In our study of Genesis chapter twenty two, we examine the testing of Abraham's faith and apply it to our lives as Christians.
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After these things, God tested Avraham. He said to him, "Avraham!" and he answered, "Here I am." He said, "Take your son, your only son, whom you love, Yitz'chak; and go to the land of Moriyah. There you are to offer him as a burnt offering on a mountain that I will point out to you."
In chapter 21, we saw that God kept His promise and gave Avraham his son. Now, time has passed and Isaac has grown into a young man. God initiates the test by telling Abraham to take his son and offer him as a sacrifice. This brings us to questions about this test. First of all, there are those who say that God does not test His children but they are wrong. They often confuse the concept of testing with tempting. As we see here, God tests faith while temptation is from the devil. So, why would God test the faith of His children? He knows our hearts and so the purpose is not to prove to Him that we have faith. The simple fact of the matter is that Avraham's supreme test of faith was for our benefit so that we might understand the principle of total consecration. Avraham had circumcised Isaac which was an act of setting him apart as a child of God. Now, the question was: Did he really mean that Isaac was set apart for God's use or was it just a religious act? Something that is consecrated is only for God's use and cannot be only part time. So, the ultimate test would be whether Avraham would obey even when he didn't understand or would he try to hold onto what he had already given to God. As Christians when we come to Christ, we are accepting Him as both Savior and Lord. The act of accepting Him as Lord is, in fact, consecrating ourselves to God. Like Avraham, we will go through some tests and some believers will be tested to the point of death (total consecration). The question is still the same: Will we try to hold onto what we have already given God or did we really mean it? We see that Avraham was told to go to "the land of Moriyah" and Moriyah literally means "the Lord is my teacher". We also see that Avraham is not told which mountain to go to but he will depend on further revelation from God. The same thing applies to our lives as Christians where we may not have all of the details of what God wants us to do but, when we take action on what has been revealed to us, God will reveal more as it is needed.
Avraham got up early in the morning, saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him, together with Yitz'chak his son. He cut the wood for the burnt offering, departed and went toward the place God had told him about.
Even though he might not have understood the purpose behind God's instructions, he promptly obeyed. He did not hesitate or come up with religious sounding excuses such as "I'll pray about it" but instead headed for Jerusalem. In Avraham's example, we are reminded that excuses (even religious sounding ones) are, in fact, disobedience.
On the third day, Avraham raised his eyes and saw the place in the distance. Avraham said to his young men, "Stay here with the donkey. I and the boy will go there, worship and return to you."
We remember that "raised his eyes" is a Hebrew idiom refering to the act of praying and here we see that, while Avraham was praying, God showed him the mountain that he was to go to. Was Avraham being deceptive in what he told his servants? Probably not; this is a demonstration of his faith. He told them that they would both return and yet he was prepared to offer Isaac as a burnt offering. He just believed that God could raise him from the dead and stood on His promises. We see that they arrived after three days on the road and are reminded of Jesus' three days in the tomb. Can you imagine those three days of travel for Avraham? That walk of faith had a purpose that he probably did not even see which was to build us up in our faith. As Christians, we are all on our own journey and, just like Avraham, our journey can build others up in their faith. The story of Avraham's walk is described here but you can share your own through this online ministry.
Avraham took the wood for the burnt offering and laid it on Yitz'chak his son. Then he took in his hand the fire and the knife, and they both went on together. Yitz'chak spoke to Avraham his father: "My father?" He answered, "Here I am, my son." He said, "I see the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?"
Isaac carried the wood for the fire just as Jesus carried the cross. Isaac had spent years watching his father make offering to the Lord and so he noticed that this was different. You can almost feel the sorrow as Isaac asked about the lamb. We are reminded that Avraham had no idea how God was going to give him back his son.
Avraham replied, "God will provide himself the lamb for a burnt offering, my son"; and they both went on together.
Avraham's answer demonstrated his great faith but it must have puzzled Isaac. They must have had a wonderful family relationship as Isaac accepted the answer and they traveled on together. This reminds us of the importance of our children seeing our faith in action as they grow to be adults.
They came to the place God had told him about; and Avraham built the altar there, set the wood in order, bound Yitz'chak his son and laid him on the altar, on the wood.
Here, we see that Isaac must have had a large measure of faith as well. Avraham was an old man while Isaac was a strong young man. Yet, he let his father get him down and tie him up for the sacrifice. This is a picture of the fact that Jesus went willingly to the cross. He could have called down a great army of angels to free Him and yet he did not. This measure of faith and trust in his father did not just happen; it must have been cultivated and nourished over the years. We must remember that a living faith is passed on. If we are not passing it on (telling people about Jesus' work in our lives), we must question whether that faith even exists.
