Genesis 22:1 And it came to pass after these things, that God".. said unto".. "Abraham" 2 "Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest"... "and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of. 3 And Abraham rose up early in the morning, and saddled his ass, and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son"... "and went unto the place of which God had told him. 10 And Abraham stretched forth his hand, and took the knife to slay his son. 11 And the angel of the Lord called unto him out of heaven, and said, Abraham, Abraham: and he said, Here am I. 12 And he said, Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou any thing unto him: for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son from me.
This passage of scripture teaches us of the right way to render obedience to God, for it clearly shows us that His commands are to be obeyed implicitly, even if He sees fit not to explain the reasons for His course of action. In the above passage, Abraham was commanded to do the unthinkable, to slay the son of his dreams, a command which on the surface seemed contrary to God's law and His revealed will. However, once it was ascertained that it was indeed the voice of God speaking to him, he immediately obeyed, leaving his encampment early in the morning, and heading towards the place of sacrifice.
As Abraham trod along in silence, he wondered at the import of this strange command, and many temptations were hurled at him by the devil, for him to turn away from what was suggested as a delusional escapade. But Abraham kept pressing on, because his faith in God's goodness kept him from murmuring and repining. At last, he had to reveal to the young Isaac that he was the sacrifice, and as they embraced and shed the last tear, Abraham raised his hand with the knife to take his son's life, in perfect obedience to the word of God. At this point God intervened and stayed his hand, and the next words that come from God to His servant should be observed very closely, for God said unto him: "Now I know that thou fearest God".
Question: Why is it that it's only at this juncture in Abraham's experience, that God would say "Now I know"? Abraham obviously had many experiences with The Lord before, and according to sacred history, he must have had a deep relationship with God prior to this incident, for he was familiar with God's voice. So then, why the words "Now I know"? And the next pertinent question for us individually is, can God truly say those same words of us, "Now I know"?
Obedience that is based on trust is the only type of obedience that is acceptable to God, and there will be times in our experiences when like Abraham, we are placed in very trying circumstances, without being given any explanations, yet like the faithful in ages past, we should trust the wisdom and goodness of The God whom we serve. In the instance of Job, who lost almost everything he held dear in a short period of time, he too was severely tempted by satan to turn his back on God, since no previous explanations were given for the sudden trials that came his way. But Job's faith did not shrink or falter, for his own testimony was trust in God, no matter what the situation. As a matter of fact it is worthy of note that in both the instances of Abraham and Job, no explanation was given prior to their obedience.
These experiences then teach us the valuable lesson that implicit obedience that is based on trust must be cultivated by all Christians, if we desire the testimonial words of God concerning us, "Now I know". When we were much younger as toddlers, our parents gave us instructions to wash our hands before eating, and most of us probably did not understand the reasons for their instruction. However we went ahead and washed our hands anyway, because we trusted the goodness of our parents, who would give us instructions for our very best good. In a much larger sense is the issue of obedience to God that is based on trust, for every command He gives comes with the guaranty of His goodness and mercies towards us, and thus we should follow His instructions implicitly as did the faithful in ages past.
We therefore end with a passage of scripture which encourages us to do just that, and it is the will of God that from here on out, our relationship with Him will be based on faith and trust, for this is His good and perfect will for His children. Let's read:
James 1:2 My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; 3 Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. 4 But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing. 22 But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only"... 25 "Whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed.
May The Lord add His blessing to the study and practice of His every word. God bless!