• Play:  
• Artist: Rev. Dr. Dana Goodnough
• Title: Abraham & Isaac, "Abraham Offers Isaac", Genesis 22:1-24
• Album: CD-2010-07-25
• Year: 2010
• Length: 29:44 minutes (6.83 MB)
• Format: MP3 Mono 22kHz 32Kbps (CBR)

ABRAHAM OFFERS ISAAC

(Genesis 22:1-24)

            One of the most impressive displays of personal faith is recorded in Genesis 22.  Here we read about Abraham’s obedience to a very difficult command of God, a command that would have seemed unreasonable, uncaring, and incomprehensible.  God told Abraham to sacrifice his son Isaac.  God had already promised to bless Abraham with countless descendants.  Furthermore, God had promised to fulfill this plan through Isaac.  Now God commanded Abraham to sacrifice this child of promise.  God presented Abraham with an incredible test of faith.  Abraham responded obediently, without a hint of hesitation.  Of course, God ultimately intervened by providing an appropriate sacrifice.  One day God would send His own Son to be the perfect sacrifice for our sins.  Sacrifice plays a central role in the Christian faith.  God calls us to give Him that which we prize most dearly.

God tests our faith by calling us to sacrifice

that which is most important in our lives (22:1-8).

            God isn’t honored by half-hearted commitment.  He deserves our best.  He desires total dedication to Him.  God calls us to set aside anything that stands between us and total devotion to Him.  At times He may even test our faith to prove our faithfulness to Him.

God tested Abraham by commanding him to sacrifice his son Isaac (22:1-2).

            The account of Abraham offering Isaac begins with a clear statement that God was testing Abraham.  God never intended that Abraham would offer a human sacrifice.  Such sacrifices, though not uncommon in ancient pagan cultures, were reprehensible to the God who created humankind with life and dignity.  Later, God would reveal His disgust for such practices and forbid human sacrifice (Leviticus 18:21; 20:1-5; Deuteronomy 12:31; 18:10).  But God had not yet revealed this to Abraham.  In this test of Abraham’s faith, God commanded His friend to sacrifice Isaac.  In His grand covenant, God had promised to make Abraham into a great nation (Genesis 12:1-3).  He also promised to fulfill this covenant through Isaac (Genesis 21:12).  Now, however, God commanded Abraham to sacrifice Isaac.  In His command, God underscored the relationship between this father and son.  He described Isaac as Abraham’s “son,” his “only” son, the son whom Abraham “loved.”  It was this son that Abraham was to take to Moriah and sacrifice as a burnt offering.  As He did in the original presentation of His grand covenant, God left the final destination of Abraham’s journey uncertain.  God would point the way.  Moriah is mentioned only one other time by name in the Old Testament.  In 2 Chronicles 3:1 we read that King Solomon built the temple on Mount Moriah.  This place would see many sacrifices over time, but none more impressive than Abraham’s offer of Isaac.  We can only imagine what must have gone through Abraham’s mind when he heard God’s command.  Did he question God, or had he come to see over the years that he could trust God completely?  Abraham’s response seems to indicate an unfaltering faith. 

Abraham immediately obeyed God and made his way to the place of sacrifice (22:3-5).

            Abraham didn’t hesitate to obey God’s unusual command.  He didn’t bargain with God.  Instead, Abraham began his journey to Moriah the very next morning.  He gathered enough wood for a burnt offering, saddled his donkey, and set out with Isaac and two young servants.  He didn’t run away from God, but headed straight for the destination God had indicated.  It took three days to travel from Beersheba to what would eventually be known as Jerusalem.  When Abraham saw Moriah in the distance he left his donkey and servants behind.  Abraham told his servants that he and Isaac would go to Moriah, worship God, and then return.  “We will come back to you,” he declared.  Abraham’s statement reveals his faith.  He knew that God always keeps His promises.  Abraham knew that God would raise up offspring through Isaac.  Therefore, God would have to raise Isaac from the dead!  Hebrews 11:17-19 indicates that this was exactly what Abraham believed.  Abraham was a man of faith.  He believed in the God who can raise the dead.  First, God gave Isaac through Abraham and Sarah when they were as good as dead when it came to bearing children (Hebrews 11:11-12).  Now God would have to raise Isaac from the dead.  Abraham would have had no problem believing in the resurrection of Jesus Christ.  After all, Abraham’s God is a God who raises the dead.

Abraham assured Isaac that God would provide the necessary sacrifice (22:6-8).

            Although we don’t know how old Isaac was at the time of this event, he must have been old enough to carry a load of wood a fair distance at the side of his aged father.  Abraham placed the wood for the burnt offering on Isaac while Abraham carried the fire and the knife.  While this father and son made their way to the place of sacrifice, Isaac took note that they had everything except a lamb for the burnt offering.  “Where is the lamb?” he asked his father.  Abraham’s response again indicates his faith.  “God himself will provide the lamb.”  God would have to do something miraculous.  God would have to intervene.  Many years later God did, in fact, provide the perfect lamb, His Son, who died on a cross for our sins.  God sacrificed that which was most dear to Him.  He calls us, His people, to sacrifice that which is most dear to us.

