"Sometimes God seems to be killing us when he's actually saving us. Here he was turning Abraham into a great man - but on the outside, it looked like he was being cruel." ~ Tim Keller, Counterfeit Gods, p.20.
I've never viewed God's testing of Abraham with Isaac as an act of deliverance for Abraham before. I processed that Bible story as something God used to build Abraham's faith and to foreshadow the substitutionary atonement of Christ. Tim Keller offers an additional compelling thought. Isaac, as the only son and heir of Abraham, was the object of adoration and was becoming the center of Abraham's life. When our world centers on something other than God, then we are worshiping a counterfeit god. The Biblical word is idolatry. Idols enslave and destroy us. The disturbing story of God's testing of Abraham is truly an act of grace. It is an act of deliverance. Obviously, Isaac was delivered. God provided the ram in his place. But Abraham was delivered as well. Abraham was saved from an idolatrous love that would have derailed and destroyed him. Through the furnace of testing, God purified and saved Abraham. What looked like cruelty was in fact, redemption.
I've never viewed God's testing of Abraham with Isaac as an act of deliverance for Abraham before. I processed that Bible story as something God used to build Abraham's faith and to foreshadow the substitutionary atonement of Christ. Tim Keller offers an additional compelling thought. Isaac, as the only son and heir of Abraham, was the object of adoration and was becoming the center of Abraham's life. When our world centers on something other than God, then we are worshiping a counterfeit god. The Biblical word is idolatry. Idols enslave and destroy us. The disturbing story of God's testing of Abraham is truly an act of grace. It is an act of deliverance. Obviously, Isaac was delivered. God provided the ram in his place. But Abraham was delivered as well. Abraham was saved from an idolatrous love that would have derailed and destroyed him. Through the furnace of testing, God purified and saved Abraham. What looked like cruelty was in fact, redemption.
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