Testing Abraham

Genesis 22:1-19

About forty years before, Abraham had gone to Canaan following God’s leadership, with no knowledge of where they were going, just heading to a place where God would show them. For twenty five years he had lived a nomadic lifestyle, surrounded by potential enemies, although he had established friendships with some of the Amorites and Hittite families. His very survival day by day had depended on God enabling him to find enough grass for his livestock and protecting him from his enemies. He was constantly reminded of his total dependence on God.

After making a treaty with the Philistine king, Abimelech, and receiving permission to live in their land, the risk of attack by marauders was greatly reduced. The orchard he planted made his food supply far less susceptible to the vagaries of the weather since the roots reached far deeper into the soil and were less affected by a few days without rain.

Without the constant struggle and reminders it would have been easy to begin to depend on the orchard and his treaty with the Philistines rather than God. Affluence turns at least as many people away from the Lord as poverty does. Proverbs 30;8-9 alludes to the problem. “Remove far from me vanity and lies: give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with food convenient for me: Lest I be full, and deny thee, and say, Who is the LORD? or lest I be poor, and steal, and take the name of my God in vain.” Would Abraham have transferred his faith to something else after ten or twenty years of ease like Lot did?

“And it came to pass after these things, that God did tempt Abraham, and said unto him, Abraham: and he said, Behold, here I am. And he said, Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of.” (Genesis 22:1-2)

James 1:13 commands, “Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man:.” At first glance it sounds like a contradiction in scripture. It is a result of the translation process. The word used here refers to the concept of testing by forcing to make a choice, whereas the Greek word used in James has the implication of trying to trick into doing wrong. God often tests our obedience, but he is never trying to cause us to fail.

As an example, local Mormon bishops have taught that when adam was tempted in the Garden, he had to choose between eating the forbidden fruit in order to populate the earth and not eating it to prevent death coming into the world. It seems they consider the forbidden fruit as the sex act. They refer to the temptation in the Garden as the Paradox. James 1:13 tells us God never puts anybody in such a position.

Abraham had followed God for twenty five years, believing his promise to give the land of Canaan to his heirs before Isaac was born. Several years after Isaac’s birth and being forced to give up Ishmael, God asked Abraham to voluntarily give up his son Isaac. Would his love for God still outweigh his family ties like it had when he left his family in Haran to follow God? As Jesus said in Matthew 10:37, “He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.” Luke 14:26 makes it clear they can’t be saved if they put family ties ahead of God.

“And Abraham rose up early in the morning, and saddled his ass, and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son, and clave the wood for the burnt offering, and rose up, and went unto the place of which God had told him. Then on the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes, and saw the place afar off.

And Abraham said unto his young men, Abide ye here with the ass; and I and the lad will go yonder and worship, and come again to you. And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering, and laid it upon Isaac his son; and he took the fire in his hand, and a knife; and they went both of them together.” (Genesis 22:3-6)

Acting on God’s command was not a spur of the moment decision. It involved gathering and cutting a load of wood, catching and saddling a donkey and loading him, then traveling on foot for three days to the place God commanded, carrying and maintaining burning embers the entire distance. There was lots of time to think about and reconsider his decision, but Abraham remained committed.

“And Isaac spake unto Abraham his father, and said, My father: and he said, Here am I, my son. And he said, Behold the fire and the wood: but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?” (Genesis 22:7)

We don’t know how old Isaac was, but he was old enough to know what a sacrifice involved. Apparently he wasn’t very old however, from his acceptance of Abraham’s answer. Imagine the burden his question must have placed on Abraham, emphasizing as it did what he was about to do. How many Christians have left or refused to go to a mission field because of what their children might be exposed to?

“And Abraham said, My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering: so they went both of them together. And they came to the place which God had told him of; and Abraham built an altar there, and laid the wood in order, and bound Isaac his son, and laid him on the altar upon the wood. And Abraham stretched forth his hand, and took the knife to slay his son.” (Genesis 22:8-10)

All Gods promises to Abraham had centered around Isaac. With Isaac dead, all God’s promises would effectively become meaningless. Would God really demand obedience in such a case? Faced with such a decision, most people would have answered “no”. Abraham never hesitated in obeying God, although there must have been a great deal of turmoil in his soul. He was prepared to kill Isaac if that was what God wanted.

“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 22:11-12)

Michelangelo’s painting in the Sistine Chapel portrays the knife already in motion and an angel rushing to stop it in time. As my art appreciation teacher said, there is such a tension about the painting, whether the angel will make it in time. While it may make the paintindg more exciting, it is totally false. There was never any question. If it went that far, God could freeze his arm or block the knife at any time, but there is no indication he had done more than pickup the knife, and he was surely looking for a reason to stop.

God was pleased that Abraham was willing to even give up his son to please God. It demonstrated that he loved God even more than he loved his own son. All God desires is that he means more to us than anyone else.

“And Abraham lifted up his eyes, and looked, and behold behind him a ram caught in a thicket by his horns: and Abraham went and took the ram, and offered him up for a burnt offering in the stead of his son. And Abraham called the name of that place Jehovahjireh: as it is said to this day, In the mount of the LORD it shall be seen.” (Genesis 22:13-14)

Abraham had told Isaac God would provide a sacrifice, knowing full well that it might well be Isaac himself. Instead, God provided a ram as a substitute, accepting it in Isaac’s place. Romans 6:23 tells us “…the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” Just as Isaac did not have to die because a ram was sacrificed instead, we do not have to die because Christ was sacrificed in our place.

“And the angel of the LORD called unto Abraham out of heaven the second time, And said, By myself have I sworn, saith the LORD, for because thou hast done this thing, and hast not withheld thy son, thine only son: That in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies; And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice.” (Genesis 22:15-18)

Because of Abraham’s total obedience to God, he renewed his covenant with Abraham, even expanding it slightly. Had Abraham refused, God would not have broken his promise, but he would not have received the additional abundance. How many of us have missed the abundance God would have given because we hesitated to fully follow God?

“So Abraham returned unto his young men, and they rose up and went together to Beersheba; and Abraham dwelt at Beersheba.” (Genesis 22:19)