Abraham's Covenant Commitment

The greatest point of Abraham's faith is seen in Genesis, chapter 22. There, God put Abraham's faith on display for all of creation to see.

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.

Genesis 22:1-2 KJV

First of all, we need to deal with the phrase "God did tempt Abraham." The word that is translated as "tempt" is the Hebrew word "nacah." It is translated as "tempt" a number of places in the Old Testament, but is translated as "prove" in almost twice as many more places. I think this word is better translated as "prove" than "tempt."

Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man:

James 1:13 KJV

If God doesn't tempt people, than using the word "tempt" in this context is inaccurate. However, God does "prove" His people. God already knows what we will do in any given situation, so He doesn't need to put us through a test in order to find out.

So, who does he prove His people to? He proves his people to themselves, and to Satan. When a test is put before us, it teaches us about ourselves. It can also show Satan that we are committed to God. A true test will show our faith by standing for God even to our own hurt.

Notice that God told Abraham to take his "only son" that he loved and offer him as a burnt offering. It is significant that God said "only son." After all, Abraham had two sons, Isaac, and Ishmael. But, as far as God was concerned, Isaac was Abraham's only son. Ishmael wasn't part of God's promise to Abraham, so God didn't count him. In addition to that, Abraham had sent Ishmael and Hagar into the desert. So, Ishmael wasn't part of Abraham's camp at that time.

It also says that Abraham loved Isaac. Every time that Abraham talked with God, he told God that he needed a heir. This was something important to Abraham. So, when God told him to offer Isaac as a burnt offering, it would be easy for Abraham to see that as the end of all his dreams.

When God tells us to give something to Him, it has to cost us something. If an offering doesn't cost you anything, it isn't really giving an offering, it's only a religious act.

One day, Jesus took his disciples on a "field trip" to the temple. They parked themselves across from the place where people would bring their offerings to the Lord. As they watched, a number of wealthy Jews came to bring their offerings. According to scripture, some of these offerings were rather large. Jesus didn't comment on any of them, until a poor widow showed up.

When the widow gave her offering, it was two mites. These coins were so small, and worth so little, that many would have said she shouldn't have even bothered. But Jesus honored her for her gift.

As he looked up, Jesus saw the rich putting their gifts into the temple treasury. ² He also saw a poor widow put in two very small copper coins. ³ "I tell you the truth," he said, "this poor widow has put in more than all the others. ⁴ All these people gave their gifts out of their wealth; but she out of her poverty put in all she had to live on.".

Luke 21:1-4 NIV

Although the rich people had given much more in monetary terms, it didn't impress Jesus because they gave out of their excess. It didn't cost them anything to give, because they had much more where that came from. However, it says that the widow "put in all she had to live on."

What impressed Jesus is that she was willing to give, no matter what it cost her. That shows that her love for God was greater than her love for self.

If we are unwilling to give something to God, we love it more than Him. In fact, I'll go even farther than that and say that it is an idol in our lives. God is supposed to be first place, and when we don't have Him in that place, as far as He's concerned, we don't have a relationship with Him.

Giving Isaac as a burnt offering cost Abraham something, but he was willing to do it anyway. Even though Isaac was important to him, God was more important. Important enough, that when he had to make a choice between the two, he chose to give up Isaac for God. Abraham's covenant with God overrode his relationship with his only son. That's a powerful commitment to God!

God will only ask us to give up something that we think is important to us. Why? Because by giving up what we think is important, we are setting Him in place as our number one priority.

Often times, the things that God asks us to give up are things that will harm us if we keep them. That doesn't necessarily mean that they are sinful, but that our holding on to them will hinder our growth in Him. By giving them up, God is able to take us to a new level in our walk with Him.

We don't need to understand why God is asking us to give it to Him, and often we won't understand. Nor can we expect the Lord to give us a reason for His actions. We must trust that what He is doing is for our benefit.

Abraham didn't understand God's actions, but he knew that he had to obey. So, early the next morning, he prepared to give Isaac as a burnt offering to the Lord.

Early the next morning Abraham got up and saddled 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.

Genesis 22:3 NIV

Did you see that? Abraham got up early the next morning. He didn't waste any time to do what God had told him. When God tells you to do something, do it as quickly as you can. Don't wait, because every minute you wait will just cause you to get further and further outside of God's perfect will for your life.

