Abraham Proves His Walk With God
Scripture Reading — Genesis 22:1-19
“Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son.”
Genesis 22:12
God tested Abraham in a most difficult way. God had blessed Abraham with a son, and now God put him to the ultimate test, asking him to sacrifice that one and only son, Isaac. Abraham had walked faithfully with God, and now that walk of faith kept going. Hearing God’s command, Abraham dutifully loaded a donkey and took Isaac with him into the wilderness.
Would you have done that? No parent wants to lose a child, much less cause their child’s own death!
When Isaac asked his father about the lamb for the sacrifice, Abraham replied in the language of faith: “God himself will provide …” Still, Abraham must have had a moment of doubt when he bound Isaac, laid him on top of the wood, and lifted the knife to kill him. Only then did God intervene, sending an angel to stop Abraham and providing a ram for the sacrifice. Because of Abraham’s obedience, God blessed him and promised that all the nations of the earth would be blessed through his offspring.
Indeed, all nations have been blessed through Abraham’s greatest descendent, Jesus Christ. God so loved the world that he sacrificed his one and only Son (John 3:16). God the Father did what Abraham did not have to do. God himself provided the sacrificial lamb. Jesus is “the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29).
Father, you tested Abraham, asking him to sacrifice his son, and yet you sacrificed your own Son. We want to thank you by walking faithfully with you. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
About the author — Adrian A. Helleman
Dr. Adrian Helleman served as a pastor in British Columbia before being called to serve as a missionary-teacher in the Philippines. He and his wife, Wendy, later taught philosophy at Moscow State University in Russia, and then philosophy and theology at the University of Jos in Nigeria. They have also lectured in Canada, the United States, South Africa, and Tanzania. They have three children and three grandchildren.
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