Bible Basics: Genesis 22
Genesis 22
God Speaks, and Abraham Listens
Verses 1–2: God decides to test Abraham's heart and calls on him to do the unthinkable: he instructs him to take Isaac, his only son, to Moriah, and asks Abraham to sacrifice Isaac on a mountain that God will reveal to him.
3–5: Abraham responds faithfully to God’s request. He gets up early the next day, saddles his donkey, chops some wood for the sacrifice, and sets off for Moriah with Isaac and two servants. When Abraham sees the mountain in the distance that God has revealed, he leaves his servants with the donkey and journeys with Isaac to worship there. He’s made an amazing statement of faith to them: both he and Isaac will return when they're finished.
6–8: Abraham hands Isaac the wood and carries the other provisions himself as they travel to the mountain. Isaac begins to wonder why there is no lamb for the sacrifice, questioning Abraham about it. Abraham displays great faith by assuring Isaac that God himself will miraculously provide a sacrifice.
9–12: When they arrive at the mountain, Abraham builds an altar and places the wood on it. It becomes clear that Isaac is the intended sacrifice. He displays an incredible level of trust in God and his father as he's bound with ropes and lifted onto the altar. As Abraham lifts his knife to kill Isaac, God calls out, “Don't do it! You’ve shown that you honor me above everything—you haven't even held back your son!” (author’s paraphrase).
13–14: As Abraham lowers his knife and looks up, he sees a ram entangled in a thicket. This perfect sacrifice appears at just the right time. Abraham believed rightly about God, and God showed up. Accordingly, he names the place “The Lord Will Provide,” and it serves as a future reminder that giving oneself completely to God yields a full life, with an abundance of all we need.
Abraham: Full to Overflowing!
15–18: Because of Abraham’s faithful obedience, God again affirms his intention to grant Abraham innumerable descendants, a land to call their own, and a life that yields benefit to every people group on earth, for the Savior of the world, Jesus, would come through his line.
19–24: Abraham and Isaac return to their servants and make their way home to Beersheba. Sometime later, Abraham learns that his brother Nahor is also
prospering—he and Milcah have given birth to eight sons. The youngest, Bethuel, will become the father of Rebekah, future bride of Isaac. Nahor's concubine Reumah bore him four sons, making for a household of one dozen boys, and likely some girls too! The blessings God gave Abraham flowed over and out of his life, blessing others in the process. May our lives, given to God, produce that same kind of profit.