Bible: Why did God want Isaac to be sacrificed?

Question: Why did God command Abraham to sacrifice Isaac? Didn't the Lord already know what he would do?

Answer: Briefly, before answering your question about Isaac's sacrifice, we must note an important aspect of the perfect character of God. Many times, your motives and reasons for doing a particular act (or not doing it) are unrelated to those humans they would possess.

For God is omnipotent and the creator of all knowledge (Isaiah 55: 8). His thoughts are much greater than ours. As for Isaac's sacrifice, we must be careful not to judge God on the basis of our right and wrong standards.

For example, from a strictly human (non-Christian) perspective, Isaac's sacrifice from his father probably affects most people as unnecessary at best and at worst. The reason given to Abraham for why he should have applied the death penalty to his son was not punishment for the serious sin he had committed. Rather, he was simply commanded to commit suicide as an offering to the Lord (Genesis 22: 2).

Death is man's great enemy (1 Corinthians 15:54 - 56) because, from a human point of view, it has a purpose that we cannot overcome. We tend to find it particularly hateful when, as it seemed in Isaac's case, a person's life is interrupted by the actions of others. This is one of the many reasons why most societies severely punish those who kill and allow to kill only in special circumstances (eg war, punishment for some heinous crimes, etc.).

Genesis 22 outlines the test of Abraham's faith when he is personally commanded to sacrifice "his only son" Isaac by God (Genesis 22: 1 - 2). He is told to perform the offering on Mount Moriah. As an interesting side note, according to the tradition of the rabbis, this sacrifice caused Sarah's death. They believe she died after Abraham left for Moriah when she discovered her husband's true intentions. The Bible, however, does not support this assumption.

Arrived on Mount Moriah where the sacrifice will take place, Abraham makes all the necessary preparations to offer his son to the Lord. He makes an altar, binds Isaac and places it on a pile of wood. As he raises the knife to take his son's life, an angel appears.

The messenger of God not only stops death, but also reveals to us why sacrifice was required. Speaking for the Lord, he says: "Do not put your hand on the boy ... for now I know that you are afraid of God, seeing that you have not hidden your son, your only son, from me" (Genesis 22:12).

Although God knows "the end from the beginning" (Isaiah 46:10), this does not mean that he knew 100% what Abraham would do in relation to Isaac. It always allows us to make our choices, which we can change at any time.

Although God knew what Abraham was more likely to do, he still needed to test him to find out if he would follow and obey despite his love for his only son. All of this prefigures the selfless act that the Father would have performed, about two thousand years later, when he voluntarily chose to offer his only Son, Jesus Christ, as a sinless sacrifice because of his wonderful love for us.

Abraham had the faith to sacrifice Isaac if necessary because he understood that God had the power to resurrect him from the dead (Hebrews 11:19). All the great blessings that would have happened to his descendants and to the whole world were made possible by this exceptional display of faith (Genesis 22:17 - 18).