God nourishes our faith by providing

everything that’s essential in our lives (22:9-14).

            God not only tests our faith at times.  He also nourishes our faith.  He provides everything that’s necessary for our spiritual strength and growth.

Abraham prepared an altar and raised his knife to sacrifice Isaac (22:9-10).

            Finally Abraham and Isaac arrived at the top of Mount Moriah.  Abraham built an altar, an act of preparation for worship which he had performed on other occasions in the past (Genesis 12:7, 8; 13:18).  This time, however, the altar would hold his beloved son.  Abraham carefully arranged the wood on the altar.  He then bound Isaac and placed his son on the altar.  We read of no struggle on Isaac’s part.  Had Isaac already learned to trust his heavenly Father just as he trusted his earthly father?  While Abraham must have experienced great anxiety over this act, he obediently raised his knife to sacrifice his son.  Surely God would provide, but how?

God intervened and prevented Abraham from sacrificing Isaac (22:11-12).

            At the moment when Abraham was about to kill his son, God intervened.  This had been a test.  Abraham was a man of faith.  He believed God enough to obey what had to be God’s most difficult demand on his life.  God was more precious to Abraham than was even his own son.  As Abraham stood poised to plunge the knife into his son, the angel of the Lord called, “Abraham, Abraham!”  Abraham responded, “Here I am.”  Abraham was in the place of obedience, the place where he could hear the voice of God.  God then instructed Abraham not to go through with this act of sacrifice.  “I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son,” He said to Abraham.  Abraham had passed the test with flying colors!  There was nothing that Abraham held dearer than his relationship with God.  Abraham’s relief at hearing the intervening voice of God must have been beyond measure.

Abraham saw a ram nearby and recognized that God had provided a sacrifice (22:13-14).

            Just as Abraham had assured Isaac, God provided a sacrifice.  Nearby, Abraham saw a ram with its horns caught in a thicket of brush.  He brought the ram to the altar and offered it as a burnt offering to God in place of his son Isaac.  Abraham then named the place, “The Lord Will Provide,” the Hebrew words sometimes being transliterated “Jehovah Jireh” or “Yaweh Yireh.”  These terms mean “the Lord will see to it,” that is, “the Lord will provide.”  A saying eventually arose, stating, “On the mountain of the Lord it will be provided.”  On a nearby hillside, Mount Calvary, the Son of God many years later died to provide forgiveness for our sins.  God has provided everything necessary for our salvation and for our continuing walk with Him.

God rewards our faith by fulfilling

His perfect plan in our lives (22:15-24).

            God was pleased with Abraham’s obedience.  He spoke again to Abraham on the mount of sacrifice and reassured Abraham that He would fulfill His grand covenant.  God rewards our faith by fulfilling His plan in our lives.

God reaffirmed His grand covenant with Abraham (22:15-18).

            The angel of the Lord again addressed Abraham.  God swore an oath based on His own trustworthy character that, because of Abraham’s faithful obedience, He would fulfill His grand covenant.  God would bless Abraham personally and make Abraham’s descendants as numerous as the stars in the heavens and as the sand on the on the seashore (compare Genesis 13:16; 15:5).  God would enable Abraham’s descendants to conquer their enemies and take possession of their enemies’ cities, a promise that would find fulfillment when Joshua led the nation of Israel to victory in the Promised Land.  God also promised that all nations on the earth would be blessed through Abraham’s descendants, a promise that was fulfilled in the sacrifice of Jesus Christ for all humankind. God assured Abraham of these promises because of Abraham’s obedience.  While Abraham’s obedience brought God’s assurance and personal blessing on Abraham, God’s grand covenant was unconditional in nature.  God keeps His promises, even when His people fall short in their faith.  However, we don’t enter into the joy of His promises unless we are obedient.

Abraham and Isaac returned to Beersheba (22:19).

            Abraham and Isaac descended Mount Moriah, rejoined the servants they had left behind, and returned to Beersheba.  Abraham continued to live a life of faith near the waters of Beersheba.  The years would pass, but Abraham could rest secure in the promises of God.

Abraham received news that his brother had fathered twelve sons and had a granddaughter named Rebekah (22:20-24).

            At some point after Abraham’s offer of Isaac on Mount Moriah, messengers arrived from Mesopotamia with news about Abraham’s family.  Abraham’s brother Nahor and Nahor’s wife Milcah had been prosperous.  They had eight sons together.  One of their sons had fathered a daughter named Rebekah, who would eventually become Isaac’s wife.  In addition to Milcah’s eight sons, Nahor had fathered four other sons through a concubine named Reumah.  This snapshot of Abraham’s extended family sets the stage for the unfolding story of God’s blessing through Isaac and Rebekah.  God rewarded Abraham’s faith.  He fulfilled His promise.  God would continue to fulfill His promise through Isaac.  God still rewards our faith today, faith that is sometimes tested.  God calls us to give Him that which we prize most dearly.  But any such sacrifice reaps immeasurable reward.