Genesis 22
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CHAPTER 22
Abraham Tested (22:1–19)
1 Some years later, when Isaac was a young boy (verse 5), God tested Abraham.88 This was to be the last great test of Abraham’s faith. Through the dramatic events of this chapter, we are shown some of the deepest truths in all of Scripture.
As in Abraham’s original call—his first test of faith (Genesis 12:1)—we are not told how God appeared to Abraham; God simply called his name. And Abraham answered in the manner of a servant: “Here I am.” Abraham was ready to obey (1 Samuel 3:4; Isaiah 6:8).
2 What was the test? It was the most difficult test imaginable: Abraham was to sacrifice his only son89 as a burnt offering.90 This wasn’t just any son; this was the son for whom Abraham had waited so many years, the son miraculously born through God’s power, the son on whom all of God’s promises to Abraham rested. It was Isaac—“your only son . . . whom you love.”
We, the readers, know that God was “testing” Abraham, but Abraham didn’t know it. He simply obeyed God. He had entered into a covenant with God; and the covenant called for Abraham to obey all God’s commands, even if it meant sacrificing the child of promise and all the other promises as well. God calls for total CONSECRATION from every person who belongs to Him.
Moriah,91 the place where the sacrifice was to be carried out, was a mountaintop; much later it would become the site of the Jewish temple in Jerusalem (2 Chronicles 3:1). Thus Isaac was to be the first sacrifice offered at that site, where later so many other sacrifices would be offered up—culminating in the final and supreme sacrifice of another offspring of Abraham, God’s one and only Son, Jesus Christ, of whom Isaac was the forerunner.
3–5 The journey from Beersheba (where Abraham had been living) to Moriah took three days. It’s hard to imagine what was going on in Abraham’s mind during the journey. When they reached the place, Abraham told his two servants, “. . . we will come back to you” (verse 5). Abraham apparently assumed that after Isaac had been sacrificed God would raise him from the dead (Hebrews 11:17–19).
6–8 As Abraham and Isaac went on to the place of sacrifice, Isaac began to question what his father was doing: “. . . where is the lamb for the burnt offering? ” (verse 7).
Abraham answered, “God himself will provide the lamb” (verse 8). Was Abraham falsely reassuring his son that there was nothing to worry about? Or did he actually believe that somehow on that mountaintop God would provide a lamb?
9–12 We are not told if Isaac made any protest; he seems to have submitted to his father’s will. Even in those last moments when Abraham’s hand was raised to kill his son, there seemed to be no way out, no provision, no substitute sacrifice. And then—at the very final moment—the angel of the Lord called out from heaven. Abraham had passed the test!
And the Lord said, “Now I know that you fear God, because you have not with—held from me your son, your only son” (verse 12).
How will the Lord know whether any one of us truly fears Him? How will He test us? He will test us by seeing whether we are withholding anything from Him. Is there anything in our life that we would refuse to give up to the Lord if He asked us to?
“Now I know . . .” said God. It’s easy for us to say, I fear the Lord, I have faith in the Lord. But true faith is more than words; it leads to action. The genuineness of our faith is proved by our actions, by our obedience (James 2:21–22).
13–14 The Lord provided a ram for the burnt offering. The ram was a substitute sacrifice; it was sacrificed instead of Isaac. Here we see the first example of substitutionary sacrifice in the Bible—one life given for another (see Exodus 12:3–7 and comment). This type of sacrifice is the basis of the sacrifice of ATONEMENT (Romans 3:23–25), which is further described in Leviticus Chapter 16. It is we sinful humans who deserve the death penalty, but God in His mercy has provided a substitute: in the Old Testament the substitute was an animal; in the New Testament the substitute is Jesus Christ, the final and perfect sacrifice, after which there is no longer any sacrifice needed for our sins (Hebrews 10:11–18).
The Lord provided a ram; and so Abraham called that place The LORD Will Provide92 (verse 14). But the Lord has provided us with something far greater than a ram. Just as Abraham offered up his son Isaac, so God Himself did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all (Romans 8:32). Jesus is the “ram”—the Lamb of God (John 1:29)—the Savior of the world (John 3:16).
15–19 God had made a number of great promises to Abraham, which we have already read about in previous chapters (Genesis 12:2–3; 13:14–17; 15:5; 17:6–7). But now God repeated those promises once more—but with a difference. This time, because Abraham had obeyed (verse 18), God guaranteed the promises with an oath.93 Abraham’s faith had been tested; now it was strengthened even more. God had confirmed His promises with an oath; now Abraham could have no doubt that they would all come true.
Abraham’s faith and obedience have implications for believers today. Abraham is not only a historical figure; he is also a model for each of us. Just as Abraham was called to lay on the altar his only son, so we too are called to lay on the altar “our only son”—that thing or things we hold most dear in this life. Indeed it might be our only son, or only daughter. It might be our work, our profession. It might be our reputation, our self-image. It might be our life style, our comfort, our possessions.
Today God expects from us the same degree of obedience and commitment that He expected from Abraham. Jesus said, “. . . any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple” (Luke 14:33). With God it is all or nothing. God does not want ninety-percent commitment. We are in a covenant relationship with God, and that means one hundred percent—both from His side and from ours.
Our relationship with God is like a marriage relationship. If you ask someone to marry you and promise to be faithful ninety percent of the time, how well do you think that will go over!
God asks us to totally surrender our wills to Him. He asks this of all Christians, not just a few. It means that we be willing to lay on the altar everything we have-including life itself (Romans 12:1). In Christ, God offered Himself on the altar for us; are we willing to do the same for Him?
Countless Christians have testified that when, by God’s grace, they have reached that point of willingness to give their lives to God without condition or restraint, then the fullness of God’s covenant blessings has been poured out upon them as never before. This is the deepest meaning of Abraham’s sacrifice of Isaac on Mount Moriah.
Nahor’s Sons (22:20–24)
20–24 This small section about Nahor’s sons is important because here we are introduced to the family from which Isaac’s wife Rebekah will be chosen (Genesis Chapter 24). Having established Isaac as Abraham’s true heir and the inheritor of God’s covenant promises, God now undertakes to find Isaac a wife, through whom the true covenant line will continue. God leaves nothing to chance. God provides for our needs before we are even aware of them.
When Abraham first left his homeland to set out for Canaan, his brother Nahor remained behind. During the intervening years, Nahor fathered twelve sons, one of whom, Bethuel, became the father of Rebekah (verse 23).