Key Verse: Hebrews 11:17 (New International Version)
"By faith Abraham, when God tested him, offered Isaac as a sacrifice. He who had received the promises was about to sacrifice his one and only son."
When their son was born, Abraham and Sarah were so tickled they named him Isaac, which means "laughter." They were so happy. I remember when our daughter Sophia was born and the joy and laughter that it has brought to us! But, one day, God told Abraham to sacrifice his son on an altar (Do you see any parallels to God sacrificing his only son on the cross?). Abraham's faith was about to be put to the supreme test. Remember, Abraham had doubted God's plan in the past by having a child with on of his servants, Hagar, who bore him a son, Ishmael. Would he follow God this time or do things his own way?
Abraham followed God's plan. He got up early, took Isaac and some servants to the land of Moriah, and prepared to off his son on one of the mountains. An interesting bit of dialogue took place between Abraham and his two servants just before he took Isaac to the mountain, "We will worship and then we will come back to you", Genesis 22:5. Did Abraham say "we" so he wouldn't upset Isaac? Or was Abraham's faith so great that he knew he wouldn't actually have to sacrifice his son? Or even if he did sacrifice Isaac, might Abraham have believed that God would raise Isaac from the dead? Interesting to note that culture of that area where Abraham was living practiced the sacrifice of their firstborn to the god's. We don't know the answer to these questions, but we do know Abraham had the faith to be willing to do whatever God told himn to do without question.
God tests our faith to prepare us for his purposes both now and in the future. God won't test you in the same way he tested Abraham, but he'll test your faith to strengthen it.
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