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 the wood for the burnt offering, and arose and went to the place of which God had told him. Then on the third day Abraham lifted his eyes and saw the place afar off. (Gen 22,3-4)

 

With what heart was Abraham walking toward the announced goal? Some believe that he essentially knew that God would not ask him to do such a thing. But we have explained that he may not have known about the unacceptability of human sacrifice; he had no other source of knowledge (oral or written theology) besides his own experience with God, and he had probabaly never dealt with the question himself. So, on the contrary, he prepared everything for the long journey, taking wood and servants with him. Obviously, he did not leave the door open to the possibility that the sacrifice would not take place. The whole story would not have made sense if he thought it was just a game.

 

After all, even the interpretation of the Epistle to the Hebrews speaks clearly of Abraham having been prepared to sacrifice his son. If he had any hope, it was not that the sacrifice would not take place, but that it would, yet God would later resurrect Isaac (Heb. 11:17-19).

 

Nevertheless one must work his way to such a faith. It's easy to imagine it vividly when we read this story in the Bible, but let's try to put ourselves in Abraham's frame of mind as he walks behind his servants for three days, still looking back at his beloved son who is just about to die. To have faith in the resurrection in such a situation is different than having it in the warmth of home sitting over a book.

Abraham had to say goodbye forever in his heart to Isaac, whom he had miraculously begotten and loved. It is hard to imagine what he was going through in those moments. His only hope of being reunited with Isaac was the resurrection. Thus he would receive from God's hand back a son who had tasted death, died and been resurrected. But is God capable of such a thing? Yet as he was putting together the picture he had obtained of God over the years and the promises God had made to him, he cautiously asked himself: but would  God be able not do this after all?

 

Today we know what Abraham did not know along the way: that God did not really want the sacrifice of Isaac. From God's perspective, the test of Abraham consisted just in the three days of wandering when Abraham found himself in this immense internal struggle.

 

In his heart played out what would play out again centuries later in the same place, on this mount: another father would lose here for three days his beloved son.

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...” (Gen 22,2)

The test Abraham faced was not just whether he would be willing to return to God the greatest gift he had received from Him. That is, whether Isaac belonged entirely to him, Abraham, or whether he belonged to God and Abraham was merely an administrator of his. For most people, such a relationship with the most precious things and people is hard to imagine, but it is truly something that God introduces His people into. The joy of living in such liberated relationships is not diminished, quite the opposite. But this is only fully understood by those who experience it.

Abraham's son Isaac has long since ceased to be just one who represented God's promise, His answer and gift, the continuation of the lineage, the plan for the world. Abraham now didn't have to process just the theological side of things - how was it that God would ask of him the only descendant through whom the nation he had repeatedly promised would come? Why something like this, had God changed his will regarding the future? This had never happened to him before; rather, he had recognized earlier that God stood by His word even when Abraham doubted. Processing these questions was not easy, but it was far from the hardest part. "Take your only son whom you love..."

We know that God "is love" (1Jn.4:16). He is love from the beginning of creation, yet this is now the first place the word "to love" is explicitly used in the Bible. Not that love did not exist in the world before then, such as between God and man or between man and woman. But it is noteworthy that the first time Scripture speaks of someone loving someone, it is the father (Abraham) of a son (Isaac).

When Abraham once clung to Ishmael, he was very distressed when he then had to send him away. But it was nothing compared to what he was now experiencing in his relationship with Isaac. The deepest essence of the Mount Moriah´s trial is something different than a struggle for faith. 

It is the question whether a man would lose his beloved son for God.

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.” (Gen 22,2)

Never before had Abraham been put to such a strange test. He had already experienced the test of God's silence and the vain expectation to receive the fulfillment of the promise. It had lasted too long, and in those years he had learned that God does not lie and in the end can do the impossible.

 

But now he was going much further. If at first God did not give him what Abraham longed for, now he wants to take away what Abraham has and loves. God never asked him to make human sacrifices, and even when Abraham was victorious in battle, he did not resort to such practices. But he did not yet have the Torah and the Prophets in his hand, he had no teachers to verify that this was an abomination in God's eyes. He suspected, but could not know for sure, whether God condemned such practice or not. When God told him what to do, Abraham had to take it as he was told and decide whether to obey.

 

We all know the test when God does not seem to act. Even Jesus refers to it as a normal spiritual experience when the door is closed and the friend is unwilling to listen to requests (Luke 11:5-8). It is as if to say that this is how God will appear to us at times, but we must continue, persevere, not give up.

 

But the call to sacrifice a son was quite a "new level" for Abraham. God is really acting, but in a very strange way: against His formerly revealed will, against His plan, literally against His own people.

 

Unlike Abraham at this moment, we who live thousands years later know how the story turned out. But he did not have that advantage. His head was spinning and he was breathing heavily, swallowing empty. For twenty-five years he climbed the heights of faith until he believed in life from death. Now he understood that another peak was still ahead of him, and its name was Moriah.

 

It was just dawn and he had to begin to prepare for his journey.

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.” (Gen 22,1-2)

We have already said that God wanted to test Abraham not to find faults and failures in him. It reminds us of testing in school, where most teachers surely test their students with the intention of wishing them a good grade, which after all crowns their own work, and not to humiliate them in front of the blackboard. While there may be exceptions sometimes, that is not the case with our God. God rejoices when He finds a man after His own heart on earth.

