Have you ever wondered why there is a need for so many contracts and documents and the world we live in today? If you have bought a house any time then you probably remember seeing a large stack of papers, though you probably do not remember what most of things were that you signed. Do you know why you, and the other parties involved, signed all of those papers? It was to make sure that both sides held true to the commitment that they had made. Do you know why our courts are so busy? It is because people do not hold true to the promises they make. A promise on a piece of paper means nothing, if both parties don’t intend to keep their end of the bargain. We may wonder about other people fulfilling their end of a deal, but today’s passages in Genesis 21:1-7 and Genesis 22:1-19, show us that this is not a concern with God. He always does what He says He will do.
In Chapter 21, God keeps His promise to Abraham that he would have a son. Isaac was born, just as God said he would be back in Chapter 15. However, Chapter 22 is where the real test of Abraham will come. When we reach Chapter 22, a number of years would have passed. Abraham and Sarah probably would have established a life where they would have had a home, flocks, servants and a son who had become a young man. This is the setting in which Abraham would be tested. God asked Abraham to take Isaac; the son that God promised would be Abraham’s heir, up a mountain and offer him as a burnt offering.
Isaac was a blessing that God had promised, and delivered. Now, God was asking Abraham to sacrifice the one thing on which all of the promises God had made depended. God did not just say that He was going to take Isaac. He was commanding Abraham to take the life of the one that he loved with his own hands. The choice to be made was to spare the life of his son, his one opportunity to be blessed with an heir, or loyalty to God, resulting in being the father of the multitudes. What did Abraham do? He was obedient. He took his son up a mountain and prepared to sacrifice him to God.
Why would Abraham do this knowing what it meant? He had faith that God would provide. Notice that in Genesis 22:5 he even tells the servants that he and Isaac will go worship and return to them. Abraham knew that he could kill Isaac, but he believed that God could raise him from the dead. Read Hebrews 11:17-19. Abraham had faith that God would remedy the situation if he was just obedient.
Don’t you think Isaac would have found it a little strange that he was carrying a stack of wood and everything to prepare a sacrifice, yet there was no sacrifice? There is nothing recorded of what Isaac might have said or asked. However, it seems that there would have had to be questions in his mind. It is at this point that we should stop and consider Abraham and Isaac. Abraham is an old man, well over one hundred years old, while Isaac is young and strong. Do you think that Abraham could have bound Isaac and placed him on the altar if Isaac refused? Isaac was obedient to his father. He followed his father’s instructions, as his father followed God’s. Why would Isaac do this thing? Isaac had been trained in faith and obedience by his father. If Isaac had not been obedient to his father, then this episode never would have occurred in this way.
Now we move to the dramatic part of the events. Abraham stands there looking at Isaac upon the altar. He prepares to offer him as a sacrifice, drawing his knife to kill him. As he prepares to strike the fatal blow an angel appears and stops him. Abraham looks and sees that God has provided a ram in the place of his son. What a relief this must have been to Abraham! He had passed the test. He had been willing to do what God asked. He was prepared to go through with God’s command. He proved that he was faithful to God, and God proved to Abraham that he keeps his promises.
Don’t you think it would have been easy for Abraham to turn his back on God when He commanded him to sacrifice Isaac? How do we respond when God asks us to do things that are hard? Do we turn our backs, or depend on the fact that God will provide for our needs? Would we still love God if he took away the gifts He has given us?
Remember, God not only gives us tests in our lives so that we can prove our faithfulness to him, but they are a way for God to display His faithfulness to us, to the world. God provided a ram to be sacrificed in Isaac’s place. Jesus, the Lamb of God, was sacrificed in our place. God has provided for our needs, the sacrifice to cover our sins, we only need to accept His gift, the promise of eternal life, in faith.