Genesis 22:1-18
1 After these things God tested Abraham and said to him, “Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” 2 He said, “Take 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.” 3 So Abraham rose early in the morning, saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him, and his son Isaac. And he cut the wood for the burnt offering and arose and went to the place of which God had told him. 4 On the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes and saw the place from afar. 5 Then Abraham said to his young men, “Stay here with the donkey; I and the boy will go over there and worship and come again to you.” 6 And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on Isaac his son. And he took in his hand the fire and the knife. So they went both of them together. 7 And Isaac said to his father Abraham, “My father!” And he said, “Here I am, my son.” He said, “Behold, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?” 8 Abraham said, “God will provide for himself the lamb for a burnt offering, my son.” So they went both of them together.
9 When they came to the place of which God had told him, Abraham built the altar there and laid the wood in order and bound Isaac his son and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. 10 Then Abraham reached out his hand and took the knife to slaughter his son. 11 But the angel of the Lord called to him from heaven and said, “Abraham, Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” 12 He said, “Do not lay your hand on the boy or do anything to him, for now I know that you fear God, seeing you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me.” 13 And Abraham lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, behind him was a ram, caught in a thicket by his horns. And Abraham went and took the ram and offered it up as a burnt offering instead of his son. 14 So Abraham called the name of that place, “The Lord will provide”; as it is said to this day, “On the mount of the Lord it shall be provided.”
15 And the angel of the Lord called to Abraham a second time from heaven 16 and said, “By myself I have sworn, declares the Lord, because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, 17 I will surely bless you, and I will surely multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven and as the sand that is on the seashore. And your offspring shall possess the gate of his enemies, 18 and in your offspring shall all the nations of the earth be blessed, because you have obeyed my voice.”
Sometimes we go through such heavy trials in this life. And, if we’re honest, we may wonder, “God, why are you allowing this to happen to me? I’m trying to follow you best I can. Why, Lord?” Yet, perhaps the better question would be, “Lord, what do you want me to learn out of this?” How do you keep that perspective that God is still at work, even through trials?
God tests our faith. There will be times in our lives when God allows us to go through trying experiences. As we look back over our lives we might see some of those times that didn’t really make too much sense at the time.
James 1:2-3 tells us, “Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness.” God uses tests and trials to grow us.
Abraham faced the trial of his life. God told him to sacrifice his one and only son. Remember that Ishmael had been sent away. Only Isaac remained, the child of promise, the answer to God’s promise that Abraham and Sarah will parent a nation, more descendants than the sand on the seashore or the stars in the sky. And now God says to kill him! What is Abraham to think?
It’s the major trial: will Abraham trust in the promise? Or will Abraham trust in the God who gave the promise? Will he let anything or anyone come between him and his God? Will his relationship with God remain top priority in his life?
Will he obey the God who gave him this son of promise? Of course, Isaac too must come to terms with his own obedience. Most scholars agree that Isaac was between 17 and 20 years old, so he could easily overpower his elderly father.
Isaac could resist, but he doesn’t. He yields, allowing his father to tie him up. Isaac chooses to obey his father, trusting that his father has heard correctly from God.
And Abraham? Hebrews 11:19 tells us, “He considered that God was able even to raise him from the dead, from which, figuratively speaking, he did receive him back.” The story illustrates this. Abraham tells his servants in verse 5, “Stay here with the donkey; I and the boy will go over there and worship and come again to you.” Abraham is very clear that both he and the boy will go AND both he and the boy will return. He believes if God chooses for the boy to die, then God will bring him back to life.
Isaac obeyed his father, and Jesus obeyed His father. You can’t miss the connection here.
God will test our faith at times.
And God grows our faith. When we endure times of testing, our faith has an opportunity to grow. Our understanding of God will mature.
Abraham is obedient to God to the point of taking the life of his one and only son, the son of promise. As he lifts the knife into the air, at the last possible moment, the voice of the Lord intervenes and stop him. Immediately, Abraham notices a ram caught by his horns and sacrifices the ram in place of Isaac. Abraham names that place, “The Lord will provide,” or Jehovah Jireh, because God provided a sacrifice in place of Isaac.
Abraham now sees a whole new dimension of God as provider because Abraham obediently put himself in a place of learning. He put himself in a place of desperation for God.
We only learn more about God as we allow ourselves to trust Him, to believe Him, and to count on His provision.
