Part 1: Introduction | Part 2: Journey to Canaan | Part 3: Settlement | Part 4: Establishment | Part 5: Covenant | Part 6: Ishmael. Not. | Part 7: Implemented | Part 8: Isaac Promised | Part 9: Certified at Sodom | Part 10: Certified in Gerar | Part 11: Fulfillment
And now for the test of a lifetime.
Sceptics think they find a contradiction here, in that “God tempted Abraham” (Ge 22.1), since James tells us that God doesn’t tempt anyone (Jam 1.13). But such a charge amounts to an admission of ignorance, since human language is more complex than that: words have multiple meanings, and context makes clear that James speaks of temptation to sin, while Moses here speaks of testing or trial.
But that still raises a question: the angel of God will soon say, “Now I know that you fear God” (Ge 22.12). Didn’t he know that before? Then why the test?
That’s a legitimate question. I think it’s pretty clear that God is anthropomorphizing, speaking in human terms for the sake of our understanding. Of course God knew what Abraham would do. But he wanted Abraham–and us–to know as well. Hence the test.
And this is how it proceeds. With no explanation or even preparation, God tells Abraham to take Isaac, the covenant son, and offer him as a burnt offering on a distant mountain (Ge 22.2). If Abraham protested–I find it hard to believe he didn’t–there is no record of further conversation. He gets up early the next morning, chops some wood, and off they go (Ge 22.3).
It’s a three-day journey to the mountain in the land of Moriah (Ge 22.4). He leaves his servants at the foot of the mountain with the animal (Ge 22.5)–remarking that both of them will return–and has Isaac carry up the slope the wood for his own sacrificial fire (Ge 22.6).
It’s clear that Abraham hasn’t discussed all this with his son. Isaac has questions. A burnt offering involves an animal; why haven’t they brought one (Ge 22.7)?
Abraham says that God will provide the sacrificial animal (Ge 22.8). Here most of the modern versions say that God will provide it “for himself,” which properly reflects the Hebrew. The KJV says, “God will provide himself a lamb.” The omission of the Hebrew preposition there has allowed some interpreters to read the sentence as “God will provide himself [as] a lamb,” thereby anticipating Christ’s death on the cross. However, the Hebrew does not allow this reading.
The author of Hebrews tells us what Abraham was thinking–that he was going to kill Isaac, and that God was going to bring him back from the dead (He 11.19). He was determined to obey, and he was equally determined that God would not break his covenant promises.
Thus when Abraham tells Isaac that God would provide a lamb, he is not anticipating what actually happened; he is still shielding his son from the reality of what lay ahead.
We all know what happened. It soon became clear to Isaac that he was the lamb, and he apparently did not resist the outcome (Ge 22.9). Isaac was apparently plenty old enough to resist his aging father; Josephus places him at age 25, and another Jewish tradition places him at 37.
As Abraham was within a second of delivering the fatal thrust (Ge 22.10), the angel of God stopped him, explained the reason for the apparently insane request, and offered an alternative animal (Ge 22.11-13)–what Abraham had predicted, but not what he had expected.
Abraham names the place YHWH-yireh, “YHWH sees” (Ge 22.14). Without the patriarch’s realizing it, YHWH compares Abraham to Himself, one who offers his only Son (Ge 22.16). In his last recorded words to Abraham, God repeats the covenant promises, intensifying them by verbal repetition: “I will certainly bless you, and I will certainly multiply your offspring” (Ge 22.16-17). And all nations of the earth will indeed be blessed, when God offers his own Son as the sacrifice for sin (Ge 22.18)–incidentally, on the same mountain.
And then they all go home (Ge 22.19).
What’s next? Moses includes a little genealogical information to prepare for God’s next faithful step: providing a wife for the living Isaac (Ge 22.23).
Photo by Mick Haupt on Unsplash
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