Context No. 2361 of 4322 · Genesis
Context · Reflection
Genesis 22:1-7: in context
1After these things, God tested Abraham, and said to him, “Abraham!” He said, “Here I am.” 2He said, “Now take your son, your only son, Isaac, whom you love, and go into the land of Moriah. Offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains which I will tell you of.” 3Abraham rose early in the morning, and saddled his donkey; and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son. He split the wood for the burnt offering, and rose up, and went to the place of which God had told him. 4On the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes, and saw the place far off. 5Abraham said to his young men, “Stay here with the donkey. The boy and I will go over there. We will worship, and come back to you.” 6Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on Isaac his son. He took in his hand the fire and the knife. They both went together. 7Isaac spoke to Abraham his father, and said, “My father?” He said, “Here I am, my son.” He said, “Here is the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?”
Genesis tells of the day God tested Abraham, asking for the one thing dearest to him: take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and offer him on a mountain in Moriah. Abraham rises early, saddles the donkey, splits the wood, and walks three days toward the place. Along the way Isaac asks the question that hangs over the whole scene: here is the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb?
The passage stops before any resolution, and the silence is deliberate. What it shows is obedience carried out step by step before the outcome is known: the early rising, the split wood, the long walk. To his young men Abraham says, we will worship, and come back, holding a hope he has no way to explain. He does not understand what God is doing, yet he keeps moving in the direction God pointed.
Is there an obedience God is asking of me that I keep delaying because I cannot yet see how it ends?
Sources
- Genesis 22:2: Now take your son, your only son, Isaac, whom you love, and go into the land of Moriah. Offer him there as a burnt offering.
- Genesis 22:5: Stay here with the donkey. The boy and I will go over there. We will worship, and come back to you.
- Genesis 22:7: Here is the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?