GOD’S RECORD OF LOVE AND ABRAHAM’S TEST OF FAITH

By Jill Roberts and Michael Canalé

 

As Michael and I promised at the beginning of our series of blogs on the subject of “The God of Love in the Old Testament,” we will not skip over the so-called  “hard sayings,” the passages that challenge us most in finding God to truly be a God of love. That would be disingenuous of us, something we will never be. If it made it into Holy Writ, it will make into this blog.

 

This week, we will look deeply into one of these generally perceived “hard sayings.” Without exaggeration, some might even find this, God’s request for Abraham to sacrifice his son, Isaac, as the very epitome of the Bible’s difficult-to-accept passages. BUT IS IT REALLY?

 

As a trial lawyer, many times, I heard the Judge, presiding over the trial, address the jury, imploring them not to prejudge the evidence. When he or she stressed the importance of waiting to hear all the facts before arriving at a verdict, the full concept of fairness was judicially on display May we all adopt this same mindset, giving our Heavenly Father the benefit of the doubt before deciding what this story from Scripture is all about.

 

Before beginning the story itself, of course, there is context. Let’s begin there.

 

It is interesting that, preceding the story of God asking Abraham to sacrifice Isaac, Scripture records how Abraham and a likely, now-pregnant Sarah, left Canaan. No explanation is given for this but, as in previous, similar circumstances, Abraham crosses the territorial border simultaneous with crossing another psychological one as well – fear.

 

The last time he moved his family and all of his belongings, it was to leave Canaan, bound for Egypt. It was at least a mitigating factor that he was escaping a Canaan famine at this time. In Egypt, he feared for his life because of the desirability of his wife, Sarai.

 

Now, in this week’s study, that same fear grips Abraham as he entered into the jurisdiction of King Abimelech. Once again, unbelievably, Abraham told the King that his wife, Sarah, is his sister. Later, he said that she is actually his half-sister, the daughter of his father but not his mother. And, again, a ruler brought Sarah into his palace.

 

This time, God stepped in before Sarah could be defiled. He appeared to King Abimelek via a sickness visited upon him and in a dream, as well, warning him to return Sarah to Abraham, her husband. Ultimately, all is resolved favorably. and the joyous birth of Isaac occurs a few months later. As we leave them, this was Abraham’s state of mind and the setting also:

 

“Abraham…called on the name of the LORD, the eternal God. And Abraham stayed in the land of the Philistines for a long time.”

(Genesis 21:33-34) NIV

 

Is there evidence that God had anything at all to do with this move away from Canaan? There is none. And who were the Philistines? Ultimately, they became Israel’s enemy. (Goliath was the giant Philistine whom David felled).

 

How ordinary is it that, at one time or another, we have all unilaterally made a move without first praying about it to God, and then, later, almost as an afterthought, said, let’s bring God on board with this project or change? It appears that this is the case with Abraham. He left the land where God had sent him, doing so on his own motion, AND THEN, AFTER he had settled in, he prayed. Staying in the will of God, requires the reverse order – pray first to see whether the move is a good one to start with.

 

Also, the wiser decision would have been to pray often to determine whether continuing to stay on, away from God’s specifically directed home, Canaan, was what God would honor. Isn’t this particularly true since the first occurrence after leaving Canaan was one from which Sarah had to be rescued from an enormous error by Abraham!

 

So, the last situation we found Abraham in, prior to God’s testing him, was one where he had gone off on his own way to the land of the Philistines. During this time, Canaan must have been only a vague memory. Isaac had been born in this foreign country and was now a boy. (Genesis 22:4) NIV

 

Were Abraham and his family still there at the time of the test? Scripture is mostly silent as to this. There is some subsequent mention of Beersheba, near the Southern border of the Promised Land, but this is ambiguous as to time. We only know that they were in the land of the Philistines for a long period. (Genesis 21:34) NIV,  and that, after this, God severely tested Abraham. Here is the account of our central story:

 

“ Some time later, God tested Abraham. He said to him, ‘Abraham!’

‘Here I am,’ he replied.

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.”

(Genesis 22:1-2) NIV

 

What was Abraham’s reaction?

 

“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. On the third day, Abraham looked up and saw the place in the distance. 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.”

(emphasis added)

(Genesis 22;3-5) NIV

 

Two points are pivotal. Abraham obeyed without hesitation. ALSO, ABRAHAM CLEARLY BELIEVED THAT GOD WOULD RAISE ISAAC FROM THE DEAD, because he told the servants that both of them would return to the servants waiting below Mount Moriah.

 

In this test of faith, Abraham did not falter. He was prepared to sacrifice Isaac, yet he also trusted God’s covenant promise to form people more numerous than the stars through Isaac. So, we must draw the inference that he clearly reasoned that Isaac would walk back down the mountain with him after all was over.

 

The story continues:

 

“Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and placed it on his son, Isaac, and he himself carried the fire and the knife.”

(Genesis 22:6) NIV

 

On the way, Isaac asked his father where the lamb to be sacrificed was.

