Genesis 22 -- The Worst Kind Of Hurt

This chapter always tears me up.  I can’t imagine what Abraham must have been feeling during those 4 or so days it took them to travel to Moriah once he’d heard from God:

“Abraham, take your only son Isaac, the son you love, and go to the land of Moriah.  Kill him there and offer him as a whole burnt offering.”  Isaac was supposedly around 25 years old.  Abraham might have been 125 or so.

Isaac’s faith had to have been as strong as his dad’s, for Abraham tied him up for the sacrifice and laid him on the wood on the altar.  Had he not believed  and not trusted both his dad and God, he would have easily been able to overpower his aged dad.

I can’t imagine what they must have said to each other, either.  “Dad, are you sure?  God really said this?  Do you love me?  Will it hurt?  What else will I feel?  What if God doesn’t bring me back to life … where will I go?  No one has ever come back to life, have they?”

And as Abraham raised the knife, I imagine the tears streaming from his eyes:  “God, let me not be making a mistake!  Oh, Isaac, I love you!  Father, get us through this!”  And Isaac looking up into his dad’s face, whispering, “I love you, Dad!”

I think of my own two sons and the crushing blow it would be to my soul to have to endure what Abraham thought he was about to experience.

Then I think of You, Father, watching a dress rehearsal for what You and Your Son would endure for all of us.  How could You stand it, Father?  Did the Eternal One feel like dying when He had to turn His back on the sin His own Son took on for us?  When humanity gave Jesus its Worst, what manner of love impelled You to give us Your best? 

My heart breaks this morning for what You had to endure as a Dad that day because of me.  After all, my sins sent Your Son to the cross.  His love for me kept him there.  Such love from both of You for one totally unworthy of it.  Such love!

Your Brother In Christ,

Gary Ford