Genesis 22
The circumstances through which Abraham passed in chapters 20-21 were most important indeed. An evil which had long been harbored in his heart had been put away; the bondwoman and her son, who had so long retained quiet possession of his house, were cast out, and he now stands forth as “a vessel ... sanctified and meet for the master’s use and prepared for every good work.”
“It came to pass after these things, that God did tempt [or try] Abraham” (Gen. 22:11And it came to pass after these things, that God did tempt Abraham, and said unto him, Abraham: and he said, Behold, here I am. (Genesis 22:1)). Here Abraham is, at once, introduced into a place of real dignity and honor. When God tries an individual, it is a certain evidence of His confidence in him. We never read that “God did tempt Lot” — no, the goods of Sodom furnished a sufficiently strong temptation for Lot, but not so with Abraham. He lived more in the presence of God and was therefore less susceptible to the influence of that which had ensnared his nephew.
The Test
Now, the test to which God submits Abraham — the furnace in which He tries him — marks at once a pure and genuine metal. Had Abraham’s faith not been of the highest character, he would assuredly have winced under the fiery ordeal through which we behold him passing in this beautiful chapter. When God promised Abraham a son, he believed the promise and it “was accounted unto him for righteousness.” “He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strong in faith, giving glory to God.” But then, having received this son, having realized the truth of the promise, was there not a danger that he would rest in the gift instead of the Giver? Was there not a danger that he would lean upon Isaac, in thinking upon the future seed and future inheritance, rather than upon God Himself who had promised him the seed? Surely there was, and God knew that. He therefore tries His servant in a way, more than anything, calculated to put him to the test as to the object on which his soul was resting.
The grand inquiry put to Abraham’s heart, in this wondrous transaction, was, “Are you still walking before the Almighty God, the quickener of the dead?” God desired to know whether he could apprehend in Him the One who was just as able to raise up children from the ashes of his sacrificed son as from the dead womb of Sarah. In other words, God desired to prove that Abraham’s faith reached forth, as someone has observed, to resurrection, for if it stopped short of this, he never would have responded to the startling command, “Take now, thy son, thine only son Isaac whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of” (Gen. 22:22And he said, Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of. (Genesis 22:2)). But Abraham “staggered not.” He at once responds to the call. God had asked for Isaac, and Isaac must be given, and that too without a breath of murmur. He could give up anything or everything so long as his eye rested upon “the Almighty God.”
Worship
Notice the point of view in which Abraham puts this journey of his to Mount Moriah: “I and the lad will go yonder and worship.” Yes, it was an act of worship, for he was about to lay upon the altar of the Quickener of the dead the one in whom all God’s promises centered. It was an act of worship — most elevated worship, for he was about to prove that no other object filled his soul but the Almighty God. Hence, what calmness! what self-possession! what pure devotion! what elevation of mind! what self-renunciation! He never falters throughout the scene. He saddles the ass, prepares the wood, and goes to Mount Moriah, without giving expression to one anxious thought, although, as far as human eye could see, he was about to lose the object of his heart’s most tender affection — the one upon whom, to all outward appearance, the future interests of his house depended.
The Well-Beloved
Abraham, however, showed most fully that his heart had found a nearer and dearer object than Isaac, dear as he was. He showed also that his faith was resting upon another object altogether with reference to the future interests of his seed and that after the birth of Isaac he was as simply resting upon the promise of Almighty God as before it. Behold, then, this man of faith as he ascends the mount, taking with him his “well-beloved”! What a scene of breathless interest!
It strikes me that we get, in Abraham’s journey to Mount Moriah, a remarkable type of the scene afterwards exhibited at Calvary, when God was really providing Himself a lamb. We can see the Father and the Son who, in company, ascend the mount and carry out the gracious work of redemption in the unbroken solitude of that place.
Resurrection
How must the angelic hosts have watched this illustrious father from stage to stage of his wondrous journey, until at last they beheld his hand stretched forth with the knife to slay his son — that son for which he had so long and ardently wished and for which he had so steadily trusted God. Then again, what an opportunity for Satan to ply his fiery darts! What abundant room for such suggestions as, “What will become of the promises of God with regard to the seed and the inheritance, if you thus sacrifice your only son? Beware that you are not led astray by some false revelation. Or: If it be true that God has said so and so, does not God know that, in the day you sacrifice your son, all your hopes will be blasted? Further, think of Sarah; what will she do if she loses Isaac, after having induced you to expel Ishmael from your house?” All these suggestions, and many beside, the enemy might bring to bear upon the heart of Abraham. Nor would Abraham himself have been beyond those thoughts and reasoning, which at such a time would likely arise within him. What then was his answer to all such dark suggestions? Resurrection! “By faith Abraham, when he was tried, offered up Isaac: and he that had received the promises offered up his only begotten son, of whom it was said, That in Isaac shall thy seed be called: accounting that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead; from whence also he received him in a figure” (Heb. 11:17-1917By faith Abraham, when he was tried, offered up Isaac: and he that had received the promises offered up his only begotten son, 18Of whom it was said, That in Isaac shall thy seed be called: 19Accounting that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead; from whence also he received him in a figure. (Hebrews 11:17‑19)).
Resurrection is God’s mighty remedy for all the mischief and ruin introduced by Satan. When once we arrive at this point, we have done with the power of Satan, the last exercise of which is seen in death. Satan cannot touch the life that has been received in resurrection, for the last exercise of his power is seen in the grave of Christ; beyond that he can do nothing. Hence the security of the church’s place: Her “life is hid with Christ in God” (Col. 3:33For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. (Colossians 3:3)). Blessed hiding place! May we rejoice in it more and more each day.
C. H. Mackintosh, adapted