But Abraham certainly did not expect a test of this kind. After all, only a few years before he had gloriously achieved what God had promised him, and so far he had lived with a consciousness of great gratitude. How long he had waited for that moment! He knew that he could wish for nothing more for his life, and he had had enough. All he ever worried about were the usual risks that could hurt anyone, even his son - sickness, injury, war. But he was learning to see Isaac from a different angle. If God, the Judge of all the earth, had a plan for this child, then He didn't give it to him only to lose him again soon. At least until that special purpose God has for him is fulfilled.

"Go to the land of Moriah, and there offer him as a burnt offering on a mountain that I will tell you about." God did not call Abraham to add a new element to his religion by building altars on the ground for human sacrifices as some ancient cults did. Many would have understood it that way: if God asks something of me, then surely it is a new rule that should apply to everyone. But here it was something else, a special and personal Abrahamic journey, a one-time act of obedience. Something that took place between him and God. Abraham went through a great development in his relationship with Isaac and had to wrestle with difficult questions: would he view him as a fruit of his old age, would he appropriate him and cling to him as his only offspring, in short, was Isaac his most prized possession or rather a gift from God that Abraham was merely managing on earth?

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.” (Gen 22,2)

Never before had Abraham been put to such a strange test. He had already experienced the test when God seemed to be silent not fulfilling His promise. It had lasted very, very long but in those years he learned that God does not lie and that in the end He can do the impossible.

But now God had gone much further. If at first He did not give him what Abraham longed for, now He wants to take away what he has and loves. God never asked him to make human sacrifices, and even when Abraham was victorious in battle, he did not resort to such practices. But he did not yet have the Torah and the Prophets in his hand and no teachers around who he could ask and verify that this was an abomination in God's eyes. He suspected, but could not know for sure, whether God condemned such things or not. When God told him what he was to do, Abraham had to take it as he was told and decide whether to obey.

We are all familiar with the test when God does not seem to act. Even Jesus refers to it as a normal spiritual experience when the door is closed and the friend is unwilling to listen to requests (Luke 11:5-8). As if he wanted to say that this is how God will appear to us at times, but we must continue, persevere, not giving up.

But the call to sacrifice a son was quite a "new level" for Abraham. God is acting, but against his revealed will, against his plan, literally against his people.

Unlike Abraham, we know how the story turned out. But he did not have that advantage. His head was spinning and he was breathing heavily, swallowing empty. For twenty-five years he has been climbing the heights of faith until he believed in life from death. Now he understood that another peak was still ahead of him. His name was Moriah. It was just dawn and he began to prepare for his journey.

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.” (Gen 22,1-2)

We have already said that God wanted to test Abraham not becuase he wanted to find faults and failures in him. It reminds us of testing in school, where most teachers surely test their students with the intention of wishing them a good grade, which after all is their aim, and not to humiliate them in front of the blackboard. While there may be some exceptions among teachers, that is not the case with our God. God rejoices when He finds a man after His own heart on earth.

But Abraham certainly did not expect a test of this kind. After all, only a few years before he had gloriously achieved what God had promised him, and so far he had lived with a consciousness of great gratitude. How long he had waited for that moment! He knew that he could wish for nothing more for his life, and he had had enough. All he ever worried about were the usual risks that could hurt anyone then, even his son - sickness, injury, war. But he was learning to see Isaac from a different angle. If God, the Judge of all the earth, had a plan for this child, then He didn't give it to him only to lose him again soon. At least until that special purpose God has for him is fulfilled.

"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.” God did not call Abraham to add a new element to his religion by building altars on the earth for human sacrifices, as some ancient cults did. Many would understand it this way: if God asks me to do something, then surely it is a new rule that should apply to everyone. But here it was something else, a special and personal Abrahamic journey, a one-time act of obedience. Something that took place between him and God. Abraham went through a great development in his relationship with Isaac and had to wrestle with difficult questions: would he view him as a fruit of his old age, would he appropriate him and cling to him as his only offspring? In short, was Isaac his most prized possession or rather a gift from God which Abraham was merely administrating on earth?

God has now, by this strange demand, prompted Abraham to return His gift to him. The test consisted in the question whether Abraham would be willing to do so.

Now it came to pass after these things that God tested Abraham... (Gen 22,1)

Abraham received the promise of the birth of a son in the beginning, and then was tested for 25 years to see if he would be able to trust God that he would actually be born. Israel accepted the promise of coming out of Egypt into the promised land, and then was tested in the wilderness before they were to enter. Gideon was told that he would deliver the Israelites from the power of the Midianites, but then he was tested several times, was supposed to overthrow the altar of his father, and then go into battle with a small handful against incredible odds. Will they believe? Jesus was tested after his baptism and filling with the Holy Spirit when he was "immediately led into the wilderness." After triumphing in the temptations, he returned "in the power of the Spirit" to Galilee. These are but a few examples which illustrate that there is always a trial between the promise and the receiving, or if you will, between the promise and our actual elevation to a higher plane of life with God. There we abound in the things of God to a far richer degree than the preceding - let us simply call it a victory. 

When a man was driven out of Eden, Eden remained guarded by angels with drawn swords. The mention of the sword is meant to reassure us that it is absolutely impossible for us ever to return there. Even if we come to God and are accepted as His own children, He does not carry us back to Eden. That path is already closed in this age. But God IS with us nonetheless - in the valley of this world, accompanying us on our journey to the new creation, the new earth and heaven, something much higher than paradise. But on earth, we will probably see our lives as far more of a kind of trial than paradise, if only because we keep choosing God's way again and again. And yet, God is in this "wilderness" with us, giving us drink so that "we shall be in want of anything" but it is true because we let ourselves be led where he goes before us. We no longer seek our own ways.

