Abraham Passed This Test. So Did Jesus. How About You?

2.18.24 Genesis 22:1–18 (EHV)

1 Some time later God tested Abraham. He called to him, “Abraham!” Abraham answered, “I am here.” 2 God said, “Now take your son, your only son, whom you love, Isaac, and go to the land of Moriah. Offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains there, the one to which I direct you.” 3 Abraham got up early in the morning, saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him, along with Isaac his son. Abraham split the wood for the burnt offering. Then he set out to go to the place that God had told him about. 4 On the third day Abraham looked up and saw the place in the distance. 5 Abraham said to his young men, “Stay here with the donkey. The boy and I will go on over there. We will worship, and then we will come back to you.” 6 Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and loaded it on Isaac his son. He took the firepot and the knife in his hand. The two of them went on together. 7 Isaac spoke to Abraham his father and said, “My father?” He said, “I am here, my son.” He said, “Here are the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?” 8 Abraham said, “God himself will provide the lamb for a burnt offering, my son.” So the two of them went on together. 9 They came to the place that God had told him about. Abraham built the altar there. He arranged the wood, tied up Isaac his son, and laid him on the altar on top of the wood. 10 Abraham stretched out his hand and took the knife to slaughter his son. 11 The Angel of the LORD called to him from heaven, “Abraham, Abraham!” Abraham said, “I am here.” 12 He said, “Do not lay your hand on the boy. Do not do anything to him. For now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me.” 13 Abraham looked around and saw that behind him there was a ram caught in the thicket by its horns. Abraham went and took the ram and offered it up as a burnt offering instead of his son. 14 Abraham called the name of that place “The LORD Will Provide.” So it is said to this day, “On the mountain of the LORD it will be provided.” 15 The Angel of the LORD called to Abraham a second time from heaven 16 and said, “I have sworn by myself, declares the LORD, because you have done this thing and have not withheld your son, your only son, 17 I will bless you greatly, and I will multiply your descendants greatly, like the stars of the sky and like the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will take possession of the city gates of their enemies. 18 In your seed all the nations of the earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed my voice.”

Abraham Passed This Test. So did Jesus. How About You?

What is the most difficult thing you’ve ever had to do so far in your life? The hardest test? I recall doing my first chapel at Northwestern College years ago in front of high school students. I was extremely nervous for that. I served as a chaplain in Topeka for a time, having to go to death scenes and then telling people that their loved ones had died. That was NOT EASY. I still sometimes get very nervous when it comes to calling someone on a disciplinary issue from church. If you’ve ever tried to ask someone out on a date, or had to tell someone some bad news, maybe you’ve felt similar anxiety over such tests.

Abraham had plenty of tests, very difficult ones. From the very beginning he was told to leave his homeland and move hundreds of miles away to a land he had never even seen before. He had to go into territories with his beautiful wife, being fearful for his own life, that someone might murder him. He had to wait 25 years, from age 75 to 100, before the Lord gave him a son. Some of those tests he passed. Some of them he failed, and quite miserably at that. He committed adultery with Hagar and also told people that his wife was actually just his sister, putting Sarah in terrible danger.

Yet he learned from his sins. He repented. He received mercy. He understood that when God promised something, he needed to just trust that God would keep His Word. Abraham didn’t need to try to cheat in order to get what he wanted. He didn’t need to help God along by lying or committing adultery. God would grant it in His own time and in His own miraculous way.