The Lord Will Provide—Lectionary Reflection for Pentecost 5A/Proper 8 (Genesis 22)

Genesis 22:1-14 New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition

22 After these things God tested Abraham. He said to him, “Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” ² He said, “Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains that I shall show you.” ³ So Abraham rose early in the morning, saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him and his son Isaac; he cut the wood for the burnt offering and set out and went to the place in the distance that God had shown him. ⁴ On the third day Abraham looked up and saw the place far away. ⁵ Then Abraham said to his young men, “Stay here with the donkey; the boy and I will go over there; we will worship, and then we will come back to you.” ⁶ Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on his son Isaac, and he himself carried the fire and the knife. And the two of them walked on together. ⁷ Isaac said to his father Abraham, “Father!” And he said, “Here I am, my son.” He said, “The fire and the wood are here, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?” ⁸ Abraham said, “God himself will provide the lamb for a burnt offering, my son.” And the two of them walked on together.

⁹ When they came to the place that God had shown him, Abraham built an altar there and laid the wood in order. He bound his son Isaac and laid him on the altar on top of the wood. ¹⁰ Then Abraham reached out his hand and took the knife to kill his son. ¹¹ But the angel of the Lord called to him from heaven and said, “Abraham, Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” ¹² He said, “Do not lay your hand on the boy or do anything to him, for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me.” ¹³ And Abraham looked up and saw a ram, caught in a thicket by its horns. Abraham went and took the ram and offered it up as a burnt offering instead of his son. ¹⁴ So Abraham called that place “The Lord will provide,” as it is said to this day, “On the mount of the Lord it shall be provided.”

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                There are few turning points in the biblical story quite like the offering of Isaac, what Jews call the Akedah, or the binding of Isaac. The story of Abraham and Sarah is one of promise. They followed God’s lead and left their homeland for an unknown location. They were migrants, nomads, who went forth from Haran with nothing more than a promise that God would make of Abraham a great nation, through whose descendants the nations would be blessed (Gen.12:1-4). The challenging part of this promise wasn’t the move but the descendants, as Abraham and Sarah were childless. They lived in hope that one day the promise of descendants would be fulfilled, even though they grew ever older. At one point, Sarah provided Abraham and God with an alternative means to fulfill the practice. That alternative involved offering Hagar, Sarah’s Egyptian servant, to Abraham as a surrogate. While Sarah couldn’t conceive, Hagar did provide Abraham with a son and heir—Ishmael (Gen. 16).  Apparently that wasn’t what God intended, so finally the promised child arrives (Gen. 21:1-7) and Sarah chases away Ishmael and Hagar so there would no longer be rival. Fortunately, according to the Genesis account, God was with Ishmael, and he survived his banishment (Gen. 21:8-21).

                Our story begins after the birth of Isaac and the banishment of Ishmael. Here is the promised one, the child whom Abraham and Sarah had waited a lifetime. Though they had long ago given up hope that Sarah would provide a son, that’s what happened. What could go wrong? Surely God wouldn’t demand the sacrifice of this promised child? After all, God had already acceded to Sarah’s request that Abraham get rid of Ishmael, the first-born son. Now, it’s true that human sacrifice was a thing, but Isaac was the child of promise. If he were killed there would be no promise. So, surely Abraham would recoil at such a suggestion. Yet here in Genesis 22, we’re told that God tested Abraham. By this point in the story, Abraham knows God’s voice. So when God calls for him, he answers “Here I am.” Then God makes the unthinkable request. “Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains I will show you” (Gen. 22:1-2). If God requested this of you, what would you do?

                If I were in Abraham’s shoes, I’m not sure I would do as God requested. He had already sent away Ishmael, and it seems as if Abraham loved him. Now, his secondborn, the only remaining child, the child of promise, is being requested by God as a burnt offering. How could God do such a thing? How could Abraham give in? These are the perennial questions raised by this passage.

