Genesis 22:1-2

[hmbld]

Genesis 22

And it came to pass after these things, that God did tempt Abraham, and said unto him, Abraham: and he said, Behold, here I am.

2 And he said, Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of.

 

 

My first response to this is how did Abraham know he wasn't being tricked by satan into killing his son?

 

And then when Isaac asks where the lamb is for the burnt offering, and Abraham responds by telling him God will provide, whew! what faith.

 

But again, it is such a serious situation to be asked to sacrifice your son, Abraham seemed to doubt God's promise of a son when he was aging and now he had Isaac and he shows no second thought in taking isaac to sacrifice him?  Wouldn't it make you question your sanity if you thought God wanted you to kill your son?

[veryberry]

Yes.

 Notice in Gen 22: 8 it says - "God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering"  This is a prophecy of Jesus Christ.

 

Abraham had great faith. He believed that God would raise Isaac from the dead. Hebrews 11:17-19

[Spock]

This is a difficult passage to understand, particularly since God condemned this terrible act of human sacrifice. Abraham knew God and knew his voice, so he could discern that it was truly God telling him. Before God called him out of Ur, he was in a Pagan nation. Pagan nations practiced human sacrifice, so maybe Abraham really did not think anything of it. Abraham proved to God that he loved Him more than his son. Of course, we know, and Abraham learns from God, not to actually sacrifice his son. God forbade it. Abraham may then have learned more about God and his way - not to sacrifice. As we lengthen our walk with God we learn more about his ways. Of course, the ultimate lesson was God was testing Abraham on the thing he desired and loved the most. He showed God that he love Him more. Well, this is my guess on a very difficult passage. He had no prior knowledge of God and His ways, no scriptures to reference. He had to have on-the-job training.

[Guest shiloh357]

Genesis 22

And it came to pass after these things, that God did tempt Abraham, and said unto him, Abraham: and he said, Behold, here I am.

2 And he said, Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of.

 

 

My first response to this is how did Abraham know he wasn't being tricked by satan into killing his son?

 

And then when Isaac asks where the lamb is for the burnt offering, and Abraham responds by telling him God will provide, whew! what faith.

 

But again, it is such a serious situation to be asked to sacrifice your son, Abraham seemed to doubt God's promise of a son when he was aging and now he had Isaac and he shows no second thought in taking isaac to sacrifice him?  Wouldn't it make you question your sanity if you thought God wanted you to kill your son?

One thing to understand is that back in Genesis 15 God made a blood covenant with Abraham in order to show him how serious He was about His promise to Abraham to provide him with an heir.

 

Blood covenants were the most serious type of covenant you could make in those days.  It was unbreakable upon pain of death.   It was the one thing that God could use to demonstrate to Abraham just how serious He was about keeping this promise.  That was the basis of Abraham's faith:  A blood covenant.

 

So when God told Abraham to sacrifice his son, horrible as it sounds,  the book of Hebrews tells us in chapter 11 that Abraham expected God to raise Isaac from the dead if necessary.   Abraham knew that one way or the other, just like he told his servants in Gen. 22, "you wait here and me the boy will be back."   Abraham understood what he was being asked to do, but he was measuring that against God's promise sealed in blood and thus unbreakable.

 

This was as much a demonstration of God's integrity as it was a test of Abraham's faith.