Summer Heat
“Abraham passes his final exam!”
June 15, 2025
Genesis 22: 1- 19
- God Speaks to Abraham.
- Abraham waited a long time for this child.
- He is 100 when Isaac is born.
- Sarah is 90 when Isaac is born.
- Now it’s been “Some years.”
- Isaac might even be a teenager by now.
- God gives Abraham a very personal test!
Genesis 22:1–2 Now it came about after these things, that God tested Abraham, and said to him, “Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.”
2 He said, “Take now your son, your only son, whom you love, Isaac, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I will tell you.”
- We know it’s a test, but Abraham does NOT know it’s a test.
- God tells Abraham to make a burnt offering out of Isaac.
Burnt Offering: Form of Israelite sacrifice in which a choice animal was offered to make atonement for sin. The animal was completely consumed by fire.
- If Abraham does this properly, there will be nothing left of his son but ashes.
- What a horrible thing for God to ask!
- Imagine reading this for the first time, with no one ever telling you the story before. You’d be freaking out! “What is Abraham going to do?”
- Abraham makes up his mind.
3 So Abraham rose early in the morning and saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him and Isaac his son; and he split wood for the burnt offering, and arose and went to the place of which God had told him.
4 On the third day Abraham raised his eyes and saw the place from a distance.
5 Abraham said to his young men, “Stay here with the donkey, and I and the lad will go over there; and we will worship and return to you.”
6 Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on Isaac his son, and he took in his hand the fire and the knife. So the two of them walked on together.
- Do you think Abraham second guessed his decision?
- Do you think he considered turning back?
- He had 3 days of travelling to think about what he was doing.
- “I trust God.”
- “But, God would never ask me to kill my own son.”
- “Besides, God promised me a huge family, that would come through Isaac!”
- God has never lied to me, but if I kill him and burn him up, how can he be the father of my grandchildren?”
- Abraham continues to trust God!
- “We will worship and return to you!”
- Isaac carries the wood.
- Abraham carries the fire and the knife.
- Off they go.
7 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 the burnt offering?”
8 Abraham said, “God will provide for Himself the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.” So the two of them walked on together.
- Imagine having this conversation!!
- This kid isn’t stupid, but he trusts his dad.
9 Then they came to the place of which God had told him; and Abraham built the altar there and arranged the wood, and bound his son Isaac and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood.
10 Abraham stretched out his hand and took the knife to slay his son.
11 But the angel of the LORD called to him from heaven and said, “Abraham, Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.”
12 He said, “Do not stretch out your hand against the lad, and do nothing to him; for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from Me.”
- God stops Abraham.
There’s a lot to unpack here.
- The preparations are made.
- The altar is built
- The wood is arranged.
- Isaac is bound.
- Abraham is over 100 years old.
- Most likely, Isaac could have resisted.
- He’s old and strong enough to carry enough wood for a burnt offering.
- Apparently, he trusts his father, completely.
- Perhaps he’s old enough to trust God!
- The Moment of truth.
- All is prepared!
- Abraham picks up the knife and is about to kill his son.
- The Angel of the Lord calls out to him.
- Probably the most beautiful words that Abraham ever heard.
- “Now I Know!”
- “You fear God.”
- You did not withhold your son, your only son, from Me.”
- “Rabbit trail:” Who is the Angel of the Lord?
- He speaks as if He is God.
- Possibly he is speaking FOR God?
- “You did not withhold your son, your only son, from Me.”
Exodus 3:1–6 Now Moses was pasturing the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian; and he led the flock to the west side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. The angel of the LORD appeared to him in a blazing fire from the midst of a bush; and he looked, and behold, the bush was burning with fire, yet the bush was not consumed. So Moses said, “I must turn aside now and see this marvelous sight, why the bush is not burned up.” When the LORD saw that he turned aside to look, God called to him from the midst of the bush and said, “Moses, Moses!” And he said, “Here I am.” Then He said, “Do not come near here; remove your sandals from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.” He said also, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” Then Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God.
- At times, He receives worship.
- No “ordinary angel” allows this.
- He is THE angel of the Lord.”
- PERHAPS, He is a “pre-incarnation of Jesus?
- Jesus in His resurrected body, appearing in previous times.
- PERHAPS this is some other “special Angel?”
- God Provides a substitute!
13 Then Abraham raised his eyes and looked, and behold, behind him a ram caught in the thicket by his horns; and Abraham went and took the ram and offered him up for a burnt offering in the place of his son.
14 Abraham called the name of that place The LORD Will Provide, as it is said to this day, “In the mount of the LORD it will be provided.”
- There is a ram with his horns caught in the bushes.
- This ram is sacrificed in place of Isaac.
- This is the fire in the story!
- The Lord truly did provide!
15 Then the angel of the LORD called to Abraham a second time from heaven,
16 and said, “By Myself I have sworn, declares the LORD, because you have done this thing and have not withheld your son, your only son,
17 indeed I will greatly bless you, and I will greatly multiply your seed as the stars of the heavens and as the sand which is on the seashore; and your seed shall possess the gate of their enemies.
18 “In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice.”
19 So Abraham returned to his young men, and they arose and went together to Beersheba; and Abraham lived at Beersheba.
- God promises, again, to bless Abraham.
- I will multiply your offspring.
- Like stars in the sky.
- Like sand on the seashore.
- Your descendants will be victorious over their enemies!
- In your SEED (singular) will all the nations be blessed!
- HMM… I wonder which descendent God might be talking about….
- Could it be JESUS!!! I think so!
Conclusion: What can we learn from this encounter with God?
- God DOES test His people.
- Does God do this so HE knows how we will do?
- God already knows how things will go.
- He tests us so WE know what we are made of.
- Difficult training brings out our best.
- Often, God’s tests come as a decision that needs to be made.
- Do I trust God and do what’s right, or do I give in and take the easy way.
- Abraham could have said “NO!”
- When we make the decision, we may have time to think about it.
- This was certainly true for Abraham.
Hebrews 11:17–19 By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises was offering up his only begotten son; it was he to whom it was said, “IN ISAAC YOUR DESCENDANTS SHALL BE CALLED.” He considered that God is able to raise people even from the dead, from which he also received him back as a type.
- This will be true for us as well.
- Like Abraham, God may do something completely different than we expect.
- God provided a substitute for Isaac.
- God has provided us a substitute as well!
- No more “ram in the thicket.”
- God has provided His only Son!!
- He died, for us, but also for Abraham, Isaac, and all the faithful people of the Old Testament.
- He died, once and for all, for all of us!
Having been given such a great gift, how shall we live?
