Turning the page…
Turning the page…
Glory · The Fathers
God asked Abraham to give up the very son through whom every promise had to come, and Abraham obeyed, reasoning that God could raise the dead. At the last moment the Angel of Yahweh stopped the knife, a ram died in Isaac's place, and Abraham named the place Yahweh Will Provide. Hebrews reads the scene as a picture of resurrection, James as faith brought to completion, and both point ahead to the Father who actually gave His own Son.
https://glorystudy.com/questions/why-did-god-test-abraham-with-isaac · Scripture quoted from the World English Bible
Genesis 22:1-19
As you read: The hard command, Abraham's 'here I am' obedience, the question about the lamb, the provided ram, and the new name 'Yahweh Will Provide'.
1After these things, God tested Abraham, and said to him, “Abraham!” He said, “Here I am.”
2He said, “Now take your son, your only son, whom you love, even Isaac, and go into the land of Moriah. Offer him there for a burnt offering on one of the mountains which I will tell you of.”
3Abraham rose early in the morning, and saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son. He split the wood for the burnt offering, and rose up, and went to the place of which God had told him.
4On the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes, and saw the place far off.
5Abraham said to his young men, “Stay here with the donkey. The boy and I will go yonder. We will worship, and come back to you.”
6Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on Isaac his son. He took in his hand the fire and the knife. They both went together.
7Isaac spoke to Abraham his father, and said, “My father?” He said, “Here I am, my son.” He said, “Here is the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?”
8Abraham said, “God will provide himself the lamb for a burnt offering, my son.” So they both went together.
9They came to the place which God had told him of. Abraham built the altar there, and laid the wood in order, bound Isaac his son, and laid him on the altar, on the wood.
10Abraham stretched out his hand, and took the knife to kill his son.
11Yahweh’s angel called to him out of the sky, and said, “Abraham, Abraham!” He said, “Here I am.”
12He said, “Don’t lay your hand on the boy, neither do anything to him. For now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me.”
13Abraham lifted up his eyes, and looked, and saw that behind him was a ram caught in the thicket by his horns. Abraham went and took the ram, and offered him up for a burnt offering instead of his son.
14Abraham called the name of that place Yahweh Will Provide. As it is said to this day, “On Yahweh’s mountain, it will be provided.”
15Yahweh’s angel called to Abraham a second time out of the sky,
16and said, “I have sworn by myself, says Yahweh, because you have done this thing, and have not withheld your son, your only son,
17that I will bless you greatly, and I will multiply your seed greatly like the stars of the heavens, and like the sand which is on the seashore. Your seed will possess the gate of his enemies.
18All the nations of the earth will be blessed by your seed, because you have obeyed my voice.”
19So Abraham returned to his young men, and they rose up and went together to Beersheba. Abraham lived at Beersheba.
Hebrews 11:17-19
As you read: Why offering Isaac did not break the promise: Abraham concluded God is able to raise the dead, so he received Isaac back as a figure.
17By faith, Abraham, being tested, offered up Isaac. Yes, he who had gladly received the promises was offering up his one and only son;
18even he to whom it was said, “In Isaac will your seed be called”;
19concluding that God is able to raise up even from the dead. Figuratively speaking, he also did receive him back from the dead.
James 2:20-26
As you read: How the offering of Isaac perfected Abraham's faith and fulfilled the word spoken about him in Genesis 15:6.
20But do you want to know, vain man, that faith apart from works is dead?
21Wasn’t Abraham our father justified by works, in that he offered up Isaac his son on the altar?
22You see that faith worked with his works, and by works faith was perfected;
23and the Scripture was fulfilled which says, “Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him as righteousness”; and he was called the friend of God.
24You see then that by works, a man is justified, and not only by faith.
25In the same way, wasn’t Rahab the prostitute also justified by works, in that she received the messengers, and sent them out another way?
26For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, even so faith apart from works is dead.
After decades of walking with God, Abraham heard the hardest command imaginable: 'take your son, your only son, whom you love, even Isaac', and offer him on Moriah. Notice how he moves: he rose early, saddled the donkey, split the wood himself, and answered every call, from heaven or from his boy, with 'Here I am.' The test was not information God lacked; it was the visible proof of what a lifetime of faith had grown into.
“After these things, God tested Abraham, and said to him, “Abraham!” He said, “Here I am.” He said, “Now take your son, your only son, whom you love, even Isaac, and go into the land of Moriah. Offer him there for a burnt offering on one of the mountains which I will tell you of.””Genesis 22:1-2
“Abraham rose early in the morning, and saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son. He split the wood for the burnt offering, and rose up, and went to the place of which God had told him.”Genesis 22:3
Isaac was not just beloved; he was irreplaceable, the child through whom God had said, 'In Isaac will your seed be called.' To offer him seemed to unravel the covenant. Hebrews names the tension precisely: the one who had gladly received the promises was offering up his one and only son. Sometimes real trust has to carry a promise and an impossibility in the same arms, and this chapter shows what that looks like.
“By faith, Abraham, being tested, offered up Isaac. Yes, he who had gladly received the promises was offering up his one and only son;”Hebrews 11:17
“even he to whom it was said, “In Isaac will your seed be called”;”Hebrews 11:18
When Isaac asked where the lamb was, Abraham answered, 'God will provide himself the lamb for a burnt offering, my son.' A ram caught by its horns died so the son could live, and Abraham called that place Yahweh Will Provide. On Moriah a father got his boy back because a substitute died in his place. On Calvary God actually went through with it: He is 'who didn’t spare his own Son, but delivered him up for us all'.
“Isaac spoke to Abraham his father, and said, “My father?” He said, “Here I am, my son.” He said, “Here is the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?””Genesis 22:7
“Abraham said, “God will provide himself the lamb for a burnt offering, my son.” So they both went together.”Genesis 22:8
“Abraham lifted up his eyes, and looked, and saw that behind him was a ram caught in the thicket by his horns. Abraham went and took the ram, and offered him up for a burnt offering instead of his son.”Genesis 22:13
“Abraham called the name of that place Yahweh Will Provide. As it is said to this day, “On Yahweh’s mountain, it will be provided.””Genesis 22:14
“He who didn’t spare his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how would he not also with him freely give us all things?”Romans 8:32
Hebrews opens the logic behind the knife: Abraham concluded 'that God is able to raise up even from the dead.' If the promise required a living Isaac, and God demanded an offered Isaac, then resurrection was the only road left, and Abraham took it. That is why he told the servants, 'We will worship, and come back to you.' Then, at the last second, the Angel stopped his hand, saying, 'now I know that you fear God'.
“Abraham said to his young men, “Stay here with the donkey. The boy and I will go yonder. We will worship, and come back to you.””Genesis 22:5
“Abraham stretched out his hand, and took the knife to kill his son.”Genesis 22:10
“He said, “Don’t lay your hand on the boy, neither do anything to him. For now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me.””Genesis 22:12
“concluding that God is able to raise up even from the dead. Figuratively speaking, he also did receive him back from the dead.”Hebrews 11:19
James asks plainly whether Abraham our father was justified by works when he offered Isaac, and answers: 'faith worked with his works, and by works faith was perfected.' The word spoken years earlier, that 'Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him as righteousness', was fulfilled on Moriah, and Abraham 'was called the friend of God.' Faith alone saves, but the faith that saves is never left alone.
“Wasn’t Abraham our father justified by works, in that he offered up Isaac his son on the altar?”James 2:21
“You see that faith worked with his works, and by works faith was perfected;”James 2:22
“and the Scripture was fulfilled which says, “Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him as righteousness”; and he was called the friend of God.”James 2:23