Genesis 22 Faithfulness

We will see faithfulness from two sides of this story. Abraham’s faithfulness to God and God’s faithfulness to Abraham. Isaac’s life is the focal point.

The story of Abraham being told to sacrifice Isaac is one that brings up the most questions for me. I wonder about Sarah; did she know what was going on? Questions about Isaac; did he suffer from nightmares or even Post Traumatic Stress Disorder after this? And Abraham; how did his relationships change after this?

It is a story of ABSOLUTE faith. A test that I know I would fail. I LOVE God with ALL my heart, mind, and soul, but I could NEVER kill my child. Even if I expected him to be raised again from the dead. I HAVE placed my children into God’s hands, to do whatever it takes to bring them back to Him. And THAT is a scary proposition.

My mom told me about a friend of hers whose daughter was dying. I think she had been in a car accident, but I’m not certain. The mother got to be with her daughter before she died. My mom asked her about her feelings, or something along those lines. The whole process isn’t as important as what the mother said when asked if she was angry about her daughter’s death. “I told God to do whatever it took to bring her back to Him. She repented before she died. That’s what it took, so I am fine with it.” These are her words to the best of my recollection of the story, but you understand the sentiment. I’m praying that this is NOT what it takes for my children to return to Him, but if it is, we will have eternity together.

Abraham wasn’t looking to eternity with Isaac. He was holding fast to God’s promise that he would become a father of many nations. Isaac had not yet even wed, so Abraham KNEW Isaac still had a future in front of him. He trusted God’s promises THAT MUCH!!! He had already abandoned one son, and now he was being asked to sacrifice the other; the son of promise. Let’s walk with this family in this difficult time.

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Abraham has been sojourning in the land of Canaan for quite some time. He has traveled its length and breadth a few times over. There are several places that he regularly returns to, as they consistently provide good grazing during certain times of the year. He also likes to return to the places where he dug wells and built altars to his God. The people in these areas know Abraham well and welcome him whenever he returns. He never fails to bless his neighbors.

Abraham and his company arrived at Beersheba a week ago. They are just settling into life in this area again. Sarah has the evening meal well under way while Abraham goes to his favorite spot to meet with his God.

This place holds so many memories for Abraham. Most of them good. The memories that THIS spot holds are ALL good. This is the place where Abraham offers sacrifices to his God. A place where he sits in companiable silence with the Lord. The place where he hears his Master’s voice the loudest. He has many such places scattered throughout the land of Canaan, but this one holds a special place in his heart. Not only does he meet with his God here, but he can look out over what his God has created see the beauty of it. Not that he can’t see beauty in the other places, but this one calls to him louder than the others. He isn’t certain why, but it does.

As Abraham sits looking over the valley below him, he hears God’s voice.

“Abraham!”

Abraham KNOWS this voice. He has heard it many times. He immediately responds to it.

“Her I am.”

God waits only a beat of the heart after Abraham’s response. “He is ready” God surmises.

“Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you” (verse 2).

Abraham is stunned by the words he hears. “Offer my only son, Isaac, as a sacrifice!” Abraham shakes his head as if to clear any ‘cobwebs’ from his brain. He sits still a while longer, hoping God would give him either confirmation or different instructions. He KNOWS what he heard, but he is having trouble reconciling it with all of God’s promises.

There is nothing more from the Lord. Abraham slowly gets to his feet, as if he has aged a lifetime while sitting and waiting for God. With a heavy heart he descends from his special place and makes his way to his tent. His mind is a whir. “What will I tell Sarah? How will I get Isaac out from under her watchful eye? What do I say to Isaac? Am I going crazy? Did God really ask this of me? If I… kill my son… how will he be the son of the promises God has told me he is?”

When Abraham opens the door of his tent, he finds an angry Sarah. “You said you would be home hours ago! Your meal is cold. Isaac and I have already eaten.”

“I’m sorry my love. I was delayed talking with the Lord. I’m not really hungry anyway.”

Abraham gives Sarah a kiss on the forehead as he moves past her to his pallet. Sarah gives him a scrutinizing look. She can tell by his walk that he is carrying something heavy on his mind. Living together as long as they have, she has learned to recognize his moods. Her anger immediately melts and she says nothing as her husband slowly readies himself for bed.

“Let me help you with that” Sarah offers as Abraham appears to be struggling to untie his sandals. After she removes his shoes, she sits at his feet and gazes up at his face. “What is it that is troubling you my love?”

“Just something I have to work out on my own my love. But thank you for caring.”

“Is there anything I can do to help?”

“Actually, I have to take Isaac on a trip tomorrow. We will leave at first light and will be gone for about a week. Could you pack some bread for us?”

