I have something for you to think about. Would you ever be freely willing to lay down on a table and allow someone you completely trust to place a sharp, long knife over you? Would you continue to quietly lay on that table, knowing that the person whom you trust is about to thrust that knife into your stomach? You are probably saying right now that would be murder and that you certainly would put up a fight, struggle to get off that table or try to punch out the person with the knife.
Would it make a difference if the person with the knife told you that God told him to plunge that knife into you? Now you would be also thinking that that person has deep mental issues and you are in a fight for your life. Those might have been some of the thoughts Isaac had when his dad, Abraham and him went to offer a sacrifice when Isaac was a young boy as some feel Isaac was between 10 and 13 at the time.
In Genesis 22:1-18, Abraham was tested by God. Isaac was the promise God guaranteed to Abraham, who would be the beginning of a long line and gigantic number of descendants. Abraham was given this promise when he was 75 and over the course of the next 25 years, continued to believe God would fulfill His promise until Isaac was born. Now over 100 years old, Abraham was tested by God to see if he loved God more than Isaac.
Abraham took Isaac on a journey several days from their home and between the two of them, built an altar to offer a sacrifice up to God. That sacrifice was to be Isaac. Isaac was tied up and put on that altar. As Abraham was about to thrust the knife into his only son, the promised son, Abraham was stopped by an angel of the Lord (verses 9-12). Abraham had to believe prior to that moment, God would raise Isaac from the dead if Abraham had killed Isaac. As he told a servant who had traveled with them, they would return after completing the sacrifice (verses 5 & 7-8). Abraham proved his love for God and Isaac was untied.
Think about what was racing through Isaac’s head while laying on that altar and seeing the knife in his father’s hand. He had to quickly figure that he was the sacrifice. He loved and trusted his father but nothing was making sense. Isaac probably recalled the stories his father told him about the promises given to Abraham from God about a son that God would give Abraham and through them, an enormous number of descendants would result. What was his father doing?
Did he try to get off the altar? Did he begin screaming for his life? Or did he obediently lay there watching the loving eyes of his father perform what was commanded to his father? You may be wondering how this all would relate to you. Taking Isaac’s situation, has God ever asked you to humbly obey in a setting that was completely unfamiliar to you or you had no idea what the outcome would be? That could include being the only one in a peer group that says you will not follow the crowd and do something that is wrong, or sensing the urge to talk about Jesus to someone who is downright antagonistic toward spiritual issues. How about simply being obedient to your parent when you do not get along with or have little respect for your parent?
God may be asking you to be obedient to His leading and you want nothing to do with His opportunity He is presenting. You are not going to be a sacrifice to anyone, especially God. Being obedient to God is not always easy, in fact, it may be some of the hardest things you do in your life, but it will be the best for you. Laying on that altar, Isaac had to be confused to what was happening but he trusted his father and ultimately his Heavenly Father. It takes courage to live a Christian life and to follow God’s leading. Jesus had courage to do what He did. What level is your courage?
