Gosh, was this one of God's plans?

Question

Gen 22: 1-2,9,11-13 Speaking to Abraham, God "said, 'Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Mori'ah, and and offer him there as a burnt offering upon one of the mountains of which I shall tell youl'...When they came to the place...Abraham built an alter there, and laid the wood in order, and bound Isaac his son, and laid him on the alter, upon the wood... But the angel of the Lord called down to him from heaven...'Do not lay your hand on the lad or do anything to him; for now I know that you fear God, seeing you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me.'"

You chaps do know we're talking about human sacritice here...you know, like something ancient religions did? Oh, my, and imagine, it's the 21st century.

Answer 1

Before I get to the gist of my response, let me say something to "Moreth133". I understand what you mean by asking "didnt God already know what Abraham would do".
Yes, of course He did. But in spite of what God knew. ABRAHAM didnt know for SURE that his faith would stand any test, until it was actually put to the test.

OK. Now to the rest of the question. I see that there are already many excellent answers here that explain the typeology and the symbolism of Isaac to Christ. So, I dont need to get into that.

But what I do want to do is address the question that is in the back of the Askers mind. The one that he didnt ask:

Is God evil for doing this? Or what if God HAD'NT stopped Abraham? Would God be a murderer?

The simple answer in either case is no.

Why?

Because God Himself is the Source of all Life. So if God decides to take a life, He is just retrieving that which already belongs to Him.

Murder is the unlawful taking of a life. No one has the right to take anothers life, unless that authority has been granted by God Himself. Like, Governments for instance. They derive their authority from God Himself. Wether they recongnize that fact or not.
That is why God could direct people and armies in the Old Testament to certain punitive actions. That is His preogitive.

And though Man will not always understand His reasons for doing so, or not doing so, in certain instances, God always excercises His right in light of His own Justice.

He never doesn anything unfairly. Even though we may not see it that way. He has the advantage of knowing all. We know just in part.

As the Bible says: "It is impossible for God to do evil, or be tempted by evil."

So, I hope that sheds some light on the Askers "unasked" Question.

....theBerean

Answer 2

Genisis 22:1 And it came to pass after these things, that God did tempt Abraham, and said unto him, Abraham: and he said, Behold, here I am.
2 And he said, Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of.

9 And they came to the place which God had told him of; and Abraham built an altar there, and laid the wood in order, and bound Isaac his son, and laid him on the altar upon the wood.

11 And the angel of the LORD called unto him out of heaven, and said, Abraham, Abraham: and he said, Here am I.
12 And he said, Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou any thing unto him: for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son from me.
13 And Abraham lifted up his eyes, and looked, and behold behind him a ram caught in a thicket by his horns: and Abraham went and took the ram, and offered him up for a burnt offering in the stead of his son.

King James bible

Answer 3

Yes, it was. And the explanation for it can be found in James 2:21-24, Romans 4:3 and Hebrews 11:11-19. It's all tied up with how God sacrificed his own beloved Son for our sins. He did not withhold his only Son. And the Son willingly offered himself.

Answer 4

Yes, GOD was testing Abraham with the most precious, valuable thing in his life. That was his only son Isaac.

Notice in verse 12, And he said, lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou any thing unto him; for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou has not withheld thy son, thine only son from me.
God has the same MO today. He tempts you with your MONEY!
For some people Money is their God.

Answer 5

Odd that God should deceive someone. I thought deception was a sin... hmm!

And anyway, why does God need to feel that we fear him?

If God knows everything, God would know what Abraham would do and that Abraham does fear/love/whatever him. Looks like God needs to be reassured from time to time...

As I've said before, God needs to get over his complexes.

Answer 6

Relate this to your life. God was saying if you sacrifice everything for him you will be alright. Have faith that no matter what the stakes if you trust God you will turn out fine. This is if and only if you faith is unshackable. You can't fool God. If you are placed in a situation and your faith is not solid someone might get hurt. It want be Gods fault it will be yours for not believing. That is not God punishing you that is you punishing yourself. Please believe God will test you and use Satan to temp you. Will you be like Abraham or will you be like Ahab. The choice is yours. peace and Luv

Answer 7

Isaac is a type of Christ. God is not into human sacrifice. Jesus is the perfect and only sacrifice for sin.

God tested Abraham..........but He never planned for Abraham to sacrifice His son.

We all have to "lay our Isaac" on the table - so to speak. We must be willing to give everything we have and are to Him.

Answer 8

Yes, it was God's plan. God was testing Abraham's faith. And because Abraham had so much faith in God, God saved Isaac.

Answer 9

It allowed Abraham to demonstrate his faith in Jehovah. He knew what ever the outcome that Jehovah had a purpose and his faith was strong enough to stand. Besides that, Jehovah doesn't do things in a foolish way, but, he does purpose.......Abraham accomplished Jehovah's purpose, and I for one, understand why he did it.