Today is Father’s Day, the day we set aside to honor dads in obedience of God’s fifth commandment which God commands us to obey our parents. (Exodus 20:12 ¶ Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee.) This commandment is also found in Ephesians 6:2. [Ephesians 6:2 Honour thy father and mother; (which is the first commandment with promise;)] Jesus himself also mentioned this commandment. This commandment is the only one that says God will give long life to those who obey it. God says to obey this commandment regardless if you have had a great dad or one who was abusive or left the family. God says to obey all parents, not just the good parents. Thank God that God gave me a godly dad. Last year I spoke on having God the Father as your Father for all of those who call upon Jesus as their Saviour. God the Father is the greatest Father that anyone can have and all need.
Abraham was a type of God the Father in that just as God offered his only begotten Son Jesus as a sacrifice for our sins, Abraham was willing to obey God and offer his only true son in God’s eyes as a sacrifice to God. Isaac was a type of Jesus. Abraham is the only type of God the Father mentioned in scripture. Abraham was the man upon whom God used to start many nations, but specifically the nation of his chosen people. His grandson Jacob who was renamed Israel by God would be the one directly who started Israel. Abraham was originally named Abram which means “exalted father”, but God renamed him Abraham which means “father of many nations” and that is exactly what he would become. (Genesis 17:5 Neither shall thy name any more be called Abram, but thy name shall be Abraham; for a father of many nations have I made thee.) Abraham was father of many nations just as God the Father is father of all nations who believe in his Son Jesus and bless Israel and is Father to all who have his Son Jesus as their Saviour.
God chose Abram to be the one who would be the patriarch of his chosen people who became the Israelites. (Genesis 12:1-5 Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto a land that I will shew thee:
2 And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing:
3 And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.
4 So Abram departed, as the LORD had spoken unto him; and Lot went with him: and Abram was seventy and five years old when he departed out of Haran.
5 And Abram took Sarai his wife, and Lot his brother’s son, and all their substance that they had gathered, and the souls that they had gotten in Haran; and they went forth to go into the land of Canaan; and into the land of Canaan they came.) Abram’s dad had worshipped false gods and God told Abram to get away from him into a land that God would give to Abram and his descendants. Abram was 75 years old when God called him showing that a person is never too old to be used by God. Moses was 80 years old when he led the Israelites out of Egypt. When Abram departed to the new land, he took his nephew Lot whose dad had died, and Abram became a dad to him. The new land that Abram entered was inhabited and controlled by the Canaanites, but God said he would take the land from them and give it to Abraham and his descendants. Abram trusted in the Lord that he would keep his word and entered the land of Canaan. This is part of the land known as the Promised Land that God gave to Israel and no other nation has a right to it. (Genesis 12:6-9 ¶ And Abram passed through the land unto the place of Sichem, unto the plain of Moreh. And the Canaanite was then in the land.
7 And the LORD appeared unto Abram, and said, Unto thy seed will I give this land: and there builded he an altar unto the LORD, who appeared unto him.
8 And he removed from thence unto a mountain on the east of Beth–el, and pitched his tent, having Beth–el on the west, and Hai on the east: and there he builded an altar unto the LORD, and called upon the name of the LORD.
9 And Abram journeyed, going on still toward the south.) These verses show that Abram was obedient in building an altar to God as he understood that the LORD was the true God and not the false gods of his father. (Joshua 24:2-3 And Joshua said unto all the people, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, Your fathers dwelt on the other side of the flood in old time, even Terah, the father of Abraham, and the father of Nachor: and they served other gods.
3 And I took your father Abraham from the other side of the flood, and led him throughout all the land of Canaan, and multiplied his seed, and gave him Isaac.) These verses are an example of how a godly father should be. Abram rejected the gods of his father and family and chose to serve the true living God even if this displeased his family. This is the kind of man that God wants to use whether in Abram’s case to start a nation or for some other purpose. God wants men who will serve him no matter what the cost.
Abram treated his nephew Lot as a son and when his servants and Abram’s servants began fighting over land and water for the herds, Abram told Lot to take the best of the land or whatever he wanted and then he would take the rest. (Genesis 13:5-12 ¶ And Lot also, which went with Abram, had flocks, and herds, and tents.
6 And the land was not able to bear them, that they might dwell together: for their substance was great, so that they could not dwell together.
7 And there was a strife between the herdmen of Abram’s cattle and the herdmen of Lot’s cattle: and the Canaanite and the Perizzite dwelled then in the land.
8 And Abram said unto Lot, Let there be no strife, I pray thee, between me and thee, and between my herdmen and thy herdmen; for we be brethren.
9 Is not the whole land before thee? separate thyself, I pray thee, from me: if thou wilt take the left hand, then I will go to the right; or if thou depart to the right hand, then I will go to the left.
10 And Lot lifted up his eyes, and beheld all the plain of Jordan, that it was well watered every where, before the LORD destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, even as the garden of the LORD, like the land of Egypt, as thou comest unto Zoar.
