This is one of the most amazing, perhaps even appalling, chapters of the Bible. In some ways it seems terrible to us that God should tell Abraham to sacrifice his son, but we need to see what the real message of the incident is. God did not let Abraham sacrifice His son, even when God's command seems utterly impossible and seems to demand too much, we can trust Him. The supreme example of this, of course, is Jesus. Going to the cross was a terrible thing to do, but His Father raised Him from the dead, and His death and resurrection achieved freedom for us all.
It says that God tested Abraham. It does not say that He tempted him. As we work our way through the story we well see how utterly different Abraham is from the man we have seen in the preceding chapters. There is no hesitation in obedience, and instead of wondering how things can go wrong, he is always convinced that God will work things out. Abraham is a changed man. It is perhaps useful to view the story as God demonstrating just what His work in Abraham has achieved. And this is what He will achieve in all of us. He takes hold of our lives and transforms us into the people we were always meant to be. One day we may face the supreme test, but if God does bring us to that day, we may actually be amazed at how the faith in us suddenly springs to life and enables us to do the most amazing things.
At the outset Abraham had had to leave his own land, now he is to take his own son. God even "rubs in" the enormity of what He is asking of Abraham. Isaac is his only son, and is deeply loved by Abraham, and he is to sacrifice him as a burnt offering.
Moriah is the area of the temple mount (2 Chronicles 3:1) and is today occupied by the Muslim Dome of the Rock.
It says that God tested Abraham. It does not say that He tempted him. As we work our way through the story we well see how utterly different Abraham is from the man we have seen in the preceding chapters. There is no hesitation in obedience, and instead of wondering how things can go wrong, he is always convinced that God will work things out. Abraham is a changed man. It is perhaps useful to view the story as God demonstrating just what His work in Abraham has achieved. And this is what He will achieve in all of us. He takes hold of our lives and transforms us into the people we were always meant to be. One day we may face the supreme test, but if God does bring us to that day, we may actually be amazed at how the faith in us suddenly springs to life and enables us to do the most amazing things.
At the outset Abraham had had to leave his own land, now he is to take his own son. God even "rubs in" the enormity of what He is asking of Abraham. Isaac is his only son, and is deeply loved by Abraham, and he is to sacrifice him as a burnt offering.
Moriah is the area of the temple mount (2 Chronicles 3:1) and is today occupied by the Muslim Dome of the Rock.
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