The Old Testament proclaims Abraham as the friend of God. "Art not thou our God, who didst drive out the inhabitants of this land before thy people Israel, and gavest it to the seed of Abraham thy friend forever?" [2 Chronicles 20:7] Abraham earned this esteem through faith, obedience and worship. He was blessed by God and significant to Christians as the ancestor of Christ, prophet, intercessor, and father of those saved by faith. It is easy for us to love those that love us, so it must have been easy for God to love Abraham. Abraham loved God deeply and showed his love through worship. [Genesis 21:33] Abraham had a deep and abiding faith in God as well. "And he believed in the LORD; and he counted it to him for righteousness." [Genesis 15:6] Abraham's faith is the example for us and the greater part of his faith was about obedience. Abraham trusted God to provide, protect and honor His Word and in return for God's care, Abraham was obedient. The story of Abraham's son Isaac tells us about the quality of Abraham's faith. Abraham's wife Sarah was beyond childbearing years when God told Abraham that they would have a child. That child was Isaac and God promised to make Abraham the father of His people through that child. [Genesis 15:1-18] Isaac was much loved by his father and Abraham would have done anything to protect this very special son. One day, God spoke to Abraham and told him to take Isaac up into a place in the mountains and sacrifice him on an altar. The father and son traveled towards the mountain with wood for the fire and the altar but no lamb for the sacrifice. Isaac said, "My father" behold the fire and the wood: but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?" [Genesis 22:7] Abraham answered that God would provide the lamb. Abraham went where he was instructed and built an altar. He laid the wood around it to sacrifice Isaac on it as a burnt offering. He bound Isaac and laid him on the altar. As he raised his knife to slay his beloved son, a voice spoke from heaven: "And he said, Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou anything unto him: for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son from me." [Genesis 22:12] To our modern sensibilities this is a horrifying story. It was certainly a horror to Abraham, too, to be asked to sacrifice this son that God had promised to do so much through. And therein lies the key to Abraham's faith, he knew beyond any doubt that God would make good on His promise. "By faith Abraham, when he was tried, offered up Isaac: and he that had received the promises offered up his only begotten son," [Hebrews 11:17] He couldn't have known how, but he must have known that God would somehow make everything work out for the good. Armed with that faith, Abraham was able to be absolutely obedient.
β Commentary (author not named in book)
