(tm) Other Old Testament examples

Fruitfulness and strength result from our death in Christ.

And it came to pass after these things, that God did tempt [test] Abraham, and said unto him, Abraham: and he said, Behold, here I am. 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. (Genesis 22:1,2)

Here is the third death and resurrection, the trial of obedience, the test that is more demanding and difficult than that of striving against the bondages of sin.

The calling of Abraham from Ur of the Chaldees is a type of salvation. Then, when Abraham was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to him and required a walk of sanctification (Genesis 17:1).

In the offering of Isaac we witness a much more severe testing—that of the offering up to God of Abraham’s only son, the promised heir, his inheritance in the Lord. Isaac was the only means of obtaining the abundant fruitfulness that God had promised Abraham. Abraham’s righteousness was based on the fact that he believed the Word of God concerning that fruitfulness.