Lesson 10
Read: Genesis 22:1-14; Hebrews 11:17-19 - www.bible.com/bible/59/gen.22
- Abraham and Isaac:
- Determination – single-mindedness, purposefulness
- Submission – yielding to a superior force or to the will or authority of another person

After Abraham sent Hagar and Ishmael away, God tested him again. He told Abraham to take his only son Isaac, dearly loved by Abraham and Sarah, and offer him as a burnt offering! Do you think he could sleep that night? Abraham, submitting to his Lord, got up early the next morning, saddled his donkey, and took Isaac and two of his men with him. He cut the wood for the burnt offering and started traveling to the mountain where God told him to go.

Abraham said to the two young men, “Stay here with my donkey; my son and I are going over there to worship the Lord, and then we’ll come back to you.” Did you notice? Abraham told the men both he and Isaac would come back to them! What strong determination and faith Abraham had – he believed God‘s promise that Abraham would be a great nation through his only son Isaac, and God would even raise Isaac from the dead if necessary.

Abraham laid the bundle of wood for the burnt offering on Isaac’s back. He himself took the fire to start the wood burning, and the knife. They started walking together.

Isaac asked, “Father? We have fire and wood for the offering, but where’s the lamb?” Abraham answered, “God will provide the lamb for the burnt offering.”

When they came to the place God showed Abraham, he built an altar, laid the wood on it, and tied Isaac with ropes and laid him on the altar, right on top of the wood. Isaac was a strong young man who would easily have been able to overcome his elderly father, but he trustfully submitted to his father. Abraham held the knife in his fist and raised it to stab Isaac’s heart and kill him.

“Abraham, Abraham!” the Angel of the Lord (Jesus) called loudly, “Don’t touch your son. I know you reverence God. You didn’t hesitate to place your only son on the altar for Me.”

Abraham looked up and saw a ram caught by his horns in the bushes. Abraham took the ram and, with great relief and gratitude, offered it to God as a burnt offering in place of his son. He named that place “The Lord will provide.”

Many years later, God Himself offered His beloved Son, Jesus, as the sacrifice for our sins in this very same spot.

Apply God’s Word to your life:
* Where is God asking me to obey Him in faith today, and how will I respond?
* How does Isaac remind you of Jesus?
* In what way will I choose to give myself to (submit to) God today?
* What opportunity did God give you this past week to show your faith in Him?