Day 7: Isaac

On the mountain of the LORD it will be provided. — Genesis 22:14

We approach Christmas in the fourth year of a full-scale war in Ukraine. Once again, we need to be ready to sing “Silent Night” with its “all is calm, all is bright” accompanied by the sounds of sirens, military drones and ballistic rockets. Our Christmas candles will remind us of our mourning for those killed in the recent air attack.

Looking for the point of connection between Christmas and our struggles, I remember that the story of Jesus’s birth is tied to the life of His earthly ancestors and the harsh reality of their everyday lives. He came to the world as the answer to the hopes of those who felt rejected, confused and full of fear.

The opening line of Jesus’s genealogy, “Abraham was the father of Isaac” (Matthew 1:2), compressed many years of Abraham’s family history (Genesis 12–21). Through many years, challenges and his own failures, he awaited the fulfilment of God’s covenant with him. Finally, God gave Abraham and Sarah their only and beloved son, Isaac, whose birth was a miracle and a clear sign of God’s provision.

But God’s promise was bigger than just a child. Through Isaac, Abraham was going to become a great nation and a blessing to all peoples on earth (Genesis 12:2–3; 17:21). A blessed life for nations and tribes, then and now, would be a life of justice and mutual respect, a life without wars and violence. The first step to that future would be to develop the character that can produce such a life. But how could Abraham know that his own life might be a good example of righteousness and faithfulness to God?

Abraham’s challenge is also our challenge today. If God sends us to witness to the blessings He prepared for people, how can they know that we are trustworthy? From Abraham and Isaac’s story, we learn, as their spiritual children, how God might build the needed character in our lives.

And so God gives Abraham a test – not about intercultural relationships, war ethics and peace building but about his ability to trust the Lord who is the only source of justice, peace and love. What will Abraham do if asked to sacrifice his greatest dream and love in obedience to God?

Abraham!
Here I am.
Take your son, your only son, whom you love – Isaac – and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there. . . .

Go to the region of Moriah? It looks like God wanted to give Abraham three days of walking through the desert to struggle with challenging questions. Why did God turn out to be so cruel? Why did He acknowledge how painful it would be for Abraham to sacrifice his beloved son? Could Abraham still trust God? By the time Abraham and his son started to climb the mountain, he had come to some conclusions. Before he placed the heavy wood for the burnt offering on Isaac, he was ready for his son’s poignant question: “Father . . . where is the lamb for the burnt offering?” By faith, he replied, “God himself will provide the lamb . . . my son.”

This was the only correct answer that Abraham could give his son. He learned this truth all his life. This is what he has to pass on to millions of believers who need to discover this hope for themselves over thousands of years. Our current circumstances might be a version of our own “Abraham’s test” so that the faith of Abraham may become our own faith. We must know within our own hearts not only the happy ending of Isaac’s story but also the deeper meaning of the ancient saying On the mountain of the LORD it will be provided.

Thinking about Jesus’s genealogy amid the war tragedies reminds me that God’s magnificent story unites all believers’ stories together. He provided His only Son – the perfect Lamb for our salvation. He loves us, and one day we will see the whole picture of God’s grand story.