Many preachers in rich countries preach a gospel in which they promise people some kind of paradise (believe and it will be well with you, Jesus is good, come to God and he will solve your problem). Sure, many of us have experienced this too, but as a secondary effect of our pursuit of God. Have you noticed that those who come to God primarily with this motive usually don't actually experience this? For the gospel preached by the apostles was otherwise: deny yourself, take up your cross, and follow Christ into eternity - at whatever cost, despite all the adversity it will cost you.

Now it came to pass after these things that God tested Abraham... (Gen 22,1)

Why did God want to test the man who was closest to Him in all the earth? Wouldn't it have been more logical for Him to make his path easier, to shower him with favor and to test others for whom there was much more reason to separate the wheat from the chaff?

In everyday life, students are tested most often. Even craftsmen have their final exams before they are allowed to practice their craft, doctors have to pass attestations so that it is sure they know how to practice medicine. Examinations are the gateway to something subsequent, higher - and this is also true on God's path.

The pattern of PROMISE - TEST - BLESSING is repeated over and over in Scripture. God will present His way to man and give him a promise to go with it, but then man goes through a certain test, beyond which he receives the promised blessing. In fact, the whole Bible can be seen through this prism: man is offered the highest existence in Paradise, but he must first prove his choice in the test in which Adam failed. We now attain eternity through the grace of Jesus Christ, but if we look at it from the perspective of man, then our earthly life is a form of trial in which we repeatedly, in different situations and stages of life, choose Christ or ourselves, the heavenly or the temporal. If we pass the test, we receive the blessing of "what eye has not seen and ear has not heard, God has prepared for those who love him."

The formula of PROMISE - TEST - BLESSING also applies to the partial episodes of life. We grow and achieve blessing in them after we have triumphed in them, usually by preferring God's way in one area or another after some personal struggle. (The episode of the arid desert that the Israelites had to pass through before entering the Promised Land flowing with milk and honey is perhaps the most well-known picture of this principle in the Old Testament.) We may not find the period of testing pleasant, but if we persevere, we will find that a new blessing from above will then open up for us.

Abraham has changed enormously over the years. He has been tested several times and has stood - not always, but often. Now he is to be tested again. Not because God wants to "find something wrong" in him, but to shower him with even greater blessings thereafter. Moreover, as we shall see later, his test has another, very specific dimension.

If all the good things were cheap to buy, they would not be worth much in the end.

And Abraham stayed in the land of the Philistines many days. (Gen 21,34)

Being someone's guest is usually a pleasant experience. You can take a break from all the worrying and cooking that you would have to do at home and enjoy what your host has prepared for you. (And they have it usually very tidy too!)

But we have shown that Abraham's stay with the Philistines did not fall into this category. The Philistines had not invited him, and certainly had no plans to host him. Shortly after he arrived, because he had no choice (the drought drove him to it), they let him know who was here boss when Abimelech had Sarah brought in. Abraham clearly did not enjoy his stay in their land, but from the beginning was in fear for his own life. At his age, he was no longer naive, and he was not wrong. It could have ended badly for him.

When God supernaturally intervened, Abraham gained the respect of the Philistines, so they didn't dare touch him, but he was still only a tolerated guest. This is how the verse should be understood: he is called "a guest" because he was outside his home country, but in reality he was a stranger here.

But even in the original area of the Promised Land where he was staying, he did not have a home of his own in the sense we understand it, on an own piece of land or in his own apartment, with security, a legal environment, and hot water to turn on the tap. What faith had settled in his heart that he could see beyond the boundaries of his own life and believe that it was in these places that his descendants would one day be not just guests like him, but truly at home. He did not feel handicapped - because he believed. "These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off were assured of them, embraced them and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth....But now they desire a better, that is, a heavenly country. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared a city for them." (Heb 11,13.16)

Probably the older a person gets, the more he realizes that he, like Abraham, is only a guest on this earth and in this life, and his true home is really elsewhere.

Thus they made a covenant at Beersheba. So Abimelech rose with Phichol, the commander of his army, and they returned to the land of the Philistines. Then Abraham planted a tamarisk tree in Beersheba, and there called on the name of the Lord, the Everlasting God. And Abraham stayed in the land of the Philistines many days. (Gen 21,32-34)

The visit of the Abimelech and Phichol to Abraham was by no means a warm reunion of old friends. Rather, it was forced by the need to find reconciliation and to establish mutual boundaries, both geographical and in terms of how the two sides would deal with each other. It is not for no reason, therefore, that it is mentioned that as soon as the agreement was achieved, the two guests returned "at once" to their land. Neither side felt any need to prolong the meeting.

Abraham breathed a sigh of relief. He was glad to be able to stay in this place, now when it was obvious that the Philistines were not going to get any closer than was necessary. After their commanders left, he realized again with gratitude that his God would accompany him on his travels. After all, if it hadn't been for that, things could have gone very badly with him, the conflict having nearly flared up at least twice. So he did something which was already a characteristic part of his life, but this was especially true after significant events. He had done it so many times, and yet the Scriptures do not fail to mention it about him again: he "called on the name of the Lord, the everlasting God."

Abraham built altars and called upon God throughout the land that God had promised him. In this sense, he omitted Egypt, which did not belong to him, but did not exclude the land of Philistines. For God had told him of all that land, including Gerar, that it would belong to his descendants; he could not yet give it to them, but he was already entrusting it to his God. He already understood well that this gift, which God had given him, was not just there for his descendants to enjoy. The land was, moreover, to fulfill the higher purpose of the eternal God - to be a revelation of His glory to the whole world.