“Where are you going? Why so far?”

“We are going to Moriah to make a… sacrifice to the Lord.”

“Why can’t you do that here? You have the altar you built the first time we stayed here.”

“I know. But this is where the Lord told me to make my… sacrifice.”

Abraham hopes that Sarah doesn’t notice the hesitation in his voice. He cannot tell her any more about what the Lord has required of him. She would NOT understand!

Finally, Sarah shrugs and rises from the floor. Since Abraham wants to make an early start, she decides to wrap the bread for travel tonight; before going to bed. She can see that he is still carrying a burden. “Maybe he is just thinking about the trip” she muses.

As soon as her preparations are complete, Sarah quietly slips in beside Abraham. Isaac has been asleep for some time. He has had a long, hard day working in the hills with the shepherds. “He has grown so much!” Sarah thinks as she passed him on her way to her pallet.

Abraham feels it when Sarah climbs in beside him but he makes no move or sound to alert her to the fact that he is still awake. He wonders if he will get any sleep this night. “This is the hardest thing God has EVER asked me to do. Telling me to send Ishmael away was hard… but this…” Then Abraham remembers something that one of the visitors said when he confronted Sarah about laughing. “Is anything too hard for the Lord” (Genesis 18:14a). Abraham’s mind starts to piece a few things together. “God has asked me to kill my son, Isaac, but He also promised me descendants through him. So, He must have some way to restore him to me; to resurrect him if necessary. For NOTHING is too hard for the Lord!”

As Abraham grasps onto this new truth, he is able to finally rest. “God never does anything without a reason, and He is not a cruel God like the gods of the other nations. I will trust Him with my life; AND my son’s life” thinks Abraham as he drifts off to sleep.

Morning breaks and Abraham is the first one out of bed. He is not excited about the task ahead, but he is determined that he will NOT let his God down. He will do as the Lord has commanded.

Abraham slips out of the tent to ready his supplies and wake two of the servants who will accompany them on their trip. They could make fires along the way with whatever wood was available but Abraham wanted to bring his own wood for the sacrifice. He packed two fresh torches so he could carry the fire with him instead of having to kindle it on the mountain. And he sharpened his best knife to a razor’s edge. He would sacrifice his son as the Lord required, but he would make it as quick and painless as possible. He was committed to the idea but that didn’t mean that his heart didn’t hurt over it. The fact that his tears were enough to keep the stone wet while sharpening the blade was proof of that.

When Abraham finished sharpening the knife he dried his face to remove all traces of the tears he had shed. Sarah would surely know something was ‘wrong’ and confront him if she saw his tearstained face.

Sarah and Isaac are both up and moving about when Abraham returns to his tent. Sarah had told Isaac that his father was taking him on a trip and to dress for traveling. Isaac had on his lambskin belt, with his dagger and waterskin fastened to it. He had made this himself and included the pouch to hold his waterskin. This way, he could carry his bow over his shoulder without it getting tangled with the strap of a waterskin. He had not tried his belt on a long journey. He was looking forward to doing just that.

“Good! You’re up. We need to get going.”

“NOT before you have breakfast” Sarah said with determination. She stood with her arms folded across her breasts and steel in her eyes.

The men looked at one another and then burst out laughing. Sarah stood firm for a moment, but couldn’t hold it any longer. She too joined in the laughter. When they all three calmed, Abraham touched Sarah’s cheek.

“Of course we will eat my love.”

That laughter was medicine for Abraham’s heart. The three of them ate their breakfast with the men putting a little more speed into consuming theirs than Sarah did. Abraham thought about prolonging their departure but was afraid that Sarah would begin again with the questions. If SHE knew what the Lord required of him, she would hold fast to Isaac with both hands AND feet! Abraham knew it was a little deceitful, but what she didn’t know couldn’t hurt her. For, even if Sarah discovered and protested, Abraham would do as the Lord had commanded.

Abraham, Isaac, the two servants, and a donkey set out on the way to Moriah before the sun had risen a hand’s breadth above the horizon. Still morning, but not as early as Abraham had originally planned. Sarah watched from the edge of camp until they faded from her sight.

The journey was long but Isaac enjoyed every minute of it. His father let him hunt in the evenings for meat for their dinner. He had become quite the expert with the bow and his tracking skills were uncanny. Each night along the way, Isaac filled their bellies as well as entertained them with stories of his hunt.

Abraham treasured the journey too. It allowed him to spend more time with his son than he ever could while tending to their large company. Abraham also took great care to draw memories from each day to hide in his heart. Yes. He fully believed that God would keep His promises concerning Isaac, but the experience would be something that would alter their relationship forever.

