TLDR: A guide for having a family discipleship time on Genesis 22 based on the ACT Bible Study Method.
Act 3: God Promises Jesus
Scene 10: Isaac Is Nearly Sacrificed
Genesis 22:1–19
Analyze the Passage
Step 1: Introduce the Passage
Genesis was written by Moses sometime between 1445–1405 BC to help the Israelites leaving Egypt understand their history with God. It’s one of the five books of the Law that Moses wrote, which we also call the Torah, or the Pentateuch, which means “five books.”
Today’s true story is a troubling one, at least at first. After waiting so many years for a son to be born, God tells Abraham he is to sacrifice that son. Why would God want that? But in the end, we’ll understand what God was doing. This story is in Act 3: God Promises Jesus.
Step 2: Read the Passage
Step 3: Summarize the Passage
After Isaac was born, God tested Abraham. He told Abraham to take Isaac to a mountain top and offer him as a sacrifice to God. So, early the next morning, Abraham got up and began the journey with Isaac, two servants, and the wood for the burnt offering.
Three days later, they arrived at the mountain and Abraham and Isaac, who carried the wood, went up the mountain. But just as Abraham was about to sacrifice Isaac, the angel of the Lord stopped him. The angel told Abraham not to harm Isaac. God had seen that Abraham was faithful.
Then, Abraham saw a ram caught in some bushes and he sacrificed it to God. After that, the angel called out to Abraham and repeated the promises God had made to him—to bless him and grow his family.
Step 4: Interrogate the Passage
Questions you and your family ask might include:
- Why did God want to test Abraham?
- Where is Moriah?
- Why did Abraham take wood with him?
- How did Abraham know which mountain was the right one?
- Why did Abraham tell the servants that he and Isaac would return?
- How old was Isaac?
- What did Abraham mean when he said God would provide a lamb?
Step 5: Wonder about the Passage
Wonder statements you and your family make might include:
- I wonder how Abraham felt when God told him to sacrifice Isaac.
- I wonder why Abraham left so quickly.
- I wonder what that three-day trip was like.
- I wonder if Isaac willingly was tied up on the altar.
- I wonder how Isaac felt.
- I wonder how Abraham felt when the angel told him to stop.
- I wonder what it was like for Abraham and Isaac to walk down the mountain.
Connect the Passage to Christ
Step 6: Find the World in Front of Text
This is the first time the word love is used in the Bible. It was right for Abraham to love Isaac. But God’s test was if Abraham loved him even more. God wanted to see if Abraham loved him enough to obey him—even to do something that made absolutely no sense and was perhaps the hardest thing ever to do.
This is the world God designed. He designed it to be one in which we love him far and above anything else and in which we obey him completely. It is unlikely that God would have had Abraham follow through on sacrificing Isaac. Child sacrifice is condemned by God in the Bible. But if Abraham had anything in his life that was an idol, it would have been Isaac. Abraham shows us, though, that it’s right to love good things from God as much as we can, as long as that love is never greater than our love for God.
Step 7: Find the World of Jesus of the Text
This story is often seen as a powerful picture of what God has done for us. Just like Abraham was a loving father who was willing to sacrifice his son, God is the loving Father who did sacrifice his Son. And just as Isaac was the obedient son who carried the wood for the sacrifice up the mountain, Jesus was the obedient Son who carried the wooden cross for his sacrifice up Calvary. In the end, God provided a substitute to be sacrificed to spare Isaac, but Jesus became the substitute for us.
As amazing as that picture is, we can’t miss how Jesus loves the Father and obeyed him perfectly while he was on earth. Jesus shows us what loving obedience is to look like.
Translate It to Your Context
Step 8: Connect the World of Jesus of the Text to Your World
Who can you show the love of Jesus to this week? What are some ways you can love your family, friends, neighbors, and even strangers with the amazing and powerful love of Jesus?
How can you obey God this week, in big ways and small ways, so that people might see Jesus in you? Think about all the places you will be this week and what you will do. How can you obey God and people he has placed in authority with joy?
NEXT: Act 3: God Promises Jesus; Scene 11: Isaac and Rebekah (Genesis 24:1–67)
Learn more about this family discipleship method here.
brian dembowczyk 