The Sacrifice of Abraham is a biblical parable. The story of Abraham and Isaac

Abraham: Biblical Patriarch

The biblical parable of Abraham is very important for all Christians. After all, he is one of the first people to whom God spoke after the Flood. He became the ancestor of the entire Jewish people and entered into a Covenant with the Lord, which became the basis for the salvation of mankind. The period that began with Abraham is called patriarchal in the Bible. It lasts until the exodus of the Jews from Egypt.

It was with Abraham that the embodiment of God's plans began in each person individually and in all people as a whole.

God's Testimonies to Abraham

The Bible describes in great detail the life of Abraham before his first conversation with God. He was born into a rich family of idolaters and from early childhood was distinguished by a meek disposition and flexible mind. Upon reaching a certain age, Abraham married his free sister Sarah and believed in the Lord. It is difficult to say what was the impetus for this event, but his faith was strong and unshakable. Abraham began to convince his family and other people to believe in One God and stop buying idols. He constantly preached and irritated all the inhabitants of Ur, where he was born. People began to persecute his family and burn down their shops. It was then that the Lord first appeared to Abraham and ordered him to gather all his loved ones and go to other lands, which in the future would become the inheritance of his descendants. Surprisingly, at that time he was seventy-five years old.

The biblical parable testifies that Abraham did not doubt the words of the Lord for a second and trusted him, leaving his home and prosperous life.

Why did God test Abraham?

According to the biblical account (Gen. 22:1-19), God wanted to test the strength of Abraham's faith and commanded him to offer his beloved son Isaac “as a burnt offering” “in the land of Moriah,” “on one of the mountains.”

Abraham did not hesitate to obey. On the third day of the journey, Abraham and Isaac ascended to the place indicated by God. Arriving at the place, Abraham “built an altar,” tied up Isaac (hence the traditional Hebrew name for the story), “laid him on the altar on top of the wood,” and already raised a knife over him (since the sacrifice offered to God as a burnt offering had to be slaughtered first and then burned ), when an angel called to him from heaven:

Abraham! Abraham! <...> do not raise your hand against the boy and do not do anything to him, for now I know that you fear God and have not spared your son, your only son, for Me. (Gen.22:11-12)

Instead of Isaac, a ram was sacrificed, and the Lord swore:

By blessing I will bless you and by multiplying I will multiply your seed like the stars of heaven and like the sand on the seashore; and your seed will take possession of the cities of their enemies; and through your seed all the nations of the earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed my voice. (Gen.22:16-18)

It should be noted that the oath to multiply the descendants of Abraham was given by the Lord earlier (Gen. 15:5; Gen. 17:19; Gen. 21:12). Thus, one can either gather from the text that Abraham believed this earlier promise; but such information can be interpreted as the result of duplication of traditions.

Interpretation:

In Christianity

In early Christian doctrine, the sacrifice of Isaac is seen as a prediction of the martyrdom of Christ. According to the Fathers of the Church, Jesus himself pointed to this story as a prototype of his upcoming Calvary sacrifice: “Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day; and he saw and rejoiced” (John 8:56). This opinion is already contained in the works of Irenaeus of Lyons (II century), Gregory the Theologian (IV century) and is developed by subsequent theologians. They compare Isaac’s obedience to the will of Abraham and Jesus to the will of God the Father; Isaac’s carrying of wood to the mountain is called a prototype of Jesus’ carrying of the Cross, and his path to the mountain is the way of the cross to Calvary. Because of this interpretation, the Orthodox Church uses the story of the sacrifice of Isaac as a proverb for Friday Vespers of the fifth week of Lent and Holy Saturday.

Saint John Chrysostom, commenting on the sacrifice of Isaac, admires the courage of Abraham and the humility of his son, shown during this temptation of God:

But who is more surprised and amazed here? Is it the courageous spirit of the forefather, or the obedience of the son? He did not run away, was not upset by his father’s action, but obeyed and submitted to his intention and, like a lamb, silently reclined on the altar, awaiting a blow from his father’s hand. When everything had already been prepared and there was nothing more left, the good Lord, wanting to show that He gave him such a command not for the actual slaughter of his son, but for the discovery of all the virtue of the righteous man, finally reveals his own love for mankind, crowning the righteous man for his very will, then there is the very determination of the forefather, accepting it as a truly made sacrifice.

John Chrysostom. Discourses on the book of Genesis (Conversation 48)

"The Sacrifice of Abraham" Author Brunswick Monogrammist

But now the time has come. If Abraham had not kept the faith, Sarah would have died of grief, and Abraham, out of despair, would not have realized that the time had come. But Abraham believed, so he remained young. For the one who always hopes for the best grows old, and the one who is prepared for the worst grows old early, but the one who believes retains eternal youth. In an external sense, the miracle was that their desire came true; in a deeper sense, it was a miracle of faith that Abraham and Sarah were young enough to desire this.

And there was joy in the house of Abraham when Sarah became a newlywed on the day of her golden wedding. But the story didn't end there. “And it came to pass after these things that God tempted Abraham...” (Genesis 22:1). Here many will be confused, for how is it that God tempts the righteous, why? Metropolitan Philaret remarks on this: “Temptation comes in different types. Temptation in evil is the arousal of evil inclinations in a person (a consequence of abandoning God - 2 Chronicles 32:31. This is not from God). And temptation in good is the direction given to the good principle operating in a person towards open battle against evil (this is from God).” You can read about temptation as a manifestation of divine love and a reason for the development and strengthening of virtue in Exodus 16:4, Deut.8:2, 13:3, “Pron.32:31, Ps.26:2, James 1:12, 1Pet.1:7, 1Cor.10:13, etc.

“...and he said to him: Abraham! He said: here I am." “And so always, whenever God called, Abraham readily answered everything in this way.”

“God said: Take your son, your only son, whom you love, Isaac, and go to the land of Moriah and there offer him as a burnt offering on one of the mountains that I will tell you about.” Why does God call Isaac the only son of Abraham? In Lopukhin’s interpretation we read: “because Isaac was the only son of his lawful wife Sarah, and because he was the only son of the promise of the future glorious destiny of the descendants of Abraham” .

“What would you feel after hearing this?” asks the saint. Ephraim the Syrian. “You are fathers yourself and know the affection for children. Who wouldn't be horrified? Who would not rather die than accept the word? Or who would not object? Everything was about to go to waste! Promise to the tribe of Abraham. The Lord created a miracle, fulfilling the impossible, making Sarah a mother in old age, and now he wanted to destroy it? For many fathers, losing a child is like saying goodbye to all hope for the future. But no child was such a promised child for his father as Isaac was for Abraham. Other fathers also lost children, but the Lord, of His own will, recalled their children. Not so with Abraham. Isaac's fate was placed in his hands along with the knife. But the righteous man did not object to anything... on the contrary, he was subdued... with his affection he cut the bonds of nature, as if he had stripped himself of something earthly,... he willingly betrayed all of himself and heeded the command to slay his son.” He knew that God Himself was testing him, but he also knew that no sacrifice should seem too cruel, since the Lord demands it.

Sacrifice is the equivalent of not owning someone else's life, not even the life of your own son. The firstborn was subject to dedication to God, and therefore was the complete property of the father. He was a gift to be returned.

The name of the mountain on which it was supposed to happen is “Moria” - translated from Hebrew as “the discretion of the Almighty.” Then there was no specific area with that name, it sounded like an instruction to go to the land of divine discretion (the name was assigned to this mountain in memory of this event. According to legend, the Temple of Solomon was subsequently built on it - 2 Chron. 3: 1).

“Abraham rose early in the morning, saddled his donkey, and took with him two of his servants and Isaac his son; He split the wood for the burnt offering, and stood up and went to the place that God had told him about” (Genesis 22:3). According to Lopukhin’s interpretation, “got up early in the morning” means that Abraham did not hesitate. Yes, he was in a hurry. St. Ephraim the Syrian continues: “The righteous man does not say anything about this spouse... because it did not help at all, and even harmed Adam, that he allowed Eve to consult. Therefore, so that Sarah would not be exposed to female weakness... he hid it from her... he laid a log of firewood on his son and went...” Some interpreters consider the saddled donkey to be an image of the victorious spirit, since the body is often likened to an animal in Scripture. Thus. Abraham subjugated his spiritual and physical nature to the will, which did not allow him to resist the will of God.

Sacrifice of Isaac. Rembrandt.

“Then Abraham said to his servants, “Stay here with the donkey, and I and the son will go there and worship and return to you” (Genesis 22:5). These youths are obviously servants of Abraham. The mountain is an image of the spiritual ascent of Abraham and Isaac. The slaves are left below. Why?

St. Philaret explains it this way: “People enslaved either to the law of the flesh by lust, or to the law of only external affairs, do not reach the heights of love, do not comprehend it, and even reject it. Instead of leaving everything earthly, taking up the cross and ascending the mountain of the appearing God in order to partake of the death and resurrection of Christ, they remain under the mountain and guard their donkey.” Some theologians consider the youths here to be images signifying will and feelings, i.e., that which opposes the supreme sacrifice of Abraham, so he leaves them below (Lopukhin).

“And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on Isaac his son, and took fire and a knife in his hands, and they both went away together” (Genesis 22:6). This verse reveals another, perhaps one of the main meanings of the passage: educational.

Let us turn to the interpretation of St. Ephraim the Syrian: “Isaac typified the Master in everything. For it was not the work of nature for a dead womb to conceive, and for dry breasts to provide milk for Isaac. It was also not a matter of nature that the Virgin Mary conceived without a husband and without corruption gave birth to the Savior of the universe. The Lord made Sarah a mother in her old age, and showed Mary as a Virgin upon birth. The angel spoke to the patriarch in his shadow: at this time “Sarah will have a son” (Genesis 18:14). The angel in Bethlehem said to Mary, “Behold, she will bear a son” (Luke 1:28.31). For the promise was strange to nature. But beyond the hope of Sarah, He who gave Isaac was born of the Virgin according to the flesh. Sarah and Abraham rejoiced when Isaac was born, as God said; Mary and Joseph were glad when Jesus was born, as Gabriel said. Who would have told Abraham that Sarah, in her old age, nursed her son with milk? - exclaimed the barren woman (Genesis 21:7). Who would tell people that I, a virgin, gave birth and nurse milk? - said the Mother of God. That is, at birth Isaac foreshadowed Jesus Christ. And further we read that Abraham laid a log of firewood on his son, because the Savior also carried the cross. Isaac, going to the slaughter, was followed by a donkey and a slave, and Christ, when he went to suffer, sat on a colt... His disciples followed Him, holding signs of victory in their hands and exclaiming: Hosanna!..

“And Isaac began to speak to Abraham his father, and said: My father! He answered: Here I am, my son. He said, “Behold the fire and the wood, where is the lamb...God will provide for Himself a lamb...my son...” (Genesis 22:7-8).

“And another test for Abraham: how could he not shed tears when he heard that he was called father? But he didn’t say anything sad... with an unshakable thought, he listened to his son’s voice and gave him an answer...” (St. Ephraim the Syrian). “And they came to the place of which God had spoken; And Abraham built an altar there, laid out the wood, and bound his son Isaac, and laid him on the altar on top of the wood” (Genesis 22:9).

