I really didn’t want to be assigned this passage. I’ve been a Christian most of my life, and still, when I read this passage about Isaac and Abraham walking up the mountain, I simply want to throw my Bible across the room. Why in the world would God ask Abraham to do this?
There are a host of things that God asks His people to do—things that, without faith and understanding of context surrounding these passages, seem really wild. Earlier in Genesis, God asked Abraham to circumcise every man in his household, even his servants. Today, Christians are asked to live in obedience to a lot of biblical commands which make no sense to the world and its culture today. We’re asked not to have sex outside of marriage. We’re asked to think of others as better than ourselves. We’re asked to go out of our way to give to and love others—even our enemies. These commands might seem obvious if you’ve been in church for a long time. But outside of the lens of faith, they really make no sense at all. Only God can give us the strength and faith needed to obey Him.
And so, I’m left to believe that God must have given Abraham the strength and faith to obey even this—this seemingly insane command. Why would God have Abraham sacrifice this child, who he and Sarah had waited and longed for throughout the course of their lives? Why this child of the promise? If you remember Genesis chapter 21, you’ll recall that Abraham had just sent his other child, Ishmael, away. So now, if he were to go through with the sacrifice of Isaac, he would have no children at all.
But Abraham trusted God. He trusted that God was good. Abraham had learned that obedience to God brings greater blessing than pain. So, if God was asking him to surrender to something painful—something as horrific as losing his only son—then there must be an even more abundant blessing on the other side.
I’m not sure I would have had the faith to walk up that mountain. But because Abraham obeyed, we now get to witness, through Scripture, the first example of substitutionary sacrifice, as God provides a ram in the thicket. Do you know who else walked up a mountain that led directly to an inconceivable sacrifice? Jesus.
Only when Jesus walked to Calvary, when the Roman guard slammed hammer into steel, through flesh, there was no ram in the thicket (Genesis 22:13). Jesus, the King of kings and Lord of lords, became God’s autobiography on earth. And God’s nature is not punitive—it is sacrificial. Jesus willingly obeyed the Father to the point of death—even to death on a cross (Philippians 2:8). And because of His supernatural, unexplainable, indescribable obedience, we now have peace with God. Thanks be to God for obedience and the peace that comes with it—things that we may not be able to understand, but can only pray to the strength and faith to emulate.
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51 thoughts on "Isaac Offered Up"
Lord, You know where this passage takes my heart. (I knew it was coming yesterday.) The laying down of those who have held our heart, so that only You hold it, is hard. The longer I have allowed someone else to hold it, the deeper the roots, the more painful it is. I get that it shouldn’t be. You are King. You are God alone. You gave Your Son as a sacrifice, because my sin separates me from You, and You LOVE me. I do not want anything to come between us Lord, nor do You. This was a test for Abraham. I believe sometimes You ask me to lay something down because I’ve closed my fist around it, instead of holding things open to You. You are all-knowing and all-wise, You see it and ask me open my fingers…You even help me pry them free when I am not strong enough, because You love me.
Like Abraham and Sarah, I want to live a faithful, faith-filled life for You. Thank you Lord for watching over me, guiding me, and showing me when I hold something/someone with a closed fist instead an open-palm up to You. You provided the ram for Abraham, You provided the Lamb of God for me. With open hands, lifted, I thank You, worship, and praise You alone. Thank You for being my armor. Thank You for having my back (my front, my heart, and my mind). Thank You. Amen.
Thank you for sharing your prayer Angie…the image of a tight fist touched my heart too.
Closed fist vs open palm….thank you for this powerful analogy Angie. It touched my heart too. Right where it needed to.
Thank you SRT for this reminder of the enormous faith Abraham had. Every time I hear this story I am in awe and wonder at how he knew before hand that God would provide the sacrifice. According to the scripture, God didn’t let him in on that but somehow he knew it. And he didn’t hesitate to obey. WOW. To have the faith and trust of Abraham is my prayer for today.
Thank you all fo sharing I race down in the morning to read shereadstruth, and today I lead a Bible study and can’t wait to share this as last week we ended our study on Sarah. I love having a life that the world doesn’t understand where I experience His love and understanding that others question and often want to share in.
Why are we surprised, even shocked, when God asks us to do hard things? It’s as if we’re saying to God (God!), “how dare you ask this of me?”