                According to our reading, Abraham got up early the next morning, saddled his donkey, took two young men along with Isaac, and headed out on a journey. He took with him wood for the fire, but no offering. When the party drew close to the place of sacrifice, Abraham asked the two young men to stay behind with the donkey as Abraham and Isaac continued on with their journey. Not only did Abraham take Isaac with him, but he put the wood for the fire on Isaac. Yes, Isaac is going to carry the very wood that Abraham will offer him up as a burnt offering to God. To this point, young Isaac (we might think of him as being around the age of twelve) didn’t question his father (who carried the knife), but questions had to be swirling in his mind. They had headed off to offer a sacrifice to God. They had wood and a knife, but no lamb to offer. Where was that lamb going to come from? Finally, Isaac does ask the question that is on our minds as well. He points out the basic facts. They had wood for a fire and a knife, but where was the lamb? All Abraham could do was tell his beloved son: “God himself will provide the lamb for a burnt offering” (Gen. 22:7-8). Yes, God will provide! Did Abraham go to the mountain hoping God would provide an alternative to sacrificing his son? Or was he ready to do the unthinkable?

                As the story continues, they reach the appointed place. Abraham builds an altar, binds Isaac, puts him on the altar, and then lifts the knife over his son. Will he go through with this horrific act? It sure seems as if Abraham is going to do the deed. As for the narrative, it gives us no hint that Abraham would do anything other than complete the task. To this point in the story, we don’t perceive Abraham as being at all concerned. Is he the kind of guy who blindly does what God requests? Or does Abraham believe that God will come through at the last moment and provide the alternative? To this point, there is nothing in the story to suggest that Abraham believed that God would provide the alternative. Abraham was a man of faith, and if God demanded his son as a sacrifice, that’s what he would do. The author of Hebrews seems to believe that is what Abraham would do, though the author of Hebrews adds a caveat—Abraham could act in this way because “he considered the fact that God is able even to raise someone from the dead—and figuratively speaking, he did receive him back” (Heb. 11:17-19). Of course, the Hebrews text is a post-resurrection passage, but would the Abraham of Genesis know this to be true? By this point in the story, we have to begin questioning the goodness of this God of Abraham. Thus, it is a challenging passage for us to consider.

                The good news is that just as Abraham was getting ready to strike, an angel appears and calls to him and tells Abraham, in modern parlance: “never mind.” You passed the test. You showed you were willing to offer up the child of promise, so don’t lay a hand on the boy. I can only imagine how Abraham must have felt at that moment. In fact, I can imagine something more than what might be present in the mind of the author of our passage. I can imagine Abraham feeling relief. But might he also feel a bit of anger at God? After all, Abraham had proven himself faithful time and again, so did God need any more proof of his faithfulness? At least I would have felt a bit of anger at God. But there was relief as well when Abraham looked up and saw the ram in the thicket. So, Abraham made the offering and gave the place a name: “The LORD will provide.” Yes, indeed, God will provide.

                As we read this passage, as a Christian audience, it is traditional to read this through the lens of the cross. Abraham represents God and Isaac represents Jesus, such that Jesus dies as our substitute. Thus, Irenaeus wrote: “Righteously also the apostles, being of the race of Abraham, left the ship and their father, and followed the Word. Righteously also do we, possessing the same faith as Abraham, and taking up the cross as Isaac did the wood, follow Him. For in Abraham man had learned beforehand, and had been accustomed to follow the Word of God. For Abraham, according to his faith, followed the command of the Word of God, and with a ready mind delivered up, as a sacrifice to God, his only-begotten and beloved son, in order that God also might be pleased to offer up for all his seed His own beloved and only-begotten Son, as a sacrifice for our redemption.” [Adversus Haereses, IV.V.4]. But, while this makes sense, it doesn’t take away the challenge posed by the passage to both Jewish and Christian audiences. The truth is, this passage has proven challenging to both communities through time.

