God Testing Abraham - The Book of Genesis

In this Bible Story, Abraham shows his true devotion to God by testing him to sacrifice Isaac. Abraham with anguish and sorrow, obeys, but the Lord provided a ram instead and blesses Abraham for his obedience. This story is inspired by Genesis 22. Go to BibleinaYear.com and learn the Bible in a Year.

Today's Bible verse is Genesis 22:2 from the King James Version.

Episode 16: After several years of getting to raise his son Isaac, Abraham is commanded by God to sacrifice him, the son of promise, on a mountain to which God would lead him. Undoubtedly tormented inside but trusting God, Abraham obeys. Just as the knife is about to come down on his son, an Angel of the Lord shows up, praising his faithfulness, and provides a ram for him to slay instead.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Let us pray, And he said, take now thy son,
thine only son, Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee
into the land of Mariah, and offer him there as
a burnt offering upon one of the mountains, which I
will tell thee Genesis twenty two too. Dear Lord, to day,

(00:24):
I choose the ultimate sign of worship. I choose to
render my life to the workings of your aunt. Like
Abraham and Isaac, I choose to live in total obedience
to the plans you have for me, even when I
don't understand your methods, even though it may look like

(00:44):
I could lose everything, I will trust your character, knowing
that no eye can see as far as you can see.
Holy Spirit, give me the understanding to know that once
you give a prompt us, you never go back on
your word. With this truth, I choose to understand that

(01:08):
in order for my life and dreams to go forward,
they must first go upward. I now know that the
secret to my provision is being able to give my
dreams back to you, because only in your hands will
they flourish multiply and be given life. Thank you for

(01:30):
providing the sacrifice needed for me to hold on to
my promise. Thank you for giving me the ultimate gift
in your son, Jesus, and thank you for always providing
a way when it seems as though there is none.
You are a miracle working God in Jesus name, Amen.

(01:55):
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Speaker 2 (02:14):
God testing Abraham. Before this story, we heard the unfolding
of God's great promises. Abraham and Sarah finally bore a son,
and his name was Isaac. Now we learn of Abraham's
true devotion to God. Will he, after waiting decades to

(02:34):
have a child, choose his relationship with God over his son?
Inspired by the Book of Genesis.

Speaker 3 (02:44):
Hello, I'm pastor Jack grayab with today's episode of the
Bible in a Year podcast. Today's reading is about a test,
the most difficult test a parent can imagine. In fact,
just think about how you would feel if if you
finally received something you'd worked hard and waited for so
long to receive, and then in an instant you're told

(03:07):
to give this thing that God had promised back, How devastating,
how confused you would be. That's exactly where we find
Abraham today. Isaac had finally arrived, and all seems well
in the world. But now some years later, God commands
Abraham to offer Isaac as a sacrifice. If he wanted

(03:29):
to test Abraham's faithfulness and trust, there could be no
better or a more painful way to do that than
what he is telling him to do. Now, as you listen,
pay attention to how Abraham responds. Are we going to
see the fearful Abraham who lied about Sarah being his sister?
Or will we see the faithful Abraham who refused to

(03:51):
align himself with the king of Sodom but instead honored
God with an offering and thanksgiving for delivering him in battle.
What could have POSI believe in going through his mind
as he climbed a mountain that mountain with Isaac? And
what must Isaac have been feeling, probably now a teenager
realizing the meaning of the events that are about to

(04:12):
happen to him. Notice how Abraham is confident that God
would provide even though he has no idea. How this
passage is such a clear foreshadowing of what will come
later in scripture, as God the Father gives his own
son to be sacrificed for our sins. So as you

(04:33):
listen today, pay attention to the promise that is yet
to come, the promise that Jesus would die on the
cross for our sins. Let's listen now to today's passage.

