God Tests Abraham

We are examining Genesis chapter 22, where God commands Abraham to sacrifice his son Isaac. Some people would like to remove this account from the Bible because they think God could not have demanded a human sacrifice, which was not uncommon among the surrounding pagan nations. However, I disagree. This account is one of the core stories of the Old Testament.

It is typical for a trip to Israel that the meaning of some Bible passages expands through experience. When I visited the Dome of the Rock, located in the Old City of Jerusalem, my guide read out the text from the Bible. He explained that the mosque was built on the site where Solomon's Temple once stood. Then the guide pointed to a fenced-off rock inside the mosque and said: “This is the place where Abraham built an altar.”

In itself, knowing that Abraham's place of sacrifice on Mount Moriah is in the middle of the future Jerusalem, on the site where Solomon's Temple was built, is not very surprising. After all, this can be read in many commentaries. But since at that time I did not know the location of Abraham's place of sacrifice or the meaning of the name of the Dome of the Rock, the information was a touching surprise.

Abraham's action is clearly a type or prophetic act that foreshadows the sacrifice of God's own Son on Calvary. Isaac is a type of Jesus in the story. The location of Abraham's altar is hardly known to the nearest meter. Since Calvary is only about 400 meters from the Dome of the Rock, it is tempting to think that Abraham's altar was not in the Dome of the Rock but precisely at Calvary. This perspective adds more depth to the symbolic nature of Abraham's actions.

God said: “Take with you your only son Isaac, whom you love.” In Matthew we read: “And a voice came from heaven: ‘This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased’ ” (Matt. 3:17).

Early in the morning Abraham got up and saddled his donkey. He took two of his young servants with him, along with his son Isaac. When he had cut the wood for the burnt offering, he started out... Abraham prepared for the journey carefully.

On the third day, Abraham looked up and saw the place in the distance. Abraham had time to think. He was living in Beersheba at the time. The distance from Beersheba to Jerusalem is about 80 km. The travelers had one donkey. Abraham and Isaac likely took turns in the saddle. Perhaps Isaac rode that final stretch as they approached the future Jerusalem. John writes: “As Jesus was entering Jerusalem, the people took branches of palm trees and went out to meet him, shouting, ‘Hosanna!’ and a young donkey was brought to him, and he sat on it” (John 12:13,14).

Then he said to his servants, “Stay here and take care of the donkey, while the boy and I go over there and pray...” In Mark we read: “They came to a place called Gethsemane, and Jesus said to his disciples, Sit here while I pray. And he took Peter, James, and John with him” (Mark 14:32,33.)

”The boy and I will go over there and pray, and then return to you.” A doubt creeps into the mind: was Abraham truly telling the truth, or did he just want to calm the servants? But even though he obeyed God, he still believed that somehow they would get through this. The book of Hebrews assures us of Abraham's faith: “Abraham reasoned that God could even raise the dead, and so in a manner of speaking he did receive Isaac back from death” (Heb. 11:19).

Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and put it on his son Isaac to carry. John writes: “Carrying his own cross, he went out to the place of the Skull” (John 19:17).

Isaac said, “Here is the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?” Abraham replied, “God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.” The phrase “God himself will provide the lamb” is important. It expresses two things. First: a sacrifice is needed for us because we cannot live a sinless life. Second: God himself reconciles us to himself. Our own deeds or sacrifices do not save us. This is the essence of the gospel. When the actor is God, we can be certain that the atonement is completed to the very last detail and in the right way. That promised lamb is Jesus. As John says: “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29).

Next he tied up his son Isaac and laid him on the altar on top of the wood. Isaac was probably already an adult man and yet he submitted to his father's will. Paul testifies of Jesus: “He humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross” (Phil. 2:8). It is certainly distressing to be bound on top of firewood. Isaiah declares: “He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth” (Isa. 53:7)

But when Abraham took the knife to sacrifice his son, the angel of the Lord called to him, “Do not harm the boy, nor do anything to him. Now I know that you fear God, seeing you have not withheld your son, your only son from me.” Although Isaac was not Abraham's only son, the angel uses this word. Here is a direct reference to the so-called mini-gospel: “God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16).

When Abraham looked around, he saw a ram caught in bushes by its horns. Abraham went and fetched the ram and offered it up as a burnt offering instead of his son. The time for the lamb of God had not yet come. In the future Mosaic Law, the ram, or a male sheep, was the burnt offering. Sacrifices were expensive for poor people. Abraham was a rich man of his time, who could have sacrificed a thousand of his sheep at once. Yet, God gave him the sacrificial animal for free. This is a foreshadowing of the fact that Jesus' atoning work requires nothing from us.

Human sacrifices were common among the neighboring nations. The purpose of testing Abraham was also to make it clear to all of Abraham's descendants, including us, that God does not want human sacrifices from them, and to prepare them for the fact that God would sacrifice His Son for them.

Abraham called the place “The Lord provides”. So even today we speak of “The Mount of the Lord's Provision”. Because the object of "providing" (or "seeing") is not explicitly stated in the name, the meaning of the passage can remain obscure. The key to understanding is the earlier sentence: “God will provide for Himself a lamb for a burnt offering”. An alternative translation of this passage is: Abraham called the place “The Lord will provide”. So even today we say “It will be obtained on the mountain of the Lord”. So here is a reference to Jesus' atonement work, to the fact that the final atonement will be obtained later on this same mountain. God gave us salvation and forgiveness by sacrificing Jesus for us. Do you believe that?