~ By faith Abraham, when he was
tested, offered up Isaac... 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
Earlier
in this series (#15) we considered the birth of Abraham's son Isaac, when
Abraham trusted God's promises. But this text is even more dramatic. Isaac was
indeed born, and he brought great delight to his parents. God knew how deeply
they loved him, so it must have been terribly shocking when God asked Abraham
to offer Isaac to Him as a sacrifice.
Yet
according to Genesis chapter 22, Abraham immediately prepared to do so. Only at
the last moment, as Abraham raised the knife to slay his son, did God's angel
tell him to stop. God declared that Abraham's obedience had proven his faith,
for he had not kept back even his son when God had asked.
Some
have claimed that this scene is very sadistic—that God was playing with Abraham
the way a child plays with a puppet just to see it squirm or dance. But our
passage today proves that Abraham didn't think that way at all. Instead, he
simply trusted God's promises once again (see verses 17-18).
In
those promises God had declared that Abraham's family would become great
through the children of Isaac. According to this text, Abraham reasoned that
even if Isaac died God was able to raise him back to life. What's amazing is
that, at this time in Bible history, God had never done that before, not even
once! Yet Abraham believed it anyway.
On
one hand, nothing was so precious to Abraham that God couldn't have it. On the
other hand, Abraham had every confidence that God could give Isaac back.
Sometimes
God surveys our landscape to see if there is something so precious that perhaps
we love it more than we love Him. He will never touch it just to see us squirm;
but He might touch it to help us clarify our priorities. Yet we can join
Abraham in believing that God is able to return every blessing which He might
seem to take away. He never forgets us, and He never forgets His promises.
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