Abraham's Test – Isaac as a Sacrifice
The angel of the Lord intervenes 11
Table comparing the near sacrifice of Isaac and the sacrifice of Christ below.
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And Abraham sojourned in the Philistines' land many days.
.1 ¶ And it came to pass after these things, that God did tempt Abraham, and said unto him, Abraham: and he said, Behold, here I am. |
Tempt
A statement by James seems to question that God would tempt Abraham. "Let
no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted
with evil, neither tempteth he any man:" ja0113.
The apostle goes on to say that man is tempted by his own desire. And in
1co0705
we find that Satan tempts us. The Hebrew word in Genesis is nissah.
"Test" would be a better translation. God does not try to get us to sin.
He does allow or, in this case, set up situations that test our characters.
With temptation, God provides the strength to resist is2705,
1co1013.
Evil angels who impress us with temptation, try to separate us from this
source of strength. They hit us when we are down.
We know that God was only testing Abraham but he did not know this until later! |
| .2 And he said, Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of. | Thine only son Read verse 2 carefully. This is a powerful test of Abraham's faith. Would he be willing to forfeit the promise of being a great nation? Would his love for God be greater than love for his son? Would he forfeit the security of his only son to help him in his old age? Would he trust God to show him his destination later? Would he face the ridicule of the heathen tribes he had witnessed to. And one more: the text says, "Take now thy son. . . ." Would Abraham put off obedience? |
| 3 ¶ And Abraham rose
up early in the morning, and saddled his ass, and took two of his young
men with him, and Isaac his son, and clave the wood for the burnt offering,
and rose up, and went unto the place of which God had told him.
.4 Then on the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes, and saw the place afar off. 5 And Abraham said unto his young men, Abide ye here with the ass; and I and the lad will go yonder and worship, and come again to you. |
Early
in the morning In his temptation to take Hagar as a second wife,
Abraham had been influenced by Sarah. I believe he did not risk this source
of temptation to disobey.
Abide here Abraham took no chances of being turned from his purpose. Come again How could Abraham say this when he was following God's direction to thrust the knife into his son's heart? Wouldn't he be coming back alone? God had specifically told him that the great nation would be through Isaac. He had faith that God would bring the son back to life. |
| .6
And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering, and laid it upon Isaac
his son; and he took the fire in his hand, and a knife; and they went both
of them together.
7 And Isaac spake unto Abraham his father, and said, My father: and he said, Here am I, my son. And he said, Behold the fire and the wood: but where is the lamb for a burnt offering? .8 And Abraham said, My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering: so they went both of them together. .9 And they came to the place which God had told him of; and Abraham built an altar there, and laid the wood in order, and bound Isaac his son, and laid him on the altar upon the wood. 10 And Abraham stretched forth his hand, and took the knife to slay his son. |
6 -
Burnt
offering I understand that this action requested by God is different
from murder as a violation of the sixth commandment. The heathen would
accuse Abraham of human sacrifice which he had, no doubt, told them was
sin.
8 - God will provide Again a statement of faith as in verse 5. 9 -Bound Isaac Our focus shifts for a moment to the son, a strong young man who could have easily refused to die. It then became his choice to obey the voice of God which he had understood only by the lips of his father. 10 - Took the knife No doubt the hardest action of his life. Would you or I be willing to die rather than to disobey the will of God? |
| .11
¶ And the angel of the LORD called unto him out of heaven, and said,
Abraham, Abraham: and he said, Here am I.
12 And he said, Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou any thing unto him: for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son from me. .13 And Abraham lifted up his eyes, and looked, and behold behind him a ram caught in a thicket by his horns: and Abraham went and took the ram, and offered him up for a burnt offering in the stead of his son. 14 And Abraham called the name of that place Jehovahjireh: as it is said to this day, In the mount of the LORD it shall be seen. |
11
- Angel of the Lord The Lord Himself had spoken to Abraham
ac0702,
ge1201,
ge1501,
ge2112
and so on. Now he has sent His angel perhaps to further test the trembling
father.
12 - Lay not thine hand The restoration of Abraham's trust in God had been fully demonstrated. The lesson for us is to likewise trust God even when we cannot see a way out while obeying Him ex1418, da0315-18, re0210. Some point to this chapter declaring that the Hebrews offered human sacrifices as did the wicked nations around them. This is partly true. When in apostasy, they did follow the heathen practices. This was never the will of our loving God ps10637, ps038, is5705. Examine the table at the bottom this page and meditate on the infinite magnitude of the sacrifice that brings us life. The divine father gave His Son, in what must have been terrible anguish, and the Son, drank the bitter cup that we deserved! 14 - Jehovahjireh means God (Yahweh) provides. |
| 15 ¶ And the angel of
the LORD called unto Abraham out of heaven the second time,
.16 And said, By myself have I sworn, saith the LORD, for because thou hast done this thing, and hast not withheld thy son, thine only son: .17 That in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies; 18 And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice. 19 So Abraham returned unto his young men, and they rose up and went together to Beersheba; and Abraham dwelt at Beersheba. |
17
- Because thou . . . hast not withheld The covenant is renewed.
This is the experience of those who pass through the time of Jacob's trouble
and are sealed. r08a.
17 - Possess the gate Enemies are rarely considered in the story of Abraham. The gate of a city was the place where the city elders met as a court to make decisions. Thus, possessing the gate of enemies would mean taking over their government or conquering them. Here it could refer to the future when the descendants of Abraham would conquer Canaan. |
| 20 ¶ And it came to pass
after these things, that it was told Abraham, saying, Behold, Milcah, she
hath also born children unto thy brother Nahor;
21 Huz his firstborn, and Buz his brother, and Kemuel the father of Aram, .22 And Chesed, and Hazo, and Pildash, and Jidlaph, and Bethuel. 23 And Bethuel begat Rebekah: these eight Milcah did bear to Nahor, Abraham's brother. .24 And his concubine, whose name was Reumah, she bare also Tebah, and Gaham, and Thahash, and Maachah. |
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This
is a powerful chapter. Don't miss the picture it shows us of the divine
Father and Son in the sacrifice for our salvation.
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Parallels and contrasts |
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| Only and loved son v2 | Only and loved son jn0316, mr0907 |
| Travel to the site of sacrifice 3½ days v4 | Ministered 3½ years before death da0927 |
| Wood laid on Isaac who carried it to the site of the sacrifice v6 | Cross laid on Christ who carried it to the site of the sacrifice lu2326 |
| The angel of the Lord called v11 | The Father was silent mr1533f |
| A ram was provided as a substitute v13 | No alternate plan given mr1436 |
| All nations blessed in Seed of Abraham 17f | Reconciled by Christ's death ro0510 |
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