GENESIS 22
After these things God tested Abraham and 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 of which I shall tell 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. And he cut the wood for the burnt offering and arose and went to the place of which God had told him. 4 On the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes and saw the place from afar. 5 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.” 6 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. 7 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?” 8 Abraham said, “God will provide for himself the lamb for a burnt offering, my son.” So they went both of them together. – Genesis 22:1-8
GENESIS 22 GOD TESTS ABRAHAM
I can’t imagine what was going on in Abraham’s mind when God told him to bring Isaac to Moriah and offer him there as a burnt offering. I would have gone so scared to let go of my one and only son whom I waited for so long to have and be asked to be used as an offering. I would have been confused as to what God was doing asking me to snap off the life of the only one who would fulfill the promise of many offsprings. Only by the grace of God could he have that much faith and trust. In recent chapters, we see Abraham’s weakness when he was fending for his life in Egypt and Greer and lied to these two kings in order to save himself from being killed. His faith must have grown so much by then after God has shown him many miracles. He and Sarah had a child in their very old age of ninety to a hundred years old. That was an impossibility that God made possible.
The constant character of Abraham that sets him apart from others is his obedience. He follows God’s instructions without questions. How many of us can do that? Even though he laughed at the announcement of Sarah bearing a child at her age, it was a joyful laughter, not a mocking one. It shows that he truly trusts God especially after witnessing many impossible things that had happen in his life since he left Ur of the Chaldeans.
REFLECTION
- Why do you think Abraham never doubted God even at this challenging test?