One commentator wrote, “Our needs can never exhaust God’s supply.” Philippians 4:19 tells us, “My God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus.”
God tests our faith, and God grows our faith. And lastly,
God leads by example.
Verse 2 says “Take your son, your only son, whom you love.” The phrase, “only son,” appears three times in the story (in verses 2, 12, and 16). In the Greek translation of the Old Testament—the Bible that Jesus would have used—this phrase is word for word identical to one in a verse we are so familiar with. “For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son” (John 3:16).
As God called Abraham to do, God did Himself. He gave His only Son. In Abraham’s case, God stopped him. God intervened. Abraham had passed the test. Abraham valued obedience of God above all else. And God reaffirmed His great promise to Abraham.
In God’s case, He did not stop. Jesus prayed, “If possible, let this cup pass from me,” but the cup did not pass. The ancient church father Augustine wrote, “Isaac carried the wood on which he was to be offered up to the place of sacrifice, just as the Lord Himself carried His own cross. The ram was caught by the horns in a thicket; who then did he represent but Jesus, who, before He was offered up had been crowned with thorns?”
In fact, the ram in today’s story represents the first clear example in scripture of what theologians call “substitutionary atonement,” the idea that an innocent has to die in place of another. That ram gave his life for Isaac. And Jesus gave His life for us.
On the very same hill where Abraham saw the ram, Jesus later died, a hilltop that became the city of Jerusalem. As homes all over Jerusalem prepared their Passover lambs, Jesus became our Passover lamb. God poured out His righteous anger on the one human being who had never sinned, His one and only Son. And through that one sacrifice, we are able to receive forgiveness for all our sins, as we throw ourselves at the mercy of a forgiving Heavenly Father.
No parent can read the story of God commanding Abraham to sacrifice his son without being horrified at such a request. But this is exactly what He wants us to see: The horrific cost of our sin and the awful realisation that we simply cannot pay that price ourselves.
We don’t understand it all, but we can understand God’s great love for us, despite whatever trial we find ourselves in. When we read Genesis 22, “Why?” is the wrong question.
Instead, we should be asking “What?” What does God want us to learn from it?
The greatest lesson we can learn here is that Jesus loves us so much, that He was prepared to go to the cross for you and for me.
1 After these things God tested Abraham and said to him, “Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” 2 He said, “Take 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.” 3 So Abraham rose early in the morning, saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him, and his son Isaac. And he cut the wood for the burnt offering and arose and went to the place of which God had told him. 4 On the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes and saw the place from afar. 5 Then Abraham said to his young men, “Stay here with the donkey; I and the boy will go over there and worship and come again to you.” 6 And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on Isaac his son. And he took in his hand the fire and the knife. So they went both of them together. 7 And Isaac said to his father Abraham, “My father!” And he said, “Here I am, my son.” He said, “Behold, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?” 8 Abraham said, “God will provide for himself the lamb for a burnt offering, my son.” So they went both of them together.
9 When they came to the place of which God had told him, Abraham built the altar there and laid the wood in order and bound Isaac his son and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. 10 Then Abraham reached out his hand and took the knife to slaughter his son. 11 But the angel of the Lord called to him from heaven and said, “Abraham, Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” 12 He said, “Do not lay your hand on the boy or do anything to him, for now I know that you fear God, seeing you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me.” 13 And Abraham lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, behind him was a ram, caught in a thicket by his horns. And Abraham went and took the ram and offered it up as a burnt offering instead of his son. 14 So Abraham called the name of that place, “The Lord will provide”; as it is said to this day, “On the mount of the Lord it shall be provided.”
15 And the angel of the Lord called to Abraham a second time from heaven 16 and said, “By myself I have sworn, declares the Lord, because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, 17 I will surely bless you, and I will surely multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven and as the sand that is on the seashore. And your offspring shall possess the gate of his enemies, 18 and in your offspring shall all the nations of the earth be blessed, because you have obeyed my voice.”
Sometimes we go through such heavy trials in this life. And, if we’re honest, we may wonder, “God, why are you allowing this to happen to me? I’m trying to follow you best I can. Why, Lord?” Yet, perhaps the better question would be, “Lord, what do you want me to learn out of this?” How do you keep that perspective that God is still at work, even through trials?
God tests our faith. There will be times in our lives when God allows us to go through trying experiences. As we look back over our lives we might see some of those times that didn’t really make too much sense at the time.