God hadn’t told Abraham exactly where he was to offer Isaac, but he KNEW he would know it when he saw it. On their third day out, they could see Moriah in the distance. Abraham’s eyes were drawn to a small knoll on the right side of the mountain. In his spirit he heard “This is the place.”

Once Abrahan saw the place where the Lord had been bringing him, he also knew it was time to part company with the servants. This was a time for he and the boy alone. Abraham had always met with God apart from the rest of the camp. Isaac had accompanied him on a few occasions, as he needed for his son to learn of the ways of the Lord. In not too many years, Isaac would be looking to make his own family. He would take all that he had learned from his father in regards to serving the Lord and teach them to his children; or so Abraham hoped.

“Make camp here” Abraham instructed his servants. “Stay here with the donkey; I and the boy will go over there and worship and come again to you” (verse 5b). Abraham unstrapped the wood for the sacrifice and the torches. He waited while one of the servants had the campfire burning. While he waited, he had Isaac remove his bow and then strapped the wood for the sacrifice to Isaac’s shoulders. Once the fire was ready, Abraham plunged one of the torches into the fire and waited while it caught.

With everything assembled, Abraham turned to Isaac and put a hand on his shoulder. “It’s time my son.”

Abraham and Isaac walked on towards the place where the Lord showed him. Abraham began to speak of the Lord. “The Lord is a Mighty God. He is a good God and He keeps His promises. He never asks us to do anything without a reason. We may not understand the reason, but we can trust Him nonetheless.”

Isaac soaked up every word. Then something occurred to him. Something was missing. They must have forgotten it! “My father!” said Isaac.

“Here I am, my son” Abraham answered.

“Behold, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?”

“God will provide for Himself the lamb for a burnt offering, my son” (verses 7-8) Abraham answered. There was a lump in Abraham’s throat as he said this to his son. “You are that lamb, my son” Abraham silently thinks.

Abraham and Isaac finally reach the top of the knoll that God had directed them to. Abraham takes the burning torch and plunges it between two rocks where it will wait until needed. He then unstrapped the wood from Isaac’s shoulders and began arranging it carefully. He took as much time as he could arranging it before he realized that he was stalling. “I’m sorry Lord” he quietly whispered as he rose from his knees and brushed the dirt from his robe.

Holding the ropes that had held the wood, Abraham calls Isaac over to him.

“Hold out your hands my son.”

Isaac does as he in instructed. Abraham brings Isaacs hands together and begins binding them. Isaac’s face clearly shows his confusion as to why his father is binding his hands, but he doesn’t pull away or resist. He trusts his father completely.

Abraham is fighting back his tears. He STILL trusts God to restore Isaac to him once this is finished, but this HURTS!

Abraham leads Isaac over to a rock. “I need you to sit here son while I bind your feet.”

“Why father!” remaining standing and planting his feet.

“Isaac” says Abraham.

“Yes father” replies Isaac as is their custom.

“Remember when we talked about not always understanding the Lord’s plan, but still trusting Him?”

“Yes.”

“Well, I need you to trust me. The Lord has called me to do this. I don’t understand, by I will obey.”

Isaac drops his head and sits down on the rock. Abraham bends down and binds Isaac’s feet.

“I’m going to pick you up now son. I’m going to place you on the wood for the sacrifice.”

Isaac says nothing but tears are streaming down his face. They are mixing full measure with the ones falling from Abraham’s eyes.

As Abraham lays Isaac down, he looks into his son’s eyes. “Trust Him” he whispers; for both of them.

Abraham finally closes his eyes and moves his hand to his belt where the knife is held fast. Slowly Abraham withdraws the knife. Tears are streaming down his face; but he will obey.

Abraham opens his eyes and sees that Isaac’s are closed tight. Tears continue to run out the corners of his eyes. They soak his hair as he waits silently for what the Lord has commanded his father to do. Isaac figured out what it is that his father is being commanded to do without his father having to actually say the words. He knows the rituals involved in a sacrifice. And he knows that HE is that sacrifice. Only the unwavering trust he has in his father’s love keeps him here on this altar.

Abraham kneels beside his son and prepares to slit his throat, as he would a sheep, to allow his blood to pour down over the wood. Just as Abraham brings the knife to Isaac’s throat he hears a voice shouting to him from Heaven.

“Abraham, Abraham!” God shouts to get Abraham’s attention.

“Here I am” answers Abraham as he moves the knife away with trembling hands.

“Do not lay your hand on the boy or do anything to him, for now I know that you fear God, seeing you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me” (verses 11-12).

