Dr Paul Allen

Ah Lord GOD! behold, thou hast made the heaven and the earth by thy great power and stretched out arm, and there is nothing too hard for thee.” ( Jeremiah 32:17 ) The Genesis record of creation generates more hostility among men than any other message. Even secular atheists claim to respect the humanitarian teachings of Jesus, but they bristle irrationally when the Lord Jesus is identified as the Creator . Perhaps this is because the evidence for God ’s omnipotence is displayed so openly and vividly by the “greatness of his might” ( Isaiah 40:26 ). The God who can speak the billions of galaxies into existence with the “breath of his mouth” ( Psalm 33:6 ) is a God who can cast ungodly men into eternal hell for their defiance and rebellion against “the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ ” ( Jude 1:4 ). Conversely, the God who “stretcheth out the north over the empty place, and hangeth the earth upon nothing” ( Job 26:7 ) is able to “save them to the uttermost that come unto Go...

What’s your first thought when you read that God bids Abraham to slaughter his son Isaac in Genesis 22:2? Notwithstanding our natural abhorrence to child sacrifice , we have just read that God himself outlawed murder (Gen 9:6). We could think that God criminalizes himself by this order but wry readers know that something is amiss. Until this point, God has only had humanity’s good in mind (cf. Genesis 1–2’s repetition of “good”) and this story is no different, for God’s command works for Abraham’s good. What we might miss is that the story has already taken us, as readers, by the hand to tell us the end from the beginning. Genesis 22:1 says, “God tested Abraham.” As insiders, we know that this is a test. From the get-go, then, the tale of Isaac’s sacrifice is never a story only about Isaac’s sacrifice. In reality, the story concerns God’s test that aims to strengthen Abraham whom he loves (cf. Proverbs 3:12). The little sentence, “God tested Abraham,” implies that Go...

An angel prevents the sacrifice of Isaac. Abraham and Isaac, Rembrandt, 1634 (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) By faith Abraham , when God tested him, offered Isaac as a sacrifice. He who had received the promises was about to sacrifice his one and only son ( Hebrew 11:17). Hebrews 11 is a chronicle of people who lived by faith. In each case, we find that faith was not a mere intellectual exercise or mystical feeling, but faith meant loyalty and humble submission to God. Faith issued in fruitful service to God, even in the midst of pain and crisis. One example is that of Abraham’s sacrifice of Isaac , recorded for us in Genesis 22. God determined to test Abraham’s faith in terms of his obedience. God told Abraham, “Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the region of Moriah . Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains I will tell you about” (v. 2). We read that Abraham arose “early the next morning” (v. 3). I imagine Abraham could not s...

Image via Wikipedia Image via Wikipedia "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." ( Genesis 22:6 )   The familiar story of Abraham's willingness to offer up Isaac his son, in obedience to God 's command, is rightly cited as a prime example of Abraham's great faith. It is also a testimony to the remarkable faith of Isaac, for it is recorded twice in  Genesis 22  that "they went both of them together" (see also  v. 8 ).   This emphasis on the fellowship of both father and son in this tremendous act of obedient faith is surely given by divine inspiration, for our edification.   Isaac was a grown young man at this time, not a little boy. Isaac soon understood what was happening, yet he willingly carried the wood himself and then submitted to being bound on the altar of sacrifice. Abraham fully intended to slay his son (and Isaac to ...

Image via Wikipedia Image via Wikipedia Image via Wikipedia Image via Wikipedia "And the LORD appeared unto Abram, and said, Unto thy seed will I give this land: and there builded he an altar unto the LORD, who appeared unto him." ( Genesis 12:7 )   This is the first reference to Abraham building an altar in Scripture. Building an altar and making sacrifice to God denotes total dependence and reliance on Him. It implies saying no to self and yes to God--in effect presenting one's self in submission to God as a sinner, trusting Him for gracious handling of one's sin, and discounting one's value apart from His work. Building altars became a habit with godly Abraham, the "Friend of God" ( James 2:23 ), and he practiced it many times during his life (see also  Genesis 12:8 ;  13:4, 18 ).   We can surmise that at an early age, Abraham's son, Isaac , was taught this same practice. It doesn't seem that Isaac misunderstood or debated the situation, ...