                One who wrestled with this passage was Soren Kierkegaard in his book Fear and Trembling.  In one scenario, Isaac pleads with God to save him from his father’s murderous intent. In the story Kierkegaard pictures Abraham murmuring to God: “Lord in heaven, I thank you; it is surely better for him to believe I am a monster than to lose faith in you” (p. 9). In other words, Abraham is willing to take the rap for God’s monstrous request. But as the story goes on, even though the lamb was provided, “from that day on Abraham became old; he could not forget that God had demanded this of him.  Isaac flourished as before, but Abraham’s eyes were darkened, he saw joy no more” (p. 9). I can see this being true of Abraham. He had acted faithfully to this point, why would God need to ask more? Why did he need to be tested? As for us, we need to ask the question of whether God would ask such a thing. Does this make sense of God?

                As we ponder the message of the passage, including what it says about Abraham’s faithfulness, could this be a story of hope? David Arnow, a Jewish psychologist, and author, suggests that perhaps the message here has to do with something Abraham needed to learn about his covenantal partner. The question raised here by the provision of the lamb has to do with God’s rejection of human sacrifice that was common in the era. When God issued the test, Abraham might have interpreted it in light of cultural norms. Thus, according to Arnow, “The Akedah gives Abraham a way to find out. He takes the knife to slay Isaac (note: taking the knife doesn’t mean Abraham was willing to use it), and, sure enough, an angel of YHWH intervenes, telling Abraham not to raise his ‘hand against the boy’ (Gen. 22:12). God’s rejection of human sacrifice fulfills Abraham’s hope in his covenantal partner’s commitment to justice and further cements their relationship” [Arnow, Choosing Hope, p. 54]. I must say, I prefer this interpretation to the alternative. Arnow suggests that Abraham knew deep down that God is good and would provide an alternative sacrifice.  Arnow, together with many Jewish interpreters, unlike Kierkegaard, believe that Abraham had doubts that God really wanted him to sacrifice his son.

                With the ram provided, the sacrifice is made, and both Abraham and Isaac return home alive. I wonder, however, whether the relationship between the two changed after this event. Would Isaac harbor questions about his father’s intent? Might this story invite us to raise questions about God’s identity and faithfulness? Is God truly good? In other words, does this story permit us to harbor doubts about God?  

                Ultimately, Abraham does trust that God will provide, even if he’s not sure how that provision will come to fruition. Walter Brueggemann writes in his commentary on Genesis that “Abraham finds his only refuge in the divine provider whom he finds inscrutable but reliable. Abraham has turned from his own way to the way of God which lies beyond his understanding (cf. Isa. 55:8-9) but upon which he is prepared to act in concrete ways.” [Genesis, p. 188]. So, how does this passage speak to us? What does it say about the life of faith. Turning again to David Arnow, he notes that “from the beginning of his relationship with God through this test, Abraham consistently evinces inner strength. He trusts that somehow a way to navigate his various trials will emerge and acts to find it” [Choosing Hope, pp. 56-57]. We see this, Arnow suggests, in Abraham’s response when called upon by God or by Isaac: “Here I am.” That response “connotes a readiness to attend to another, but also the complete presence of the self, as if to say I am here” [Choosing Hope, p. 57]. Might Abraham’s actions here give expression not only of doubt but hope? Things could have gone differently, but they didn’t. Might we find a word of hope for our walk with God in this story? As Arnow suggests, “To hope means that you keep on going.” As for Abraham, whatever questions he had about this test, he keeps moving, and as he does so, he remains patient. Thus, “he hopes that the passage of time will reveal the way through this conundrum. He doesn’t stiffen or freeze up. He keeps moving, and his movement creates the space in which the spark of hope burns” [Choosing Hope, p. 57].

                We live in challenging times. Our faith in God is being tested, even if God isn’t putting us to the test. It would be easy to give up and stop moving. But as David Arnow reminds us, it is moving forward, even if we don’t have all the answers, that we give space for an answer to emerge. Thus, hope emerges. That is good news that can be received from this very challenging passage!

 Image Attribution: Koenig, Peter. Abraham's Sacrifice, from Art in the Christian Tradition, a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN. https://diglib.library.vanderbilt.edu/act-imagelink.pl?RC=58481 [retrieved June 23, 2023]. Original source: https://www.pwkoenig.co.uk/.