My Reflection on Abraham's Tested Faith

The New Testament commends Abraham for his act of faith in these verses:

Hebrews 11:17-19 - 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.

James 2:21-23 - Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar? Seest thou how faith wrought with his works, and by works was faith made perfect? And the Scripture was fulfilled which saith, Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness: and he was called the Friend of God.

This story can be found in Genesis 22. When the King James uses "tempt" it means God tested Abraham. This was going to be a big challenge for the old man. God gave Abraham the promised son Isaac at his old age of 100. At this point. Isaac was most likely 20 years old in contrast to the drawings found in the storybooks. This was going to be a difficult challenge as he was asked to offer his only beloved son. Yachiyd means "special" or "unique" which is translated as only. This was the problem. Ishmael was gone and Isaac is the only one with him. But why did God ask Abraham to sacrifice Isaac?

This is one huge problem. Wait a minute. How can God ask that? But Abraham obeyed. Abraham that faith that God will provide a sacrifice or raise his son Isaac up from the dead. Isaac may have heard the whole thing later on in the journey and was more than willing to do so. Isaac was strong enough to resist his father and yet he didn't. The fact an old man like Abraham was able to bind him suggests that Isaac willingly allowed himself to be bound when there was no lamb yet.

This was where Abraham's faith was tested. Who did he love more between his son Isaac or God? God knew what was in Abraham's heart but the latter had to be tested so he can see his heart. Isaac also pictured Jesus Christ in carrying the wood to the mountain. I don't know how Isaac accepted God was asking for his life. But Isaac most likely cooperated even if it meant taking his own life. What most critics of the story don't realize is that this was merely a test. They fail to see the mercy that God provided in the later part.

The Angel of the LORD, the pre-incarnate Christ, finally showed up to stop Abraham. He said, "Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither thou do any thing unto him, for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son from me." It took guts as he had no choice but to send Ishmael away. Now he was only stuck with Isaac. God rewarded this by revealing that a ram whose horns were caught among the thorns. Isaac wasn't fit to be sacrificed because he was a sinner. The ram also represented Jesus Christ in the way of the crown of thorns and served as the sin sacrifice for humanity's sins.

This is the wonderful illustration shown through Abraham. Isaac was the sinner who should have died for his sins. This act of faith brought the lamb and they offered it together. This was called Jehovah-Jireh or "In the mount of the LORD, it shall be seen. If it wasn't for this act of faith then there would no illustration of the Lord Jesus taking the place of sinful man's place on the cross and the fire may represent the fires of Hell.

This is the truth of the matter. God tests the Christians' faith not because He doesn't know but because they don't know what's in them. They have to be tested to strengthen them. As the saying goes, "Faith that hasn't been tested can't be trusted." And God knows He can continue to test them because He knows these aren't fake branches but real branches that will survive the pruning.