Evidence of Things Not Seen - Abraham (Part 2)
When the writer of Hebrews first deals with Abraham in 11:8-10, we are told it was Abraham’s faith that enabled him to leave home and wander in the wilderness of Canaan for 100 years. While waiting on God, Abraham lived a life of faith and confidence, knowing that God had a purpose for his life.
After a short consideration of Sarah’s faith in verses 11 and 12, the writer reflects in verses 13-16 on how all of God’s people, like Abraham and those mentioned earlier, must see themselves as sojourners in this earthly realm.
When he returns to the story of Abraham’s faith, we find that after all those years wandering, Abraham was still a sojourner among foreigners, but he had received the son of God’s promise, and he continued to wait for God.
It is at this point that we are asked to consider what is one of the most incomprehensible moments in the scripture:
17 By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises offered up his only begotten son, 18 of whom it was said, “In Isaac your seed shall be called,” 19 concluding that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead, from which he also received him in a figurative sense.
This story as told in Genesis 22 is often illustrated to show Isaac as a young boy, maybe 10 or 12. However, according to Jewish tradition and the original Hebrew text, Isaac was closer to his mid-thirties. That alters the story in that it becomes not just a testament of Abraham’s faith, but of Isaac’s as well. He was not in the dark about what was happening, nor was he unwilling to follow his father. I don’t think it’s a huge leap to see that Isaac submits his will to his earthly father and to God. Obviously, we don’t know exactly how old Isaac was, but it is likely that he was much older than we generally see in artists’ renderings of the event.
The complete submission of Abraham’s will is apparent in that the Hebrew writer says that Abraham “offered up Isaac.” He doesn’t say that Abraham planned to offer Isaac or that he almost offered Isaac. The language isn’t that Abraham was in the process of offering Isaac. He offered him; in Abraham’s heart and mind the sacrifice was made.
God tested Abraham by asking him to sacrifice the child who was the promised one. The one who Abraham had waited for when he and Sarah tried to figure out how God was going to make this happen when they were already old. And now…the unthinkable…God requires Isaac as a sacrifice.
If faith and following hadn’t been Abraham’s habit, surely this would have been one step too far. This was the son of the promise. In Genesis 21:12, as Abraham turned Ishmael away, God told him that it was to be through Isaac that the blessings would come. This command to kill Isaac didn’t make sense.
However, Abraham had seen enough of God’s workings to be able to quiet the voices of dissent that were surely echoing in his head. They traveled for at least three days. Can you imagine the anguish in Abraham’s heart? Every step brings him closer to the act. There’s plenty of time for begging, and maybe he did beg God to reconsider. There’s plenty of time to rationalize why he can’t do it, to make excuses and change his mind. At the very least, Abraham certainly would have been tempted to doubt this plan. We would completely understand if he delayed or deliberately undermined the journey. I find it difficult to think that Abraham didn’t pray for a way around this turn of events. But Abraham keeps moving forward, determining that Isaac was already gone from him.
This was not the first time that Abraham was asked to put aside earthly connections and follow God. He left Ur. He left Haran. He waited for the promise. He didn’t know how God would make good on His word, but Abraham knows that He will. And so he does the unimaginable - he takes Isaac to the mountains in Moriah and sacrifices him. He offers him up, believing that God can raise Isaac from the dead if He chooses. The Hebrews writer tells us that, in a way, Abraham did receive Isaac from the dead, again showing Abraham’s commitment to the cause.
The foreshadowing of God’s sacrifice for us is written in all of the details of this story. The Father willing to sacrifice His only Son. The Father and Son, both aware of the plan, move forward as the sacrifice looms. The Son pleads for another way. Yet, in Jesus’s sacrifice, no ram was provided. While Isaac was to be the sacrifice, another sacrifice was provided, and Isaac was freed.
I have to consider how unwillingly I sacrifice the comforts of my life. I have not been called upon to sacrifice a child, and to be honest, in far lesser tests of self-denial, I have failed miserably. The word “tested” is often the focus of these verses, and we know that God tests us, too. In James, we are told to welcome trials and be happy that they provide us with spiritual knowledge and maturity.
They give us confidence that we can do hard things if we get our focus right. My mother was a stoic woman in many ways. The product of hard years during her depression era childhood, she was not given to sentimentality or emotional displays. She learned at an early age that life is difficult, bad things happen, and heartbreak is inevitable. Although it made her difficult sometimes, I don’t think that’s a bad thing. She instilled in her children the confidence to face hardships.
We spend so much energy trying to protect our children from the harsh realities of life, that we forget to teach them how to do hard things. They, too, will be tested, and unless they have their spiritual armor firmly in place, how can we expect them to endure the fight? They must know that they can do hard things, they can deprive themselves, they can face heartbreak and disappointment and come out on the other side. But the world won’t give them the tools to do those things.
If Abraham had not already been positive that God could have him kill Isaac and STILL fulfill the promise somehow, he might have decided against going to the mountains in Moriah. He depended on God’s might and wisdom and goodness to work things out. His reliance was on God’s power, and in a way, Abraham proved to God and to himself that he could do whatever hard thing God required of him.