Genesis 22:2 Commentary and Bible Study

‘Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest.’ Strictly he wasn't the only son. Ishmael was the first son, but Ishmael had been given up at the very instruction of the Lord, and so now Isaac is the only son, the only son of Abraham and Sarah, and the only son of promise. He is the only one upon whom the promise rests, that through him will come the Messiah, the great descendant through whom all nations of the world will be blessed. This is the son he is now to take and to sacrifice ‘Thine only son, Issac’ – it's repeated – ‘whom thou lovest.’ One, two, three: the shocks come thick and fast – ‘and get into the land of Moriah.’ Three days journey it proved to be and offer there a burnt offering. Some people have tried to say that what he was to called upon to do was to dedicate Isaac, and make a burnt offering alongside the act of dedication, but that is nonsense, because the passage quite clearly says that Isaac was to be the sacrifice, and the knife was taken in readiness for the sacrifice of Isaac. There in those words is unfolded the nature of the test, even before the pivotal statement comes. His son, his only son whom he loved, Isaac. Isaac was between 18 and 20 years old. He was a wonderful lad. He was a godly young man. We would like to think that to he provided Abraham with stimulating conversation. He was a young man of tremendous character: godly, quiet, affectionate, wise, everything Abraham could possibly have wanted in a son. ‘And get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of.’ It was unmistakably from God: this word that came to him by name. We don't know in what form it came. Perhaps in a night vision, but God authenticated it to him in a way that was beyond controversy. So here is the great test. Abraham must have been in such a state of shock and dismay. We can only guess at it. Have you ever had a great shock, a very great shock, the kind of shock which momentarily seems to drain all the strength out of you? You can hardly walk or move; it is so profound on your system. Abraham must have been in a very deep and considerable sense of shock. It made no sense. Apart from the fact that God could not possibly command him to murder – and yet he had – this was the son Isaac who bore the seed royal. Through Isaac would his descendants come. In Isaac all the promises of God, made repeatedly to him, would be fulfilled. Ultimately – he did not know when – there would come from Isaac the great nation, and from that great nation the Saviour of the world, the Messiah, through whom all the nations of the world would be blessed: that Saviour of whom God spoke in recorded in Genesis 3:15, the one who would bruise the head of the serpent. Abraham knew that record so well. So it made no sense. It was a hammer blow: one blow after another. He has to face the death of a son. Isaac is his only son. He is the son of his old age, the son he has waited for and prayed for so long. He is the son through whom the blessing of the world and his own salvation would come. He is to kill Isaac by his own hand. He is to kill him by such a terrible means. He is to face a gruelling journey first.What is the point of it? Why would God test him in this way? Well the question is, would Abraham's love for God exceed that of his love for Isaac? Would it be greater? Does faith and reliance upon God necessarily subside as the years go by? Would Satan be right that Abraham had given up a lot, but was ultimately only dazzled by the promise of a great nation and a great inheritance, and an outstanding place in history, the history of the entire world. Or does he really love and trust God? God does not need to find out the answer; he already knows the answer. He is God; he knows all things. But the answer must be proved for all subsequent generations. There must be a great demonstration of the mature faith of Abraham. Is salvation without lasting fruits, or does it make such a difference to a man or woman that there is born in them an undying faith which, if nourished and nurtured and applied, will strengthen as the years go by and become mature faith? ‘Surrender the seed’, says God. Surrender the seed royal? But hasn’t God promised? Could earthly glory become more significant to Abraham than the love of God and the obedience of God? Well his entire being recoils. Hebrews 11:17 says, ‘By faith Abraham, when he was tried, offered up Isaac: and he that had received the promises offered up his only begotten son, Of whom it was said, That in Isaac shall thy seed be called’ (Hebrews 11:17-18). Abraham thought, ‘How can God be faithful to his promise? He has said, specifically, Isaac will be the one through whom the great nation will come, and ultimately the one through whom all the nations of the world be blessed. How can that happen?’ Hebrews 11 tells us the answer: ‘Accounting [reasoning, concluding from this dilemma] that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead; from whence also he received him in a figure’ (Hebrews 11:19).