What I am learning

Abraham is commanded to sacrifice Isaac. Isaac and Abraham both yield to the will of God.  I thought it was really interesting that it said the Lord tempted Abraham, what does Abraham say sure I am here.
 tempted means tried, tested, prove. So in reality God is saying  to Abraham prove to me that you love me and are you willing to do anything???? He did not ask any questions as to why god wanted him to do this. He just did it with faith.
I think its a amazing that Abraham just went and followed the directions that he thought he was suppose to do. Three days later on the donkey, makes me wonder how many miles from home was he. From Beer-sheba to Moriah is about 50-60 miles in 3 days. That is over 18 miles a day.

Now it came to pass after these things that God tested Abraham, and said to him, “Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” Then He said, “Take now 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.”

a. God tested Abraham: This was not so much a test to produce faith, as it was a test to reveal faith. God built Abraham slowly, piece by piece, year by year, into a man of faith.

b. Take now your son, your only son Isaac: Significantly, God calls Isaac your only son Isaac, when in fact Abraham had another son, Ishmael. But since Ishmael was put away from Abraham’s family, then as far as God was concerned, Abraham had only one son.

c. Offer him there as a burnt offering: God tells Abraham to offer him as a burnt offering. This was not an offering that was burned alive, but one first sacrificed and then completely burnt before the Lord.

d. Offer him there as a burnt offering: This test was especially hard because it seemed to contradict the previous promise of God. Hadn’t God promised in Isaac your seed shall be called (Genesis 21:12)? If Isaac hadn’t had children to pass the promise on to yet, how could Abraham kill him? Wouldn’t he be killing the very promise God made to him?

i. Abraham had to learn the difference between trusting the promise and trusting the Promiser. We can put God’s promise before God Himself and feel it is our responsibility to bring the promise to pass, even if we have to disobey God to do it.

ii. Trust the Promiser no matter what, and the promise will be taken care of!

 

e. On one of the mountains of which I shall tell you: There was a specific place God commanded Abraham to go, a particular spot where this would happen. God is carefully directing each detail.

f. Your only son Isaac, whom you love: This is the first mention of love in the Bible, and it is the love between father and son, and connected with the idea of the sacrificial offering of the son.

In the scriptures we have lots of first love. When Abraham talks of love for Isaac. Then when Abraham talks of worshipping God. 

I have learned so much about Abraham and his deep love for God tonight. I am so excited to be on this journey to understand the Atonement better and how we can apply it to our lives. 

 

 

Genesis 22:1-14.