Genesis 22:12 Komentář

We have here the famous story of Abraham's offering up his son Isaac, that is, his offering to offer him, which is justly looked upon as one of the wonders of the church. Here is, I. The strange command which God gave to Abraham concerning it (Gen 22:1, Gen 22:2). II. Abraham's strange obedience to this command (Gen 22:3-10) III. The strange issue of this trial. 1. The sacrificing of Isaac was countermanded (Gen 22:11, Gen 22:12). 2. Another sacrifice was provided (Gen 22:13, Gen 22:14). 3. The covenant was renewed with Abraham hereupon (Gen 22:15-19). Lastly, an account of some of Abraham's relations (Gen 22:20, etc.)

INTRODUCTION TO GENESIS 22 In this chapter we have an account of an order given by God to Abraham to sacrifice his son, Gen 22:1; of his readiness to obey the will of God, he immediately preparing everything for that purpose, Gen 22:3, of the order being reversed, and another sacrifice substituted in its room, which occasioned the giving a new name to the place where it was done, Gen 22:11; upon which the promise of special blessings, of a numerous offspring, and of the seed in whom all nations should be blessed, is renewed, Gen 22:15; after this Abraham returns to Beersheba, where he is informed of the increase of his brother Nahor's family, Gen 22:19.

And he said, lay not thine hand upon the lad,.... Which he was just going to stretch out, with his knife in it, to slay him; and though the Lord had bid him take his son, and offer him for a burnt offering, to try his faith, fear, love, and obedience, yet he meant not that he should actually slay him, but would prevent it when it came to the crisis; for he approves not of, nor delights in human sacrifices; and that this might not be dawn into an example, it was prevented; though the Gentiles, under the influence of Satan, in imitation of this, have practised it: neither do thou anything unto him; by lacerating his flesh, letting out any of his blood, or wounding him ever so slightly in any part: for now I know that thou fearest God; with a truly childlike filial fear; with such a reverence of him that has fervent love, and strong affection, joined with it; with a fear that includes the whole of internal religious worship, awe of the divine Being, submission to his will, faith in him, and love to him, and obedience springing from thence. And this is said, not as though he was ignorant before how things would issue; for he knew from all eternity what Abraham would be, and what he would do, having determined to bestow that grace upon him, and work it in him, which would influence and enable him to act the part he did; he knew full well beforehand what would be the consequence of such a trial of him; but this is said after the manner of men, who know things with certainty when they come to pass, and appear plain and evident: or this may be understood of a knowledge of approbation, that the Lord now knew, and approved of the faith, fear, love, and obedience of Abraham, which were so conspicuous in this affair, see Psa 1:6; Saadiah Gaon (i) interprets it, "I have made known", that is, to others; God by trying Abraham made it manifest to others, to all the world, to all that should hear of or read this account of things, that he was a man that feared God, loved him, believed in him, and obeyed him, of which this instance is a full and convincing proof: seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son from me: but as soon as he had the order to offer him up, prepared for it, took a three days' journey, and all things along with him for the sacrifice; when he came to the place, built an altar, laid the wood in order, bound his son, and laid him on it, took the knife, and was going to put it to his throat; so that the Lord looked upon the thing as if it was really done: it was a plain case that he did not, and would not have withheld his son, but would have freely offered him a sacrifice unto God at his command; and that he loved the Lord more than he did his son, and had a greater regard to the command of God than to the life of his son, and preferred the one to the other. And thus God spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, Rom 8:32. (i) Apud Aben Ezram, in ver. 1.

