Hebrews 11:17–19 “17 By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises was in the act of offering up his only son, 18 of whom it was said, “Through Isaac shall your offspring be named.” 19 He considered that God was able even to raise him from the dead, from which, figuratively speaking, he did receive him back.”
Genesis 22:1–19 ESV
After these things God tested Abraham and said to him, “Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” 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 of which I shall tell you.” So Abraham rose early in the morning, saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him, and his son Isaac. And he cut the wood for the burnt offering and arose and went to the place of which God had told him. On the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes and saw the place from afar. Then Abraham said to his young men, “Stay here with the donkey; I and the boy will go over there and worship and come again to you.” And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on Isaac his son. And he took in his hand the fire and the knife. So they went both of them together. And Isaac said to his father Abraham, “My father!” And he said, “Here I am, my son.” He said, “Behold, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?” Abraham said, “God will provide for himself the lamb for a burnt offering, my son.” So they went both of them together. When they came to the place of which God had told him, Abraham built the altar there and laid the wood in order and bound Isaac his son and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. Then Abraham reached out his hand and took the knife to slaughter his son. But the angel of the Lord called to him from heaven and said, “Abraham, Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” He said, “Do not lay your hand on the boy or do anything to him, for now I know that you fear God, seeing you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me.” And Abraham lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, behind him was a ram, caught in a thicket by his horns. And Abraham went and took the ram and offered it up as a burnt offering instead of his son. So Abraham called the name of that place, “The Lord will provide”; as it is said to this day, “On the mount of the Lord it shall be provided.” And the angel of the Lord called to Abraham a second time from heaven and said, “By myself I have sworn, declares the Lord, because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, I will surely bless you, and I will surely multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven and as the sand that is on the seashore. And your offspring shall possess the gate of his enemies, and in your offspring shall all the nations of the earth be blessed, because you have obeyed my voice.” So Abraham returned to his young men, and they arose and went together to Beersheba. And Abraham lived at Beersheba.
The writer of Hebrews introduces the story of God testing Abraham by asking him to sacrifice his son Isaac. “17 By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises was in the act of offering up his only son,” This command seems in terms of human logic to be self-defeating. God had made a promise to Abraham that, through his offspring, mankind would be blessed. Isaac was the fulfillment of that promise, and now God was asking Abraham to sacrifice him. This is to the modern reader a shocking and needless act. We have a view of our relationship with God that he is to comfort and provide, but never to correct or test.
Modern man, if he believes in God, has a tendency to think of the God in whom he believes as a benevolent figure whose main concern is to make man feel good about himself. This God is regarded as something like the recreational director on a cruise ship whose task is to give everyone a good time with no expense spared. The idea that God might initiate a test is therefore foreign to many people both outside and inside the kingdom. But James put it in perspective when he wrote, “My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing” (James 1:2–4). D. Stuart Briscoe and Lloyd J. Ogilvie, Genesis, vol. 1, The Preacher’s Commentary Series (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Inc, 1987), 183.
1. The Test of Hope
Genesis 22:1–2 “After these things God tested Abraham and said to him, “Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” 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 of which I shall tell you.””
Parts of the test Abraham is living through mirror God’s original request of Abram to move to a land that he would show him. This time the foreign land is not a test, Isaac is. The faith to move is different than the faith to sacrifice. You must have secure hope to have faith to move toward the mountain, but it is a different level of hope to walk up the mountain. If your hope is in a promise that concerns this life, you will stop at the bottom. If your hope transcends this life, you can keep walking.
‘Tis so sweet to trust in Jesus Just to take Him at His Word Just to rest upon His promise Just to know, “Thus saith the Lord”
I trust him more or I cannot believe he did that to me. Faith is taking action in light of the hope we have, and it is an ever-increasing learning experience. We are learning to walk in faith. We step into the promise, and then God tests our faith in light of the promise.
The narration in Genesis 22 illuminates for the reader the importance of Isaac to Abraham. ““Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love,” With ascending levels of detail, we understand who Isaac is. We must remember that Abraham did have a son named Ishmael through his wife’s servant Hagar, but they had been banished and sent into exile. There is no indication that Abraham did not love Ishmael, and he most certainly grieved the child. This statement was now true that Isaac was all Abraham had left, and he was the son of promise. The test was whether Abraham had placed his hope on something occurring here or on the one who had made the promise.
In a test, even as followers of Christ we apply rational logic to the possible outcomes instead of exercising faith. We make our calculations and then inform God that what he has asked us to do will not work and even be detrimental to what he has already promised us. When our hope is secure in Christ, instead of arguing the logic, we move in faith toward the command with the assurance that the one who made the promise will be able to keep it.
2. Faith in the Keeper of the Promise, not the Promise
“Stay here with the donkey; I and the boy will go over there and worship and come again to you.” And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on Isaac his son. And he took in his hand the fire and the knife. So they went both of them together. And Isaac said to his father Abraham, “My father!” And he said, “Here I am, my son.” He said, “Behold, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?” Abraham said, “God will provide for himself the lamb for a burnt offering, my son.” So they went both of them together.
From the beginning Abraham revealed what he believed, where is hope was. “I and the boy will go over there and worship and come again to you.” Abraham said, “God will provide for himself the lamb for a burnt offering, my son.”
When an earthly promise is tested, how do we respond? We need to remember that God’s eternal promise is not at question. God is not dangling eternal life in front of us as a test. What he does is ask us in difficult circumstances if we still believe that the one who has provided the hope of eternity can and will keep his promise on earth, and if so, will we walk up the mountain without knowing the outcome.
“He considered that God was able even to raise him from the dead, from which, figuratively speaking, he did receive him back.”
3. The Test Increases our Hope and Our Faith
“So Abraham returned to his young men, and they arose and went together to Beersheba. And Abraham lived at Beersheba.”
This last statement seems almost deflated in comparison to the rising tension of Abraham and Isaac walking up the mountain, Isaac carrying the wood and Abraham the knife. Abraham tying up Isaac and placing him on the alter, raising the knife, and only at the last minute being stopped by the angel. No, we are left with Abraham simply walking down the mountain with Isaac, meeting his entourage and traveling to Beersheba where he lived. There was no fist pumping or high fiving. There was no record of Abraham conveying what happened to the other young men. What we see is a man more confident than ever in the hope he has with a son who just personally witnessed God keep his part walk off to the next place that they will live. We must always consider how the testing of our faith and our response to it affect the people around us. When Abraham started up the mountain, God was faithful, and when Abraham came down, God was faithful. The way we talk, or don’t talk, about what happened on top contextualizes the test for us and the people around us.
I trust him more, or I cannot believe he did that to me. Faith is taking action in light of the hope we have, and it is an ever-increasing learning experience. We are learning to walk in faith. We step into the promise, and then God tests our faith in light of the promise.
‘Tis so sweet to trust in Jesus Just to take Him at His Word Just to rest upon His promise Just to know, “Thus saith the Lord”
Jesus, Jesus, how I trust Him How I’ve proved Him o’er and o’er Jesus, Jesus, precious Jesus Oh, for grace to trust Him more
I’m so glad I learned to trust Him Precious Jesus, Savior, Friend And I know that He is with me Will be with me to the end