The Law · Chapter 22 of 50

Genesis 22

God tests Abraham, commanding him to offer his beloved son Isaac on a mountain in Moriah. Abraham obeys, traveling three days and telling his servants that he and the lad will worship and return. As Isaac carries the wood and asks where the lamb is, Abraham answers that God will provide. At the altar, as Abraham raises the knife, the angel of the LORD stops him, and a ram caught in a thicket is offered instead.

What happens in Genesis 22

God tests Abraham, telling him to take his only son Isaac, whom he loves, to the land of Moriah and offer him as a burnt offering. Abraham rises early, saddles his donkey, splits the wood, and sets out with Isaac and two servants. On the third day he sees the place afar off and tells the servants that he and the lad will go to worship and come again to them. He lays the wood on Isaac, and as they walk together Isaac asks where the lamb is; Abraham answers that God will provide himself a lamb.

At the place Abraham builds an altar, binds Isaac, and lays him on the wood. As he stretches out his hand with the knife, the angel of the LORD calls from heaven to stop him, for now his fear of God is proven. Abraham sees a ram caught by its horns in a thicket and offers it instead. He names the place Jehovahjireh, the LORD will provide. The angel calls again, swearing to bless him and multiply his seed, through whom all nations will be blessed.

Genesis 22 in context

This chapter, often called the binding of Isaac, is the climax of Abraham's long walk of faith that began with the call in Genesis 12. Isaac is the promised son on whom every promise depends, born after decades of waiting, which makes the command almost unthinkable.

Ancient readers knew of surrounding cultures that practiced child sacrifice; here God tests Abraham's devotion yet decisively provides a substitute and forbids the child's death, revealing his own character in the process.

Main themes of Genesis 22

Genesis 22 (KJV)

1And it came to pass after these things, that God did tempt Abraham, and said unto him, Abraham: and he said, Behold, here I am. 2And he said, Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of. 3And Abraham rose up early in the morning, and saddled his ass, and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son, and clave the wood for the burnt offering, and rose up, and went unto the place of which God had told him. 4Then on the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes, and saw the place afar off. 5And Abraham said unto his young men, Abide ye here with the ass; and I and the lad will go yonder and worship, and come again to you. 6And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering, and laid it upon Isaac his son; and he took the fire in his hand, and a knife; and they went both of them together. 7And Isaac spake unto Abraham his father, and said, My father: and he said, Here am I, my son. And he said, Behold the fire and the wood: but where is the lamb for a burnt offering? 8And Abraham said, My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering: so they went both of them together. 9And they came to the place which God had told him of; and Abraham built an altar there, and laid the wood in order, and bound Isaac his son, and laid him on the altar upon the wood. 10And Abraham stretched forth his hand, and took the knife to slay his son. 11And the angel of the LORD called unto him out of heaven, and said, Abraham, Abraham: and he said, Here am I. 12And he said, Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou any thing unto him: for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son from me. 13And Abraham lifted up his eyes, and looked, and behold behind him a ram caught in a thicket by his horns: and Abraham went and took the ram, and offered him up for a burnt offering in the stead of his son. 14And Abraham called the name of that place Jehovahjireh: as it is said to this day, In the mount of the LORD it shall be seen. 15And the angel of the LORD called unto Abraham out of heaven the second time, 16And said, By myself have I sworn, saith the LORD, for because thou hast done this thing, and hast not withheld thy son, thine only son: 17That in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies; 18And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice. 19So Abraham returned unto his young men, and they rose up and went together to Beersheba; and Abraham dwelt at Beersheba. 20And it came to pass after these things, that it was told Abraham, saying, Behold, Milcah, she hath also born children unto thy brother Nahor; 21Huz his firstborn, and Buz his brother, and Kemuel the father of Aram, 22And Chesed, and Hazo, and Pildash, and Jidlaph, and Bethuel. 23And Bethuel begat Rebekah: these eight Milcah did bear to Nahor, Abraham’s brother. 24And his concubine, whose name was Reumah, she bare also Tebah, and Gaham, and Thahash, and Maachah.

Verses to carry from Genesis 22

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

“And Abraham lifted up his eyes, and looked, and behold behind him a ram caught in a thicket by his horns: and Abraham went and took the ram, and offered him up for a burnt offering in the stead of his son.”Genesis 22:13

“And Abraham called the name of that place Jehovahjireh: as it is said to this day, In the mount of the LORD it shall be seen.”Genesis 22:14

Reflection

Abraham climbed the mountain trusting that God would provide, though he could not see how, and God met him at the last moment with a ram in the thicket. Where are you being asked to trust God with something precious before you can see the provision? What might it mean to keep walking, believing the LORD will provide?

A prayer from Genesis 22