Genesis 22

Have you ever been tested by God? A challenge to handle. A decision to make. An obstacle to navigate. The test stood before you like a great mountain. Why do these tests even come into our lives? Isn’t life with Jesus supposed to be all smooth sailing? Today, in our study of Genesis, we come to a great test. Let’s see what we can learn and apply.

Genesis 22 begins with these words, “God tested Abraham.” The Hebrew word used here means “to test, try, or prove.” Let’s stop and consider what a test is. First, we know that a test is not a temptation. God “cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone” (James 1:13 NIV). Spiritual trials come into our lives to grow us and prove to us that God is trustworthy. The book of James says that the testing of our faith produces steadfastness, spiritual maturity, and the person who remains steadfast under a trial is blessed by God (James 1:3-4, 12). In Genesis 22, Abraham is getting ready to face the trial of his life.

Genesis 22:2
[God] said, “Take 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.”

God’s instruction to Abraham cuts deeper in description with each word. “Take your son,” “your only son,” “Isaac,” “whom you love.” What came next was unthinkable. Child sacrifice was practiced in the land of Canaan, where Abraham lived, but not by those who followed Yahweh. We are made in God’s image. We are not to take another life. What God was asking of Abraham seemed to contradict the very character of God and the covenant God had made with Abraham when God promised to bless Abraham’s descendants through Isaac.

Today, there are mentally ill people who claim God told them to hurt someone. We know that message cannot be from God. Abraham was being tested. Sacrificing Isaac was the test but never the plan. However, we all go through times of testing that don’t make sense to us from a human standpoint. The questions we have during a spiritual trial always circle back to trust. Can I trust God even when, from my viewpoint, what God is asking me to do doesn’t make sense?

When Abraham heard from God, he didn’t hesitate. Early the next morning, he loaded a donkey, cut the wood for the burnt offering, and set out with Isaac and two servants. The trip was about fifty miles north from Beersheba to Moriah.

Genesis 22:4-6
On the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes and saw the place from afar. Then Abraham said to his young men, “Stay here with the donkey; I and the boy will go over there and worship and come again to you.” And Abraham 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 they went both of them together.

Abraham and Isaac made their way up Mt. Moriah. While there is some debate, most biblical scholars believe the mountain of testing is the same place where David purchased a threshing floor and built an altar to worship God (2 Samuel 24:16-25). This is the location where Solomon built the temple in Jerusalem (2 Chronicles 3:1-2). The Israelites would have offered sacrifices there until the temple was destroyed by the Romans in 70 AD. Later, the Muslims believed the prophet Muhammed ascended to heaven from Mt. Moriah and built the Dome of the Rock over the site in 691 AD. Today it is believed the place where this story took place is under that shrine still standing in Jerusalem.

When Abraham told his two servants that both he and Isaac would return to them, we aren’t privy to what he was thinking. At this point, Abraham understood two things—he was to sacrifice Isaac, and the promises God had made to him could only be fulfilled through Isaac. The writer of Hebrews describes Abraham’s faith in this dilemma by saying Abraham believed “that God was able even to raise [Isaac] from the dead…” (Hebrews 11:17-19).

Genesis 22:7-8
And Isaac said to his father Abraham, “My father!” And he said, “Here I am, my son.” He said, “Behold, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?” Abraham said, “God will provide for himself the lamb for a burnt offering, my son.” So they went both of them together.

The focus of this story remains on Abraham’s trust in God. Abraham’s faith is unshakable during this entire event. He is certain that God will provide. How old was Isaac when he made his way up the mountain with his father? It is not known. We are told that he was carrying the wood (Genesis 22:6), so he wouldn’t have been a young child.

Genesis 22:9-12
When they came to the place of which God had told him, Abraham built the altar there and laid the wood in order and bound Isaac his son and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. Then Abraham reached out his hand and took the knife to slaughter his son. But the angel of the Lord called to him from heaven and said, “Abraham, Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” He said, “Do not lay your hand on the boy or do anything to him, for now I know that you fear God, seeing you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me.”

Abraham looked around to find that God had provided a sacrifice, a ram whose horns were caught in the thick brush. He named the place “The Lord will provide” in Hebrew, Yahweh Yireh (sometimes translated Jehovah Jireh). Moses added, “As it is said to this day, ‘On the mount of the Lord it shall be provided’” (Genesis 22:14).

While they were on the mountain, “the angel of the Lord” (was this the pre-incarnate Christ?) restated the promise given in Genesis 12,

Genesis 22:16-18
“…Because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, I will surely bless you, and I will surely multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven and as the sand that is on the seashore. And your offspring shall possess the gate of his enemies, and in your offspring shall all the nations of the earth be blessed, because you have obeyed my voice.”

God needed a person who trusted him completely to lead a great nation. Abraham passed the test of obedience. God needs us to trust him completely to be the people he desires us to be. We learn from Abraham that God can always be trusted, even when we don’t understand.

Two thousand years after this took place on Mt. Moriah, God’s Son came to earth. He was the sacrifice that God provided for us. John the Baptist introduced Jesus as the “Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29) There was only One—fully God and fully man—who could pay for our sins. Unlike Isaac, God’s Son was not spared by the provision of another sacrifice. He was the only sacrifice who could save us. God “did not spare his Son but gave him up for us all” (Romans 8:32). Yahweh Yireh provided his Son—the one-time-for-all-time perfect sacrifice for sin. And we can know that having done that, Yahweh Yireh will provide all we need all the way to heaven.

PERSONAL TIME WITH GOD
Read Genesis 22. As you read this story, focus on the faith and obedience of Abraham and the provision given by God through Jesus. God provided the Lamb.

 Prayer and Application
Thank God for Jesus. Ask him to give you the strength to trust him even when you don’t understand.

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