It is clear that it took time to build an altar of stones, observing a number of rules, and laying out the firewood in a certain way. Isaac waited humbly all this time. He was already old enough (for he himself was carrying a heavy bundle of firewood) to guess what his father was up to. And he voluntarily submits. “Who will I be amazed at first, or who will I be amazed at? How can I weave a crown of praise to the one who, out of love and commitment to God, lays hands on his beloved, or to the one who is obedient to his father even to death... One has become above nature, preferring God’s commandment to natural attraction; the other was obedient to his father even to death, knowing that to upset his father was worse than death” (St. Ephraim). “And Abraham stretched out his hand and took a knife to kill his son” (22:10).

Abraham sacrifices his son Isaac. Losenko Anton Pavlovich

Who strengthened Abraham's hand and who kept it raised, preventing it from falling powerless? Who strengthened Abraham's soul so much that his vision was not dim? If Abraham, standing on Mount Moriah, had doubted, if he had begun to look around in confusion, if the Lord had allowed Isaac to be replaced with a ram, Abraham would have gone home and saved Sarah and Isaac, and yet what a difference it would have made! His return would be flight, his salvation an accident, and his reward shame. He would not then testify to either his faith or the goodness of God, but only how terrible the ascent to Mount Moriah is. And then Abraham would not have been forgotten, but the memory of Mount Moriah would not have touched, but terrified, for it would have been a witness to the fact that Abraham had wavered in his faith. But no. “A hand with a knife is raised to the slaughter... the Angels, the Principalities and Powers, the Thrones, the Dominions and all the armies were amazed, the heavens, the sun and the moon were amazed...” (St. Ephraim). Because the determination to give life is completely equivalent to the fact that life is given. And again the prototype: “When mentally contemplating a knife, imagine a spear; imagining the altar, have in your thoughts the place of the forehead; seeing firewood, imagine the Cross; looking at the fire, think about love” (St. Ephraim).

Sacrifice of Isaac by Lodovico Cardi, also known as Cigoli

This is not just a dramatization. The two events are closely connected: Christ submissively submits to the Father, and Isaac; Christ carries the cross, Isaac carries the wood. Before the sacrifice, Abraham and his son make a three-day journey. And if Abraham mentally slain Isaac immediately, then the three-day journey predicts Christ’s three-day stay in the tomb.

“But the Angel of the Lord called to him from heaven and said: Abraham! .. do not lift up your hand against the boy... for now I know that you fear God and did not withhold your only son for Me... and I will bless you by blessing and multiplying I will multiply the seed yours...and through your seed all the nations of the earth will be blessed” (22:11.12.17.18). Those. Abraham proved his faith and reached the height of spiritual and moral perfection, after which change for the worse is psychologically impossible.

At least two questions or even bewilderments may arise in connection with this chapter of the book of Genesis. First, why would God test Abraham's faith? Did he not know that Abraham loved and trusted Him? And if we take the educational meaning, is it worth torturing the father like that even for the sake of symbolizing the Sacrifice of the Cross?! St. Ephraim the Syrian answers that “God commanded Abraham to sacrifice his son, not to make him a child killer, but to show everyone in the world how much Abraham loved God. But this is not the main thing. The main thing here is not instructiveness, but how the relationship between God and man changed as a result of Abraham’s act. Through sacrifice Abraham became a priest, and by foreshadowing God made him a prophet. And the Most High revealed to him that He Himself would give the Only Begotten Son for the world, so that God, having become man, would save the human race from error. For he signified this by giving a ram to be sacrificed instead of Isaac (22:13).

In art

The earliest monuments of fine art on the theme of the sacrifice of Isaac are fragments of a painting of one of the two synagogues in Dura Europos (III century AD) and part of the mosaic of the Beth Alpha synagogue (VI century AD).

Many outstanding masters of European painting addressed this topic: Bartolomeo Bellano (1430-1492), Lucas Cranach the Elder (1472-1533), Andrea del Sarto (1486-1531), Titian (1477?-1576), Paolo Veronese (1528-1588) ), Rembrandt (1606-1669), Tiepolo (1696-1770) and others.

Abraham's sacrifice. Andrea del Sarto. 1527.

Abraham sacrifices Isaac (Evgraf Reitern, 1849)

Abraham's sacrifice. Domenichino Zampieri (1581–1641) 1615, Pinacoteca Vatican, Rome

Of the large number of musical works on the theme of the sacrifice of Isaac (there are about 50 of them), the most famous is Igor Stravinsky’s “sacred ballad” “Abraham and Isaac” (first performance - Jerusalem, 1964).
In Judaism,
Jewish tradition views the sacrifice of Isaac as a symbol of readiness to make the most difficult sacrifices in the name of devotion to God. The "land of Moriah" mentioned in this story is identified in Judaism with Mount Moriah in Jerusalem, on which Solomon built the Temple. Therefore, it is believed that the Temple was erected on the very spot where Abraham built the altar of burnt offerings.

The Mishnah testifies that already in the 1st-2nd centuries. The theme of Isaac's sacrifice was contained in the prayer read during fasting days. The Talmud prescribes the reading of the account of the sacrifice of Isaac in the synagogue on the second day of Rosh Hashanah and explains the custom of blowing the shofar (made from a ram's horn) on Rosh Hashanah as a reminder that a ram was sacrificed in place of Isaac.

In Jewish religious philosophy, the story of the sacrifice of Isaac has been the subject of various interpretations.

Philo of Alexandria believed that Abraham was motivated solely by the love of God.

According to Maimonides, God, having commanded Abraham to sacrifice Isaac, did not want to test Abraham, but to create a standard of human love for God and man’s devotion to God’s will.

According to Nachmanides, God knew what Abraham would do, but for Abraham himself the test was real, since he did not know what God would do.

According to the Book of Zohar, since Abraham is the embodiment of Divine mercy, Isaac is the embodiment of Divine power, and Jacob represents the principle of harmonization, the sacrifice of Isaac sets in motion a complex process, as a result of which the principles represented by Abraham and Isaac must come to complete harmony in Jacob.

Various interpretations of the sacrifice of Isaac, also based on an understanding of it as a phenomenalization of man’s love for God and readiness to follow His will, are given by prominent representatives of Hasidism.

The theme of the sacrifice of Isaac is developed in the Talmud and in a number of aggadic midrashim. In medieval Jewish religious poetry, the theme of the sacrifice of Isaac (akada) was developed in a special genre of the same name.

Source

Prophecy of the Birth of Isaac

The Bible says that the Lord did not leave Abraham for a single day of his existence. Wherever he stopped, he had many tents and cattle. He had a large amount of gold and silver, and all his property could not fit in one caravan. Abraham grieved only about one thing - he had no heirs. His wife Sarah and he himself were already of advanced age, and there were no children in their family. And then God once again appeared to his chosen one and said that he would become the father of a child from whom an entire nation would come. In the future, it is among this people that the Savior of man will be born. In addition, the Lord revealed to Abraham the fate of the people descended from him for several centuries to come.

St. Nicholas-Joasaph Cathedral in Belgorod

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(Genesis 18, 9-18, 22, 1-18)

BIRTH OF ISAAC

The Lord appeared to Abraham many times and promised him that he would have large descendants and that the Savior would appear in his descendants. Meanwhile, Abraham was already very old, and he still had no children. When the Lord appeared to Abraham in the person of three strangers, He promised that in a year Abraham and Sarah would have a son. Sarah even laughed when she heard this, it was so incredible: Abraham was already 99 years old, and Sarah was 90. But a year later they actually had a son and named him Isaac. Abraham was very happy about his son and loved him more than anything in the world.

SACRIFICE OF ISAAC

When the boy was 12 years old, the Lord appeared to Abraham and said: “Take Isaac and sacrifice him to Me on the mountain that I will show you.” It was very difficult for Abraham: he loved his boy so much. But he also trusted the Lord completely; he loved Him very much and knew that the Lord would never do or demand anything bad. And so he obeyed the Lord, took Isaac and everything that was needed for the sacrifice, and went to the mountain that the Lord showed him. He left his servants at the foot, took only Isaac and began to climb. On the way, Isaac, who himself was carrying firewood for the sacrifice on his back, asked: “Where is the sacrifice that we will bring?” “God will find a sacrifice pleasant for himself,” answered the father. At the top of the mountain, Abraham prepared an altar, tied up Isaac, took a knife and was about to stab him, when the Lord restrained him: “Do not kill your son,” He said, “I see that you love Me so much that you did not spare My only son.” . “Then Abraham saw a ram caught in the bushes and sacrificed it instead of Isaac. For such great faith, the Lord blessed Abraham as he had never blessed anyone before, and since then Abraham has been called the father of all believers.

ISAAC - A TYPE OF JESUS ​​CHRIST

But why did the Lord demand such a difficult sacrifice from him? Of course, the Lord Himself knew how much Abraham loved him even without her, but with this He showed Abraham’s love to all people so that we could learn how to love the Lord. And, most importantly, it was an image in advance of our Savior Jesus Christ. After all, He was the Son of God, and His Heavenly Father sacrificed Him, gave Him to suffer for the salvation of the world. Such an image of something in advance is called a pre-image or prototype. This type was needed to help people understand that the Son of God will appear in the world not as a great king, but as a sufferer. And now, when we read the story about how Abraham sacrificed his son, it is easier for us to understand the love of the Lord, His Great Sacrifice for our salvation.

Abraham's sacrifice was a type of how the Lord gave His Son to be crucified and die for our salvation. We were saved by this great sacrifice, and we remember and portray it when we serve mass. This service (it would be more correct to call it liturgy) is an image of the Savior’s sacrifice. Bread and wine represent the Savior Jesus Christ and, according to His word and the power of the Holy Spirit, become His Body and Blood.

But the liturgy also depicts our sacrifice, our desire to sacrifice ourselves to God, that is, to give ourselves to God and do not everything that comes to our minds, but only what the Lord wants from us. We should always have such feelings when we attend mass, and especially when we receive communion. The following words, which we often hear at liturgy and other services, remind us of this:

To ourselves and each other and our whole belly (i.e. our whole life)

Let us surrender to Christ God.

QUESTIONS ON THE TOPIC:

1. Who was Isaac?
2. How was his birth predicted?
3. What did the Lord require of Abraham?
4. How was the sacrifice of Isaac performed?
5. How did it end?
6. What is a prototype?
7. What does the sacrifice of Isaac represent?
8. In what church service do we depict the Savior’s sacrifice?
9. What else does liturgy mean?
10. What is the most important service and why?

Independent work:

In the booklet for recording prayers, start a special part for recording the prayers that we hear during church services.

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Illustrations are expected to be published in this chapter! 03/09/2013 // Admin

Temptations

God tempted Abraham by bringing him to the Promised Land. God’s chosen one did not always endure all trials with dignity and did not waver in faith, but everywhere the Lord instructed him and forgave him. Abraham showed his greatest cowardice when famine began in his lands. Instead of enjoying divine blessings, he lost his livestock and servants, so he disobeyed God's orders and went to Egypt.

But God brought him back to the Promised Lands and made a Covenant with him. According to him, the Lord will give Abraham’s descendants vast territories, and God’s chosen one will finally receive a long-awaited son.

Birth of Isaac

Before Abraham turned one hundred years old, he met three strangers who predicted the birth of his long-awaited heir in a year. Sarah only laughed at the words of the wanderers, because at that time she was eighty-nine years old, and she had long ago lost hope of becoming a mother.

