Why Obey? - Genesis 22:1-19

Bible Study Lesson for November 11

Abraham and Sarah have their promised son. God has promised Abraham that through the son that he has with Sarah, God will make a great nation. Isaac’s birth as promised miracle would provide a fitting climax to the story, but a test remains. After Genesis 22, much of the tension of the Abraham story is resolved, never to be ratcheted up again. But this story, often called the “Binding of Isaac” remains one of the most memorable and often interpreted stories in the whole Abraham tradition. It raises important questions for the life of faith— questions of God’s and humanity’s faithfulness, of the tension in life between promise and testing, and of the very character of God. As we explore this story, we will look at these questions, and we will find that this story is a profound meditation on the faithfulness, not of Abraham, but of God.

1-2 The Test

The introduction to this story is the first of three dialogue scenes which parallel each other. Verses 1-2, 7-8, and 11-12 all begin with someone calling out to Abraham and Abraham responding “here I am.” From there, each conversation goes in a different way, but this parallel structure will help us to interpret the passage.

In this first dialogue, God lays a difficult command on Abraham. He must offer the promised son as a burnt offering. The story does not tell us why God chooses to test Abraham in this way. This challenge calls into question everything Abraham has been promised so far. Remember, God called Abraham out of Haran with the promise that his descendants would become a great nation. God promised Abraham that his descendants would be more numerous than the stars in heaven and the grains of sand on a seashore. God rejected Ishmael as Abraham’s attempt to create an heir for himself by natural means. And now God tells Abraham that he must kill his son, who God had promised would father his descendants.

I don’t want to trivialize the cost of Abraham’s obedience to this command. I cannot imagine the pain and agony of a father who has to make preparations for the sacrifice of his son. It is tempting, because the story is so familiar, to read the beginning with the happy ending in mind. It is tempting to say that it doesn’t matter how hard this must be for Abraham because we know that he will not wind up sacrificing his son at all. However, I think the story demands that we try to imagine the emotions Abraham must have felt in response to this unexpected and unimaginable command from God. Anger, frustration, pain, doubt, sadness—all are possibilities. We don’t get much indication of Abraham’s interior life. Abraham doesn’t respond with words to God’s command, he just springs to action.

3-6 Abraham’s Obedience

Abraham obediently makes preparations to sacrifice Isaac. This is an incredible thing. Abraham’s relationship with God up to this point has been complicated, but when God has issued commands, Abraham has consistently done what God tells him to. Abraham’s obedience here makes sense because of his past obedience, but it is surprising because the goal of that obedience was Isaac. And now Abraham’s obedience will force him to lose Isaac. Walter Brueggemann suggests that we understand Abraham in this story through the experience of Job. Indeed, when God points to Job’s righteousness, Satan responds, 

“Does Job fear God for nothing? Have you not put a fence around him and his house and all that he has, on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land. But stretch out your hand now, and touch all that he has, and he will curse you to your face.” (Job 1:9-11)

Like Job, Abraham has been blessed for his faithfulness to God. At every stage in the story, Abraham has gotten richer and more blessed. Like Job, Abraham will now be tested. The question in God’s test of Abraham is: will Abraham obey God even when the obedience seems to call into question the things God has promised? So when Abraham begins to make preparations to sacrifice Isaac, we can begin to answer that question. Yes, Abraham will go where God sends him.

7-8 Isaac’s Question

As they approach the place God has chosen for the sacrifice, the second dialogue takes place. Isaac calls out to his father, and Abraham answers, “Here I am.” Where God issued a command to Abraham, Isaac asks him a question. Isaac’s concern is practical. He sees that they have everything necessary for the sacrifice except for the sacrifice itself. What sets this apart from the other two dialogues is that Abraham verbally answers Isaac. This difference in this central scene in the drama makes Abraham’s words stand out all the more: “God himself will provide the lamb for the sacrifice, my son.” Abraham’s answer is vague, but it is both true to him and true to what winds up happening.

Abraham is indirect in answering his son, presumably because he doesn’t want to cause him distress. But remember, God has quite miraculously provided Isaac for Abraham. So perhaps Abraham is reminding himself that Isaac is God’s. In the words of Job, “The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord” (Job 1:21b). I think a question this story asks of us, one that I come back to often, is:

Do you value the blessings of God more than you value God?

Perhaps this is the nature of Abraham’s test. Does Abraham serve God for nothing? Or does Abraham serve God because God promises to do great things for him?

9-10 Abraham’s Obedience 2

In these verses we finally get the answer to the question of whether Abraham will follow through with the sacrifice. Dramatically the story unfolds. If I were making a movie of this moment, I would have a shot of Abraham putting the altar together, and laying the wood on the altar, and then it would fade to black. Then Abraham would grab Isaac and tie him up and place him on the altar, and then it would fade to black. And then Abraham would lift the knife, and then it would fade to black. This is the decisive moment, so often painted and told. Abraham is ready to sacrifice his son. It’s going to take an intervention from God to stop this scene from unfolding.

11-12 God’s Faithfulness

In this third and final dialogue, the angel of the Lord appears and calls to Abraham (twice, which demonstrates urgency). Abraham responds as before, “Here I am.” And the angel releases Abraham from the command. “Now I know that you fear God,” says the angel. We have seen that Abraham was willing to sacrifice his son for God.

13-19 The Once and Future Promise

The story wraps up with a surprising fulfillment of Abraham’s answer to Isaac’s question. God does provide a ram for sacrifice and does it in a mundane sort of way. The ram has caught his horns in the thick brush and Abraham catches it and offers it to God.

Next, God sends the angel back to reaffirm the promise. Invoking the language of the command in verse 2, God emphasizes that “because you have not withheld your son, your only son, I will indeed bless you.” Abraham has shown that he will follow God’s command, even when it doesn’t seem to make sense, even when it seems detrimental to the promise. 

Conclusion

“Lead us not into temptation.” “Lead us not into the time of trial.”

Jesus included these words in the model prayer that he gave to his disciples. I often pray the Lord’s Prayer when I don’t know what to pray for, or when I don’t have the words. I do not envy Abraham’s test. I do not envy the early church in their persecution. I do not long for martyrdom or persecution. But I pray that if my faith is tested I will stand firm.

Christians are wise not to seek a test of faith. Even in the early church, when the Roman government was subjecting Christians to torture and to death by animals in the coliseum, Christians forbade going to the state and turning yourself in. If the government came for you, you were supposed to stand firm in your faith, but you were not to seek martyrdom. There are accounts of Christians who did try to get themselves martyred and lost their nerve and wound up renouncing Christ. We do not seek tests of faith, but pray for the strength to endure them when they come. The apostle Paul says, “God is faithful, and he will not let you be tested beyond your strength, but with the testing he will also provide the way out so that you may be able to endure it” (1 Corinthians 10:13). We see Abraham tested, and we see that God provides for him the way out.

Abraham could only be obedient because he had faith in God. Specifically, he believed that God was faithful to the promise. Although what God was asking for from him seemed to jeopardize that promise, Abraham continued to believe God. Abraham’s central confession in the passage (in verse 8)  is “God will provide.” Because Abraham believed that God would provide, his faithfulness to God didn’t have to make sense to him. My hope is that if God asks me to do something I can’t make sense of, I will have the faith to be obedient. My prayer is that God won’t ask that of me, lest I fail to be faithful.

“Lead me not into the time of trial.”

“Nevertheless, not my will, but thine be done.”