Q. Would God ever ask us to do wrong? In Gen 22:2 He asked Abraham to sacrifice Isaac on Mount Moriah.
A. No, God will never ask us to do evil. But he will push to the limit the boundaries of our commitment to him. The first words of this chapter – “after these things that God did tempt”, (Some time later God tested Abraham) suggest that God never intended the sacrifice to take place. The point was the test: Did Abraham reallytrust God?
This may disturb us because we know the Bible’s strong warnings against child sacrifice (Lev. 20:1-5; 2 Kings 23:10, Jer. 32:35). That’s what pagan gods demanded, not the holy God of Israel.
However, because the Biblical laws against child sacrifice only came later, we can’t be sure what Abraham understood about it. Still, God was shaping Abraham’s sense of values. And God’s request would not have been consistent with Him as he had known Him to this point. Without doubt Abraham would have been perplexed by the nature of God’s command.
But Heb 11:18-19 gives us some insight into Abraham’s reasoning. He concluded that, notwithstanding the horror of the request, “Of whom it was said, that in Isaac shall thy seed be called: Accounting that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead; from whence also he received him in a figure.” Abraham knew that God could raise the dead – even his dead son of the promise! The laughter of unbelief when he’d been promised a son with an aged wife had become a firm confidence in the God who had made, and kept, that promise.
Will we entrust our futures unreservedly to the God Abraham trusted? Whether we understand Him or not? Whether we agree with Him or not? Absolute trust is a gem to covet!
But, you say, I haven’t got that kind of faith! Neither have I! Praise the Lord, we “live by the faith of the Son of God …!” Gal 2:20.