But soon she became pregnant and gave birth to a healthy and strong boy. This event surprised everyone who learned about Abraham’s happiness. Therefore, the newborn was named Isaac, which means “laughter.”

GOSPEL OF THE DESCENT OF THE KINGDOM

1. God promises Abraham a son

Life 17:15-17 “And God said to Abraham, Do not call your wife Sarai, but let her name be Sarah; I will bless her and give you a son by her; I will bless her, and nations will come from her, and kings of nations will come from her. And Abraham fell on his face and laughed, and said to himself, “Shall a son be born to a hundred years old?” and Sarah, ninety years old, will she really give birth?”

Life 17:21-22 “But I will establish my covenant with Isaac, whom Sarah will bear to you at this very time in the next year. And God stopped speaking to Abraham and ascended from him.”

2. Abraham sacrifices Isaac

Life 22:2-3 “[God] said, Take thy son, thy only son, whom thou lovest, Isaac; and go to the land of Moriah and there offer him as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I will tell you. Abraham rose early in the morning, saddled his donkey, and took with him two of his servants and Isaac his son; He chopped wood for the burnt offering, and got up and went to the place that God had told him about.”

Life 22:9-10 “And they came to the place of which God had told him; And Abraham built an altar there, laid out the wood, and, having bound his son Isaac, he laid him on the altar on top of the wood. And Abraham stretched out his hand and took a knife to kill his son.”

No one can stop the work God intends to do

So you've just heard the story of Abraham. He was chosen by God after the flood destroyed the world. His name was Abraham, and when he was one hundred years old and his wife Sarah was ninety years old, he received a promise from God. What promise did God give him? God promised him what the Scripture says: “I will bless her and give you a son by her.” What happens when God promises to give Abraham a son? The Scripture says the following about this: “And Abraham fell on his face and laughed, and said to himself: “Shall a son be born to a man who is a hundred years old?” and Sarah, ninety years old, will she really give birth?” In other words, this elderly couple was too old to have children. What did Abraham do after God made His promise to him? He fell on his face and, laughing, said to himself: “Is there really going to be a son from a hundred years old?” Abraham thought that this was impossible, that is, he thought that God's promise to him was just a joke. From a human point of view, this is impossible, and in the same way it is unattainable and impossible for God. Probably, this seemed funny to Abraham: God created man, and at the same time He, it turns out, does not know that man at such an old age is incapable of bearing children. He thinks that he will allow me to have a child, He says that he will give me a son, but this is impossible! So Abraham fell on his face and laughed, thinking to himself, “This is impossible, God is playing tricks on me, this can’t be true!” Abraham did not take God's words seriously. What kind of person was Abraham in the eyes of God? (Righteous.) Where was it stated that he was righteous? You assume that everyone God speaks to is righteous and perfect, that they are people who walk with God. You draw conclusions based on teaching! You must clearly understand that when God defines someone, He does not do it arbitrarily. And in this case, God does not say that Abraham is righteous. God has standards in his heart to evaluate every person. And although God did not say what kind of man Abraham was as far as his behavior was concerned, what kind of faith did Abraham have in God? Was it a little abstract? Or did he have great faith? No! Abraham's laughter and thoughts showed us who he was, so your belief that he is righteous is only a figment of your imagination, it is a blind application of doctrine, it is a frivolous assessment. Did God see Abraham laugh, and how did he react inwardly, did God know about it? God knew. But would God change what He decided to do? No! When God planned and decided that he would choose this person, the matter was already closed. And neither man's thoughts nor his behavior could in any way influence this or hinder God; God would not arbitrarily change His plan, nor would He change or cancel His plan because of human behavior, no matter how foolish it may be. What is written in Genesis 17:21-22? “But I will establish my covenant with Isaac, whom Sarah will bear to you at this very time next year. And God stopped speaking to Abraham and ascended from him.” God paid no attention to what Abraham thought or said. For what reason did He ignore all this? This is because at that time God did not require great faith or great knowledge about God from a person, and especially did not expect that a person would be able to understand what God did and said. Thus, He did not require man to fully understand what He chose to do, why He chose to choose certain people, or that he understand the principles of His actions, since man's condition at that time was inadequate. At that time, God viewed all of Abraham's actions and actions as normal. He did not condemn, did not reproach, but simply said: “Sarah will bear you Isaac at this very time next year.” For God, after He spoke these words, the matter began to be resolved step by step: in the eyes of God, what was to be achieved through His plan had already been achieved. Having completed the preparations for this, God left. What a person does or thinks, what a person understands, or what a person plans, none of this concerns God. Everything happens according to God's plan, according to the timing and stages set by God. This is the principle of God's work. God does not interfere with what man thinks or does, but He does not give up His plan or abandon His work because man does not believe or understand them. Thus, the facts are carried out according to God's plan and purpose. This is exactly what we see in the Bible. God caused Isaac to be born at the time He set. Are there facts that prove that man's behavior and actions have interfered with the work of God? They did not interfere with God's work! Did the fact that man had little faith in God, as well as his ideas and concepts about God, affect the work of God? No! Not at all! No person, object or environment can influence God's management plan. Whatever He decides to do will be done and completed on time and according to His plan; and His work cannot be hindered by any man. God ignores certain aspects of man's stupidity or ignorance, and even certain aspects of man's resistance and man's ideas about Him, while doing, no matter what, the work that He has to do. This is the character of God, this is a reflection of His omnipotence.

from “God’s Work, God’s Character, and God Himself II” in The Word Appears in the Flesh

The meaning of Isaac's birth

The Bible calls Isaac "the fruit of faith." This is a very important point with deep religious meaning. After all, despite all the ridicule and time, Abraham did not lose faith in God and his revelation, he continued to live and simply patiently waited for the fulfillment of the promise.

It is Abraham’s perseverance that is given as an example to his descendants in the Old Testament. Everyone must be worthy, and not a single temptation should shake the power of true faith in the One God.

Abraham's Sacrifice: A Story of Boundless Faith

Abraham loved his son immensely and raised him in obedience and humility. When Isaac was thirteen years old, the Lord spoke to Abraham again. He ordered him to take his only son, servants, water, firewood and go to the mountain to make a sacrifice to the glory of God. Despite the enormity of what was said, Abraham did not hesitate; he collected everything he needed and set off.

Three days later they arrived at the place where Abraham's sacrifice was to take place. He left the servants at the foot of the mountain and went up the slope with his son. Abraham's heart was filled with sadness, but he believed his God and did not even think of challenging his will. Along the way, Isaac asked his father several times where the sacrificial lamb was that they would burn on the slope. Therefore, Abraham had to tell his son the truth. It is noteworthy that such a revelation did not cause Isaac to run away. He walked obediently with his father, trusting in his father and in his Lord.

Having reached the right place, Abraham laid out the brushwood, tied up his son, began to pray and had already raised the knife over Isaac’s neck when an angel stopped the sacrifice. He turned from heaven to father and son and forbade harm to Isaac, repeating that from this youth would come the chosen people.

After this, the Lord promised blessings and a large number of descendants to the entire family of Abraham. Thus, the failed sacrifice of Abraham became the root cause of the salvation of mankind. Thanks to boundless faith, people received a Savior from the line of Isaac and Abraham.

Abraham's Sacrifice (Gen. 22:1–24)

Abraham's Sacrifice

Today we will talk about perhaps the most dramatic event described in the Book of Genesis. This event is connected with the tenth test that Patriarch Abraham endured.

Of these we already know:

1. Trial by the fiery furnace in Ur of the Chaldeans;
2. The Almighty's order to leave his homeland and settle in Canaan;
3. Famine in Canaan;
4. The story of the Egyptian Pharaoh who took Abraham's wife Sarah for himself;
5. War for the liberation of Lot;
6. "Union between dissected parts";
7. Circumcision;
8. Abduction of Sarah by Abimelech;
9. The expulsion of Hagar and Ishmael.

Chapter 22 begins with the words: And it came to pass after these events ... (Gen. 22:1). We find something similar earlier, at the very beginning of chapter 15: After these incidents came to pass... (Gen. 15:1). Usually this expression occurs when it comes to something very significant. In the first case, in the 15th chapter, this is the covenant of God’s blessing with Abraham, and in the second, we are talking about the most difficult test that forefather Abraham endured. That is, there is no blessing without testing and no testing without blessing (1 Cor. 10:13).

And it came to pass after these incidents that God tempted Abraham and said to him: Abraham! He said: here I am (Gen. 22: 1). It’s a little unclear here: what does “God tempted Abraham” mean? In the Catholic Epistle of the Apostle James it is said: When tempted, no one should say: God is tempting me; because God is not tempted by evil and He Himself does not tempt anyone (James 1:13). We must adhere to this position that God is not tempted by evil, and He Himself does not tempt anyone.

The purpose of “temptations” and tests is to improve a person

In fact, the trials that God sends us, He does not send us in order to test us, examine us, double-check us: in the eyes of God we are absolutely transparent. It is said: ...Eternal God, knower of the unseen and knowing everything before its existence! (Dan. 13:42). There is only one goal: to perfect a person to whom God sends this or that test (“temptation”). In the same Catholic Epistle of James we read: Blessed is the man who endures temptation, because, having been tested, he will receive the crown of life, which the Lord promised to those who love Him (James 1:12).

So, the purpose of these “temptations” and tests is to improve a person, to perfect him. There can be no other goal on the part of God, for He always seeks good for us, because He Himself is good.

And it came to pass after these incidents that God tempted Abraham and said to him: Abraham! He said: here I am (Gen. 22: 1). We see with what haste the prophet of God Abraham responds to God's call. But the first part of this verse is much more complex than we might think. And it came to pass, after these incidents ... - sometimes this part of the 1st verse of the 22nd chapter is translated as: “And it came to pass after these words, stories...”. What is meant?

The fact is that the 22nd chapter is not thematically connected with the end of the 21st. Therefore, this expression: And it came to pass, after these incidents ... - absolutely independently, and, most likely, the words are meant: “And it came to pass, after these words...”. Whose words might be meant? - The devil.

If you and I open the Book of Job, we will read: And there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord; Satan also came among them. And the Lord said to Satan: Where did you come from? And Satan answered the Lord and said: I walked on the earth and walked around it. And the Lord said to Satan: Have you paid attention to my servant Job? for there is no one like him on earth: a blameless, just, fearing God and shunning evil. And Satan answered the Lord and said: Does Job fear God for nothing? Haven't you fenced him around, and his house, and all that he has? You blessed the work of his hands, and his flocks spread throughout the earth (Job 1:6-10).

Indeed, one of the actions of the devil: in Hebrew שָׂטָן – Satan, that is, “the one who opposes,” “contradicts,” “slanders”; that is, one that proposes something completely opposite; and “Satan” is a word-name used in the Bible, meaning both a political opponent (dissident) (3 Kings 5:18) or even a traitor in war (1 Kings 29:4), and an accuser in court (prosecutor) (Ps. 109:6), and an opponent in a dispute (2 Kings 19:23). It also means the Angel of God opposing the lost prophet (Num. 22:32).

But, indeed, the evil one always speaks against the righteous, against the pious, and we can assume that in the case of Abraham there was no exception, because Satan is precisely the opponent who seeks to slander the righteous in the eyes of God, as we see in the Book Job.

And this or that test that is sent from God is also sent in order to overcome the slander of the evil one, those whisperings of the devil that righteous, pious people, even people like Abraham, can experience.

