Ob
(1) 3 commands of God : Take your son...go to the place...offer him up there as a burnt offering
(2) Repeated phrase: [where] I will say to you v.2, 3
Question: Is this a reminded to the original calling of Abraham from Ur? Now is the harder version of that calling?
(3) Questions: Why mentioned the donkey twice? Why did Ab need to bring 2 young servants? Did he mean to predict that Isaac would be resurrected or he was just deceiving his servants v.5? If the later, then why bring the servants? The donkey was enough to carry the wood.
In
test= (NET) The Hebrew verb used here means “to test; to try; to prove.” In this passage God tests Abraham to see if he would be obedient.
burnt offering=(same word as the burnt offering in the Law) (NET) A whole burnt offering signified the complete surrender of the worshiper and complete acceptance by God. The demand for a human sacrifice was certainly radical and may have seemed to Abraham out of character for God. Abraham would have to obey without fully understanding what God was about.
About v.5=(NET) It is impossible to know what Abraham was thinking when he said, “we will … return to you.” When he went he knew (1) that he was to sacrifice Isaac, and (2) that God intended to fulfill his earlier promises through Isaac. How he reconciled those facts is not clear in the text. Heb 11:17–19 suggests that Abraham believed God could restore Isaac to him through resurrection.
(BKC)
The greatest test in the life of Abraham (God tested him) came after he received the promised seed following a long wait. The test was very real: he was to give Isaac back to God. As a test it was designed to prove faith. And for it to be a real test, it had to defy logic; it had to be something Abraham wanted to resist.
This was a test of how much Abraham would obey God’s word. Would he cling to the boy now that he had him, or would he still obey and return him to the Lord? In other words how far would Abraham go in obedience? Did he really believe that God would still keep His word and raise the seed of promise?
There are obvious connections with God’s earlier words to Abraham to get out and go to the land God would show him (12:1–3). But in this subtle reminder of the original call God also reminded him of the fulfillment
How then could God fulfill the promises He made earlier (12:1–3), to say nothing of Abraham’s emotional loss of his only son, born to him so late in life?
Abraham’s response was staggering—he gave instant, unquestioning obedience. He even got an early start!
He could not reconcile the two, but he would obey anyway
(EBC) We are as much in the dark about the intention of God’s ways as Abraham. Thus we, the readers, are forced to rely on the assessment of Abraham himself, within the narrative, and to view the events of the narrative through his eyes and by means of his response...What is particularly noticeable is how the writer of this story prolongs the narrative with excessive and deliberate details of Abraham’s preparation for the journey and the journey itself...as he so matter-of-factly carried them out.
Conclusion: When faced with unreconcilable commands/promise/reasoning/emotion, Abraham chose to obey. His obedience was staggering-got up early in the morning and go. He got all the preparation done as he focused only on the action itself. Only from what he told the servants v.5 can we guess that he had faith that would bring Isaac back to life through resurrection.
His faith grew from leaving his homeland to Canaan without knowing where to go. Then his faith grew again when he witnessed the fulfillment of God's promise and brought him Isaac. Now, is the time to grow again in this test.
Reflection: What is something that is hard to obey for me? What will be my choice? Do I have growing faith that helps me to be obedience in time like this? How do I keep my heart focus to do what is necessary to do when I chose to obey?
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