Layers

It is with hesitation that I address this scripture. It is a story I have heard since I was knee high to a watermelon.  It is a heart-wrenching story, a story woven throughout thousands of years of history with a link from the Old Testament to the New Testament. At face value it is hard to comprehend. It has spoken to me in different ways on more than one occasion. It has so many layers! It is found in Genesis 22:1-19 when Abraham obediently follows God to sacrifice his promised son and was stopped at the last minute by God.  Following, are some of the layers that I have discovered in this story throughout my life. 

As a child, my first take, or layer on this story was simple obedience to God.  He can be trusted. In my childlike faith, this was probably my best take on this story.  It was later in life as a young adult that I questioned this story.  I thought maybe Abraham was mistaken because God never sacrifices children. In history it is only those pagan gods like Molek that demand such a heinous act.  So I tried to explain away Abraham’s situation thinking he must have been confused and God straightened him out. This was me wrestling with truth.  

But as so often happens, wrestling with truth drags us to enlightenment. About a year ago I discovered a new layer in this story. At the time, I was struggling more than I usually do with fear.  Knowing that fear is the opposite of faith, I turned to this heart-wrenching story.  That is when it dawned on me that Abraham knew God was going to make it right and trusted Him even though he didn't know how it was going to play out.  So he followed in obedience and yes, God made it right.  That was faith.  

As a professional questioner, it is so hard for me to trust God when I can’t see his plan.  But this is the first step in replacing fear with faith.  It starts with a choice, like Abraham who must have chosen to fix his eyes on the victory rather than the  difficulties.  It is not belittling the difficulties, for they are very real.  It is looking beyond the trials to the victory that God has given.  It is a change in point of view.  It is looking at God and not at the flailing mess that surrounds me.  I must do my part of preparation for the battle but with my eyes on the victory the entire time; remembering that it is God’s victory over my fear. 

Today, Genesis 22 is my morning scripture and I go back to read it.  The first two verses say: 

Genesis 22:1-2 NIV

Some time later God tested Abraham. He said to him,“Abraham!” “Here I am,” he replied. 2 Then God said, “Take your son, your only son, whom you love—Isaac—and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on a mountain I will show you.”

I again think, "Why would our loving God tell Abraham to sacrifice this only child?   Hold it...I see a note I made in my Bible from Evidence That Demands a Verdict: Life-Changing Truth for a Skeptical World by Josh and Sean McDowell.  It labels this verse as ‘type’. The note says, 'a type foreshadows or prefigures what the New Testament says.'  When did God ever sacrifice an only child in the New Testament?  And it hit me like a train. This is evidence that God knew then how His plan would play out; that his only Son would be sacrificed for our sins. 

So reading on in verses 6-8, I found another reference in my Bible from the aforementioned-book-with-the-long-name. Again it said ‘type’.  

6 Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and placed it on his son Isaac, and he himself carried the fire and the knife. As the two of them went on together, 7 Isaac spoke up and said to his father Abraham, “Father?” “Yes, my son?” Abraham replied. “The fire and wood are here,” Isaac said, “but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?” 8 Abraham answered, “God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.” And the two of them went on together.

In verse 6, did you see it?  God did it again.  Isaac carried the wood for the sacrifice just as Jesus carried the cross for his.  

So I read on and find another note from the same source in verse 13. 

Genesis 22:13 NIV

[13] Abraham looked up and there in a thicket he saw a ram caught by its horns. He went over and took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering instead of his son.

The note in the margin said, "It is worthy of our attention that the provision was made of a ram rather than a lamb.  This suggests that the lamb that had been promised was still to be provided".  

Wow!  God had and has this thing all figured out.  I can trust him. He has a plan.