1.God tested Abraham

Today, we will read about Abrahams¡Ç decision to sacrifice his only son, Isaacs. Abraham (formerly Abram) was a nomad living in Mesopotamia. But ; - The Lord said to Abram, “Leave your country, your relatives, and your father’s family, and go to the land I will show you.(Genesis 12:1)
Thus he set out for Canaan, the place indicated by God. At that time, God said to him, ; - ¡ÈI will make you a great nation, and I will bless you. I will make you famous, and you will be a blessing to others.(Genesis 12:2)

Nonetheless, Abraham couldn¡Çt get land in Canaan there because the region was occupied by Canaanites. Furthermore, the inhabitants suffered from famine due to a drought. Abraham had to go to Egypt to get the needs. Though God gave him since then several times the same promise but he remained childless. He must be patient for 25 years to be given a boy. He named him Isaac. Abraham and his wife were very happy to have the successor after all.

But God gave Abraham an incredible ordered. Genesis 22:1-2 tells what it was. ; - After these things God tested Abraham’s faith. God said to him, ¡ÈAbraham!¡ÉAnd he answered, ¡ÈHere I am.¡É Then God said, ¡ÈTake your only son, Isaac, the son you love, and go to the land of Moriah. Kill him there and offer him as a whole burnt offering on one of the mountains I will tell you about.¡É
At that moment, Abraham couldn¡Çt grasp what God meant. Because God said to him previously, ; - ¡ÈThe descendants I promised you will be from Isaac.(Genesis 21:12)

It seemed absurd that God ordered Abraham to sacrifice Isaac. The act would annul all that Abraham did to obey God. He must upset and hesitate in his heart. However he followed God¡Çs words without complaining. So ; - Abraham got up early in the morning and saddled his donkey. He took Isaac and two servants with him. After he cut the wood for the sacrifice, they went to the place God had told them to go.(Genesis 22:3)

On the way to Moriah, Abraham was voiceless. His mind must be filled with questions. For instance, ¡ÈWhy did God order me to give up Isaac as a sacrifice?¡É or ¡ÈHow can my family be prosper without Isaac?¡É But Abraham knew that every single word of God must be true. His wife Sarah, who had ceased mensuration, could give birth to a body. (see Genesis 18:11), so that he was convinced that nothing was too hard for the Lord. (see Genesis 18:14) He was sure that God would allow him to get Isaac back after killing and totally burning him. Abraham might continue to walk the long way to the place in thinking and thinking about God¡Çs will.

After tree days of journey, Abraham saw the mountain Moria. ; - Abraham took the wood for the sacrifice and gave it to his son to carry, but he himself took the knife and the fire. So he and his son went on together.(Genesis 22:6)
Isaac had a question then. ; - Isaac said to his father Abraham, “Father!"Abraham answered, “Yes, my son.” Isaac said, “We have the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb we will burn as a sacrifice?¡É(Genesis 22:7)

Abraham could say nothing to his son. But he was sure that God would supply them with what they needed. Therefore ; - Abraham answered, “God will give us the lamb for the sacrifice, my son.¡É(Genesis 22:8)
Then they came to the place told by God. ; - Abraham built an altar there. He laid the wood on it and then tied up his son Isaac and laid him on the wood on the altar. Then Abraham took his knife and was about to kill his son.(Genesis 22:9-10)
At that crucial moment, God intervened through an Angel. ; - The angel said, “Don’t kill your son or hurt him in any way. Now I can see that you trust God and that you have not kept your son, your only son, from me.¡É(Genesis 22:12)

Hearing the voice, Abraham looked around and ; - saw a male sheep caught in a bush by its horns. So Abraham went and took the sheep and killed it. He offered it as a whole burnt offering to God, and his son was saved.(Genesis 22:13)

In that way, Abraham¡Çs absolute trust in God was rewarded. ; - So Abraham named that place The Lord Provides (YHWH-Yireh ¡ÆAdonai-jireh¡Ç in Hebrew). Even today people say, “On the mountain of the Lord it will be provided.¡É(Genesis 22:14)

The story was highly praised in the New testament. James wrote ; - Abraham, our ancestor, was made right with God by what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar.(James 2:21)
So did the writer of Hebrews ; - It was by faith that Abraham, when God tested him, offered his son Isaac as a sacrifice. God made the promises to Abraham, but Abraham was ready to offer his own son as a sacrifice.18 God had said, “The descendants I promised you will be from Isaac.” Abraham believed that God could raise the dead, and really, it was as if Abraham got Isaac back from death.(Hebrews 11:17-19)
Traditionally, the church understands the episode as the trial of Abraham.

2. The trial given to Isaac

The story is transmitted as the legend of ¡Æ¡ÆThe binding Isaac (עקידת יצחק -Akeidat Yitzchak in Hebrew),¡Ç because of this phrase in it. ; - He(Abraham)… tied up his son Isaac …(Genesis 22:9)

Sacrificing bound children seems a rite largely spread in the ancient world. But in the Jewish thinking, it is considered disgusting and strictly prohibited. ; - Don’t let anyone among you offer a son or daughter as a sacrifice in the fire. Don’t let anyone use magic or witchcraft, or try to explain the meaning of signs.(Deuteronomy 18:10, etc.)

