Gospel Light Christian Church Thru-The-Bible Series (19.3)
The Book of Genesis
Genesis Chapter 22:1-18 - Read this Bible passage
once through before referring to the notes below.
The Sacrifice of Isaac – the Total Consecration of Faith
v.1 The effectiveness of a test (“tempted”) required the divine command to be both sudden and surprising.This initial statement is the narrator’s
interpretation of the event – in other words, Abraham did not know it was a test, or its value would be diminished.As in many other Biblical narratives
(cf. Job 1), the reader often
knows information that the characters in the narrative do not.
v.2 From Abraham’s perspective, the command from God, “Take now thy son…get thee…and offer him…,” was something he would never have imagined God will call him to do. Not only was God asking him
to make a child sacrifice but He was asking for the child who would be heir to the promises. An attempt to
defend God by saying that He has the right to take the life of any human because all are sinners or to say that
He never intended to let Abraham go through with it is to completely miss the point of the whole story! As
far as Abraham is concerned, this command from the LORD appears to be totally out of His character and would completely
destroy His programme.
In His choice of descriptions for Isaac (“thy
son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest”), God was reminding Abraham of the
joyous fulfillment of the promise (21:8) and such reminders made the task more difficult and the commandment more
painful. Abraham was in his old age when Isaac was born (cf. 21:2, 7). He had obediently sent away
Ishmael, upon whom he had earlier pinned his hopes (cf. 17:18). Now he is commanded to offer as a sacrifice
his only remaining hope and comfort after 25 years of sojourning in obedience to God’s call (cf. 12:1-3).
And it was a command to sacrifice that would have challenged the very foundation of Abraham’s world because the
cruelty and wickedness in the practice of human sacrifice, common in the ancient world, was in contradiction to
the LORD’s character whom he had come to know as true and righteous.
v.3-5 The response of Abraham to God’s instruction is truly amazing
– it was instant, unquestioning obedience! Even though in the command, God seemed to have become Abraham’s
worst enemy, Abraham was willing to sacrifice to God this son, who had everything in the world to live for, whom
God had provided as the hope of the future.Considered in the light of all these factors, we may observe that Abraham’s faith in God is very great
indeed!
The faith God calls for in believers’ today is no less, if we really desire to be part of God’s programme in the
advancement of His kingdom. Consider for example the Lord Jesus’ requirement of forsaking one’s family, leaving
all, and following Him (cf. Lu. 14:26-27).The truth
is if anybody intends to be a true worshipper of the LORD, it will involve the willingness to sacrifice whatever
is dearest and most treasured, even if such should be considered a gift from God. Although the commandment
was to sacrifice Isaac as an offering to the LORD, the real point of the act was Abraham’s sacrifice of himself,
i.e. of his wisdom (or intellect), affections (or emotions), and preference (or will) with regards to his son Isaac
(or that which is dearest and most treasured to him).
The 3-day journey would have provided enough time for Abraham to ponder deeply over the meaning and implication
of God’s command. Up to this point in the story, we may be sure that Abraham knew at least two things: first,
God planned the future around Isaac (cf. 17:19); second, God wanted him to sacrifice Isaac. He could not
reconcile the two but would continue to carry out what God had instructed him to do – “I and the lad will go yonder and worship”.
v.6-10 After Abraham had declared his intent to proceed in obedience
to the Word of the LORD, he made the necessary preparations (wood, fire and knife) and “they went both of them together”. The father’s reply to his son’s
question about the animal, “God will provide
himself a lamb for a burnt offering,” is a statement of faith that did not hinder
Abraham from obeying the call to sacrifice Isaac.It only deferred the answer to God and provided Him an opportunity to make a way out
of the dark event that lay ahead, while concealing his own intent to slay the son that God had provided.
At the moment of truth, Abraham did not look around for an animal or wait hesitantly for God to intervene but instead
he “stretched forth his hand, took the knife
to slay his son”. Abraham obeyed even though he did not have all the answers
nor did he fully understand.He
did know that it was the will of his LORD God, and for him, that was enough.
v.11-12 The divine intervention came when the sacrifice was made
– in the heart of Abraham. The call “out
of heaven” came with an intensity through the repetition of the name “Abraham, Abraham” to prevent
him from doing any harm to the lad.Only here did it become clear to Abraham that the it was only a test; only here did it become clear that
God took no pleasure at all in child sacrifice.
The expression “now I know” is the joyous knowledge of God (anthropomorphic description) gained through testing Abraham.What is now known is that Abraham
“fearest God”.How it became known was because Abraham
“hast not withheld
[his] son…from
[God]”. He who truly fears God will demonstrate a total consecration of faith in obedience to God, no matter
what the cost (“thine only son”).He considers
his absolute surrender to the will of God as his primary responsibility.
In understanding this sacrifice, it is important to remember that God asked Abraham to sacrifice something he was
sure was the will of God for him to have. Here is revealed the principle of sacrifice – God does not ask
worshippers to give Him that which they do not treasure or that which they no longer care for or need.
Rather, God requires that His worshippers offer Him the best they have.True worship in Israel was sacrificial worship (cf. Ex. 13:13; 22:29; 34:20), and in sacrificing the first and the best to God, the worshipper was demonstrating submission
to the will of God.
The test of obedience for the Christian does not differ. The LORD calls on believers today to obey His instructions,
including sacrificing themselves and their possessions to Him in fear and devotion. This step may require
us to give up some personal possession, ambition, or direction that seems clearly to be God’s design. The
Christian life becomes a life of worship when the fear of the LORD leads him to surrender all that he is and all
that he has entirely to Him.
v.13-14 The commemorative naming of the place (“Jehovah-jireh,” i.e. the LORD provides) by Abraham indicates that the
discovery of the sacrificial “ram caught in
a thicket by his horns” was not considered by the patriarch as mere chance.Instead, it was the LORD who stopped
him and it was also the LORD who provided for him. Faith in the LORD to provide enables the true worshipper
to sacrifice without reservation.Through His provision to all who come sacrificially before Him with their best offerings, God appears
to His worshippers (“in the mount of the LORD
it shall be seen”).
v.15-18 After the event was over, the LORD called out from heaven
to Abraham to repeat the promised blessing but now adding a solemn oath “By Myself have I sworn”! Here the abundant fulfillment of the promise was based on Abraham’s obedience (“because thou hast done this thing”).
In addition, not only would Abraham’s descendants be numerous, they would be victorious over their enemies (“thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies”). The practical
fulfillment for Israel came when, in similar obedience of faith, they crossed the river Jordan, and began the victorious
campaign that dispossessed the Canaanites and gained the land of promise (cf. the book of Joshua).
For the believer today, the principle is the same. Entrance into the abundant riches of our spiritual inheritance
in Christ requires the total consecration of faith (i.e. our absolute surrender to the will of God). Apart
from a complete obedience out of a heart that believes in God, there can be no real victory in our life over our
enemies. To receive life eternal, we must make a one-time decision to cast our entire dependence on the Person
and finished work of Jesus Christ for us at the cross (cf. Jn. 6:47; 5:24). To receive life abundant and
victorious, we must continuously choose to obey the Word of God in absolute surrender to the Leadership and dependence
on the Power of the Spirit of God (cf. Gal. 2:20; 1 Thess. 5:19; Ro. 8:13).