Passing a divine test brings extravagant rewards.
In the previous posts we have seen in Genesis 22 that God tested Abraham by commanding him to journey to a distant mountain and there sacrifice his son Isaac. Abraham obeyed God, to the point that he was moments away from slaying his son—when the Angel of the Lord interrupted him.
And suddenly everything returned to normal. The Angel of the Lord tells Abraham, “Do not lay your hand on the boy or do anything to him, for now I know that you fear God, seeing you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me.” Notice what God commends in Abraham: “Now I know that you fear God.” Abraham’s reverence for God’s holiness results in obedience without reservation. This is true love for the Lord. If we fear him, we withhold nothing.
Behold
Abraham looks around “and behold, behind him was a ram, caught in a thicket by his horns” (v. 13). The narrator used “behold” twice in this story. Behold adds emphasis. The narrator first used behold when Isaac was carrying the wood up the mountain and said to his father, “Behold, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?” (v. 7). Isaac’s question is ultimately answered in verse 13 with the matching “Behold, behind him was a ram.” In this way the narrator highlights these two sentences in yellow and draws a line between them. Abraham takes the ram and offers it in Isaac’s place.
However, an important shift has occurred. Ascending the mountain, Isaac had asked about the lamb for sacrifice, and Abraham had spoken in faith that God would provide the lamb (vv. 7–8). A lamb is a young sheep, but what Abraham found caught in the thicket was a ram, a mature male sheep with horns. This shift is not accidental. The two beholds mentioned above focus attention. From our perspective having both the Old and New Testaments in our hands, we know there is more to this story than the testing of Abraham. This event foreshadows Jesus. It ultimately pictures the Lamb who is a Ram. He is both. He is the sacrificial Lamb killed as a substitute, but he is the powerful Ram with horns of royal authority. Jesus is the Lord. Yet, as Abraham said, this is the Lamb God would provide. Just as Isaac was bound and silently, willingly let himself be placed on the wood, so our Lord and Messiah let himself be arrested, was silent before his shearers, and willingly died on the wood he had carried. Jesus’ death on the cross was a sacrifice.
Surely
After Abraham sacrifices the ram on the altar in Isaac’s place, the Angel of the Lord calls to him a second time from heaven: “By myself I have sworn, declares the LORD, because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, I will surely bless you, and I will surely multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven and as the sand that is on the seashore. And your offspring shall possess the gate of his enemies, and in your offspring shall all the nations of the earth be blessed, because you have obeyed my voice.” (vv. 16–18)
Once again a test functions as a bridge to a glorious future, as a stairway to a higher calling. Notice the repetition of “surely”: “I will surely bless you, and I will surely multiply your offspring.” The repetition reinforces the certainty intended by the opening words, “By myself I have sworn.” By passing this test, Abraham made something certain that apparently would have been uncertain had he withheld Isaac. God would not bless what Abraham withheld to the degree he would bless what he surrendered. The Lord reaffirmed three previous promises—(1) blessing [Gen. 12:2], (2) numerous offspring [Genesis 15:5. This is the first time that God says Abraham will have offspring as numerous as the sand on the seashore], (3) and being a blessing to the nations [Gen. 12:3]—and added a new promise: Abraham’s offspring will possess the gate of his enemies.
Jesus
This added promise is significant. The offspring to whom it refers is Jesus Christ, and his enemies are the demons of this world and their ruler, the archenemy of God, Satan himself. God is promising Abraham that Jesus will completely defeat Satan and his kingdom of darkness. As Jesus promised Peter, “I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it” (Mat. 16:18). In other words, through Abraham’s offspring Jesus Christ, God will remedy the problem of evil. It is evil that has brought pain and sorrow to humanity throughout history, and it is Jesus who will conquer it.
God links that reversal in the world’s fallen condition to Abraham’s obedience. Abraham could not save the world, for he too is marked by sin, but because of Abraham’s obedience God made the sinless Savior his offspring. Because Abraham passed the test, Jesus the Redeemer would be his descendant.
Passing a divine test brings increase
In this narrative God commends Abraham for three things. “You fear God” (v. 12). “You have not withheld your son” (v. 12). “You have obeyed my voice” (v. 18). God tested Abraham for these qualities and likewise tests us. Do we fear God, revering him as holy and trembling at his words? Will we withhold anything from him, in particular what we love most? Will we obey his voice, taking all his words seriously? If we pass the test, God’s heart is to reward us extravagantly.
In some way God always increases what we surrender to him. Sooner or later he rewards sacrifice in larger, lasting ways, in this age or the age to come, in physical or spiritual blessings. One Isaac surrendered to God became offspring as numerous as the stars in the sky and the sand by the seashore. One difficult act of obedience led to the descendent whose perfect obedience leads all God’s people to obedience and salvation. Jesus said, “Everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or lands, for my name’s sake, will receive a hundredfold and will inherit eternal life” (Mat. 19:29). And, “Unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit” (John 12:24). By surrendering Isaac, Abraham kept him for the rest of his life and forevermore. God is infinitely good to those who pass the trial of surrender.