11 Then Lot chose him all the plain of Jordan; and Lot journeyed east: and they separated themselves the one from the other.
12 Abram dwelled in the land of Canaan, and Lot dwelled in the cities of the plain, and pitched his tent toward Sodom.)
God told Abram to look around and all of the land he saw then God would give it to him and his descendants. (Genesis 13:14-18 ¶ And the LORD said unto Abram, after that Lot was separated from him, Lift up now thine eyes, and look from the place where thou art northward, and southward, and eastward, and westward:
15 For all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed for ever.
16 And I will make thy seed as the dust of the earth: so that if a man can number the dust of the earth, then shall thy seed also be numbered.
17 Arise, walk through the land in the length of it and in the breadth of it; for I will give it unto thee.
18 Then Abram removed his tent, and came and dwelt in the plain of Mamre, which is in Hebron, and built there an altar unto the LORD.) Just as God the Father gave all to his Son Jesus, here God gives much to Abram who would have plenty of land and cattle. God blessed Abram with great wealth.
When Lot got taken captive by an enemy king, Abram took his men and rescued him just as any loving father would do for their son. (Genesis 14:14-16 And when Abram heard that his brother was taken captive, he armed his trained servants, born in his own house, three hundred and eighteen, and pursued them unto Dan.
15 And he divided himself against them, he and his servants, by night, and smote them, and pursued them unto Hobah, which is on the left hand of Damascus.
16 And he brought back all the goods, and also brought again his brother Lot, and his goods, and the women also, and the people.) Abraham would also plead for Lot’s life in Genesis 18:23-32 when God decided to destroy Sodom for her sin.
Abram did not have any children and one day God appeared to Abram and told him that he would have a son and descendants in number as the stars of heaven. Abram said he had no heir except his servant Eliezer, but God said that would not be his heir but a son from his own bowels. Eliezer was a type of son for Abraham as the heirs of salvation. Eliezer was a type showing how Abraham was the spiritual father to all who believe, both Jew and Gentile just as God the Father is Father to all who call upon his Son Jesus as their Saviour, both Jew and Gentile. (Genesis 15:2-6 And Abram said, Lord GOD, what wilt thou give me, seeing I go childless, and the steward of my house is this Eliezer of Damascus?
3 And Abram said, Behold, to me thou hast given no seed: and, lo, one born in my house is mine heir.
4 And, behold, the word of the LORD came unto him, saying, This shall not be thine heir; but he that shall come forth out of thine own bowels shall be thine heir.
5 And he brought him forth abroad, and said, Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them: and he said unto him, So shall thy seed be.
6 And he believed in the LORD; and he counted it to him for righteousness.) Abram became impatient waiting on God and sinned by trying to help God in producing an heir. He went into his wife Sarai’s handmaid and got her pregnant and Ishmael was born when he was 86 years old. (Genesis 16:3-4 And Sarai Abram’s wife took Hagar her maid the Egyptian, after Abram had dwelt ten years in the land of Canaan, and gave her to her husband Abram to be his wife.
4 ¶ And he went in unto Hagar, and she conceived: and when she saw that she had conceived, her mistress was despised in her eyes.) (Genesis 16:16 And Abram was fourscore and six years old, when Hagar bare Ishmael to Abram.) Abram’s sin and disobedience would haunt his descendants up to this day. We need to learn to trust in God that he will do as he says and understand that things are on his time and not ours. Our sins have great consequences.
God appeared to Abram when he was 99 years old and told him that the time had come for the son that God had promised to him. It was at this time that God made a covenant with Abram and changed his name to Abraham because he said he would make him a father of many nations. This would be true as the Arab nations of today are descendants of his son Ishmael, as was the nation of the Ishmaelites. The Israelites come from Abraham as well as other nations that no longer exist from his wife Keturah whom he married after Sarah died. (I Chronicles 1:32 ¶ Now the sons of Keturah, Abraham’s concubine: she bare Zimran, and Jokshan, and Medan, and Midian, and Ishbak, and Shuah. And the sons of Jokshan; Sheba, and Dedan.) Abraham was 100 years old when his promised son Isaac was born. (Genesis 21:5 And Abraham was an hundred years old, when his son Isaac was born unto him.) Isaac means laughter because Sarah did not believe God when he said they would have a child in their old age, but God had the last laugh. Nothing is impossible with God. We just need to believe and trust in him that he will do as he says he will.
When Ishmael was a teenager, God told Abraham to send him and his mom Hagar away as Isaac was his only true son. Abraham was obedient and did as he was commanded. (Genesis 21:12-14 ¶ And God said unto Abraham, Let it not be grievous in thy sight because of the lad, and because of thy bondwoman; in all that Sarah hath said unto thee, hearken unto her voice; for in Isaac shall thy seed be called.
13 And also of the son of the bondwoman will I make a nation, because he is thy seed.
14 And Abraham rose up early in the morning, and took bread, and a bottle of water, and gave it unto Hagar, putting it on her shoulder, and the child, and sent her away: and she departed, and wandered in the wilderness of Beer–sheba.)
