The Testing of Abraham Part 3

by Robert Fraire



In this third and final installment on the testing of Abraham we will actually look at the passage in Genesis 22 that begins:

1Now it came about after these things, that God tested Abraham, and said to him, "Abraham!" And he said, "Here I am."
2He said, "Take now your son, your only son, whom you love, Isaac, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I will tell you."

Here is Abraham the faithful friend of God who, after many years, finally had seen God give him the son through whom God would bring about his covenant with Abraham. He was an old man about 112 years old. And it would have seemed that Abraham would have quietly lived out his life seeing his son grow and marry. But God had a big test for Abraham.

We really can't put ourselves in the shoes of Abraham in that we don't have a covenant with God that His blessing would come through one of our children and God doesn't come directly to us and tell us to do things like sacrifice our children. So our ability to relate directly to Abraham is limited. But we can understand that this young son whom he loves and whom God has placed many promises simply can't die. From an earthly perspective it seemingly would have made God a liar (because God said it was through Isaac that Abraham's descendants would be named) and it would have broken Abraham's heart to lose Isaac. So what is this Godly man to do?

Scripture tells us what he did: 3So Abraham rose early in the morning and saddled his donkey

A lesson we should learn here is that Abraham had true faith in God and took him at His word. Since God said go and sacrifice Isaac, then Abraham would do exactly that. He understood that he had no other choice, and he knew that God's wisdom far surpassed his own so that whatever God called for was ALWAYS the best option.

So with a heart that I am sure was racing and unsure of the future, this friend of God put the whole weight of his trust on God and took his son exactly as instructed. But Abraham was not a robot. He didn't shut off his mind and just move. He thought about God's promises concerning Isaac, he Believed that they would come to pass. But he also believed that God had the right to demand the life of his son, so his son would be dead! So how could these things be reconciled? The New Testament book of Hebrews does tell us Abraham's thoughts. It says in Hebrews 11:19

19 considered that God is able to raise people even from the dead...

So Abraham continued his journey to the hill that God would show him with Isaac and servants until God showed him.

4On the third day Abraham raised his eyes and saw the place from a distance.
5Abraham said to his young men, "Stay here with the donkey, and I and the lad will go over there; and we will worship and return to you."
6Abraham 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 the two of them walked on together.

At this point the moment of sacrifice is fast approaching so as they walk up the hill Isaac asks a reasonable question. He had undoubtedly watched many animal sacrifices, so he knew they needed the actual sacrifice. Abraham's answer is deep and important for us to examine.

7Isaac spoke to Abraham his father and said, "My father!" And he said, "Here I am, my son." And he said, "Behold, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?"
8Abraham said, "God will provide for Himself the lamb for the burnt offering, my son." So the two of them walked on together.

Abraham's response is translated for us "God will provide for Himself the lamb..." in other translation is is rendered "God will himself provide the lamb..." Abraham's statement is prophetic. For God did provide the lamb that would take away the sins of his chosen people. In fact God provided Himself AS THE LAMB (in Jesus, who is the Son of God and is God). Abraham trusted that this situation would be resolved by God providing the solution whether through rescue of his son or through the resurrection of his son. He knew that his part in this drama was to believe God and to act on that belief!

9Then they came to the place of which God had told him; and Abraham built the altar there and arranged the wood, and bound his son Isaac and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood.
10Abraham stretched out his hand and took the knife to slay his son.
11But the angel of the LORD called to him from heaven and said, "Abraham, Abraham!" And he said, "Here I am."
12He said, "Do not stretch out your hand against the lad, and do nothing to him; for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from Me."

At exactly the last moment God had His angel stop Abraham. The test was complete, Abraham had done exactly what God had told him to do, and God preserved Isaac through the faith of Abraham. This is a great story of Abraham's faith lived out. But there is one final question that I will cover in brief.

What does the last line of verse 12 say. "...for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from Me" What does that mean. The most straight forward reading would seem to mean that God didn't know prior to Abraham's actions whether his faith in God (fear of God) was genuine. Did God learn something that he didn't know before? Again many people might think that way, if they don't take into account the character of God. God knows all things and is sovereign over all things. He reads the hearts of men before they do anything. So God did know exactly what Abraham would do. So why then the test? If it wasn't for God's benefit, what was the purpose?

Fortunately for us, this is not a hard question to answer in this case. This historical fact of Abraham's exercised faith is cited in James 2:

21Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up Isaac his son on the altar?
22You see that faith was working with his works, and as a result of the works, faith was perfected;
23and the Scripture was fulfilled which says, "AND ABRAHAM BELIEVED GOD, AND IT WAS RECKONED TO HIM AS RIGHTEOUSNESS," and he was called the friend of God.

