“By faith Abraham, when he was tried, offered up Isaac: and he that had received the promises offered up his only begotten son, of whom it was said, That in Isaac shall thy seed be called: accounting that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead; from whence also he received him in a figure,” Hebrews 11:17-19.
ABRAHAM TESTED
To be tested or tried by the Lord is part of the life of faith!
The word ‘tried’ means ‘put on trial’. As gold and silver is tested to check its purity so are the people of God.
We have the record of Job’s trials, James 5:11. “Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience,” James 1:3. “That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ,” 1 Pet 1:7.
I. THIS WAS A TEST OF ABRAHAM’S LOVE AND OBEDIENCE TO GOD
This command of God tested whether Abraham truly loved the Lord with all his heart, mind, soul and strength. This is what is required of us all. “And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment,” Mark 12:30.
The Lord will test our love for Him in one way or another.
II. THIS WAS A PARTICULARLY SEVERE TEST
1. God was asking Abraham to slay his son Isaac. Parents can put their children before the Lord. They often do this by disobeying or ignoring what the Lord says regarding how they should be brought up! “Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it,” Proverbs 22:6. The word ‘train’ means to ‘catechise’. It reminds me of the vinedresser tying the young shoots to a frame so that it grows upward rather than falling to the ground as it would of itself.
2. It was all the more severe in that Isaac was his only begotten son, born of Sarah. That meant putting the Lord before his son and also before his wife. Sarah had to agree with the actions of Abraham. We do not read of her objecting!
Happy is the family where mother and father agree on the will of God and submit to it.
3. Furthermore, it was all the more difficult because that which God had promised Abraham was to come through Isaac. See verse 18. This required an obedience born of the utmost trust in God’s wisdom and faithfulness. This command would appear, in man’s eyes, as completely opposite to all that was sensible! Faith is often led down such a path. Moses in a basket, Israel walking through the Red Sea, Daniel cast into the lion’s den, David facing Goliath, Christ going to Calvary, etc. This why Peter and the disciples objected to the Saviour going to the cross, Matthew 16:21-23.
III. ABRAHAM WAS ABLE TO OBEY BECAUSE HE BELIEVED THAT GOD WAS ABLE TO RAISE UP ISAAC FROM THE DEAD
“Accounting that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead.” In other words, God would still fulfil the promise that He had made regarding Isaac, even if he was killed. God would make a way for that which He had promised to come about. That is the reasoning of faith! Obeying God will never hinder us enjoying that which is promised to us in the gospel. Rather the opposite will be the case!