Genesis 22: 1-19
22 Some time
later God tested Abraham. He said to him, “Abraham!”
“Here I am,” he replied.
2 Then God said,
“Take your son, your only son, whom you love—Isaac—and go to the region of
Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on a mountain I will
show you.”
3 Early the next
morning Abraham got up and loaded his donkey. He took with him two of his
servants and his son Isaac. When he had cut enough wood for the burnt offering,
he set out for the place God had told him about. 4 On the third day Abraham looked up and saw
the place in the distance. 5 He
said to his servants, “Stay here with the donkey while I and the boy go over
there. We will worship and then we will come back to you.”
6 Abraham took
the wood for the burnt offering and placed it on his son Isaac, and he
himself carried the fire and the knife. As the two of them went on
together, 7 Isaac spoke up
and said to his father Abraham, “Father?”
“Yes, my son?” Abraham replied.
“The fire and wood are here,” Isaac said, “but where is the
lamb for the burnt offering?”
8 Abraham
answered, “God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering,
my son.” And the two of them went on together.
9 When they
reached the place God had told him about, Abraham built an altar there
and arranged the wood on it. He bound his son Isaac and laid him on the
altar, on top of the wood. 10 Then he reached out his hand and took the knifeto slay his son. 11 But the angel of the Lord called
out to him from heaven, “Abraham! Abraham!”
“Here I am,” he replied.
12 “Do not lay a
hand on the boy,” he said. “Do not do anything to him. Now I know that you fear
God, because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son.”
13 Abraham looked
up and there in a thicket he saw a ram[a] caught by its horns. He went over and took the ram and
sacrificed it as a burnt offering instead of his son. 14 So Abraham called that place
The Lord Will Provide. And to this day it is said, “On the mountain
of the Lord it will be provided.”
15 The angel of
the Lord called to Abraham from heaven a second time 16 and said, “I swear by myself, declares
theLord, that because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your
only son, 17 I will surely
bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the
sky and as the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will take
possession of the cities of their enemies, 18 and through your offspring[b] all nations on earth will be blessed,[c]because
you have obeyed me.”
19 Then Abraham
returned to his servants, and they set off together for Beersheba. And
Abraham stayed in Beersheba.
Then God said, “Take your son, your only son,
whom you love- Isaac- and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on a
mountain I will show you.”
In my opinion, this is without
a doubt, the most difficult piece of scripture to read in the entire bible. In fact, I think many people have turned away
from Christianity in part because of this very story and in their lack of
understanding of it. After all, at first
glance, it appears to be about someone being asked to kill their child, a child
they love, merely to prove allegiance to a rather arrogant God. Yuck.
However, if you dig deep,
you will see there is so much more to the story.
This narrative starts off saying
“God tested Abraham.” When I research
the word “tested” in the Zondervan NIV Exhaustive Concordance, I discovered the
Hebrew word is nāsà and it means “to test (usually to prove character or
faithfulness). So rather than a test of
loyalty as some may presume, this is more a test of faith. And I do not mean blind faith. I mean “eyes wide open” faith.
If you read back through
Genesis, you see God building a relationship with Abraham over many, many years. Continually you see a pattern where God made-
and kept- promises to Abraham, proving himself worthy of faithfulness and
trust.
In Genesis 15, God promised
Abram (75 years old, later named Abraham by God) a son and descendants that
would be as many as the stars in the sky.
In Genesis 16 we see Abraham’s wife, Sarah, trying to “help” God with
his plan by doing something outside of God’s will and offering up her
maidservant to provide that son. Even
so, God who is good and full of grace and love cleaned up that mess, so to
speak, and in the end blessed that very son (Ismael) as well. Interestingly enough however, God does require
Abraham let Ismael go. And out of faith,
Abraham does just that.
In Genesis 17, we see God
being, shall we say, more specific and saying, no, no, no… I will give you and Sarah a son and you will name him
Isaac.
In Genesis 18, he lets Sarah in
on the plan. In this chapter, we also
see Abraham interceding for Sodom to God and God actually changing his mind as
a result of Abraham’s requests. To me, this
indicates a very strong and loving
relationship between God and Abraham, filled with mutual respect. It is not evident of a dictator type
relationship of unreasonable, egotistical commands and fear.
Genesis 20 tells us of
Abraham deceiving Abimelech (lying about Sarah being his wife and saying she is
his sister) and again, God coming to his rescue and saving them both.
Genesis 21 begins with “God
kept his word.” Isaac is born here, the son that God promised. Abraham is 100 years old.
A key point to note
throughout this book is both Abraham and Sarah were far from perfect. They made messes- big messes. Often, they appeared to get impatient or
maybe just insecure and took matters into their own hands…speeding God
along….helping Him with His plan… and in the end, they would completely make a
mess of things. But God kept his promise
despite this. He chose these imperfect
people to build a nation, His nation.
Do you ever feel like we do
the same thing? Instead of just letting
God be God and work out things according to His timing and His plan, we can get
in the way. Instead of waiting and
trusting, we start to doubt and get anxious.
