As I give some time and study to Genesis 22 and the sacrifice of Isaac, there seems to be a lot of background to this story and how all these things developed.
Think about this for a moment:
1. Abram first obeyed "The Call" to leave the land of Ur when he was 75 years of age.
2. Ishmael was born when Abram was 86 years of age.
3. Abram was 100 years old when Isaac was born.
4. Bible scholars estimate Isaac was somewhere between 20 to 37 years of age when he was to be offered up to the Lord as a sacrifice. That would put Abram at somewhere between 120 and 137 years of age.
So, Abram had been believing the promises the Lord had spoke to him....for approximately 50 years! That to me is a startling thought. He had these promises in his heart...and now...50 years of believing God and the promises he had been given... were about to..."go up in smoke?"
Abram had a long time to think....to think about all of God's promises. He also had by the time of the "Sacrifice", had nurtured a relationship with God to the point he was God's friend.
There is something to be said about being God's friend. Here are a few commentaries I have read on this particular subject.
Clarke's Commentary:
"A "friend of God" is the highest character ever given to man. Friends have everything "out in the open" between themselves. God took Abram into an intimate communion...with Himself!
God, who is never in want because He possesses all things, enabled Abram to never be destitute...because he was God's friend."
Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible:
" He (Abram) was loved by God with an everlasting love, and God shared His love with Abram by His very acts of friendship. God blessed Abram, and Abram was blessed with increase...because God is full of increase.
Abram loved God, and made himself friendly to Him...by doing the following:1) believing every word God spoke to him, 2) readily complied to follow after God's Will in his own life, and 3)yielded an overall cheerful obedience in following God's Will.
Abram became well-known even among the eastern nations of that time. Abram was called in the Koran as "Khalil Alla"...the friend of God. This is the highest honor any mortal can be given.
God simply took Abram...as His friend."
Vincent Gill's Word Studies:
"In the Septuagint ( the Greek manuscripts of the Old Testament), the phrase "friend of God" has its origin in these words: "thy beloved".
Matthew Henry Commentary:
Henry writes that being a "friend of God" is not an exclusive club. He suggests "it is made possible by the same principle Abram demonstrated, that is, to believe God and what He tells you.
Based on that principle, Rahab the harlot is classified as a "friend of God's"...because she too believed God and what He would do."
A British publication once offered a prize for the best definition of the word "friend". Among some of the more noted answers were:
1. "One who multiplies joy, divides grief, and whose honesty is inviolable."
2. "One who understands us, even when we are silent."
3. "A volume of sympathy wrapped in a cloth, to wipe away any tears."
The #1 answer: "A friend is the one who comes in...when the whole world...has gone out."
One dictionary defines a friend as: " a person whom we know and is aware of our likes and dislikes, one who has won over our trust and confidence..a person we are relaxed to confide in...and let "our guards" down."
Jesus said in John 15:12-15: " This is My Commandment, that you love one another....as I have loved you. Greater love has no man than this: that someone lay down his life for his friends. You...are My friends, if you do what I have commanded you. No longer do I call you My servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing, but I have called you My friends, for all that I have heard from My Father...I have made known to you."
Think about this for a moment:
1. Abram first obeyed "The Call" to leave the land of Ur when he was 75 years of age.
2. Ishmael was born when Abram was 86 years of age.
3. Abram was 100 years old when Isaac was born.
4. Bible scholars estimate Isaac was somewhere between 20 to 37 years of age when he was to be offered up to the Lord as a sacrifice. That would put Abram at somewhere between 120 and 137 years of age.
So, Abram had been believing the promises the Lord had spoke to him....for approximately 50 years! That to me is a startling thought. He had these promises in his heart...and now...50 years of believing God and the promises he had been given... were about to..."go up in smoke?"
Abram had a long time to think....to think about all of God's promises. He also had by the time of the "Sacrifice", had nurtured a relationship with God to the point he was God's friend.
There is something to be said about being God's friend. Here are a few commentaries I have read on this particular subject.
Clarke's Commentary:
"A "friend of God" is the highest character ever given to man. Friends have everything "out in the open" between themselves. God took Abram into an intimate communion...with Himself!
God, who is never in want because He possesses all things, enabled Abram to never be destitute...because he was God's friend."
Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible:
" He (Abram) was loved by God with an everlasting love, and God shared His love with Abram by His very acts of friendship. God blessed Abram, and Abram was blessed with increase...because God is full of increase.
Abram loved God, and made himself friendly to Him...by doing the following:1) believing every word God spoke to him, 2) readily complied to follow after God's Will in his own life, and 3)yielded an overall cheerful obedience in following God's Will.
Abram became well-known even among the eastern nations of that time. Abram was called in the Koran as "Khalil Alla"...the friend of God. This is the highest honor any mortal can be given.
God simply took Abram...as His friend."
Vincent Gill's Word Studies:
"In the Septuagint ( the Greek manuscripts of the Old Testament), the phrase "friend of God" has its origin in these words: "thy beloved".
Matthew Henry Commentary:
Henry writes that being a "friend of God" is not an exclusive club. He suggests "it is made possible by the same principle Abram demonstrated, that is, to believe God and what He tells you.
Based on that principle, Rahab the harlot is classified as a "friend of God's"...because she too believed God and what He would do."
A British publication once offered a prize for the best definition of the word "friend". Among some of the more noted answers were:
1. "One who multiplies joy, divides grief, and whose honesty is inviolable."
2. "One who understands us, even when we are silent."
3. "A volume of sympathy wrapped in a cloth, to wipe away any tears."
The #1 answer: "A friend is the one who comes in...when the whole world...has gone out."
One dictionary defines a friend as: " a person whom we know and is aware of our likes and dislikes, one who has won over our trust and confidence..a person we are relaxed to confide in...and let "our guards" down."
Jesus said in John 15:12-15: " This is My Commandment, that you love one another....as I have loved you. Greater love has no man than this: that someone lay down his life for his friends. You...are My friends, if you do what I have commanded you. No longer do I call you My servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing, but I have called you My friends, for all that I have heard from My Father...I have made known to you."
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