6 April - Genesis 22

We’re reading Genesis chapter 22 together today.

1. This chapter is really tough to read if you’re a parent. It may even be somewhat difficult to appreciate fully if you don’t have children.
2. God finally gives Abraham the son he’s been promising him and then tells Abraham to kill his own son as a way of worshipping him. Of course this must have been a very difficult order to obey for Abraham but it would appear that Abraham finally grasped that God would always take care of him because he agreed. 
3. On a side note, sacrificing your children as a way of “worship” to a “god” was a common practice for all the people who lived around Abraham. In fact, there are archaeological digs that revealed temples to gods like Baal that had hundreds of remains of small children who were sacrificed there. 
4. Confusing as it was, Abraham obeyed God immediately. Abraham was even asked by his son where the animal to sacrifice was and Abraham said God would take care of it. Then God miraculously provides an alternate sacrifice so Isaac could be saved. 
5. I believe God did this to show Abraham that the God he served was not like the other so called gods his neighbors worshipped. God showed Abraham that he didn’t want human sacrifice he wanted faith in him. God was not only strengthening Abraham’s faith; God was also setting himself apart from other false gods.

This is an insane chapter. Did you notice that Isaac was old enough to be able to carry the wood for the ceremony. Which makes it even crazier to me that Abraham had raised Isaac for years and built a bond with his son but was willing to kill him if that was what God wanted. Surely Abraham was confused but he was hoping against hope that God would come through in a way he couldn’t see. Abraham had to be thinking this was crazy and surely everyone else would think he was but Abraham had faith. Have you ever had a time where you thought God wanted you to do something you thought didn’t make sense? Maybe going through a time like that now. How did you handle it? Did you or will you walk in faith that God will come through for you in the end? Faith isn’t something we get, it’s a choice we make. We choose to have faith in a loving God. Will you choose faith in God today?