JULY 13, 2023
“And Abraham stretched forth his hand, and took the knife to slay his son. And the angel of the LORD called unto him out of heaven, and said, Abraham, Abraham: and he said, Here am I. And he said, Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou any thing unto him: for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son from me.” (Genesis 22:10-12)
This passage (Gen. 22:1–19) occurs over a few days when Isaac is most likely a teenager. God commands Abraham to sacrifice his beloved son as a burnt offering. Keen observers will remember that I wrote about the confirmation that God will give Sarah and Abraham a son back on the 18th of May. Abraham and Sarah were promised a child despite their old age, and Isaac was that child of promise.
This context is critical because it makes this command so much heavier. It was an absolute miracle that they could have this son to begin with, and yet, Abraham sets out to obey without hesitation, acting in complete trust that God, somehow, will make all things right. Isaac and Abraham hike up a mountain at God’s direction, and Isaac notices that they have all the necessary materials, but they have no animal to sacrifice, and Abraham responds by saying, “…My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering.” (Vs. 8) Even faced with this horrible circumstance, Abraham is unwavering in his thought that God will spare his son.
Then he prepares to do the unthinkable. At the command of God, he binds Isaac to the altar and prepares to sacrifice him. Did Isaac struggle? At this time, Abraham was over 110 years old, so one would assume that a teenage Isaac could easily run away from or even overpower Abraham; therefore, it makes the most sense to think Isaac allowed himself to be bound. Of course, Scripture does not say this directly, so we cannot be certain. What we do know for sure is that Abraham continued to demonstrate his unshaken faith in God by willingly obeying this command. He was clearly passing God’s test of his faith, showing that his love for the Lord was more significant than his love for his son.
With the knife raised, Abraham was preparing to follow through when he was suddenly stopped by an urgent voice from heaven calling out his name. The Angel of the Lord makes it clear: Don’t hurt the boy in any way. Make no mistake; God did not change His mind here. This was God’s plan all along, and Abraham has passed God’s test, proving his reverence for and faith in the Lord. This Angel of the Lord, Who is truly God in another form, says now I know that you fear God since you have not withheld your only son from Me.
In the Bible (the Old Testament especially), to “fear God” doesn’t mean being scared of Him, like watching a scary movie. Instead, it means to have such great respect and reverence for the Lord’s power and righteousness that you obey Him above all others. God’s test satisfied whether Abraham “feared” God once and for all. We need to carry the same respect for God with us and trust that He will make everything right in the end.
Speak Your Mind