This truth was reaffirmed in what followed. 12:1) - but about our capacity to trust Him and to receive His grace while understanding just how undeserving we are. After all, what is faith if not trust in what we don’t see or fully understand?Īlso, biblical faith is not so much about our capacity to give to God and to sacrifice for Him - though that has a role, no doubt (Rom. And yet, because he trusts God, he will do what God asks, no matter how difficult it all is to understand. In this case, Abraham’s faith in God takes him to the point that he runs the risk of losing his “future” (his posterity). But it also brings the assurance of God’s grace on behalf of the tested (Exod. It refers to the idea of judgment, that is, a judgment in order to know what is in the heart of the tested one (Deut. The biblical notion of “test” (in Hebrew, nissah) embraces two opposite ideas. What, then, was the purpose of God’s calling him to do this? Why test him in such a powerful way? 18:21), and it surely seemed to work against God’s promise of an eternal covenant through Isaac (Gen. This divine command contradicted the later biblical prohibition against human sacrifices (Lev. The meaning of God’s test is difficult to comprehend, however. Genesis 22 has become a classic in world literature and has inspired philosophers and artists, not just theologians. What was the meaning of this test? What spiritual lessons come from this amazing event? Study this week’s lesson to prepare for Sabbath, May 21. This week, we will follow Abraham to the end of his life (Gen. 25:21-23), and Abraham himself gets married to Keturah, who will give him many children (Gen. He arranges the marriage of his son to Rebekah (Genesis 24), who will give birth to two sons (Gen. Sarah dies after the sacrifice at Moriah (Genesis 23), and Isaac remains single.Ībraham then takes the initiative to make sure that the “right” future will follow him. Whatever the deep spiritual lessons here, the family of Abraham, nevertheless, must have been shaken by it, and the future of Abraham is not clear. Hence, in this astonishing (and in some ways troubling) story more of the plan of salvation is revealed. That seed, of course, was Jesus (Acts 13:23). 22:13), which signified God’s commitment to bless the nations through his “seed” (Gen. Isaac, however, is replaced by a ram (Gen. But the story of Abraham is far from over, reaching a climactic moment with him taking his son to Mount Moriah to be sacrificed. 21:2), and he named the baby Isaac (see Gen. Memory Text: “Now Abraham was old, well advanced in age and the LORD had blessed Abraham in all things” (Genesis 24:1, NKJV).įinally, as God had promised, Sarah bore Abraham a son, “in his old age” (Gen. Read for This Week’s Study: Genesis 22, Heb.
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