DYNAMIS!
A publication of St. George Orthodox Christian Cathedral
Wichita, KS
Genesis 22:1-18
(4/11)
1st
The
Patriarch Abraham V ~ The Testing of Faith: Genesis 22:1-18, especially vs. 1:
“And it came to pass after these things that God tempted
Abraam.” By
choosing to submit our lives to Christ as King and God - as our supreme
authority- we accept His challenge: “you believe in God, believe also in
Me” (Jn. 14:1). In this
passage from Genesis, Christ our God places before us an example from the life
of Abraham from which we learn that our faith in Him will be tested, for God
wishes our trust in Him to endure despite life’s wrenching
contradictions. If we will, we
shall learn here to expect tests of faith that involve our dearest attachments,
that force us to act, that expose the roots of our faith, and that reveal true
faith to be a gift from God.
First, face the fact that your faith will be tested, touching
what you treasure most in life.
Certainly the choice between “treasures on earth” and
“treasures in heaven” will confront you (Mt. 6:19,20). God leads us deep into ourselves to
reveal the importance of our relationship with Him, to show how much we need
His grace to endure. Notice how the
Lord takes Abraham into these unexplored realms of his soul: “Take thy
son, the beloved one, whom thou has loved - Isaac, and go into the high land,
and offer him there for a whole-burnt-offering” (Gen. 22:2).
Do you recall that God promised Abraham, “I will make thee a great
nation” (Gen. 12:2)? Abraham,
however, had resigned himself to having a slave in his household be his
heir. Then God unfolded further
details of His promise to Abraham: “This shall not be thine heir; but he
that shall come out of thee shall be thine heir” (Gen. 15:4). Abraham wavered in his faith, and
resorted to having a son - Ishmael - by a slave girl . But the Lord corrected him:
“Sarrha thy wife shall bear thee a son, and thou shalt call his name
Isaac, and I will establish My covenant with him” (Gen. 17:19). Next, Abraham was to offer Isaac as
“a whole-burnt-offering” (Gen. 22:2)!
This choice uncovered what was of prime importance to Abraham in his
life: his son, Isaac, or his relationship with God. Three times in this passage, the Lord
God declares to Abraham that his actions demonstrate his faith (vss.
12,15,18). Ah, but understand what
God is teaching here. He will bring
each of us to an equally ultimate choice in this life. This passage must be read seeing the implication
of the relationship between God and Abraham as our own destiny. Yes, Abraham misunderstands and waivers,
yet God continues to lead him into a full and robust faith. In the end, Abraham’s clear,
defined choice came, and so will ours.
May God grant us the grace of a faith like Abraham’s, that we may
hear the Lord say to us, “now I know that thou fearest God....because
thou hast hearkened to My voice” (vss. 12,18).
Abraham found his faith in acting, but even more these events revealed
the supernatural source of his faith - that faith is God’s gift - not
something of which we are capable; for we are flawed and doubt-ridden. How shall we read Abraham’s reply
to Isaac? Was it an evasion of the
horrifying plan? Or was it a
disclosure of God’s gift of faith within Abraham? Note what the Patriarch says: “God
will provide Himself a sheep for a whole-burnt-offering, my son” (vs. 8).
Do you see? Abraham never
questioned the choice God gave him.
Why? Perhaps because he
sojourned among the Canaanites who regularly practiced child sacrifice (Lev.
18:21, 20:2-5). Plainly, he did not
have the guidance of the Mosaic law.
He simply obeyed from faith in God.
St. John Chrysostom says of Abraham, his “faith opposed
faith,” and became a faith to trust God despite contradiction, a faith to
obey even when God’s command logically opposed God’s promise. In Chrysostom’s words: God
“enjoined things that were in
contradiction to the promises, and yet not even so did the righteous man
stagger.” For such faith, let
us pray!
Lord, grant us grace to gleam with faith like Abraham and to illuminate
this dark world.