 

“Abraham answered, ‘GOD HIMSELF will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.”

(emphasis added)

(Genesis 22:8) NIV

 

Though Abraham went so far as to place Issac on the altar with the wood and even to raise the knife above him, an angel of the LORD intervened, telling Abraham not to harm Isaac in any way and further saying,

 

“Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son.”

(Genesis 22:12) NIV

 

In the end, God provides a ram for the sacrifice, which is then performed.

 

The angel of the LORD reaffirms the covenant that Abraham’s descendants will be as numerous as the stars and this challenging passage draws to a close.

 

What are we to think of this? As you know, there is much more going on here than a test of Abraham’s faith.

 

In answering this question, we rely very heavily on the insight of the erudite Bible Project and their scholar, Andy Patton. In an article titled, “Why Did God Ask Abraham to Sacrifice Isaac? What Do We Do With Violence in the Bible?”

 

Here, the point is made that, first and foremost, and this is key, “GOD DIDN’T INTRODUCE DEATH INTO THE EQUATION. HUMANITY DID THIS BY CHOOSING TO DISOBEY GOD IN EDEN AND AFTERWARDS RIGHT UP TO THE PRESENT SETTING IN SCRIPTURE.” God warned mankind that if they ate from the ONE tree that was denied them, they would SURELY DIE. They ate this fruit.”

 

“GOD’s PROBLEM IS FIGURING OUT HOW TO DEAL WITH THIS.” GOD WAS SOLVING A DILEMMA BROUGHT ABOUT BY MAN. GOD IS NOT THE AUTHOR OF THE PROBLEM; HE IS THE RESCUER FROM IT.

 

THE ULTIMATE SOLUTION TO SIN WOULD LATER BE THE SACRIFICE OF GOD’s ONLY SON, WHOM HE LOVES.

 

“A sacrifice is the death of one thing so something else can have a new life. God solved the sin/death of man problem NOT BY DEMANDING OUR ETERNAL DEATH BUT BY OFFERING HIMSELF INSTEAD, THROUGH JESUS.”

 

What Abraham tells Isaac is HIGHLY PROPHETIC when Abraham says, “GOD, HIMSELF WILL PROVIDE THE SACRIFICE.”

 

What then, was the CONNECTION between the sacrifice of Isaac by his father, Abraham, where Abraham’s son was spared and the later sacrifice of Jesus, where God’s only son was not spared?

 

The Abraham/Issac occurrence is a PROPHETIC REENACTMENT of God/Jesus‘ mission leading to the cross. Abraham/Isaac PREFIGURES this. The striking PARALLELS between the two make this prefiguring clear:

 

1) Both involve fathers and their beloved sons

2) Both sons were born under miraculous circumstances

3) Both sons carry wood on their backs

4) Both are laid on wood

5) Both sacrifices take place on or near Moriah, today’s Temple Mount in Jerusalem

6) Both sons are obedient

 

Yes, the Abraham/ Isaac “sacrifice,” was a test of Abraham’s faith, but the underlying reason God asked Abraham to act in this way was something on a much more epic scale. As the Bible Project article explains, this, again, was a prophetic reenactment and in it,

 

“GOD ASKED ABRAHAM TO PLAY THE PART OF GOD IN THE SACRIFICE OF HIS OWN SON!”

 

When the angel of the LORD, stopped Abraham from carrying out the actual sacrifice, HE PRONOUNCED HIS BENEDICTION on the sacrifice. He did so, knowing full well that, when the time came for Jesus, HIS Son, to be sacrificed, there would be no such benediction. Jesus would pay the full price. Mankind, who, through sin, had earned the sentence of death would be spared, even as Isaac was spared.

 

THIS is the true story of Abraham and Isaac. Once seen in the intertwined connection with the cross of Calvary, IT IS NOT A STORY OF GOD’S UNFAIR TESTING; INSTEAD, IT IS AN UNFORGETTABLE STORY OF GOD’S LOVE. ISAAC WOULD LIVE. JESUS WOULD DIE. MAN WOULD BE SAVED, NOT THROUGH GOD EXACTING THE DEBT OWED THROUGH HUMANITY’S SIN, BUT THROUGH THE SACRIFICE OF THE SINLESS JESUS ON MANKIND’S BEHALF.

 

Issac walked down off Mount Moriah; Jesus was carried off it and placed in a tomb. Isaac was resurrected after a three-day walk to Moriah: Jesus was resurrected three days later and walked out of the tomb. When this happened, all of humanity walked from the death sentence imposed in Eden.

 

This is a STORY WITHIN A STORY and can only be fully understood as such. The big picture is both one man’s faith, Abraham’s, and everyman’s God of endless love. Where is the sacrifice? It emanates from God and His Son, Jesus, in the greatest act of love in history. Unlike Isaac, there was no reprieve for Jesus. Because of this, mankind’s reprieve is set in stone and bound in love – the love of God in the Old Testament.

 

May God bless us from the heavenlies as we study His Word.