And it came to pass after these incidents that God tempted Abraham and said to him: Abraham! He said: here I am. God said: Take your son, your only son, whom you love, Isaac; and go to the land of Moriah and there offer him as a burnt offering on one of the mountains about which I will tell you (Gen. 22: 1-2). You and I remember how long Abraham prayed for a son. And when the Lord speaks about this necessary sacrifice, the Lord does not immediately call the name of Isaac, He first speaks as if in stages (strengthening the impression): Take your son - it does not say which one - your only son - Abraham had two sons: Ishmael and Isaac, whom you love ; - so Abraham loved both, Ishmael and Isaac.

And only then the Lord says: Isaac . That is, that same Isaac, in whom were all Abraham’s hopes for the Divine promise, which through Isaac was to be fulfilled! And now all hopes are destroyed! Ishmael - he left Abraham. True, at this moment we can assume that he has returned. But these words! There is so much tension in them! Take your son, your only son, whom you love, Isaac; and go to the land of Moriah and there offer him as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I will tell you.

Here is this uncertainty: on one of the mountains that I will tell you about there is an indication that we will be talking not only about Mount Moriah (temple mount) but also about Mount Golgotha.

What is the land of Moriah? What is Mount Moriah on which this sacrifice is to take place? In the Second Book of Chronicles we find the following words: Solomon began to build the house of the Lord in Jerusalem on Mount Moriah, which was indicated to David his father, in the place that David had prepared (2 Chron. 3:1).

So, Mount Moriah is the same mountain on which Solomon will build the first Jerusalem temple. This is the same mountain on which the second Temple of Jerusalem will be built, in which our twelve-year-old Lord Jesus Christ will instruct the Jewish elders. And to the question of the Virgin Mary and Joseph: Child! what have you done to us? will answer: I must be in that which belongs to My Father (Luke 2:48-49). This is a very iconic place! And Abraham is invited to make a sacrifice on Mount Moriah.

In this expression: “and go” - we again thematically encounter the phrase that we find at the beginning of the 12th chapter: “Lech-Lecha” (לֶךְ לְךָ) - “go to yourself”, or: “go to yourself” . Where to go? To the land of Moriah! The Land of Moriah is a rather abstract concept; the Lord is not yet talking about Mount Moriah here. That is, Abraham, by this call of God, seems to be thrown back to the situation in which we first meet Abraham in the Bible, when God says to him: go... and go (lech-lecha) (Gen. 12: 1). Where to go? Why go? Why?

Thus, in these words: and go (וְלֶךְ לְךָ). Scripture shows us that Abraham seemed to have lost everything he had gained (thrown back). It was this embarrassment that took possession of him, as if it had supplanted all the experience that this man had by that time. Including the experience of communion with God. everything seems to start all over again. After all, his entire previous life, starting from the age of 75, when he first heard these words: lech-lech, is crossed out, everything begins anew.

After all, he lived so that Isaac, the son of promise, would be born! God performed great miracles, God preserved him so that there would be an heir from whom the Messiah would come - Christ the Savior. And suddenly - all over again! “go... and go” to the land of Moriah...

What does this name mean: Moriah ? There is a single root Hebrew word that means “fear”, “trembling”, meaning human fear, panic, horror, which in the case of Abraham should be replaced by the fear of God, fear of God. But, on the other hand, the word Moriah has the same root and with the word “mirror” - the same fragrant myrrh that was part of the incense (Ex. 30, 35) prepared in the Jerusalem temple, without which the priests did not burn incense in the first Jerusalem temple and in the second temple in Jerusalem. And with this supposed sacrifice, Abraham would begin the tradition of performing sacred rituals at this site.

So, the land of Moriah is also the future Jerusalem. Because those of you who have been to Jerusalem have seen the Temple Mount - it is located in the center of Jerusalem, Mount Moriah. And so Abraham must go there. And don’t just beg this place. He must, as the Lord said, on one of the mountains about which I will tell you , offer his son as a burnt offering.

And we see Abraham’s readiness to do the will of God. When he heard the call, he said: Here I am . And then we read: Abraham got up early in the morning - you see how this righteous one acts! - He saddled his donkey, took with him two of his youths and Isaac his son; He chopped wood for the burnt offering, and got up and went to the place that God had told him about (Gen. 22:3).

Origen writes: “Abraham rose early in the morning, since the text added “early,” probably to show that the light was shining in his heart.”[1]

Abraham gets up before everyone else. It is said that he saddled his donkey , and only then is it said that he took with him two of his youths and Isaac his son; He chopped wood for the burnt offering - again himself - and got up and went to the place about which God had told him .

How old was Isaac then? The fact is that chapter 22 is not directly related to chapter 21. It is rather connected with the 23rd, which speaks of the death of Sarah: Sarah's life was one hundred and twenty-seven years: these are the years of Sarah's life; and Sarah died (Gen. 23:1-2). In other words, Scripture tells us why Sarah died: she learned about the risk Isaac was exposed to, and she did not endure such an experience; however, not all fathers share this point of view. She dies at 127 years old - by the way, this is the only woman whose age at the time of death is indicated in the Holy Scriptures, for the indicated number has a symbolic meaning. So, this means that Isaac was 37 years old at the time Abraham decided to sacrifice him. Very often pictures depict Abraham trying to sacrifice a little boy. But Isaac was not a little boy, he was 37 years old!

Abraham took two youths with him. You shouldn’t think that a teenager is a teenager in the current understanding, a teenage boy, almost a child. A youth is, first of all, a servant; he is one who has not yet created his own family. And we can assume that the two youths are the people closest to Abraham. These are Ishmael, who was 50 years old at that time, and Eliezer, who was much older than Ishmael. That is, the closest people. It is possible that Ishmael joined this campaign between his first and second marriage. Last time we recalled that, according to ancient legend, Ishmael drove away his first wife because Abraham did not find virtues in her.

Abraham rose early in the morning, saddled his donkey, and took with him two of his servants and Isaac his son; He chopped wood for the burnt offering, and got up and went to the place that God had told him about (Gen. 22:3). It should be noted that this place was not so far from Abraham, but we will see that Abraham takes three days to get to this place (Gen. 22:4). Why three days?

Before we answer this question, let's try to understand why Abraham chopped wood? Abraham perceives this test as his greatest temptation, and he wants to be a perfected man. And he prepared this firewood, split it, because if he came to the place and did not find firewood there, then, it would seem, this would be an excuse: “But there is no firewood there, Lord!” And Abraham leaves no hope that there will be no firewood there! He chopped the wood himself, he takes it with him so as not to seek an excuse for himself why he did not fulfill this obedience to God.

Very often, when we are given some kind of obedience, we are looking for an apology for ourselves: “But someone wasn’t there! But there were no candles there! There was no lamp oil!..” Or something else. Abraham does not leave even a hint of retreat for himself: he chopped wood! Because, indeed, he may find himself in such a desert, in such a desolate place where there will be no firewood! And he prepares in advance to fulfill God’s instructions.

On the third day, Abraham lifted up his eyes and saw that place from afar (Gen. 22:4). Although Abraham could have reached this place in one day. But he walks for three days because the struggle takes place in his soul. These three days mean that there was time to think about everything. And this sacrifice is not performed spontaneously: I heard the voice of God, ran... No! He spends three days with Isaac, with two youths - they walk, they are in no hurry. In fact, to walk so slowly, they might have had to zigzag. That is, they were not walking quite in a straight line.

On the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes . This expression: lifting up his eyes means in the Bible that a person began to pray. He wants to get out of this temptation, from this labyrinth, from the temptation not to fulfill the will of God as God requires. And when Abraham began to pray, he saw that place from afar . How could he see this particular place? Most likely, there was a sign: perhaps a “shining (overshadowing) cloud” appeared over this place, it was somehow marked. This was the answer to his prayers.

When we experience some kind of temptation, we must understand that God does not tempt anyone, in the sense that He does not set anyone up! God sends us trials for the sole purpose of improving us, making us more steadfast in the truth of God.

And Abraham said to his youths: you stay here with the donkey, and I and my son will go there and worship, and return to you (Gen. 22:5).

As a prophet of God, Abraham speaks the truth. He says: My son and I will go there and worship, and return to you . Although, as a person, he does not understand how this can happen, because he is going to slaughter his son, to bring him as a burnt offering. As a man, he does not understand how the two of them can return, but as a prophet he says exactly this: My son and I will go there and worship, and we will return to you .

There is something significant in this verse 5 when Abraham says to the supposed Ishmael and the supposed Eliezer: Stay here with the donkey . What could these words mean? They mean that their spiritual level was not the same as his and Isaac's. Stay here with the donkey - that is, at the foot of the future Jerusalem, the future holy mountain, where there will be a temple - the first Jerusalem temple, the second Jerusalem temple. What does it mean: stay here with the donkey ? “With your animal instincts you cannot climb this holy mountain! With your, if you like, donkey stubbornness in your sins, you will not be able to ascend, rise to such a form of communion with God as is being revealed.” After all, Ishmael was already prophetically called a wild donkey (cf. Gen. 16:12). Archbishop Caesarius of Arles (470-542 AD) writes: “The two youths whom he commanded to remain with the donkey symbolize the people of the Jews, unable to rise and reach the place of sacrifice, because this people did not believe in Christ. Donkey is a symbol of a synagogue”[2].

In the story of the sacrifice of Isaac, the question arises: who was on a higher spiritual level: Isaac or Abraham? Abraham or Isaac? Of course, Isaac already understands what's going on. Now he’ll sort of double-check these thoughts, but he’s already guessing. And if Abraham goes to sacrifice Isaac - think about it - Isaac goes to become this sacrifice! Therefore, it is difficult to say which of them is on a higher spiritual level.

Isaac is an icon of Jesus Christ, who goes through a sorrowful path according to the will of the Heavenly Father

And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering, and laid it on Isaac his son; He took fire and a knife in his hands, and they both went together (Gen. 22:6). This expression: and they both went together is also found at the end of verse 8: and they both went further together (Gen. 22:8). And here the words very often alternate: “father - son”, “son - father”. Who does Isaac symbolize as he carries the wood on his shoulders, the tree to be sacrificed? It symbolizes Jesus Christ, our Lord. At this moment, Isaac is an icon of Jesus Christ, who is going through a sorrowful path according to the will of the Heavenly Father.

Clement of Alexandria writes: “And Isaac himself (for this can be interpreted differently) is the image of the Lord. Indeed, he is a son, just as the Lord is a Son, for he (Isaac) was the son of Abraham, just as Christ was the Son of God; Moreover, he is a victim, just like the Lord. However, Isaac was not sacrificed like the Lord, but only carried the wood for the sacred ceremony, just like the Lord - the wood of the cross. And he (Isaac) laughed mysteriously (Genesis 21, 3, 6 - “Isaac” (“laughter”)), prophesying that the Lord will fill us with joy, delivered from corruption by the blood of the Lord”[3].

And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering, and laid it on Isaac his son; He took the fire and the knife in his hands, and they both went together. And Isaac began to speak to Abraham his father, and said: My father! He answered: Here I am, my son. He said: Here is the fire and the wood, where is the lamb for the burnt offering ? (Genesis 22:6–7). Here Isaac clearly double-checks his suspicions.

