Genesis 22:1-24
Abraham’s Faith Confirmed (Hebrews 11:17–19)
1 Now it came to pass after these things that God tested Abraham, and said to him, “Abraham!”
And he said, “Here I am.”
2 Then He said, “Take now 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 and saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son; and he split the wood for the burnt offering, and arose and went to the place of which God had told him. 4 Then on the third day Abraham lifted his eyes and saw the place afar off. 5 And Abraham said to his young men, “Stay here with the donkey; the lad and I will go yonder and worship, and we will come back to you.”
6 So Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on Isaac his son; and he took the fire in his hand, and a knife, and the two of them went together. 7 But Isaac spoke to Abraham his father and said, “My father!”
And he said, “Here I am, my son.”
Then he said, “Look, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?”
8 And Abraham said, “My son, God will provide for Himself the lamb for a burnt offering.” So the two of them went together.
9 Then they came to the place of which God had told him. And Abraham built an altar there and placed the wood in order; and he bound Isaac his son and laid him on the altar, upon the wood. 10 And Abraham stretched out his hand and took the knife to slay his son.
11 But the Angel of the LORD called to him from heaven and said, “Abraham, Abraham!”
So he said, “Here I am.”
12 And He said, “Do not lay your hand on the lad, or do anything to him; for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from Me.”
13 Then Abraham lifted his eyes and looked, and there behind him was a ram caught in a thicket by its horns. So Abraham went and took the ram, and offered it up for a burnt offering instead of his son. 14 And Abraham called the name of the place, The-LORD-Will-Provide; as it is said to this day, “In the Mount of the LORD it shall be provided.”
15 Then the Angel of the LORD called to Abraham a second time out of heaven, 16 and said: “By Myself I have sworn, says the LORD, because you have done this thing, and have not withheld your son, your only son— 17 blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply your descendants as the stars of the heaven and as the sand which is on the seashore; and your descendants shall possess the gate of their enemies. 18 In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice.” 19 So Abraham returned to his young men, and they rose and went together to Beersheba; and Abraham dwelt at Beersheba.
The Family of Nahor
20 Now it came to pass after these things that it was told Abraham, saying, “Indeed Milcah also has borne children to your brother Nahor: 21 Huz his firstborn, Buz his brother, Kemuel the father of Aram, 22 Chesed, Hazo, Pildash, Jidlaph, and Bethuel.” 23 And Bethuel begot Rebekah. These eight Milcah bore to Nahor, Abraham’s brother. 24 His concubine, whose name was Reumah, also bore Tebah, Gaham, Thahash, and Maachah.
The faith of Abraham which we claim in Christ is based on this event more than the previous faith which believed he would have a son in his old age and fill the earth with godly descendants. Here he was called to take his only son Isaac and offer him to the LORD as a sacrificial offering, knowing the promise already made and not understanding how killing the heir of righteousness could allow that promise already made to still be fulfilled. He trusted God with a supernatural faith and moved forward in obedience. This is what the hymn Trust and Obey is telling us. Abraham was commanded to go into a desolate place and offer his one and only son there to a place where he would be led to. He split the firewood, saddled up the donkey, and set off on a three day journey until he saw the place from far away. Isaac still did not know what God had told his father but trusted him. Then he asked Abraham where the sacrificial lamb was since all they had was the wood and a place to put the sacrificial offering as they went with the fire and a knife in his father’s hand while he carried the wood. When they arrived, his father constructed an altar, arranged the wood to burn well, and then tied up his son Isaac and put him on top of the wood. By then Isaac must have begun to see where this was going to and is likely why he was tied in case he tried to get off, unlike we who are in Christ who are called to be willing sacrifices (Romans 12:1) that do not move away from giving our lives to Him who gave His for us. As Abraham was obedient to the point of killing his one and only son, God intervened and praised his trust in Him to even be able to raise Isaac back from death afterwards (Hebrews 11:17–19) to fulfill His unbreakable promise to Abraham. God would later honor this faith that worked in obedience by offering His one and only Son instead as the sacrificial Lamb of God for the promise of we His people in Him by that same faith (Galatians 3:8-9, 14) to be realized on the sacrificial offering on the cross of our sin’s curse (Galatians 3:13)! Just as that man of faith in God’s word of promise did not hold back his son, God sacrificed His only begotten Son for us all instead. This is the seed of the gospel of Jesus Christ we read here. God provided a sacrifice from the brush and Abraham named the place, “The-LORD-Will-Provide (YHWH Yireh)” to commemorate the work of God in providing the deliverance to come in delivering his son from death and keeping His promise in this way. Truly in the work of the LORD we find our saving deliverance from our sin’s penalty, the consequences of eternal judgment commuted by His own Son offering the sacrifice of His own life to save ours from that sentence of death we each inherit from Adam. Yes, we see the picture here of God’s work of the gospel that only the work of God Himself can offer for us because we are sinful and imperfect; only the perfect sacrifice (Hebrews 1:3, 9:25-27, 10:10, 12-14) of the Lamb of God can cover our sin and pass us over in the final judgment as our Passover lamb (1 Corinthians 5:7) like in Egypt where His blood from this sacrifice pays the atoning price once and for all for all who exercise the faith of Abraham to trust God’s word and work in His Son for us. In this act Abraham found the blessing of God as we find the eternal blessings of unending life with Him after our death and resurrection which He demonstrated as proof after His sacrificial crucifixion. We also are blessed in hearing God’s voice telling us this good news and trusting it to be true as we receive His only Son by that same faith that takes God at His word. The end of this chapter begins to show others born to his family but Abraham was thinking more of the legacy of faith in his own children of faith through Isaac (Galatians 4:28, James 2:21), whom we are by that same faith in God’s word and work in the person of Jesus Christ whom we receive by that faith (John 1:12), the sacrificial faith of our spiritual father, Abraham.
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