Now it came to pass after these things that God tested Abraham, and said to him, “Abraham!”And he said, “Here I am.” Then He said, “Take now your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.”
After these things refer to years after the birth of Isaac, who at this point is about 32-34 years of age. Many times we think Isaac was maybe 12-13 yrs old because that’s what we learned in Sunday’s school but in reality, he was a grown man. This chapter confused me and it may have caused confusion for you as well. Why a loving God would ask Abraham to do such thing? I am sure many of you have asked that question. In reality, if you look deeper, this is an excellent portion of scripture which teaches us a valuable lesson of 2 aspects of pleasing God. FAITH & OBEDIENCE. Paul tells in new testament it is impossible to please God without faith. Abraham & Isaac both show their faith and obedience. So why did God need to test Abraham? I firmly believe he knew exactly what was going to happen. Most of the time when we are tested, it is for us rather than God. We grow in our faith & grow closer to God each time we pass a test. So if you are tired of giving the same TEST, you need to pass it and move on. It is said FAITH that is not TESTED is not proven. Let me use a sports analogy to illustrate my point, If you are baseball player and all you do is take batting practice and never ever play a game or if you are cricketer and all you do is to net practice but never face live bowling in match, how do you trust your skill? Yes, you are great in practice but no matter what field you are in, you need to perform on stage to prove to yourself and to others. You can go to medical school and be the best student and have a doctorate degree. You are a Doctor but until you practice the theory you learned and start treating patients , you don’t truly become a doctor. Same principle applies to our faith. We must be tested to continue to grow in faith. So if you hear someone preaching, that as a Christian you will never have adversity in your life, run from that kind of teaching as it simply is not right and not scripturally sound. What would your reaction be if God asked you to give up your most precious possession? Are we willing to leave things behind to follow Christ ? would you give up your home? Job? Truth is many of us are not even ready to leave our church to serve God. Here God asked Abraham to sacrifice his only son, a promised heir. Let’s look at the obedience of Abraham in next few verses and of course it is impossible to be obedient without faith.
3 So Abraham rose early in the morning and saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son; and he split the wood for the burnt offering, and arose and went to the place of which God had told him. 4 Then on the third day Abraham lifted his eyes and saw the place afar off. 5 And Abraham said to his young men, “Stay here with the donkey; the lad[a] and I will go yonder and worship, and we will come back to you.”
Abraham has come a long way in his walk with God. It took him about 50 years to completely obey God’s first commandment when he was told to leave his home in Ur to come to the promised land, but now it says he rose early morning and he was ready to obey. There was no hesitation to follow Lord’s command even if it was sacrificing his own son. He had full faith no matter what God had asked him to do. What a beautiful illustration of faith and obedience. Of course, most of you reading this know, Isaac is a type of Jesus, and a thousand years later God would sacrifice his only son so ALL of us can have everlasting life. Some parallel to notice here, Jesus rode into Jerusalem on donkey, here Abraham & Isaac ride to mount Moriah on a donkey. Jesus had 2 thieves, here Abraham has 2 young servants who accompany them. Jesus was 33 years old when he was hung on the cross, Isaac is about the same age. Even the place, Mount Moriah is the same place where Jesus was hung on the cross. Both Issac & Jesus were born Miraculously. Issac’s birth was promised long before he was born ( 20yrs), Jesus’s birth was predicted centuries before. You still think this is a coincidence? Bible is true don’t let anyone say it is a book written by men and it is a fable. Bible is the word of God and love letter for all of us.
So Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on Isaac, his son; and he took the fire in his hand, and a knife, and the two of them went together. 7 But Isaac spoke to Abraham his father and said, “My father!”And he said, “Here I am, my son.”Then he said, “Look, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?”8 And Abraham said, “My son, God will provide for Himself the lamb for a burnt offering.” So the two of them went together.9 Then they came to the place of which God had told him. And Abraham built an altar there and placed the wood in order; and he bound Isaac his son and laid him on the altar, upon the wood. 10 And Abraham stretched out his hand and took the knife to slay his son.11 But the Angel of the Lord called to him from heaven and said, “Abraham, Abraham!”So he said, “Here I am.”12 And He said, “Do not lay your hand on the lad, or do anything to him; for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from Me.”
