Genesis 22:1-19 · Luke 15 · Genesis 12 · Genesis 21:14 · John 3:16 — Abraham
Let Go!
God's test of Abraham to sacrifice Isaac demonstrates that genuine faith requires complete obedience and trust in God rather than emotional comfort, ultimately pointing to Christ's sacrifice on Calvary.
Introduction
Have you ever lost something important? Something with real sentimental value? Something that cannot be replaced? Pictures destroyed in a house fire cannot be replaced. The memories, captured moments are gone forever. Understandably, a person may become distraught over such a loss. Several years ago, I lost my wedding band or at least I thought I did. When playing sports, I always take it off and put it in a safe place. One day I took it off and then couldn’t find it. Needless to say it was like a scene from Luke 15 in which like the woman sweeping out her house in order to find one coin, I turned our house upside down. Several days later I found the ring in a pants pocket. While another band could be bought, that band could not be. There was and still is great value on that simple piece of gold. You have probably had similar experiences.
Imagine something extremely precious to you. If someone asked you to give it up, could you do it? If someone asked you to destroy it, could you do it? This is what happens in our study. God asks Abraham not to just give up his son, Isaac, but to destroy him. We know from verse 1 that this is a test for Abraham. But Abraham didn’t know that. Abraham didn’t know how this episode in his life would turn out. All he knew was that God was asking him to do something which surely pulled at the core of his being. This story is challenging in a number of ways. Let’s be encouraged.
Abraham’s Test
God called out to Abraham and told him to take his son, Isaac, to Moriah and sacrifice him there. This episode begins very much like chapter 12 when God first called Abraham. In the beginning, God told Abraham to let go of his heritage and family and follow him to a land he would show him. In this episode, God tells Abraham to let go of the promises and follow him to a hill where he would show him.
Early the next morning (this is the same wording as used in 21:14 when Abraham sent Hagar and Ishmael out of his camp) Abraham makes preparations for the trip. Wood, fire, servants, provisions, and sacrifice are all brought together for the journey. On the third day they arrive at Moriah. Abraham and Isaac alone ascend the mountain. Except for a brief conversation they seem to travel in silence. At the designated spot, Abraham builds an altar, assembles the wood on the altar, bounds his son and places him on top of the rocks and wood. Lifting his hand to slit his son’s throat, the angel of the Lord intervenes. God stops Abraham from carrying out his work. God provides a ram for a sacrifice and God promises to complete all that he has promised.
While this is the basic story and while it is a gripping story, there are a lot of unanswered questions. I have heard this story preached on a number of times. Most of the time, the speaker tries to get at what Abraham was thinking and feeling during all this time. That is an important exercise. To reflect on the feelings of discomfort, fear, sadness, and wonderment may help us when we have difficult times in our lives. But the Bible does not always allow us to see the emotions of the participants. And when the Bible doesn’t tell us about the emotions, there may be another point to the story that we are supposed to get.
The Point
The first point comes from verse 1. God tested Abraham. The first point has to do with God. God is interested in bringing Abraham to a fuller and more complete faith. The point of the episode is to test Abraham. The point of the event is to see where Abraham is in his faith. Doesn’t God already know? Isn’t God able to see into the heart of his follower and know motives, thoughts, intents, and decisions which would be made? Yes. But did Abraham know. You see the test was for Abraham. When a teacher gives a test to students, it isn’t for the teacher’s benefit so much. Most teachers know before giving the test which students will do well and which will not. But the test is for the student to know where they stand.
I don’t want to sound callous or unfeeling, but no mention of Abraham’s emotions is because this is not about how Abraham feels but about his faith. He needs a test to learn where he stands. No one would deny that Abraham had a lot of mixed feelings as he went through this event, but the point of the test was not about feeling right it was about obedience. After all, the idea of faith means nothing unless actions accompany such profession of faith. Some would say that God gave too hard of a test. In our limited view, I would agree. But how else would Abraham know that he was sure of what he hoped for and certain of what he did not see.
Abraham could see Isaac. He had watched him grow up. He had watched him develop into a full grown man. The Jewish rabbis say Isaac was 37 in this story. We don’t know how old he was, but he was old enough to know about sacrifices and the need for animals to complete them. Abraham saw Isaac every day. Is it possible that Abraham began to place more and more confidence in his son rather than in the God who brought him into this world? We do the same thing. We amass our fortunes and believe that nothing could shake us. We watch our children grow and we become confident about the future. We get into a lifestyle which brings security and comfort and believe in our abilities rather than the God who gave them to us. That is when we need a test.
A test is when we have to decide who we are going to hope in and have confidence in. A test helps us decide about our faith. A test proves what is really important to us. A test defines life for us. Any test will leave us with a variety of emotions, but the test is about our faith not our emotions. Tests are about who we trust. Priorities are about what really matters.
There is a second point in this story and it has little to do with the story itself. The second point deals with type and antitype. In many ways the events of the Old Testament are best understood in light of what happens in the New Testament. While not every story finds its fulfillment in the New Testament, each story generally points to how Jesus is the completion of that event. Such is the case in this story. I want to stay away from allegory, but the similarities between this story and Jesus’s crucifixion cannot be dismissed.
The wording in verse 2 is similar to the wording found in John 3:16. Isaac is described as you only son. In some Greek translations of this text the word “monogenes” is used. That is the same word John uses in 3:16 to describe Jesus as the one and only son of God. In verse 6, as Abraham and Isaac journey to the place of sacrifice, Isaac has the wood placed on his back. The similarity with Jesus carrying the cross beam cannot be missed. Abraham’s response to Isaac about the sacrifice in verse 8 finds its fulfillment at Calvary. God does indeed provide a sacrifice. In verse 2, Mount Moriah is in southern part of Canaan. By the time of Jesus, the area known as Mount Moriah has a new name. It is Jerusalem and the hill they go to may well have been the temple mount. Verse 14 states, “on the mountain of the Lord it will be provided.” This document was written some 1500 years before Jesus’s death. The wording is accurate. It is a future statement. On the mountain of the Lord (Jerusalem), God will provide. God did provide. When we read the story of Genesis 22, we are to be transported to a future time when God provided once and for all time.
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