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God Commands Abraham to Offer Isaac
Genesis 22.1-18
Good News Translation (GNT)
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1 Some time later God tested Abraham; he
called to him, "Abraham!"
And Abraham answered, "Yes, here I am!"
2 "Take your son," God said, "your only son,
Isaac, whom you love so much, and go to
the land of Moriah. There on a mountain that
I will show you, offer him as a sacrifice to me."
3 Early the next morning Abraham cut some
wood for the sacrifice, loaded his donkey,
and took Isaac and two servants with him.
They started out for the place that God had
told him about.
4 On the third day Abraham saw the place
in the distance.
5 Then he said to the servants, "Stay here with
the donkey. The boy and I will go over there
and worship, and then we will come back to
you."
6 Abraham made Isaac carry the wood for
the sacrifice, and he himself carried a knife
and live coals for starting the fire. As they
walked along together,
7 Isaac spoke up, "Father!"
He answered, "Yes, my son?"
Isaac asked, "I see that you have the coals
and the wood, but where is the lamb for the
sacrifice?"
8 Abraham answered, "God himself will provide
one." And the two of them walked on together.
9 When they came to the place which God had
told him about, Abraham built an altar and
arranged the wood on it.
He tied up his son and placed him on the
altar, on top of the wood.
10 Then he picked up the knife to kill him.
11 But the angel of the Lord called to him from
heaven, "Abraham, Abraham!"
He answered, "Yes, here I am."
12 "Don't hurt the boy or do anything to him," he
said. "Now I know that you honour and obey
God, because you have not kept back
your only son from him."
13 Abraham looked around and saw a ram
caught in a bush by its horns. He went and
got it and offered it as a burnt offering instead
of his son.
14 Abraham named that place
"The Lord Provides." (a)
And even today people say, "On the Lord's
mountain he provides." (b)
15 The angel of the Lord called to Abraham from
heaven a second time,
16 "I make a vow by my own name - the Lord is
speaking - that I will richly bless you.
Because you did this and did not keep back
your only son from me,
17 I promise that I will give you as many
descendants as there are stars in the sky or
grains of sand along the seashore.
Your descendants will conquer their enemies.
18 All the nations will ask me to bless them as I
have blessed your descendants - all because
you obeyed my command."
Footnotes
Genesis 22:14 Provides; or Sees.
Genesis 22:14 provides; or is seen.
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Taken from 'word-on-the-web' supplied by the
Scripture Union
God Commands Abraham to Offer Isaac
Genesis 22.1-18
Child sacrifice was not uncommon in this era;
contemporary texts from Phoenician and Punic colonies suggest
it was performed as a means of ensuring fertility.
But Isaac was a child of promise, born to parents in extreme old age,
and dearly loved
Time has passed, in which Abraham and Sarah lovingly watch little Isaac grow,
reminded daily of how God fulfilled his incredible promise
Now comes the bombshell.
Abraham gets a call from God to make another journey to offer the miracle child
as a sacrifice.
Thoughtful people struggle with the ethics of it.
If Abraham is good, how can he set out intending to kill his innocent son?
If God is good, how can he make such an immoral demand?
The story seems to set a dangerous precedent.
Surely the first check shoud be that God has really commanded a certain action.
It should be that it is consistent with the good and holy character of God!
A clue to this problem is the description in Genesis of Abraham as a prophet.
In the Hebrew scriptures the Lord's prophets are asked to do shocking and
personally very painful things as dramatic signs for a wider audience.
Hosea had to marry a prostitute and through the experience
communicate God's faithful love to unfaithful people .
Ezekiel was forbidden to mourn when his wife died,
pointing exiled Jews to hope beyond the fall of Jerusalem.
These were not examples to be followed but signs
to enhance a particular message from God.
Today, note that the action is primarily a test of Abraham.
The willingness of the prophets to rank love and obedience to God
before all human loves - that is what enabled them to be the channels
through which God spoke to the world.
Abraham passes the test with quiet dignity
as he speaks calming words to Isaac that are truer than he could know.
If you were instructed by God to make that sacrifice, would you,
like Abraham, be prepared to lay it down in humble obedience?
Would you lay it down without any prospect of being able to pick it up again?
This is what Abraham had to do.
He did not know an angel would prevent the sacrifice.
Abraham's obedience was more than an exam.
Abraham's obedience and faith were now character traits of
who and what he had become.
Gone was the deceiving, fear-filled, insecure man.
What now stood on Mount Moriah, poised with knife in hand,
was a God-fearing, righteous, faith-filled worshipper of the living God.
The book of Hebrews teaches that Abraham believed that if God wanted him to slay Isaac,
he could fulfil his promises through Isaac's life by resurrecting him from the dead.
(Heb. 11:19)
Abraham had passed his exam with first-class honours and
graduated to the masterclass of faith.
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