Abraham collapses onto his knees and weeps. His head is resting on Isaac’s shoulder.

Isaac has heard God’s voice along with his father. His eyes flew open when God called to Abraham. He is breathing a huge sigh of relief. He still lies bound on the altar. He waits while he and his father both weep tears of relief and joy.

After a moment, Abraham lifts his head up and right on the other side of the altar where Isaac lays is a ram caught in a thicket by its horns.

Abraham quickly cuts the bindings holding his son’s hands and feet fast. He doesn’t even consider that he might need them in a moment. Abraham helps Isaac to climb off of the wood. They embrace one another in a bond so tight that they nearly meld into one. The sound of the ram thrashing about again finally separates them.

Isaac looks over at the ram. “God will provide” he says with a shaky smile.

“Yes. He will” replies Abraham.

The two go to the ram together and bring it to the altar. IT will be the sacrifice they offer to the Lord. After Abraham slits the animal’s neck, he and Isaac hold it as the blood runs out. Once the life is gone, father and son dress the animal and lay it on the wood. Abraham retrieves the torch and together they lay the torch to the wood.

As the ram burns on the altar, father and son watch in silence. Both are grateful for this substitute that God provided. Once it is fully burned, Abraham stomps out the embers. There is nothing left for them in this place. No other person on earth would be able to tell where it was that God had called for the life of Abraham’s son. But the two of them would remember this place for the rest of their lives.

As they descend the mountain, Isaac asks his father a question.

“What would you have done if God had not stopped you?”

“I would have done as He commanded.”

Isaac contemplates his father’s answer and realizes again how close he came to death.

After a minute Abraham speaks again. “But I KNEW that the Lord had made promises to me concerning you. I TRUSTED Him with ALL my heart. I KNEW that, at the very least, He would restore you to me from death if necessary.”

Isaac sees his father’s willingness to do as his God had commanded in a new light. He sees the faith of his father; the depth of that faith. “You KNEW you would still have me. You didn’t know how, but you trusted your God THAT much!”

“Yes my son. I remembered something He had said to me a long time ago. ‘Is anything to hard for God?’ He said this to your mother when He told her that she would have you. Your mother was FAR too old for bearing children and had always been barren. If He could overcome her issues and bring life to a dead womb, I realized that He could bring life to a dead body as well. There is NOTHING to hard for our Lord!”

“I was truly afraid father” Isaac says in a low voice.

“I know you were and I’m sorry. If I could have spared you this experience, I would have.”

“But then I wouldn’t have seen the depths of your faith, or truly understand His call on your life. Nor would I have truly understood how much you love me. You did what you did to save me. To show me your God; who is now MY God.”

Abraham’s heart nearly bursts at the sound of his son binding himself to the God of all creation. He wraps an arm around his son’s shoulder as they continue on their journey back to the servants. And Isaac wraps his arm around his father’s waist.

Just before they reach the servants, Abraham says; “Let’s not tell your mother about today.”

“Agreed! I don’t think she would understand and I KNOW she wouldn’t approve!”

The journey back to Beersheba has Abraham and Isaac both reflecting on the events on the mountain. Both have committed to follow the Lord wherever he leads. And they have a new depth to their own bond. One that NOTHING on this earth can shake. Isaac knows the depths of his father’s love, and Abraham knows the depths of his son’s honor for him.

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Scripture doesn’t tell us that Abraham even said a word to Isaac about what was happening. It has us seeing a completely subdued Isaac. One who never even questioned what was going on. Unless he was unconscious during the ordeal, I don’t see how anyone would willingly be the sacrifice. God could have taken Isaac mentally from the situation but that would have left Abraham with a shell instead of his son. Abraham had to be willing to give his whole son, spirit and all, to the Lord.

We also see nothing in scripture about the impact this event had on Isaac. He continued to honor his father, even to the taking of a wife from his own relatives. So, something would have had to either prevented their bond from being broken, or strengthened it on that mountain. Since Isaac didn’t run away screaming, I’m betting on the second outcome. Isaac was able to see his father’s faith in action.

Father God, did I show my children ‘my faith in action’ as they grew up? I believe I did, but it didn’t prevent them from walking away from You. I also know that they can’t be saved by MY faith. They have to choose You themselves. I PRAY that I am showing them my faith now. I know I’m showing them my love by loving them even when they are walking in ways that I KNOW You don’t approve of. Am I sparing my child instead of honoring You? Did I ‘refuse to lay them on the altar and raise the knife’? What do You want me to do at this point? “Yes Lord. Here I am. Lead me in the way You would have me walk.”