This lesson is compatible with the "Abraham & Isaac" Flash-A-Cards from Abeka Books.
Scripture References: Genesis 22:1-19; Hebrews 11:17-19
“Abraham, look at Isaac! He’s grown so big in these last years! It seems like just yesterday that I was holding him in my arms.” Sarah said to her husband.
“It’s true, Sarah! The time has gone so quickly since God gave us our baby boy. Now he is a young man! I thank God every day for keeping His promise. I can’t wait to see how God will bless the whole earth through our family!” Abraham replied.
“Yes! It is exciting to think of! I wonder when it will happen. We are getting so old; I wonder if we will even be here to see it…” said Sarah.
[Visual 3.1] Many years had passed since they had the baby Isaac. They had learned a lot about God and His goodness. He surely is a forgiving God! They remembered the many mistakes they made, and the sins they committed. But they also remembered that by putting their trust in God and accepting that He would send someone to die for their sins, they had their sins forgiven!
It must have been a day when Abraham was remembering God’s goodness when God once again spoke to Abraham. “Abraham…”
When Abraham heard his name, he knew who it was immediately.
“Here I am…” he said.
“Abraham, take your son, your only son Isaac, who you love so dearly. Go to the land called Moriah and offer him as a burnt sacrifice on one of the mountains there. I will tell you which mountain.”
I often wonder if Abraham’s heart stopped beating for a moment. His son! Isaac! God had used the words “your only son”. God knew about Ishmael, for He knows everything, and He had promised to take care of him and bless him. But in God’s eyes, Isaac was the son of Abraham, because Isaac was the son that only God had provided. Now, God was asking Abraham to kill him and burn his body as a sacrifice! Since the beginning, God had taught Adam and Eve that the only right sacrifice was a blood sacrifice, and that they had to use an animal. Now was God demanding human blood? Abraham must have spent several minutes trying to understand what God was doing. God is a Just God, who always makes right decisions. Abraham must have wondered how this was going to be a right decision. The sacrifice of a person!
I don’t imagine he ever came to an answer on how this would be the right thing to do, humanly speaking. We aren’t supposed to kill people! [Visual 1.8] But Abraham began to think about the first time God spoke to him back in his hometown of Ur. He remembered all the times God made promises to him. God had fulfilled those promises. God had blessed Abraham with a lot of money! He had so many servants he could fight an army! He had thousands of animals, and he even had a son with Sarah, in their very, very old age! God had done all of that. And God had promised to bless the world through Isaac, his son. So, God was somehow going to do it, even if it meant God had to bring Isaac back to life!
The Bible tells us in the book of Hebrews that Abraham decided to trust God with Isaac’s life. He knew that no matter what, God would keep his promise, even if God had to raise Isaac from the dead.
So, Abraham began to prepare for the trip to the land of Moriah, which was not a quick journey! Abraham told his servants to get supplies together, and he himself went to chop the wood he would need for the sacrifice. He didn’t tell anyone what God told him, he just obeyed.
[Visual 4.1] Early the next morning, before the sunrise, he got two of his young servants, his donkey, and Isaac, and they prepared to go. “Isaac, we are going to Moriah to make a sacrifice to God.” Isaac wasn’t surprised by this. He had seen the sacrifices of the lambs before. Abraham taught him all about Adam, Eve, sin, and how to have your sins forgiven with God. So, the four of them began their journey. They traveled for three days before they even got to the land of Moriah. They must have been very tired by then! That third day, Abraham looked up and saw a mountain. It was the mountain God told him about. Abraham turned to his two servants and said “You two wait here with the donkey and the supplies. My son and I will go up the mountain and worship God, and then we will come back down.”
How Abraham’s faith had grown over the years!
Abraham was going up the mountain to kill his son and offer him as a sacrifice! But he told his servants that they would both return down the mountain.
[Visual 4.2] Abraham told Isaac “I have the fire on this torch here. You must carry the wood for the sacrifice.” Then the father and son began the climb up the mountain. Isaac noticed something was missing after they began the climb. “Father! Where is the lamb for the burnt offering? We have the fire and wood, but we forgot the lamb!”
Abraham looked at his son and said, “God will provide the lamb for the offering.”
When they reached the top of the mountain, Abraham built the alter, put the wood on it, and then I imagine he told Isaac “God has asked me to sacrifice you, son. I trust God, and I trust He will save you from the fire and bring you back to life.” [Visual 4.3] Isaac had heard all about God from his parents, so he obeyed his father, and Abraham tied his hands and laid Isaac on the wood. Even though Abraham trusted God, I imagine this was the hardest thing Abraham had ever done. He loved Isaac, and his son was everything to him! But Abraham knew trusting God was more important than how we feel. With tears in his eyes, Abraham lifted the knife to kill Isaac. Just as he lifted the knife, God spoke once more! “Abraham! Abraham!”
With a sigh of relief Abraham said, “I am here, God!”
“Abraham don’t kill your son, or even hurt him with the knife. Now I know you love and respect Me more than anything in the world, because you didn’t hold back your beloved son from me. You were willing to sacrifice everything for me.”
Abraham and Isaac both must have rejoiced in their hearts. [Visual 4.4] As Abraham looked up, his heart was even more glad. A ram! A ram was just a few feet away! He had his horns caught in a bush and was stuck! This was the sacrifice God was providing as a substitute for his son. God sent that ram to that bush at just the right time. God truly did provide His own sacrifice.
Abraham and Isaac both worshipped God on that mountain. They were reminded of the promise that God would send someone to die for sins someday. [Visual 4.5]
Just as God provided the ram as the substitute for Isaac, God would send HIS OWN SON! God the Son would be the substitute for us! We never have to kill any animals for sin, and we don’t have to suffer separation from God because of our sins. Jesus died on the cross thousands of years later, for the sins of the whole world!
What a beautiful picture in the life of Abraham. God showed Abraham and Isaac that He would provide the sacrifice for sins someday. He would provide HIMSELF! Have you put your trust in that sacrifice on the cross? If you want to know how, ask me after the class is over.
Abraham learned that God is worth trusting! He always keeps His word. We can trust God, and His word, the Bible. Even when we don’t understand everything God is doing in our lives; we can trust Him. He deserved our trust! If you are going through a hard time in your life, and you find it hard to trust God, pray to Him and ask Him to help you. He can help us trust! That is why He sent the Holy Spirit to all who believe in Jesus.
Let’s pray and thank God for the example of faith that Abraham had in God, and for providing the substitute for our sins, Jesus!