Sacrifices (Part 1 of 2)

Today, we enter the life of Abraham, and we see God, much like in the instance of Job, placing a burden on a man as a test to see if that man will follow through with the instruction of the Lord. The story begins in Genesis 22:1-2, where we see God tell Abraham to take the only son he has with his wife Sarah and sacrifice him as a burnt offering. The very next thing we see is Genesis 22:3, and Abraham has gotten up early the next morning, packed everything he needed, and set out to where God had told him to go.

As the story goes on, we see that Abraham arrives and takes his son up the mountain. We pick up again in Genesis 22:7, and we see now the son Isaac questioning his father, "Where is the lamb?" The response from Abraham is amazing in Genesis 22:8. Abraham says the one thing that is both true and faithful that he can in this situation. God had already provided him his son, as we see in Genesis 18:1-15, and Abraham had faith that the Lord would provide a sacrifice. Both options were true, and both options were faithful.

God had promised Abraham that he would establish his covenant through Abraham's heirs through Isaac (Genesis 17:19). Isaac at this time was still very young, and, as far as we know, had no children. Abraham had to have faith that God's promise would be fulfilled, and that Isaac would somehow survive this. And if Isaac were not to survive, the Lord had still provided the sacrifice, as He had provided the son, Isaac.

The story continues, and we see in Genesis 22:9-10 Abraham builds an altar, binds his son on the altar, and prepares to sacrifice his son. How far would we go to serve God? Would we go all the way to giving up the ones we love in service to our Master? This is an amazing example of faith and obedience, we see that Abraham never questions, never complains, and never hesitates. He simply does as God commanded. If we do question, hesitate, or complain, we're not much of a servant, are we? How can we call Jesus our Master, but not do as He commands?

A man of God may question his elder, he may question his spiritual leaders, he may even question his pastor, but a man of God can't hesitate in following God's commands. Tomorrow we'll see the result of this blind faith and obedience, and how God provides for those who follow Him. We'll see how one of the names we call God came to be.