Genesis 22: leap of faith
“Here I am,” he replied.
Then God said, “Take your son, your only son, whom you love—Isaac—and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on a mountain I will show you.”
Early the next morning Abraham got up and loaded his donkey. He took with him two of his servants and his son Isaac. When he had cut enough wood for the burnt offering, he set out for the place God had told him about. On the third day Abraham looked up and saw the place in the distance. He said to his servants, “Stay here with the donkey while I and the boy go over there. We will worship and then we will come back to you.”
Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and placed it on his son Isaac, and he himself carried the fire and the knife. As the two of them went on together, Isaac spoke up and said to his father Abraham, “Father?”
“Yes, my son?” Abraham replied.
“The fire and wood are here,” Isaac said, “but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?”
Abraham answered, “God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.” And the two of them went on together.
When they reached the place God had told him about, Abraham built an altar there and arranged the wood on it. He bound his son Isaac and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. Then he reached out his hand and took the knife to slay his son. But the angel of the Lord called out to him from heaven, “Abraham! Abraham!”
“Here I am,” he replied.
“Do not lay a hand on the boy,” he said. “Do not do anything to him. Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son.”
Abraham looked up and there in a thicket he saw a ram caught by its horns. He went over and took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering instead of his son. So Abraham called that place The Lord Will Provide. And to this day it is said, “On the mountain of the Lord it will be provided.”
The angel of the Lord called to Abraham from heaven a second time and said, “I swear by myself, declares the Lord, that because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, I will surely bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will take possession of the cities of their enemies, and through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed me.”
Then Abraham returned to his servants, and they set off together for Beersheba. And Abraham stayed in Beersheba.
Genesis 22:1-19
A few weeks ago I had a group of 8-11 year olds climbing on classroom tables and chairs. Blindfolded. It was the first time I've taught 8-11 year olds. Feedback is that it was a fun session. I've no idea what the parents thought.
Why? Because the designated passage for that day's session was Genesis 22, where God tests Abraham's faith. The kids who were temporarily in my charge were not traversing a sea of tables and chairs alone - it was a test to see if they trusted their friends. Each chose a friend they trusted, and with that friend holding their hand, and me close by, something ordinarily dangerous and not-at-all-sensible, became something possible. But it was only possible if they trusted their friend (and not all of them trusted just anyone in the room to guide them - it had to be someone they trusted): they were without sight and limited (given that they are all sighted children without the necessary experience to live without it), but their friend could see - they had a power they did not, and it was the thing they needed in order to complete the task.
And so Abraham finds himself in a parallel, although rather more dramatic and terrifying, experience. Here is something that is surely impossible? To sacrifice his son through whom God has said he will work out his promises. Is God mad? How will this work? But Abraham knows that God is bigger than death: God has something he does not. Like the unblindfolded friend of the one who is blindfolded, who can see the way and guide so that serious injury is avoided, God is worthy of Abraham's trust: not just because of his character of trustworthiness, but because he has the power and the knowledge. It's difficult to know exactly what was going through Abraham's mind, but it's possible that he thought God would raise Isaac to life after he had been sacrificed, thus staying true to his promises. This would have been a fair assumption, and one that would have arisen from Abraham's proper appreciation of God as the very author of life.
But aside from someone being worthy of our trust because of their competence, situation or qualifications, trust takes something more. You may know that a person is trustworthy, you may know that processes or safety precautions are sound, but letting go of control is still terrifying. From abseiling down a mountain to waving off your child on their first day of school, when it's very obvious that you are relying on something or someone of whom you are not directly in control, it's hard. Our natural sinful inclination is to want to look to ourselves for all that we need, it feels alien looking to someone else, let alone God. And yet Abraham was willing, although no doubt it was breaking his heart, to trust God and God alone with Isaac's life. His son, who he loved dearly.
Abraham is our father in the faith (Romans 6:12). Whether we are descended from him physically or not, it is this life of faith that lives on in us. He shows us the perfect example of faith for us to follow. We will probably not be tested in the same way - an extraordinary circumstance to reveal the faith that was already there. But there are more real-life situations that demand our faith in God, and eventually it is him we will trust with our very lives, when death comes to us all one way or another. It's terrifying, but like Abraham we trust in a God who is the author of life itself, and we do not depend on ourselves, but on him.
Comments
Post a Comment