Abraham and the Trial of Trials

Genesis 22:1-2 (ESV) After these things God tested Abraham and said to him, "Abraham!" And he said, "Here am I." He said, "Take 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."

"I don’t understand." "It’s not at all logical." "This doesn’t fit into my paradigm." "Human sacrifice is a pagan ritual." "It’s just plain wrong!" "Why must I do this terrible thing?"

I cannot even begin to imagine the kind of trial that Abraham went through when God tested him. It would be beyond description to even think about sacrificing one’s own son. The Bible does not tell us what went through Abraham’s mind after this short conversation with God. Did he spend the night in prayer and fasting? Did he question, even a little bit, the task God gave to him? I tend to think he may have but we don’t know. What we do know is this: God called him and he said "Here am I." God gave him the command and Abraham "...rose early in the morning, ....and went to the place of which God had told him."

Here is Abraham, a man who miraculously had a son when he and his wife were well beyond normal child bearing age. God had told him this promised son would be the father of a great nation that would number as the stars of heaven. He made a covenant with Abraham and his seed who had not yet been born. Abraham had doubts at times about this promised son. He struggled with the idea. He even tried to cheat and bring it about in his own power. This sounds a lot like me and I dare say a lot like many of us. We read God’s promises and for the most part believe them. Yet so often we try to go it our own way. We try to accomplish God’s will for our lives in our own wisdom and strength. God then must test us, try us and prove us to show us where our faith is lacking. Abraham had been tested many times before and had passed them all. He had been proven his faith time and time again. He had his share of problems and failures but he was without a doubt a man of great faith.

Yet in God’s all-knowing wisdom, something in his character still needed to be proven. God devised what seemed like the ultimate test of obedience and devotion. God told him to step outside of everything he thought he knew to be right. He gave Abraham a command that defied all he thought he knew about God. He was told to take his only son, the son of promise, the father of a great nation, and sacrifice him on the altar. We don’t know exactly what Abraham believed would happen but we know He had faith in God. He told his servants "We will go yonder and worship and come again to you..." He told Isaac "God will provide a lamb for the burnt offering..." In Hebrews 11:19 we read "He considered that God was able even to raise him from the dead..."

God tested Abraham. And Abraham passed the test. He indeed sacrificed his son. He didn’t have to slay him but there was sacrifice in his obedience. In verse 12 it says "...now I know that you fear God..." Why did God test Abraham? I think God already knew the answer. He wanted Abraham to grow in his faith and he surely did. When we are tested we may not know why. We may not understand the things God puts us through. We may not be able to wrap our feeble mind around God’s will for the trial. But this one thing we can always be assured of... God wants us to fear Him. He wants us to draw close to Him. He wants us to walk with Him by faith and not by sight. We can always rest assured that "God will provide..." Your test may not be as demanding and grueling as Abraham’s but it is God’s test for you. Believe God, like Abraham believed God, and it will be counted to you as righteousness. God bless you!