Speaker 2 (04:46):
At last, Abraham held his son in his arms. Sarah
and Abraham, after decades of falling on their knees begging
for a child, had finally seen their prayers answered. Isaac
was growing into a young man with the love and
affection of his parents. Abraham savored every moment he had

(05:06):
with Isaac, for he knew his days were numbered. Already,
being so advanced in years, Abraham and Sarah experienced the
joys of raising their child together and the highs and
lows of parenthood. Abraham held closely to God's promises, remembering
that God had promised to make a great nation out

(05:28):
of Isaac and his descendants. Hope glistened in Abraham's eyes
as he gazed upon his son, his miracle, his namesake.
One day God came to Abraham. Yet this time he
did not come with a promise, nor did he come
with a warning. Instead, he came with a command, a

(05:50):
command that would test Abraham's faith to its very core,
a command that would break him completely. Abraham, God called
out here, I am, replied Abraham. God, with no warning, explanation,
or promise, spoke plainly, take your son, your only son, Isaac,

(06:12):
whom you love, up into the mountains of Mariah, and
offer him there as a burnt sacrifice. Abraham was faced
with a command so devastating and seemingly cruel that it
could quite possibly be the end of him. Yet God
had shown Abraham his compassion, his power, and his faithfulness before.

(06:35):
God had promised Abraham that from Isaac would come a
great nation of people. If this was God's command, there
must have been something greater at work. So Abraham rose
early in the morning, saddled his donkey, and took Isaac
along with two of his men. Abraham began chopping wood,

(06:55):
the axe methodically and swiftly, cutting the kindling that would
burn his son at the altar. How painful it was
to prepare the altar at which your son would be murdered.
Sweat fell from his brow and tears from his eyes.
Abraham arose, eyes towards heaven, and took Isaac to the
base of the mountain. Abraham turned towards his men and said,

(07:20):
stay here with the donkey, my son, and I shall
climb the mountain to meet with the Lord and worship.
Abraham and Isaac climbed the face of the mountain. Isaac,
still unaware of what his father was asked to do,
helped carry the wood up to the altar. Abraham prepared
a fire and laid the wood on the altar beside

(07:41):
his son. Seeing the turmoil deep in his father's eyes,
Isaac spoke, my father, he exclaimed, here I am my son.
Abraham replied, looking down at the wood, refusing to meet
his son's gaze. We have the fire and the wood,
but where is the lamb for the burnt offering. Abraham

(08:03):
could hardly bear the words coming from his mouth. Oh,
my son, God will provide himself a lamb. I am
sure of it. Anguish filled Abraham's heart and mind. He
took ropes in his hands and bound them to his son,
tears streaming down his face, he laid Isaac down at

(08:23):
the altar. Abraham, God's chosen hero, stood over his son,
the supposed father of nations, poised to slay his only child,
raised the blade high in the air, with his eyes
looking toward heaven, and faith welling up within his heart
that God would make this right. Somehow, Abraham prepared the

(08:46):
descent of his knife towards Isaac. In that instant, the
heavens opened up violently, booming from the skies. A voice
of deliverance bellowed across the mountaintops. Abraham, Abraham, the voice cried,
Trembling on the floor, with tears blurring his vision. Abraham

(09:09):
managed to response, Here I am, he whimpered, Do not
strike your child. God said, your faith in Me will
be spoken of for all eternity, for not even your
own son would keep you from worshiping me. Abraham finally
lifted his eyes, and there in the thicket beside him

(09:31):
was a ram caught by his horns. There he and
Isaac sacrificed the ramb to God on the altar, and
they named the mountain the Lord will provide, for God
is the one who would provide the ultimate sacrifice. A
second time, God spoke, since you did not withhold your

(09:52):
son from me, I will make his name great. As
the stars are adorned in the sky and the grains
of sand scattered a across the shore. So I will
expand your offspring. Greatness shall follow you. After that, Abraham
and Isaac left the mountain. God would not require Abraham

(10:13):
to sacrifice his own son. God most of all, knows
the love one has for his children, For God himself
is love. And because of this love, God would one
day send his own son to be sacrificed for all
for the garden of Eden. The ark of Noah and
the son of Abraham. We're all pointing towards a greater

(10:35):
and more glorious promise, one that would truly bless all
nations and generations to come.