So Abraham took sheep and oxen and gave them to Abimelech, and the two of them made a covenant. And Abraham set seven ewe lambs of the flock by themselves. Then Abimelech asked Abraham, “What is the meaning of these seven ewe lambs which you have set by themselves?” And he said, “You will take these seven ewe lambs from my hand, that they may be my witness that I have dug this well.” (Gen 21,27-30)

The lives of the patriarchs can be viewed in purely spiritual terms, view them as those who were primarily concerned with following the Lord, and seek parallels with the figurative meanings revealed in the New Testament. Or there is another way:  to stand above them, look at them as backward people of a lower cultural level who, like everyone else, wanted to get the most out of life for themselves, but moreover practiced some new religion.

As it happens, the truth about any man is not exclusively black or white. Even the God´s people of the Old Testament are just people, not angels. Their heights are when they transcend the plane of their average lives and ascend higher, even if that which meant "higher" in their time and situation looked very different from today.

Abraham may have been a pilgrim following the eternal God, but he also had to deal with quite ordinary earthly problems on a daily basis. Abimelech's people had robbed him of his well, and now he was asking for it back. Therefore, he gives Abimelech seven sheep as a testimony so that he and everyone later will forever acknowledge that this well will belong to Abraham.

Abraham could not go about all day gazing into the distance as in a dream and praying; there was the farm, the flocks, the daily routine, the business, the need to provide safety for all his people. And yet, when he thought of God's promises, with what heart must he have given Abimelech sheep just that he might be granted even a simple righteousness in Gerar - in the land which, according to God's promise, belonged to him, Abraham?  

In fact, he experienced the same thing that has accompanied his followers for millennia: "we have nothing, yet everything belongs to us" (2K6:10). He certainly didn't walk gazing into the distance all day long, but at least he occasionally lifted his head and looked there. And he gave praise to God for all His grace to him and the provision he had received so far. But then he had to come back to earth in his thoughts , take the sheep and give them to the ungodly ruler so that he could at least somewhat live in his land.

Whenever we look into the distance we get hope that the time will finally come when there will be no need for anything like this.

Then Abraham rebuked Abimelech because of a well of water which Abimelech’s servants had seized. And Abimelech said, “I do not know who has done this thing; you did not tell me, nor had I heard of it until today.” (Gen 21,25-26)

 

I have already written that Abraham did not feel quite safe in Gerar, as though he was not on friendly ground. He and his servants worked hard, dug a well (a deep and challenging task in the desert areas due to the low degree of mechanization at the time), but once Abimelech's servants found out, they came and grabbed it from him. Abraham was certainly not standing alone at the well at that time. There were at least 300 men on his farm, but they did not engage in the in battle, but rather retreated. Is it possible that Abimelech was unaware of the incident? Gerar was not big and there were many people involved, moreover, namely "his servants". So it's probably a lie. In any case, the Phichol must have known about it, because the Philistines seized the well by force. They must have had so many men ready on the spot that they were outnumbered and Abraham did not think of fighting. (Though perhaps he would not have fought anyway, just as Isaac did not later fight over the dug well in the same area (see Gen 26), and probably thereby followed this example of his father. Since Isaac also experienced here exactly the same treatment from the local men, this is obviously a kind of usual behavior here.) But the Philistines assumed he might fight. After all, resolving things by violence was even more common in the world of that time than it is today. It is always the case, after all, that some try to create something, and others seize their fruit. A war has always been a profitable business in this sense.

 

God's people use to have a double experience on earth: on one hand, God's favor, but on the other, the hostility of the environment. We are not always loved here, but often rather suffered. The only meaningful way remains anyway not to succumb to small-mindedness and to try to invent and create things, even if they are then sometimes taken away from us.

And it came to pass at that time that Abimelech and Phichol, the commander of his army, spoke to Abraham, saying, “God is with you in all that you do. Now therefore, swear to me by God that you will not deal falsely with me, with my offspring, or with my posterity; but that according to the kindness that I have done to you, you will do to me and to the land in which you have dwelt.” (Gen 21,22-23)

Abimelech had previously had a terrifying experience because of Abraham, in which God told him directly that He would kill him and his men if he took Sarah. He had previously come to take her by right of the tribal leader of the area Abraham had come to dwell in. After this divine intervention, Abimelech was shaken, as only a man can be shaken who encounters firsthand the living God with whom he is not reconciled, and thus comes to know Him primarily as a judge. After this experience, Abimelech had a special relationship of respect, but not love, for Abraham. Sometimes similar relationships between two parties who are cut from completely different cloth are quite helpful. In fact, by keeping a respectful distance between the two, they prevent the emergence of conflict.

Abimelech clearly had a stronger army than Abraham, who had only a volunteer troop (if we can call armed peasants that way) numbering hundreds of men (Gen. 14:14), while Abimelech had professionals (...the piper, the commander of his army...). And yet he feared Abraham. Or perhaps another way: he feared his God. So he wanted to protect himself by making a covenant with him, feeling that it was not advisable to mess around with this man - his God might come and bring about something big.

He therefore tries to impress Abraham by supposedly "'having shown him mercy.'" Does he mean he didn't kill him outright? These are deceptive and rather insincere words. As we shall see, Abraham clearly did not feel very friendly in this land from the beginning; he was rather only tolerated there.

Sometimes God's seed in this world feels just that way. We are different, and therefore are sometimes only suffered by others. But we need to be thankful that even in such times and places something sovereignly of God can be born in our lives, just as Isaac was born to Abraham right there.

So God was with the lad; and he grew and dwelt in the wilderness, and became an archer. He dwelt in the Wilderness of Paran; and his mother took a wife for him from the land of Egypt. (Gen 21,20-21)

A person moves through life on a trajectory that is determined by his or her strongest character traits. We can imagine them physically as forces that impact an object and make it move in a certain direction, or, more poetically, as strings that pull a person somewhere, often without him being directly aware of it. Since these are features of his own nature, it seems quite natural to him that his path turns wherever he is drawn.

