Genesis 22

Genesis 22:1

It all begins with God An EasyEnglish Bible Version and Commentary (2800 word vocabulary) on the Book of Genesis www.easyenglish.info Marie Wetherill and Keith Simons This commentary has been through Advanced Checking.

Words in boxes are from the Bible.

Tap the * before a word to show an explanation.

Chapter 22 Abraham and Isaac v1 Later, God tested Abraham. God said to him, ‘Abraham!’

Abraham replied, ‘Here I am.’

v2 God said, ‘Please take your son Isaac, your precious child, whom you love. Go to the district called Moriah. Offer Isaac there as a *burnt offering on a mountain. I shall show you which mountain.’

v3 So Abraham got up early in the morning and he put a saddle on his *donkey. He took two young servants with him, and he took his son Isaac. He cut wood for the *burnt offering. Then he set out on his journey. And he went to the place that God had said. v4 On the third day, Abraham looked up and he saw the place a long way away. v5 So Abraham said to his young servants, ‘Stay here by yourselves with the *donkey. I and the boy will go over there. We will *worship and we will return to you.’

v6 Abraham then took the wood for the fire and he put it on his son Isaac. Abraham himself carried the fire and the knife. So they both went together. v7 Then Isaac said to his father Abraham, ‘My father!’

Abraham replied, ‘I am here, my son.’

Isaac said, ‘Here are the fire and the wood, but where is the *lamb for the *burnt offering?’

v8 Abraham replied, ‘God will provide himself the *lamb for the burnt offering, my son.’ So they both continued their journey together.

v9 Then Abraham and Isaac came to the place where God had told Abraham to go. Abraham built an *altar there and he laid the wood on it. He then bound Isaac, his son. And he laid Isaac on top of the wood on the *altar. v10 Abraham put out his hand. And he took the knife in order to kill his son. v11 But the *angel of the *Lord called to him. The *angel called from heaven and he said, ‘Abraham, Abraham!’

Abraham answered, ‘I am here.’

v12 The *angel said, ‘Do not kill the young man and do not hurt him in any way. Now I know that you respect God. I know it because you gave back to me your son, your only son.’

v13 Abraham looked up and he saw a *ram. The *ram had put its head into a bush and its *horns had stuck in the branches. So it could not get free. So Abraham went there and he seized the *ram. Then he burned it on the *altar. He burned the *ram as a *burnt offering instead of his son. v14 So Abraham called the place, ‘The *Lord will provide’. People still say today, ‘On the mountain of the *Lord, he will provide.’

v15 Then the *angel of the *Lord called again to Abraham from heaven. The *angel called from heaven and he said this: v16 ‘The *Lord says, “I have made this very serious promise and I have *confirmed it with my own name. You have done this thing. You have not kept your son, your only son, from me. v17 Therefore I will really *bless you. You will have as many *descendants as there are stars in the sky. Or as there are many tiny pieces of sand on the beach. Your *descendants will take possession of the gate of their enemies’ cities. v18 I will *bless all the nations on earth because of your *descendants. And I will *bless the nations because you have obeyed my commands.” ’

v19 Then Abraham returned to his young servants. And they stood up and they went together to Beersheba. Abraham stayed to live in Beersheba.

v20 After that, Abraham heard that Milcah had given birth. She had given birth to children for Abraham’s brother Nahor. v21 Uz was the oldest son. Buz was his brother, and so were Aram’s father Kemuel, v22 Chesed, Hazo, Pildash, Jidlaph and Bethuel. v23 Bethuel was Rebekah’s father. Milcah gave birth to those 8 sons for Nahor, Abraham’s brother. v24 Nahor’s *concubine, Reumah, also gave birth to sons for him. She gave birth to Tebah, Gaham, Tahash and Maacah.

During his whole life, Abraham was learning to trust God more and more. In this chapter, it is clear that Abraham trusted God completely.

Abraham did not know why God was testing him. But Abraham could recognise God’s voice. Christians too should be able to recognise when God is guiding them to do something (John 10:2-5). But God has also provided other methods to guide Christians today. We can read the Bible. God never wants us to do anything that is against his instructions in the Bible. And God has also provided church leaders to help us. They are not always right. But we should listen carefully to their advice.

We might ask why God wanted Abraham to offer Isaac as a *sacrifice. The Bible clearly teaches that murder is wicked (Deuteronomy 5:17). The answer is that God never wanted Abraham to kill Isaac. God stopped Abraham before Abraham could hurt Isaac. So God had a different plan. God was not really asking Abraham to kill Isaac. In fact, God was asking Abraham to prove that he (Abraham) would always trust God.

