Genesis 22
Bible Passage: Genesis 22
Today in our Bible reading, we read about Abraham sacrificing his only son! And became the Father of Faith.
Now everytime I think about this story about Abraham sacrificing Isaac, I will remember my uncle, who is a staunch Catholic but said to me once that he can never accept that God actually commanded Abraham to sacrifice his son. He thinks the command of God is totally absurb and he would never do it if he were Abraham.
My thoughts then were… that’s why Abraham became the father of faith, and not anyone else. Because you can’t do it, I can’t do it, but he did it.
“Abraham… in the presence of Him whom he believed – God, who gives life to the dead and calls those things which do not exist as though they did; who, contrary to hope, in hope believed, so that he became the father of many nations,…” Rom 4:17-18
The incident of Abraham sacrificing Isaac is the manifestation of Abraham’s pinnacle of faith. He did not begin with such faith.
Some people think that you either have faith, or have no faith. And some also say that faith is given by God. But in reality, faith needs to grow. And if we follow the history of Abraham closely, we will know that he had his times of weaknesses, but he grew from his mistakes, and his faith grew from them.
Abraham had waited a long time for the promise of God for the promised son to be fulfilled. God did not speak to him all the time, and there was a time that his wife Sarai was so disappointed in herself she misunderstood the will of God and gave her maid to go in with him, and Abram heeded her voice, thus in agreement with her misconception.
But God told him that Ishmael is not the son of the covenant, and even when they are advanced in age, Sarah will bear him a son.
I would think that this long process of waiting, misunderstanding, and finally fulfilling of the promise, would have a great impact on the faith of Abraham. For in reality he had to live through his choices.
So what went through the mind of Abraham when he was given the commandment of the test!?
The Bible did not give us much clue what went through his mind. But I would imagine that a lot of things would have gone through his mind, such as why did God give him such a command? What is going to happen to God’s promise to me? What should I say to my son? Yet he did not hesitate to do the will of God. He rose early the next morning and set out to the place God had shown him, to sacrifice his son. Would he have been able to sleep the night before? We might never guess what really was in his mind, since we are not anywhere near his level of faith…
The only place the scriptures gave us a little bit of idea what went through his mind is in Heb 17:19
“concluding that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead”
So after some or much thinking, that was the conclusion he arrived at. And his decision is to follow the command of God without doubting God.
Now many Christians have different interpretation of what is faith. Is it just simply believing in your heart and confessing with your lips? And emphasizing on doing commandments is works and doing works becomes a lack of faith?
We should simply refer to the father of faith to appreciate the meaning of faith. Was his act of sacrificing his son not works?
“Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered Isaac his son on the altar? Do you see that faith was working together with his works, and by works faith was made perfect?” Jam 2:21-22
On last Sabbath morning Pr Simon gave a good explanation of what it truly means by justification by grace through faith. Thinking further into what Abraham did will give us revelation about what faith really is. It is because he believed in God that he did what he did. He offered his son out of his total faith in God – no questioning God’s rationale, no question to God’s love, but total obedience. You can call it “works”, but it really is manifestation of faith.
To conclude this blog, I leave two verses that sum up what is true faith:
“By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to the place which he would receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going.” Heb 11:8
“Through him and for his name’s sake, we received grace and apostleship to call people from among all the Gentiles to the obedience that comes from faith.” Rom 1:5
4 Comments
InHisTime
For parents, what if one day God decides to take your children away, just like how God wanted to take Issac away from Abraham ?
This reminds me of Pr Shee’s sermon some Sabbaths ago about raising godly people.
He said that since children are an inheritance from the Lord, they belong to God and parents are just ‘helping’ to raise them(..something along those lines)
So i wonder since they belong to God, how many of us could be like Abraham, to willingly give up our children, that they could return to the Lord.
I shudder as i think of that..this requires a great deal of faith, faith like Abraham’s.
May the Lord guide us.
biblereadingcompanion
Verse 1 struck me a lot as I was reading today’s passage….
Now it came to pass after these things that God tested Abraham…
Abraham’s life was a life of fulfilled promises so far. God’s blessings were evident and so was His mercy and grace. Then…. God decided to test Abraham.
We are all very familiar with the defining story of the faith of Abraham. But notice that the testing of faith suddenly came in the midst of smooth and good times in his life.
Should it, or would it, be any different for us today?
Sometimes I feel that I am living my life not expecting any trials or tests to come before me. After all… everything is going on well and God’s blessings are clearly seen and experienced. And I do wonder, if I was faced with a trial as huge as the one God presented to Abraham… how would I respond?
We all know what we should do in times of grace – to prepare ourselves spiritually and nurture ourselves in the most holy faith – so that when difficult times come, we will be prepared to face them.
But more often than not… we don’t.
Reading back the several chapters of the life of Abraham, I am reminded of several things in his life that I can follow….
* Building altars wherever he went – praying and worshiping God his whole life
* Offering of tithes and thanksgiving – recognizing that whatever we have is from God and not our own doing
* Walking and talking with God – developing a close communion with the Heavenly Father is so crucial to knowing His will in our lives
* Believing in the promises of God – Abraham never doubted in the promises and words of God… no matter how absurd they seem to be… do I have the same belief?
TheChosen puts it very well that “… in reality, faith needs to grow”.
I need to grow. So that I can face the tests and trials that will surely come my way. And I know that these trials are not bad and when they come… I will rejoice knowing this….
In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials, that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ, whom having not seen[a] you love. Though now you do not see Him, yet believing, you rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, receiving the end of your faith—the salvation of your souls.
1 Peter 1:6-9
May God add to our faith and prepare us for the trials that come our way.
PS
This is one of the difficult chapters which i keep reminding myself to read with reverence and to accept with godly fear.
Except for his short query in Gen 22:7, Isaac was silent in Gen 22. Isaac was an important vessel in the chapter, yet the focus is usually on Abraham, the angel and God. May Lord Jesus help me, as i say and play my part as will by Him in this earthly journey, that others see Him only.
The faith of Abraham far exceeded my understanding.
The faithfulness of God far exceeded my understanding too.
In Gen 22: 8 Abraham said,”My son, God will provide for Himself the lamb for a burnt offering.”
In Gen 22:13 Abraham lifted his eyes and looked, and there behind him was a ram caught in the thicket by its horns. So Abraham went and took the ram, and offered it up for a burnt offering instead of his son.
Initially Abraham was to offer his sacrifice. Eventually God, his Father in heaven, provided the sacrifice.
Initially a lamb(羊羔)was to be offered. Eventually a ram(公羊) was offered.
In my journey on earth, outwardly it seems that i m making offerings to God. In actuality, it is God, my Father in heaven, who provides the offerings.
Like what Pr Chin reminded us last Sat, we are but giving back to God what He has provided to us first.
The sacrifice is God not us.
This is the faithfulness of God: For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16)
Lord Jesus is God. God offered Himself for our salvation.
thechosen
Yes i agree that Isaac is a very important vessel in this chapter. I tried to think how Isaac feels throughout the incident, but it is also very hard to imagine. Surely being placed on the altar is something that he will remember for the rest of his life! Isaac is probably one of the most extraordinary son in the Bible. We know that he never blamed his father for putting him on the altar, in fact he was such a peaceful man who will give his wells away, and also such an obedient son who followed the instructions of his father completely for his marriage too.