Bible Study: Genesis 22

Genesis 22 reveals the tale of how the Lord tested the faith and fidelity of Abraham by ordering him to sacrifice his only son, Isaac. It is a haunting tale of a man faithful unto God, even until the end. It is also a hopeful statement than God will not test our faith beyond our ability to endure. The central theme is addressing how to make the right decisions when God tests you.

This Bible study can fit neatly onto one side of a letter-sized sheet of paper. After placing the text at the top, I suggest that you bold certain phrases in order to emphasize importance, and to facilitate class discussion. These are:

1. "God will himself provide the lamb for the burnt offering..." (v.8), a foretelling of God providing his own son as a sacrifice for our sin debt.

2. "...you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me." (v.12), a compelling statement of Abraham's faith in God.

3. "In your seed, all of the nations of the earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed my voice." (v.18) Catch that? This event was among the most important in human history. Would man have enjoyed the blessings of God if Abraham chickened out?

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The study notes that I use at the bottom of the page are as follows:

Have you ever faced a situation in which being obedient to God meant giving up something precious to you? How did you respond to the challenge?

We might revere Abraham as a great patriarch, but he was also something of an everyman, with his many failings. He struggled with doubts about God all his life. Why had God called him out of prosperity into the barren wilderness? When, if at all, would he have a son with his wife? Doubts about God’s protection of his mission, led him to let foreign kings sleep with his wife, fearing their earthly power more than he trusted in God’s righteous anger. Yet when called upon, Abraham heeded God’s hideous and incomprehensible command. He was obedient, even when asked to give up that which was most important to him. If God did not spare this flawed man from the cross that he must bear, we should not conclude that God will require little of us.

(v.18) In the parallel story, all nations are indeed blessed because Jesus Christ obeyed his Father, and did not shirk from the awful task of paying for the sins of all humanity, though he was utterly blameless.