Abraham did not know about God’s plan to save Isaac. But Abraham realised that God had such a plan. He told his servants that he would bring Isaac back to them (verse 5). He told Isaac that God would provide the *lamb for the *sacrifice (verse 8). Hebrews 11:17-19 explains what Abraham was thinking. He knew that God could even make dead people live again. And Abraham knew the promises that God made about Isaac. So, Abraham was confident that he could trust God. And Abraham was right. Abraham soon discovered that God’s plan was to save Isaac.

We can only really understand this event if we think about Jesus. If God had not stopped Abraham, Isaac would have died. But God had a plan to save Isaac. God provided that a sheep would die instead of Isaac. In the same way, we all deserve God’s punishment because of our evil deeds (Romans 6:23). But God sent his son, Jesus, to die in our place. And God will forgive us if we trust him. We should confess our evil deeds to God. And we should invite him into our lives. Notes on the verses Verse 1 God does not tempt anyone to do an evil deed (James 1:13). God was testing Abraham. God wanted to see whether Abraham would trust him.

Verse 2 God said ‘your precious child’. The *Hebrew word for ‘precious’ may mean ‘only’. Abraham did have an older son, Ishmael. But Isaac was the only son that Sarah had given birth to. Isaac was the son that God had chosen especially.

The writer wrote this story very simply. Abraham did not argue with God. Abraham obeyed God immediately. God’s command here was very difficult for Abraham to obey. Abraham did not know how God would save Isaac. And God does not want anyone to *sacrifice people. He had promised that Abraham would have many *descendants by means of Isaac. Abraham had already lost Ishmael, whom he loved. (He had to send Ishmael away.) It would be terrible if Abraham lost Isaac too. Isaac could have refused to be a *sacrifice. He was strong enough to refuse. However, Abraham still trusted God. Abraham himself did everything that was necessary.

We do not know why God tested Abraham in that way. In other religions, people did *sacrifice children to their gods. But the Bible clearly teaches that it is wrong to *sacrifice children. Maybe God needed to show that fact to Abraham. Abraham would never forget what happened here. Nor would Isaac forget. Isaac was very special. His birth was a miracle (a very wonderful thing that cannot happen in a natural way). And in this chapter, God would save him from death. This story shows how God would later *sacrifice his own son, Jesus. So then, by means of Jesus, God would *bless all nations. (See Genesis 12:3.)

Verse 4 The journey to Moriah took three days.

Verse 5 We do not really know what Abraham was thinking. Maybe he really believed that he would come back to his servants with Isaac. Abraham did consider that God could bring Isaac back from death. (Look at Hebrews 11:19.)

Verses 6-8 Again, we do not really know what Abraham was thinking. Maybe he thought that God would provide a *lamb. And then Abraham would be able to *sacrifice the *lamb instead of Isaac.

Verse 9 Isaac was willing to obey Abraham. Isaac could have refused to obey.

Verses 10-11 God did not allow Abraham to hurt Isaac.

Verse 12 Abraham was willing to trust God for everything. God mattered more to Abraham than anything else.

Verses 13-14 The sheep died instead of Isaac. This event teaches us about God’s kindness. God does not want us to die because of our evil deeds. God provided Jesus to die as a *sacrifice. And if we invite Jesus into our lives, God will forgive us.

Verses 15-18 God was not making these great promises to Abraham as a prize. He did not make them just because Abraham was good. It was not just because Abraham offered Isaac. God is always good and *merciful to all kinds of people. He owes nothing to anyone. But some people do love God and they obey him. And he is pleased to *bless those people.

In verse 17, God promised Abraham that his (Abraham’s) *descendants would overcome their enemies. The gates of cities were very important places to defend.

Verses 20-24 The writer did not tell about everyone’s families here. He mentioned Nahor’s family because Isaac would marry Rebekah. And Rebekah was Nahor’s granddaughter.

© 2006, Wycliffe Associates (UK)

This publication is written in EasyEnglish Level B (2800 words).

May 2006

Visit our website: www.easyenglish.info

var w1 = new Array;w1[0]=’<b%3Eburnt offering</b%3E ~ something that someone burns as a gift in order to please God.’;w1[1]=’<b%3Edonkey</b%3E ~ an animal like a small horse. It carries things or people.’;w1[2]=’<b%3Eworship</b%3E ~ to show very great honour to God; to show that we respect him very much; to praise God and to serve him; to tell God that we love him very much.