Genesis 22:1-24 • The sacrifice of Isaac

► We are at a point now where Isaac, if he hasn't already reached it at this point, is nearing or in the early stages of adulthood. There are several different viewpoints on this, but if I had to sort of combine them all, the proposed age range would have been anything from 20, to no older than 36 or 37.

► We've skipped all the way from his birth to this significant event in both his and his father Abraham's lives. Abraham's faith, and the faith of his son Isaac as well, is about to be tested in the most severe way possible. This event, and the way Abraham responds to it, will show either how shallow or how complete his faith is in the LORD. And it's also interesting to note how Isaac responds as well.

   The end of Isaac • Gen 22:1 to 19

Genesis 22:1-19 → 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.”

• Now if something like this happened to me, I'd chalk it up to a bad dream. "No more horror/crime/war/action movies for me before I go to bed." I remember recently having a dream that was so horrifying in the moment that I actually screamed as I woke up. Of course, I can't remember the dream at all - just the waking up part. It was so scary that I had to turn on the light to make sure that there was no one who shouldn't be there in my room.

• What God does to Abraham now is tantamount to negating and totally crushing all of Abraham's hopes, based on God's previous promises. He waited so long, 25 years in fact, for this boy to be born. And now, possibly, he's lived with him, watched him growing, for another 20 or so years.

• God tells Abraham to kill his son Isaac. There's no simpler way to say it. Yes, God wraps it up in the form of a sacrifice, a burnt offering, to the LORD.

• Of course, we can see some parallels to Jesus, that Abraham could not have seen. "Take now your son, your only son, whom you love...". Technically, Isaac is NOT Abraham's only son, but he is his only son by the promise of God. God's only Son, the Son that He loves, would be sacrificed in like fashion (not burnt, but killed nonetheless).

• Moriah, we know now, is where Jerusalem is, more specifically it is where the Temple of Israel is.

3So 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 wood for the burnt offering, and arose and went to the place of which God had told him.

• I think it's interesting to see that there is absolutely NO hesitation on Abraham's part. Gets up early. Gets the donkey ready. Gets a couple of guys to come along, I'm assuming to help with something - it doesn't say. Brings Isaac along. And splits the wood. Then they start marching.

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.”

• 3 days of walking and they are close. Tells the helpers to stay there with the donkey. "We (Abraham and Isaac) are going over there to worship "and return to you"'".

• My question at this point, is Abraham's faith already anticipating Isaac's return? Or is he just saying that so he doesn't have to explain about the sacrifice?

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. 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.

• So Isaac is now carrying the wood (one of the arguments supporting the age range of Isaac), and Abraham is carrying the fire and the knife.

• Isaac's no idiot. "Uh, dad, I see everything we need for the sacrifice, except, um, the sacrifice. So where is the lamb?"

• Abraham doesn't miss a beat. His response seems to indicate his faith - "God will provide for Himself the lamb for the burnt offering, my son."

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.

• So they get there, and build the altar, and arrange all the wood.

• Then Abraham ties up his son Isaac and lays him on the altar. I can't imagine what is going on in either of their heads. Abraham wrestling with his fear as he binds his ONLY son. Isaac, trying to remain calm as he realizes he's about to die, and at his father's hands. Abraham lifting the knife over Isaac to kill him.

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 that very last moment, when the proverbial timer is about to count down to liftoff, Abraham's hand is stayed by the angel of the LORD, Jesus Christ Himself telling Abraham to STOP!

• Abraham's faith is proven in that he did not waver in offering up his son to God.

13Then Abraham raised his eyes and looked, and behold, behind him a ram caught in the thicket by his horns; and Abraham went and took the ram and offered him up for a burnt offering in the place of his son. 14Abraham called the name of that place The LORD Will Provide, as it is said to this day, “In the mount of the LORD it will be provided.”

• Now Abraham conveniently sees a ram caught in the bushes nearby, which he used as a sacrifice in place of Isaac.

• Abraham names the place Jehovah-Jireh, or YHWH-Jireh, which means "The LORD Will Provide".

15Then the angel of the LORD called to Abraham a second time from heaven, 16and said, “By Myself I have sworn, declares the LORD, because you have done this thing and have not withheld your son, your only son, 17indeed I will greatly bless you, and I will greatly multiply your seed as the stars of the heavens and as the sand which is on the seashore; and your seed shall possess the gate of their enemies. 18In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice.”

• Jesus then again addresses Abraham, reiterating that He will bless Abraham, and will deliver on His promise to "greatly multiply" his offspring, and that his offspring will eventually possess the promised land.

19So Abraham returned to his young men, and they arose and went together to Beersheba; and Abraham lived at Beersheba.

• So they return to Beersheba. I wonder if they told the servants what had transpired on the mountain? I can't help but think that both Abraham and Isaac would have come down off that mountain as changed men.

• Abraham's faith confirmed by his willingness to obey, even in the light of seeming tragedy.

• Isaac's faith confirmed by his willingness to obey, allowing Abraham to use him as the sacrifice.

► This is one of those situations where it might seem that Abraham was just willing to give up and lose his son. Why not, everything else in his life isn't working out the way he thought it would. But we find from Hebrews just the opposite. In Hebrews 11:17-19 it says → "17By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises was offering up his only begotten son; 18it was he to whom it was said, “IN ISAAC YOUR DESCENDANTS SHALL BE CALLED.” 19He considered that God is able to raise people even from the dead, from which he also received him back as a type." So we can now understand, that Abraham had full intentions to kill his son Isaac. Knowing that God would resurrect Isaac, because God had promised that his descendants, you know the ones that can't be numbered, would all come through Isaac.

   The future of Isaac • Gen 22:20 to 24

Genesis 22:20-24 → 20Now it came about after these things, that it was told Abraham, saying, “Behold, Milcah also has borne children to your brother Nahor: 21Uz his firstborn and Buz his brother and Kemuel the father of Aram 22and Chesed and Hazo and Pildash and Jidlaph and Bethuel.” 23Bethuel became the father of Rebekah; these eight Milcah bore to Nahor, Abraham’s brother. 24His concubine, whose name was Reumah, also bore Tebah and Gaham and Tahash and Maacah.

• This might seem like a non-consequential addition to this chapter, but I think it really does fit.

• We've just seen, what would have looked to an outsider, the potential end of Abraham's dynasty before it ever got started.

• Yet now, with this small addendum, we see the lineage of Isaac's future wife, through whom that dynasty would come. Remember Milcah, Haran's daughter who married her uncle Nahor, Abraham's brother? She was mentioned near the end of chapter 11. She had a whole bunch of kids, the last of which is Bethuel, the father of Rebekah, who will very soon in our journey through Genesis become Isaac's wife.

• So it is a nice little footnote, as it adds to the story of Isaac's life being spared.

► This great story of faith is probably somewhat familiar to most who claim Jesus as their Savior and Lord. The parallels of this story with the events of the incarnation of Jesus, His death and resurrection, are there intentionally. This takes us back to Genesis 15:6 where it said of Abraham "6Then he believed in the LORD; and He reckoned it to him as righteousness." I doubt that God will ever ask me to sacrifice one of my children, but I hope that in matters of life that I do experience, that I'd be willing and able to trust the LORD to follow through on His promises, no matter how bleak some situations may appear.

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Photo • 2017/06/11 - Big horn sheep on the side walls of the Rio Grande River Gorge, Taos, NM

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