That doesn't mean that you should rush right out and try to accomplish a vision that God gives you. There is a difference between vision and direction. When God gives you a vision, He is showing you something that He will accomplish through you in the future. You must wait for God's perfect timing, or you will fail in the vision. Direction is specific instructions that God has given you for something. Direction is usually change that God is trying to make in your life. That's what you have to do right away.

The other thing to notice in this verse is that Abraham did the work himself. Even though he had lots of servants, he didn't delegate the work of the Lord to them. In fact, in chapter 14, several years earlier in his life, Abraham had 318 male servants. Yet, when it came to the things that the Lord told him to do, he did them himself.

You can't delegate God's will for you. When He is dealing with you about something, that doesn't mean that you are to try and deal with that issue in other people's lives. It means that you are to change. Afterwards, God may have you deal with someone else about that issue, but not until you have victory over it. By delegating God's directions, you are saying to God that His will isn't important enough for you to do yourself.

Abraham quickly set out to do what God had commanded of him. He made his preparations, and set out to perform God's will.

Then on the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes, and saw the place afar off.

Genesis 22:4 KJV

It took three long days of sitting on the back of that donkey for Abraham to get to the place where he was to do what God had told him. That gave Satan three days to try and talk Abraham out of doing God's will.

Can you imagine the thoughts that must have gone through Abraham's mind during those three days? "I love my son, how can I give him up? But, I've got to do what God wants me to do. How is God going to fulfill His promise to me with my son dead? How can I do what God has required of me? Why is God asking me to do this?" There were probably many more questions than this. After all, he had three days to think of them.

However, as a man of covenant, Abraham couldn't say no to God. That was the overriding issue in his mind. He was in covenant with God, and his covenant partner, God, had required something from him. As hard as it was for him to give Isaac on the altar, and as many thoughts as he had, Abraham knew he had to go through with it.

Finally, Abraham saw the place that God had told him about. He knew that the time was close, and he would have to offer Isaac upon the altar. Still, he maintained his faith, and willingness to obey God.

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,

Genesis 22:5 LKV

Little did Abraham know that he was speaking prophetically when he said this. He had God's direction, and he would obey it. He didn't even share the burden of God's direction with others. He told the young men that he was going to sacrifice, but not what he was going to sacrifice.

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.

Genesis 22:7-8 KJV

Abraham didn't even share the burden of his task with his own son. Even though Isaac was to be the offering, Abraham still spoke words of faith to him. The fact that they were alone didn't matter. It was his "proving" not Isaac's.

By faith Abraham, when God tested him, offered Isaac as a sacrifice. He who had received the promises was about to sacrifice his one and only son, ¹⁸ even though God had said to him, "It is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned." ¹⁹ Abraham reasoned that God could raise the dead, and figuratively speaking, he did receive Isaac back from death.

Hebrews 11:17-19 NIV

Although Abraham didn't know God's intent in this situation, he did know his God. Somehow God would work out this situation so that He would still be able to fulfill His covenant promise to Abraham.

The author of Hebrews says that "Abraham reasoned that God could raise the dead" (Heb 11:19) In a sense, that's what happened, but that's not the point. Abraham knew God would do something to keep His covenant promise. That's all he needed to know. He didn't need to know how, just that God would do it. Faith says that God will do it, it doesn't worry about how.

Finally, they reached the place where Abraham was to offer Isaac upon the altar. They built the altar, prepared the wood, laid the knife and firepot to the side, and Abraham bound Isaac as the sacrifice.

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.

Genesis 22:9 KJV

Did you notice that Isaac didn't struggle with Abraham, or run off? Even though Abraham was over 100 years old, and Isaac was a young man, there wasn't any struggle. Of course, if Isaac had wanted to run off, he could have easily outrun his father, but he too, was a man of faith. If God demanded that he be the sacrifice, then he was willing to be it.

Abraham had obviously passed his faith on to his son. Not only was Abraham a man of faith, but Isaac was as well. He had been trained well, and they were in agreement on this sacrifice.

Abraham picked up the knife, looked at his son one last time, raised the knife up, and as he was bringing it down to kill his son, the angel of the Lord shouted "stop!"

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.

Genesis 22:10-12 KJV

Abraham didn't have to kill his son. He looked up, and saw a ram caught in the thicket, and the two of them together offered it as a burnt offering unto God.

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.

Genesis 22:13 KJV

The prophetic words of faith that Abraham had said before, had come to pass. God did provide the lamb, and both he and his son came back from worshipping.