In this statement it is usually thrown out against us that God says that “now” he had learned that Abraham fears God, as though he were such as not to have known previously. God knew, and it was not hidden from him, since it is he “who has known all things before they come to pass.” But these things are written on account of you, because you too indeed have believed in God. But unless you fulfill “the works of faith,” unless you are obedient to all the commands, even the more difficult ones, unless you offer sacrifice and show that you place neither father nor mother nor sons before God, you will not know that you fear God. Nor will it be said of you, “Now I know that you fear God.”And yet it must be considered that an angel is related to have spoken these words to Abraham, and subsequently this angel is clearly shown to be the Lord. Whence I think that, just as among us “he was found in appearance as a man,” so also among angels he was found in appearance as an angel. And following his example the angels in heaven rejoice “over one sinner repenting” and glory in the progress people make in their relationship with God. For they, as it were, have charge over our souls, to whom, “while we are still children we are committed,” as it were, “to tutors and governors until the time appointed by the father.” And they therefore now say about the progress of each of us, “Now I know that you fear God.” For example, I intend to be a martyr. An angel could not say to me on this basis, “Now I know that you fear God,” for an intention of the mind is known to God alone. But if I shall undertake the struggles, if I shall utter a “good confession,” if I shall bear calmly all things which are inflicted, then an angel can say, as if confirming and strengthening me, “Now I know that you fear God.”

But grant that these words are spoken to Abraham, and he is said to fear God. Why? Because he did not spare his son. But let us compare these words with those of the apostle, where he says of God: “who spared not his own Son but delivered him up for us all.” Behold God contending with people in magnificent generosity: Abraham offered God a mortal son who was not put to death; God delivered to death an immortal Son for humanity.What shall we say to these things? “What shall we render to the Lord for all the things that he has rendered to us?” God the Father, on account of us, “spared not his own son.” Who of you, do you suppose, will sometime hear the voice of an angel saying, “Now I know that you fear God, because you spared not your son,” or your daughter or wife? Or, you spared not your money or the honors of the world or the ambitions of the world, but you have despised all things and “have counted all things dung that you may gain Christ”? Or, “you have sold all things and have given to the poor and have followed the Word of God?” Who of you, do you think, will hear a word of this kind from the angels? Meanwhile Abraham hears this voice, and it is said to him, “You spared not your beloved son because of me.”

Hence we are not permitted to doubt that the knowledge of God is adapted to the time rather than to the result of a change, since in connection with that which God knew it is a question of the opportune moment to divulge what is known rather than to acquire it. [This] we are also taught by the words that were spoken to Abraham: “Do not lay your hand on the boy, and do nothing to him, for I know now that you fear your God, and have not spared your beloved son for my sake.” Accordingly, God knows now, but to know something now is an admission of previous ignorance. Since it is a contradiction for God not to know that Abraham had been previously faithful to him and of whom it had been said, “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as justice,” that which he knew at this moment is the time when Abraham received this testimony, and not the time when God also began to acquire this knowledge. By bringing his son as a holocaust, Abraham manifested the love that he had for God. God was aware of it then when he speaks. And, since we are not to believe that he had been ignorant of it up to that moment, we must understand that he knew of it then because he speaks of it. Of the many passages in the Old Testament that contain references to the knowledge of God, we have cited only this one as an example that we may realize that God’s ignorance of anything does not arise from a lack of knowledge but from the occasion.

He showed the ram in the thicket in the stead of the lad, that He might restore the son to his father, and yet the victim not fail the priest. And so Abraham was not stained with his son's blood, nor was God deprived of the sacrifice. The prophet spoke, and neither yielded to boastfulness nor continued obstinate, but took the ram in exchange for the lad. And by this is shown the more how piously he offered him whom he now so gladly received back.

Determined by motives of high devotion, Abraham, obeying the oracle of God, offered his son for a whole burnt sacrifice; and, as if destitute of natural affection, drew his sword, that no delay might obscure the brightness of the offering. But when he was commanded to spare his son he willingly sheathed his sword, and he who with this faithful intention was hastening to offer up his only son with still more zealous piety hastened to substitute a ram as a sacrifice.

