Genesis 22: The Test
Questions and Proposed Answers Supplied
Background and Text: Genesis 22:1-19
Genesis 22:1 And he was after these things. And the Elohim (the Gods) tested [singular] Father-Of-A-Crowd (Avraham). And He said unto him, “Avraham!” And he said, “Behold, I am!” 2And He said, “Take, na, thy son, thine only that thou loved, He-Will-Laugh (Isaac). And walk. Walk unto Land of the Bitterness-of-Yehovah (Moriah). And ascend him there for an ascension upon one of the mountains that I will say unto thee.”
3And Avraham early-rose in the morning. And he bound his ass. And he took two of his youths with him, and Isaac his son. And he cleaved trees of ascension. And he stood. And he walked unto the place that the Gods said [singular] to him.
4In the third day, and Avraham lifted his eyes. And he saw the place from a distance. 5And Avraham said unto his youths, “Sit to you here with the ass. And the youth and I will walk unto so. And we have worshipped. And we have returned unto you.” 6And Avraham took trees of the ascension. And he put upon Isaac his son. And he took the fire and the meat-cleaver in his hand. And both of them walked together.
7And Isaac said unto Avraham his papa, and he said, “My Papa!” And he said, “Behold, I am, my son.” And he said, “Behold the fire and the trees! And where is the lamb for ascension?” 8And Avraham said, “Elohim will see to Himself the lamb for ascension, my son.” And both of them walked together.
9And they came unto the place that the Gods said to him. And Avraham built the altar there. And he ordered the trees. And he bound Isaac his son. And he put him upon the altar from above to the trees. 10And Avraham sent his hand. And he took the meat-cleaver to slaughter his son.
11And Messenger Yehovah called unto him from the heavens. And He said, “Avraham! Avraham!” And he said, “Behold, I am.” 12And He said, “Do not send thy hand unto the youth! And do not do to him a blemish! For now I knew that thou art a fearer of Elohim! And thou did not spare thy son thine only from me.”
13And Avraham lifted his eyes. And he saw. And behold, another ram is caught in a thicket via his horns. And Avraham walked. And he took the ram. And he ascended him for an ascension under his son.
14And Avraham called the name of that place ‘Yehovah-Will-See,’ which he will say today, “Yehovah will see in the mountain!”
15And Messenger Yehovah called unto Avraham a second-time from the heavens. 16And He said, “Via me I swore,” Yehovah declared, “that because thou did this saying, and thou did not spare thy son thine only, 17that blessing I will bless thee and multiplying I will multiply thy seed as stars of the heavens and as sand that is upon the lip of the sea! And thy Seed will inherit the gate of His enemies! 18And all races of the land will bless-themselves via thy Seed [on the] heel-that thou hearkened into my voice!”
19And Avraham returned unto his youths. And they stood. And they walked together unto Well-Of-Oath. And Avraham dwelt in Well-Of-Oath.
20And he was after these things. And He told to Avraham to say, “Behold, Queen childed—also he—sons to Snorer thy brother, 21Counsel his firstborn and Contempt his brother and They-Stood-A-Mighty-One the father of I-Will-Elevate 22and As-Violence/Devil and His-Vision and Distinction-Of-Fertility and He-Will-Drip and They-Wasted-A-Mighty-One. 23And They-Wasted-A-Mighty-One childed Multiplied-Decanting. Queen childed these eight to Snorer brother of Avraham, 24and his concubine—and her name is They-Saw-What? And she childed—also he—He-Slaughtered and He-Burned and Thou-Wilt-Hush and Thy-Belly.
I. The Startling Command (verses 1-2)
The Bible declares that the Elohim (the Gods) tested Avraham. It does not give the purpose for the test in this section, but it does show that He does such things.
Avraham finally had a son of the promise. He loved his son, as Elohim attested (Elohim was a witness to this and said so). He now told him to take his son whom he loved, and go to the land of Moriah.
Elohim referred to Isaac as “thy son, thine only” as if Ishmael did not exist.
He told him to walk, then to ‘ascend’ his son for ascension in the same way that one would do an animal. Elohim would tell him upon which mountain to do this.
Questions
1. Does God test everyone? No, He doesn’t, and certainly not in this way! This was a special case.
2. Why did Elohim test him in this way? You must ask this question after you have read the entire section!
3. Why does the Hebrew Bible use Elohim (meaning Gods instead of God)? This constantly tells the reader that Elohim is all the Gods there are! He is the God of the land, God of the sea; He is the God of the heavens, God of creation; He is the God of requests, the God Who can do anything anywhere, as long as it isn’t against Who He is.
4. Why does the Hebrew Bible use ‘the Elohim’? That means the Gods, as if that is only His identity. Others may speak of their gods, but only this One can be called the Gods, and the speaker will be right.
5. What does the Hebrew word na mean (verse 2)?It is a word that indicates that the speaker isn’t angry or demanding, but is speaking in a soft manner.
6. Why does Elohim refer to Isaac as Avraham’s only son when Avraham also had Ishmael? He is the only son of the promise, the son through whom the races of the world will be blessed. Ishmael is the son of the slavewoman; Isaac is the son of Avraham and the son of the promise.
7. What does “thy son, thine only that thou loved” mean? It doesn’t mean that Avraham didn’t love Ishmael. It means that Isaac is Avraham’s son, his only son, and he loved that son.
8. Why is loved in the past tense? It is as if Elohim is in the future, and is looking back into the past at Avraham. Then He could say, “Avraham loved that son.”
This pictures what will happen with Yehovah (the Father) and Yeshua (the Son of Yehovah) in the future. Yehovah will take His Son, His Only whom He loved, and He will do this very thing.
9. Why must Avraham walk? Couldn’t he ride animals? Even if he did, the animals still walked. This was not something done at a run. It was a slow, deliberate action.