Once a man comes to know God, many things change. New standards will be set above what he naturally inclines to.  "New forces" or, if you like, "new strings" are involved. From that  moment on, choices are made between the old and the new, sometimes in  the form of hard-fought struggles over who is with whom.

We don't  know much about the practical life of Ishmael and Hagar beyond the above two sentences, except perhaps that Scripture later states that Ishmael grew into a nation. But one cannot help but notice a striking difference in the way life decisions are made in case of Ishmael or  Isaac. What efforts were later made to make sure that Isaac finds the right woman who was not to be from the surrounding nations. After all, it is primarily the women who determine the inner disposition of the family. Moreover, they often brought a form of godliness from their original tribe. Therefore, Abraham gave the choice of a wife for Isaac entirely to God and asked Him for a miraculous act. Scripture describes this in detail in Gen 25.

Ishmael was violent in character, and  became an archer. They lived in Paran near Egypt, so his mother gave him a woman from the area, for that was her nation. Not that these choices were in themselves a sin. However, the trajectories of Ishmael´ and Isaac´s lives and that of their descendants diverged more and more over time as other forces, other "strings" were at work. Abraham no longer wanted  to make only natural choices. He wanted to involve his God in them. He desired that Isaac would later also take up his spiritual heritage, his faith in a unique God and the path that Abraham walked in God's presence.  Therefore, he urgently dealt with God in making decisions  about Isaac's life (which, as Gen 25 shows, was quite a struggle) and did not let things run their course.

If there is anything to be learned from Abraham's life, it is in this regard.

And it came to pass at that time that Abimelech and Phichol, the commander of his army, spoke to Abraham, saying, “God is with you in all that you do". (Gen 21,22)

Abimelech did not know a personal God. One who would speak to him and have a relationship with him, one who would demand not only sacrifice, but obedience, coupled with a search for the highest possible way. With the gods he knew, "devotion to the brand" and sacrifice were enough. So he could not understand at all how Abraham approached his God and experienced the pursuit of Him. Abimelech knew nothing like that.

He therefore understood Abraham's religion only in this ver pragmatical light. Yes, God was indeed with Abraham in all that he did, but if we know something about the pursuit of Him, then unlike Abimelech, we will have to insert here "finally". God is finally with you in everything you do, Abraham. After all the years that you have been learning to follow him, which has not always been easy for you, sometimes you have strayed from the path and had to seek it again.

Abimelech understood that the gods could bless a man, make him prosper, but he did not understand that with the Lord of Abraham there exist two kind of blessing: a blessing bestowed and a blessing acquired. The bestowed is that which one receives freely from above, completely without merit. Parents give good gifts to their children, those that go the good way and those that often cause wrinkles on their foreheads. God likewise "lets his sun shine on the good and the bad" (Mt 5:45), or, referring to God's children, blesses them because of their sonship. This does not necessarily mean, however, that they are always choosing the best possible path in life.

I will use the analogy of a farmer who gives his children what they need from his abundant harvest. That is the blessing bestowed. But when the farmer considers that the time has come to pass on his farm to the heir, then it is not enough for the potential heir to meet the single criterion of being his child. He must be willing to learn from the farmer, to deny himself, to work and to know how to do things, or he will bring the whole farm and all its people to collapse. He who is willing to enter such a school and be taught by his father will then be able to enjoy gifts far greater than he would have had as a mere son, and he will be able to bless others from them.

This is an acquired blessing. It comes when God can say to a man, "Now I know I can trust you."

And it came to pass at that time that Abimelech and Phichol, the commander of his army, spoke to Abraham, saying, “God is with you in all that you do". (Gen 21,22)

Abimelech first had a conflict with Abraham when he rebuked him for the way he had treated him (out of fear, Abraham concealed that Sarah was his wife, and when Abimelech took her into his harem, God scared him with a death threat if he has sex with her). From the above verse, we can better understand why Abraham was afraid at the time: "...and Phichol, the captain of his army." Abimelech was practically just a tribal leader of Gerar, but he also had his own army with a certain command structure, so it was not just a few people. When Abraham came to reside in their territory, he was clearly in the minority and acted accordingly in fear, but we've covered that before.

So, after God's intervention, Abimelech was afraid to harm Abraham, but his attitude towards him was certainly not entirely friendly. Rather, it could be described as "respect from a proper distance." But that is precisely why his observation that "God is with you, Abraham, in all that you do" is so valuable. If Abimelech had been his friend, he would have inclined to say only positive things to him and to view reality in a somewhat distorted way, as is usually the case with friends. At those we like we excuse a lot of things. But when a person who doesn't love us says something positive about us, then we can be sure it's true. So the Council of Constance senselessly condemned John Hus for heresies, but could not deny him (as it stated) that he lived a very virtuous life. Surely there can be no doubt about this, if even his enemies acknowledged it! 

Abimelech's observation that God is with Abraham "in all things" demonstrates the extent of the greatness of God's blessing upon this man of God. Abimelech understood only that part of it which was outwardly visible, and could therefore reach the minds of the Gentiles. In other words, he measured God's favor by earthly success. He clearly seems not to have any idea of that far more precious part which is found in the inner man, when he is filled with a living relationship with God.

As for Abraham, I personally conclude that after his long road on the path of discipleship, this inner part was already much more important for him and far more valued.

