Abraham Arose Early

'Now it came to pass after these things that God tested Abraham, 

and said to him, Abraham!" 

And he said, "Here I am." 

He said, "Take now 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."

So 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 the wood for the burnt offering, 

and arose and went to the place of which God had told him. 

(Genesis 22:1-3)

Yesterday, as I pondered submission, Abraham came to mind. 

This is the most extreme request made of a man.

Consider how he received it:

with swift, silent obedience.

It's stunning.

Earlier in his life, before the birth of this beloved son, 

Abraham had a remarkable conversation with God.

God came to him, to give him the promise of this son, 

who would be born through his barren wife, Sarah.

'And the LORD said, "Shall I hide from Abraham what I am doing,

since Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, 

and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him?

For I have known him, in order that he may command his children 

and his household after him, that they keep the way of the LORD, 

to do righteousness and justice, 

that the LORD may bring to Abraham what He has spoken to him."

And the LORD said, "Because the outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is great, 

and because their sin is very grave,

I will go down now and see 

whether they have done altogether according to the outcry against it 

that has come to Me; 

and if not, I will know."'

Abraham's response to this announcement is notable.

First, he doesn't launch into his own words in the presence of the other two who were there.

That's interesting to me.

'Then the men turned away from there and went toward Sodom, 

but Abraham still stood before the LORD.

It appears that when they were alone, he appealed to Him with his concerns.

'And Abraham came near and said, 

"Would You also destroy the righteous with the wicked?

Suppose there were fifty righteous within the city; 

would You also destroy the place and not spare it 

for the fifty righteous that were in it?

Far be it from You to do such a thing as this, 

to slay the righteous with the wicked, 

so that the righteous should be as the wicked; 

far be it from You! 

Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?"

God wants Abraham to know His heart, to know His mind.

He wants His character to be known by His friend -- 

that he might pass that knowledge on to his children.

And He brought this announcement as an opportunity to Abraham.

And Abraham rose to it.

The sheer audacity of his bargaining gives me chills every time I read it.

My heart fills, and I love them both:

the Lord, who lets his friend drive a hard bargain with Him;

and the bold but gentle man who keeps pushing for just ten more.

Read on, and learn His nature for yourself. It's in Genesis 18.

'So the LORD went His way as soon as He had finished speaking with Abraham; 

and Abraham returned to his place.'

This is not a man who withheld his requests from the Lord.

On another occasion, when God came to him 

and told him He was his shield, and his great reward,

Abraham immediately responded with,

"What will You give me since I have no heir?"

This man is an intercessor.

He asks for what he wants, and God has already given him his heart's desire, 

though He made him wait long for it.

And the day comes where God asks of him the unthinkable.

But something has happened to Abraham in his long waiting on God.

In his years of holding onto the promised fruitfulness 

that only grew more barren as the years went on.

Imagine watching your wife wither and wither, and your own vigor drain, 

and believing on year after year in spite of it.

And then, beyond all hope, laughter entered their empty arms.

They saw life come from their good-as-dead bodies.

Joy from ashes.

His name finally had a meaning that wasn't a mockery of his dreams.

And God asked him for it.

"Give Me your son,

your only son.

The one you love."

Give Me back the laughter.

And we don't hear a word of protest from Abraham.

Not one word of intercession.

He just gets up early to obey.

Hebrews tells us he offered Isaac by faith, 

concluding that God was able to raise him up, 

even from the dead.

But I think there was also just a quiet trust he had learned 

in all these years of doing business with God.

He trusted HIM.

So much so, that a request for his life's hope, 

and the crowning joy of his years 

was offered with an open hand.

He doesn't have any hesitation 

in giving all his most precious loves into the hands of the Lord.

He knows God is good.

And he knows God is good for every word that He's said to him.

No wonder God loves him so much.

Nothing But a Jar of Oil

 

(2 Kings 4:1-7)

A certain woman of the wives of the sons of the prophets 

cried out to Elisha, saying, 

"Your servant my husband is dead, 

and you know that your 

servant feared the Lord.

And the creditor is coming to take my two sons to be his slaves." 

