Abraham’s Testing

Genesis 22:1, 2, “And it came to pass that God did prove Abraham and said unto him, Abraham; and he said Here am I. And He said, Take now thy son, thy only son whom thou lovest, even Isaac, and get thee into the land of Moriah and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I tell you of.” And Abraham rose instantly to respond to the call of his Divine Friend.

Just here, it is well to recognize the Oriental thought in a transaction like this. An Oriental father prizes an only son more than he prizes his own life. For an Oriental father to die without a son is a terrible thought, but with a son to take his place, he is ready to die. For Abraham to have surrendered his own toil-worn life, now that a son of promise had been born to him, would have been a minor matter, at the call of God; but for Abraham to surrender that son and to become again a hopeless, childless old man, was a different matter.

Only a faith that would neither reason nor question, only a love that would neither fail nor waver, could meet an issue like that. All the world over, men in the covenant of blood-friendship were ready to give that which was dearer than life itself to their Blood-Covenant brothers or their gods. Would Abraham do as much for his Divine Friend as men would do for their human friends? Would Abraham surrender to his God all that the worshippers of other gods were willing to surrender in proof of their devotedness? These were questions to be answered before the world.

Genesis 22:3-10, Abraham showed himself capable of even such friendship as this in his Blood Covenant with Jehovah. And when he had manifested his spirit of devotedness, he was told to stay his hand (Hebrews 11:17-19). Genesis 22:15-17, then it was that the “angel of Jehovah called unto Abraham a second time out of heaven and said, By myself have I sworn (by my life).” Here is the foundation of that covenant, Godward. There was nothing that God could swear by except Himself. To the Oriental, it meant: “I swear by myself. Now if this fails, I become your slave; you own me. I put myself in bondage to you.”

They are bound together; all that God is belongs to Abraham, and all that Abraham is or ever will have belongs to God in this Covenant Relationship. Now you can understand why so many times He said, “I am Jehovah, who keepeth covenants.” He is the Covenant-keeping God. Back behind Israel was this solemn covenant that God had sealed on His side by putting Himself in utter, absolute bondage to that Covenant.