Here we see the obedience of Isaac. I believe up to now he did not know what is happening. I am sure this was not the first time he came along with his father for burnt offering. He noticed they had all the stuff for sacrifice but the animal . Just remember , They left the 2 servants behind and were walking up alone, Abraham was an old man and Isaac is the one who is carrying the wood and the supplies needed just like Jesus who carried his own cross. Abraham builds the altar and he asked Isaac to lay down on it. I can only imagine the anguish Abraham is feeling at this point. All of us who have a child can imagine the pain Abraham is feeling, he is probably praying, maybe his hand is shaking, I am sure he is sweating and weak yet, he ties up his only son. Isaac on the other side by now knows what is happening and instead of fighting or arguing, he lays down. He was a robust young man who could have easily overpowered Abraham or simply just run away but instead he obeyed his father. Of course God stopped Abraham from actually going through with sacrifice. But, our father in heaven did sacrifice his only son so we can have life.
13 Then Abraham lifted his eyes and looked, and there behind him was a ram caught in a thicket by its horns. So Abraham went and took the ram, and offered it up for a burnt offering instead of his son. 14 And Abraham called the name of the place, The-Lord-Will-Provide;[b] as it is said to this day, “In the Mount of the Lord it shall be provided.”15 Then the Angel of the Lord called to Abraham a second time out of heaven, 16 and said: “By Myself I have sworn, says the Lord, because you have done this thing, and have not withheld your son, your only son— 17 blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply your descendants as the stars of the heaven and as the sand which is on the seashore; and your descendants shall possess the gate of their enemies. 18 In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice.” 19 So Abraham returned to his young men, and they rose and went together to Beersheba; and Abraham dwelt at Beersheba.
I like many of you wonder, would I be able to do what Abraham did? Sometimes we hear the stories of other Christians who are living in countries where there is heavy persecution and we might wonder would I be strong enough Christian to survive in such conditions? or we may hear about the missionary working in jungles of Africa or war zone in middle east and we just don’t know what we would do if we were in such place. Well God does not put you to a test which you have no chance of passing. God did not ask Abraham to sacrifice Isaac until he was ready. Abraham had journey of faith which started out in Ur of Chaldeans and each time he stumbled, he learned and grew stronger in his faith. If God is going to ask you to do something, he is going to prepare you for it. He is preparing you right now for next test that is coming in your life. That test simply might be for you to be more prayerful, maybe it is spending more time in devotion. Perhaps, God wants you get you out of your comfort zone and take you to another church. I know that’s what I had to do despite lot of resistance from friends, church members & family. I assure you from personal experience whatever it might be that God asks you to do, he knows that you are ready for it, he just wants to see if you have faith in him and are you obedient enough to do it. The test is not for him but it is for you. When child is old enough to start walking, as parents we know they can but each time they take a step, they grow in confidence and before you know it they are running around the home. Just try walking in faith and before you know it, you will be running and when you face the Moriah moment like Abraham, you will have no problem doing what Abraham did.
20 Now it came to pass after these things that it was told Abraham, saying, “Indeed Milcah also has borne children to your brother Nahor: 21 Huz his firstborn, Buz his brother, Kemuel the father of Aram, 22 Chesed, Hazo, Pildash, Jidlaph, and Bethuel.” 23 And Bethuel begot Rebekah.[c] These eight Milcah bore to Nahor, Abraham’s brother. 24 His concubine, whose name was Reumah, also bore Tebah, Gaham, Thahash, and Maachah
Chapter ends with genealogy of Abraham’s brother who was still back in Haran. We are introduced to Rebekah who will be bride of Isaac.
What an excellent chapter that teaches us about faith & obedience.
only savior jesus 