Continuing a chronological Bible study:
(Genesis 22:1) And it came to pass after these things, that God did test Abraham, and said to him, "Abraham," and he said, "Behold, here I am."
This event came to pass after the weaning of Isaac, and the other things we read about in the last chapter. The word transcribed as "test" was originally translated as "tempt" in the KJV. Although I have come to realize that the KJV is probably the most accurate translation we have (please see my previous post on Biblical translations), the KJV translators missed the boat on this word. The original word is "nasah"and it means "test, try, prove, tempt, or put to the proof or test". Actually, as I see where this word is used in other places in scripture, it's most often used as "prove" and other times used as "tempt", but never as "test". The KJV translators did not use the word "test" anywhere in their transcription of the Bible, so perhaps the word was not so much a part of their vocabulary back then. The Biblical scholar, Adam Clarke, wrote that the word "tempt", from the word "tento", means no more than to "prove or try", but it has come to be understood by us as a solicitation to evil, but God never tempts any man to do evil as evil is not a part of His nature. The word used here is absolutely meant to be "test or prove".
2) And He said, "Take now your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there for a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you."
Note that God called Isaac Abraham's only son. God is well aware that Ishmael is also his son, as He blessed Ishmael in the previous chapter because he was Abraham's son. However, Isaac was the son willed by God, his only legitimate son, his only son by his lawful wife Sarah, the only son of the promise, and actually, he was the only son left to Abraham, as Ishmael had been cast out. Wow! God told Abraham to take this only son, the son Abraham loved, and go to a land of His designation, and offer that beloved son as a burnt offering!
(3) And Abraham rose up early in the morning, and saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son; and split the wood for the burnt offering, and rose up and went to the place of which God had told him. (4) Then on the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes, and saw the place afar off.
It appears that God may have spoken to Abraham in a dream or a vision, and Abraham awoke early in the morning and was immediately obedient, preparing for and starting out on his trip that apparently took him three days. Dr. John Gill wrote about the significance of the third day, saying that the Jewish people interpreted the day as the third day of the resurrection; the deliverance of Isaac on this third day was a symbol of Christ's resurrection from the dead. When Abraham began on his journey, he would have considered his son dead because he was going to offer him up as a sacrifice at the end of his three day journey. Dr. Gill pointed to Hosea 6:2, "After two days He will revive us; in the third day He will raise us up, and we shall live in His sight."
(5) And Abraham said to his young men, "Stay here with the donkey; and the lad and I will go yonder and worship, and come back to you."
Abraham told his two servants to stay with the donkey, while he and Isaac went to worship. Isn't it very interesting that Abraham stated that they would go worship and that they would come back? The fact that he did not want his servants to go may mean he didn't want them to know what he was going to do. Surely they would have tried to stop him if they saw him binding his son with the intent of offering him as a sacrifice, so maybe in saying this, he was further hiding the truth from them. However, could it be that Abraham was speaking by faith in prophecy that he and his son would both return? When you think about it, how else could Abraham do such a thing? He had great faith and trusted God with all his heart. He had obeyed before when he didn't know how it would work out. He had even tried to "help" God before and found it wasn't necessary. He had learned that he could totally trust God, so he was completely obedient, but he also may have truly known in his heart or by the Holy Spirit that he and Isaac would both return.
(6) And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering, and laid it upon Isaac his son; and he took the fire in his hand, and a knife; and they both went together.
Wow! Again it is Dr. Gill who points out that Isaac is a picture of Christ carrying his own "cross" on which he will be sacrificed. Even more than that, note that the father laid the wood upon the son, a symbol of God the Father laying our sins on His Son. Wow!
(7) And Isaac spoke to Abraham his father and said, "My father", and he said, "Here I am, my son." And he said, "Behold the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?" (8) And Abraham said, "My son, God will provide Himself a lamb for a burnt offering." So the both of them went together.
Once again, wow! Imagine his only beloved son asking Abraham where the sacrificial lamb was, and Abraham answering that question, knowing his intentions to sacrifice that son! The general understanding of Abraham's answer is that "God will provide the sacrifice", meaning either that if it be God's will that Isaac was the sacrifice, then it would be, or God would provide another way. For the first time I am struck by the exact wording, "God will provide Himself". Not only did God provide for Himself the perfect Lamb sacrifice, but God provided Himself! God Himself came down from heaven in the human form of Jesus Christ, God the Son, to be the perfect unblemished sacrifice for our sins!
(9) And they came to the place of which God had told him; and Abraham built an altar there, and laid the wood in order, and bound Isaac his son, and laid him on the altar upon the wood. (10) And Abraham stretched out his hand and took the knife to slay his son.
I can only imagine the protests of his son while Abraham bound him. Just imagine a father hearing the cries of his son who does not understand while he raises a knife to slay his only beloved son! To speak the words he did and to do what he was doing, Abraham was surely acting and speaking from the Holy Spirit of God this beautiful prophetic depiction of God's ultimate plan to save sinful man.
As I read old Biblical commentaries of this passage, I was struck by something of which I had not thought. Actually, the scripture says nothing of Isaac protesting. That was my imagination. Because of historical chronological studies (of which I am not learned), it is the consensus of most Biblical scholars that Isaac is a grown man by this time, anywhere from 25 to 37 years of age. Some suggest he was probably 33, considering all the other perfect similarities between him and Christ. Could a strong young man not have overcome an old 125 to 137 year old man if that is what he wanted to do? So also must Isaac's character be considered in this. He must also have trusted God or was, at the very least, also acting by the Holy Spirit of God, even if he didn't fully realize what he was doing. Adam Clarke states it beautifully, "All this was most illustriously typical of Christ. In both cases the father himself offers up his only-begotten son, and the father himself binds him on the wood or to the cross; in neither case is the son forced to yield, but yields of his own accord; in neither case is the life taken away by the hand of violence; Isaac yields himself to the knife, Jesus lays down his life for the sheep."