Abraham said: God will provide (אֱלֹקִים יִרְאֶה)[4] for Himself a lamb for a burnt offering, my son. And they both walked further together (Gen. 22:8). These words: “God will provide for Himself a lamb” - this is the Gospel or prophecy about Jesus Christ. God the Father provided for Himself the Lamb when God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son (as a sacrifice - O.S.), so that whoever believes in Him would not perish, but have eternal life (John 3:16).

These prophetic dialogues testify to the level of these people! Isaac shows the greatest humility! And again this repetition: And they both walked further together - this is evidence that the level of father and son was the same (equal). And maybe the level of Isaac was even higher than the level of Abraham, because Abraham goes to make a sacrifice, and Isaac goes to become this sacrifice.

And they came to the place that God had told him about; and Abraham built an altar there, laid out the wood, and, having bound his son Isaac, laid him on the altar on top of the wood (Gen. 22:9).

Saint Ambrose of Milan writes: “With a fatherly hand, he drew a knife over his son and, crushed by fatherly love, trembled, lest the execution would be missed, the blow would not miss and the right hand would not lose power. He felt a feeling of love, but did not retreat from the promise and was in a hurry to show humility...”[5].

These words - Abraham built an altar there - would be more correctly translated as “he rebuilt the altar there.” The word: there is more correctly understood: “in the same place.” That is, at this place before him, before Abraham, sacrifices were already made. Of course, Noah performed sacrifices here, and Shem and Eber - those who belonged to the righteous line, were pious and righteous people. Abraham, as it were, restores the altar, and the service there will not cease. Here we will see Jacob in a few decades, who will be in this place and honor it as holy (Gen. 28:18).

And they came to the place that God had told him about; and Abraham built an altar there, laid out the wood, and, having bound his son Isaac, laid him on the altar on top of the wood (Gen. 22:9).

Josephus writes: “Isaac calmly listened to these words (because with such a father he himself, of necessity, had to be distinguished by nobility of character) and, saying that his birth would have been illegal if he had decided to evade the decision of the Lord God and his father and would not willingly place himself at the disposal of both of them, especially since it would be lawlessness not to obey his father, even if he alone decided to perform this sacrifice and ascended to the altar, preparing to be sacrificed.”[6]

Abraham is a true prophet, he is in continuous prayerful communication with God

In fact, we do not find in the text where God speaks about this place: specifically Mount Moriah. This indicates that God is in constant internal dialogue with Abraham through words, images and visions. Abraham is a true prophet of God, and he is in continuous prayerful communication with God.

He binds Isaac and what do we see? At the end of Genesis the people swear by the fear of Isaac. It is said: Jacob swore by the fear of his father Isaac (Gen. 31:53). Why don't they swear obedience to Abraham? Why do they swear by the fear of Isaac? Because Isaac, who was tied up and laid on the sacrificial wood, at that moment did not think about death, he did not think about the sacrificial stone knife, he did not think about the fire that was in his father’s hands. At that moment he was afraid to disobey his father! This is what the “fear of Isaac” is. This fear makes us shudder when we talk about it. He was not afraid of death at that moment, he was afraid of disobeying his father and breaking God’s commandment: Honor your father (Exodus 20:12). That is why his fear is sacred. And then people swore by the fear of Isaac. This is not panic in the human understanding of the word, this is precisely fear of God (fear of God).

Since a respectful attitude towards parents means a respectful attitude towards God, Who is the universal Father!

And, the most amazing thing (!), in reality, here in the person of Isaac the entire Jewish people are sacrificed, including, according to the flesh, our Lord Jesus Christ. If Isaac is killed now, not a single Jew except Abraham will appear on earth! The entire people, including the prophets of God, the psalmist David, the ancestor according to the flesh of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Virgin Mary and the twelve apostles, are laid in this Isaac on the sacrificial wood, and the knife is already raised! And the fear, the sacred fear of Isaac, which he felt at that moment... This is a very tragic event that we read about.

And Abraham stretched out his hand and took a knife to kill his son (Gen. 22:10) - and all his possible descendants.

But the Angel of the Lord called to him from heaven and said: Abraham! Abraham ! (Genesis 22:11) I once already explained to you that the repetition of the name testifies to God’s special attitude: Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me? (Acts 9:4; 22:7; 26:14). Or: Samuel, Samuel! (1 Sam. 3:10), when God called a prophet, a youth who served Him under Elijah. Or, for example, from the middle of a burning bush: Moses! Moses! (Ex. 3, 4).

But the Angel of the Lord called to him from heaven - why an Angel? Why doesn't it just say, "The Lord called"? Swiftness is emphasized, because the angel is precisely the swift fulfillment of God’s instructions. Any angel is God’s commission! Here is a hint that Abraham performs a service above that of the angels.

But the Angel of the Lord called to him from heaven and said: Abraham! Abraham! He said: here I am (Gen. 22:11). The hand was already raised to strike! And again we see the same readiness. When Abraham heard God's call, he said: Here I am ! – we read at the beginning of this chapter. And here, when the tragic denouement is already coming, and the Angel stops him, Abraham again pronounces these words: here I am , this amazing man of God! You remember how on the third day after circumcision he ran around his tent, how he ran to the flocks, how he returned, how he ran to the servants, giving them instructions. This is an amazing, impetuous, like an angel, person!

Why is it said here that an Angel... called to him from heaven ? – Let’s ask this question again. This shows the holiness of Abraham, his spiritual quality - they moved away from these “donkeys” left below, from this primitive way of life (and the primitive forms of Ishmael’s religiosity), they rose and, as it were, reached Heaven. Because if some voice comes from the sky itself, it must be very loud to be heard. This simply emphasizes their level, the level of these amazing people, father and son, who have approached Heaven in their religious feelings. Abraham says: here I am , he speaks for himself and for his son, and these words are more correctly understood: here we are, Lord.

The angel said: Do not raise your hand against the boy and do not do anything to him, for now I know that you fear God and have not withheld your son, your only son, for Me. And Abraham lifted up his eyes ... (Gen. 22:12-13). Abraham begins, or rather, continues to pray. What is Abraham praying for? He wants to fulfill the will of God, he does not know how to fulfill it so that the prophecy that the two of them will return back is fulfilled.

And Abraham lifted up his eyes and saw: and behold, behind him was a ram caught in a thicket by his horns. Abraham went and took the ram and offered it as a burnt offering in place of [Isaac] his son. And Abraham called the name of that place Jehovah-jireh. Therefore, even now it is said: on the mountain of Jehovah he will be seen (יְדֹוָד יֵרָאֶה)[7] (Gen. 22:13-14). This phrase means: “The Lord will provide.” This means: “The Lord will choose this place for himself.” And here the Angel of God will preach, appearing to one prophet or another, here the Lamb of God (Christ) will testify to the truths of God’s law. This is a special place, it will be filled with celestials - not just one Angel, many angels. It is said: ... the ladder stands on the ground, and its top touches the sky; and behold, the Angels of God ascend and descend on it (Gen. 28:12). Carved images of cherubim were then made on all the walls of the temple all around, so that people would understand what kind of place this was, on all the walls of the temple all around (2 Kings 6:29). Even among Orthodox Christians, we do not have as many images in our churches as there were in the Jerusalem Temple.

At the same time, these words, “Jehovah-jireh” (“Yahweh-jireh”), mean that the Lord will provide that ONLY Lamb, whose sacrifice will be offered for the entire human race. This Lamb is our Lord Jesus Christ. And you know that when John the Baptist saw the Son of God on the Jordan, he exclaimed: behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world (John 1:29).

Did Abraham feel sorry for his son? Of course yes! God the Father - does He love His Son? Yes! God the Father loves God the Son, God the Son loves God the Father, and Love itself, which unites the Father and the Son (“the love of both”) [8], has Life in itself - this is the Holy Spirit, as Augustine the Blessed and Gregory the Double teach. But it is said: For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son (that is, he gave as a sacrifice - O.S.), so that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have eternal life (John 3:16). That is, all these events associated with Abraham and Isaac and even with these two youths, the supposed Ishmael and the supposed Eliezer, are symbolic actions that reveal the essence of events that will happen much later and will be associated with God the Father and God the Son. And with the sacrifice that was made at the foot of the mountain, where these two youths remained with the donkey, for Golgotha ​​is behind the hill of Jerusalem, behind the walls of the city, where the youths remained with the donkey (this is a very symbolic expression). For Christ did not come to die for the righteous, but for sinners. He came to this world to die outside the walls of Jerusalem, where people are on such a low, animal level, where sin is committed with asinine stubbornness. The donkey in Scripture is a symbol of over-lust, especially in prophetic texts. But even this animal, the beginning of savagery, will be tamed and saddled by the Son of God, that is, he will bring the Grace of Salvation into the plan of His economy. It is said: Rejoice with joy, daughter of Zion, rejoice, daughter of Jerusalem: behold, your King is coming to you, righteous and saving, meek, sitting on a donkey and on the colt of a donkey, the son of the yoke (Zech. 9:9).

The Son of God, our Lord Jesus Christ - He was sacrificed as a propitiation in His God-manhood, He will accomplish what Abraham predicts here. “Yahweh-ireh” – the Lord will provide. That is, there will be that Lamb! On the other hand, “Yahweh-ireh” means that everyone who prays in the first temple, in the second temple, the Lord will provide, He will hear his prayer...

From Mount Moriah we too will see Mount Golgotha ​​and the Cross of the Lamb, the Source of our Eternal Salvation! I lift up my eyes to the mountains [9] , from where my help will come (Ps. 120:1).

And Abraham called the name of that place Jehovah-jireh. Therefore, even now it is said: on the mountain of Jehovah he will be provided (Gen. 22:14). That is, “on God’s mountain.” How important it is to climb this mountain! This is very important, it is more important than anything we do in our lives. Of course, we cannot rise to communion with God on our own. And God becomes a man and descends to us, because he sees our inability to rise to communion with God. He even descends into hell, He is ready to enter the hell of your and my soul, mired in sins, and illuminate the hell of our sinful souls with the radiance of the Divine.

And the Angel of the Lord called to Abraham a second time from heaven (Gen. 22:15). Again this expression: from the sky - this is not some kind of spatial hint. And the Angel of the Lord called to Abraham a second time from heaven and said: I swear by Me, says the Lord, that because you have done this deed, and have not withheld your son, your only son, [for Me], then I will bless you in blessing and multiply I will multiply the seed. yours are like the stars of heaven and like the sand on the seashore; and your seed will take possession of the cities of their enemies (Gen. 22:15-17).

Here two different images are given: like the stars of heaven and like sand on the seashore . Why these two images? I have already explained, God seems to be saying: “I will bless your descendants. Whether they will live righteously and piously and shine like the stars in the sky, or they will be sinners, like the dust of the earth, trampled underfoot, like the sand that is trampled underfoot on the seashore, I will still take care of them!” That is why there are two such images: the stars of heaven and the shifting and washed-out sand on the seashore. It is said: If his sons forsake My law and do not walk in My commandments; If they break My statutes and do not keep My commandments, I will visit their iniquity with a rod, and their iniquity with blows; But I will not take My mercy away from him, and I will not change My truth. I will not break My covenant, and I will not change what has gone out of My mouth (Ps. 88:31-35).

It further says: And through your seed all the nations of the earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice (Gen. 22:18). Here the Lord seems to say: “Yes, from your seed, for sure, the Messiah will come, who will bring blessing to all nations, all tribes, for through Him people will know the Commandment of God.”

