Will you trust me? Genesis 22:1-19. God asks Abraham to sacrifice his beloved son.

By mmayer
Pastor Michael Mayer
Genesis 22:1-19

Some time later God tested Abraham. He said to him, ‘Abraham!’

‘Here I am,’ he replied.

Then 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 that I will show you.’

Early 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. On the third day Abraham looked up and saw the place in the distance. He 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.’

Abraham 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, Isaac 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?’

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

When 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. Then he reached out his hand and took the knife to slay his son. But the angel of the Lord called out to him from heaven, ‘Abraham! Abraham!’

‘Here I am,’ he replied.

‘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.’

Abraham looked up and there in a thicket he saw a ram caught by its horns. He went over and took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering instead of his son. So 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.’

The angel of the Lord called to Abraham from heaven a second time and said, ‘I swear by myself, declares the Lord, that because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, I 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, and through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed me.’

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

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Will you trust me? Genesis 22:1-19. God asks Abraham to sacrifice his beloved son.

After many long years, the promised son has been born. The promises that God gave Abraham and Sarah are becoming more real: land, their own child, and a blessing to all humankind through them.

Then comes these horrible words, ‘Take your son, your only son, whom you love – Isaac –….Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on a mountain that I will show you.’

Before we jump in with all our justified concerns, I invite you to gently set them aside, and listen to this as Sacred Story. Can you see how carefully put together it is? Can you imagine sitting around the cooking fire, and listening to a master story-teller? This plot is no different to what you watch or hear today. What are people willing to sacrifice, to get ahead or to protect themselves, their families or their business, and is that a good sacrifice?

The other critical thing is that we are told at the very beginning that this is a test. This is also the culmination of many long years of God interacting with Abraham and Sarah. They have certainly not got everything right at times. Their actions have put the promises in jeopardy. But now the mature Abraham simply follows the instructions and doesn’t deviate. His trust that ‘God will provide’ is honoured at the very last instant, with Isaac spared and an animal provided for a sacrifice.

Through Abraham and Sarah’s son and all his descendants, the Messiah is finally born. Here, God did not spare his Son, but offered him up for us all, through his death on the cross. This is how God shows his faithfulness to us – his Son knows and takes on all the pain and hurt of our human lives. He transforms that into forgiveness and hope. He promises that there is always new life out of our dead ends.

We’ve all made sacrifices. Some have been good, some not so good. Finally, we don’t own or control the people around us. We have to let go our grown children, and our life achievements. We let them go to God, for him to work with, even when we got things wrong. God says, ‘Will you trust me with the most precious parts of you, just like Abraham did?’ Saying yes to God brings great joy to God as well as ourselves. We are not the only ones changed or blessed by the connection – God changes too.

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