Digging Deeper Days
Finding the original intent of Scripture and making good application to our everyday lives as we become equipped to correctly handle the Word of Truth!
Yesterday’s Journey Study connects with today’s!
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The Questions
Genesis 22:1-8
After these things God tested Abraham and said to him, “Abraham!”
“Here I am,” he answered.
2 “Take your son,” he said, “your only son Isaac, whom you love, go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains I will tell you about.”
3 So Abraham got up early in the morning, saddled his donkey, and took with him two of his young men and his son Isaac. He split wood for a burnt offering and set out to go to the place God had told him about. 4 On the third day Abraham looked up and saw the place in the distance. 5 Then Abraham said to his young men, “Stay here with the donkey. The boy and I will go over there to worship; then we’ll come back to you.” 6 Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and laid it on his son Isaac. In his hand he took the fire and the knife, and the two of them walked on together.
7 Then Isaac spoke to his father Abraham and said, “My father.”
And he replied, “Here I am, my son.”
Isaac said, “The fire and the wood are here, but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?”
8 Abraham answered, “God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.” Then the two of them walked on together.
Original Intent
1) How could Abraham agree to obey God’s request? (verse 3)
Abraham had a long-standing relationship with Jehovah God. He was familiar with hearing from God directly. He’d also gone back and forth with God as he interceded for the welfare of the cities Sodom and Gomorrah. (Genesis 18:16-33) He asked God for confirmation regarding God’s promise that his future descendants would dwell in the land of Promise. (Genesis 15:8) God told Abraham his descendants would be as numerous as grains of sand (Genesis 22:17) or stars in the sky (Genesis 15:5). This story detailing God’s command to sacrifice Abraham’s heir appears as if God is revoking His covenant promise. Why didn’t Abraham argue with Jehovah about this as he had previously pleaded for the people of Sodom and Gomorrah? Didn’t Abraham place more value on his son’s life than on a few residents dwelling in wicked cities? Careful, holistic reading of Scripture reveals this particular scene in Abraham’s life is again mentioned in Hebrews’ listing of “Heroes of Faith”. (Hebrews 11:8-12). He had such faith in God he confidently knew God would somehow make it right, even if it meant raising Isaac from the dead. A burnt offering meant that the entire object of sacrifice was to be wholly consumed. This was also a pagan land; child sacrifices were not unheard of, but this went totally against Jehovah. (Jeremiah 7:31) Abraham knew this, even as he saddled his donkey, even as he chopped the wood and placed it on Isaac’s back for the offering. He knew somehow God would provide. As evidenced by his comment to his servants, “We will return.” (verse 5) Unlike New Testament times, no one had been raised from the dead. Abraham’s faith was anchored on what he confidently knew to be true about God. Nothing else mattered.
2) What is the nuanced meaning behind “only son”? (verse 2)
We read this passage and wonder why God specifically instructed Abraham to bring “your only son” in verse 2 when God clearly knew Abraham had two sons, Isaac and Ishmael. (Genesis 17:18-19) God also knew that Ishmael was the result of Abraham’s lack of faith when he listened to his wife, Sarah, and slept with Sarah’s slave, Hagar. While this wasn’t God’s plan for marriage, it was culturally acceptable to have children through a slave woman; any offspring would then belong to the patriarch. God emphasized that Abraham and Sarah’s plan wasn’t His by using the language of “your only son” because Isaac was the only son of promise. He was the one God had promised would be born to Abraham and Sarah; he would be the heir through whom God would fulfill His covenant. (Genesis 17:19) Through Isaac, the “only son”, God would bless all peoples and his descendants would outnumber the stars and sands. Ishmael represented the “work of man” as Hagar and Abraham took God’s promise and decided to accomplish it by their own power. Isaac is the “work of God” for his birth was outlandishly far beyond human ability. No woman is physically able to conceive a child long past child-bearing years, but God allowed it to showcase that His work would faithfully come to pass by His own hand. At the beginning of Abraham’s story, God promises “…all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.” (Genesis 12:3) This was begun with Isaac’s birth and fulfilled when, through Isaac’s lineage, Christ Jesus, the “only Son” of God, was born to save all people from their sin if they turn to Him in faith. (John 3:16) Jehovah God was not going to disregard His promise to Abraham; He is eternally faithful! (Hebrews 10:23)
3) Why is this particular narrative important?
Everything contained in Scripture is beneficial for training us how to follow Christ; through His Words, the Holy Spirit equips us to live out what it looks like in everyday life to love God and love others. (2 Timothy 3:16-17) No story should be overlooked, for these are all the words of God, given to us that we might know Him better and understand ourselves and the world around us more clearly. Abraham’s journey in following God was pot-holed and twisting, yet the Lord never left him or decided not to fulfill His purposes in Abraham’s life. Abraham had connived with his wife to jumpstart God’s plan to birth a son and he lied on multiple occasions to save his own life, even putting his wife in jeopardy. Abraham followed, albeit unfaithfully at several points, but God used his faith and led Abraham to know and trust Him more fully over time. This wasn’t to Abraham’s credit, but to God’s! This scene from Abraham’s life comes decades after he had first trusted God to lead him. The faith we see in this narrative has been built up over significant time. This faith wasn’t new, it wasn’t testing the waters, it was no longer arrogant and self-trusting, it was refined to a humble love and quick obedience. God placed this particular narrative in Scripture to remind us that faith is foundational, but God’s faithfulness will do the work that we cannot. Ultimately, He proved this by dying in our place as the perfect sacrifice for all sin for all time. All we must do is turn to Him with faith that, while it may begin small, God will ensure it grows rich and full over time spent following Him.
