Here I Am

“Authority should not be considered
a position of privilege
as much as a responsibility
to be used for service.”
Rick Joyner –
“First Century Church Government”






Here I Am

Abraham is called in the New Testament the “friend of God”
Jesus said the same thing about His disciples:
“I no longer call you servants, but friends.”

Servants don’t know what their master is up to
but friends know all the intimate details of each others lives.
They share everything.

The root of the root of the root of friend is “love”.

After the birth if Isaac
it seems like Abraham has everything all straightened out
They have handled the Ishmael problem and now they have a son Isaac
It seems like everything is right, going along just as God had promised.
Then chapter 22 starts with a big word,
“Now… which is not then, but now!

1Now it came about after these things,
that God tested Abraham, and said to him,
"Abraham!" And he said, "Here I am."
2He said, "Take now your son, your only son,
whom you love, Isaac, and go to the land of Moriah,
and offer him there as a burnt offering
on one of the mountains of which I will tell you."
3So Abraham rose early in the morning and saddled his donkey,
and took two of his young men with him and Isaac his son;
and he split wood for the burnt offering,
and arose and went to the place of which God had told him.
4On the third day Abraham raised his eyes
and saw the place from a distance.
5Abraham said to his young men,
"Stay here with the donkey,
and I and the lad will go over there;
and we will worship and return to you."
6Abraham 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 the two of them walked on together.
7Isaac spoke to Abraham his father and said,
"My father!" And he said, "Here I am, my son."
And he said, "Behold, the fire and the wood,
but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?"
8Abraham said,
"God will provide for Himself the lamb for the burnt offering,
my son." So the two of them walked on together.
9Then they came to the place of which God had told him;
and Abraham built the altar there and arranged the wood,
and bound his son Isaac and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood.
10Abraham stretched out his hand
and took the knife to slay his son.
11But the angel of the LORD called to him from heaven
and said, "Abraham, Abraham!"
And he said, "Here I am."
12He said, "Do not stretch out your hand against the lad,
and do nothing to him; for now I know that you fear God,
since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from Me."
13Then Abraham raised his eyes and looked,
and behold, behind him a ram caught in the thicket by his horns;
and Abraham went and took the ram
and offered him up for a burnt offering
in the place of his son.
14Abraham called the name of that place The LORD Will Provide,
as it is said to this day,
"In the mount of the LORD it will be provided."
Genesis 22:1-14 (my emphasis bold)

Just as everything seems to be working out right
God decides to test Abraham. He calls out to him and Abraham answers
“Here I am”

here I am = Hebrew :hinnêh hin-nay'
Prolonged for H2005; lo!: - behold, lo, see, behold, here I am

Abraham is saying:
‘here is the place where he is now,
in the promises of God,
his understanding of God,
his faith in God;
this is where I am right now.’

2He said, "Take now your son, your only son,
whom you love, Isaac, and go to the land of Moriah,
and offer him there as a burnt offering
on one of the mountains of which I will tell you."

This is a big powerful word…
we can immagine this was just a little unsettling for Abraham.

Just as Abraham thinks he has God all figured out,
God stretches his understanding and faith…

God comes along and says,
O.K., all the stuff that you think is important,
and all the stuff you think you understand,
I want you to take all that
and I want you to offer it back to Me as a burnt offering.

And then we see
one of the most important words in the Bible…
Verse 3… So

3So Abraham rose early in the morning and saddled his donkey,
and took two of his young men with him and Isaac his son;
and he split wood for the burnt offering,
and arose and went to the place of which God had told him.

So is a big word…
Abraham rose up and did it…
So, means I trust God!
I hear God…
here’s where I am right now,
in my understanding and my revelation of God…
but when God speaks to me
(even when it is beyond my understanding…
so, I begin to act on it.

4 On the third day Abraham raised his eyes
and saw the place from a distance.
5Abraham said to his young men,
"Stay here with the donkey,
and I and the lad will go over there;

(literally I and my son, my prodigy
must go a little farther)

and we will worship and return to you."

Remember at the very beginning Abraham says “Here I am”
But when the voice of God comes to him he says
I and my son must go a little farther…

I must go a little further now
(beyond my understanding)
to the mountain of Moriah

This is the same mountain where Golgotha was…
the same place where another only begotten son
Christ Jesus was going to be crucified…

Here’s what happens…

6Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering

burnt offering = the place where God is seen or revealed

and laid it on Isaac his son,
and he took in his hand the fire and the knife.
So the two of them walked on together.
7Isaac spoke to Abraham his father and said,
"My father!" And he said, "Here I am, my son."