Yes, to our sensibilities, sacrificing Isaac seems irrational, illogical, incomprehensible and cruel. Our news reporters would deem it a heinous act. However, in Abraham’s culture, child sacrifice to appease heathen gods was common. This would not have been a totally foreign concept to Abraham. Abraham remains confident however in the unique character of his God. He tells his servants before he and Isaac ascend the mountain that they (plural, meaning Abraham and Isaac) would return to them. Commentaries note that Abraham believed that God would make a way, in the face of this improbable command, to fulfill His promise to him through Isaac. That is true faith. Abraham passed the test! God provided the offering just as Abraham said he would. The lamb caught in the thicket was no coincidence.
What hard task is being asked of us? What does God ask us to do that appears irrational, illogical and incomprehensible in our circumstance, in our culture? Do we recognize the voice of God? What test of faith are we facing? How will we respond? How should we prepare?
Let us meditate today on how we would answer these questions. It may well take all day. It may well take a lifetime.
I just wanted to thank you for your words of wisdom every day. I look forward to your comments as much as I do the SRT daily commentary. Thank you for sharing your heart and wisdom with us!!
Hey Ashley!! I just recently found SRT! It’s good to see someone familiar. I hope you have a great day!! And I agree Church Mouse, I wish my faith wasn’t so “sugar coated”. I so want to learn to expect hardships instead of feel shocked by them.
I second this comment!
I agree! After I read I go right to the comments to find out what church mouse has to say!
I would echo Ashley on that one!
❤️
Churchmouse my sister! Thank you for taking SO much time to prayerfully comment to the readings of the day. God has given you a gift to write out thought provoking truths and personal challenges for the day. Many a time I screen shot the response and even share the encouragement and challenges with my women’s ministry leadership team. Holy Spirit is helping you write these posts through the lens of your personal experiences. God bless you abundantly for faithfully taking time to pray and ponder and type it up. There is fruit (more than we will ever know) being had from Gods Word and the thoughts produced from it. Feel His Love mighty warrior and daughter of the King!!! Standing strong alongside you!!!
When you read the passage carefully you will see that God never intended to kill the child. In the first verses it’s said that His intention was to test Abraham. In what? 22:12 and 16. God wanted to see how obedient will Abraham be after all these years of their relationship and what Abraham honored more – the possession or the trust in the Lord. By now Abraham knew the character of God very well, after so much waiting and so many testing. In Hebrews 11:17-19 it is said that Abraham believed that God will somehow ressurect Isaac, because Isaac was the son of promise. If God would kill Isaac it would mean that God’s word and promises mean nothing. But Abraham knew God too well, he knew that Isaac will live no matter what (although he could not know how), but he trusted the Lord, he did not doubt. That is why we do not see any hesitation in his action, nor any denial or fear. Abraham just goes and does it. He know that God’s word can be trusted, and Isaac was being promised to him in the corse of several decades and multiple times.
We are to always read Genesis 22 together with Hebrews 11:17-19. And also with the understanding of Jesus’ death as the only beloved Son of God himself. This Genesis story is one of the most crucial in God preparing the world for the salvation. Isaac was sacrificed on the same mount where later the temple will be built. The same language is used to describe the son as for Jesus – the only one, beloved, promised. In the end God says that He will provide the lamb, and we know who the real Lamb is. Genesis 22 is an amazing story, that’s how God works history in partnership with his faithful people.
Just as Abraham never doubted God because he knew Him well, let us never doubt God’s character and His intentions. We know Him well, because we have His word. He shared with us everything we need to know about His character, intentions, motivation, aims. Let us always be His partners as He works the history out and helps people see the Way. Abraham has experienced such an honor to be part of more with this little story, it wasn’t just his personal test, it was a testimony and an explanation to generations of people about the Messiah. Let us always remember that we belong to God and there’s always more than just our personal story to be written, we are included in God’s big and ultimate story.
Thank you Anna. Very well said.
Thank you, Anna for pointing out the Hebrews verses. They’re so illuminating! I ended up reading until the end of that book. Such beauty. Thank you again for your thoughts. ❤️
This is my understanding as well … Abraham’s absolute faith in God’s character. The absurdity of the request is necessary to highlight this. God does not demand this kind of sacrifice, but He does demand sacrifice. Love demands sacrifice. We though are so afraid of giving things up, of relinquishing our freedom, our possessions, our happiness, we resist the claim of God on all of it.
Teach me more.
Teach me more..
So many emotions welling up inside of me and feeling like my heart can’t contain them. A tangle of conflicting feelings over these passages. They want to break free and find their order in my mind. But Love…so much grateful Love pouring out through tears.