And Abraham returned to his youths (Gen. 22:19). They descend from this mountain, where, it would seem, the sky bowed and the voice of God was heard. And Abraham returned to his servants, and they arose and went together to Beersheba; and Abraham lived in Bathsheba (Gen. 22:19). “And from Beersheba to Mount Moriah is a day’s journey, very close, even less than a day.” But then he walked for three days, he struggled with those thoughts, excuses, demons that overcame him. And only when he raised his eyes, that is, turned to God in prayer, did help come, the Lord strengthened him so that he would fulfill His will.

After these events they told Abraham, saying: Behold, Milkah also bore sons to your brother Nahor: Uz his firstborn, Buz his brother, Kemuel the father of Aram, Kesed, Hazo, Pildash, Idlath and Bethuel; Bethuel gave birth to Rebekah. Milcah bore these eight [sons] to Abraham's brother Nahor; and his concubine, named Reumah, also gave birth to Tebaha, Haham, Tachash and Maacah (Gen. 22:20-24).

Why is this information here, immediately after such a tragic description? Isaac is 37 years old, it’s time for Isaac to get married. Abraham understands this. Of course, this experience on Mount Moriah will stay with Abraham for the rest of his earthly days, and he rushes to see the offspring of Isaac, whom he almost lost.

Sarah did not survive this experience - she died. And thematically, the 22nd chapter is connected with the 23rd, which immediately talks about the death of Sarah, who, most likely, simply could not bear the news of what happened on Mount Moriah.

How real are the events described in the Bible?

To modern people, human sacrifice seems extremely monstrous. But in Old Testament times this was considered commonplace. Innocent souls - children - were especially often sacrificed. After all, they were the most precious gift.

Therefore, there is nothing unusual in the description of sacrifice. In addition, the mountain where Abraham sacrificed a ram in place of his son actually exists. Subsequently, it received the name Moriah and remained deserted for a long time, but later the Jerusalem Temple was built on it. It was erected in honor of the Lord by the famous King Solomon, who was led to the mountain by an angel and ordered to build a sanctuary where services to the One God would take place.

The meaning of the legend of the sacrifice of Abraham

Many theologians see the parable as a background story about the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. The story of Abraham and Isaac became a prototype of the future scenario for the salvation of mankind. After all, the Lord also gave people his son, who, knowing about his fate, did not doubt and did not abandon his mission. He loved his father and people so much that he gave his life for the common good and immortality.

In this sense, the sacrifice of Abraham is seen in other religions. But there is another meaning to this story - God is ready to give a person everything he promised, regardless of the timing of fulfillment. Only he knows when the right moment will come, but it will definitely be the most successful. But is a person ready to sacrifice everything for the sake of a merciful God? Everyone should ask themselves this question.

Modern man is quite far from everything described in the Old Testament. We live in a world with its bustle and problems. But sometimes it’s worth picking up the Bible and thoughtfully re-reading the story of Isaac and Abraham. Perhaps you will discover a new meaning to long-familiar phrases. After all, God is merciful, and he leads everyone to salvation in his own way...

WHY DID ABRAHAM SACRIFICE HIS SON ISAAC?

Genesis 22:1 And it came to pass after these things that God tempted Abraham, and said unto him, Abraham! He said: here I am. 2 God

said: Take your son, your only son, whom you love, Isaac;
and go to the land of Moriah and there offer him as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I will tell you. 3 Abraham rose early in the morning, saddled his donkey, and took with him two of his servants and Isaac his son; He chopped wood for the burnt offering, and got up and went to the place that God had told him about. 4 On the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes and saw the place from afar. 5 And Abraham said to his servants, “You stay here with the donkey, and I and my son will go there and worship, and we will return to you.” 6 And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on Isaac his son; He took the fire and the knife in his hands, and they both went together. 7 And Isaac began to speak to Abraham his father, and said: My father! He answered: Here I am, my son. He said, “Here is the fire and the wood; where is the lamb for the burnt offering?” 8 Abraham said, “God will provide for Himself a lamb for a burnt offering, my son.” And they both walked on
together.
9 And they came to the place of which God had told him; And Abraham built an altar there, laid out the wood, and, having bound his son Isaac, he laid him on the altar on top of the wood. 10 And Abraham stretched out his hand and took a knife to kill his son. 11 But the Angel of the Lord called to him from heaven and said: Abraham! Abraham! He said: here I am. 12 The angel
said, “Do not lay your hand on the boy or do anything to him, for now I know that you fear God and have not withheld your son, your only son, for Me.”
13 And Abraham lifted up his eyes and saw, and behold, behind him was a ram caught in a thicket by his horns. Abraham went and took the ram and offered it as a burnt offering in place of his son. 14 And Abraham called the name of that place Jehovah-jireh. Therefore , even
now it is said: on the mountain of Jehovah it will be provided.
15 And the angel of the Lord called to Abraham a second time from heaven, 16 and said: I have sworn, says the Lord, that because you have done this deed, and have not withheld your son, your only son, 17 I will bless you in blessing and multiply I will multiply your seed, like the stars of heaven and like the sand on the seashore; and your seed shall take possession of the cities of their enemies; 18 And through your seed all the nations of the earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed my voice. 19 And Abraham returned to his servants, and they arose and went together to Beersheba; and Abraham lived in Beersheba. By faith Abraham, being tempted, sacrificed Isaac and, having a promise, offered his only begotten, about whom it was said: “In Isaac your seed will be called”;
for he thought that God was able to resurrect from the dead, which is why he received it as an omen. Heb. 11:17-18. It should be noted right away: before us is a unique page from the life of a man of faith. What happened to Abraham is the only time in the entire Bible when God tested a person in this way. And we know how this test ended: the Lord did not allow him to raise a knife over his son and provided a ram for a burnt offering. This is the only sacrifice provided by God. Yes, Isaac was taken up the mountain and then brought down from it, and the sacrifice actually took place, but in a completely different sense, which will be discussed later.

This was the most difficult and exceptional moment in the life of the patriarch. Like a bolt of lightning, with particular strength and brightness it illuminated the depth of his inner world and the greatness of his spirit. By that time, Abraham was a spiritually mature man, with a clear, established worldview. He rose so high in faith that he understood the language of God without words and was ready to fulfill any, even the most incredible of His commands, for he knew that God would not allow the irreparable and that His great plans for the creation of the chosen people would come true. Everything that Abraham did in his life, he did solely out of love for God. This was facilitated by his characteristic kindness and mercy.

Wherever Abraham traveled, he preached that God was disgusted with human sacrifice. And suddenly God commands him to sacrifice his own son. This command was at odds with Abraham's natural understanding of good and evil. It might seem unfair and unnatural to him, because he had to break the only link between the past and the future and destroy the only hope for the birth of a new people. And yet, despite this, Abraham goes to fulfill this command. He goes because he trusts God more than himself. He believes that everything that comes from God is good, although man is not always able to understand this. And Abraham's faith was justified. This test of his was the pinnacle, the apotheosis of his faith.

In the book of Genesis (22:1-18) we read: “And it came to pass... God tempted Abraham...”

It is appropriate to pose here a number of questions that always confuse those who are not confirmed in the faith.
Why are God's saints sometimes subjected to inexplicable suffering? And why did God need to test Abraham? Was the reason in himself or did God provide for something else? Was it an accident that the fiery trial befell the righteous and blameless Job? Usually a person follows the simplest approach to solving such issues, trying to find the cause of the inexplicable suffering of the saints in their guilt, sin or imperfection. Job's friends believed that he was suffering for his sin. Such judgments belittle the feat of faith of the saints of God and God Himself. Some interpreters believe that Abraham loved his son Isaac more than God, of which God reminds him: “... take your son, your only son, whom you love...
” (Gen. 22:2). This love of his, they say, completely captured his heart, so that God was relegated to the background. Therefore, the Lord decided to test what was stronger in Abraham: love for Him or for His son, in order to admonish His servant and put him in his place.

The secret of this test was hidden behind a veil, which God is slowly opening. The fact that Abraham was attached to Isaac and loved him so dearly undoubtedly took place, but there was nothing reprehensible in this, because Isaac was his son not only by blood, but also by spirit, the only successor of Abraham’s work. The reason why the patriarch was put to the test was much deeper than is generally believed among people.

Let us remember that God called Abraham, this great man of faith, His “friend” (James 2:21-23). Few men of God, whose names shine in the Bible, have been awarded this high title. Abraham grew in faith, in trusting God and understanding His will so much that God decided to raise him to an even higher level and bring him closer to Himself. In his person, God wanted to reveal a great prototype of His own, Father’s sacrificial love - the love of God the Father sacrificing the Son! Moreover, God was preparing Abraham to be the father of Jesus our Lord. Jesus Christ, in His discussion with the Jews, refers to Abraham and tells them such meaningful words: “Abraham your father rejoiced to see My day: and he saw and rejoiced” (John 8:56). He was glad to see the day of the coming of the Redeemer into the world, who would wipe off the head of the serpent (Gen. 3:15). He waited for Him in faith. I saw Him by faith and rejoiced by faith. His faith achieved such the highest insight. And therefore, as S. Destunis writes in the “Bible for Older Children,” “the strongest of all people in faith faced the most difficult test, the only one from the beginning to the end of the existence of people on earth.”

And in the Brussels edition of the Bible (1973), in the “Appendices” (p. 1863) it is written: “Abraham’s willingness to sacrifice his only son typifies the love of God the Father, who did not spare His Only Begotten Son (John 3:16; Rom. 8: 32)". So, in Genesis 22, Abraham is presented as a type of God the Father

. All progressive thinkers and theologians of Christianity agree on this opinion. It was not because Abraham loved his son so much that God put him to the test, but because God wanted to make Abraham like Himself, His sacrificial love in offering His Son to atone for the sins of mankind.

In the person of Abraham, the Lord saw a man who rose to such a spiritual height that he was able to understand His suffering heart and convey it to people. And if before the sacrifice Abraham only guessed about the Redeemer as a sacrificial Lamb, then after the sacrifice he had complete clarity that this Lamb would be the Son of God, in whom “all the nations of the earth will be blessed,” and that this Son would be from his descendants (John. 8:56).

Abraham lived approximately two thousand years before Christ, when there was no law, given later by Moses, and there was no Grace (John 1:17). Of course, he could not yet imagine the full picture of the atoning suffering of Christ on Calvary. David, who lived a thousand years before Christ, had already prophetically seen Him on the cross and by faith identified with His suffering when he wrote: “...they pierced my hands and my feet. I could count all my bones, but they look and make a spectacle out of me” (Ps. 21:17-18). And the prophet Isaiah, 700 years BC, penetrated more deeply into the suffering of Christ and depicted Calvary and the work He accomplished in the famous 53rd chapter, called the Old Testament Gospel.

Men of faith, endowed with a prophetic spirit, foresaw the coming of the Son of God to earth. Abraham was the first of the prophets to achieve this high insight. The peculiarity of his revelation was that he experienced with his own son what the price of our redemption was, and through this he penetrated into the depths of the heart of the Heavenly Father, who gave His Son to martyrdom. God was pleased to see among His creation such a man of faith as Abraham, who adopted many of His characteristics. He is also pleased to see the spiritual rise and growth of those who achieve likeness to the Son of God or God the Father. To such He promises: “He who overcomes will inherit all things, and I will be his God, and he will be My son” (Rev. 21:7).

