Tested

“God tested Abraham.” Chilling words. This is the first time in all of Scripture we have heard of God testing someone, but we know instinctively that it is no small thing. It is frightening to be tried by the Holy God.

“Abraham!” Startling and direct is God’s demand for attention. Abraham must acknowledge.

There is no preamble, no introductory explanation for what God is about to ask of Abraham.

“Sacrifice your son,” he says. “Your son. Your only son. The son you love. Your son Isaac.” Every new descriptor is a knife entering his heart. Four blows; three more than it will take to kill his son.

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Could Abraham even hear the directions through the rush of blood in his ears? Moriah. Burnt offering. On the mountain.

Why?

God offers no explanation. How long and lonely that night must have been.

What did he tell Sarah? What anguish did he pray? Did he watch his son while the boy slept, memorize the details of his face, listen to breathing that would soon be stopped? Did he reason to himself all the ways God’s promises could only be true if, in the end, God would somehow undo all of this?

Abraham gets up early; no doubt he slept little, if at all. He brings two servants… and his son. “His son Isaac.”

Let there be no mistake: he will do exactly as God has said, even if it destroys him.

Abraham cuts “enough” wood. How much is enough? Certainly more than for a lamb or a goat. More would be needed for a boy grown large enough to carry that wood. So much more. How many times cutting the wood did he have to say, “More. Yes, more. More! Don’t ask me to explain!”

They begin the journey. Three days they travel, an old man, his two servants, and a donkey. And a boy. His son. His only son. The son he loves. Isaac.

And then he sees it. It doesn’t creep up on him, like he’s so busy enjoying this trip that he almost misses it. It isn’t a mystery, the wandering of a confused old man. No, he knows the place on sight.

He can’t bring the servants. How could he ever explain it to them? They would stop him. Or if they didn’t, the horror of it all would kill their souls. So he commands them to stay, and he and “the boy” will go.

He can’t name his own son. He won’t speak the name. “The boy and I will go over there.”

“We will return,” he says. Does he believe yet that something good will come? Is he just trying to make sure that the servants don’t have a hint of what he’s about to do?

Don’t miss the irony that Abraham must ask his son to carry the wood. But after all, young backs are made for heavy loads. And the knife in Abraham’s hand weighs even heavier.

“Father?” the silence broken by the curious voice of Isaac.

“Yes… my son?” He won’t say his name. But he calls him what he is.

“The fire and the wood are here, but where is the lamb for the sacrifice?”

Oh, Isaac, why did you have to ask that question?

“Well, you see Isaac, God asked me to sacrifice you as a burnt offering.” “Don’t worry, Isaac, it will all be okay. We’re just going to pray.” “I don’t know, Isaac, God told me he’d make sure there’s something there.” No. None of those will do.

“God himself will provide the lamb for the sacrifice… my son.” Because God already has.

After all, Abraham never expected to have a son in his old age. Isaac was a gift, a special gift from a loving God. The Lord gives, and the Lord takes away. God has provided. God will provide.

My son.

With loving trust for his father, Isaac accepts the explanation, and they continue on. Until they finally reach the place, and there Abraham builds the altar. He arranges the wood. He gets everything ready. And then he goes to his son. His son Isaac.

Are the tears flowing? Does he grit his teeth and brush his eyes and simply do what he must? Are there questions? Does Isaac struggle? We are told none of this. Only one thing:

He binds his son and lays him on the altar.

And God watches and waits.

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Read Genesis 22:1-19 to finish the story.