So Elisha said to her, "What shall I do for you? 

Tell me, what do you have in the house?" 

And she said, "Your maidservant has nothing in the house but a jar of oil." 

Then he said, "Go, borrow vessels from everywhere, 

from all your neighbors—empty vessels; do not gather just a few. 

And when you have come in, 

you shall shut the door behind you and your sons; 

then pour it into all those vessels, 

and set aside the full ones." 

So she went from him 

and shut the door behind her and her sons, 

who brought the vessels to her; 

and she poured it out. 

Now it came to pass, when the vessels were full, 

that she said to her son, "Bring me another vessel." 

And he said to her, "There is not another vessel." 

So the oil ceased. 

Then she came and told the man of God. 

And he said, "Go, sell the oil and pay your debt; 

and you and your sons live on the rest."” 

This woman was the wife of a prophet.

And it says she cried out. This is a cry of distress. It literally means she shrieked. 

She is grieving. Screaming for help. Like the sound of thunder or a bull bellowing.

This is not a mild request.

She reminds the prophet that her husband was a man 

who had lived in the fear of the Lord and in service to Elisha.

He was a godly man. 

And yet he had been impoverished and in debt. 

And now he’s dead, and his bereaved wife is confronted with the horror 

of having her fatherless sons enslaved to pay the debt.

This is a crisis in her parenting that she’s never encountered before.

But she knew where to turn for help. 

She turned to Elisha, whose name means ‘GOD IS SALVATION’.

And he asked her, “What shall I do for you? What do you have in the house?”

And she replies, “Your maidservant has nothing in the house but a jar of oil.”

And now we know that not only was her husband a godly man, 

who feared and served the Lord, 

but she calls herself a maidservant.

Two God-fearing parents, serving the Lord and His representative,

and poverty, death, and grief have entered their home.

Slavery and separation are imminent.

She is distraught.

She knew where to turn, 

although she did not know what to do.

She’s got nothing but a jar of oil.

The word used for her jar of oil means ‘a small jar’ or a flask.

It was likely an anointing jar which held oil for personal use.

This was not for cooking or large quantities.

It would have been easily held in one hand – no more than a few ounces.

Or it may have been a small jar for filling little oil lamps.

If anointing oil (which is likely), it was oil to consecrate, to heal, to honor.

This oil is connected to prayer and worship all through the Bible.

Used in prayers for the sick, for the demon-oppressed, and for the called.

This is oil of restoration, healing, nourishing – and illumination.

Olive oil was highly valuable for cooking, lighting, healing, and anointing.

In crying out for help, she receives direction.

The word of the Lord she can hold on to and act on. 

She’s told to borrow vessels of various sizes. 

These are not tiny like her flask.

These vessels hold from about a pint to over 26 gallons.

And she’s told to go into her house with her children, and shut the door, 

and pour out into all the borrowed vessels, setting aside each vessel as it is filled.

The oil came by the word of the Lord – and she had access to it by faith that obeyed.

That one little jar of oil was sufficient 

to fill every pot and vessel this widow could get her hands on. 

And she and her sons were able to live on the rest.

What we pour out in the secret place, behind the closed door:

“…Supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks…”

for nourishment, guidance, clear sight, 

spiritual and physical healing, 

anointing for spiritual service, 

for their callings.

 In secret prayer and in secret obedience she filled all her friends’ and neighbors’ empty vessels.

AND HER OBEDIENCE SAVED HER CHILDREN.

With the Word of the Lord directing, 

and the continual filling of the Holy Spirit, 

your one tiny jar is sufficient to pour into the largest, gaping needs 

of your friends, family, and neighbors, 

because HE IS SUFFICIENT.

The sufficiency of one person filled with the Holy Spirit 

to pour into and fill all the vessels around her is unlimited.

The word of the Lord and the Spirit of the Lord 

united with faith that obeys the Lord will suffice.

Know where to turn for His help and His promise.

Go in and shut the door.

Look for empty vessels – gaping needs – 

and begin to pour until they are full.

Be faithful in pouring and obeying.

His Holy Spirit and His word are sufficient!