So, in the sacrifice of his only son, the dearest and most beloved that he had, Abraham identified himself with God the Father. Holy Scripture conveys this story in simple but breathtaking words: “And it came to pass after these things that God tempted Abraham...”

The question is raised: after what “incidents”? We usually overlook this word, but there is something hidden behind it. Jewish commentators explain: “...after the words of Satan. Satan, that is, the accusing angel, appeared before the Almighty and said: Abraham serves You, but he does this only for the sake of his offspring, that is, for his own sake, and not in order to fulfill Your will.”

Just like in the story of Job, the enemy of the soul could not leave Abraham alone. He appeared before God more than once with accusations against him, as he does now (Rev. 12:10). In order to shut his mouth once and for all, God decided to subject His servant to such a test, where not only Satan, but the whole world would fall silent, seeing the heroism of Abraham’s obedience. “...God tempted Abraham...”

Why does it say that God tempted him? After all, God never tempts anyone and He Himself is not tempted by evil (James 1:13-15). The word “temptation” is used here in the sense of testing and testing to strengthen faith and certify fidelity. This is what Bl. writes. Theodoret, one of the Church Fathers: “God did not tempt Abraham in order to find out for himself what he did not know; but to teach those who do not know how justly God loved the patriarch.” A similar view of temptation, as a manifestation of Divine love and a reason for the development and strengthening of virtue, is given in other places of Scripture (Deut. 8:2; 13:3; Ps. 26:2; 1 Pet. 1:7; 1 Cor. 10:13)" (Lopukhin Bible, vol. 1, p. 136). So, temptation in this case is a test. A test is a situation in which a person is required to perform actions that exceed his usual, normal strengths and capabilities. For Abraham, such a situation was the sacrifice of his son, which required the exertion of all his strength and caused a painful internal struggle.

Never in the history of mankind has gold been tested by such powerful fire. “...And he said to him: Abraham! He said: here I am. God said: Take your son, your only son, whom you love, Isaac..."

What appears to us in this passage as a monologue with successive clarifications was in fact, as Jewish commentators explain, a dialogue between Abraham and God.
God did not immediately pronounce the name of Isaac in order to psychologically prepare Abraham and not strike him. Note also that God completely ignored Ishmael, the firstborn son of Hagar. “...And go to the land of Moriah and there offer him as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I will tell you...”
“To the land of Moriah” - Mori-y-a is the temple mount in Jerusalem.
In Israel it was considered the center of the world and the gateway to heaven. Its name can be translated as “God appeared” or “Jehovah’s discretion.” There, indeed, the Lord saw a ram entangled in a thicket with its horns, which Abraham sacrificed instead of Isaac, which is why “and he called... the name of that place: Jehovah-jireh,”
that is, the Lord will provide (Gen. 22:14). God demanded that Abraham not only kill Isaac, but offer him “as a burnt offering,” that is, turn his body into ashes and burn him on a sacrificial pyre. A “burnt offering” (literally: “raising”) is a type of sacrifice that rises completely to heaven into a pleasant aroma. "On one of the mountains." God did not immediately say on what mountain, for what conditions to prepare oneself. By leaving the righteous in the unknown, the Lord wants to increase their reward, to show us the correctness of their actions in conditions of uncertainty, their trust in God.

How did Abraham react to the Divine command? The Bible says: “Abraham rose up early in the morning, saddled his donkey, and took with him two of his young men, and Isaac his son; He chopped wood for the burnt offering and got up and went to the place that God had told him about.”

(Gen. 22:3). Before us is such a simple story about something so unusual and heroic. There is no pathos, enthusiasm or excessive dramatization of the event here, only a mirror reflection of the fact. Let us note right away: God does not require human sacrifices, and what was leveled against the Church during the period of atheistic propaganda was deliberate, blasphemous slander. The case we are considering is purely educational in nature and is a spiritual lesson for believers.

Having received such a command, a person weak in faith could say: “Merciful God, do You really demand blood? Is murder compatible with Your holiness? And if You find satisfaction in human sacrifice, could You not have chosen someone other than Isaac for the sacrifice? After all, You gave him to me not so that I could kill him, but so that I could continue the family line. But such thoughts are not for a man of faith like Abraham. Faith taught him not to grumble, not to argue, but to obey. Believing, he stands firmly in his position: everything that God commands to do is good; and all that He promises is everlasting. He who listens to the voice of flesh and blood will never offer up his “Isaac” as a sacrifice to God. Abraham, without hesitation for a long time, without weighing, like Ap. Paul, “did not consult with flesh and blood” - Gal. 1:15-16 (when God commands, advisers are not needed), he did not hesitate, did not look for a reason to evade, but with all seriousness and responsibility, calmly and thoughtfully, silently made all the preparations. He has three days of travel ahead of him. He “saddled the donkey,” “chopped wood for the burnt offering,” raised Isaac and two servants and set off on the road as soon as dawn broke.

We see no excitement, no sorrow, no resentment in his actions, although the burden of painful anticipation of what was to happen fell on his shoulders and crushed his soul with pain. A living faith helped him maintain such self-control. “True faith is the channel through which the Grace of God flows into the heart of man,” writes Andrew Murray. Faith is not just a worldview or religion, it is our attitude towards God. And with Abraham it was loving and reverent. His devotion and trust in God prevailed over other feelings and helped him pull himself together.

Faith does the works of God quietly, imperceptibly and without delay. She performs them, although with complete external calm, but with strong internal burning. Abraham was not the only one like this. This quality is generally inherent in all the prophets of God, captured by the Holy Spirit, motivating and flaming within them. In the Psalter we read: “I hastened and was not slow to keep Your commandments” (Ps. 119:60). This is what true faith does. If God commands a sacrifice, then no matter what area of ​​life it concerns, faith reverently obeys and unconditionally brings it, even if Calvary awaits it ahead.

Abraham did the same. He rose “early in the morning” while everyone was still asleep, so that the turmoil of the workday would not cloud the clarity of his faith decision. Of course, he was faced with a task that exceeded his strength: to sacrifice his long-awaited son, the one for whom he had to suffer so much, a son who should become the successor of the family, the bearer of God’s promises. Oh, this surpasses all understanding! At this moment, Abraham's faith and love for God were sorely tested. After all, he did not know what we know: that God only tests and educates him, that He perfects him, brings him closer to Himself, raising him to the highest level of spiritual life. And at first glance it seems that this test of faith is generally beyond the power of man.

Yes, for many who are not devoted to the Lord with all their hearts as Abraham was devoted, this sacrifice is truly both overwhelming and impossible. From a human point of view, this is the greatest tragedy. It takes colossal strength to accomplish this feat of faith and endure such a test. But that was not the case with Abraham. His sense of obedience and trust in God was complete and here, in the act of sacrifice, they found their highest expression. He knew his Lord well, Whom he worshiped all his life and with Whom he was in close communication. Over the years of his devoted walk before Him, he studied His heart well and knew that God also walks with him and protects him. He knew that God did not accept human sacrifice because it was contrary to His humane heart. All God wants from man is the complete surrender of his will; and Abraham showed Him this complete surrender. And therefore he was absolutely sure that God would return Isaac to him. His faith went ahead of him and helped him in everything. “He believed with hope beyond hope” (Rom. 4:18), believed in the impossible: that God, true to Himself, would not allow Isaac to die. And if it happens that he dies, then God will raise him from the dead, just as he raised him from the dead womb of Sarah (Heb. 11:9).

Only a person who has faith in God can believe this way, who casts his anchor in the person of God and finds support and confidence in Him. Such faith pushes the boundaries of the natural and enters the supernatural, transcendental, heavenly world, in which other laws apply. Faith brings us into contact with God, brings us into the sphere of His dominion, identifies us with His creative powers, and “calls those things which are not as though they are” (Rom. 4:7-21). Faith appeals to other laws of the origin and formation of life, which are the work of the almighty hands of the Creator, and it puts these laws into action. Faith actually puts the power of God into practice. It is the lever by which the promises of God are realized, even if we are led through fire and water, through all visible and invisible barriers, and therefore it is crowned with miraculous success, for “He who promised is faithful” (Isa. 43:1-2). Abraham, as a prophet of God, understood in spirit that the Lord was teaching him an unforgettable lesson of faith and a new revelation of His Grace, and therefore with trembling and humility he went to fulfill His will.

Let us ask ourselves the question: what would each of us do in such a test? What decision would we make if God commanded us to sacrifice our most precious and unique thing? Probably, some of us would doubt the love and mercy of God and begin to murmur and, worse, even become bitter, saying that God demands the impossible from us. When our faith is weak, then the test seems beyond our strength. But the Word of God says: “God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make it possible to escape, so that you can endure it” (1 Cor. 10:13). If God allows some great test for us and sometimes it seems that we have no strength to endure it, let us remember the feat of faith of Abraham and be filled with the same spirit of courage and firm faith, knowing that our suffering will be short-lived and that the Lord will certainly send help in due time and relief.

If we are faced with an insurmountable task, the most natural and best way to solve it is to rely on God with complete faith and draw strength from Him, as Abraham drew it to endure his trial. And if faith goes ahead, then we will endure any test and will resist, overcome, and even strengthen ourselves internally in any temptation. This is one of the laws of the spiritual world, and we do well to adhere to it. “...He took with him two of his young men, and Isaac his son...”

Isaac at that time was not a boy who did not understand anything or who could be deceived, but was a matured youth who was able to carry wood up the mountain for a burnt offering.
According to Jewish tradition, he was 17 years old. He already understood much of his father’s life of faith, although God Himself calls him a youth (v. 12). At that time, youths were called young people who were not yet allowed to engage in independent activities (see Gen. 44:22; Judges 9:54; 1 Sam. 26:22; 2 Sam. 18:5). “...And he got up and went to the place that God had told him about.”
Abraham fulfills the will of God without a single dispute, fulfills it by sacrificing his own desires. Loving God infinitely, trusting Him, he goes with Isaac to that place in the land of Moriah, where the Temple of Solomon will later be erected (2 Chronicles 3:1) and where Jesus Christ will subsequently be crucified on Mount Calvary. Did Abraham tell his wife that he was going there to sacrifice his son to God? Most likely not, so that emotions do not take precedence over faith. First, he believed that God would raise him from the dead immediately after the burnt offering and he would return home with it. And secondly, loving and sparing his wife immensely, he protected her heart from the burden of unbearable anxieties and worries. Why place on weak shoulders a burden that God has provided for him personally? Jewish tradition says that he told Isaac that they were going to study the Torah, and Sarah that they were going to pray. Both are true, since sacrifice is the highest form of service to God, which is both prayer and knowledge of God.

Jewish commentators also explain that Isaac went to the sacrifice (which he guessed about) consciously and voluntarily. The essence of Isaac, they say, is strength, power. Readiness for heroism is in his nature. Self-sacrifice and overcoming fear were natural for him and therefore not as difficult as for less strong people. Abraham went to Mount Moriah, obeying the voice of God, he went to drink the cup of trials to the dregs himself. “On the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes and saw the place from afar

(v. 4) From this phrase it is clear that Abraham did not ascend Mount Moriah in a momentary impulse of self-sacrifice, but took three days to get there. There is no doubt that this three-day journey was for both Abraham and Isaac psychological preparation for the sacrifice and was accompanied by their thoughts and deep inner struggle. This struggle, as Jewish tradition reports, was expressed in the form of a dialogue that took place between them and the tempter. Satan did not leave them alone, but tried to stop both Abraham and Isaac on their path to achievement. He tried not only to confuse, but also to shake them in the appropriateness of their action. When their determination remained unshakable, he began to intensely confuse Sarah. Isn't that why she died so soon?

