Follow up to my "Was Abraham Right or Wrong" question -?

Question

Many of you said that Abraham knew that God wasn't going to have him go through with it or that God would bring his son back. If that is true then wasn't Abraham's jesture meaningless? If he knew it wasn't really going to happen then he was just going through the motions.

What say you?

A

Answer 1

I don't believe that Abraham already knew that God was wasn't going to have him go through with it. God was testing Abraham, as he has done with many other of his followers. Abraham so loved the Lord that he was willing to sacrifice his son. God, who already knows the past, future, and present knew that Abraham was going to pass this test. What was the purpose of God testing Abraham when he already knew he was going to pass?
I think it was to set an example for everyone else.....it revelations and in Daniel (probably more places but those are the only I can think of at the top of my head) it talks about people who will be put to the ultimate test at the end of days......people will be beheaded for speaking fondly of God. The story of Abraham can be used as an example to prepare you, it makes you think about what you would do if you were in that situation. As the mother, I can tell you that no love is greater than the love of your child. I love God with all of my heart but I still wonder if my faith would be as strong as Abraham's if I was ever put through a similar test.The bible is a holy book, there not only to instruct and guide you, but also to prepare you for the future and all of things to come.

Answer 2

I think that Abraham had NO IDEA what was going to happen. I think He knew the heart of his Father God enough to know that Isaac was the child God had promised him and told him would be the father to many nations. He had to be wondering how this would be so if God was going to require his life as a sacrifice. Even so, Abraham knew that God would honor His word as long as he was obedient. And that's exactly what God did.

Answer 3

This was Abraham's acid test.
God had promised him a son, one son, not many sons.
Then God commanded Abraham to sacrifice Isaac, not with some other son which would be born later as a replacement.
When Abraham obeyed God, he showed full faith in the God of His promise. Here were two things Abraham could not reconcile; God's promise in Isaac, and the command to sacrifice him, but abraham believed God.
Romans 4:3 For what does the Scripture say? "And Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness."
Galatians 3:6 Even so Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness.
James 2:23 and the Scripture was fulfilled which says, "And Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness," and he was called the friend of God.

Can you believe God for something that does not make sense to you, that contradicts everything you know of logic? Can YOU trust God?

Answer 4

I didn't see the original question but I doubt Abraham knew that God would save Isaac. I think he trusted God enough, to follow God's command whatever the outcome. A trust you too might have, if God came to you when you were 99 and your wife was 90, and told you he was giving you a son, and then did so.

Answer 5

Don't think so.

Isaac was the child of promise. He's the patriarch of the Jewish epoch, the second eon.

God knew how events would play out, but because Abraham was committed to being faithful in the sacrifice of his son, Isaac was dead to Abraham for three days (the journey to Golgotha), and when the substitute ram was provided, Abraham explained it to Isaac by saying: "Abraham said, My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering: so they went both of them together."

And sure enough, God did provide himself as the sacrificial lamb in the form of his Son.

And did you notice that Isaac disappears from view at this point in the text?

Abraham went down the mountain, joined the entourage and returned home.

Isaac doesn't appear again in the narrative again until he's joined to his bride. Same as Jesus, who, following the resurrection, doesn't appear again until he's joined to his bride.

Unless you understand the underlying allegories, the stories are difficult to fathom.

Answer 6

Pamela is exactly right. Abraham knew that God would not make a promise that He would not keep so he trusted God to keep his word. He knew that, no matter what, Isaac would be the "father of many nations." He didn't know how God would keep his word but he knew that he would.
Going through the motions? Try cutting the throat of your son and see if you think that it's great fun. I think that, no matter what Abraham's faith was, it would be the closest thing to hell that you could ever experience.

Answer 7

Sorry I missed your earlier question, however, Hebrews 11:17-19 shows that Abraham did not know that God would stop him from killing his son, but reckoned that God was able to raise him from the dead.

Answer 8

I didn't read the original question, but have had teaching on this before. I believe that Abraham had faith in God.
That yes he would have sacrificed Issac. That he knew that God would keep his word and his covenant.
So, no it wasn't meaningless. And I don't believe that it was a gesture.

I don't always know how God is going to fufill the work that he has begun in me and my life in him. But I know that He said he would and he will..

being obedient in Christ, vicki

Answer 9

Though I missed your earlier question, I believe that
Abraham did not know what God's intention or decision
was going to be just like Moses did not know what will
happen while they were waiting frantically at the Red Sea.
But because of his obedience and his faith in God, he surrenders his son (also shows that he put God above
everything else in his life including the son he love so
much) and that pleases God & God showed him mercy
& compassion in return for his faithfulness.

Answer 10

It still took faith to believe it. When's the last time you saw someone raised from the dead? Abraham was conflicted. He didn't know anything for sure.