Genesis 22
Abraham’s Faith Tested
22 Some time later, God tested Abraham’s faith. “Abraham!” God called.
“Yes,” he replied. “Here I am.”
2 “Take your son, your only son—yes, Isaac, whom you love so much—and go to the land of Moriah. Go and sacrifice him as a burnt offering on one of the mountains, which I will show you.”
3 The next morning Abraham got up early. He saddled his donkey and took two of his servants with him, along with his son, Isaac. Then he chopped wood for a fire for a burnt offering and set out for the place God had told him about. 4 On the third day of their journey, Abraham looked up and saw the place in the distance. 5 “Stay here with the donkey,” Abraham told the servants. “The boy and I will travel a little farther. We will worship there, and then we will come right back.”
6 So Abraham placed the wood for the burnt offering on Isaac’s shoulders, while he himself carried the fire and the knife. As the two of them walked on together, 7 Isaac turned to Abraham and said, “Father?”
“Yes, my son?” Abraham replied.
“We have the fire and the wood,” the boy said, “but where is the sheep for the burnt offering?”
8 “God will provide a sheep for the burnt offering, my son,” Abraham answered. And they both walked on together.
9 When they arrived at the place where God had told him to go, Abraham built an altar and arranged the wood on it. Then he tied his son, Isaac, and laid him on the altar on top of the wood. 10 And Abraham picked up the knife to kill his son as a sacrifice. 11 At that moment the angel of the Lord called to him from heaven, “Abraham! Abraham!”
“Yes,” Abraham replied. “Here I am!”
12 “Don’t lay a hand on the boy!” the angel said. “Do not hurt him in any way, for now I know that you truly fear God. You have not withheld from me even your son, your only son.”
13 Then Abraham looked up and saw a ram caught by its horns in a thicket. So he took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering in place of his son. 14 Abraham named the place Yahweh-Yireh (which means “the Lord will provide”). To this day, people still use that name as a proverb: “On the mountain of the Lord it will be provided.”
15 Then the angel of the Lord called again to Abraham from heaven. 16 “This is what the Lord says: Because you have obeyed me and have not withheld even your son, your only son, I swear by my own name that 17 I will certainly bless you. I will multiply your descendants[a]beyond number, like the stars in the sky and the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will conquer the cities of their enemies. 18 And through your descendants all the nations of the earth will be blessed—all because you have obeyed me.”
19 Then they returned to the servants and traveled back to Beersheba, where Abraham continued to live.
20 Soon after this, Abraham heard that Milcah, his brother Nahor’s wife, had borne Nahor eight sons. 21 The oldest was named Uz, the next oldest was Buz, followed by Kemuel (the ancestor of the Arameans), 22 Kesed, Hazo, Pildash, Jidlaph, and Bethuel. 23 (Bethuel became the father of Rebekah.) In addition to these eight sons from Milcah, 24 Nahor had four other children from his concubine Reumah. Their names were Tebah, Gaham, Tahash, and Maacah.
What is the hardest test that you have ever had? Passing your driving test? Getting that Maths GCSE? For me, it was probably dating Emma. Over eighteen months we challenged each other and discussed everything that we could think of, testing each others character and values before we committed our lives to each other.
The purpose of every test is to reveal what is hidden.
In this passage, we see God testing Abraham and at first glance it seems barbaric and harsh. Why would God ask a man to sacrifice his own son? Abraham doesn’t argue. This was not an uncommon practice in the ancient world with petty gods playing with people’s emotions and demanding sacrifices for their protection and affection. Is God like this? Taking the best for himself? Abraham knew that his son was a miracle and believed that God could raise his son from the dead - life comes from God and he trusted and obeyed him completely.
The test revealed incredible faith.
The prize for passing the test is that God revealed himself in a new way to Abraham. God is Yahweh-Yireh, the God-who-provides. God does not take from us, he provides for us. He is nothing like the other Gods who demand that we give our blessings to them so that they will protect us. He is a God who even provides the sacrifice that is needed.
There is a similar story of a time when Jesus was teaching a crowd. They were all hungry and had no food to eat. Out of the crowd came a boy with some bread and fish. He offered them to Jesus, even though it meant that he would no longer have enough. Jesus blessed the food and shared it amongst the crowd. Through sacrifice, what had been enough for just one person miraculously fed everyone with buckets to spare.
When we give what we have to God, he blesses it and returns it to us. What is released is multiplied. Abraham had one child but because he feared God and trusted in his character, he was blessed and became the father of a nation.
What do you need to release to God?
