12 And he said, Let not your hand be stretched out against the boy to do anything to him; for now I am certain that the fear of God is in your heart, because you have not kept back your son, your only son, from me.
And Samuel said, Has the Lord as much delight in offerings and burned offerings as in the doing of his orders? Truly, to do his pleasure is better than to make offerings, and to give ear to him than the fat of sheep.
Was not the righteousness of Abraham our father judged by his works, when he made an offering of Isaac his son on the altar? You see that his faith was helping his works and was made complete by them;
Because Abraham gave ear to my voice and kept my words, my rules, my orders, and my laws.
And Abraham said, Because it seemed to me that there was no fear of God in this place, and that they might put me to death because of my wife.
But to you who give worship to my name, the sun of righteousness will come up with new life in its wings; and you will go out, playing like young oxen full of food.
He who has more love for his father or mother than for me is not good enough for me; he who has more love for son or daughter than for me is not good enough for me. And he who does not take his cross and come after me is not good enough for me.
And everyone who has given up houses, or brothers, or sisters, or father, or mother, or child, or land, for my name, will be given a hundred times as much, and have eternal life.
For God had such love for the world that he gave his only Son, so that whoever has faith in him may not come to destruction but have eternal life.
But God has made clear his love to us, in that, when we were still sinners, Christ gave his life for us.
He who did not keep back his only Son, but gave him up for us all, will he not with him freely give us all things?
For if there is a ready mind, a man will have God's approval in the measure of what he has, and not of what he has not.
Judging that God was able to give life even to the dead; and because of this he did get him back as if from death.
And the love of God was made clear to us when he sent his only Son into the world so that we might have life through him. And this is love, not that we had love for God, but that he had love for us, and sent his Son to be an offering for our sins.
And a voice came from the high seat, saying, Give praise to our God, all you his servants, small and great, in whom is the fear of him.
And on the third day Joseph said to them, Do this, if you would keep your lives: for I am a god-fearing man:
And Moses said to the people, Have no fear: for God has come to put you to the test, so that fearing him you may be kept from sin.
But earlier rulers who were before me made the people responsible for their upkeep, and took from them bread and wine at the rate of forty shekels of silver; and even their servants were lords over the people: but I did not do so, because of the fear of God.
He will keep you safe from six troubles, and in seven no evil will come near you.
Because the Lord sees the way of the upright, but the end of the sinner is destruction.
Give worship to the Lord with fear, kissing his feet and giving him honour,
And he said to him, Take your son, your dearly loved only son Isaac, and go to the land of Moriah and give him as a burned offering on one of the mountains of which I will give you knowledge.
The Lord takes pleasure in his worshippers, and in those whose hope is in his mercy.
Though a sinner does evil a hundred times and his life is long, I am certain that it will be well for those who go in fear of God and are in fear before him. But it will not be well for the evil-doer; he will not make his days long like a shade, because he has no fear before God.
This is the last word. All has been said. Have fear of God and keep his laws; because this is right for every man.
And I will make an eternal agreement with them, that I will never give them up, but ever do them good; and I will put the fear of me in their hearts, so that they will not go away from me.
With what am I to come before the Lord and go with bent head before the high God? am I to come before him with burned offerings, with young oxen a year old? Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of sheep or with ten thousand rivers of oil? am I to give my first child for my wrongdoing, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? He has made clear to you, O man, what is good; and what is desired from you by the Lord; only doing what is right, and loving mercy, and walking without pride before your God.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible » Commentary on Genesis 22
Commentary on Genesis 22 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
CHAPTER 22
Ge 22:1-19. Offering Isaac.
1. God did tempt Abraham—not incite to sin (Jas 1:13), but try, prove—give occasion for the development of his faith (1Pe 1:7).
and he said, … Here I am—ready at a moment's warning for God's service.
2. Take now thy son, &c.—Every circumstance mentioned was calculated to give a deeper stab to the parental bosom. To lose his only son, and by an act of his own hand, too!—what a host of conflicting feelings must the order have raised! But he heard and obeyed without a murmur (Ga 1:16; Lu 14:26).
3. Abraham rose … early, &c.—That there might be no appearance of delay or reluctance on his part, he made every preparation for the sacrifice before setting out—the materials, the knife, and the servants to convey them. From Beer-sheba to Moriah, a journey of two days, he had the painful secret pent up in his bosom. So distant a place must have been chosen for some important reason. It is generally thought that this was one the hills of Jerusalem, on which the Great Sacrifice was afterwards offered.
4. on the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes, &c.—Leaving the servants at the foot [Ge 22:5], the father and son ascended the hill, the one bearing the knife, and the other the wood for consuming the sacrifice [Ge 22:6]. But there was no victim; and to the question so naturally put by Isaac [Ge 22:7], Abraham contented himself by replying, "My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering." It has been supposed that the design of this extraordinary transaction was to show him, by action instead of words, the way in which all the families of the earth should be blessed; and that in his answer to Isaac, he anticipated some substitution. It is more likely that his words were spoken evasively to his son in ignorance of the issue, yet in unbounded confidence that that son, though sacrificed, would, in some miraculous way, be restored (Heb 11:19).
9. Abraham built an altar, &c.—Had not the patriarch been sustained by the full consciousness of acting in obedience to God's will, the effort would have been too great for human endurance; and had not Isaac, then upwards of twenty years of age displayed equal faith in submitting, this great trial could not have gone through.
11, 12. the angel … called, &c.—The sacrifice was virtually offered—the intention, the purpose to do it, was shown in all sincerity and fulness. The Omniscient witness likewise declared His acceptance in the highest terms of approval; and the apostle speaks of it as actually made (Heb 11:17; Jas 2:21).
13-19. Abraham lifted up his eyes … and behold … a ram, &c.—No method was more admirably calculated to give the patriarch a distinct idea of the purpose of grace than this scenic representation: and hence our Lord's allusion to it (Joh 8:56).