Free Bible Commentary
“Genesis 22:9-14”
Categories: Genesis“Then they came to the place of which God had told him; and Abraham built the altar there and arranged the wood, and bound his son Isaac and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. Abraham stretched out his hand and took the knife to slay his son. But the angel of the Lord called to him from heaven and said, 'Abraham, Abraham!' And he said, 'Here I am.' He said, 'Do not stretch out your hand against the lad, and do nothing to him; for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from Me.' Then Abraham raised his eyes and looked, and behold, behind him a ram caught in the thicket by his horns; and Abraham went and took the ram and offered him up for a burnt offering in the place of his son. Abraham called the name of that place The Lord Will Provide, as it is said to this day, 'In the mount of the Lord it will be provided.'”
---End of Scripture verses---
“Abraham built the altar there...” Abraham was a man of worship and reverence for Almighty God, and he had built many altars in the places that he had traveled throughout the Promised Land. He built an altar at Shechem (Genesis 12:6-7), at Hebron (Genesis 13:18) and in other locations recorded implicitly in the Scriptures. “It has been said of Abraham that one could trace his paths by the altars he built.” (Norman E. Fultz, Truth Magazine, Abraham's Altars) But never in his deepest dread could he ever have imagined that one day he would be building an altar to sacrifice his own, beloved son upon! It was with a heavy heart and the greatest faith that he built this altar and “arranged the wood” upon it.
“And bound his son Isaac and laid him on the altar...” “Every precious word here is loaded with eternal truth. The Son of God, his great Antitype, would also be bound and brought before the Sanhedrin, before Annas, before Caiphas, and before Pilate!... Isaac consented to this... Even if it should be allowed that Isaac was only twenty-five, it is obvious enough that an old man of that age plus a full century, unaided, would have been unable to subdue Isaac and compel his obedience. Hence, the conclusion that Isaac willingly consented to be bound and to submit to the death which Abraham was ready to inflict. All this, to be sure, is exactly in keeping with the submissiveness of Christ. In both cases, the father offered up the only begotten son, but in neither is the son forced to yield, but yields of his own accord. In neither case is the life taken away by the violent action of the father. 'Isaac yielded himself to the knife; Jesus laid down his life for the sheep.'” (James Burton Coffman)
“Abraham stretched out his hand and took the knife to slay his son.” (verse 10) According to Nahum Sarna, this would have been “a large and heavy implement...and not an ordinary knife.” He went on to write, “The detailed, laconic description of the various preparatory procedures conveys something of the eternity of that terrible moment in time before the angelic voice was heard. Once again, not a word escapes the father's lips. Isaac too is speechless. The intensity of the anguish is beyond the ability of words to express.” Abraham stands poised and armed to strike down his cherished child, and Isaac lies still and silent prepared to absorb the fatal blow from his precious parent. Until the deafening silence was shattered by the urgent angelic imploring...
“Abraham, Abraham!” (verse 11) “Abraham’s act is arrested at the last possible moment. The sacrifice of Isaac was practically completed, when the hand of Abraham raised the knife over his son. The moral surrender had been complete.” (Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges) “'Do not stretch out your hand against the lad, and do nothing to him...” (verse 12) Human sacrifice was and is detestably wicked in the eyes of the Lord and is a perversion of worship that He would and could never receive or require. This was only a test. And Abraham passed this test with unwavering faith.
“Now I know that you fear God...” (verse 12) “As Ramban points out, it is not that God's foreknowledge is wanting but that, for Abraham's sake, the quality of character that now exists only potentially must be actualized. In the biblical view, the genuinely righteous man must deserve the status through demonstrated action. Henceforth, Abraham is the incontestable paradigm of the truly 'God-fearing' man, one who is wholehearted in his self-determined, disinterested, self-surrender to God's will. It is not important that the act was unfulfilled, for the value of the act may lie as much in the inward intention of the doer as in the final execution.” (Nahum Sarna)
I have often stated that we must love God before all others and all things, including our husband or wife, mother or father, son or daughter. “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.” (Deuteronomy 6:5) Abraham left no doubt whatsoever that he loved the Lord more than he loved his own son. “He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; and he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me. He who has found his life will lose it, and he who has lost his life for My sake will find it.” (Matthew 10:37-39) I praise the Lord that He does not require such extreme measures from us to prove our unmatched love for Him. But He still demands the foremost place of importance in our hearts.
“Then Abraham raised his eyes and looked, and behold, behind him a ram caught in the thicket by his horns.” (verse 13) It seems obvious to Abraham that this entangled animal is no mere coincidence, but a gift of providential replacement from the Lord, so the grateful father “offered him up for a burnt offering in the place of his son.” “ Abraham called the name of that place The Lord Will Provide...” “'Jehovah-jireh...' means 'The Lord will provide,' and has a double meaning: (1) that of providing a substitute for Isaac, and (2) that of providing a substitute for all people, upon Calvary.” (James Burton Coffman) The Lord will provide for and take care of any and all people that commit their lives to Him in loving, trusting, obedient faith!
Please read Genesis 22:15-19 for tomorrow.
Have a wonderful day!
- Louie Taylor
