Greetings Friends,

Greetings from Niamey. We are now into our last week of teaching in Niger, for this series of modules. We've had three really full weeks, so we are kind of glad to be on the final stretch before heading home. This is a busy week, as well, for all of us. We are grateful for the men and women that we have had in our modules; we have seen a lot of encouraging progress in a number of them.

TABASKI PLUS ONE

It's Thursday—the day after the Muslim holiday of Tabaski (originally from the Semitic word "pascha" or "Paschal", as in the "Pascal lamb"). Of course, the origins of that word go back to the Israelite Exodus from Egypt and the night of the first Passover. The Muslim celebration has nothing to do with that event, however; it is for them a commemoration of Abraham's offering of [according to Islam] Ishmael, on the mountain where the Dome of the Rock mosque now stands, in Jerusalem, on or near the very location of Solomon's temple... and, incidentally, only a few hundred yards from another summit in the same geological formation that was called Golgotha.

In Genesis it was Mount Moriah, the place where God reached into the inner recesses of His friend, Abraham's, being—to test whether or not there were any "idols" of the heart. Could Abraham's affection for Isaac have possibly superseded his affection and loyalty toward Jehovah? After all, Abraham was more than old enough to be Isaac's grandfather. As any grandfather can testify, that relationship with sons or grandsons is pretty special. Can you imagine the pain in Abraham's heart, when God asks him to turn over his special treasure—Isaac? "Take now your son..." (and lest there be any doubt as to identity) "your only son..." (but at this point in time Isaac was not Abraham's only biological son, hence further clarification): "Isaac". And then came the dagger into Abraham's heart: " whom you love". A four-point specificity just to make sure Abraham knew which son God wanted! There goes the son of Promise... the death of a dream. Or was it?

There seems to be no "idols of the heart" in Abraham's loyal obedience—rising early, saddling the donkey, and heading with his servants and Isaac toward that strange land with eternal significance (not even Abraham could have possibly known of the cosmic struggle that would ultimately play out on Mount Moriah). Whatever his inner thoughts and struggles, Abraham's order: "Stay here with the donkey; the lad and I will go yonder and worship, and we will come back to you" are incredibly revealing of an unwavering faith in God. Millennia later, the writer of Hebrews (11:17-19) tells us that Abraham was convinced that, if necessary, God would raise Isaac from the dead! It was inconceivable to Abraham that God would not keep His Word of promise regarding this special young man. The Apostle Paul reports that Abraham "did not waver at the promise of God through unbelief" and that he was "fully convinced that what He had promised He was also able to perform." Such faith was imputed to Abraham for righteousness (Romans 4:20-22).

Did you ever wonder what went through Abraham's heart when, the two of them, walking up the ascent of Moriah, Isaac bearing the very wood that would be used to consume his very own body in a fiery burnt offering, he says to his father, "Look, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?" After all, his father was very, very old. Could he have forgotten the most important part required for sacrifice? Then comes the key to the whole story, in Abraham's response: "My son, God will provide for Himself the lamb for a burnt offering." In the French text we call this a "pronominal verb"—a reflexive verb that places all of the action on the antecedent ("God"). God would do it. God required this sacrifice, and God would pull it off. And He DID!

(I've often wondered how a man who was now well over 100 years old could have bound and placed on the alter a twenty-something Isaac. The servants weren't present. Or... does this say something about Isaac's faith, too? Had Isaac learned enough through his father's example of trust and loyalty to have personally trusted the outcome of this seemingly insane exercise to the God of his father, Abraham? Did Isaac willingly participate in preparing the offering of himself?)

Of course, God stopped Abraham from proceeding with the sacrifice of Isaac. "now I know that you fear God,, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from Me." Genesis says that it was the "Angel of the LORD" that intervened. Who is that, exactly? Most believe that the appearance of this special angelic messenger represents none other than the pre-incarnate Christ! If so, imagine that scene: Christ is standing on the very mountain where this scene would be played out in mortal earnest, millennia later, this time on a cosmic scale, where the final, eternal, struggle against Evil would ultimately end in victory! But oh, the pain. Oh, the price!

The point of the exercise? Abraham got to experience just a wee bit of the pain of the Heavenly Father as He would witness HIS Son actually offered up as a whole burnt offering on Golgotha. And the "Angel of the LORD"? Well, if this was the pre-incarnate Christ, was He not saying to Abraham, in effect, "Don't do it, Abraham. Spare your son. I'll take the knife. I will be the sacrifice. Sometime later. For now, fetch the ram."

As one of our Tri-M auxiliary teachers likes to remind his students, God didn't want Isaac, after all. God wanted all of Abraham. And He wants ALL of us! He wants to make sure there are no "idols of the heart."

WHAT ABOUT TABASKI?

Many, many sheep died yesterday! Thousands upon thousands of them! Thousands of reminders that "In the Mount of the LORD [Salvation] would be provided." After the sheep are slaughtered, they are skinned, gutted, and their carcasses stretched and tied to two poles that are crossed and tied together, and propped over an open wood fire. How sad that this picture is missed! How sad that the Muslim sacrifice becomes another attempt to gain righteousness through the offering of animal sacrifice, or that, for some, it is just a big celebration and opportunity to eat roasted mutton.

The writer of Hebrews says that Abraham received Isaac back as a "figure", or a picture. That picture can be none other than Christ. Folks, it's all around us today!! The smoke, the smell of roasted sheep, the blood-soaked sand where animals were sacrificed. But this "Gospel –in-everyday-life" is missed by most. This is why we do what we do! Often imperfectly. Often inadequately. Please keep praying for those blinded by the Enemy!