Genesis 22 is a story of sorrow, pain, and… relief. But it points to a bigger story where no relief could come.
This is Scripture for Students. I’m Steve Whitacre, president of Trinity College and a pastor at Sovereign Grace Church of Louisville. I want to help students build a daily habit for life-long Bible reading. Today is January 21, 2025 and this episode of Scripture for Students is called What the Story Means and What the Story MEANS. Grab your Bible and let’s get started.
Our readings for today are Genesis 22, Matthew 21, and Nehemiah 11. Please open your Bibles to Genesis 22.
I was probably in about 11th grade when we read Herman Melville’s Moby Dick in my literature class. I thought it was kind of cool. I’ve always liked tales from the sea and I thought chasing whales sounded kind of exciting. It would be years later that I would learn what a smelly profession whaling is. I was nearly done with the story and I had sized it up as an intermittently interesting but largely aimless tale, when our literature teacher dropped this bomb on us: the book is not really about whaling. Spoiler alert here: if I remember the moment right, she let us in on the story behind the story. It’s about man’s desire to exact revenge on God for the circumstances in his life that man believes are unfair or unjust. Captain Ahab proves that the quest is as insane as it is futile. I had to go back and rethink the whole book! This was my first experience recognizing that there is a difference between what the story means and what the story means.
In Genesis 22, we have a story like that. It makes sense on its own, in the same way that Moby Dick can be read at face value as the ruinous adventure of the Pequod. But it can be—actually, needs to be—read on another level.
Follow along with me as I read Genesis 22:1–8,
1 After these things God tested Abraham and 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 of which I shall tell 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. And he cut the wood for the burnt offering and arose and went to the place of which God had told him.
4 On the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes and saw the place from afar.
5 Then Abraham said to his young men, “Stay here with the donkey; I and the boy will go over there and worship and come again to you.”
6 And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on Isaac his son. And he took in his hand the fire and the knife. So they went both of them together.
7 And Isaac said to his father Abraham, “My father!” And he said, “Here I am, my son.” He said, “Behold, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?”
8 Abraham said, “God will provide for himself the lamb for a burnt offering, my son.” So they went both of them together.
May the Lord bless the reading and the hearing and the keeping of his Word.
Taken at face value, it is hard to understand what is happening here. If you’ve been following along with Scripture for Students and you are reading the Robert Murray M’Cheyne reading plan, you already know that not too long before this point in the story, God made promises to Abraham, including promises to be the father of a great multitude. For quite a while, this seemed highly unlikely, because Abraham and Sarah didn’t have any children of their own. But God kept his promise and eventually gave them Isaac, the child of the promise, through whom God would make good on his commitment to give Abraham a legacy of generations to come.
But here, God seems to do the unthinkable: in verse 2, he directs Abraham to take his son, go to the land of Moriah, and offer him as a burnt offering. Now, even apart from the promises God has made to Abraham, this is hard to understand. In most cultures throughout world history, child sacrifice has been seen as revolting. Why would God direct Abraham in this way?
Abraham may not have known why God was leading him to do this heinous act, but the narrator eases the tension for us, the readers, right at the outset. In verse 1, the story begins, “After these things God tested Abraham…” Moses wrote the book of Genesis and he has the benefit of hindsight. He knows that this is only a test. God wants to test Abraham to see that his faith is real and true.
You know the story, and after we finish with this episode of the podcast you can go read it for yourself again. Abraham passes the test. He gets right to the critical moment, he is about to kill Isaac and offer him as the sacrifice when, in verse 11, an angel of the Lord appears and stops him. The ram is caught in a thicket nearby: the tension is eased and Abraham offers the ram instead of Isaac. So the story makes sense enough on this level: Abraham passed the test. His faith was proved to be real and genuine. Abraham was prepared to do whatever it takes to follow the Lord.
But this chapter also helps us be good readers of our Bibles. Do you remember how I learned that there was more to Moby Dick than just Captain Ahab hunting down the white whale out of vengeance and spite? Well, there is more to this story, too.
You can probably guess where I’m going with this: when we read about sacrifices, most Christians pretty easily make the jump to Jesus. But we need to learn to read carefully and think deeply by asking: how does this story remind us of Jesus? What exactly does this teach us about Jesus? There are at least a couple of lessons.
First, in Genesis 22, Abraham was willing to sacrifice his son. When we get to the New Testament, we learn that God was not only willing to sacrifice his Son. He was resolved to sacrifice him. It was part of his plan. Acts 2:23 says that Jesus was “delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God.”
Second, in Genesis 22, there was a pretty tidy way out of the problem: God provided a substitute for Isaac: the ram caught in the thicket. The gospel story is a contrast. In the gospels, there is no ram available to take Jesus’ place. In Matthew 26:39, Jesus prayed, “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me…” He never got an answer to that prayer. It was not possible for the cup to pass from him. There would be no avoiding the cross. There was no substitute for Jesus, instead, he became the substitute for all those he came to save. 2 Corinthians 5:21 says, “For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”
As you read Genesis 22 today, reflect on this story. Try to imagine what it would be like for a father to not only lose his son, but be directed to sacrifice him. What Abraham was willing to do by faith, he never had to do. What Abraham didn’t have to do, God did, freely, because of our sins and for our salvation. Let’s remember to thank him for his mercy and grace to us through the sacrifice of his own beloved son.
That’s all for today. If you enjoyed this episode please share it with a friend and follow us on Apple Podcasts.
This content is sponsored by Trinity College of Louisville. We shape young men and young women for Christ and for the church. Learn more at TrinityCollegeLou.com. Until next time, keep growing!