Sign up for our free newsletter:

² Then God said [to Abraham], "Take your son, your only son, Isaac, whom you love, and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains I will tell you about."

No. But he will push to the limit the boundaries of our commitment to him. The first words of this chapter—Some time later God tested Abraham—suggest that God never really intended the sacrifice to take place. The point was the test: Did Abraham really trust God?

We are shocked by this today because we know of the Bible's strong warnings against child sacrifice (Lev. 20:1—5; 2 Kings 23:10, Jer. 32:35). That's what pagan gods demanded, not the holy God of Israel.

Because the Biblical laws against child sacrifice came later, we can't be sure what Abraham understood about it. Still, God had shaped Abraham's sense of values. And this request would not have been consistent with God as he had known him to this point. So perhaps Abraham was somewhat confused or puzzled by the nature of God's command. But even though God commanded Abraham to kill the son promised him, the writer of Hebrews states, Abraham reasoned that God could raise the dead (Heb 11:19). The laughter of disbelief when he'd been promised a son with an aged wife had become a firm confidence in the God who had made—and kept—that promise.

God's command was harsh (even for the ancients). But Abraham believed God would fulfill the rest of his promise through Isaac. It makes us ask ourselves: Will we entrust our futures unreservedly to the God Abraham trusted?

Although the true and living God prohibited child sacrifice, in a sense he still asks for a human sacrifice, but it's a living sacrifice he wants, not a dead one (see Romans 12:1).

A sample from the best-selling Quest Study Bible. Copyright © Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved. www.Zondervan.com. To order, click here.

Bible Studies to Help You Go Deeper