Sacrifice
“And Abraham stretched out his hand and took the knife to slay his son.” Genesis 22:10
In Genesis 22:1-19 we read how Abraham was told by the Lord to take his son Isaac, go to Moriah, and sacrifice him as a burnt offering. God permitted Abraham to go through the ultimate testing. Incredibly, he obeyed. As a matter of fact, the bible tells us he got up very early in the morning, wood for the fire split, bundled, and ready to go. All packed, loaded up, and on the way with no delay. He didn’t sit around to argue about it with God nor ignore the directive nor play the ever popular “let’s make a deal.” He knew what God wanted him to do. He made his preparations. Then, he set about doing it straight away.
In verse four we realize that this isn’t just a jaunt down the road. It takes them three days to get to that mountaintop in Jerusalem. Three days to think about losing his son, his only son, whom he loves. Not just losing him, but offering him up freely with a trusting heart because God asked him to. His beloved Isaac, his miracle, whom he had waited 25 years for! God had promised Abraham innumerable descendants, that he was to be the father of nations. This promise was begun in the miraculous birth of his son Issac when his wife Sarah was 99 years old and Abraham was 100. For those 25 long years they had waited, hoped, and believed for his birth. Now it was to end like this?! Yet, still he took the wood and laid it on his son to carry up to the final place of sacrifice. Abraham carried the fire in one hand, the knife in the other and then..
Isaac spoke. ”My father!” “Look, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?” Can you imagine the pain that seized Abraham’s heart as he heard Isaac’s sweet voice? Confused, questioning, trusting his father completely. Still, in all this, listen to his reply. ” My son, God will provide for Himself the lamb for a burnt offering.” Then, Abraham built the altar, arranged the wood, bound up his son, and laid him on top of it. Did you catch that? He had to bind up, tie down, lay out his own child. Such overwhelming agony he must have felt in that moment, but he kept continuing on in faith.
He stretched out his hand, raised the knife in the air, and prepared to slay his son…
(As we read the last few verses we’ll see that God stopped him. God did provide a substitute for the sacrifice and Isaac’s life was spared.)
Abraham kept nothing from the Lord – not even his own son - and God blessed him. ”Because you have obeyed me and have not withheld even your beloved son, I swear by my own self that I will bless you richly. I will multiply your descendants into countless millions, like the stars of the sky and the sand on the seashore. They will conquer their enemies, and through your descendants, all the nations of the earth will be blessed – all because you obeyed.” (Gen 22:17,18)
What is God asking of us? When He calls will we answer? Are we willing to stretch out our hands and “take the knife to slay” in our own lives, trusting Him to the end?!
Well, I didn’t know I was going to start out this morning with a cry… I’ve read the story a hundred times, but it’s so hard to let the impact sink in. So painful.
What a beautiful message, Melody. I am quite unsure I’d be able to do what Abraham did, which makes me want to love Him more. Without letting “life” get in the way so much.
God bless.
It seems that we have a tendency to think of sacrifice as something quite noble, but in reality it is painful and bloody.
On May 5th, the day you posted this, I was bargaining with God, in an attempt to rescue my most recent Isaac from the altar. The negotiations were still in progress (as I was quite unwilling to give up) when I got home and read your post. I knew God was speaking to me through your words. I wish I could say that I “set about doing it straight away”, but I did not. Several more days passed before I sent this Isaac to his death. Those days that I was seeking to spare Isaac were miserable days, but what joy came the moment I surrendered him to God!
You are exactly correct, that we must trust Him to the end. If we do not we will find ourselves inundated with more Isaac’s than we could ever have imagined.
Thank you for this post and for coming back to your blog. I missed you so much while you were gone.
Grace and peace to you.
Your words have cut to my very heart. Thank You for amplifying the Lord’s words and directives.
In CS Lewis’ The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, the character Eustace has been changed into a dragon. He meets Aslan, and understands that he has to remove his dragon skin before he can bathe in the cleansing waters. He removes one layer, then another, and then another, and finally Aslan says, “You will have to let me do it for you.” At that point Eustace lays back and releases himself wholly to Aslan’s claws.
I like what Eirene says above about the reality of sacrifice. Painful, messy–but the sweet solace of His presence with us is enough. Sacrifice begins with release.
Good evening. The absoluteness of Abrahams faith is hard to fathom; especially when he was instructed to offer up Isaac. But there are three words that explain it perfectly. “Abraham believed God.” What an incredible testimony and example that he left for all future generations.
Blessings always in Jesus name.
timbob
PS: Your blog title is one of the mnost creative ones that I’ve encountered.
Great post Mel, another great reminder of God’s love for his children.
The word “sacrifice” is thrown around a lot in all sorts of areas of life. We sacrifice of ourselves on a regular basis for different things in our lives. Sometimes we sacrifice what we want so we can do what needs to be done. As parents, we tend to sacrifice things that we may want so that our children get what they need in life. We don’t always enjoy those sacrifices, but more often than not we do them quite willingly because we love our children.
Assume that Abraham loved Isaac as much as we love our children, and that Abraham would have made any sacrifice for Isaac that was ever asked of him; because of his great love for his son. How great was his love for God that he was willing to make what might be the ultimate sacrifice for God, that of his son for his God. How many of us would sacrifice our lives to ensure that our children would survive? Every parent would do so time and time again, given the chance, no question about it. Abraham would have done the same in the blink of an eye. But, for God to test Abraham in such a way and for Abraham to obey faithfully is a testament to his faith and his devotion to God.
Do we believe God enough to sacrifice what is most dear to us in our lives for His glory? We can all strive to obey God as Abraham was able to.
I came to re-read this today because I heard a sermon on this story this past week. You know, in the sermon I heard it talked about the fact that Abraham’s son was not a little bitty tike that had only been around for a short spell. He was talking and walking and obviously big enough and strong enough to carry the wood for the fire that would be built, and as you pointed out in your post, it was no short journey while carrying that wood. I was thinking that Abraham had therefore had some years to form a deep relationship with Isaac. Giving up a child of any age would never be easy under any circumstance, but the thought that this was someone who had become a complete part of Abraham’s life (to say nothing of his wife’s life too) and that this part was going to be given away–well, it just spoke even more to me about the meaning of the story–the faith and the trust. You know, I always wondered what the conversation between earthly father and son was after God provided the sacrifice, and I have always wondered, did mommy know what was going on before they left, and what did Isaac say to his mommy when they came back home? Thank you for this devotional and for helping me to keep thinking and growing.