And it came to pass after these things, that God did tempt Abraham, and said unto him, Abraham: and he said, Behold, here I am. Genesis 22:1

This chapter is probably the most difficult chapter in the entire Bible to read and understand. Here God is going to tempt Abraham but requesting him to sacrifice his Son. Now when we read this we obviously become very emotional. We feel the sorrow for Isaac and Abraham, we feel anger that God would request this. Do we feel the same way when we think of Jesus?

Many of us are willing to accept the atoning sacrifice by Christ, but do we ever weep for Jesus? Do we ever feel the anger that our sin put him on that cross? This story is obviously a foreshadow of Christ to come and save the world

And Abraham said, My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering: so they went both of them together. Genesis 22:8

Now notice, Isaac asks his Father, “Where is the sacrifice”, and Abraham tells him “God will provide the Lamb” , obviously another foreshadow of Christ to come as he is the Lamb of God (John 1:29) But also from Abrahams response we see that he trust God provide a way even though he doesn’t understand it

Why would God test Abraham with this? Obviously it’s a foreshadow of Christ but also he was testing Abrahams heart. Isaac was the only thing Abraham wanted in the world, and it came to a point where he was an idol. God wanted to know was he still first

And the angel of the LORD called unto him out of heaven, and said, Abraham, Abraham: and he said, Here am I. And he said, Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou any thing unto him: for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son from me. Genesis 22:11-12

Just then a “Messager of Yahweh” told Abraham not to lay a hand on Isaac, was this Jesus? God provided the sacrifice that day and he ultimately provided the sacrifice for us all in Christ Jesus.

Would God really allow Isaac to be killed? No because without Isaac there would be no Messianic Line, this was just a test by God to see Abrahams faithfulness. Is this story shocking and difficult? Yes but we should view what Christ did for us this shocking as well.

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. John 3:16