verse for reflection: He said, ‘Take now your son, your only son, whom you love, Isaac, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I will tell you.’” —Genesis 22:2
Genesis 21 begins with “Now the LORD was gracious to Sarah as he had said, and the LORD did for Sarah what he had promised.” Abraham and Sarah are blessed with the son that they had longed for just as God had said and they named him, Isaac, which means “laughter.” This wasn’t just a son…it was their only son.
All of Abraham’s hopes and dreams rested on Isaac—it was with Abraham and through Isaac that a “great multitude of nations” would descend as promised by God. Then, God does something that’s kind of baffling, “He said, ‘Take now your son, your only son, whom you love, Isaac, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I will tell you.’” (Gen 22:2) When God says this, “your son, your only son, whom you love,” He is really putting Abraham to the test because God knows how much this son means to Abraham.
At this point, what’s running through your mind? Wouldn’t you say something like, “Did I hear you right God?” Or maybe something like, “Okay God, you told me that a ‘multitude of nations’ would descend from me—how’s that going to happen if my son, the son that this was supposed to happen through is sacrificed?” I would. I’d be so full of questions and arguments about how this request, in light of the covenant, just doesn’t seem logical. But what does Abraham do? Exactly what God tells him to do–no questions asked, no arguments presented.
Once I got past this initial reaction, my heart began to break because the more I read, the more I saw not only Abraham’s heart, but God’s heart as well. As I read how Abraham saddled the donkey for the journey up the mountain to sacrifice his son, it reminded me of Jesus riding on the donkey into Jerusalem on what we now know as Palm Sunday. When I read how Abraham cut the wood in preparation for the burnt offering and carried it, my mind fast-forwarded to the wood Jesus carried just before He was sacrificed on the cross; the knife made me think of the spear that pierced Jesus’ side. “On the third day Abraham looked up and saw the place in the distance” made me think of how Jesus would rise on the third day. Then Abraham tells the two helping him to stay behind while he takes his son, Isaac, to worship—this sacrifice was going to be Abraham’s act of worship to God. Not knowing what’s going on, Isaac innocently asks Abraham, where is the lamb for the offering? Abraham says, “God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.” And God does provide the offering of the Lamb in Jesus.
Why did God test Abraham? God is omnicient…God knows everything…so, why the test? Maybe the test’s outcome was for Abraham to see. Maybe Abraham needed to have a deeper awareness of his faith—a deeper understanding of his trust in God. I find it amazing that God tested Abraham in this way, knowing that His Son, Jesus, His Only Son, would see the sacrifice through to completion; Jesus would be the ultimate sacrifice. And it’s this that breaks my heart. God knew what He was asking Abraham to do because God Himself, as The Father, would sacrifice His Son. God knew the sacrifice first hand. God loves us that much.
“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
© 2005 Ginny Rogers
