Great Fathers of the Bible: Abraham

Genesis 22:1-18

1 And it came to pass after these things, that God did tempt Abraham, and said unto him, Abraham: and he said, Behold, here I am . 2 And he said, Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of. 3 And Abraham rose up early in the morning, and saddled his ass, and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son, and clave the wood for the burnt offering, and rose up, and went unto the place of which God had told him. 4 Then on the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes, and saw the place afar off. 5 And Abraham said unto his young men, Abide ye here with the ass; and I and the lad will go yonder and worship, and come again to you. 6 And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering, and laid it upon Isaac his son; and he took the fire in his hand, and a knife; and they went both of them together. 7 And Isaac spake unto Abraham his father, and said, My father: and he said, Here am I, my son. And he said, Behold the fire and the wood: but where is the lamb for a burnt offering? 8 And Abraham said, My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering: so they went both of them together. 9 And they came to the place which God had told him of; and Abraham built an altar there, and laid the wood in order, and bound Isaac his son, and laid him on the altar upon the wood. 10 And Abraham stretched forth his hand, and took the knife to slay his son. 11 And the angel of the LORD called unto him out of heaven, and said, Abraham, Abraham: and he said, Here am I. 12 And he said, Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou any thing unto him: for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son from me. 13 And Abraham lifted up his eyes, and looked, and behold behind him a ram caught in a thicket by his horns: and Abraham went and took the ram, and offered him up for a burnt offering in the stead of his son. 14 And Abraham called the name of that place Jehovahjireh: as it is said to this day, In the mount of the LORD it shall be seen. 15 And the angel of the LORD called unto Abraham out of heaven the second time, 16 And said, By myself have I sworn, saith the LORD, for because thou hast done this thing, and hast not withheld thy son, thine only son : 17 That in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies; 18 And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice.

Wow! What a powerful experience of making a hard choice. Abraham knew that he had to obey God even if it cost him his son. In the Bible it doesn't even seem like Abraham had any second thoughts about it. As a father myself I know I would have been agonizing over this choice with every step that brought me closer to that mountain top. Would I have walked a little slower, delaying the inevitable? Personally I don't know if I could have made the same choice that Abraham did. What does this say about Abraham as a father? Does his example prove that he had no feelings for Isaac? God Himself disproves this when he says in verse 2 "Take now thy son, thine only son, whom thy lovest".
God knew that Abraham loved his son. God knew how hard this choice was going to be for Abraham. Was God wrong for putting Abraham in this situation? Opinions may vary but for me it is an emphatic no.
If you look at what happens after God saves Isaac you will see how much God loved Abraham, who was His faithful servant, and how much He loves us.
If you look at verse 18 "And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; BECAUSE thou hast obeyed my voice", you can see God's eventual plan for the reconciliation of mankind to Him. Jesus is that blessing to the earth.
What would have happened if Abraham had not obeyed? Would we have missed out on the blessing of Jesus? Would God have decided that we were not worth the trouble to send His Son to us? Hard questions indeed when you take into account that no one stayed the hands of the Romans when Christ was crucified. No one quieted the voices of the Jews and the Pharisees when they called for Barabbas to be spared instead of Christ.
Two different fathers, two hard choices, and the earth has been blessed because of both.

God in Heaven, as a Father you made the toughest choice of all. You sent your Son to die for us, even for those who deny you and mock you by saying you don't exist. I pray that you will move in their hearts and reveal yourself to them in ways that they can no longer deny you. I pray that you will strengthen my resolve as a father, so that when I have to make tough choices I will make my choices according to your will and your everlasting love. It's your name I praise, the everlasting name of Jesus. Amen

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