Though I am only a small jar, and the vessels I have borrowed are huge, 

His Holy Spirit (like this oil) and His word

Are sufficient to the task.

Pour through us, Lord.

“Are you encompassed with needs at this very moment, 

and almost overwhelmed with difficulties, trials, and emergencies?

These are all divinely provided vessels for the Holy Spirit to fill,

And if you but rightly understood their meaning, they would become opportunities 

for receiving new blessings and deliverances which you can get in no other way.

Bring these vessels to God. 

Hold them steadily before Him in faith and prayer.

Keep still, and stop your own restless working until He begins to work.

Do nothing that He Himself does not command you to do.

Give Him a chance to work, and He will surely do so;

And the very trials that threatened to overcome you with discouragement and disaster, 

will become God’s opportunity for the revelation of His grace and glory in your life,

as you have never known Him before.

‘Bring them all to Me.’”

1. A.B. Simpson, From Streams in the Desert, May 27th)

“But you, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, 

pray to your Father who is in the secret place; 

and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly.” (Matthew 6:6)

“…And great multitudes came together to hear, and to be healed by Him of their infirmities. 

So He Himself often withdrew into the wilderness and prayed.” (Luke 5:15-16)

“Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, 

let your requests be made known to God; 

and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, 

will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:6-7)

“And they cast out many demons, and anointed with oil many who were sick, and healed them.” 

(Mark 6:13)

“Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, 

anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord.” (James 5:14)

“You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; 

You anoint my head with oil; My cup runs over.” (Psalms 23:5)

“On the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, 

"If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. 

He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, 

out of his heart will flow rivers of living water." 

But this He spoke concerning the Spirit, whom those believing in Him would receive; 

for the Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.” (John 7:37-39)

“Jesus answered and said to her, 

"Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again, 

but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. 

But the water that I shall give him will become in him 

a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life."” (John 4:13-14)

“If you extend your soul to the hungry And satisfy the afflicted soul, 

Then your light shall dawn in the darkness, And your darkness shall be as the noonday. 

The LORD will guide you continually, And satisfy your soul in drought, 

And strengthen your bones; 

You shall be like a watered garden, And like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail. 

Those from among you Shall build the old waste places; 

You shall raise up the foundations of many generations; 

And you shall be called the Repairer of the Breach, 

The Restorer of Streets to Dwell In.” (Isaiah 58:10-12)

“The poor and needy seek water, but there is none, Their tongues fail for thirst. 

I, the LORD, will hear them; I, the God of Israel, will not forsake them. 

I will open rivers in desolate heights, And fountains in the midst of the valleys; 

I will make the wilderness a pool of water, 

And the dry land springs of water. 

I will plant in the wilderness the cedar and the acacia tree, The myrtle and the oil tree; 

I will set in the desert the cypress tree and the pine And the box tree together, 

That they may see and know, And consider and understand together, 

That the hand of the LORD has done this, And the Holy One of Israel has created it. (Isaiah 41:17-21)

“There is one who scatters, yet increases more; 

And there is one who withholds more than is right, But it leads to poverty. 

The generous soul will be made rich, And he who waters will also be watered himself. 

The people will curse him who withholds grain, 

But blessing will be on the head of him who sells it.” (Proverbs 11:24-26)

“But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, 

that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us. 

We are hard-pressed on every side, yet not crushed; 

we are perplexed, but not in despair; 

persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed— 

always carrying about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, 

that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body. 

For we who live are always delivered to death for Jesus' sake, 

that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh. 

So then death is working in us, but life in you.” (2 Corinthians 4:7-12)

“Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. 

Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. 

For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, 

but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, 

against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. 

Therefore take up the whole armor of God, 

that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. 

Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, 

having put on the breastplate of righteousness, 

and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; 

above all, taking the shield of faith 

with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. 

And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, 

which is the word of God; praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, 

being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints— 

and for me, that utterance may be given to me, 

that I may open my mouth boldly to make known the mystery of the gospel, 

for which I am an ambassador in chains; 

that in it I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak.” (Ephesians 6:10-20)