As I’ve been working through notes and questions in my BSF study on Genesis this past week, I was reminded about our development of faith and how God tests the faith we have for our benefit.
The fact that Abraham was commanded to sacrifice his own son is heartbreaking. That would be so hard, yet he was obedient and the next morning prepared and set off on the journey to sacrifice Isaac to the Lord. What a statement that made! – to those around him at that time and to us today.
Isaac wasn’t just Abraham’s son, but the son that Abraham waited decades for, he and Sarah both. They were old and had lost the hope of ever conceiving a child. God kept reminding them of the promise, you will have a son and I will multiply your descendants. They went their own way time and time again, and again, God reminded them. God was faithful even when they were not, for soon Sarah conceived, finally.
So after that, at their elderly age, they had this son and Abraham had to go take him to this mountain and sacrifice him. Something you were promised for years and finally given and then… to just have to go take that away! I would have been balling my eyes out.
An important detail I learned from rereading this historical story was that Isaac wasn’t just a little boy when this all occurred, he was a young man. That changed things a bit because Abraham couldn’t just sit him on an altar, Isaac was going to have to go willingly and help his father with the sacrifice (the foreshadowing of Jesus y’all). I didn’t know this befoooorrrrre.
This testing of Abraham was for his benefit, not God’s. God tested Abraham so Abraham would know what God already knew! This same testing can and does happen to modern day believers like you and me. We have to be willing to offer God what we love the most. The best of what we have.
In this testing, God already knew the quality of Abraham’s love for Him. Abraham was the one in need of assurances. He needed to know himself that he loved God above all others – even his dear and precious son, Isaac.
A question at the end of this week’s notes that might get you thinking was this:
How has your own faith development touched your “Isaac” or taken away your “Sarah”?
I thought this was interesting and thought I’d share with you this week what I’ve been learning about! Maybe it will encourage you to revisit this in your Bible, too.
Have a great Monday!