Fear No Fear

(All scripture from Lexham English Bible, Copyright 2012 Logos Bible Software)

Sarah had to rely on God when she was again taken into the household of a king (Abimelek, Genesis 20). There was no one else dependable about in that particular situation. She had to trust that He would get her through. And I think she did. I think it was a seminal moment in her life of trusting in God. It was right after this incident that God came to her as He promised and she got pregnant, went through the process, and gave birth to a natural child made with her husband, when they were both virtually centenarians. God ALWAYS responds to trust in Him and Hebrews 11:11 tells us that in spite of previous scorn (Genesis 18:12), Sarah trusted in the promise and trusted in the Lord.

The child of the promise (physical promise, not spiritual promise – that’s Jesus) had arrived. Naturally, although they were both joyful (the Hebrew word used denotes laughing in pleasure) and had the people around them joyful with them for this miracle of regeneration and fruitfulness, there was some tension in the household. Isaac was circumcised at eight days old, keeping to the covenant. But then it says when Isaac was weaned (between three and five years of age – scholar opinions vary), Sarah saw Abraham’s other son scoffing or mocking or making fun of or laughing – translations vary. Sarah saw this and was NOT happy. It is unclear exactly was it was all about. There are a lot of assumptions that can be made. What we KNOW is that Sarah saw it as a game changer and she tagged it to the issue of inheritance. She wanted Abraham to drive out Ishmael and his mother Hagar because she refused to let a concubine’s son share in the inheritance of she saw as the TRUE son (perhaps remembering all that haughty behaviour twenty years ago). Abraham didn’t want to – he loved his son. He needed a nudge to do it and he got it. God spoke to Abraham and told him it was okay. He could send them out because Issac was the son whom the promise would come through. In spite of that, God would make Ishmael a nation as well because he was Abraham’s son.

So Abraham sent them away and off they went. They didn’t get too far before they ran out of water. Hagar laid her son down under a shrub, went about a bow shot away, and waited to die. She left him apart because she didn’t want to hear his cries. She also forgot the promise of the angel from twenty years ago – that Ishmael would live and be a wild man (which certainly wasn’t true yet). An angel appeared to her again, but this time it was because God had heard her SON. One of the reasons Abraham had been picked was because he would teach his household about Yahweh (Genesis 18:19). This was certainly true of Ishmael who called out to God. The angel opened Hagar’s eyes so she noticed a well she hadn’t before, so they had water to live. They lived, Ishmael became a hunter, married an Egyptian, and later helped bury his father – so they had some kind of contact between the two households.

Abraham had his natural son. Sarah had established that son would be the single heir. Their lives were going well. Abimelek came to Abraham and made a covenant with him because Abraham was multiplying to much. They agreed not to to harm to one another for three generations. Abraham brought up a well that was being contended, and confirmed it was his with Abimelek by giving him seven lambs. After all that, Abraham planted a tamarisk tree in Beersheba and worshipped the Lord there.

Next, God asked Abraham to sacrifice his son. Abraham didn’t question it. He went to do it. He and his son started up the mountain alone. Isaac asked about the sacrifice, Abraham said God would provide it. Up they went. Built the altar, tied Isaac, raised the knife, got stopped by God, a ram was provided, God was pleased Abraham wouldn’t have held back his only son, they came down the mountain and went home. Those are the bare facts. That is what happened. But there is a LOT to unpack there. More than I have space for, really. I am going to give the highlights and you’ll need to read a verse by verse study to really get at the bones of it. Here we go.

