I read Genesis 22 recently—not an easy chapter, I think particularly for parents.  How could God possibly ask Abraham to sacrifice his beloved son, Isaac, as a burnt offering?  Wasn’t child sacrifice a characteristic of pagan cultures then (and now), a practice extremely odious to our Creator, the designer and initiator of life?  I’ve heard arguments purporting that God couldn’t possibly be trustworthy or loving if he would ask a man to sacrifice his precious son…something some use as an excuse, saying that the Bible contradicts itself.

I think we as Christians need to examine this chapter, to not blithely explain it away in Christian words and phrases—this is a really difficult situation, though I believe the answer isn’t in Genesis 22, it is in the chapters leading up to it.

Abraham had a history with God—he was called and guided; he received promises and blessings, and experienced God’s mercy and forgiveness for some huge blunders (sins).  He had seen cities destroyed by God’s judgment and fire, and he also witnessed the Father’s tender mercy as his nephew Lot was pulled from the flames.  Shortly before that day when God told Abraham to sacrifice his “only” son, He confirmed to His servant, “…in Isaac your seed shall be called.” (Genesis 21:12).

So when Abraham and Isaac began their journey to Mount Moriah, he knew that they both would return.  When he told the two young men, who traveled with them part of the way, to wait as he and Isaac traveled on, he also affirmed, “we will come back to you.” (Genesis 22)

The Holy Spirit also acknowledged through the writer of Hebrews, “By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises offered up his only begotten son, of who it was said, ‘In Isaac your seed shall be called,’ 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)

Isaac also trusted his father and his father’s God; he didn’t fight, he didn’t resist—he allowed Abraham to tie him up and lay him on the altar.  He watched Abraham lift the knife; yet he knew his calling, his destiny, and recognized that what seemed to be the end wasn’t the end at all.

I can imagine they both had inner voices and demons whispering words of fear and planting thoughts of “this is too much; God has gone too far this time.”  They may have trembled at the thought of following through.  But they laid aside every fear and concern for themselves and followed God to the mountain, to the altar.  And God blessed them for their obedience.  “Then the Angel of the Lord called to Abraham a second time out of heaven, and said: ‘By Myself I have sworn, says the Lord, because you have done this thing, and have not withheld your son, your only son—blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply your descendants as the stars of the heaven…. In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice.”  (Genesis 22:15-18)

Abraham’s faith came from a lifetime of seeking God and intimacy with Him.  From the first command to leave his home and his country to the moment when God told Abraham to take his son up to Mount Moriah, he experienced the love, the forgiveness, and the faithfulness of his Redeemer.

The story of Abraham is not the only challenging story in the Bible (see also the stories of Joseph – Genesis 37, 39; Jephthah – Judges 11; Elisha and the youth – 2 Kings 2:23, 24); accounts, where, if we are honest with ourselves, or particularly for the skeptic and unbeliever, it may be difficult to recognize the long-suffering kindness and love of God.  In our own lives, we may experience disappointments, difficulties, or heart-breaking moments when we are inclined to ask, “Who (or where) are you, God?” and wonder from the depths of our being what the Word actually means when it says that “God is love”, thinking, “Is this how love treats others?” – It is essential to remember that we have an adversary, the devil—an accuser and slanderer—who seeks to quicken thoughts of doubt and fear.

I’m a grandma now; I’ve gone through times of sin and rebellion, heartbreak, disappointment, and financial crisis in my life.  I’ve also experienced my Father’s forgiveness, as well the abiding peace and joy that comes from growing intimacy through a personal relationship with my Savior (I struggle with the phrase “personal relationship” because it has become so common that its meaning is lost).  I have seen the trustworthiness, faithfulness, and “the love of God…poured out in [my heart] by the Holy Spirit who was given to us” (Romans 5:5).

It really takes Holy Spirit enlightened study of God’s Word, the Bible, to begin to grasp the eternal, endearing qualities of God.  Sometimes, in the midst of trying circumstances, all we have to cling to are prayer and promises in His Word, which are more than enough (though it sometimes it is easy to think they are not enough).  Yet as our personal history with God grows, doubts about His righteousness and love disappear.

My prayer echoes Paul’s prayer for the Ephesians:  “…I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, that He would grant you [and me], according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man, that Christ may dwell in your hearts [and my heart] through faith; that you [and I], being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height—to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you [and I] may be filled with all the fullness of God.” (Ephesians 3:14-19)