Speaker 3 (10:47):
Isaac is finally born. He is with his parents. He
is growing in strength and stature. Abraham and Sarah, as
they watch their son play, must have been filled with
dreams for their child's future. How he would grow strong
and wise, working alongside his father, fulfilling the promise of God.
How he would meet a woman one day and they
would become one, producing grandchildren from Abraham and Sarah. The

(11:11):
great nation, God's chosen people was coming to be, and
it was growing up right before their eyes. As Isaac
became a man. God had come through in a big way,
and now the world was brighter for it. So imagine,
just imagine the suffering, the pain, the agony that stabbed
Abraham's heart as he heard God tell him that a

(11:33):
sacrifice was required. And not the sacrifice of a bull
or a ram, not the first harvest of wheat or
a dove. No, it was so much bigger than that,
a devastating command. God wanted Isaac back, and he wanted
the full heart of Abraham, and he wasn't just going

(11:54):
to take him. Abraham would be the one to take
the life of his son and give him back to God.
God as a parent, I wonder how Abraham was even
able to function after hearing God tell him to take
the life of his son, his only son, and offer
him as a sacrifice on a mountain. But Abraham, to
his credit, did not question God or even try to

(12:18):
bargain with him. He very simply, painfully, courageously obeyed without hesitation.
When God calls us to do something, how often do
we do this? Do you respond in obedience without hesitating
or rationalizing your way out of things, or do you,

(12:38):
like Abraham, draw from your experience of trusting God, God's
overwhelming faithfulness and love and step forward and obey God,
knowing that God will provide according to his will and
for your ultimate good. This is what Abraham does. He
knows God must have a reason beyond his understanding, a
reason for his own play and to be fulfilled. He

(13:01):
just can't fathom what it is like job he recognized
the truth God gives and God takes away. Blessed be
the name of the Lord. I can only imagine the
pain of each question. Isaac may have asked, where are
we going, Dad? What are we going to do there?
And then came the most painful question of all. In

(13:23):
Genesis twenty two seven, Isaac spoke to Abraham his father,
and said, my father, And he said, here am my son.
And he said, behold the fire and the wood. But
where is the lamb for the burnt offering? How is
it possible for Abraham to answer the question of his
son he loves so much. His answer shows immense faithfulness

(13:48):
in God verse eight, Abraham said, God will provide for
himself the lamb for the burnt offering, my son. So
the two of them walked on together. Abraham doesn't know
how as possible, but he trusts that God will provide
and he remains obedient to the point of tying Isaac

(14:09):
up and raising the knife to kill him, just as
God had commanded. But this would not be the day
when a father would sacrifice his son. God stays, stops
the hand of Abraham in the last moment, and provides
a sacrifice a ram. There will be blood shed that day,
but not on his only son, Isaac, because of Abraham's

(14:32):
great faithfulness, because he held nothing back from God, he
and Isaac would be blessed in ways that we can
never fathom. They descended down the mountain, knowing God has
a special plan for them, and again reassured him. God
reassured them of his incredible love for his children, for
his family. I imagine Jesus looking down on these events

(14:55):
by his father's side, knowing that when it was his turn,
there would be no last minute cancelation, no reprieve from
the soldier's swept, the nails in his flesh, the death
that he would die. God would indeed sacrifice his only
son to bring others to himself, to give them eternal life.

(15:16):
But the sacrifice is not Isaac. The sacrifice is Jesus,
the one perfect sacrifice, who would die once and for
all for those who would trust in him and believe
in his salvation. Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for today's
story and how we see your mercy and love and grace.

(15:37):
Thank you that you spared Isaac from death, but you
chose not to spare your only son, Jesus as he
went to the cross and was put to death because
of our sins, so that we could be saved. Thank
you for how the story reminds us of the sacrifice
and the love that you share with each one of
us in Jesus Christ. Amen. Thank you for listening to

(16:01):
today's Bible in a Year podcast. I'm pastor Jack Graham
from Dallas, Texas. Download Theprey dot com app and make
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(16:22):
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