Genesis 22: 1 - 14
"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 knife to 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 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.”
On one hand, you have a God who condemns sacrifice, especially child sacrifice, on multiple accounts throughout the Old Testament, most notably to the Israelites before they enter the Promise Land: "When you enter the land the LORD your God is giving you, do not learn to imitate the detestable ways of the nations there. Let no one be found among you who sacrifices his son or daughter in the fire...Anyone who does these things is detestable to the LORD, and because of these detestable practices the LORD your God will drive out those nations before you." (Deut 18:9-12).
God condemns human and child sacrifice in the strongest terms: They have built the high places of Baal to burn their children in the fire as offerings to Baal—something I did not command or mention, nor did it enter my mind." When the Israelites did engage in it in later texts, they faced capital punishment or divine judgment from God, even being driven from the promise land.
But then, you read the passage on Abraham and Isaac and it seems to run totally contrary to all the other passages where God condemns human sacrifice. How can God even ask Abraham to sacrifice Isaac, his own child? And Abraham's own obedience to this can seem more shocking - what kind of parent would even think of sacrificing their child? Isn't this a contradiction of the Bible? Certainly, most societies would not sacrifice their own children, although exceptions exist. But in terms of absolute good versus evil, it's wrong - morally, ethically, and absolutely.
At this point, Abraham has already had to give up Ishmael. Now God's asking him to give up the only child he has left? His one and only son? The question that resonates within everyone's mind is this: what kind of God would ask such a thing?
A Closer Look
First, in digging into this passage, I found it helpful helpful to remember Isaac is not automatically a small child. The Hebrew term used to describe Isaac "young lad" is used in many other instances to describe other young men, including the two that accompany them to the mountain. It can range anywhere from infancy to the age of twenty.
While we can't be sure where Isaac falls in age here, given what all has taken place up until this point, we know with certainty Isaac was not an infant or toddler. Given his own abilities to walk for days, hike a mountain, talk sensibly, help his father, and reason, he is at least an older child, although quite possibly a young man. But what I find even more interesting about this passages are some of the things Abraham says.
"Stay here with the donkey while I and the boy go over there. We will worship and then we will come back to you."
Abraham answered, “God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.” And the two of them went on together.
At a glance, it seems like Abraham is lying about them returning. He is not telling the servants nor his son the full truth, that part is obvious. However, is there perhaps another reason why he is saying these things?
Is God a Liar?
The problem with reading a passage of scripture in isolation is we can jump to a conclusion. But we cannot miss everything that has happened until this point, especially the miraculous birth of Isaac and his place in God's promises to Abraham. It is crucial:
The Lord had said to Abram, “Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you.
2 “I will make you into a great nation,
and I will bless you;
I will make your name great,
and you will be a blessing.
3 I will bless those who bless you,
and whoever curses you I will curse;
and all peoples on earth
will be blessed through you."
Let that sit for a moment, "I will make you into a great nation...all the earth will be blessed because of you." At this point, Abraham is over the age of seventy and has no children. How can God make him into a nation that blesses other people without descendants to do so?
Abraham later says to God in an honest dialogue: “Sovereign Lord, what can you give me since I remain childless...a servant in my household will be my heir.” God replies to him,“This man will not be your heir, but a son who is your own flesh and blood will be your heir.” 5 He took him outside and said, “Look up at the sky and count the stars—if indeed you can count them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring be.”
To let Abraham know just how serious He was, God enters into a blood covenant and agreement with Abraham sealed through a sacrifice. Lest you miss the importance of this, God is in essence saying: I'm sealing my promise with an oath, if I do not do this for you and break our covenant, as this animal so shall I be.
Now, for those of you familiar with the rest of the story, Sarah offers up her maid-servant, Hagar, as a second wife to Abraham (Note: this was not God's suggestion nor his endorsed will). Sarah is trying to use Hagar as a surrogate since she is too old to conceive children of her own. Only, it backfires tremendously in the end. With the resulting birth of Ishmael, you might be inclined to think with Abraham's lineage now a surety that God's promise would inevitably fulfilled through Ishmael.
