And Abraham rose up early in the morning…and went unto the place of which God had told him. Then on the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes, and saw the place afar off. (Genesis 22:3-4)
Abraham, Isaac, and the servants traveled for three days until Abraham discovers the place where God led him. The Bible doesn’t tell us how Abraham knew this was the place, but it is obvious that he did know. He no longer needs his servants, so he dismisses them:
And Abraham said unto his young men, Abide ye here with the ass; and I and the lad will go yonder and worship, and come again to you. (22:5)
We can clearly see that Abraham fully expected to return with a living Isaac. Hebrews 11:19 tells us: Accounting that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead; from whence also he received him in a figure. So, in a very real sense, this entire temptation is God testing Abraham’s willingness to sacrifice Isaac while fully trusting God’s resurrection power.
Interestingly, this is the first occasion of the word worship in the Bible—this demonstrates Abraham’s great faith in God. Abraham believed God’s promise: …in Isaac shall thy seed be called (21:12b). The future God’s promise rested on Isaac’s existence, but God was asking Abraham to sacrifice him.
Nevertheless, Abraham is willing to obey God because he believes that God’s promise will be fulfilled, no matter what. He believed God would raise Isaac from the dead.
Abraham was first justified in God’s presence by faith (Acts 7:1-4; Genesis 15:6). God saw Abraham’s faith in Him long before any other person would be able to observe it. Now, however, Abraham would be proven righteous in the presence of human onlookers because of his works (James 2:21-22). James states that Abraham’s faith was “made perfect” (refined; completed) by his works.
To be justified before God, Abraham only had to believe. Yet, when Abraham put his faith into action, something others could see, it showed great maturity in his faith. His faith was revealed in an outward expression through his obedience.
Abraham’s obedience was rooted in his belief that God would fulfill His promise through Isaac. This is what James referred to when he spoke of Abraham’s being justified by works. Abraham was justified before men by his visible acts of faith. In this way, Abraham was an excellent witness.
And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering, and laid it upon Isaac his son; and he took the fire in his hand, and a knife; and they went both of them together. (22:6)
So, the two set off up the mountain together, fully prepared yet not knowing what will happen.
And Isaac spake unto Abraham his father, and said, My father: and he said, Here am I, my son. And he said, Behold the fire and the wood: but where is the lamb for a burnt offering? (22:7)
As they walk on together, Isaac raises an important question. He, obviously, knows that they are going to offer a sacrifice to God, but he sees that they haven’t brought anything to offer.
This tells us a few things: First, Isaac was old enough to be fully aware of what was taking place. Second, Isaac was old enough to carry enough wood with which to offer a burnt sacrifice. Abraham still refers to him as a lad, but he is obviously not a very young boy. This is a great testimony to Isaac’s obedience to his father and his trust in him.
Abraham’s reply is so simple and yet so profound:
And Abraham said, My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering… (22:8a)
Abraham knows who the intended sacrifice is to be, yet he does not tell his son outright that he is going to sacrifice him. He simply tells his son that God will provide the lamb, even though he believes Isaac will be that lamb. Abraham attributes the provision to God because God made the request in the first place. God provided Isaac; God provided the burnt offering.
Traditionally, in a burnt offering, the one making the offering would provide the animal—this is part of the point of sacrifice, giving up something precious to God. Although, there was no record of a resurrection ever taking place as of yet, Abraham believed that God would raise Isaac.
The immediate fulfillment of Abraham’s trusting response was the ram in verse 13, but its ultimate fulfillment would come much later in the person of Jesus Christ (John 1:29, 36). Abraham supplied his son for the sacrifice, foreshadowing Christ’s sacrifice. Likewise, God supplied His own Son for the sins of the world (Matthew 3:17; John 3:14-16).
Abraham’s answer satisfied Isaac for we see that that’s the end of the conversation: