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"Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land
of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains that I will
tell thee of."
There is much meaning in the response of Abraham:--
"And Abraham arose up early in the morning, and saddled his ass, and took two of his
young men with him, and Isaac his son, and clave the wood for the burnt offering, and
rose up and went unto the place of which God had told him."
Here was no conference with flesh and blood. Had Abraham consulted Sarah surely
she would have anticipated Zipporah's reproach, telling Abraham that he was a bloody
husband, and have withstood his purpose, and probably have prevailed. Had Eliezer been
consulted, he too might have urged such strong reasons against the deed, that Abraham
would have compromised. There were times in Abraham's life when he stooped to lies
and to the appeal of the flesh, but it was not so now. He had reached the end of his
calling and his faith, and so can tell no one, ask no one, but just obey his God.
When God first appeared unto Abraham in Ur of the Chaldees, there was the element
of uncertainty in regard to his destination, "he went out not knowing whither he went".
This is repeated in Gen. 22: Abraham did not know the exact place of the mighty
transaction, but went out awaiting direction as the time arrived. This is always the
character of faith, it is the opposite of sight. The simple words of Abraham to his young
men, when read in the light of Heb. 11:, reveal a triumphant faith:--
"I and the lad will go yonder and worship, and WE WILL COME AGAIN to you."
"By faith Abraham, when he was tried, offered up Isaac, and he that had received the
promise offered up his only begotten son, 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" (Heb. 11: 17-19).
A most important lesson, perhaps we should say the most important lesson for us here,
lies in the word "account". It occurs once in Hebrews, but eleven times in Rom. 4: In
Rom. 4: Abraham believes the God of resurrection, and his faith is imputed, accounted
for righteousness. The important thing to observe is that Abraham is passive as far as the
imputing is concerned. Abraham believes, "is persuaded", "staggers not", "gives glory
to God", but he imputes nothing. "Abraham believed God and it was counted unto him
for righteousness": "his faith is counted for righteousness"; cf. "the man unto whom
God imputeth righteousness without works". This is the way in which the word is
continually used. At the beginning Abraham, as we said, imputed nothing, but when faith
is perfected his passive attitude is replaced by activity. What God can do in view of the
resurrection of Christ, Abraham can in his measure do. So it is that the father can
contemplate the slaying of his beloved son, "accounting that God was able to raise him
up". Rom. 6: is a step forward from Rom. 4:, and there the active side is presented:--
"For in that He died, He died unto sin once, but in that He liveth, he liveth unto God;
likewise reckon (account) ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto
God through Jesus Christ our Lord" (Rom. 6: 10, 11).