April GNP article
God promised to bless all the nations of the earth in Abraham. Why, then, did God ask Abraham to sacrifice his son Isaac, through whom the blessing would come?
Isaac was the son of the promise God had given to Abraham; God’s Word was fulfilled and Sarah gave birth. But while he is still a lad, Isaac is taken on a trip with his father and two servants, at God’s request, to be sacrificed. There is nothing in the biblical account to suggest that Isaac knows he is going to be sacrificed. He asks his father where the lamb is that they will sacrifice. Abraham knows that God has told him to give Isaac as a burnt offering, but he replies in faith, trusting that God will be faithful to the covenant He has with Abraham. He says, ‘“My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering”’. When they reach the place for the sacrifice, Abraham binds Isaac and lays him on the altar he has made. He takes the knife to kill his son, but is stopped by the Angel of the LORD calling to him from heaven. God has tested Abraham’s faith and trust in Him to the maximum by asking him to kill his own son. Abraham’s belief that God will fulfil His covenant promise is what enables him to obey God when it makes no earthly sense to do so.
So why is this account so important? Immediately after being stopped by the angel, Abraham sees a ram caught by its horns. He offers up the ram as a burnt offering ‘in the stead of his son’. Then God repeats His covenant promise to Abraham ‘“because thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son… and because thou hast obeyed my voice.”’
Jesus is God’s only Son, Who is obedient to death on a cross and Who obeys God’s voice. Jesus is also the seed of Abraham, reckoned through Isaac. Abraham’s obedience and willingness to sacrifice his son is a picture of Jesus’ obedience and God’s willingness to sacrifice His only Son, in order to bless all the nations of the earth. We do not need to sacrifice our children or be sacrificed ourselves to receive the blessing of Abraham. Jesus is the obedient sacrificial Lamb of God Who has taken away the sin of the world. We are blessed through Jesus, in covenant relationship with God.