Genesis 22: Abraham tested

Genesis 22

Abraham Tested

¹Some time later God tested Abraham. He said to him, “Abraham!”

“Here I am,” he replied.

²Then 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.”

³Early 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.

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⁴On the third day Abraham looked up and saw the place in the distance. ⁵He 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.”

⁶Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and placed it on his son Isaac, and he himself carried the fire and the knife. As the two of them went on together, ⁷Isaac spoke up and said to his father Abraham, “Father?”

“Yes, my son?” Abraham replied.

“The fire and wood are here,” Isaac said, “but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?”

⁸Abraham answered, “God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.” And the two of them went on together.

⁹When they reached the place God had told him about, Abraham built an altar there and arranged the wood on it. He bound his son Isaac and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. ¹⁰Then he reached out his hand and took the knife to slay his son. ¹¹But the angel of the Lord called out to him from heaven, “Abraham! Abraham!”

“Here I am,” he replied.

¹²“Do not lay a hand on the boy,” he said. “Do not do anything to him. Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son.”

¹³Abraham looked up and there in a thicket he saw a ram^[a] caught by its horns. He went over and took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering instead of his son. ¹⁴So Abraham called that place The Lord Will Provide. And to this day it is said, “On the mountain of the Lord it will be provided.”

¹⁵The angel of the Lord called to Abraham from heaven a second time ¹⁶and said, “I swear by myself, declares the Lord, that because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, ¹⁷I will surely bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will take possession of the cities of their enemies, ¹⁸and through your offspring^[b] all nations on earth will be blessed,^[c] because you have obeyed me.”

¹⁹Then Abraham returned to his servants, and they set off together for Beersheba. And Abraham stayed in Beersheba.

Nahor’s Sons

²⁰Some time later Abraham was told, “Milkah is also a mother; she has borne sons to your brother Nahor: ²¹Uz the firstborn, Buz his brother, Kemuel (the father of Aram), ²²Kesed, Hazo, Pildash, Jidlaph and Bethuel.” ²³Bethuel became the father of Rebekah. Milkah bore these eight sons to Abraham’s brother Nahor. ²⁴His concubine, whose name was Reumah, also had sons: Tebah, Gaham, Tahash and Maakah.

Genesis 22(NIV)

God tested Abraham by asking him to sacrifice his son Isaac whom he loved, as a burnt offering. With no hesitation, Abraham set out early the next morning with Isaac and some of his servants to do as God had said.

Abraham did not withhold his son from God, and similarly, years later God did the same by willingly sacrificing His one and only begotten son Jesus, for the salvation of mankind.

God however did not let Abraham hurt Isaac, he made provision for the burnt offering in the form of a ram. But Abraham had already passed the test and because of that, God rained abundant blessings on him and his descendants.

Lessons from Genesis 22

Tests: Tests serve multiple purposes

- In school, students are given tests to gauge their understanding of a subject matter.

- In production, tests are used to evaluate quality, performance, or reliability.
- Some tests are used to measure preparedness and for situational awareness.

Tests that come in life to help us discover our strengths and weaknesses. They are a great way to find out where your heart is, what your instincts are and where you could use some improvement.

Abraham’s test revealed that he indeed trusted God and that he loved God more than his son Isaac. Isaac was Abraham and Sarah’s miracle baby, born to them in their old age despite Sarah’s struggle with fertility. Not only that, God had promised Abraham that Isaac was going to be the one through whom God will fulfill the promises of growth and expansion He had made to Abraham. So, the fact that Abraham was so ready to give Isaac as a sacrifice showed just how faithful Abraham was to God.

The tests of life are not meant to kill us, they are meant to help us realize our strengths and identify opportunities for improvement. If you didn’t respond like Abraham who was ready to sacrifice everything, don’t worry, just pray for strength and wisdom to do better.

A gift of value: God values gifts that mean something to us. In Luke 21:1-4, Jesus observed a poor woman bringing her 2 little coins as offerings and He remarked that she had actually given more than the wealthy people who brought bigger offerings. What made her offering so much more valuable is the fact that she gave something that represented a lot to her, this widow barely had anything but she offered a gift of value to the Lord.

Never say you have too little to give to God, He is not interested in quantity as much as He is in significance. Whenever you give something to God that is so valuable to you, it is valuable to Him also. It is such a blessing.

Jesus Christ, God’s gift to us: God used Isaac here to show what He was going to do for mankind through Jesus Christ. Jesus was God’s one and only son, precious and beloved, but God did not withhold Him from us. God showed His love for us by giving us His most valuable treasure. How amazing is that! In God’s eyes, we are worth as much as God’s most valued.

Obedience without hesitation: Hesitation is a manifestation of disobedience. When God says to do something, your response should be immediate. Don’t wait till situations are ideal for you before you spring into action. When we call on God, we want Him to respond NOW. In the same way when He sends us, He wants us to act right away. A few minutes of delay could make a huge difference in the outcomes, whether it be in our lives or the lives of others.

Trust God to do His part: When Isaac pointed out to Abraham that they had the necessary tools for the sacrifice but not the actual lamb for the burnt offering, Abraham’s response was “God Himself will provide”. He had done his part by bringing the tools and going to the appointed place, and now he was trusting God to do His part too. Even though at the time Abraham thought Isaac was going to be the sacrifice, his trust in God is still displayed by how he was not worried about how God was going to fulfill all those promises that had been made regarding Isaac. He just knew that God had a plan.

Walking with God requires a mix of obedience and trust: you do your part and trust God to do His. Don’t show up to the appointed place without your tools, and also don’t completely refuse to go to the meeting place.

God is not a murderer: When Abraham raised the knife to slay Isaac, the angel of the Lord stopped him so that he didn’t go through with it. God is not a murderer and won’t let you murder anyone for Him. In fact, God will never ask you to do anything that is contrary to His word (study the 10 commandments in Exodus 20 as well as the other books in the Bible to learn God’s word). So, whenever you are in doubt about whether something is from God, refer to His word and see if there is alignment.

When you spend time in close fellowship with God, you learn more about Him and it becomes clearer to you what is from God and what isn’t. It is just like when you know a person really well (e.g. your best friend, parent, child, etc), you can usually tell whether or not a report about them is true.

The blessing of a generous act: Because Abraham did not withhold his beloved son from God, him and his descendants were so abundantly blessed by God. One thing I’ve come to learn about God is that when He asks you to give away something precious, it is usually because He has something greater in store for you. Your key to unlocking that greater thing lies in your obedience to give away what you have now.

Never get too attached to anything to the point where you refuse to give it away at God’s request.

In Mark 10:17-31, Jesus had an encounter with a very wealthy man. This man wanted a closer walk with God, he had kept the commandments since he was a child and now he wanted something more – he wanted eternal life. However, when Jesus told him to sell everything he had and give the money to the poor, he walked away sad. He was so attached to his wealth that he preferred to hold on to it at the expense of eternal life. By doing so, he revealed where his heart truly was.

Tests help us realize what our values and valuables are. They shine lights on our vulnerabilities but also offer opportunities to identify areas of improvement.

Reflection

What truly matters to you? What are you willing to give up for it?
If you were asked by God to give up your most precious possession, would you?

Prayer

Father almighty, forgive me for the times I put other things above you. I pray that you show me those things in my life that I am still putting before you. And when you do, please give me the strength and wisdom to let go. You are my God and I want you to be first and above everything else in my life. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

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Genesis 22: Abraham tested

Genesis 22

Abraham Tested

Nahor’s Sons