of knowing Jesus.

So between Genesis 22:2 (…I shall show you…) and Genesis 22:3(…God had shown him…), the revelation of God comes to Abraham. He heard the call of God, he made up his mind to obey, he went to bed that night, he rose early in the morning, saddled his donkey and took two of his young men with him, and his son Isaac; he cut the wood for the burnt offering and set out and went to the place in the distance that God had shown him. We do not know the exact time as to when the revelation came. But we do know it came at a time when Abraham decided to obey and consequently acted on it. We can never tell when the revelation of God will come through. We can never tell when God will reveal His word to us. We can never tell when He will chose to “make known His ways” to us. But we can make up our mind to obey and the revelation is sure to come.

The key to all revelation of God, the key to knowing Him, the key to understanding His ways, the key to comprehending His Word, is by obedience alone and nothing else. There is no short cut to it and there is no way you can buy it. John the disciple in his first letter best describes it: “Now by this we may be sure that we know him, if we obey his commandments.” (1 John 2:3) Think about that! There is only one sure way to know that you know Him. i.e. if you obey Him.

Why is it so important to know Him, to know His ways, to know His word? The Bible says in Genesis 22: 9 “When they came to the place that God had shown him…” In other words, when he obeyed the call of God to go the mountain God had “shown him”, he put Isaac on the altar and was ready to kill him. Then Abraham heard from heaven again “Abraham, Abraham…” The more you walk in obedience to the revelation God gives you, the more God will reveal Himself to you. Abraham looks up and sees a ram caught in the thickets and sacrifices it. Abraham named that place “Jehovah Jireh”!! Genesis 22:14: “So Abraham called that place, “Jehovah Jireh” (The Lord will provide), as it is said to this day, “On the mount of the Lord, it shall be provided”

Think of that for a moment! As it is said to this day!! Even to this day! On the mount of the Lord, it shall be provided! If Abraham had never obeyed the call of God, he would have never got to this mountain. He would have never had a revelation of Jehovah as “Jehovah Jireh”. That is why it is important to know Him through obedience. If you are obedient to Him, you will know Him. If you know Him, he will reveal Himself as your provider. One principle every Christian should learn by heart is 2 Peter 1:3 “His divine power has given us everything needed for life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by his own glory and goodness.” Everything needed for life! For life!!! Everything needed for godliness!! Everything!!! How?? Through the knowledge of Him!!! Everything, everything we need for life comes through the knowledge of Him. It is up to you to decide how important it is to make “knowing Him” your first priority in life.

Only a man, who obeys God, can know Him through revelation and only a man, who knows Him, can continue obeying Him. And through the knowledge of Him, everything for life and godliness is yours by His divine power. It says Abraham worshiped on that mountain. This is what true worship is all about. “And this is eternal life, that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.”(John 17:3) This is what eternal life is all about. Make the decision to go to the mountain unknown; you never know what God will reveal to you there.