Some time later God tested Abraham. He said to him, “Abraham!”
“Here I am,” he replied.
2 Then God said, “Take your son, your only son, whom you love—Isaac—and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on a mountain I will show you.”
3 Early the next morning Abraham got up and loaded his donkey. He took with him two of his servants and his son Isaac. When he had cut enough wood for the burnt offering, he set out for the place God had told him about.4 On the third day Abraham looked up and saw the place in the distance.5 He said to his servants, “Stay here with the donkey while I and the boy go over there. We will worship and then we will come back to you.”
6 Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and placed it on his son Isaac, and he himself carried the fire and the knife. As the two of them went on together,7 Isaac spoke up and said to his father Abraham, “Father?”
“Yes, my son?” Abraham replied.
“The fire and wood are here,” Isaac said, “but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?”
8 Abraham answered, “God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.” And the two of them went on together.
9 When they reached the place God had told him about, Abraham built an altar there and arranged the wood on it. He bound his son Isaac and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood.10 Then he reached out his hand and took the knife to slay his son.11 But the angel of the Lord called out to him from heaven, “Abraham! Abraham!”
“Here I am,” he replied.
12 “Do not lay a hand on the boy,” he said. “Do not do anything to him. Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son.”
13 Abraham looked up and there in a thicket he saw a ram caught by its horns. He went over and took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering instead of his son.14 So Abraham called that place The Lord Will Provide. And to this day it is said, “On the mountain of the Lord it will be provided.”
15 The angel of the Lord called to Abraham from heaven a second time16 and said, “I swear by myself, declares the Lord, that because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son,17 I will surely bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will take possession of the cities of their enemies,18 and through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed me.”
This is one of the most important scriptures in the Bible for many reasons. Before we discuss the reasons let’s review the text. God told Abraham to take his only son whom he loved and to offer him as a burnt offering on the mountain. Isaac was his one and only son that God promised Abraham and his wife Sarah who was unable to conceive a child until she was 90 years old.
In this passage you do not see any defiance or questioning of God by Abraham. You read about Abrahams trust in God and his unconditional obedience to do Gods will. You also read about Isaacs’s obedience and trust to his father Abraham. Abraham was an old man at the time. He was 100 years old when Isaac was born. We read that Isaac carried the wood up the mountain while Abraham carried the knife and the fire. This leads me to believe that Isaac was probably a young man maybe in his 20’s and possibly 30’s. Abraham tied Isaac up and placed him on the alter. We see this same unconditional obedience by Isaac to his father Abraham and this same trust. Isaac knew he was going to be sacrificed when he was being tied up and could have easily escaped from his father yet he trusted and obeyed his father Abraham. When God saw that Abraham reached for his knife to slay Isaac God stopped him and provided a ram to take the place of the sacrifice.
God saw the love that Abraham had for the Lord. Abraham loved God over everything even his one and only son. Because of this demonstration of love and obedience God blessed Abraham and his descendants and the whole earth will be blessed through his descendants.
This tells me that we receive Gods blessing when we do Gods will. The blessing in our lives will not come until we act out that obedience. We all say that we love God. We all want Gods blessings but do we love God enough to receive these blessings? Do we love God enough to do his will? Do we love God enough to follow his commands? Or are we defiant? Are we questioning God and trying to justify to ourselves the reasons for not following his commands?
