Why did Abraham (almost) Offer Isaac as a Sacrifice?

Introduction

The “binding of Isaac” as it’s called has perplexed many people throughout the years. I’ve heard people use this story to say that God condones human and specifically child sacrifice, and claim God is cruel. I don’t blame people for having that misunderstanding. If you read this story of Abraham and Isaac in it’s full context, the meaning is revealed.

Let’s see why Abraham almost sacrificed Isaac in “According to the Bible”.

The Passage and Context

The Binding or Sacrifice of Isaac story is found in Genesis 22. Prior to this story Abraham had been tested by God and failed. God promised Abram (before God changed his name) offspring here in Genesis 15:

Genesis 15
“Look toward heaven, and number the stars, if you are able to number them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring be.” And he believed the LORD, and he counted it to him as righteousness. (ESV)

But Abram took it into his own hands. Using the same narrative language as Adam and Eve,

Sarai and Hagar
16 Now Sarai, Abram’s wife had borne him no children, and she had an Egyptian maid whose name was Hagar. 2 So Sarai said to Abram, “Now behold, the Lord has prevented me from bearing children. Please go in to my maid; perhaps I will obtain children through her.” And Abram listened to the voice of Sarai.

Compared to Genesis 3

17 Then to Adam He said, “Because you have listened to the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree about which I commanded you, saying, ‘You shall not eat from it’;
Cursed is the ground because of you; In toil you will eat of it All the days of your life.

The importance here is that they listened to their own wisdom instead of Gods. They saw and took for themselves, forcing their will over God’s. It’s a narrative pattern repeated all over the entire bible.

Abram and Sarai thought that God’s plan was too outlandish to happen. God promised them descendants, all the while, they were in their 80s. They didn’t think they could conceive naturally, so Abram had sex with their Egyptian servant, forcing ‘Gods will’. But, God had a different plan. He made a promise and the bible says that God is always faithful to complete his promises (Isaiah 55:11).

Genesis 17:15–16
Isaac's Birth Promised
And God said to Abraham, “As for Sarai your wife, you shall not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall be her name. I will bless her, and moreover, I will give you a son by her. I will bless her, and she shall become nations; kings of peoples shall come from her.” (ESV)

In Genesis 21, we finally see God’s promise beginning to be brought to fruition with Isaac’s birth. Sarah bore Isaac in her old age.

The Sacrifice of Isaac

That finally brings us to the Binding or Sacrifice of Isaac.

In Genesis 22 we see Abraham going up the mountain with his son to be tested by God. Does Abraham trust that God’s promise of descendants through Isaac will be accomplished even though God asked him to be sacrificed?

God gives Abraham the command:

Genesis 22:2
He said, “Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.” (ESV)

Abraham went on his journey with his son and two servants. He left the donkey and men, and took his son up the mountain.

Genesis 22:7–8
And Isaac said to his father Abraham, “My father!” And he said, “Here I am, my son.” He said, “Behold, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?” Abraham said, “God will provide for himself the lamb for a burnt offering, my son.” So they went both of them together. (ESV)

In obedience, Abraham raised the knife to sacrifice Isaac, but before he could thrust the knife down, The Angel of the Lord stopped him.

Genesis 22:11–13
But the angel of the LORD called to him from heaven and said, “Abraham, Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” He said, “Do not lay your hand on the boy or do anything to him, for now I know that you fear God, seeing you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me.” And Abraham lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, behind him was a ram, caught in a thicket by his horns. And Abraham went and took the ram and offered it up as a burnt offering instead of his son. (ESV)

Abraham was sure that if God wanted Abraham to sacrifice Isaac, God would resurrect him somehow. The author of the book of Hebrews says this.

Hebrews 11:17–19
By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises was in the act of offering up his only son, of whom it was said, “Through Isaac shall your offspring be named.” He considered that God was able even to raise him from the dead, from which, figuratively speaking, he did receive him back. (ESV)

I bolded a few verses here. Namely this language: Sacrifice your son, your only son. Where have we heard this phrase before?

John 3:16–17
For God So Loved the World
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. (ESV)

It’s a phrase that’s reiterated constantly in the New Testament. Jesus, the Son of God. He was God’s secret, hidden plan from the beginning (Ephesians 1:9-10) that all nations would know him and love him.

The lamb of God (Isaiah 53:7, John 1:29, John 1:36) was given as the perfect and ultimate sacrifice for mankind (Hebrews 10). God did not spare his own son (Romans 8:32). Jesus freely offered himself for everyone (I Peter 1:18-20). No longer do we need to sacrifice animals, Jesus paid it all on the cross.

That’s the main point of Abraham almost sacrificing Isaac; it’s God foreshadowing the secret plan of Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross. This plan is foreshadowed all over the old testament. But let’s be clear, God never condoned human sacrifice and never intended for Isaac to be killed there, only to test whether or not Abraham would be obedient even if it meant losing his son, through whom God promised his numerous descendants.

Dispelling Misconceptions

God himself spoke against human sacrifice several times:

Leviticus 18:21
You shall not give any of your children to offer them to Molech, and so profane the name of your God: I am the LORD. (ESV)

Leviticus 20:1–5

Jeremiah 32:35
They built the high places of Baal in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, to offer up their sons and daughters to Molech, though I did not command them, nor did it enter into my mind, that they should do this abomination, to cause Judah to sin. (ESV)

Conclusion 

The nations around the israelites sacrificed people and especially children to their false gods, but Yahweh, the God of the Bible, never wanted any. There was only one human sacrifice and that was Jesus and he died for me and you.

Outro
Thank you so much for everyone who read this. If you have any questions about God or Jesus according to the bible, write a comment, and I'll try to respond to you!