Abraham came from a culture of child sacrifice. It wouldn’t have been odd EXCEPT Yahweh didn’t do that. Never even thought of it (Jeremiah 19:5). In fact, an argument has been made that this whole thing was to not only prevent Abraham from sacrificing Isaac, but to drum into him how DIFFERENT Yahweh was from the gods of his youth. That kind of lesson does mesh well with other teaching in the Law, but personally I don’t think so. You’ll see why shortly.
Abraham had been meditating on the promise of a son and descendants from THAT son for about half a century at this point. He knew that he knew that he KNEW Isaac was going to have offspring. At present he didn’t, so logically, in order to fulfil the promise, God would have to raise Isaac from the dead. That was one reason Abraham didn’t argue and went through with it. He trusted the promise. Hebrews 11:19 tells us that is what Abraham was thinking: “having reasoned that God was able even to raise him from the dead, from which he received him back also as a symbol.”

The mountain God sent him to wasn’t close. There was time to change his mind, do it differently than he had been told, or to send Isaac away. Lots of opportunities, none of them taken. He trusted in the word he had been given: descendants through Isaac.

Isaac was NOT a young child. He is called ‘the boy’ BUT so was Ishmael when he was 17-19 (and that by an angel). Isaac was anywhere from 14-37. A lot of opinions. I think 30-33, and I’ll get to why later. In any case, he was a young MAN and not a child.

When Abraham left the servants behind in sight of the mountain, he told them both he and the boy would be back. So easy to use other words. They were servants and probably from idol worshipping people. They would at least have been very familiar with the local practices AND they were servants. Abraham could have said anything, but didn’t. He was SURE they were BOTH coming back. He TRUSTED the promise of God.

Isaac asks where the sacrifice is. Abraham says God will provide it. Prophetic question. God did provide it. In Jesus two thousand years later and in a ram right there in the moment.

God asked Abraham to “take your son, your only child, Isaac, whom you love” (Genesis 22:2). Later, God said of Jesus “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased” (Matthew 3:17). Do you see the parallel? Later, God says to Abraham “since you have not withheld your son, your only child, from me” (Genesis 22:12) and two thousand years later also said “for in this way God loved the world, so that he gave his one and only Son” (John 3:16). This is COVENANT behaviour. In an covenant in the ancient world, what happened with one happened to the other. If one gave the other gave. If one lost the other lost. They were ONE in COVENANT. God needed a man to give his one and only son whom he loved so that the Father could give His. Abraham trusted the promise. He did not withhold Isaac. Yahweh would not withhold Jesus. Covenant.

Isaac went to this sacrifice willingly. He could see there was no sacrifice and said nothing. He wasn’t stupid. His father’s reply was intentionally vague. He could have taken Abraham. He was young and vigorous. Abraham was pretty good, but he was over a hundred. Isaac could have outran him at the least. Instead, he submitted to the binding. He submitted to being put on the altar. And he was willing to die because it was his father’s will and God’s will beyond that – it would have been clear. That’s why I think he was 30-33 years old. Isaac was a beloved son willing to die through no fault of his own in order to be obedient. Covenant relationship. Because Isaac was willing, Jesus could be willing. Jesus submitted as a man because Isaac submitted as a man. Isaac carried the wood of his sacrifice and Jesus carried the wood of His in the cross. Covenant relationship.

This whole thing was all about covenant promises and sacrifices and the roles of father and son. Abraham trusted. Isaac trusted. And because of their trust in God without withholding anything or turning away or giving up, the cross was able to happen. God does nothing without cooperating with humanity. Abraham believed God and it was counted to him as Righteousness. It’s easy to see why.

Final note: there is a lot of debate about where Isaac went after this incident, where exactly Abraham went to live, and where Sarah was (as well as her feelings about this whole thing). Scripture is not written in a purely linear fashion and we are not told specifics. It could be several things. It isn’t important to the ‘plot’ of salvation, which is the point of all scripture. Draw your own conclusions.

After he was home, news came to Abraham of his relatives and the children they had had.

Summary

Key Players: Abraham, Sarah, Hagar, Ishmael, Isaac

Key Themes: Fulfilment of Promises, Willingness to Obey, Trust

Key Verse(s): Genesis 21:1-2, 11-13, 17; 22:1-2, 7-8, 12