For that reason, Jewish interpretation interested rather in the sacrifice of Isaac, than in the faith of Abraham. How old Isaac was at that time? Genesis 22:6 says, ¡ÈAbraham took the wood for the sacrifice and gave it to his son to carry,¡É which suggests that he was already old and strong enough to bear a heavy load. If so, Isaac could guess ahead at Abraham¡Çs purpose of binding him. And we imagine easily that such a crucial experience changed completely Isaac¡Çs life. He was almost being killed by one¡Çs own father!

Sarah also must be shocked strongly. Her death was reported just after the event in Genesis 23:1. ; - Sarah lived to be one hundred twenty-seven years old. Her death might be indirectly triggered by the distress.

Throughout the global history, the Jewish people were maltreated and underwent persecutions. The most famous and cruel one is that by Nazi. The incident is called ¡ÈThe Holocaust¡É which came from the Greek ¡Èhólos (whole)¡É and ¡Èkaustós (burnt).¡É

The Jewish people saw an analogy between Isaac and themselves in Holocaust. As a matter of fact, they played the rule of sacrifices as descendants of Abraham.

Paul praised Abraham several times in Romans and Galatians. However he made no comment on the episode of ¡ÆThe binding Isaac.¡Ç Paul might think that Abraham¡Çs act of almost killing his son was inadmissible even thought it was to show the righteousness before God.

The story also impressed thinkers of modern times . I heard that it inspired Kierkegaard, a Danish Christian philosopher, to write ¡ÆFear and Trembling (Frygt og Bæven).¡Ç Kierkegaard inserted in it an episode based on ¡ÈThe binding Isaac¡É :
— A pastor gave a sermon address and praised in it Abraham¡Çs decision to kill his own son as a sacrifice. He said, ¡ÈIt was the very faith.¡É A Christian who listened to the sermon said to the pastor that he want to sacrifice his son to God, too. Hearing that, the pastor gat furious and cried out, ¡ÈHow diabolic you are to intend to kill your own child!¡É —

The episode point to a conflict between faith and earthy sense. Killing one¡Çs own son to obey God can be a very faithful act. Nonetheless homicide, even though interrupted, must be accused severely in human sense. And when we take the feeling of Isaac and Sarah into consideration, we can¡Çt praise simply Abraham¡Çs choice.

3. The Lord provides

Then, as for us, how do we have to interpret the story? Today¡Çs invocation verse 1 Corinthians 10:13 should help us to understand well the message. ; - The only temptation that has come to you is that which everyone has. But you can trust God, who will not permit you to be tempted more than you can stand. But when you are tempted, he will also give you a way to escape so that you will be able to stand it.

Genesis 22:1 says, ;- ¡ÈAfter these things God tested Abraham’s faith.¡É And Matthew reported that Jesus taught to pray, ¡ÈDo not cause us to be tempted.¡É(Matthew6:13)

Those verses tell that tests and temptations come from God. Genesis teaches that both the flood of Noah and destruction of Sodom occurred in accordance with God¡Çs will. We, simple humans, cannot know how and for which precise purpose God decides to sent us trials. But we have to recognize that each harsh experience has a way to escape. God will give us it. God saved Noah and his household from the flood. And Lot and his daughters could run away from Sodom thanks to God¡Çs alert. In the story of Isaac as a scapegoat started with the test of Abraham by God and finished with the Providence of God.

The main message of Genesis 22 is, ¡ÆGod provides.¡Ç The core of the passage is not Abraham¡Çs faith, nor the sacrifice of Isaac. The words ¡Æprovidence¡Ç and ¡Æprovide¡Ç came from ¡Æprovidere¡Ç in Latin, which means ¡Æforesee¡Ç and ¡Æattend to.¡Ç God takes care of our future and supply us with what we need, even though invisibly. And the faith is to believe what we cannot see.

Abraham already knew that all is possible for the Lord. Because Sarah, his old and sterile wife, had given him a son, Isaac.(see 18:14) Therefore his faith was completely stable and he obeyed God¡Çs seemingly absurd words, ¡ÈSacrifice Isaac.¡É

Our construction project of the new church building resembles Abraham¡Çs decision. When we discussed about necessary money at first, it seemed impossible for us to raise enough. We didn¡Çt know how we could realize our desire of renewing the building. A congregation of less than 40 members seemed to be too small to collect tens of millions of yen. But a voluntary architect came to us when we were still seeking means. Then we found financial resources. Since then, the project started tangibly and we could launch engineering works last February. Now the building shows the entity and is about to achieve in the September. During those processes we witnessed that nothing is impossible for the Lord. The power of God goes far beyond human thinking.

However it is also true that several other churches have difficulties to pay back debts after constructing church buildings. We also borrowed 70% of the fund from external resources. Consequently, we will be under heavy obligation to refund debts from this year for 15 years. Nevertheless, we believe that God provides us with what we need. We are sure to be able to avoid insolvency. All of church income depends on donations by believers and we cannot say exactly how many church members will stay here till the end of refunding period. But Abraham said to Isaac, ¡ÈGod will give us the lamb for the sacrifice, my son.¡É That is the very faith and our congregation stands on it.