Then Avraham put out his hand and took the knife to kill his son. But the angel of ADONAI called to him out of heaven: "Avraham? Avraham!"He answered, "Here I am."
Only God's intervention saved the life of Isaac as Abraham was determined to follow God's instructions. The same is true for us in that Jesus was the only possible way that we could be saved from sin and death. There are many today who do not want to boldly stand up and declare that Jesus is the Way and that has led to a larger and larger number of faithless young people. We cannot blame the young people for following the example that they have seen in their lives. If we want to have faithful children such as Isaac, it must be demonstrated in the lives of the adults around them and that begins in the home.
He said, "Don't lay your hand on the boy! Don't do anything to him! For now I know that you are a man who fears God, because you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me."
Why did God stop Avraham from sacrificing Isaac? God knew from the beginning that Isaac was not going to have to die but Avraham did not. This simple test of faith (which God knew that Avraham would pass) was meant to help Avraham to understand more about God. We see, here, that Avraham feared God but it does not mean that he was afraid of being punished. As we saw on his trip to the mountain, he knew that God could and would restore Isaac if it was required. According to Jewish tradition, this is the third level of yirat (fear) and is a profound understanding of the presence and person of God.
Avraham raised his eyes and looked, and there behind him was a ram caught in the bushes by its horns. Avraham went and took the ram and offered it up as a burnt offering in place of his son.
Once again, we see the Hebrew idion for prayer and so Avraham was praying and God showed him the ram. At just the right time, God provided a ram to replace Isaac on the sacrificial altar. That brings to mind the question of: Why a ram and not a lamb? A lamb is a baby while a ram is considered an adult and the lamb can only become an adult through the passage of time. This is a reminder of the fact that Jesus would come from the line of Abraham but only at the proper time. He would come as a baby (lamb) but would be sacrificed as an adult (ram).
Avraham called the place ADONAI Yir'eh -as it is said to this day, "On the mountain ADONAI is seen."
God sent Avraham to Mt. Moriah and Avraham now calls it The Lord Will Provide. So, how do we get to where we are today with the place being called Jerusalem? In Hebrew, Avraham called the place Adonai Yireh (God will provide). Before that, the city was named Salayim (Shelem) which means "perfect" by Shem (Noah's son) after the flood. The two would later be combined to form the name Jerusalem which refers to God's perfect provision. The name also points to the fact that God will provide the perfect city in the last days as we see it descending from heaven in Revelation 21.
The angel of ADONAI called to Avraham a second time out of heaven. He said, "I have sworn by myself - says ADONAI- that because you have done this, because you haven't withheld your son, your only son, I will most certainly bless you; and I will most certainly increase your descendants to as many as there are stars in the sky or grains of sand on the seashore. Your descendants will possess the cities of their enemies, and by your descendants all the nations of the earth will be blessed - because you obeyed my order. So Avraham returned to his young men. They got up and went together to Be'er-Sheva, and Avraham settled in Be'er-Sheva.
An angel declared the renewal of God's covenant with Avraham. The angel told him that God would bless him and we are reminded that blessed simply means "no worries". In effect, God was telling Avraham that his people would not have to worry because He was going to provide the perfect sacrifice (Jesus) at the perfect time.
Afterwards, Avraham was told, "Milkah too has borne children, to your brother Nachor -
Avraham's brother Nahor was still living in Mesopotamia. Avraham received word that his brother had children and this would be important when it came time for his descendants to find wives.
'Utz his firstborn, Buz his brother, K'mu'el the father of Aram, Kesed, Hazo, Pildash, Yidlaf and B'tu'el. B'tu'el fathered Rivkah. These eight Milkah bore to Nachor Avraham's brother. His concubine, whose name was Re'umah, bore children also: Tevach, Gacham, Tachash and Ma'akhah.
We see that Milkah provided eight sons to Avraham's brother and we are reminded that the number eight is associated with redemption, resurrection, and life. It is through this line that our renewal and resurrection would come. We also see that Nahor's concubine gave him four sons and four is a number that is associated with the world and this speaks to the fact that this redemption would be available to everyone. In all, Nahor had twelve sons. This seems to be a pattern in the lives of Avraham's family. Nahor's descendants would be known as the Aramean tribes. As we see it is from these tribes that Rivkah (Rebekah) would come and be the wife of Yitz'chak.
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