Then (the angel of the Lord) said, “Do not lay a hand on the boy or do anything to him. For now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your only son from me.” Genesis 22:12
In Genesis 22, God instructs Abraham to sacrifice his son, Isaac. Yes, to sacrifice means to build an altar, tie up Isaac, kill him, and burn him on the altar. Wow! This seems very pagan and not at all what we think God would ask of Abraham. What did he do? The next morning, he “got up early in the morning, saddled his donkey, and took with him two of his young men and his son Isaac. He split wood for a burnt offering and set out to go to the place God had told him about (v.3).”
Why would he do such a thing? The writer of Hebrews gives us the answer: “he considered God to be able even to raise someone from the dead.” (v. 19)
However, Isaac wasn’t just any son. He was a special son, a promised son, the very son that God promised would make Abraham “a father of many nations.” (Genesis 17:4) At the time the promise was made, Abraham was 100 years old and Sarah, his wife, was 90 years old. The birth of Isaac was a miracle. Now, God asked Abraham to kill the promised son. None of this could have made sense to Abraham. He couldn’t have another son!
Yet, Abraham obeyed God because he had learned to depend upon God. God had been leading him for a long time. Abraham had done some foolish things, yet God stayed with him. This was probably the most extreme thing that God had asked of him, yet he obeyed. In the end, he didn’t kill Isaac, because just as he was holding the knife ready to kill, an angel of the Lord said to him: “Do not lay a hand on the boy or do anything to him. For now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your only son from me.” (v. 12)
What about you? Have you learned to depend upon God so much that you would obey anything that he asks of you? Would you quit your job, become a missionary and serve in Vietnam? Would you donate $50,000 to help build an orphanage in Africa? Would you send your child to a private Christian university, knowing that the cost would limit your retirement options? Would you open your home and allow a needy family to live with you?
God asked Abraham to give up the thing that was most important to him and Abraham did it. If God asked you to give up that thing that is most important to you, would you do it?