Abraham's sacrifice

Reflection

The story of Abraham being asked to offer his son Isaac is one of the most unsettling passages in Genesis, and it has troubled readers for centuries. On the surface it looks like a test of blind obedience, but the deeper thread running through Genesis 22 is trust: Abraham had already been promised that through Isaac his descendants would be countless, so his willingness to obey rested on a confidence that God would somehow keep that promise even through the unthinkable. Christians have long read this episode as pointing forward. The provision of a ram in the thicket, and Abraham's words that God himself would provide, anticipate a later, greater act of sacrifice at the same region, Moriah. The passage is not really about testing whether Abraham loved his son, but about revealing the depth of Abraham's faith and foreshadowing God's own provision for humanity.

Questions to sit with

• What would it look like for you to trust God with something you cannot yet see the outcome of?
• Do you tend to hold your plans loosely or tightly before God?
• How does knowing the outcome of Abraham's story shape the way you read it?

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