The Devotional Journey: Bible Reading 15

Will Abraham trust Yahweh?

Read Genesis 22:1–24.

Yahweh asked Abraham to do something very shocking and unusual. He told Abraham to sacrifice his son, Isaac. This meant to place Isaac on an altar and kill him as an offering to God. This was a startling instruction to receive from Yahweh.

Additionally, it was also shocking because after the global Flood, Yahweh had put in place capital punishment for murder. He told Noah how much He valued the lives of all people as every human was made in His image. And so, He did not want anyone to be murdered.

What was also surprising was that Yahweh had promised Abraham a son and through this miraculously born son, He would fulfil the promises He had made to Abraham. But now God told Abraham to kill Isaac, his teenage son. What was going on?

The Bible said Yahweh did this to test Abraham. How much did Abraham trust God? Abraham already trusted God for salvation. But how much did he trust God in daily life? For this to be a real test, it had to be something difficult for Abraham to do. Yet, we see that Abraham obeyed immediately and without protest. Abraham passed the test! He showed He had great faith in God even when God asked for something so shocking. Abraham had years of walking with God and He knew God’s character, that He was always good, just and in control.

In Hebrews 11:17–19, we are told more of Abraham’s thinking during this incident.

Hebrews 11:17–19

[17] It was by faith that Abraham offered Isaac as a sacrifice when God was testing him. Abraham, who had received God’s promises, was ready to sacrifice his only son, Isaac, [18] even though God had told him, “Isaac is the son through whom your descendants will be counted.” [19] Abraham reasoned that if Isaac died, God was able to bring him back to life again. And in a sense, Abraham did receive his son back from the dead.

Abraham knew Yahweh and His power. He knew God had miraculously provided Isaac and He intended to provide many descendants through Isaac. So if Isaac were to die as a sacrifice, Abraham knew God was more than capable of bringing Isaac back to life so that His promises would be fulfilled. What understanding and trust Abraham had in Yahweh! When we have a right understanding of God, we can also have peace even when God is asking us to do something difficult. We trust in God’s character and can therefore obey.

Isaac also had great faith. He was a teenager at this time. He was strong enough to carry all the wood for the sacrifice. If he wanted to, he could have broken free from his aged father. But he didn't. Instead, he allowed himself to be tied up and placed on the altar. He too, trusted Yahweh.

But Abraham did not have to sacrifice Isaac in the end because once he showed He had faith in Yahweh, God called out to him not to harm Isaac. Instead, God provided a ram as a substitute for Abraham to sacrifice. Isaac lived because the ram died in his place.

Some people might wonder how God could have been so cruel to put Abraham through such a heart-wrenching test. Yet, let’s compare Abraham as a father and Yahweh as a Father.

• Yahweh saved the life of Abraham’s precious son. But Yahweh Himself gave up the life of His precious son, Jesus, for all mankind.
  

• Abraham’s son, Isaac, did not die that day because God provided a ram for the sacrifice. But Yahweh’s Son, Jesus, died. There was no ram substitute for Him because He was the necessary substitute Lamb for all mankind.

Let’s thank God for loving all of us so much that He put Himself through the heartache of seeing His only Son die on the cross to pay for our sins. He willingly did this so that we and all our believing loved ones won’t need to suffer eternal death and separation from God.

Let us never take God’s great love and Jesus’ great sacrifice for granted. Instead, let our hearts and our lips overflow with thanksgiving to Yahweh.