Genesis 22:6 Commentary and Bible Study

Remember that Isaac is 18 to 20. He wasn't a lad as our translation says. He was a young man and he's strong. Men from that family were very strong. Abraham at his very advanced age was picking up a ram and carrying it to the place of sacrifice. You read of Isaac in later life in his exploits, and Jacob also. Isaac isn't just an infant; this is a willing young man involved in a joint endeavour with his father. They went both of them together, Isaac carrying the enormous bundle of wood that was required for the sacrifice that was to be offered. Isaac may not know yet in verse 6, what it is all about, but he soon will. Abraham appears to have been silent on this journey by and large. For three days his mind had raged over this. Those three days of thought would have presented a powerful temptation. If you are going to question the Lord; if rebellion is going to overtake you, it would be then. But he remains largely silent, and then Isaac breaks the silence. ‘And Isaac spake unto Abraham his father, and said, My father: and he said, Here am I, my son.’ Some people find this curious. They say, ‘Society must have been extremely formal in those days, if a young adult son had to ask his father's permission to speak’; but that would be to misread the passage. It is obvious that Abraham was very subdued. It is obvious that he was, to some degree, in a state of shock still. There was silence as they went up that mountain to the place where the sacrifice should take place. There was no conversation. Isaac now was compelled to intrude, and so he does intrude into his father's deep thought. What will Abraham say? Will his heart of compassion towards his son be moved beyond what he is able to bear? ‘My father: and he said, Here am I, my son.’ I am listening; let's talk. ‘And he said, Behold the fire and the wood: but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?’ Do you think that he began to realise what this might be about? ‘And Abraham said, My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering.’ Abraham’s answer is true, though incomplete. At this point he still believed he had to go through with sacrificing Isaac, but he did not believe this would be the end of the matter and had perhaps concluded that God must provide a substitute. And then that tell-tale phrase is repeated, ‘So they went both of them together’, and Abraham probably then told Isaac more of the full picture, and explained to him exactly what this is about. There was deep trust between this father and son.