Faith and Sacrifice

image description: three candles being held in the dark

BY isaac oberman, YALE ‘26

And he said, 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 which I will tell thee of.

Genesis 22:2 [KJV]

The Binding of Isaac has always been a poignant and thought-provoking Biblical story for me. Besides sharing my name with the titular character, the story raises a difficult question: Are we willing to give up that which we value most if and when God asks us to?

The most striking part of the Binding of Isaac is that God asks Abraham to sacrifice his son. As a reminder, God made a covenant with Abraham to make him into “a great nation.” [1] After years of waiting for a child, God had finally provided Abraham and Sarah with a son to continue his lineage. How was Abraham to become a great nation if God took the son away? Abraham was being asked to give up his greatest gift, his only son Isaac whom he loved. [2]

I can only speculate the thoughts that ran through Abraham’s mind. The turmoil of emotion, the thought of losing his son, what Sarah would think—imagine, for a moment, trying to explain to your wife why your son did not come back from the mountain top. Abraham, a human just like you and me, experienced great doubt and fear. Abraham, however, had something else too: a trust in God. It was this faith that allowed Abraham to relinquish something—or rather, someone—he loved.

Giving up what we love forces us to make a value judgment. Sometimes, I think about what I would do if I had a family emergency and had to drop out of school to take care of my family. Would I be willing to give up the luxury and blessing of studying at one of the finest universities in the world for the people I love? We would obviously say “yes” in the abstract, but if the issue were to actually arise, would we be able to answer affirmatively without any doubt in our minds? 

Once again, we can look to Abraham as an example. Genesis does not provide much context, but in chapter eleven of the book of Hebrews, we see a few verses about Abraham’s faith: 

“By faith Abraham, when he was tried, offered up Isaac: and he that had received the promises 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.” [3] 

Abraham had faith that God would keep His promises to him; whatever he sacrificed back to the Lord, God would work it for his good. And that is exactly how it worked out in Genesis: the Lord provided a ram at the top of the mountain for the sacrifice, and—for Abraham’s faith and trust in God—he was blessed. 

“That in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore;  and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies; And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed;

 because thou hast obeyed my voice.” [4]

We can find a similar comfort within ourselves when we trust in God, especially in making sacrifices. God will never give us more than we are capable of handling. “No trial has come to you but what is human. God is faithful and will not let you be tried beyond your strength; but with the trial he will also provide a way out, so that you may be able to bear it.” God provides us the strength to endure for His sake. And so, when we are called to make sacrifices, we can rest assured that it will be a bearable burden. We can also rest assured that our sacrifice will provide us with a good reward; just as Abraham was blessed for his faith in God, we will receive spiritual gifts when we trust in God for the strength to sacrifice.

As we enter the second week of Lent, the sacrifices and fasts we have made may begin to feel heavy and unbearable. When we feel overwhelmed with our sacrifice, let us look to the example of Abraham and continue forward in the perseverance of faith, with blessed assurance for the goodness available to us.

SOURCES

[1] Genesis 21:18 [KJV]

[2] Genesis 22:2 [KJV]

[3] Hebrews 11: 17-19 [KJV]

[4] Genesis 22: 17-18 [KJV]