GOD TELLS ABRAHAM TO SACRIFICE ISAAC
Genesis 22:1-24
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.” (2)
chapter 22
1. 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."
15. The angel of the LORD called to Abraham from heaven a second time
16. and said, "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."
19. Then Abraham returned to his servants, and they set off together for Beersheba. And Abraham stayed in Beersheba.
20. Some time later Abraham was told, "Milkah is also a mother; she has borne sons to your brother Nahor:
21. Uz the firstborn, Buz his brother, Kemuel (the father of Aram),
22. Kesed, Hazo, Pildash, Jidlaph and Bethuel."
23. Bethuel became the father of Rebekah. Milkah bore these eight sons to Abraham’s brother Nahor.
24. His concubine, whose name was Reumah, also had sons: Tebah, Gaham, Tahash and Maakah.
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
1. Such a command is unthinkable – a reverting of God’s promise. The test for Abraham was to trust God with not only his own life, but with his son – his only son – whom he loves. This is the first time the word love appears in the Bible. Abraham’s love for Isaac is a foreshadow of God’s love for his Son Jesus (Mt 3:17), whom he sacrificed for us. Silently preparing, taking the journey, engaging with Isaac as they ascend the mountain, even to the point of binding the boy and wielding the knife – all of it tested Abraham’s confidence in God who would “provide;” Abraham’s faith was justified.
2. The name Moriah means region of seeing. In a play on words, Abraham calls the place “YHWH sees to it,” or “the LORD Provides.” It meant more than he could imagine. The ram provided atonement for Isaac; the temple built here centuries later provided atonement for Israel (2Ch 3:1). But the temple points to Jesus (Jn 2:19-21), and his atoning sacrifice opened the way of salvation for all people. The LORD Provides indeed!
3. God tested Abraham because he wanted to transfer the covenant from being conditionally based on Abraham’s obedience (12:1-3) to an unconditional covenant based on God alone (16).
Prayer: Father, you have provided everything in Jesus. Help me to trust you with all that I love.
One Word: The New Covenant is unconditional