Abraham Reflection Paper

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ABRAHAM’S SUFFERING
Abraham's faith in God was rock solid. Abraham had obeyed God and trusted His ways many times but the most challenging and unexpected is the one in Genesis 22 when God commanded, “Take your son, your only son, Isaac, whom you love, and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering” (Genesis 22:2a). This put Abraham’s faith to test in a totally surprising manner. He was called by God to sacrifice his only son, whom he loves so much. Abraham had waited for many years for Isaac to be born, even when it seemed impossible (Genesis 17:15-17).
To Abraham, this command must have been so puzzling that it might have seemed like God was going back on His promises. God had assured him several times that from Abraham’s …show more content…

The way to the top of the mountain must have given him all the chances to stop but he continued in faith. Knowing that Abraham was willing to sacrifice Isaac, God stepped in and instead provided a ram for the burnt offering.
The conversation shared between God and Abraham in Genesis 22:1-2 was probably the most difficult and tragic command he received thus making it the greatest trial of Abraham’s life, The call was downright ironic of the promises he received from God. Indeed, this is a story of faith that goes beyond Abraham’s time, which has still a direct impact to mankind today.
The big question is, why did God tell Abraham to sacrifice Isaac? And a compelling why follows as to why did Abraham obey, when he had the most valid of all reasons to disobey, or at least protest? How then did Abraham respond to God’s command to sacrifice Isaac?
Varied explanations of the aforementioned questions were given by scholars but the most common is that perhaps God was testing Abraham's faith, or it could have been simply his share of suffering with redemption, an explanation relative to John Hick’s …show more content…

Abraham’s faith was such that, even if he had sacrificed Isaac, he believed the Lord would keep His word and raise Isaac from the dead (Hebrews 11:17–19). God uses Abraham’s faith as an example of the type of faith required for salvation. Genesis 15:6 says, “Abram believed the LORD, and he credited it to him as righteousness.” This truth is the basis of the Christian faith, as reiterated in Romans 4:3 and James 2:23. The righteousness that was credited to Abraham is the same righteousness credited to us when we receive by faith the sacrifice God provided for our sins—Jesus Christ. “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians

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