Lesson 13 - The Sacrifice of Isaac:
 Ultimate Faith and Obedience
 Read Genesis 22-23 - www.bible.com/bible/59/gen.22

*Suppose God asked you to give up someone or something at the very center of your life—a loved one, your home, profession or plans for the future. How would you respond?

God had promised Abraham a special son, one to be born of his wife Sarah after they both were too old to be able to have children. For 24 years they waited before that promise was fulfilled, and then they’d even gone through the trials with the jealousy from Hagar and Ishmael which resulted in Abraham losing the first child born to him.

Now, in chapter 22, God asked the hardest thing of Abraham possible – to sacrifice this beloved son on an altar. But please look carefully at verse 5 where Abraham says to the servants who have travelled with him, “I and the boy will go to worship, and will return to you.” Do you see his faith that both he and Isaac would be returning?

The hardest question for Abraham must have been Isaac’s question in verse 7, where is the sacrifice? Again, in verse 8 you can see Abraham’s faith – God would provide for Himself the needed sacrifice.

These words are a prophecy about Jesus, for it was on the very mountain where Abraham offered Isaac his son that God would offer Jesus, His Son, as the final sacrifice for our sin.

Two words in this passage need our special attention. For both these words, this is the first time in the Bible where they appear and therefore these have special significance. The first is “love” in verse 2 – Isaac was the love of Abraham’s life, and God asked Abraham to give to Him what he loved the most. Twice God called Jesus His beloved Son – Matthew 3:17 and 17:5. The difference between these two events was that God stopped Abraham before the sacrifice of Isaac was complete, but God did not stop His own sacrifice of Jesus because only the completion of THAT sacrifice could bring salvation to mankind.


The second is the word “worship” in verse 5 – this sacrifice was to Abraham the highest form of worship of God possible for him to give. He still asks for the sacrifice of our worship today – Romans 12:1 says He wants us to willingly present our bodies to Him as a living sacrifice. Does this mean God wants only our bodies, but our minds are ours to think or plan as we wish? No! We cannot lay our bodies willingly on His altar without our minds being completely in agreement with this sacrifice.

*What is most precious to you today? Have you given this to God as a sacrifice of your worship?