Abraham & Isaac (Genesis 22)
What is the hardest thing you have ever had to give up?
Abraham kneeling near his tent at dawn, listening to God’s call with faith and surrender.
A parent’s love runs deep. We will do anything to protect our children, even at great cost to ourselves. Yet sometimes, love is shown not by holding on, but by trusting God enough to let go.
Abraham knew this kind of faith. After waiting nearly a lifetime for the child God had promised, he was asked to surrender that very promise back to God. It was a test not of cruelty, but of trust — a question that echoed through his soul: Do you believe that I am good, even when you do not understand?
Abraham and Isaac were walking through the desert valley toward Mount Moriah, trusting God together.
So Abraham rose early the next morning, gathered the wood, and took his son Isaac on a three-day journey to Mount Moriah. Every step must have been heavy with wonder and pain. Isaac carried the wood on his shoulders, and as they climbed, he asked, “Father, the fire and the wood are here, but where is the lamb?” Abraham answered through faith that must have trembled on his lips:
“God Himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.” (Genesis 22:8)
Abraham and Isaac were quietly building an altar on Mount Moriah, preparing to worship God.
God Provided a Substitute
When they reached the mountain, Abraham built an altar, arranged the wood, and bound his son Isaac. At the moment his obedience reached its breaking point, the angel of the Lord called from heaven,
“Abraham, Abraham! … Do not lay a hand on the boy. Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from Me your son, your only son.” (Genesis 22:11–12)
Abraham and Isaac standing before a ram caught in a thicket, thanking God for providing a substitute.”
Abraham looked up — and saw a ram caught by its horns in a thicket. God had provided the substitute. In awe, Abraham named that place “The Lord Will Provide.”
This act of mercy revealed the heart of God: a Father who provides what we cannot, who spares life through His own offering.
The Greater Sacrifice for Us
The story on Mount Moriah is not just about Abraham’s faith; it is a shadow of the cross. Many centuries later, on another hill near that same region, another Father would give His Son, His only begotten Son, for the salvation of the world.
Abraham and Isaac walking down the mountain together in soft golden light, trusting God’s provision.
Where Abraham was stopped, God the Father carried out the sacrifice. Where a ram took Isaac’s place, Jesus became the true and final substitute — the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world (John 1:29).
Abraham’s story teaches us that God’s love is not measured by what He gives, but by what He was willing to give up — His own Son — for us.
Peaceful image of Jesus standing in golden morning light with a lamb beside Him, symbolizing that He is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.
“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16)
On the mountain of the Lord, it was provided. And through Jesus Christ, that provision still stands — perfect, complete, and eternal.
Teaching Outline: Abraham & Isaac (Genesis 22)
I. God’s Test of Faith
God tested Abraham to reveal the depth of his trust.
Abraham had waited decades for Isaac, the promised son — yet God asked him to surrender what he loved most.
“Some time later God tested Abraham. He said to him, ‘Abraham!’ ‘Here I am,’ he replied. Then God said, ‘Take your son, your only son, whom you love—Isaac—and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on a mountain I will show you.’”
(Genesis 22:1–2)
II. Abraham’s Obedience and Trust
Abraham obeyed immediately, even though the request was beyond understanding.
Faith is not just believing God’s promises but trusting His heart when the promise seems impossible.
“Early the next morning Abraham got up and loaded his donkey. He took with him two of his servants and his son Isaac. When he had cut enough wood for the burnt offering, he set out for the place God had told him about.”
(Genesis 22:3)
III. Isaac’s Willingness
Isaac was not a small child but a young man — old enough to carry the wood and understand what was happening.
His calm obedience reflects trust in both his earthly father and his heavenly Father.
“Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and placed it on his son Isaac, and he himself carried the fire and the knife. As the two of them went on together, Isaac spoke up and said to his father Abraham, ‘Father?’ ‘Yes, my son?’ Abraham replied. ‘The fire and wood are here,’ Isaac said, ‘but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?’ Abraham answered, ‘God Himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.’ And the two of them went on together.”
(Genesis 22:6–8)
IV. The Angel of the Lord Calls from Heaven
At the moment of greatest surrender, God intervened.
Through the angel of the Lord, God revealed His mercy and affirmed Abraham’s faith.
“But the angel of the Lord called out to him from heaven, ‘Abraham! Abraham!’ ‘Here I am,’ he replied. ‘Do not lay a hand on the boy,’ he said. ‘Do not do anything to him. Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from Me your son, your only son.’”
(Genesis 22:11–12)
V. God Provides the Substitute
God’s provision of the ram shows His pattern of grace — He provides what we cannot.
This moment on Mount Moriah foreshadows the cross.
“Abraham looked up and there in a thicket he saw a ram caught by its horns. He went over and took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering instead of his son. So Abraham called that place ‘The Lord Will Provide.’ And to this day it is said, ‘On the mountain of the Lord it will be provided.’”
(Genesis 22:13–14)
VI. The Father’s Love Revealed
What Abraham was spared from doing, God Himself would one day do — offering His only begotten Son.
The story points directly to Jesus, the true Lamb of God.
“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.”
(John 3:16)“Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!”
(John 1:29)
VII. The Big Idea
God provided a substitute then — and He still provides one now.
Jesus is the Lamb, the perfect sacrifice, the fulfillment of the promise given to Abraham.
Abraham’s obedience teaches us that true faith is trust in God’s heart, even when the path is unclear.
VIII. Reflection for the Reader
What has God asked you to surrender to Him?
How can Abraham’s faith inspire you to trust God more deeply?
Do you see Jesus — God’s perfect provision — in the story of your own life?