“God said to [Abraham], "As for me, this is my covenant with you: You will be the father of many nations. 5 No longer will you be called Abram; your name will be Abraham, for I have made you a father of many nations. 6 I will make you very fruitful; I will make nations of you, and kings will come from you."
But here's the game-changer: “As for Sarai your wife, you are no longer to call her Sarai; her name will be Sarah. 16 I will bless her and will surely give you a son by her. I will bless her so that she will be the mother of nations; kings of peoples will come from her.”Abraham begs God to bless his son, Ishmael, to which God replies: "Then God said, “Yes, but your wife Sarah will bear you a son, and you will call him Isaac. I will establish my covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his descendants after him. 20 And as for Ishmael, I have heard you: I will surely bless him; I will make him fruitful and will greatly increase his numbers. He will be the father of twelve rulers, and I will make him into a great nation. 21 But my covenant I will establish with Isaac, whom Sarah will bear to you."
That's a rather odd thing for God to promise. If indeed Abraham is going to sacrifice Isaac and Isaac dies, then none of those promises can be fulfilled. Not only that, but God would be a liar. And not just a liar, He'd be breaking an oath and covenant He made binding.
The Real Test
You might be tempted to read God's request of Abraham as a random "show me you love me more than anything in this world" kind of sacrifice. While that is true in a sense, his request is anything but random. The test mentioned in this passage is not simply a "do you really love me?" test.
It's more than that. It's asking: do you really believe Me and trust My promises? There is no plan B here. Isaac is plan A, named specifically in the promises of God to Abraham. Without him, God is a liar and everything that has happened until now is in vain. The covenant dies with Isaac.
While we don't know what all was going through Abraham's head in this passage, we do see glimpses of it. And scripture attests even more to his unwavering belief in the promises God gave him: "By faith Abraham, when God tested him, offered Isaac as a sacrifice. He who had embraced the promises was about to sacrifice his one and only son, 18 even though God had said to him, “It is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned.” 19 Abraham reasoned that God could even raise the dead, and so in a manner of speaking he did receive Isaac back from death."
Abraham believed one way or another that he would come back down the mountain that day with his son, even if it meant resurrection. He believed the promises of God. Isaac couldn't die or at the very least remain dead, because he was the fulfillment of those promises. Abraham's actions showed that the deepest part of Him believed and trusted God's promises, no matter what. He hoped against all hope.
Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as it had been said to him, “So shall your offspring be.”...Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, 21 being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised. 22 This is why “it was credited to him as righteousness.”
The Rest of the Story
While we can walk away from this passage knowing Abraham did go back down the mountain with Isaac at his side, you might be tempted to close the book and let the story end there. But ask yourself this, why does God test Abraham and put in the scripture for us to read? So we'll know that God can ask crazy, painful things of us?
To some extent, this passage does show us how to have faith and trust in God no matter what. But it's so much more than that. Don't miss it: Abraham looked up and there in a thicket he saw a ram 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."
The Lord will Provide. Provide what? “I swear by myself, declares the Lord, 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 all nations on earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed me."
God's stepping in reveals the ultimate fulfillment of his promises to Abraham, and to us. God accentuates His mercy because what Abraham didn't have to do, God showed He would do. Abraham and Isaac are a foreshadowing of the sacrifice of God's only Son. In an ultimate act of love, He shows there's nothing He wouldn't do to reconcile us to Himself:
"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 3:16
To some extent, this passage does show us how to have faith and trust in God no matter what. But it's so much more than that. Don't miss it: Abraham looked up and there in a thicket he saw a ram 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."
The Lord will Provide. Provide what? “I swear by myself, declares the Lord, 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 all nations on earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed me."
God's stepping in reveals the ultimate fulfillment of his promises to Abraham, and to us. God accentuates His mercy because what Abraham didn't have to do, God showed He would do. Abraham and Isaac are a foreshadowing of the sacrifice of God's only Son. In an ultimate act of love, He shows there's nothing He wouldn't do to reconcile us to Himself:
"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 3:16