James 1:2-3 tells us, “Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness.” God uses tests and trials to grow us.
Abraham faced the trial of his life. God told him to sacrifice his one and only son. Remember that Ishmael had been sent away. Only Isaac remained, the child of promise, the answer to God’s promise that Abraham and Sarah will parent a nation, more descendants than the sand on the seashore or the stars in the sky. And now God says to kill him! What is Abraham to think?
It’s the major trial: will Abraham trust in the promise? Or will Abraham trust in the God who gave the promise? Will he let anything or anyone come between him and his God? Will his relationship with God remain top priority in his life?
Will he obey the God who gave him this son of promise? Of course, Isaac too must come to terms with his own obedience. Most scholars agree that Isaac was between 17 and 20 years old, so he could easily overpower his elderly father.
Isaac could resist, but he doesn’t. He yields, allowing his father to tie him up. Isaac chooses to obey his father, trusting that his father has heard correctly from God.
And Abraham? Hebrews 11:19 tells us, “He considered that God was able even to raise him from the dead, from which, figuratively speaking, he did receive him back.” The story illustrates this. Abraham tells his servants in verse 5, “Stay here with the donkey; I and the boy will go over there and worship and come again to you.” Abraham is very clear that both he and the boy will go AND both he and the boy will return. He believes if God chooses for the boy to die, then God will bring him back to life.
Isaac obeyed his father, and Jesus obeyed His father. You can’t miss the connection here.
God will test our faith at times.
And God grows our faith. When we endure times of testing, our faith has an opportunity to grow. Our understanding of God will mature.
Abraham is obedient to God to the point of taking the life of his one and only son, the son of promise. As he lifts the knife into the air, at the last possible moment, the voice of the Lord intervenes and stop him. Immediately, Abraham notices a ram caught by his horns and sacrifices the ram in place of Isaac. Abraham names that place, “The Lord will provide,” or Jehovah Jireh, because God provided a sacrifice in place of Isaac.
Abraham now sees a whole new dimension of God as provider because Abraham obediently put himself in a place of learning. He put himself in a place of desperation for God.
We only learn more about God as we allow ourselves to trust Him, to believe Him, and to count on His provision.
One commentator wrote, “Our needs can never exhaust God’s supply.” Philippians 4:19 tells us, “My God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus.”
God tests our faith, and God grows our faith. And lastly,
God leads by example.
Verse 2 says “Take your son, your only son, whom you love.” The phrase, “only son,” appears three times in the story (in verses 2, 12, and 16). In the Greek translation of the Old Testament—the Bible that Jesus would have used—this phrase is word for word identical to one in a verse we are so familiar with. “For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son” (John 3:16).
As God called Abraham to do, God did Himself. He gave His only Son. In Abraham’s case, God stopped him. God intervened. Abraham had passed the test. Abraham valued obedience of God above all else. And God reaffirmed His great promise to Abraham.
In God’s case, He did not stop. Jesus prayed, “If possible, let this cup pass from me,” but the cup did not pass. The ancient church father Augustine wrote, “Isaac carried the wood on which he was to be offered up to the place of sacrifice, just as the Lord Himself carried His own cross. The ram was caught by the horns in a thicket; who then did he represent but Jesus, who, before He was offered up had been crowned with thorns?”
In fact, the ram in today’s story represents the first clear example in scripture of what theologians call “substitutionary atonement,” the idea that an innocent has to die in place of another. That ram gave his life for Isaac. And Jesus gave His life for us.
On the very same hill where Abraham saw the ram, Jesus later died, a hilltop that became the city of Jerusalem. As homes all over Jerusalem prepared their Passover lambs, Jesus became our Passover lamb. God poured out His righteous anger on the one human being who had never sinned, His one and only Son. And through that one sacrifice, we are able to receive forgiveness for all our sins, as we throw ourselves at the mercy of a forgiving Heavenly Father.
No parent can read the story of God commanding Abraham to sacrifice his son without being horrified at such a request. But this is exactly what He wants us to see: The horrific cost of our sin and the awful realisation that we simply cannot pay that price ourselves.
We don’t understand it all, but we can understand God’s great love for us, despite whatever trial we find ourselves in. When we read Genesis 22, “Why?” is the wrong question.
Instead, we should be asking “What?” What does God want us to learn from it?
The greatest lesson we can learn here is that Jesus loves us so much, that He was prepared to go to the cross for you and for me.