Trust: Genesis 22:9-14

We can all trust God because we know His character.  God does not disappoint.  He does not lead us astray.  Even if we cannot envision the result, we follow God’s lead because we know who He is.

Abraham and Isaac continue to the place where God indicated.  The wood is organized.  The altar is built.  Isaac is even stretched out on the altar and prepared.  Abraham grabs the knife to slaughter his son.

All these actions happen underneath Abraham’s greater initial statement: “God will provide for Himself the lamb for the sacrifice.”  Abraham’s expression is key.  This line tells us Abraham’s mental state.

If Abraham genuinely believes God wants him to slaughter Isaac and Abraham is okay with it, then Abraham has some clear homicidal personality traits.  If Abraham genuinely believes God wants Isaac slaughtered, then Abraham believes God is a cruel and belligerent God.  To make the claim Abraham believes God genuinely wants him to kill Isaac is a fundamental misunderstanding of both Abraham’s character and God’s character.  God doesn’t want Isaac slaughtered; neither does Abraham want to slaughter him.

What is going on, then?  This is trust, a quantity exchanged all the time when people learn from a mentor.  To give an illustration from my own life, as a teacher and mentor I frequently ask my students to consider situations with unpredictable endings – perhaps even with a questionable context.  I ask students to do something that feels sketchy in the moment because I’m withholding some of the details.  By engaging them, I want my students to decide which they trust more: me or their logic.  I want them to evaluate whether they trust my control of a situation.  Once they put their trust on display, I pull away the proverbial curtain and expose what is really going on.  At that moment, they realize they were never in any danger and their reputation was never at stake because I was trustworthy.  Their trust was well placed.

This is the same situation.  God told Abraham to do something completely out of character.  Abraham went along with it because God is trustworthy.  Abraham knew there was no danger because He knew and trusted God’s character.  At the very beginning of this story, Abraham can say God will provide because Abraham knows God’s character and he trusts Him.

This is not a grand story about God tricking Abraham.  This is not a story where God figures out how far Abraham will go.  This is a story where God lets Abraham put his trust on display.  When God commends Abraham for not withholding his son, He is praising Abraham for entrusting Isaac to God’s care. 

Ever wonder why Isaac doesn’t resist Abraham?  Certainly, a young man could overpower an old man.  Isaac doesn’t resist because they both trust God.  Isaac is never in any danger.  Abraham and Isaac trust God because they know His character.  We can all trust God because we know His character.