As we consider this event, we might ask certain questions:
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Q: If child sacrifice is an abomination to the Lord, as Scripture makes clear that it is (Leviticus 18:21), then how could God, even if he did not require him to go through with it, command Abraham to offer up his own son. How could he have him believe for a moment that this was something God wanted him to do? This is put most strongly by considering God’s complaint to Israel given through Jeremiah. ‘They built the high places of Baal, which are in the valley of the son of Hinnom, to cause their sons and their daughters to pass through the fire unto Molech; which I commanded them not, neither came it into my mind, that they should do this abomination, to cause Judah to sin’ (Jeremiah 32:35).
A: We sense that we are on holy ground when we consider these things. We realise that Abraham’s test was unique and that God has never before, and will never again, command anyone else to do such a thing. We cannot judge this test of faith by any normal evaluation. God was showing Abraham something which is high above normal human interactions. The fact that God did not let him go through with this is of the greatest importance. Abraham was prevented with the utmost urgency from offering up Isaac. God made clear then that he did not want this, and Abraham must stop and proceed no further. What had been proven by his willingness to obey was that he feared God, and the proof of this was that he had not withheld his son, his only son, when told to offer him up. Every life belongs to God, and he may and does take life at any time he pleases. All of us deserve to die on account of our sin. What was strange was that Abraham was to be the author of his own son’s death, but this was to give him a unique insight into the cost of our salvation, the cost to God the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit.
A: Some have questioned the morality of the atonement itself. One in our times has dared to mockingly refer to it as cosmic child abuse. If the Father was willing to send him, and if the Son was willing to come, and if the Spirit was willing to apply Christ’s work to us, each one knowing all that this would involve, then who is man to object to God’s scheme? God is willing to pay a price which is higher than we can conceive for our redemption. The good that will come out of this is sufficient in the mind of God to justify the sufferings of Christ.
A: So convincing was God’s appearance to Abraham in Genesis 22:1, and so clear was it that God required this, that he could not doubt it. Abraham was a prophet, and God was able to assure the prophets that he was speaking to them directly and authoritatively.
A: This was a unique event and will not be repeated again in history. God was sharing with Abraham something of the cost of salvation in giving his own Son for the life of the world (John 6:51). This took place at a times when God spoke by visions and dreams. Now he speaks to us by his word and not directly to individuals. There is nothing in his word that authorises any individual to do anything other than obey God’s revealed commandments.
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