Following the departure of Ishmael, God told Abraham to go into the land of Moriah and offer his only son Isaac as a burnt offering to God. (Genesis 22:2-4 And he said, Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of.
3 ¶ And Abraham rose up early in the morning, and saddled his ass, and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son, and clave the wood for the burnt offering, and rose up, and went unto the place of which God had told him.
4 Then on the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes, and saw the place afar off.) Notice how Abraham was immediately obedient by leaving early in the morning. He did not delay in obeying God and neither should we. Abraham had Isaac to carry the wood up the hill for his own sacrifice. This is a type of when Jesus had to carry his own cross for his death. Isaac was most likely a man in his twenties when he was taken to be sacrificed. Some believe even in his thirties as lad can mean young man and Jesus was 33 when he died. He was definitely not this little helpless boy as often portrayed. Genesis 22:6-10 And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering, and laid it upon Isaac his son; and he took the fire in his hand, and a knife; and they went both of them together.
7 And Isaac spake unto Abraham his father, and said, My father: and he said, Here am I, my son. And he said, Behold the fire and the wood: but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?
8 And Abraham said, My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering: so they went both of them together.
9 And they came to the place which God had told him of; and Abraham built an altar there, and laid the wood in order, and bound Isaac his son, and laid him on the altar upon the wood.
10 And Abraham stretched forth his hand, and took the knife to slay his son.) Abraham is seen here as a type of God the Father offering his only son in Isaac as he was the only legitimate son in God’s eyes with Isaac as a type of Jesus being willing to die in obedience to God as a sacrifice. Abraham told Isaac that God would provide himself a lamb which is a reference to Jesus as God who provided himself as our sacrificial lamb on the cross, but Abraham also believed that God would resurrect Isaac if he did have to sacrifice him as he knew God would keep his word with Isaac being the promised son whom the heirs as the sand of the sea would come from. (Hebrews 11:17-19 By faith Abraham, when he was tried, offered up Isaac: and he that had received the promises offered up his only begotten son,
18 Of whom it was said, That in Isaac shall thy seed be called:
19 Accounting that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead; from whence also he received him in a figure.) Because Abraham was obedient in obeying God then God blessed him with many descendants. (Genesis 22:12 And he said, Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou any thing unto him: for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son from me.) (Genesis 22:16-18 And said, By myself have I sworn, saith the LORD, for because thou hast done this thing, and hast not withheld thy son, thine only son:
17 That in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies;
18 And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice.) These verses show that God only considered Isaac as the son of Abraham. Jesus would descend from Abraham just as Jesus is God’s Son. All Christians who are children of faith are also spiritual descendants of Abraham as well just as we are children of God by faith in Jesus. (Romans 4:16-17 Therefore it is of faith, that it might be by grace; to the end the promise might be sure to all the seed; not to that only which is of the law, but to that also which is of the faith of Abraham; who is the father of us all,
17 (As it is written, I have made thee a father of many nations,) before him whom he believed, even God, who quickeneth the dead, and calleth those things which be not as though they were.) (Galatians 3:29 And if ye be Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.) Abraham as a type of God the Father was called a “friend of God” and the only one this was said of. (James 2:23 And the scripture was fulfilled which saith, Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness: and he was called the Friend of God.) Abraham is in God’s Faith Hall of Fame as found in Hebrews 11 where many verses are dedicated to him dealing with his faith and obedience to God as the ideal father and father of those who believe. Abraham would later get a bride for Isaac as seen in Genesis 24 just as God gave Jesus a bride in the church. Abraham as a faithful man tithed to Melchizedek in Genesis who was the preincarnate Jesus and showed us by his example as a good father. (Genesis 14:20 And blessed be the most high God, which hath delivered thine enemies into thy hand. And he gave him tithes of all.) Sarah called Abraham lord as she understood what kind of man he was.
There is a story referred to as The Storm about a dad who went out in a boat with his son and his son’s friend in the Pacific Ocean when a storm suddenly appeared capsizing the boat and tossing all of them into the raging water. The dad had only seconds to toss one life ring to one of the boys. The dad knew his son was saved and the other boy was not saved. He told his son he loved him and tossed the life ring to his son’s friend. By the time he dragged him to safety his son had drowned. This dad was willing to sacrifice his son who he knew he would see in heaven so that the friend might be saved and not spend eternity in hell. This friend got saved and went on to become a pastor.
Abraham as a type of God the Father showed how a dad should be. Abraham was faithful, obedient, and a man of God who fully trusted in God to provide for him. He was willing to give his only son Isaac who was a type of Jesus just as God the Father gave his only begotten Son Jesus so that all who call upon him may be saved. It is by Abraham that we as Christians have the seed of Jesus. May all dads strive to be like Abraham so that they may strive to be like God the Father! May all dads be willing to sacrifice their sons for God if they are asked to do so just like Abraham and the man in the storm. For those who are not saved, call upon Jesus today so that God the Father may become your Father as well.
