This is my Life Group lesson for October 20, a lesson I didn't want to give.
Here is the first part of Genesis 22:
Now it came to pass after these things that God tested Abraham, and said to him, “Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.”
2 Then He said, “Take now 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 and saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son; and he split the wood for the burnt offering, and arose and went to the place of which God had told him. 4 Then on the third day Abraham lifted his eyes and saw the place afar off. 5 And Abraham said to his young men, “Stay here with the donkey; the [a]lad and I will go yonder and worship, and we will come back to you.”
6 So Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on Isaac his son; and he took the fire in his hand, and a knife, and the two of them went together. 7 But Isaac spoke to Abraham his father and said, “My father!”
And he said, “Here I am, my son.”
Then he said, “Look, the fire and the wood, but where is the [b]lamb for a burnt offering?”
8 And Abraham said, “My son, God will provide for Himself the lamb for a burnt offering.” So the two of them went together.
9 Then they came to the place of which God had told him. And Abraham built an altar there and placed the wood in order; and he bound Isaac his son and laid him on the altar, upon the wood. 10 And Abraham stretched out his hand and took the knife to slay his son.
11 But the Angel of the Lord called to him from heaven and said, “Abraham, Abraham!”
So he said, “Here I am.”
12 And He said, “Do not lay your hand on the lad, or do anything to him; for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from Me.”
13 Then Abraham lifted his eyes and looked, and there behind him was a ram caught in a thicket by its horns. So Abraham went and took the ram, and offered it up for a burnt offering instead of his son. 14 And Abraham called the name of the place, [c]The-Lord-Will-Provide; as it is said to this day, “In the Mount of the Lord it shall be provided.”
15 Then the Angel of the Lord called to Abraham a second time out of heaven, 16 and said: “By Myself I have sworn, says the Lord, because you have done this thing, and have not withheld your son, your only son— 17 blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply your descendants as the stars of the heaven and as the sand which is on the seashore; and your descendants shall possess the gate of their enemies. 18 In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice.” 19 So Abraham returned to his young men, and they rose and went together to Beersheba; and Abraham dwelt at Beersheba.
Confessions. I do not like this chapter, this incident, this narrative. When I saw that we were studying Abraham, I checked to see what I was teaching, and of course, it was this, just like I always get to teach on circumcision.
I really didn’t want to teach this one, but I needed to. So here we are.
I don’t like it because it’s so extreme and because God asks him—Abraham had a choice—to do something wrong, contrary to His promise, and that later God would condemn in Israel. So I don’t like the inconsistency, the incongruity. To me, it’s kind of barbaric and grotesque.
Also, we don’t get the impression that Abraham has a problem with it. He just does it, no questions, no hesitation. In other places he does question and argue with God—notably in the Sodom and Gomorrah incident, where he bargains God down in regard to the number of righteous men needed to try to save the city.. And yet here he just complies, even though he has been told for years that Isaac is his heir, the long awaited promised son, and he has to go to a lot of trouble for it.
I don’t understand why God would asks this when it is wrong, against His promise, and pagan.
So why does God asks it, and why does Abraham comply?
Let’ start with the first:
1. Child sacrifice was not unknown in this time. Fairly common in some people groups. Abraham the pagan is still journeying toward moving away from paganism to be the Father of the faithful. So he probably questioned it as inconsistent with the promises about Isaac but thought, well, this is what gods ask.
2. He knew it was a test and not real. All for show to prove his faith to God and himself. When he says God will provide, he knew God wouldn’t let him do it, but he had to show God his faith was real. This view has some problems.
3. The answer is in the New Testament:
a. Hebrews Isaac would be resurrected if sacrificed (but he would have gone through it)
b. James He had to finish his faith with a work (debated passage)
Hebrews 11:By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to the place which he would receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going. 9 By faith he dwelt in the land of promise as in a foreign country, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise; 10 for he waited for the city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God.
13 These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off [e]were assured of them, embraced them and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. 14 For those who say such things declare plainly that they seek a homeland. 15 And truly if they had called to mind that country from which they had come out, they would have had opportunity to return. 16 But now they desire a better, that is, a heavenly country. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared a city for them
17 By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises offered up his only begotten son, 18 [f]of whom it was said, “In Isaac your seed shall be called,” 19 concluding that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead, from which he also received him in a figurative sense.
James has an interpretation.
21 Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered Isaac his son on the altar? 22 Do you see that faith was working together with his works, and by works faith was made [i]perfect? 23 And the Scripture was fulfilled which says, “Abraham believed God, and it was [j]accounted to him for righteousness.” And he was called the friend of God.
But why would God ask it?
1. To let Abraham see he could pass a test after failures
2. To establish faith as the method of pleasing God
3. To end child sacrifice
4. To point to Christ, the most hopeful answer and really the best.
Isaac’s point of view. Realizes he is going to die. And then he is saved. He would have thought the same, it was his time and that’s the way it is. He would live to tell the tales to his children.
That’s why the Jews were so judged by returning to child sacrifice, much more horrific than this, in 1000-600 BC.
I still don’t like the story, but it is clear that it is an Old Testament picture of what would come: a new kind of culture (Jews), where children were valued for what they are, not as a way to pacify a pagan god in a cruel ritual, who would lead to a Savior who would be the ultimate sacrifice. The LORD would provide.
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