Genesis 22

Ge 22:1-19.

OFFERING

ISAAC.

1. God did tempt Abraham--not incite to sin

(Jas 1:13),

but try, prove--give occasion for the development of his faith

(1Pe 1:7).

and he said, . . . Here I am--ready at a moment's

warning for God's service.

2. Take now thy son, &c.--Every circumstance mentioned was

calculated to give a deeper stab to the parental bosom. To lose his

only son, and by an act of his own hand, too!--what a host of

conflicting feelings must the order have raised! But he heard and

obeyed without a murmur

(Ga 1:16;

Lu 14:26).

3. Abraham rose . . . early, &c.--That there might be

no appearance of delay or reluctance on his part, he made every

preparation for the sacrifice before setting out--the materials, the

knife, and the servants to convey them. From Beer-sheba to Moriah, a

journey of two days, he had the painful secret pent up in his bosom. So

distant a place must have been chosen for some important reason. It is

generally thought that this was one the hills of Jerusalem, on which

the Great Sacrifice was afterwards offered.

4. on the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes, &c.--Leaving the

servants at the foot

[Ge 22:5],

the father and son ascended the hill, the one bearing the knife, and

the other the wood for consuming the sacrifice

[Ge 22:6].

But there was no victim; and to the question so naturally put by Isaac

[Ge 22:7],

Abraham contented himself by replying, "My son, God will provide

himself a lamb for a burnt offering." It has been supposed that the

design of this extraordinary transaction was to show him, by action

instead of words, the way in which all the families of the earth should

be blessed; and that in his answer to Isaac, he anticipated some

substitution. It is more likely that his words were spoken evasively to

his son in ignorance of the issue, yet in unbounded confidence that

that son, though sacrificed, would, in some miraculous way, be restored

(Heb 11:19).

9. Abraham built an altar, &c.--Had not the patriarch been

sustained by the full consciousness of acting in obedience to God's

will, the effort would have been too great for human endurance; and had

not Isaac, then upwards of twenty years of age displayed equal faith in

submitting, this great trial could not have gone through.

11, 12. the angel . . . called, &c.--The sacrifice was

virtually offered--the intention, the purpose to do it, was shown in

all sincerity and fulness. The Omniscient witness likewise declared His

acceptance in the highest terms of approval; and the apostle speaks of

it as actually made

(Heb 11:17;

Jas 2:21).

13-19. Abraham lifted up his eyes . . . and behold

. . . a ram, &c.--No method was more admirably calculated

to give the patriarch a distinct idea of the purpose of grace than this

scenic representation: and hence our Lord's allusion to it

(Joh 8:56).