(11) And the angel of the LORD called to him from heaven and said, "Abraham, Abraham!" And he said, "Here I am." (12) And He said, "Do not lay your hand on the lad, nor do anything to him; for now I know that you fear God, seeing you have not withheld your son, your only son, from Me."
Obviously, God did not need such a test to prove Abraham's faith. He already knew Abraham's heart, but through Abraham's obedience to his Lord in this, we have a beautiful historical record of his faith and of his giving his all, all that was dearest to him, to his Lord and Savior. It was also meant to be a prophetic illustration of God sacrificing His only beloved Son. It must be noted that this particular sacrifice of Isaac's son was prevented. God does not approve of human sacrifice. I have often thought about this story, and whether or not I could ever have enough faith to do what Abraham did. However, I have come to realize he was acting through the Holy Spirit to give us a perfect picture of Christ's crucifixion and resurrection. We can do all things through the Holy Spirit of God!
Not to over-think this too much, but I don't think we would be called to sacrifice our children in this day and age, as a test of faith. We are told to always try (test) the spirits to see if they are of God. As the Bereans were commended because they searched the scriptures to see if what they were told was true, we also use the Word of God as our reference to determine if something is true, and we know God has told us not to kill, and He hates the sacrifice of children. Additionally, when Satan told Jesus to throw Himself down because scripture said God would save Him, Jesus told him that we are NOT to tempt (test) the Lord with such acts.
(13) And Abraham lifted up his eyes, and looked, and there behind him was a ram caught in a thicket by its horns, and Abraham went and took the ram, and offered him up for a burnt offering instead of his son.
The Lord Himself provided another sacrifice rather than the death of Isaac, as the Lord has provided the sacrificial Lamb in exchange for our eternal deaths.
(14) And Abraham called the name of that place Jehovah Jireh, as it is said to this day, "In the Mount of the LORD it shall be seen."
The strict definition of "Jehovah Jireh" is "Jehovah sees", meaning Jehovah sees to it, or the Lord provides. Dr. John Gill writes that from this time to his present time, the phrase had been used "as a proverbial saying, that as God appeared to Abraham, and for his son, in the mount, just as he was going to sacrifice him, and delivered him, so the Lord will appear for his people in all ages, in a time of difficulty and distress, and when at the utmost extremity, who call upon him, and trust in him." He takes it a step further and writes that it might also be taken literally, that the Lord will literally be seen, "This may also refer to the presence of God in this mount, when the temple should be built on it, as it was...and to the appearance of Christ in it, who was often seen here..."
(15) And the angel of the LORD called to Abraham out of heaven a second time, (16) And said, "By Myself have I sworn, says the LORD, for because you have done this thing, and have not withheld your son, your only son, (17) That in blessing I will bless you, and in multiplying I will multiply your seed as the stars of the heaven and as the sand which is on the seashore; and your seed shall possess the gate of their enemies. (18) And in your seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice."
I have to smile at the phrase, "By Myself have I sworn". While we humans swear by God, there is no greater than God Himself for God to swear by! God is swearing by His own nature and by perfection itself, that because Abraham was willing to give his only beloved son, God will bless and multiply Abraham abundantly. God repeats His blessing to Abraham that his descendants will be millions, as numerous as the stars in heaven or the grains of sand on the shore. In addition, Abraham's descendants will possess the gates of their enemies, as in "the gates of hell", meaning they will triumph over their enemies and overcome the world. Gates represented the security and strength of a city; a strong gate fortified by troops meant a strong city. Also at the gates of a city were where the courts were, so the idea is that no evil strength or wicked counsels will be able to prevail against Abraham's descendants.
There is much more to Abraham's blessing that God swore to him; an incredibly wonderful part of the blessing is that ALL THE NATIONS OF THE EARTH WILL BE BLESSED, because of Abraham's faithfulness and obedience. Imagine that! Because of Abraham, and of course, more exactly, because of the Messiah who will come from his descendants, all people from all nations will be blessed, and will have the opportunity to be saved and overcome the world and the eternal death that goes with it. God promised OUR salvation to Abraham, and that fact He beautifully illustrated in the "test" of Abraham's faith.
(19) So Abraham returned to his young men, and they rose up and went together to Beersheba; and Abraham dwelt at Beersheba. (20) And it came to pass after these things, that it was told Abraham, saying, "Behold, Milcah has also borne children to your brother Nahor; (21) Huz his firstborn, and Buz his brother, and Kemuel the father of Aram, (22) And Chesed, and Hazo, and Pildash, and Jidlaph, and Bethuel."
Abraham returned to the young men he had left with his donkey when he took Isaac with him "to worship". They all proceeded to Beersheba, where it is said that Abraham dwelt. It was apparently there that Abraham heard from someone that his brother's wife had borne him children
(23) And Bethuel begat Rebekah; these eight Milcah bore to Nahor, Abraham's brother. (24) And his concubine, whose name was Reumah, also bore Tebah, and Gaham, and Thahash, and Maachah.
Note that there is a distinction between the eight children borne by Nahor's wife and the ones borne by his concubine. Just as God called Isaac Abraham's only son, it seems He may give a little more honor to the legitimate children of marriage; at least He did distinguish between the two. The history is continued to set up the genealogy of Rebekah, who was to become Isaac's wife. But that, my friends, is a different story! :-)
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