Abraham: Part 2
Key: Blue=Bible, Red=Author notes
Hebrews 11:17-19
By faith Abraham, when God tested him, offered Isaac as a sacrifice. He who had embraced the promises was about to sacrifice his one and only son, even though God had said to him, “It is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned.” Abraham reasoned that God could even raise the dead, and so in a manner of speaking he did receive Isaac back from death.
Good Day World!!!!!
Wow, even while reading this scripture, I was hit with conviction. Well it’s been over 9 months since my last post. Well I have no words…I do want to apologize to God though. He has been yelling at me to start this back up. Even if no one was reading it, I felt that he wanted me to finish what I started. So here I am again! I pray I can finish this series. This is my way of glorifying God and I intend to finish what I started. So, let’s get to it!
Abraham went through A LOT before Isaac came into the picture. He began his journey leaving his home land, met the pharaoh of Egypt, fought in wars, had his first son with his wife’s servant, got circumcised (ouch), met three messengers of God, debated with God, met King Abimelek, and finally received Isaac in his life. He had a wild adventure where his faith was tested on more than one occasion, but a final test came up when God ordered Abraham to sacrifice his beloved son. The faith he had was clearly shown here. In Genesis 15:1-6, God comes to Abraham (Abram currently) and reminds him of his promise. But Abram did not understand since he has not had any children. It is here where Abraham clearly understands that the Lord will give him a son “of your own flesh and blood.” Then…
Genesis 15:6
Abram believed the Lord, and he credited it to him as righteousness.
Now we can infer Abram was around 85/86 years old when this happened, as the next chapter talks about how Hagar and Ishmael came into the picture. And in Genesis 16:16, it clearly states his age. Abraham received a son, but this wasn’t his heir either. Isaac didn’t come till 14 years later (please refer to my timeline on Sarah blog). In conclusion the promise from Genesis 15:6 took about 15 years for it to come into fruition.
Now the Bible never mentions how old Abraham and Isaac was when God commanded the sacrifice of Isaac. [All we know is that he can walk and talk, so he’s probably ranges from 10-37 years old. Sarah passes away at 127 next chapter and Sarah had Isaac at 90/91, so he’s max 37 years old (quick mats)]
So now your son whom you love is required to be sacrifice. The bible does an amazing job detailing what emotions Abraham may be feeling in this revelation. For one it says that when he received the vision, he left early the next morning. Which means he went a whole day (or night) thinking about what is going to happen. The journey to the region of Moriah, where God called him to do the sacrifice, was 3 days away. Imagine that…traveling 3 days to sacrifice your son on a mountain. The faith not to turn back…I cannot even imagine what may be going through his mind. (Not to mention he’s at least 110 years old)
Genesis 22:4-6
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…
This brings shivers down my spine. Only Abraham knew what he was going to do, and he was set on doing it. It is never mentioned (in Genesis) what Abraham was thinking during this whole event. All that we see is what Abraham said and did. Only in Hebrews do we see an explanation that “Abraham reasoned that God could raise the dead.” But it doesn’t even talk about a response to the ram, except that “The Lord will Provide.” I think this all brings to the realization of what type of faith our father Abraham had. And think about how he must have been feeling…he had his own son carry the wood he would be sacrificed on (hmm sounds familiar…)
Genesis 22: 7-8
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.
Again, how would you respond with this? I would argue that Abraham had full intention on sacrificing his son. I don’t think he would have ever guessed that, “God himself will provide the lamb.” As Hebrews states, he thought that God can raise the dead.
Genesis 22: 9-10
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.
I will stop here. Ya’ll can read the rest. I wanted to help paint the picture of what true faith looks like. I pray we can all have the faith that our father Abraham had. Not only did he believe in the promises that God had for him, but he believed in it even when God ordered him to do something that did not make sense. What does that look for you?
Some memory scriptures for ya’ll!
Hebrews 11:1
2 Corinthians 5:7
Romans 10:17
Matthew 21:22
With love,
Ayodeji Alaketu