We start to push forward our plan instead of waiting on God’s plan. But like Abraham and Sarah, God rescues us
and gently guides us back on course.
The book of Genesis reveals
the nature of God to us- not only as powerful creator but also of loving redeemer. In addition, it reveals the value of human
life, the terrible consequences of disobedience and the abundant blessings that
come as a result of faith/ trust and obedience.
At the time Genesis was
written (sometime after the Exodus during the 15th century BC), the
Israelites had just been brought out of slavery from Egypt. Try to imagine being slaves and held in
captivity by brutal dictators. And then
try to imagine the freedom and joy felt once freed and brought back to the
promised land.
These people had seen God
rescue them, thus they had seen His power and love.
Though their lives were much
harder in many ways than many of ours today, the central plot to this narrative
is one we can all identify with. Anyone
who has a child or is a child can understand the pain and agony that Abraham must
have faced while on that three day journey.
I know I am on my knees begging God for healing even when my child has a
simple flu bug.
It can seem to us that in
one moment, God was answering prayers and providing a long awaited son and in
the next moment, He was asking for him back.
This must have been especially hard for Abraham to understand since God
had promised Isaac would carry on the covenant and it had not yet been
fulfilled. But the scriptures don’t say
that.
Instead, they say he got up
early. Nor do the scriptures mention any
appeal by Abraham as he had done previously on behalf of the people living in
Sodom. And we don’t read about him
debating or seeking counsel from anyone else.
He simply obeyed without hesitation.
He simply trusted a God who he knew.
Abraham was obedient even though it must have been excruciatingly
difficult to see God’s provision and goodness in such a desperate situation of
despair.
“Abraham had to learn the difference between
trusting the promise and trusting the Promiser.
We can put God’s promise before God himself and feel it is our
responsibility to bring the promise to pass, even if we have to disobey God to
do it. Trust the promiser no matter
what, and the promise will be taken care of.”- www.enduringword.com/commentaries/0122.htm
Wow.
I just cannot imagine. How about you? Are you able to listen to God, trust him and
walk by faith knowing He is good, He is love and He is faithful? Even in the midst of tragedy? Desperate sadness? Fear or uncertainty?
I have a good friend who
points out to me that fear and faith cannot co-exist. Fear comes from the devil. But I know the devil is out there, testing my
faith with fear anytime he gets the chance.
So it must be a deliberate, on-going effort to live out faith. It’s a marathon not a sprint.
So here is where I want to
point out that God is the hero. Not the
egotistical arrogant God some people may have thought at the beginning of the
story. But a loving God who knows the
plans he has for those who love him (Jeremiah 29:11).
You see, this testing of
Abraham was a prophetic foreshadow of what He would do for us later. God would sacrifice his one and only son,
Jesus, who he loved, for us.
The similarities are
amazing. Both Isaac and Jesus arrived
with a donkey. Isaac, like Jesus,
carried the wood up the mountain which was used for the sacrifice. The place of the sacrifice was Mount Moriah,
which some scholars say is most likely the exact mountain where Jerusalem is
built (where Jesus was crucified). God
provided a ram for the sacrifice instead of Isaac and Jesus is referred to as the
lamb which was slain. And finally, Abraham
received his son back from “the dead” on the third day.
Was this an outrageous
request? Yes. Did it require an almost superhuman amount of
faith? Yes. But I have to ask: Would we have any way of really understanding
the sacrifice made for us if we were not able to put ourselves in the same
position? Could we really grasp the pain
God must have felt when he allowed his one and only son to be put to death so
that we may have eternal life? Could we
understand the depth of his love for us without this example?
Many people see this story as
simply one of faith. John Oakes said this, “From our human perspective, living
in a universe in which time is a linear thing, it is hard to understand how God
can foreknow something and not predetermine it, but God is not subject to our
limitations. No, it is not absurd for God to ask something of Abraham when, in
principle, he knows the answer. For us humans in a linear time situation, it is
hard to think about this, but God exists outside of time and God gives us free
will. We are not his puppets. God’s plan was to bless all nations through the
man of faith: Abraham. Biblically, our faith is proven by our deeds (James
2:14-26) and Abraham is no exception to this rule. Personally, I like this
plan. I am inspired by the faith of Abraham, and I am encouraged by God’s
willingness to justify Abraham by faith. Like James said, "Abraham
believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness."
While I agree this is a
story of enormous faith, I also see it as a beautiful love story. “For God so loved the world, that He gave his
one and only son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have
eternal life.”- John 3:!6
We all know love is something
that must not be merely heard with our ears.
Even if someone says they love us, their actions may clearly say they
don’t. Love must be felt. It must be supported by actions.
Robert Keith Leavitt said
"People don't ask for facts in making up their minds.
They would rather have one good soul-satisfying
emotion than a dozen facts.” When you think about it,
that is so true.
Certainly, this narrative of
Abraham and Isaac stirs up emotion. In
the end, it is clear that God made the ultimate sacrifice for us because he
loves us. He doesn’t just say he loves us. He backs it up with actions that we ourselves
would be hard pressed to do for him.
Isn’t it wonderful that he doesn’t ask?
Here's a song to enjoy...
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