Day 28 – Abraham & Isaac

Read Romans 8:31-39 slowly, as if it were a prayer. It’ll help you to think about it.

• Today’s powerful readings are some of the clearest pointers to the future sacrifice of Christ on the cross. Did you spot any as you read? We’ll consider this question later in the notes.
• As Genesis 22 opens, Isaac is now probably a teenager. We see God “testing” Abraham as He asks him to do something which sounds awful. What was it? What are your first thoughts as you read God’s command?
• How did Abraham respond? Do you think you would have responded in the same way?
• As Abraham and his son made the long journey towards the place where the grim deed was to be done, what did Isaac ask Abraham about? Look at the response from his father in Genesis 22:8. What did he say? Does it make you think of anything elsewhere in the bible?
• The passage explains that the company walked for three days before reaching the mountain. What sort of things would have been going through Abraham’s head as they walked? What sort of things were at stake, both personally and in the covenant promises from God?
• When they came to do the sacrifice, what happened? What was sacrificed instead?
• What does the Hebrews passage say about Abraham’s faith? What about his priorities?
• This passage does indeed tell us of Abraham’s extraordinary trust in God in a very stark context. But if we look deeper, we can see a clear foreshadowing of Christ in today’s verses too. Can you see it?
• The place that Abraham and Isaac walked to is likely to be very near the site of the future temple that Solomon would build for the Lord, and – years later – where Jesus would be crucified. It’s a place where God would work powerfully and gloriously in the future. After three days of walking to his son’s death, a reversal happens where death turns to life. God provides the sacrifice instead, in the form of a ram, which is sacrificed in the place of a mightily relieved Isaac. In Christ, God also provided the sacrifice which took our place. Jesus would become the greatest substitutionary sacrifice – who in three days also gloriously rose to new life. Does this help to see the parallels between this story and Jesus’ death?
• The passage in Romans is one of my favourites. It has helped me a lot during tough times. You would be wise to highlight it, or note a key verse down in your journal, or write some of it out and place it on a noticeboard somewhere to remind you of God’s unfailing love when you’re in tough situations. According to Paul, the author, who or what could separate us from the love of Christ?

Despite the wonderful reminder of Jesus’ sacrificial love for us, today’s passages might have been hard for you to think about. Why would God test Abraham in this way? Was he just toying with Abraham, like a child torturing an ant under a magnifying glass? We cannot avoid these difficult questions, but it’s worth saying that it was never God’s intention to sacrifice Isaac. In providing the ram, God shows us His nature is to show grace and provision where it’s needed.

Instead of dwelling on the reasons for God’s command, finish your readings and journal notes by thinking about that foreshadowing of Christ we read about today. Genesis 22 isn’t just a morality tale about obeying God, or trusting in Him. It’s a reminder to us that everything – even this early in the Bible – is pointing directly at Jesus as the manifestation of God’s marvellous plan of salvation. For that reason alone, I’m thankful that God provided us with this tale of Abraham’s difficult test. What about you?