![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/rcsprouljr.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/images.jpeg?resize=277%2C182&ssl=1\")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
There are any number of challenges that come from this account in Genesis. Some have used it to deny God knows the future, on the basis of God\u2019s declaration, \u201cNow I know that you fear God\u201d in 12:22. Some have used it to argue that God is wicked, either for asking the father to kill the innocent son, or for lying to Abraham, telling Abraham He wanted him to do something He didn\u2019t really want him to do. The first objection is answered easily enough- only God the Father has an innocent Son. While Isaac may not have been guilty of a capital offense on the earthly civil sphere, from his conception he stood guilty before the living God. God had every right to take Isaac\u2019s life, and to call Abraham to be the means of that execution.<\/p>\n
Which leaves us with God\u2019s honesty. Is it sinful of Him to give such a gruesome assignment when He had not intent to carry it through? No. Remember that it was the same Abraham who in another context, in , asked, \u201cShall not the judge of the all the earth do right?\u201d when interceding for Sodom. If we know God has done something have our answer as to whether it was right or wrong. If it seems wrong to us, the problem is with us. <\/p>\n
God isn\u2019t under some transcendent standard of goodness. Neither is God above goodness. He is not arbitrary. Rather God is the standard of goodness. He is rightly a law unto Himself. <\/p>\n
Given the authority of God, given that what He asked of Abraham was not a sin, let us ask the question this way- does God have the right to demand of you that you sell all that you own, give it to the poor and follow Him? Of course He does. Does He have the right to not ask you to do this? Of course He does. Does He then have the right to ask you, if He intends to bless you with greater wealth if you proceed to do so? Of course He does. <\/p>\n
God\u2019s request of Abraham is hard, challenging, even heart wrenching. But if He had the right to carry through on it, and He did, surely He has the right to not carry through with it. <\/p>\n
Though in one sense God\u2019s question proved to be hypothetical, our response to it is not hypothetical. How we see this event may reveal our heart\u2019s posture toward God, and our own well-being. It is true that God spared Isaac. It is true God did not spare His own son. It is also true, however, that He calls each of us to leave all else behind, and follow Him. Every day, of every gift He has given me, I must confess, \u201cNevertheless Lord, not my will but Thine be done.\u201d <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
There are any number of challenges that come from this account in Genesis. Some have used it to deny God knows the future, on the basis of God\u2019s declaration, \u201cNow I know that you fear God\u201d in 12:22. Some have … Continue reading