So God was with the lad; and he grew and dwelt in the wilderness, and became an archer. (Gen 21,20)

It is not easy for us to understand that God often blesses things that are not of His will. Even things that He would not approve of. I don't mean ones that are directed against Him, or that are straight out of hell in nature. But He will bless many decisions, actions, activities that He did not initiate, did not intend, simply because they were carried out by His own people on earth.

Scripture tells us that "God was with the boy." What does that mean? Nothing more and nothing less than that God's hand protected him to grow up. Back then a human life hung by a thread, and the circumstances in which its thread might be broken by sickness or violence were many more than today. Ishmael was not a worshiper of God and a bearer of His blessings on earth in the sense that Isaac later was. We do not know if he believed in the God of Abraham (and did not abandon faith in Him after he was cast out by Abraham). If he did, we have no idea if and how his faith manifested itself. So we know that "God was with the boy", but we no longer know whether "the boy was with God". Rather, we can believe that Ishmael's faith merged with the religion of the surrounding tribes, resulting in yet another of the many mixtures of true faith and pagan superstition that have filled the earth from time immemorial.  

To be blessed like Ishmael is certainly good. But it is a blessing that ends with its recipient, does him good, but is not enough to continue to bless the earth through him. Ishmael was not thinking of anything like this, and his restless nature certainly wasn't up to it. He had become a hunter, the head of the tribe, and the people around certainly had respect of him, perhaps even fear. But we can't really imagine him being a light to others in their quest for God, as Abraham was. How often we are concerned only with God blessing us, simply to make us well. Yes, it's good when that happens. It's a time to enjoy, to rejoice. But if we don't want to stop here and want to move on, we need to get from Ishmael to Isaac in our thinking. To not just want to be comfortable (albeit with God), but to seek which thing is sovereignly God's so that we can enter into it and become a blessing to this earth. 

This river of blessing flows from a source we do not possess. So the only way to take from its fullness and give forth is to enter into it.

And the water in the skin was used up, and she placed the boy under one of the shrubs. Then she went and sat down across from him at a distance of about a bowshot; for she said to herself, “Let me not see the death of the boy.” So she sat opposite him, and lifted her voice and wept. ... Then God opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water. (Gen 21,15-16.19)

For the second time Hagar is on her way from her masters. The first time she fled of her own free will, now she is banished. And each time, God's messengers stop her on her way and rescue her. The first time, they sent her back because the little child would have perished otherwise. Now they help her find water, without which she will soon die in the desert. 

Was Hagar the reason God and his angels have her in their sights and will not let her fall in her most difficult moments? Did she have such a personal relationship with Him that God guided her with His hand much more than other people? It doesn't seem so. God is clearly not coming for her sake, but for Ishmael's sake. And one might say, not for Ishmael, who was not in God's original plan, but for Abraham. So great is God's respect for his friend, so seriously does he take him, with his pros and his faults, that God will take care of his son, just because he is Abraham's.

In the moments of crisis, we are much like Hagar. We are weighed down by a difficult situation, our minds so preoccupied with an insurmountable problem that we no longer see what God is offering us and what is often so close at hand. We need to tear the veil from our eyes, and suddenly everything is different.

Jesus once said to pay attention to how we hear. But on the journey of discipleship, how we see is equally important. So often we need "ointment to rub on our eyes to see"! (Rev 3:18) 

Not only to see the truth, but often also the hope.

But God said to Abraham, "Do not let it be displeasing in your sight because of the lad or because of your bondwoman. Whatever Sarah has said to you, listen to her voice; for in Isaac your seed shall be called. Yet I will also make a nation of the son of the bondwoman, because he is your seed." So Abraham rose early in the morning, and took bread and a skin of water; and putting it on her shoulder, he gave it and the boy to Hagar, and sent her away. Then she departed and wandered in the Wilderness of Beersheba. (Gen 21,12-14)

When we read about such treatment of people, we think it corresponds more to an effort to get them out of the way forever than dealing with one's own son. After all, Abraham was, as we know from earlier, "very rich." He could easily have furnished Hagar and Ishmael with provisions on several camels, and placed his servants at his command for escort and protection, and yet he does not seem to have done anything that would have saved them with certainty from perishing.

Such a proceeding was contrary to the custom of the time. He might therefore have counted on the fact that if Hagar and Ishmael eventually found refuge with the surrounding tribes, it would not make him popular with them (to put it mildly). What kind of man drives his own son into the desert? Abraham enjoyed respectability with the neighboring tribes, not only because of the supernatural intervention of his God with Abimelech, but generally by the way he conducted himself among them, keeping his farm, keeping the agreements he made, etc. If, after much deliberation, he decided to take such a drastic step, there must have been something fundamental behind it.

Ishmael must have been perhaps 15-16 years old at this point. For we know that he was 13 years older than Isaac, who had just been weaned, which was common only after a few years. (This is also why I choose the text correction "he put it on her shoulders" instead of "he put the child on her shoulders" in the quoted text.) Ishmael was by this time already physically mature and apparently capable of anything. 

Abraham eventually gave in to Sarah's insistence, but apparently it wasn't just because she drove him to do so. We know that he was very distressed about it; he was about to do something he didn't quite want to. Sarah's request was so strange to him that he eventually sought God on the matter. 

From all this we may conclude that the reason for the situation, namely, Ishmael's action towards Isaac, was indeed extremely serious, and his jealousy towards the child obviously dangerous. Peaceful coexistence was unfortunately out of possibility here. Ishmael had to go away.

