April 17, 2024
Please use the comment section on this page to share insights from today’s reading OR your own personal Bible reading.
Reading along with us in Genesis? Here’s today’s reading:
Genesis 22 (NIV)
Abraham Tested
1 Some time later God tested Abraham. He said to him, “Abraham!”
“Here I am,” he replied.
2 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 I will show you.”……Continue Reading
Genesis 22
God test Abraham to see if he would really sacrifice his fon Issac. When Abraham obeyed the angel said stop we know how much you fear the Lord to offer your only son.
Abraham was rewarded for his obedience and blessed his offspring all nations on earth will be blessed! It’s clearly illustrated here that obedience is huge with God.
What I don’t understand is God knows your heart, then why is He testing what He already knows?
I think God wanted Abraham to see what his own faith was like and provide a picture for future generations what surrendered faith looks like, as well a clear picture of the sacrifice Jesus would make and what His Father would go through in it….God also knew that He would provide the sacrifice miraculously, thus showing Abraham that He had the provision for what He asked him for. And He would never accept human sacrifice!
Peter: I think you are on the right track, what appears to be a test of Abraham is a demonstration of faith and sacrifice. I think it is a demonstration of the pain our Father and Christ Jesus have endured for us because of Their love for us.
Genesis 22 & Luke 1-8.
Reading this chapter as a Dad now made me teary eyed. Can we only imagine how Abraham must have felt waking up that morning? I love the “here I am” to God and a like of Abraham to Isaac “here I am my son” Then just before he’s about to sacrifice the Angel of the Lord calls; so he said “here I am”. Just little snippets here to me that make this passing test of Abraham so profound. It rings for the rest of the credence, “The Lord Will Provide” because of the obedience.
Hebrews 11:19
Genesis 22 Abraham was obedient to God , that had to be the hardest moment when he built that altar and tied his son, he was intent on going through with it right up to the angel stopped him. He had shown his obedience and fear to God, and God blesses Abraham for his trust .
Beyond fascinating!
God told Abraham to kill his only son. There has been no record in Scripture before Genesis 22 about the existence or even the possibility of resurrection. Yet before they left, Abraham knew he and Isaac would return, verse 5. How is that possible?
God never told him He would, or even could, raise Isaac, or anyone else from the dead.
Abraham developed, on his own, the conclusion that God must and will raise Isaac, if he were killed.
This is so beyond belief!
Abraham demonstrated a belief in a concept that did not exist until then, because there was no other way. The LORD GOD always finds a way! Faith in things yet unseen! -reb
Genesis 22
God tests Abraham to see if he will fully obey Him and sacrifice his only son on the altar. He completely follows God`s instructions and God has to stop him by speaking to him to stop. Earlier Abraham tells his two servants that he and his son will return after they worship. v5 Also Abraham tells Isaac that God will provide a lamb for a burnt offering. v8 Abraham believes that if Isaac is killed then God will bring him back to life. Abraham had already seen the power of God when Isaac was born from Sarah at the age of 90. God had also spoken to him directly on a few occasions so why couldn`t God bring Isaac back to life. Hebrews 11: 17–19. Here is v19 { Accounting that God was able to raise him up even from the dead; from whence also he received him in a figure} Abraham was showing his faith in God and therefore he was blessed. And God did provide the burnt offering. It was a ram. This was a figure of Christ where God the Father would send His only begotten Son to die for our sins. The lamb that was slain. Thankyou Jesus for dying for our sins. God bless you all.
I can’t even imagine being in Abraham’s shoes and yet what a great picture this is of not only Jesus and the sacrifice He and His Father made (and no one stopped them) but also fully surrendered faith in God. You do wonder what was going on in Abraham’s head: that God had to come through in some way, how could He have me sacrifice this child of promise that He has miraculously provided, but ultimately He calls the shots and my job is to trust and obey. But both Abraham and God come through in shining colors: Abraham showing His faith and obedience to the end, and God stopping His hand and providing a sacrifice that Abraham said He would. God also rewards Abraham’s faith and affirms the covenant with Him. It is interesting that it is most likely the second person of the Trinity speaking here, and it just struck me that Jesus would be the primary means by which all nations would be blessed by Abraham and yet He is telling Abraham about it in His pre-incarnate state…..
And in a bit of foreshadowing, Rebekah’s lineage is shared…the one to whom Isaac will be betrothed.
Can’t imagine this 2-3 day journey for Abraham. We love God more that our own children what a question to answer. And Abraham placed the wood for the offering on his son!! The ram substitute for Isaac. Jesus the substitute for us
Genesis 22
My Genesis 22 post was nuked too!
Genesis 22
”and through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed me.”“
Genesis 22:18 NIV
https://bible.com/bible/111/gen.22.18.NIV
This shows the importance of obedience to God. Abraham certainly proved that he believed and trusted God. Lord, please help us to believe and trust You!
Amen!
A true test of faith and while we might wonder why God would ask him to do such a shocking thing, I can only think that He wanted this to be an example for us to follow for generations to come. We know Abraham would never want to take his son’s life but when he said to the men with him “WE will come back to you” he was trusting God that whether God would stop him or raise Isaac from the dead he clearly trusted God.
He did not put God’s promise before God Himself. He did not question God’s plan and try to control it himself. He did not think killing his son seemed so contrary to what God had promised that he felt he needed to disobeyed God in order to keep the promise on track himself. His faith allowed him to confidently follow God’s instruction knowing He was in control.
I can’t help but wonder how this scene may have changed if Sarah were aware of God’s request to Abraham…
Genesis 22
Gordon are you on your phone? I noticed that when I press “done” it isn’t done. It means “done typing” you still need to “post comment”. Maybe that’s why you are losing comments. So sorry that happened! Love reading your comments!
I was just thinking we would never think this was an acceptable action and God would never ask us to do this, but why do we think this? Because we have God’s word, we live in a Christian culture, our very laws are founded on the principle that values life.
Abraham has been living among pagans and their child-sacrifice practices.
If these “gods” are pleased with this sacrifice, it may not have been that odd for God to ask in the thinking of people in that culture. I used to think this story was a poor reflection on God….asking for human sacrifice, but it teaches Abraham and future people (and their kids) that this is NOT what God desires. He is NOT that kind of god!
”And Abraham said, “My son, God will provide for Himself the lamb for a burnt offering.” So the two of them went together.“
Genesis 22:8 NKJV
Evan, I really liked your comment about the repetition of “here I am.” It is a reinforcement of Abraham’s hearing from God, listening and obeying.
It is because of this event all nations are blessed.
”Then the Angel of the Lord called to Abraham a second time out of heaven, and said: “By Myself I have sworn, says the Lord, because you have done this thing, and have not withheld your son, your only son— blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply your descendants as the stars of the heaven and as the sand which is on the seashore; and your descendants shall possess the gate of their enemies. In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice.”“
Genesis 22:15-18 NKJV
A song by Michael Card “God will provide a lamb”
https://open.spotify.com/track/6BnDAyvcodkMl52ReGQrrI?si=FFGwPpndTQiIw5bFHwss9g