Today,
my excursion in God’s word began by asking God to lead me to understand what it
means that the souls of the martyrs were “under
the altar”.[1]
All through this journey in Revelation it has become clear that each picture
must be interpreted by the way the rest of Scripture speaks of those things.
Since this is the first time the book of Revelation presents the imagery of the
altar, we need to look to earlier descriptions to gain some understanding.
The
first references to an altar revolve around expressions of worship to God by
Noah, and later by Abraham. Noah worshiped God at the altar after experiencing
deliverance from the flood.[2]
Abraham (Abram) built an altar in response to God’s promise of a land and a
people,[3]
and later returned to this place where he began calling on the name of the LORD.[4]
From
there, the next time there is a reference to an altar, it concerns God’s
command to Abraham to sacrifice his only son, the son he had received as the
promised heir.[5]
It was through this son God had promised to give Abraham a nation, and to
provide the future offspring who would bless all the nations. One would think
that God was truly out of his mind to require such a murderous act of anyone,
let alone a man who was to become the Father of Faith for people from many
nations, throughout many generations.
While
it is strange that God would require such a thing of Abraham, it is just as
strange that Abraham would comply. What was going on between God and this man
of faith that would make sense of God’s command and Abraham’s obedience?
The
apostle Paul helps us understand what was going on by giving a description of
how Abraham saw God. He wrote about it like this, “…the God in whom he believed, who gives life to the
dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist. “[6]
There were two things Abraham believed about God. One was that God “gives life to the dead.” The other was
that God “calls into existence the things
that do not exist.” I can see how these played into Abraham’s faith
regarding having an heir through whom he would bless the nations. I can also
see how it shaped his obedience to God’s strange command regarding Isaac.
First, Abraham’s faith that God calls
non-existing things into existence would apply to God’s promise that Sarah
would bear him a son. Sarah being barren was not a problem for a God who calls
non-existent things into existence. Abraham and Sarah being of old age was no
problem to God, for he could call things into existence where nothing existed
before. If God is such a God as this, than believing in him for such impossible
things is right in line with who he is.
Second, Abraham’s faith that God gives
life to the dead means that Abraham could follow God into the death of his son
knowing that God would still fulfill his promise of providing offspring through
Isaac. Abraham was not going to sacrifice his son in the belief that God would
provide him another son. Abraham knew that, even if God required him to
sacrifice his son, it could only mean one thing. Here is how Scripture states
this:
By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who
had received the promises was in the act of offering up his only son, of whom
it was said, “Through Isaac shall your offspring be named.” He considered that
God was able even to raise him from the dead, from which, figuratively
speaking, he did receive him back.[7]
While
this may still sound like an incredible response of faith to a strange command
of God, it does make sense. If Abraham had faith in God as the one who both
raises the dead, and brings existing things out of non-existing things, then he
would apply that faith to the unusual command of God, knowing that God would be
glorified in the resurrection of his son. In other words, Abraham did not
expect to come down the mountain alone even though he was going to obey God’s
command to sacrifice his son. He expected his son would be raised from the dead,
and they were carry on with the fulfillment of God’s promises.
God
has been glorified through Abraham’s faith for somewhere around four thousand
years. As Scripture says, “Abraham
believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness.”[8] However,
that’s not the whole story. Paul writes about this in encouraging detail:
But the words “it was counted to him” were not written
for his sake alone, but for ours also. It will be counted to us who believe in
him who raised from the dead Jesus our Lord, who was delivered up for our
trespasses and raised for our justification.[9]
Abraham’s
faith in God, and the fulfillment of God’s promises in his life, were so
clearly established through the delay in Isaac’s birth, and God’s command to
sacrifice this son, that now we who believe in Jesus Christ have the assurance
that our faith is counted to us as righteousness, just as was the case with our
father of faith. Abraham believed God would raise his son from the dead, and so
he obeyed his heavenly Father. We believe in the one who raised Jesus Christ
from the dead, and so we enter into the same faith as Abraham, and the same
righteousness that is by faith.
I
am not altogether sure how this will all relate to the souls of those who are
under the altar of God, crying out for justice, resting until the final
judgment. But I do know that it is faith that unites us all, a faith that makes
sinners righteous. We share the faith of our father, Abraham, who believed God
would raise the dead; our faith is in the God who raised his own Son, Jesus Christ,
from the dead; and our faith includes God’s promise to raise from the dead all
those who have faith in him, no matter how or when they die. Everything is, “by
faith…”[10]
© 2014 Monte Vigh ~
Box 517, Merritt, BC, V1K 1B8 ~ in2freedom@gmail.com
Unless otherwise
noted, Scriptures are from the English Standard Version (The Holy Bible,
English Standard Version Copyright © 2001 by Crossway
Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers.)
[1] Revelation 6:9
[2] Genesis 8:20-22
[3] Genesis 12:7
[4] Genesis 13:3-4
[5] Genesis 22 explains
the whole story, that God was testing Abraham, and that God was establishing a
picture of the way that he himself would provide the lamb, looking ahead to the
Lord Jesus Christ.
[6] Romans 4:17
[7] Hebrews 11:17-19
[8] Romans 4:3
[9] Romans 4:23-25
[10] Hebrews 11 makes this
clear, that the righteous shall live by faith; and so we shall!
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