But God said to him, “Do not be so distressed about the boy and your slave woman. Listen to whatever Sarah tells you, because it is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned. I will make the son of the slave into a nation also, because he is your offspring.” (Gen 21,12-13)

We saw last time how Abraham "was greatly troubled..." in the previous verse. But what about God? Didn't he have far more reason to be troubled about what had happened? After all, His plan for the world had been greatly complicated because of Ishmael, and for millennia now, much more divine intervention would be needed to ensure that Isaac's divine seed would survive the hatred of his descendants. And how should God even view Abraham, his friend, and this failure of his? Isn't it time for him to get properly scolded, too? He finally sees himself what his actions have led to. Wouldn't now be a good time to do that?

We here reflect and draw conclusions about Abraham because we want to understand the patterns of the spiritual path, to learn lessons for our own lives. But it is not easy for us to see the truth and at the same time to have a heart of grace for those who fail in the face of it. For many would say to Abraham right now the opposite of what God said, namely, "be distressed!"

But God was not now teaching Abraham a lesson. We know that Abraham did not hear God's voice for twelve years after Ishmael was born. This was not a punishment, but rather the result of the separation Abraham had chosen. Then he had to claw his way back. He did, and he climbed higher than he had ever been before. Therefore, God now does not reproach Abraham, but covers the guilt. And He even gives him another promise to alleviate his self-inflicted suffering: 'I will make a nation even of Ishmael...'.

How immense is the grace of God!

...and she (Sarah) said to Abraham, “Get rid of that slave woman and her son, for that woman’s son will never share in the inheritance with my son Isaac.” The matter distressed Abraham greatly because it concerned his son. 12 But God said to him, “Do not be so distressed about the boy and your slave woman. Listen to whatever Sarah tells you... (Gen 21,10-12)

Abraham was distressed over the escalated situation. Actually, no, he was "greatly agonised." For a hundred year old man, such trauma can be truly devastating - deciding to get rid of his own child... He was beginning to understand why it was necessary. The world then was vastly different from ours, and it was not uncommon to resolve fundamental disagreements violently. But though he understood it in his head, his heart agonized over it.

I wonder if he remembered reading some blog post once about the wisdom of not taking the lower road and not begetting Ishmael while waiting for Isaac? He remembered, and he didn't need to be reminded. He saw the reality clearly for himself: the original plan involved three people, each of whom was to benefit from it.

Sarah would no longer feel shame at being barren.

Hagar would go from being one of many whores to almost a princess. No other handmaid had such privileges and such close access to Abraham's family. How jealously the other handmaids looked upon her as she walked through the camp from then on nursing the child, the master's son!

And Abraham, of course, would get what he wanted most in life.

No, there was no need to be reminded: all three of them were now very, very unhappy. Beside Abraham's torn heart, there was Sarah, at first overwhelmed with joy for her own son, then increasingly gloomy with fear for his life and safety. Whenever she met Ishmael and Hagar in the camp, her jealous feelings only increased: they must be gone, can't Abraham see it? Why hadn't he done something long ago? And finally Hagar: she felt as bitter as a queen deprived of the throne on which she had sat for twelve beautiful years. Now her life would be turned upside down, she would be banished to loneliness and worry. What will become of her? And all because of her, that damned woman of Abraham!

All three of them were worried - not three, actually four: after all, Ishmael will lose his world, his family and his own father at the age of thirteen. They say God will take care of him, so he won't perish, but what awaits him - and what will he grow up to be?

Not four, in fact millions of future people have been affected by this move... But we would go too far beyond where any of the protagonists of these events have seen at this point. They had now had enough of the immediate torment they were experiencing. They wondered, why does the world have to be so cruel? And is God... really good?

But, as he who was born according to the flesh then persecuted him who was born according to the Spirit, even so it is now. (Gal 4,29)

We do not find it surprising that Isaac was threatened by Ishmael and not the other way around. After all, at that time Isaac was a small child and Ishmael a teenage boy. But when we consider their later lives, though we don't have much mention of them, it is obvious that the same trend would have continued here. We have only fleeting mentions of Isaac's character, but it is clear from these that he was a gentle man, who, while experiencing God's great blessing, suffered oppression (we are reminded of his disputes with the Philistines, in which it was he who was in the right, but who yielded). On the other hand, the prophecy speaks of Ishmael's fierce, conflicted nature ("He shall be a wild man; his hand shall be against every man, and every man’s hand against him." 16:12). If he had not been sent far to the east, it would naturally have been he who would have attacked, not Isaac.

And so it has always been in this world. The seed of God experiences blessings from heaven, but oppression on earth. From people in the neighborhood, from the state, from members of other religions, from Christians who have not surrendered to God. The spirit of this world finds a way to vent its anger on God's dear people because they do not belong to it and it has no power over them.

And so it has been from the beginning. The first murder was committed by the strong brother Cain, kneading the earth with his plough, on his brother Abel, a bit dreamer who accompanied the sheep in the pasture and often slept with them. Abel's name means "vapor," and characterizes their race, their fragility and vulnerability.

Isaacs, the blessed seed of our age, may have many faults, but one they must not commit: to cause oppression to others, to persecute them. Should they do so, not only will their entire message be lost, but its very core will be irrevocably changed. They may unwittingly move from being the bride to being the harlot without noticing it. "After beginning by means of the Spirit, are you now trying to finish by means of the flesh?" (Gal. 3:3) The history of the Church is proof of this.

