Father Abraham

"Now that of know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your son, you only son. Abraham looked up and there he saw a ram caught by its horns... So Abraham called that place The Lord will provide. And to this day it is said, "on the mountain of the Lord, it will be provided". Gen 22:12-14

God finally gave Abraham the one thing that he had been asking for his whole life - a son. Then God says "Okay, take Isaac up to the mountains, when you get there, I'll tell you where you can kill him for me".

Uhhmmmm....excuse me...God? You can't be serious!

But Abraham didn't say no.  The next morning he got up, packed up the donkey, grabbed a couple of servants and took off to sacrifice his son.

Can you imagine what the hours leading up to that morning were like?  The Bible doesn't say anything about Abraham arguing or pleading with God, although I'm sure that it crossed his mind.

Did he lay next to his wife and remember the day that Isaac was born?  Did he try to spend some extra quality time with his son? Did he begin to grieve and freak everyone out?

All the Bible tells us is that "Early the next morning Abraham got up and saddled his donkey.  He took with I'm 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."

They got half way there and Abraham ditched the servants, maybe he didn't want witnesses to him killing his son...or MAYBE he didn't want anyone trying to talk him out of doing what HE KNEW God had told him to do.

The Bible says that Abraham took the wood for the altar and placed it on Isaac's shoulders, while he himself carried the knife and fire.  I find it interesting that the author of Genesis thinks it is important to mention "Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and placed it on his son Isaac, and he himself carried the fire and the knife." (Gen 22:6)

Why is this important for us to know?  He put the altar on the sacrifice and he himself held the tools that could carry out the sacrifice.

Is God trying to show us that the sacrifice isn't NECESSARILY the most important thing, but the fact that we hold the ability to make the sacrifice in our hands, and that we have a heart that is willing to make any sacrifice that God calls us to no matter the cost to us?

When they're on this journey, Isaac starts to catch on. "Uh...Dad?" "Yes, son." "Dad, I see the wood, I see the fire, but where is the lamb?"  Talk about AWKWARD!  I mean imagine being Isaac, taking a hike up this mountain with his elderly father.  He's probably thinking, "Okay, dad made us go all this way and the totally forgot the lamb!" but then Abraham says "God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering..." If i'm Isaac, I'm thinking that my dad has finally lost it, but Isaac continues on this journey.

They finally get to the place that God told them about and Abraham gets to work.  He builds the altar, arranges the wood...then he goes after Isaac...

Now, we tend to look at the people in the Bible as "spiritual super heroes", perfect humans who never doubted, never feared and were never upset by the things that God told them to do...but I imagine a different picture here.

I feel like there was probably some yelling. "Dad!  What are you doing?!" "Please don't hurt me!" "I'm your son, the one God promised you!" I'm sure Abraham wasn't silent; "I love you, son." "This is the will of God." I'm sure there were tears, lots of snot, maybe even an "I'm sorry".  I can't believe that Isaac lay there motionless as Abraham, his FATHER raised the knife.  I'm sure Abraham wasn't stone faced as he looked down at Isaac, the only son of his beloved wife, Sarah.

But he did it.

Isn't that the point that God's trying to get across to us? The promised son of Abraham, the son for whom he had waited nearly 100 years, was crying up at him from an altar of sacrifice, probably pleading for his life, but Abraham takes the knife and raises a trembling hand.

Despite the cost, despite the pain, despite the past, despite his conception of the promise that God had made him.

Abraham was willing to give up the first physical manifestation of a promise that God made many years ago.  He laid his beloved son on an altar of sacrifice because he knew that his sacrifice was worth more on the altar than it was in his hands.

You know the story, just as Abraham is about to kill Isaac an angel pops out and tells him to step away.  God spares Isaac's life because of the obedient and God fearing heart of a father.

Imagine if Abraham had been so caught up in what God had told him YESTERDAY that he couldn't hear what God was saying today.  This story would have ended much differently.

So what is God asking you to lay on the altar of sacrifice?  A job, a relationship, your children, your security, your future, your reputation?  Whatever it is, know that your sacrifice is worth more on the altar than it could ever be worth in your hands.