The Testing of Abraham

Jim ButlerGenesis 22

Genesis 22 presents one of the most demanding tests of faith in the Old Testament — God commanding Abraham to sacrifice Isaac, his only son, on Mount Moriah. This exposition works through three movements in the narrative: the presentation of the test, Abraham's obedience, and God's approval, before turning to the rich typology the passage contains. Abraham typifies God the Father who spares nothing in giving his Son; Isaac typifies the willing, obedient Son of God; and the ram caught in the thicket typifies the substitutionary sacrifice of Christ at Calvary, where no angel intervened and the knife of divine justice fell on the Son of God's love. Read your Old Testament as a believer in Christ — Genesis 22 is about Jesus.