Meanwhile they approached the mountain. “And Abraham said to his servants: Stay here; “And my son and I will go there and worship, and return to you.”

(v. 5).
What followed concerned only Abraham and Isaac, and Abraham did not allow his servants to participate in this sacred rite. But he speaks to them in the spirit of faith, calling the sacrifice of Isaac “worship” of God and leaving no doubt that they will return back. “And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering, and laid it on Isaac his son;
He took fire in his hands, and they both went together” (v. 6).
On the way to the place of sacrifice, father and son walk not just side by side, but in unanimity, in the unity of faith. Each of them is immersed in their innermost thoughts. Isaac has every reason to believe that he must be the victim. But he is deceived by the fire that Abraham brings. He thinks: “If the victim is myself, then, probably, my own fire is not needed. Fire will come down from the sky and consume me." So he asks Abraham the question: “Behold the fire and the wood, where is the lamb for the burnt offering?”
Both the question itself and the wonderful answer of the father to his son are interesting.
And how easily Abraham’s faith finds him: “God will provide for Himself a lamb for a burnt offering, my son!”
This phrase shows that Abraham did not tell his son the whole truth, but without noticing it, he spoke prophetic words. The answer leaves Isaac in no doubt that he is the victim. God, of course, did not provide for him, but from his seed. God provided for Himself such a Lamb long ago, even before the creation of the world in the person of Jesus Christ (1 Pet. 1:18-20). Isaac is only His prototype. And Jesus, like Isaac, meekly carried the cross on Himself to the place of His execution (Isa. 53:7). It is also instructive how Isaac reacted to the fact that he was chosen as a lamb. This is how Lopukhin’s Bible commentators present this question: “Isaac completely voluntarily and unquestioningly obeyed the Divine command. Although he was already at an age when he could resist his elderly father, he shows him the most touching obedience: the son’s obedience here is equal to the father’s faith

, and both of them show great heroism of spirit. If Abraham, however, as we see, finds it necessary to first bind Isaac, then he does this either to prevent any involuntary movements at the sight of the raised knife, or, more likely, due to the general sacrificial ritual” (vol. 1, pp. 137-138).

Isaac revered his father, who was for him an example of devotion to God and love for his family. This unconditional submission of Isaac, who accepted his fate at the hands of his father, symbolically reflected the same unquestioning obedience of Jesus to the will of the Heavenly Father. The Lord Jesus, the “Child” of the Father (Isa. 42:1-4), in His messianic ministry sought to do not His own will, but the will of the One who sent Him. He considered the joyful fulfillment of this will His daily duty (John 4:34; 5:30; 6:38, etc.). The Lord obediently went to suffer and did not resist arrest. He remained silent during interrogation by Pilate; did not utter a word when the soldiers tortured Him. He was also silent when he was nailed to the cross (Matthew 12:18-21; 26:63). Throughout His short life on earth He showed the image of the Lamb of God!

An all-good and loving God did not allow Abraham to raise a knife over Isaac and kill him. He stopped Abraham: “Do not raise your hand against the boy and do nothing to him; for now I know that you fear God and have not withheld your son, your only son, from Me.”

(v. 22).
The human sacrifice was replaced by a ram, which Abraham offered up on the altar with great joy. This was the “relief” that the Lord promises to send to faith that trusts in Him (1 Cor. 10:13). In its trust, Abraham's faith was not put to shame. And no one’s true faith, the faith of God, can be ashamed, since it relies on a man-loving God (Ex. 34:6; Ps. 86:15). Abraham emerged with majestic dignity from this trial, the moment of the highest test of his faith and obedience, in which his spirit and piety were strengthened and tempered, and God achieved the desired result in him. Satan, who slandered Abraham, was put to shame, and Abraham rose to the pinnacle of faith that is only possible for man on earth. According to Ap. James, through this work he became so perfect in faith that he was called “the friend of God” (James 2:21-23). The divine response assured the reality of Israel's destiny in the great plan and the Lord's purpose for the Jewish people, and through them for the whole world: “By me I swear, says the Lord, that because you have done this deed and have not withheld your son, your only son, By blessing I will bless you, and by multiplying I will multiply your seed... and in your seed all the nations of the earth will be blessed...”
(Genesis 22:15-18).

“This final and last promise of God in Abraham’s life is distinguished by its special solemnity and power. Just as Abraham, in his readiness to sacrifice Isaac, revealed the highest degree of obedience and devotion, so the Lord, as a reward for this, gives him evidence of His highest favor, confirming and deepening the promises previously given to him about the number and glory of his descendants. Moreover, in the words of verse 18 about the only and exclusive “seed” through which all the nations of the earth will be blessed, most interpreters, following Ap. Paul, they see an indication of the great Seed of the woman, which will erase the head of the serpent, that is, of Christ, the Son of God (Gal. 3:16)” (Lopukhin Bible, vol. 1, p. 140).

In this regard, the words of Jesus recorded in the Gospel are of particular interest: “Abraham rejoiced to see My day; and he saw and rejoiced” (John 8:56). What “day” are we talking about here and when did he “see” it? This is the day of His First Coming. Abraham saw him by faith on Mount Moriah when he made his sacrifice. And there he saw the sacrificial feat of Christ, His victory and redemption. I saw this “day” completed in perfection, as a great act of redemption for the entire human race. And in this generation I saw the significance of my offspring, I saw it and rejoiced. He rejoiced at the immutability of God's election and God's will. I saw the beginning and the end of the Calvary feat, I saw the Church and its crowning with glory in heaven.

There, on Mount Moriah, the Lord revealed this to Abraham, who longed to see the day of the Coming of the Messiah into the world. Through the sacrifice of Isaac and his subsequent "resurrection" he understood the work of the crucifixion and resurrection of Christ and the fruits of this great act. He understood that everything that God predicted about him and his descendants would be fulfilled in due course and that from Isaac would come the race of Abraham, a new race, the race of the people of God, from whom would come the Redeemer (Rom. 4:17-25). That’s how it all came true. Seeing Abraham's firm and unshakable faith and his willingness to rise to spiritual heights, the Lord increased his blessing, made him the father of many nations and credited him with faith in righteousness (Gen. 15:6; James 2:23; Rom. 4:3; Gal. 3:6-7). Ap. Paul, revealing the principle of salvation by faith, writes: “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness” (Rom. 4:3). Abraham had unlimited faith in God. He was so convinced of the truth of God that he agreed in advance with any of His words or commands. And this was especially valuable in the eyes of God, which is why God gave him a promise: “And in your seed all the nations of the earth will be blessed, because you have listened to My voice.”

(Gen. 22:18). What does it mean to “count faith as righteousness”?

A righteous person, in the biblical understanding, is a direct and obedient person to the will of God. Here are two examples from the Bible. 1) Tue. 24:13 - the exact fulfillment of the commandment that commands you to return a person’s deposit so that he will rest and bless you is counted as righteousness. 2) Ps. 105:30-31 - Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, inspired by zeal for God, rises up and carries out judgment, and the plague stops (Num. 25:11-13). This deed was counted to him as righteousness. But God does not count every good deed as righteousness, but only a deed of faith

,
action by faith
. Ap. Paul, based on the Old Testament text (Gen. 15:6), developed this idea further and argued that justification does not depend on works, but on faith (Rom. 3:28). Faith goes ahead and pulls up deeds, behavior, and life. Ap. James illuminates the other side of faith. Turning to the same text, he points to Abraham, to his “works” (life and ministry), completely imbued with living faith. Thus, the Apostle condemns “dead” faith, not confirmed by works, and therefore powerless and useless.

Thus, faith imputed to the righteousness in which the Church will appear in heaven (Rev. 19:8) is a state of faith in which a person accepts all the promises of God as immutable truth, as “yes” and “amen” ( 2 Cor. 1:20), and bases his spiritual life on them. He makes them his own, joins them, identifies with them and lives in accordance with them. Through this spirit of faith, trust, and life subordinated to the interests of God, Abraham accomplished something decisive for God. The sacrifice was made by him (Heb. 11:17), although Isaac remained alive. And this is his work, his unconditional, conscious and voluntary obedience and trust, God counts as righteousness, because this faith meets His requirements.

Abraham accepted God's promise when it seemed impossible. This speaks of the depth and vitality of his faith, of the strength of his trust in God. God counted all this to him as righteousness. Showed Great Faith in Two Facts

that surpassed human understanding: 1) when Sarah was physically unable to conceive a child, he believed the promise of God that the intractable situation would be supernaturally resolved, and he would have an heir from Sarah, and moreover: his seed would be as numerous as the stars in the sky (Gen. 15:2-6);
2) and when he sacrificed a miraculously received child, believing that Isaac would rise from the dead. “Everywhere in Scripture it is said that Abraham “did not waver at the promise of God through unbelief, but remained strong in faith” (Rom. 4:20). And therefore, it was not Abraham’s position in society, not his good deeds, not his personal integrity that ensured that God recognized his righteousness. Abraham's God-ordained righteousness rested solely on his faith.
So, before this great founder of the Jewish people was circumcised, and 430 years before the Law given at Mount Sinai, Abraham's faith in God kindled the way of the Divine determination of righteousness towards all who would follow his example" (D. H. Hunting ).

And not only to Abraham, but also to us, to all those who follow the example of the patriarch’s faith and believe in Jesus Christ, the Lord counts faith as righteousness. “The Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles, foretold to Abraham: “In you all nations will be blessed.” Therefore those who believe are blessed with faithful Abraham” (Gal. 3:8-9).

In the New Testament, God gives Abraham the highest praise. His faithfulness, life by faith, his service to God by faith are set as an example to all believers. Abraham completely fulfilled the task assigned to him: he gave birth to the heir of the promise and became the father of faith. Living on earth as a wanderer and alien, that is, as a temporary guest, he expected the future city that the Lord had prepared in heaven for the victors - those who walk their earthly path in the likeness of Christ and accomplish the feat of faith. Abraham's faith extended so high and so deep that he anticipated not only the "day" of Christ, but also the mansions in heaven. By faith he entered into eternity and saw the triumphant end of God's economy. For the sake of such a glorious end - dwelling in a wondrous heavenly city - Abraham without regret sacrificed the temporal blessings of the world for the sake of the eternal and became the heir of the promises of God by faith. Faith, my friends, is not only strength, but also the greatest reality, because it is the hand that takes the crown from the throne of God. Abraham was awarded a precious crown. That is why the Lord persistently invites us: “Listen to Me, you who strive for righteousness, who seek the Lord!.. Look to Abraham your father, and to Sarah who gave birth to you; for I called him alone, and blessed him, and multiplied him.”

(Isa. 51:1-2).

Let us also look at the image of the father of all believers and learn from him, for many of us are so lacking in the wonderful qualities of Abraham’s faith, his high spirit, his wonderful nobility, his mercy, his sublime attitude towards women, his piety and dedication! The saints, living according to the laws of God and His Word, according to the laws of heaven, knowing the secret of His creation, have always had a sublime attitude towards Abraham and Sarah, the patriarchs of the Jewish people, the people of the Bible.

SOURCE https://www.gazetaprotestant.ru/2010/05/zhertva-avr…