Genesis 22

I cannot remember the last time I heard this chapter, or even part of it, read publicly and certainly have not heard or read a sermon based on it in recent years. Maybe readers of these TFTD will have been recipients.

As a parent, I have often wondered how I would have reacted, if God had asked me to sacrifice a long-promised, and long-awaited son. Maybe you believe that God does not ask anyone to do something that is beyond their ability with His support.

There are many interesting details in this story but before I mention one such illustration, I want to share that when one of my daughters attended a local school, a very talented teacher, during a half-term break, wrote a short musical based on this chapter. For me, one of the highlights, was as Isaac was telling the story to a friend who asked, “What did you talk about on your way up the mountain?” to which the response was, “When you are climbing a mountain, you don’t have much breath to talk!” Whether the teacher based this on the limited recorded conversation, I can only conjecture.

If you read or recall the story, you will note that in verse 2 God told Abraham to “Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on a mountain, I will show you”. This specific mountain is mentioned again, or implied, in verses 3,4 and 9.

In my younger years, I wondered what might have happened if Abraham had decided another mountain was nearer, or easier to climb. One lesson from this amazing story is that Abraham’s obedience resulted in his prophecy of verse 5 being fulfilled. “We will worship and then we will come back to you”.

PRAYER: Heavenly Father, help us to recognise how important obedience is so that when you instruct, we will follow the guidance without deviation or hesitation. AMEN

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