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.