The depth of obedience and trust in God
"When they came to the place of which God had told him, Abraham built an altar there and arranged the wood on it. Next, he bound his son Isaac and put him on top of the wood on the altar. Then Abraham reached out and took the knife to slaughter his son. But the angel of the LORD called to him from heaven, 'Abraham, Abraham!' 'Here I am,' he answered. 'Do not lay your hand on the boy,' said the angel. 'Do not do the least thing to him. I know now how devoted you are to God, since you did not withhold from me your son, your only one." (Genesis 22:9–12) This passage recounts one of the most profound and unsettling moments in the entire Old Testament: the binding of Isaac (Akedah). Abraham, in obedience to God’s mysterious command, prepares to sacrifice his beloved son—an act that would appear to contradict the very promise upon which his entire future and that of God’s covenant depend. Yet it is precisely in this tension that the full weight of Abra...