For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by the slave woman and the other by the free woman. His son by the slave woman was born according to the flesh, but his son by the free woman was born as the result of a divine promise. These things are being taken figuratively: The women represent two covenants. One covenant is from Mount Sinai and bears children who are to be slaves: This is Hagar. Now Hagar stands for Mount Sinai in Arabia and corresponds to the present city of Jerusalem, because she is in slavery with her children. But the Jerusalem that is above is free, and she is our mother. ... Now you, brothers and sisters, like Isaac, are children of promise. (Gal 4,22-26.28)

When we think of the sons of Abraham, it is good to realize that they are a picture of spiritual realities that are in contrast as two modes of spiritual life. In the first, man, literally "flesh," his strength and ability, plays a role. Man is supposed to do things, and God should accept them. 

The second mode is the total reliance on God, because the man knows that he can do nothing that is worth anything to God. Only what comes from Him, what is born from above, is of eternal value. Thus the eternal life itself is born in man - without our merit, as a gift from heaven.

But whenever set the two sons in contrast, it must also be emphasized that both bore some measure of the likeness of Abraham - Ishmael was no foreign outcast! It seems puzzling (as it was for Abraham) that they should be separated, that in the end only one was allowed to remain and the other had to go.

Apart from the very practical danger to Isaac, that we have already mentioned, Ishmael and Isaac here represent exactly those incompatible spiritual realities. Like their mothers, they reflect two covenants, but only one of which rests not on the efforts of man (by the power of "the flesh") but on the power of God Himself from above, and is therefore eternal.

What is remarkable about the whole thing is that Paul (seen by some as a great legalist) divides the two covenants according to the degree of inner freedom! The old covenant, which like Ishmael no doubt also bears the marks of God the Father, leads ultimately to bondage. Not intentionally, but because of man's inability to truly fulfill it. Because he lacks the power to live by it, commands are created, systems of regulations that grip the soul and regulate the whole of life. Man strives in vain for something with which only his mind is in harmony, but not his nature. Outwardly he may agree with the morality of the Law, but inward is out of harmony with it.

"But the future Jerusalem is free, and this is our mother." It is only Jesus, the promised Isaac, born into freedom, who sets his followers free and brings them to the heights of life from God, by the transformation of the inward man through the working of the power of the Holy Spirit.f course, if they have truly known him and not departed from him on their journey, like the Galatians.

 For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells; for to will is present with me, but how to perform what is good I do not find. / O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? (Rom 7, 18.24)

The same settled conditions that Abraham experienced in his camp until the birth of Isaac, Paul discovered in his spiritual experience. Until the light from on high shone on him, he knew who he was, where he was going, things fit together and made sense to him. What he had been taught was right; it was confirmed to him both by the theses of his teachers and then by his own experience. Thus what he believed became the unshakable anchor of his life. Through this prism, he saw in the world a twofold people: those (the true) who live by the Law, and those who do not, because they have not grown up to it. But since they are not Jews, there is no point in even trying to raise them to these heights; they do not belong to them. Out of these two categories elude the adherents of the certain sect, who, though they do not live in any barbarous manner, pervert the Law, and, above all, spread their doctrine unrestrainedly, which therefore must be prevented.

Paul's personal experience of the struggle he had between the inclination of his own nature and holiness, between the flesh and the spirit, is universally valid and transcends the ages. But the interesting question is: when was it that he saw that goodness did not abide in him? When did he actually exclaim "what a wretched man I am"?

Obviously, he understood this at the moment when the light shone upon him and he was born from above. That is, when his Isaac came into the world. From that moment when God touched his innermost being, he recognized in himself a discord which he had previously suspected, but had been unwilling to acknowledge to that extent or to see its depth: "HOW... (how unspeakably) wretched a man am I!" No, this was not a sentence the Pharisees used to say of themselves. For their Law served them as a mask of arrogance, a label of self-righteousness.

It is mind-boggling to think of the hostility toward Christ that arose because he tore down this mask, so that they led him to the cross. As a result, Christ was hated and killed, not for what He did, but for who He was. Man's inner strife between flesh and spirit, between Ishmael and Isaac, is really no theoretical thing.

Now we, brethren, as Isaac was, are children of promise. But, as he who was born according to the flesh then persecuted him who was born according to the Spirit, even so it is now. (Gal 4,28-29)

This never-ending struggle between flesh and Spirit will continue throughout human history. Ishmael characterizes the fruit of what man can do, what he can handle in his strength - this fruit, of course, takes the outward form of godliness, just as Abraham sought to present Ishmael to God in order to obtain for him the seal of heaven. This is generally the way of all religions, including much of what is presented as Christianity today.

Isaac, on the other hand, is synonymous with that which is impossible for man, that which he cannot do, that which must be done sovereignly by God. From salvation, for which we can do nothing, to victorious life in God, which is not achieved by the power of asceticism or willpower. Both are God's gift, they come by the miracle of the birth of new life. This refers both to "eternal life" as the salvation of the individual, as well as to "life in the Spirit" as our daily walk in the victory over sin.

This fierce struggle of flesh against Spirit has been going on throughout history, "as then that which was born of the flesh persecuted that which was born of the Spirit..." Spiritual things on this earth suffer oppression, persecution, non-acceptance. Little Isaac did not understand at all what made him unacceptable to Ishmael, why he became the center of his hatred, for he had not yet done anything to him. The simple fact that he was born, unexpectedly and miraculously, was enough; it made him a precious gift from above to Abraham, and it stirred up strife. The heavenly birth provokes the hatred of the flesh, of the powers from below. As soon as there is light from God anywhere on earth, darkness launches a battle against it to devour it. For even the birth of Christ was paid for not only by the lives of the babes of Bethlehem, but later in the history of the Church by the multitudes who suffered for the glory of God in later centuries because they came to know the truth. Their persecutors were overwhelmingly religious people.

But the good news is that, despite all the oppression, the darkness did not swallow up the light (Jn. 1:5) and it will never do so.