In this passage we learn that it is us who benefit from God's test and Abraham's obedience. You see in Genesis 15:6 it tells us that Abraham believed God and it was reckoned to him as righteousness. So Abraham already had saving faith. But just as the book of James instructs us, we gain evidence of that true faith by acting in accordance with what we believe.

So would you pass this test? The answer lies in whether you have true, saving faith or not. If you quickly answered this question "No" then it is a fruitful exercise for you to examine whether you truly have faith that God is just, loving, and authoritative over your life. In our lives today, are you willing to suffer physical beatings in order to proclaim the gospel to the lost? Are you willing to lose your job and wealth for the sake of God? These are tests that may come into your life. The true believer's faith will be tested and found true. If you shrink back from the thought then it is time for you to "count the cost".

What do your really hold most dear? God or anything else?

The Testing of Abraham Part 2

by Robert Fraire


In this post I will continue to set the stage for God's testing of Abraham that we find in Genesis chapter 22. In the first post on this topic we looked at God's covenant that he made with Abraham. In that post I stressed that God unilaterally put himself in a position of having to keep his promises to Abraham. Abraham didn't earn or deserve the promises, but God for his own purposes made them to Abraham. He had already promised that Abraham that his descendants would be as numerous as the dust of the earth:

Genesis 13:16"I will make your descendants as the dust of the earth, so that if anyone can number the dust of the earth, then your descendants can also be numbered."

So Abraham has this promise, but from his human perspective his reality isn't matching God's promises. He is already nearly 80 and has no children. When God speaks in promise to him again in chapter 15 the Bible records the following:

Genesis 15:2-4
Abram said, "O Lord GOD, what will You give me, since I am childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?"
3And Abram said, "Since You have given no offspring to me, one born in my house is my heir."

4Then behold, the word of the LORD came to him, saying, "This man will not be your heir; but one who will come forth from your own body, he shall be your heir."

I have bolded God's response to Abraham as this is the main point of this post. Abraham knows that he is getting older and without heirs, which would seemingly call into question God's promise. And here God tells Abraham that the son of promise will be his physical son. So what happens next? Incredibly many more years go by without an heir for Abraham. He is now 85 years old and Sarah is 75. It seems that her time to bear children is past, so she designates her maid Hagar as her surrogate, and pleads with Abraham to bear children through Hagar.

Genesis 16:2
So Sarai said to Abram, "Now behold, the LORD has prevented me from bearing children. Please go in to my maid; perhaps I will obtain children through her." And Abram listened to the voice of Sarai.

As a side point I want to say that God's truth on marriage has always been one man and one woman for life. As seen when God made Eve for Adam and said that the two would become one flesh, marriage would always be defined that way. Therefore Abraham sinned in having relations with Hagar, and the earthly consequences of this sin were many.

But in God's providence a son was born and named Ishmael. So Abraham now had a physical son to be his descendant. It had taken a sinful act, but now it seemed that God's promises could be fulfilled through Ishmael. But this was not to be!

Thirteen long years pass, Abraham is 99 years old, Sarah 89 and Ishmael is 13. At this time God speaks to Abraham again and gives him the covenant of circumcision, then God says an amazing thing concerning Sarah:

Genesis 17:16
"I will bless her, and indeed I will give you a son by her Then I will bless her, and she shall be a mother of nations; kings of peoples will come from her."

This seemed absolutely absurd to Abraham. His response to God called for God to use Ishmael, since it seemed impossible for Sarah to have a child.

17Then Abraham fell on his face and laughed, and said in his heart, "Will a child be born to a man one hundred years old? And will Sarah, who is ninety years old, bear a child?"

18And Abraham said to God, "Oh that Ishmael might live before You!"

These responses by Abraham were reasonable. I will paraphrase Abraham's words like this: Since it is impossible for Sarah and I to conceive children, I believe you can bring about your promises through Ishmael. And even though reasonable, Abraham's words didn't take into account a miracle working God!

19But God said, "No, but Sarah your wife will bear you a son, and you shall call his name Isaac; and I will establish My covenant with him for an everlasting covenant for his descendants after him.

God declared that the humanly impossible would be his will for them. And just as God had declared; Isaac was born when Abraham was 100 and Sarah 90. All the conniving and rationalization that Abraham and Sarah had undertaken was for not. God made laughter of all their concerns. The name Isaac means laughter, and it is a timely reminder for us not to put the miraculous past God. Since he brought a child to parents after they were physically too old, what will God bring about in your life?

So now Abraham, the friend of God, has the son through his beloved wife Sarah as a testimony of God's faithfulness. He sees that son Isaac grow stronger and get older, and Abraham may have thought that God was done working in his life and that he would live out his years just watching his children and grandchildren grow.

But God had a big test set for Abraham. And in my next post we will look at this test of Abraham's faith.