September 13
“By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises offered up his only begotten son, of whom it was said, ‘In Isaac your seed shall be called,’ concluding that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead, from which he also received him in a figurative sense,” Hebrews 11:17-19.
The faith of Abraham was put to a very great test, as it is recorded in Genesis, chapter 22. Perhaps in a dream or a vision, God spoke to Abraham with a special command. God told him to take his son Isaac and go to the land of Moriah and offer Isaac as a burnt offering on a certain mountain that would be pointed out to him.
Early the next morning, Abraham prepared the wood and things which he needed for sacrificing Isaac as a burnt offering. He saddled his donkey and took two of his servants and Isaac and began the journey to Moriah. It was a journey of between two and three days. In some manner God indicated to him that he was nearing the place for the sacrifice. Abraham instructed the two men to stay with the donkey, while he and Isaac would go further to worship the Lord. He had Isaac carry the wood, while he carried the knife and what he needed to start a fire.
We do not know how old Isaac was at the time. Out of curiosity, Isaac asked Abraham, “‘Look, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?’ And Abraham said, ‘My son, God will provide for Himself the lamb for a burnt offering,’” Genesis 22:7-8. The two of them continued going to the place that God showed him. Abraham built an altar and put the wood in place on the altar. Then he bound Isaac, placed him on the altar, and took the knife to kill him!
At that point, the Angel of the Lord called to Abraham from heaven and said, “Do not lay your hand on the lad, or do anything to him; for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from Me,” Genesis 22:12.
The author of the Epistle to the Hebrews elaborates on the faith of Abraham. Abraham believed God’s promise: “In Isaac your seed shall be called.” He believed that the promised Messiah and Savior of all people would be a descendant of Isaac. That meant that Isaac had to live and marry to have descendants. He was willing to sacrifice Isaac, and then he would step back and watch God raise Isaac from the dead! He concluded, “That God was able to raise him up, even from the dead, from which he also received him in a figurative sense.” Abraham and Sarah were both sexually far past the age for having children when Isaac was born.
Abraham stood the test. His faith was strengthened. He believed in the resurrection of the body, as all Christian believers do! May the record of Abraham’s strong faith strengthen our faith. Saving faith believes that through Jesus Christ, we have, as we confess in the Apostles’ Creed, “the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting.”
“Oh, for a faith that will not shrink
Tho’ pressed by many a foe;
That will not tremble on the brink
Of poverty or woe.
A faith that shines more bright and clear
When tempests rage without;
That, when in danger, knows no fear;
In darkness feels no doubt.
Lord, give us such a faith as this;
And then, whate’er may come,
We’ll taste e’en now the hallowed bliss,
Of an eternal home.” Amen.