Everyday Application
1) How could Abraham agree to obey God’s request? (verse 3)
Have you ever been asked by God to do the impossible? Maybe it’s giving beyond your comfort zone, going overseas or across the street to tell someone about Jesus, or forgiving the one who harmed you. Following God actually is impossible without faith and the work of the Holy Spirit giving us power to follow Him. (Hebrews 11:6, 2 Peter 1:3) Unlike the popular catchphrase, “God won’t give you more than you can handle”, Scripture teaches God will indeed give us more than we can handle. That’s His intent, for when we realize we cannot, we realize HE can! Paul wrote, “But He (God) said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is perfected in weakness.” Therefore, I will most gladly boast all the more about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may reside in me. So I take pleasure in weaknesses, (…) for the sake of Christ. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” (2 Corinthians 12:9-10) When we are faced with a test causing us to rely solely on what we know to be true of God, we are in Abraham’s shoes. New Testament disciple, James, writes, “Consider it a great joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you experience various trials, because you know that the testing of your faith produces endurance…”. (James 1:2) Sometimes, we confuse tests from God with trials and temptations from the enemy. Tests from God will always bring Him glory as He builds maturity in us. Even if we face a difficult temptation to sin, the Lord is faithful to provide a way of escaping sin’s allure. (1 Corinthians 10:13) With surrender to Christ, trusting His ways, we can say with Paul, “I am able to do all things through Him (Christ) who gives me strength.” (Philippians 4:13)
2) What is the nuanced meaning behind “only son”? (verse 2)
Do you feel alone? Unseen? Abandoned? The only one who sins or struggles with doubt? The only one unreachable by God? You are not alone. God created you and God sees you. Just as deeply as Abraham was known and his future was seen by the Almighty God, despite how it may have felt, so is yours. He also sees your sin, your heart (even if it’s dark), and He desires to redeem you and show you Himself, giving you Hope! God the Father’s only son, Jesus Christ, who is Himself God, came to the world incarnate (wrapped in flesh) for the purpose of paying the penalty of our sin, forgiving us, and making us new. We all have sinned and fallen short of God’s glory. (Romans 3:23) But God is faithful. Oh, so very faithful! His faithfulness is sure, certain, and able to withstand the whole weight of our lives today and our eternity stretching forward. Abraham heard God’s command to sacrifice his only son, and God provided a ram for the sacrifice instead. (Genesis 22:13-14) Centuries later, on another hill not far from Abraham’s altar, God sacrificed Himself in our place. He became “Isaac’s ram”, providing perfectly for him, and us. God holds out this providential forgiveness to all of us. To accept this lavish, undeserved gift, we can come to God in faith, trusting Him at His promise to forgive, and repenting (turning away) from the heavy weight of our sin, surrendering our all to the God who Faithfully Provides. When we do this, God gives us Himself both now and for eternity.
3) Why is this particular narrative important?
When we need help in strengthening our faith, we can look to the heroes of the faith who have walked before us. The author of Hebrews tells many stories of people who began as ordinary, but whose faith was cultivated by God’s hand as they surrendered to God one step at a time. (Hebrews 11:1-12:2) Adding to these biographies, who do you know in your own life that truly follows God in full surrender, even if their lives aren’t perfect? Who encourages you to know God more deeply? Reach out, thank that person for their example of faith! At Gracefully Truthful, we’ve studied many whose lives have been set on trusting God. Visit “Previous Journeys” and look for “Sketched” themes! We could read Abraham’s story and leave it categorized as another good biography of a man of faith who lived in total surrender to God, believing unswervingly that God would faithfully fulfill His plan. But this story tells more than simply the faith of one man. We also glimpse Isaac carrying the burden of wood and humbly submitting to being bound to the altar in full trust of his father. Fast forward centuries later to God in the form of man, Himself in total surrender to His Father praying in a Garden, carrying His burden of a cross on His back, and willingly becoming the ultimate sacrifice of the World. One man’s humble obedience pointed forward to the divine Christ, humbly becoming “obedient to the point of death, even to death on a cross” (Philippians 2:8) that we might be rescued forever and covered by His forgiveness! He chose you, will you choose Him?
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Catch up with The Carol of Abraham & Isaac!
Digging Deeper is for Everyone!
1) Take this passage (or any other passage).
2) Read it, and the verses around it,
several times
3) Write down your questions
as you think of them.
4) Ask specific culture related questions and be ready to dig around for your answers. Google them, use www.studylight.org, or look them up in a study Bible and read the footnotes (click on the little letters next to a word and it will show you
other related verses!). (www.esvbible.org)
5) Check your applications with other trusted Christians that you are in community with and embrace the fullness of God
in your everyday!
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Why Dig Deeper?
Finding the original meaning is a huge deal when we study Scripture and can make all the difference in our understanding as we apply God’s truths to our everyday lives.
In our modern-day relationships, we want people to understand our original intention as we communicate; how much more so between God and humanity?!
Here’s a little bit more on why we take Digging Deeper so seriously.
Study Tools
We love getting help while we study and www.studylight.org is one of many excellent resources, providing the original Hebrew (Old Testament) or Greek (New Testament) with an English translation.
Want to know more about a specific word in a verse? Click on “Strong’s Interlinear Bible” then click the word you’d like to study. Discover “origin”, “definition” and hear the original pronunciation – That Is Awesome!
Want more background? Click “Study Tools”, then pick a few commentaries to read their scholarly approach, keeping in mind that just because a commentary says it, doesn’t mean it’s true. (just like the internet :-))
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