“Grandpa Isaac, was Father Abraham really a friend of God?”
“Sit down, Joseph, and I will tell you a story.” Isaac led Joseph up to the tamarisk tree and they sat down in the little shade that it provided.
“This story happened in the time before our family lived in this land. We were sojourners and the ground that you see was but a promise in our hearts. One morning my father woke me up very early. He told me to get dressed for a six day journey.
When I came out of the tent, two of the servant boys were loading up the last few pieces of the wood that my father was cutting. They had saddled the donkey, and I was beginning to wonder where we were going. We had seen a caravan pass through a few days earlier, and I thought that we might be going to help them in their distress. Father always taught us to love our neighbors as we love our own selves. But that did not explain the wood, and besides, we only had one donkey with us. I asked my father where we were going and he said, ‘The Lord will show us.’ Sheesh. I did not like when he said that.”
“Why not?” Joseph asked.
Isaac replied, “Often times, my father would hear the voice of the Lord, but the Lord would not tell him all of the details. The Lord would say, ‘go’ but He would not tell Abraham where to go. I did not like it at the time, because I did not understand faith.”
Joseph interrupted, “Tell me about faith.”
“That will come later, child, let’s hear the rest of the story.
We walked through the desert for three days. He didn’t speak much, but every now and again father would take a deep breath and tell me how much I meant to him. As we stopped to rest each night, he would tell me the story of when God promised to make him into a great nation and how the Lord said that it was through me that his offspring would be named.
On the third day we saw a hill in the distance. Father told the servant boys to stay there with the donkey, and that we would both be back in a little while, after we had worshipped. He put the wood on my back as we walked up the hill together. Father had the fire and the knife, but he forgot the animal!
‘Dad, where is the lamb?’ I asked.
He replied, ‘God will provide for himself the lamb for a burnt offering.’ He always had such a confidence that God would act. It was amazing to me some of the things my father did. Most of the time the things that he did would have failed if God had not stepped in.
We continued walking together. When we reached the top of the hill we built the altar by laying the wood out in order. It was time to worship, but we did not have a sacrifice. Before I could speak, father walked around behind me and started to wrap my wrists in twine. As he tied my arms up behind me, I was so scared. As he wrapped the rope around my feet, I knew exactly what was happening. I couldn’t control the thoughts that were streaming through my head. Wasn’t our God different than the Canaanite gods who required human sacrifice? Didn’t our God love us? Wasn’t I the heir of God’s promise? Hadn’t my father just told me how much he loved me? But when he picked me up to lay me on the altar, I saw the tears streaming silently down his face, and I knew that he loved me. He had showed me a thousand times how special I was to him, but he was devoted to YHWH. He knew that faithfulness to God was more important than making sense out of what was going on.
As he raised his knife, I saw no hesitation in his loving eyes. But before his hand came down, a voice called out from heaven, ‘Abraham! Abraham! Do not lay a hand on the young man, for now I know that you fear God, for you have not withheld your son from me.’
At that, we heard the bleating of a ram. My father helped me off of the altar, unbound me, and together we bound the ram that the Lord had provided. We worshipped God, and then walked down the hill together. As we walked down that hill, I remembered the things that he had told me about the promise. He had told me so many times before, but this time it really cut to the liver. My father believed God so much that he was willing to do something absurd because he understood that the word of the Lord will never fail. Surely God saw the sins of my father. Abraham acted out of his own understanding at times- that is how he got Ishmael- yet his faith was completed by his works.
That is what faith is, Joseph.
Joseph responded, “I think I understand. Faith is being obedient to God, and knowing that He will come through to accomplish what He said he would accomplish. And when we are faithful, we become a friend of God.”
Isaac smiled and said, “Child, you have understood these things.”
