Genesis 22:1-18 Commentary for Jan 10, 2010

Gen 22:1 After these things God tested Abraham and said to him, "Abraham!" And he said, "Here am I."

Not as though God did not know Abraham, but as a way of proving and trying Abraham's faith, God would make a request of Abraham that would be beyond difficult to follow. Ambraham's response to God's call is like so many of the saints, “here I am”. It is like a soldier's coming to attention upon the entrance of an officer, that he may stand ready to follow whatever order next comes from his superior.

Gen 22:2 He said, "Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you."

Matthew Henry in his commentary points out the increasing difficulty of each word of the Lord's request. Abraham must take his son, not any son but his only son to his wife Sarah and he having been born miraculously in old age. He is reminded that this is the son he loves. We should not forget this is no callous act of religious violence but a intended sacrifice of the one thing potentially greater in Abraham's heart than God. His love would be proven as he journeyed quite a distance, said to be three days, three days to contemplate his decision and three days to possibly decide to refuse. He would be required not only to take the life of his son but to do so with all the dilegent and prescribed efforts of a sacrifice. While Abraham had never participated in the sacrifices common to some pagan worship of his day, he surely had heard of the offering of children to idols that was in practice. From what he says later it is clear that he knows how to perform an animal sacrifice so all of these things would weigh heavily on him as he followed God's command.

Gen 22:3 So Abraham rose early in the morning, saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him, and his son Isaac. And he cut the wood for the burnt offering and arose and went to the place of which God had told him.

It is worth noting that Abraham's obedience is without delay, an interesting contrast to Lot's delay at departing Sodom (Gen 19). What should have been happily obeyed ( leaving a city condemned that he and his family might be saved is hesitated upon, while a task of guesome sorrow is attended with swift obedience gives a strong picture of faith. We too should be swift to obey both that which is easy and beneficial, and that which is difficult and appears distateful, knowing that God is both worthy of our obedience as well as good to bring about a good end.

Gen 22:4 On the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes and saw the place from afar.

While a ways off Abraham sees the place and is not hindered no matter what he may dread.

Gen 22:5 Then Abraham said to his young men, "Stay here with the donkey; I and the boy will go over there and worship and come again to you."

I question the idea that Abraham knew that he would return with Isaac for if so it seems difficult to say Abraham did not withhold his son from God. If he did not believe God would have him carry through, or would make a way other than the one set in front of him, how can it be said he really was willing to sacrifice Isaac. Perhaps though he held out a hope in God that was greater than the circumstances he saw. Regardless he has the men stay behind, perhaps that they might not hinder him from his God assigned task once his intentions became obvious. If that is the case then we can learn from him to surround ourselves with only those who will not hinder us in our obedience to God, and avoid those who would encourage us to compromise.

Gen 22:6 And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on Isaac his son. And he took in his hand the fire and the knife. So they went both of them together.
Gen 22:7 And Isaac said to his father Abraham, "My father!" And he said, "Here am I, my son." He said, "Behold, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?"

Issac had to be old enough to understand something of burnt offerings and to understand that a lamb was the ordinary offering. Abraham has to respond to His son's loyal calling of”My father” all the more saddening since it is likely his son's desire is to ensure all is fit for the sacrifice his father would make.

Gen 22:8 Abraham said, "God will provide for himself the lamb for a burnt offering, my son." So they went both of them together.

The Holy Spirit gives Abraham words, perhaps unaware, foreshadowing not only What the Lord would do here but also later at Calvary when the God himself would give his Son as a sacrificial lamb for the redemption of all of who would trust Jesus. God indeed provides the lamb whether it is the thing we must set aside to serve Him, or the gift he give to replace what is lost, or most of all the Gift of His son. Abraham's word were sufficient of Isaac an d they went together.

Gen 22:9 When they came to the place of which God had told him, Abraham built the altar there and laid the wood in order and bound Isaac his son and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood.

No matter the age of Isaac it is unlikely Abraham needed to overpower him. Isaac was bound as would be any sacrifice, as as Matthew Henry also notes, as would be Christ who even though he went willingly to the cross was treated every bit like the criminal when he received our just sentence in himself. Abraham prepares to offer Isaac as he would any other sacrifice. No note is made of Abraham's emotion here. Whatever he is feeling he does as God required.

Gen 22:10 Then Abraham reached out his hand and took the knife to slaughter his son.

Having done everything else Abraham prepares to give the last measure of obedience. He is only stopped by the voice of the angel giving him word from the Lord himself.

Gen 22:11 But the angel of the LORD called to him from heaven and said, "Abraham, Abraham!" And he said, "Here am I."

The angel of the LORD, some say may be the preincarnate Christ himself,or otherwise is clearly the messenger of words from none other than God. Abraham again responds “Here I am.”

Gen 22:12 He said, "Do not lay your hand on the boy or do anything to him, for now I know that you fear God, seeing you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me."

To fear God is to fear nothing else other than God. Abraham's regard for God was such that he would obey even to do something he himself hated to do if it were at God's request. The angel stays Abraham's hand as God never before or since would require a person to kill another to worship Him. God's intent was to prove Abraham's willingness to obey and to value God even more than the son God gave him; to love the giver more than the gift. While it is true God knew the result beforehand I heard it said that a thing is not real until it is done, therefore requiring Abraham's action to prove his genuine fear of the Lord.

Gen 22:13 And Abraham lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, behind him was a ram, caught in a thicket by his horns. And Abraham went and took the ram and offered it up as a burnt offering instead of his son.

Indeed the animal was provided, in Isaac's place just as promised and as Christ would be later provided in Isaac, Abraham and each believer's place at the cross. The Ram also provided the means to truly worship a God who they now knew all the more intimately as one worthy to entrust Isaac's life and all else. Our worship is to be a response to God's actions and a means of giving thanks for who God is and what He has done.

Gen 22:14 So Abraham called the name of that place, "The LORD will provide"; as it is said to this day, "On the mount of the LORD it shall be provided."

Abraham names Mount Moriah “The Lord will provide,” giving a memorial to this occasion of all occasions which proved to Abraham God's provision and trustworthiness.

Gen 22:15 And the angel of the LORD called to Abraham a second time from heaven .

Again God communicates to Abraham through an angel. As we grow in faith and relation to the Lord occasions of clearly hearing Him will increase in both frequency and clarity. God may not communicate as often as we like but He will, we can trust, communicate when he desires us to know something.

Gen 22:16 and said, "By myself I have sworn, declares the LORD, because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son,

God would have Abraham know clearly that this was no small thing he had done but makes clear by God's own promise that the blessings he promised to Abraham will come to pass.

Gen 22:17 I will surely bless you, and I will surely multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven and as the sand that is on the seashore. And your offspring shall possess the gate of his enemies,

By not withholding his only son Abraham received the assurance of a promise of innumerable descendants, a legacy Abraham could have only dreamed of when He had no heir. Yet God promises not only numerous offspring but ones who would not ultimately be overcome, a true and lasting legacy.

Gen 22:18 and in your offspring shall all the nations of the earth be blessed, because you have obeyed my voice."

Here we are given Abraham's final promise, not just land and people, but that he would play a part in the greater dram unfolding as through a single descendant, Jesus Christ ALL the nations of the earth shall be blessed. Not just Abraham's physical descendants, but his spiritual children, grafted into his family through faith in Christ, himself a descendant of Abraham.
Likewise may we live in such a way that we experience our own part in God's unfolding work of salvation and be obediently used to make real the certain work of God in our world, especially the redemption of His people through the faith that comes through hearing the Gospel.