We know this was a test because we know the ending, but Abraham did not - and the hearing of God's command must have been excruciating beyond words because it began with terms of family endearment: "Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah" (v. 2a). He was Abraham's only son by virtue of Ishmael's departure some fourteen to sixteen years earlier. Teenager Isaac had been his laughter for a decade and a half. And as the child of the promise, everything was focused on him. Abraham loved him with aching parental love, the kind that hurts.
Here is the ultimate test for Abraham! He can't fake his way through it and it can take his only son! But Abraham had grown in faith and he knew God would fulfill His promise to make a mighty nation of Isaac!
Join me in reading Genesis 22 and be encouraged!
