By Barnabas Piper
When we first read of God’s command to Abraham to “Take your son…your only son Isaac, whom you love…and offer him there as a burnt offering” (Genesis 22:2), it is jarring and deeply uncomfortable. How could God command this? Did he really intend to let the boy, the promised son, die in order to test Abraham’s faith?
The short answer is no. God’s plan was always to deliver to Isaac, not to receive him as a sacrifice. God made an unequivocal promise to Abraham before Isaac’s birth that he would be the father of many nations (Genesis 17:5). God has never reneged on a promise, and He had no intention of doing so here. In fact, God prepared beforehand to provide a substitute for Isaac. We can see this by the immediacy of the angel’s intercession and the presence of the ram: “Then he said, ‘Do not lay a hand on the boy or do anything to him. For now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your only son from me’” (Genesis 22:12).
While Abraham’s faith was genuinely tested—he had no knowledge of God’s specific plan of deliverance—his confidence in God declares the promise-keeping character of God as well. He acted by faith in the promise that through Isaac, God would create a great nation and bless the world. He even believed God would raise the dead if it came to that (Hebrews 11:17–19).
When we read this seemingly dark and confusing story through the lens of Abraham’s faith it opens our eyes to what else God is revealing of Himself and His goodness. This story is packed with clear foreshadowing of Jesus! Abraham, like Jesus, was obedient to God as he went up the mountain to a place of sacrifice. They arrived at the place of sacrifice and of deliverance on the third day just as Jesus, our sacrifice, rose to deliver us on the third day. Abraham was willing to sacrifice his innocent only son to fulfill the Word of God just as God sent His one and only son in order to save sinners (John 3:16). God provided a substitute sacrifice to rescue the captive from death, just as Jesus became our substitute sacrifice and bore our punishment. And through Abraham’s willingness to sacrifice his son, the whole world would be blessed (Genesis 22:18), a foreshadowing of God’s willingness to sacrifice His Son and eternally bless the whole world.
The same God who sent His beloved only Son to save the world told Abraham to sacrifice his beloved only son. In both cases His plan was to save and give life. And in both cases His plan was to reveal His sovereign goodness, build His people’s faith, and lift up His Son in honor.
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