Here I am now…
I started over here…
Then the word of the Lord came to me…
And He said I had to go farther…
now here’s a place I’ve come to…
here I am right now in a new place…
now am I really willing to do this!?

And he said, "Behold, the fire and the wood,
but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?"
8Abraham said,
"God will provide for Himself the lamb for the burnt offering,
my son." So the two of them walked on together.

God will provide Himself…
all things are God’s provision to us…
but here God is providing for Himself the lamb…
as He would some two thousand years later
provide the Lamb of God

So they go to the place where God called them…
He builds an alter there
He binds his son Isaac… and places him on the alter.

10Abraham stretched out his hand
and took the knife to slay his son.

Then in verse eleven,
we have to understand the way in which this is worded in the Hebrew…
it’s like the knife is coming down…
he is literally about to slay Isaac…

Abraham has gone from the place
of his first understanding of God…
to the place where he heard the word of God
and knew he had to go a little farther…
where he has to explain to his son…
this is where I am now “here I am now”…
and the knife is poised to kill him… it is coming down!
He is about to kill his son… his only son…
who was God’s promise as an heir to build a great nation…

11But the angel of the LORD called to him from heaven
and said, "Abraham, Abraham!"

But…
I get to the place of the end of my own understanding…
my own effort… and a big but comes in there…

But God intervenes…
an angel of the Lord…
the presence of the Lord
calls to him from heaven and says Abraham… Abraham!

And he said, "Here I am."

Abraham says again… “Here I am”…

I’ve now come to the place
where I am ready to withhold nothing from God…
because I realize that everything I have…
including my only son and heir
came from You…
I will withhold nothing, it all belongs to You!
Here I am…
Here I am – I’m going a little farther…
Here I am – On the alter, I’m ready to give my all for You.

The angel of the Lord says,
12He said, "Do not stretch out your hand against the lad,
and do nothing to him; for now I know that you fear God,
since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from Me."

He’s saying that Abraham has withheld nothing from God!

13Then Abraham raised his eyes and looked,
and behold, behind him a ram caught in the thicket by his horns;
and Abraham went and took the ram
and offered him up for a burnt offering
in the place of his son.

Then Abraham calls the place Jehovah-jireh –
the place of God’s provision… but it also means God is seen.

yehôvâh yir'eh (yeh-ho-vaw' yir-eh')
From H3068 and H7200; Jehovah will see (to it); Jehovah-Jireh,
a symbolical name for Mt. Moriah: - Jehovah-jireh.

3068
yehôvâh (yeh-ho-vaw')
From H1961; (the) self Existent or eternal; Jehovah, Jewish national name of God: -
Jehovah, the Lord. Compare H3050, H3069.
H7200
râ'âh (raw-aw')
A primitive root; to see,

Thus God is seen in this place…

The whole point of this chapter is…
God is not going to be seen
unless we are willing to go a little farther…

It is anti- complacency…
It is saying everything I have:
Belongs to the Lord…
Came from the Lord…
Will go back to the Lord…

This place where Mt. Moriah is
Is also the place
where later on David (who is a type of Jesus)
is going to purchase a threshing floor…
and later Solomon will build the Temple there…

This is the specific place
were the sacrifices would later be made
in the Temple of God

Today, we are the temple of God
and sacrifices must be made
to come into God’s presence…

David said that he will not purchase something
to present to God
that doesn’t cost him something…

24However, the king said to Araunah,
"No, but I will surely buy it from you for a price,
for I will not offer burnt offerings to the LORD my God
which cost me nothing "
So David bought the threshing floor and the oxen
for fifty shekels of silver.
25David built there an altar to the LORD
and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings.
Thus the LORD was moved by prayer for the land,
and the plague was held back from Israel.
2 Samuel 24:24-25 NAS

God is not going to be seen in our lives…
unless we are willing to go farther with Him…
to purchase gold and silver with our obedience to His Word.

God told them… “On this mountain shall you worship Me.”
True worship is reflected in obedience to God’s Word
and sacrifice of our own wants and desires
that we might do His will.


30