Genesis 22

(Genesis 22:1-24): The LORD could have not been any more direct; Abraham, [you] take Isaac and offer him as a burnt offering (Gen 22:2). This test was not for God’s benefit for He is all-knowing (omniscient); it was for Abraham’s benefit and ours (Rom 15:4). In reference to Isaac, God added the emotionally charged words your only son and whom you love. In other words, take your only son whom you love and sacrifice him as a burnt offering to Me. The only immediate response recorded of Abraham was that he rose early … and went … (Gen 22:3). 

The LORD knew there would be emotional turbulence inside Abraham’s heart over the death of his son. What father wouldn’t? The very word tested hinted at this if this word is to have any meaning. As with any command from God, our heart (the seat of our will, emotions, and intellect) must come on board the will of God. Though we pray Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven, immediately and completely, we often struggle in unbelief. We read nothing of Abraham struggling, but surely, he had to be mulling over in his heart the promises made to him by God which afforded him comfort: 

Sarah your wife shall bear you a son, and you shall call his name Isaac; I will establish My covenant with him for an everlasting covenant, and with his descendants after him (Gen 17:19). For in Isaac your seed shall be called (Gen 21:12). Compare Rom 4:20-21. 

There was a similar situation where a promise of God comforted Abraham when God instructed him to send Hagar and Ishmael away (Gen 21:11-13). As with Abraham, we all possess the power of choice to receive, resist, or reject the Word of God. Unlike Abraham, we do not all value the Word of God. By faith, Abraham embraced the Word of the Everlasting God as a rule of life. He had seen the power behind the precepts and the promises; Sarah giving birth at 90 years of age was living proof! 

We are always encouraged and strengthened by the promises of God in times of great difficulty. This was certainly one of those times. But the breakthrough comes in believing the promises of God with the whole heart and acting in obedience to the will of God. Before the morning departure to the land of Moriah, Abraham believed with his whole heart, without wavering, that God keeps His promises. What God promises, He is able to perform. He was fully convinced within his heart at this stage of his life that God would bring Isaac back to life. 

 Notice what he said to the two young men who had accompanied him and Isaac, Stay here with the donkey; the lad and I will go yonder and worship, and we will come back to you (Gen 22:5, emphasis mine; Heb 11:19). It was God who walked alone through the divided animals that dark, fearful night in the desert years ago declaring that the fulfillment of the covenant was on Him and Him alone; all Abram could do was watch in awe and amazement, scared out of his gourd (Gen 15:17). 

Isaac inquired of his father where the lamb for the sacrifice was, and Abraham replied, My son, God will provide for Himself the lamb for a burnt offering (Gen 22:8). Abraham’s will was tied to the will of God. There is no evidence of any struggle by Isaac being bound and laid on the wood, and it is uncertain of his age. But bound Isaac must be for there could be no turning back. Disobedience to the LORD was more abhorrent than the life of his only begotten son! 

Abraham took the knife to slay his son (Gen 22:10), and the Angel of the LORD prevented him.

 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 (Gen 22:12). 

The LORD had provided a ram caught in the thicket by its horns to be a burnt offering instead of Isaac (Gen 22:13). The answer to the question asked by Isaac about the lamb was prophetic because Abraham named that place, The-LORD-Will-Provide (Gen 22:14). That was one altar call Isaac would never forget! The Angel of the LORD called to Abraham a second time out of heaven and said, 

Gen 22:16 By Myself I have sworn, says the LORD, because you have done this thing, and have not withheld your son, your only son—  

Gen 22:17 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. 

So, Abraham returned to his young men, and they rose and went together to Beersheba; and Abraham dwelt at Beersheba, the well of the seven lambs. Moses mentions Nahor, Abraham’s brother, who lived in Mesopotamia (cf. Gen 11:26, 31), Abraham’s homeland, because Isaac’s future wife, Rebekah (Gen 24:67; 25:20), would come from there. Nahor and Milcah, his wife, had eight sons. One of his sons, Bethuel, was the father of Rebekah (Gen 22:23). 

Father, I am thankful you know my frame and will not test me more than I am able to withstand. You put Abraham through a very difficult trial which can only mean he was spiritually ready to bear the weight of the load. This was a testament to his faith. The world would look at Abraham as a crazed religious fanatic. But You looked at him as one who truly feared God and was worthy to be your follower for he proved that he loved you more than his own flesh and blood (Mt 10:37). LORD, how often have I doubted Your Word over the simplest of things! Not being fully persuaded that You are able to perform what You promised in Your Word is nothing but wavering in unbelief. 

To believe so strongly and passionately in Your promises that Abraham was able to give up the dearest thing to his heart unnerves me; it rattles me to the very core. I am but a spiritual pygmy in the presence of a spiritual giant like Abraham. He wasn’t perfect, but he was persuaded in Your promises. My fear of You is not where it needs to be because of unbelief, Father. Thank You for the life of Abraham! Abraham was right – God will provide to meet His promises. Help me to give glory to You by growing strong in faith and acting on that persuasion that You are able to perform all of Your promises to me. <><