The Bible Series: The Binding Of Isaac Series

When we put those two verses together, we have the solution to all of life’s problems—an iron-clad, unfailing, all-encompassing, God-given guarantee that every single circumstance of life will sooner or later turn out well for those who love God.

The unborn child who mysteriously dies in the womb days before delivery.

The sixteen-year-old girl lying in intensive care after being hit by a drunk driver.

The marriage that’s struggling just to hang on.

Every heartache, headache, tragedy and triumph.

God has a purpose in all of it and God can bring good from all of it!

This may well have been the most terrifying and tragic experience of Isaac’s life. But even though he couldn’t possibly have understood it at the time, God had a plan. Isaac had a destiny. And so do you.

First, Isaac’s story is like ours because it’s a story of destiny (of discovery).

• A STORY OF DEATH

Furthermore, Isaac’s story is like ours because it’s a story of death. It appeared that Isaac’s death was imminent. The Bible says, “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” (Genesis 22:9-10 NIV).

While artistic depictions, including the clip we watched depict Isaac as a young boy, he was probably a young man in reality. But, whether he was eight years old or eighteen, this had to have been a frightful moment. Did his father surprise him? Did Abraham explain what had to happen? Did Isaac resist? We don’t know for sure. The Bible is sketchy with the details. But at some point, Isaac had to realize that his death was certain. And, while the biblical account doesn’t give us much detail about how things got to this point, it supplies excruciating detail at this point: “Abraham raised the knife to slay his son!” Talk about your life flashing before your eyes!

Some of us have had such a moment. Maybe it was a cancer scare. Maybe it was a car accident or an operation. But Isaac’s story is your story, and mine, regardless—because, at some point, we’re all going to die.

According to a middle-eastern legend, a merchant from Baghdad once asked his servant to run an errand. While at the markets, the servant went around a corner and saw Death. It scared him so much that he returned to his master in a hurry. “I am terrified,” said the servant. “I want to take the fastest horse and ride towards Samarra.” Seeing how frightened his servant was, the master granted the request.

Later that afternoon, the merchant visited the markets himself and he too met Death. He asked, “Why do you startle my servant?” Death answered, “Frankly, I was the one who was startled. I couldn’t understand why your servant was in Baghdad, when I have an appointment with him tonight in Samarra.”