Genesis 22:

1 Some time later God tested Abraham. He said to him, “Abraham!” “Here am I, he replied

2 Then God said, “Take your son, your only son, Isaac, whom you love, and go to the region of Mariah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains I will tell you.”

The word tested is rendered tempt in the King James version. But tested here doesn’t mean to lure to do evil but to know where a person stands in a situation. It is necessary to be tested often to know the trust of the walker with God in a fallen world in which we live. For it’s easy to profess love for God when things go as we plan, according to our desire; it’s easy to profess faith when we are having our way in everything. And it’s easy for God’s adversary to let it be known to Him that a God-trusting person is serving Him because of God’s favour. It’s indeed to serve God when we enjoy His favour. But it’s better still to serve Him when we can’t even seem to see Him at work in our lives. The former may be termed as self-serving worshipping of God while the latter is one who serves or worships God by faith. This distinction was the point of argument between God and Satan on Job. And the Lord said unto Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect, and an upright man, one that feareth the God, and escheweth evil? Then Satan answered the Lord, and said, Doth Job fear God for nought? (Job 1:8-9).

It’s easy for Abraham to fear and walk before God and be perfect because of the provision of Isaac after many decades of childlessness. The child, now a grown up man, was the delight of Abraham. Thus, his father fawned on him with generous love. Then again, testing or trail of faith is also a mean of teaching and revelation. When God asked for Isaac as a sacrifice, his father had to switch his faith to God to believe that He was able to raise his God-given son from the dead. By faith Abraham, when God tested him offered Isaac as a sacrifice. He who had received the promise was about to sacrifice his one and only son, even though God had said to him, “it is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned. Abraham reasoned that God could raise the dead, and figurative speaking he did receive Isaac back from the death (Hebrews 11:17-19). The key word is faith – without which no one can please God, no, no one can minister to the rights of God. Faith is reasoning and rooting for the rights of God in a fallen world. Has he said? He will do it; has he spoken? He will make it good.

Every believer must be and is being tested or tempted to come up to greater stature, away from childhood. Such a tested believer easily becomes a channel of salvation and blessings in the hand of God for standing up for Him and for His rights. My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into diverse temptations; knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience (James 1:2-3).

Abraham didn’t wax philosophical as in “Well, God gives and God takes away” for the coming loss of Isaac. But he and his son along with some servants were soon on their way to the mount of Moriah, a three day journey. In this period, many thoughts must have coursed through the mind of Abraham. But a life of faith like his is triumphant in all things on earth. This is godliness undiluted, which was being absolutely given over to God. .,.. but godliness is profitable unto all things, having promise of life that now is, and that which is to come (1 Timothy 4:8).

A son of prophet received a message for an Israel king who, in war, spared his enemy king, who was also God’s adversary. In order to make the message dramatic and let the careless king of Israel know the import of the message of judgement in him, the son of prophet had himself hit and severely wounded by another son of prophet. The wounded prophet now went to the king of Israel to deliver his message. God needed this story of Abraham-Isaac to bring home the message of how God would personally offer His Son as sacrifice. Isaac was a type of Christ while Abraham typified God. It’s blessed to be a dramatic instruments of divine message. The story was an adumbration of how God would offer His Son for the sin of mankind. It’s him who suffers a loss of a child that knows the sorrow. The God Jesus, Son of God, became man to be the Lamb sacrificed for humanity to bring salvation. John the baptist pointed out the Son of God “… the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world” (John 1:29). This is salvation; salvation is returning man to the original configuration in the mind of God at creation.

The instruction to Abraham wasn’t just to offer Isaac as a sacrifice, but as a sacrifice for burnt offering to God. Burn offering, says Stamp, in his Study Bible, is a Hebrew word corban, which means to draw near. This type of sacrifice meant being burnt completely. It’s being absolutely given over to the cause of God. It signifies worship which was more than the raising of hands and mouthing with lips the the praises of God, but it’s living the live of Christ, being dead and yet alive. I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself to me (Galatians 2:20). This life comes of the faith of the Son of God. It’s the faith the Lord Jesus exercised to put His Father as the CENTRE and focus of man. Here is the faith of the Son of God. Abraham faith reasoned that God could and would raise his Isaac from the death. And he was right. But if God didn’t raise Isaac, as far as Abraham was concerned, He wasn’t only able to raise the dead, but He did raise the dead. This is the testimony of Abraham who hope against hope believed in hope… No wonder, he was taken by God to be the father of faith, the channel of salvation to all mankind.

Father, we thank You for making us channels of blessing of salvation.

Thank You Lord for this