The moment the angel of the LORD prevented Abraham from sacrificing Isaac
Painting by Rembrandt van Rijn, Alte Pinakothek, Munich
God Calls Abram Out of Paganism & Makes Two Promises
When God called Abram at the age of seventy-five and his wife Sarai to leave their pagan life in Haran (south-east Turkey) and journey to a country he would show him, he made two promises to Abram:
- The Promise of Being the Father of Many Nations
- The Promise of a Land for His People
“Go from your country, your people and your father's household to the land I will show you. I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you;
I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.” (Genesis 12:1-3)
And Abram obeyed - the first step in his becoming known as 'The Father of the Faithful' (Romans Chapter 4)
In due course Abram moved with Sarai and his brother Lot to Egypt, where the Pharaoh took a fancy to Sarai. In fear he might be killed if he intervened, Abram told the Pharaoh she was his sister - a blatant lie! But God would not let the deceit remain uncovered and struck Pharaoh's household with a plague, exposing the deception and resulting in them being escorted out of Egypt! So much for Abram's faith, it seemed.
God Promises Abram A Son
Some time later God spoke to Abram again in a vision.
"“Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your very great reward.” But Abram said, “Sovereign Lord, what can you give me since I remain childless and the one who will inherit my estate is Eliezer of Damascus?” And Abram said, “You have given me no children; so a servant in my household will be my heir.” Then the word of the Lord came to him: “This man will not be your heir, but a son who is your own flesh and blood will be your heir.” He took him outside and said, “Look up at the sky and count the stars—if indeed you can count them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring be.” Abram believed the Lord, and he credited it to him as righteousness. He also said to him, “I am the Lord, who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land to take possession of it.” (Genesis 15:1-7)
Not surprisingly, Abram had difficulty believing Sarai could have a child at her age and so, thinking they could give God a hand, she suggested Abram sleep with her Egyptian maid Hagar, who duly fell pregnant. The problem was that was not what God had promised, and in due course caused Sarai to be jealous of her maid. She treated Hagar so harshly that she fled into the desert, where the angel of the LORD found her hiding beside a spring. The angel promised she would have a son and she was to call him Ishmael, meaning "God hears your cry, because he has heard of your affliction. He will have many descendants, be a wild donkey of a man and against everyone "(Genesis 16:11-12). In fact history shows Ishmael to be the origin of the Arab nations, who have been at war with the descendants of the son God promised Abram ever since.
When God called Abram out of Haran, he called him out of a pagan culture that included temple prostitution as a part of the worship of the pagan gods and even sacrifices of infants to the god Molech. But nothng had prepared Abraham for what God did when Isaac had grown to be a healthy adolescent. For in Genesis 22 God appeared to Abraham to test him by telling him to take his son, "your only son whom you love, Isaac, and go to the land of Morah and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains which I will tell you."
Amazingly, Abraham rose early the next morning and even set about splitting wood for the sacrifice! Then he set off with Isaac, a couple of young men and a donkey for the place God had told him. When they reached the place, Abraham told the two young men to stay where they were with the donkey, while he and Isaac went off to sacrifice the burnt offering, saying:
" I and the lad will go yonder, and we will worship and return to you."
It was a remarkable display of faith, when he knew God had told him that Isaac was to be the sacrifice. Centuries later in Hebrews 11:19 the writer says:
" Abraham reasoned that God could even raise the dead, and so in a manner of speaking he did receive Isaac back from the dead."
At the very moment Abraham was about to slay Isaac with the knife, the angel of the LORD intervened, saying:
" Stretch not out your hand against the lad and do nothing to him, for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from Me." (Genesis 22:12)