We have heard enough on how God does not know the sinner, so we ought to consider now how the just man is known by him. God said to Abraham, “Leave your country, your kinsfolk.” Abraham accordingly came into Palestine; he was in Abramiri; he sojourned a long time in Gerar. When his son Isaac was born, he had received the promise: “In your descendants all the nations of the earth shall be blessed.” He took Isaac and offered him to God, and a voice from heaven was heard to say, Spare him. Straightway, at the very moment that he offered his son, what does God say to Abraham? “I know now that you fear the Lord, your God.” Have you just now known Abraham, Lord, with whom you have communicated for such a long time? Because Abraham had such great faith in sacrificing his own son, on that account God first began to know him. Why have we said all this? Because it is written, “For the Lord knows the way of the just.” Let us put it another way: The way, the life, and the truth is Christ; let us walk therefore in Christ, and then God the Father will know our way.

He also said, ‘The beginning and the end is the fear of the Lord. For it is written, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom” (Ps. 111:10) and, when Abraham built an altar the Lord said to him, “Now I know that you fear God” (Gen. 22:12).’

In the same way he said to Abraham, “Now I know that you fear God,” wherein he was saying, “Now I have made people (who up to now did not know) recognize what I, in my own mind, always held to be certain, [namely], that you fear God.”

The faith and obedience of Abraham put to a most extraordinary test, Gen 22:1. He is commanded to offer his beloved son Isaac for a burnt-offering, Gen 22:2. He prepares, with the utmost promptitude, to accomplish the will of God, Gen 22:3-6. Affecting speech of Isaac, Gen 22:7; and Abraham's answer, Gen 22:8. Having arrived at mount Moriah he prepares to sacrifice his son, Gen 22:9, Gen 22:10; and is prevented by an angel of the Lord, Gen 22:11, Gen 22:12. A ram is offered in the stead of Isaac, Gen 22:13; and the place is named Jehovah-jireh, Gen 22:14. The angel of the Lord calls to Abraham a second time, Gen 22:15; and, in the most solemn manner, he is assured of innumerable blessings in the multiplication and prosperity of his seed, Gen 22:16-18. Abraham returns and dwells at Beer-sheba, Gen 22:19; hears that his brother Nahor has eight children by his wife Milcah, Gen 22:20; their names, Gen 22:21-23; and four by his concubine Reumah, Gen 22:24.

Lay not thine hand upon the lad - As Isaac was to be the representative of Jesus Christ's real sacrifice, it was sufficient for this purpose that in his own will, and the will of his father, the purpose of the immolation was complete. Isaac was now fully offered both by his father and by himself. The father yields up the son, the son gives up his life; on both sides, as far as will and purpose could go, the sacrifice was complete. God simply spares the father the torture of putting the knife to his son's throat. Now was the time when it might properly be said, "Sacrifice, and offering, and burnt-offering, and sacrifice for sin thou wouldest not, neither hadst pleasure in them: then said the Angel of the Covenant, Lo! I come to do thy will, O God." Lay not thy hand upon the lad; an irrational creature will serve for the purpose of a representative sacrifice, from this till the fullness of time. But without this most expressive representation of the father offering his beloved, only-begotten son, what reference can such sacrifices be considered to have to the great event of the incarnation and crucifixion of Christ? Abraham, the most dignified, the most immaculate of all the patriarchs; Isaac, the true pattern of piety to God and filial obedience, may well represent God the Father so loving the world as to give his only-begotten Son, Jesus Christ, to die for the sin of man. But the grand circumstances necessary to prefigure these important points could not be exhibited through the means of any or of the whole brute creation. The whole sacrificial system of the Mosaic economy had a retrospective and prospective view, referring From the sacrifice of Isaac To the sacrifice of Christ; in the first the dawning of the Sun of righteousness was seen; in the latter, his meridian splendor and glory. Taken in this light (and this is the only light in which it should be viewed) Abraham offering his son Isaac is one of the most important facts and most instructive histories in the whole Old Testament. See farther on this subject, Gen 23:2 (note).

OFFERING ISAAC. (Gen. 22:1-19) God did tempt Abraham--not incite to sin (Jam 1:13), but try, prove--give occasion for the development of his faith (Pe1 1:7). and he said, . . . Here I am--ready at a moment's warning for God's service.