Genesis 22

So Abraham finally has his son.  Isaac is here.  Ishmael has left but God has promised to take care of him.  The next step in the growth of God's people has begun.  Now we find...

Genesis 22

New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)

The Command to Sacrifice Isaac

22 After these things God tested Abraham. He said to him, “Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.”² He said, “Take 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 that I shall show you.” ³ So Abraham rose early in the morning, saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him, and his son Isaac; he cut the wood for the burnt offering, and set out and went to the place in the distance that God had shown him. ⁴ On the third day Abraham looked up and saw the place far away. ⁵ Then Abraham said to his young men, “Stay here with the donkey; the boy and I will go over there; we will worship, and then we will come back to you.” ⁶ Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on his son Isaac, and he himself carried the fire and the knife. So the two of them walked on together. ⁷ Isaac said to his father Abraham, “Father!” And he said, “Here I am, my son.” He said, “The fire and the wood are here, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?” ⁸ Abraham said, “God himself will provide the lamb for a burnt offering, my son.” So the two of them walked on together.

⁹ When they came to the place that God had shown him, Abraham built an altar there and laid the wood in order. He bound his son Isaac, and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. ¹⁰ Then Abraham reached out his hand and took the knife to kill^[a] his son. ¹¹ But the angel of the Lord called to him from heaven, and said, “Abraham, Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” ¹² He said, “Do not lay your hand on the boy 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 And Abraham looked up and saw a ram, caught in a thicket by its horns. Abraham went and took the ram and offered it up as a burnt offering instead of his son. ¹⁴ So Abraham called that place “The Lord will provide”;^[b] as it is said to this day, “On the mount of the Lord it shall be provided.”^[c]

¹⁵ The angel of the Lord called to Abraham a second time from heaven, ¹⁶ and said, “By myself I have sworn, says the Lord: Because you have done this, and have not withheld your son, your only son, ¹⁷ I will indeed bless you, and I will make your offspring as numerous as the stars of heaven and as the sand that is on the seashore. And your offspring shall possess the gate of their enemies, ¹⁸ and by your offspring shall all the nations of the earth gain blessing for themselves, because you have obeyed my voice.” ¹⁹ So Abraham returned to his young men, and they arose and went together to Beer-sheba; and Abraham lived at Beer-sheba.

The Children of Nahor

²⁰ Now after these things it was told Abraham, “Milcah also has borne children, to your brother Nahor:²¹ Uz the firstborn, Buz his brother, Kemuel the father of Aram, ²² Chesed, Hazo, Pildash, Jidlaph, and Bethuel.” ²³ Bethuel became the father of Rebekah. These eight Milcah bore to Nahor, Abraham’s brother. ²⁴ Moreover, his concubine, whose name was Reumah, bore Tebah, Gaham, Tahash, and Maacah.

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There has been a lot written about the sacrifice of Isaac.  A lot of it hinges on what Abraham knew.  Did he know that God would not let him kill his son?  Did he think God would resurrect him?  Did he resign himself to God fulfilling His promise through a different child?  Did he only act like he was going to kill Isaac but was only playing a game of chicken with God?  What we do with the passage depends a lot on what we imagine was going on with Abraham.

Here's what we know: God called Abraham to offer up his son.  Abraham did not bargain with God like he did for Sodom.  He set up the sacrificial altar.  Assuming that you cannot fool God, he was about to kill his son and only stopped because the angel told him to.  Abraham was honored for his faithfulness.

Sacrifice is a touchy subject.  Why would God ever call us to give up something that we love?  A relationship, a career, a hobby, a lifestyle, whatever.  Many, many times, the sacrifice that we are invited to release is something good that God gave us in the first place.  Is sacrifice simply God on a power trip?  Is He so insecure that He makes us dance to show our devotion to Him?  Could sacrifice be avoided if we simply lived holier lives?

My perspective has 2 parts: perspective and identity.

• When I say "perspective" what I am referring to is looking at the big picture...the really, really big picture...Eternity.  Paul talks about the sufferings of this present day being insignificant when compared to the glory of eternity.  If we are convinced that the best life possible here on earth and for eternity are available if we submit ourselves to God, then obediently releasing what we hold dear is a decision that makes sense.  I won't call it an easy decision, but it is one that makes sense.
• Identity.  Who are we?  Often that question is answered by listing what we do or what we have accomplished or what we own.  When our first answer is anything other than "a child of God" then the things that we love can become the things that we worship, which is idolatry.  This passage clarified for God, Abraham and Isaac that Abraham's identity was not primarily "The Father of Isaac" but instead was "A Child of God."  Yahweh was Abraham's god; Abraham and his descendants would be Yahweh's people...and the entirety of scripture flows from that decision.

A couple of notes:

• Abraham did not wake up in the morning trying to figure out what to sacrifice in order to be more holy.  It is a worthwhile question for us to ask, but this passage is primarily about hearing God's voice and obeying, not trying to make oneself more holy.
• Did you notice the foreshadowing?  The only son carrying the wood up the hill in order to be sacrificed.

Let us clearly hear God's voice and obey what He says.