10. What was the name of the mountain where this event would take place? The Bible doesn’t say. It is in a range of mountains located in the Land of the Bitterness-of-Yehovah (Moriah).
Mountains in the Bible often indicate what we would call hills. They don’t have to be so tall, though some are very tall.
11. What does “ascend him there” mean? (This is Hebrew wording. You will not find this wording in English.) It means to slaughter, to then separate the pieces of the slaughtered animal, to arrange them on an altar under which a fire is lit, then to slow-cook the animal and its pieces while the fragrance and smoke ascends to the heavens. It pictures a person or a group that has been slaughtered, and who then ascend into the heavens. Folks did these ascension sacrifices before those who died ever went into the heavens! Until Yeshua’s death, Saints and non-saints went to Sheol (located in the core of earth).
12. Did Elohim command Avraham to kill his son? Yes, that is what the command means!
13. Did Elohim do right by commanding this? Everything that is right or wrong always goes back to a god or God (a false god or a real God). There cannot be right or wrong if there is no god/God. Without a god or God, there are only opinions, not right and wrong actions. The very words right and wrong used in this way assume a god or God!
Since Elohim is the Gods, if He says to do something, it is right. If He says to not do something, doing it would be wrong. He told Avraham to do this; it was right. Now, readers must think why it was right, since the Bible prohibits murder! (Intentionally killing a person without the person being guilty of a crime, or without it being an act of war or heroism, is murder.)
II. Avraham’s Quick Response (verse 3)
Avraham rose early in the morning. He loaded the ass with the saddle and with provisions. Two youths and Isaac accompanied him.
Avraham split the wood for the sacrifice. He then stood up and went with the three unto the place Elohim told him.
Questions
1. Why did Avraham rise early in the morning? It was as if Avraham desired to do this, or it was as if he desired to ‘get this over with.’ Another text will give us the information we need to figure this out:
Hebrews 11:17 By faith Avraham offered up Isaac when he was tested. And he who had received the promises (Avraham) offered up his only begotten son 18of whom it was said that, “thy seed shall be called in Isaac,” 19accounting that God was able to raise up even from the dead.
Therefore, Avraham knew that Elohim would keep His promises through Isaac, and this included Isaac being alive even if that included raising him from the dead!
2. Why didn’t Avraham ask another slave (perhaps a much younger man) to split the logs for him? This was a very personal ascension sacrifice. Avraham did not desire to include anyone else in this act, though he did take two youths to accompany Isaac and him.
3. Why did Avraham take the other two youths? See if you can figure this out as the event unfolds. (I will ask this again later.)
4. How did Avraham know the right place to go? Elohim gave him the directions: “He walked unto the place that the Elohim said to him.”
5. Did Isaac wonder where they were going, and why? If he did, he didn’t speak yet.
III. The Fire and the Meat Cleaver (verses 4-6)
The journey took several days. Avraham saw the destination on the third day, still a distance away.
He told the two youths to stay with the ass while Isaac and he would go the rest of the way.
Avraham gave the reason for the journey: Isaac and he were going to worship, and both would return to the youths.
He loaded the trees for the ascension upon Isaac. Avraham took burning wood to light the fire, and a meat cleaver. They both walked together.
Questions
1. Did Avraham lie when he said, “I and the lad will go yonder and worship, and come again to you”? No. He knew that Yehovah would have to raise Isaac from the dead in order to complete His promises through Isaac.
2. Could the youths see Avraham and Isaac while they finished their journey? Yes, they could. The area did not have many trees; one could see for quite a distance.
3. Why didn’t the youths ask him where he was going? The text doesn’t give the reason. The youths did what they were told.
4. What does so mean in “The youth and I will walk unto so”? It means there.
5. Why did Avraham say, “We have worshipped” rather than “We will worship”? In Hebrew, a future followed by a past tense verb shows cause and effect. In this case, the future verb is in the sentence: “And the youth and I will walk unto so.” The past tense verbs that follow are in these two statements: “And we have worshipped. And we have returned unto you.” Thus, Avraham is quite certain what will follow his walking with Isaac.
6. What does worship mean? It means to lie prostrate (flat, face down) before another.
7. What are trees of the ascension? They are pieces of firewood.
8. Why did Avraham place the wood on Isaac instead of carrying it himself? This is a type: a picture that is real in itself, and pictures something else that is real, and far more important. Isaac carried the trees; Yeshua will also carry the trees. (Those trees are not large, whole trees, but cut pieces of trees.)
9. In what form was the fire that Avraham took? I was probably in the form of embers, which would be a firebrand, rather than a fully flaming torch (which would burn too fast).
10. What was the purpose of the meat cleaver? It was to cut the sacrifice into pieces. The sacrifice, in this case, was Isaac!
11. Isn’t this a gruesome scene? Yes, it is! It is supposed to be!
IV. The Question (verses 7-8)
Isaac became curious at this point. Sacrifices require sacrificial animals. They had brought none with them. Isaac said, “My Papa!” Avraham replied, “Behold, I am, my son.” Isaac observed, “Behold the fire and the trees! And where is the lamb for ascension?” Avraham told him, “Elohim will see to Himself the lamb for ascension, my son.” That must have satisfied Isaac; they both walked onward together.
Questions
1. What did Avraham mean by the reply, “Elohim will see to Himself the lamb for ascension”? Avraham was a prophet. He was prophesying about what Yehovah and Yeshua would do in the far future. He spoke of a lamb. That is the Lamb of God.
2. Why didn’t Avraham tell Isaac what he was about to do to him? That would have been very frightening! It seems that Isaac suspected nothing. He fully trusted his papa.
3. Did Avraham love Isaac? Yes, he did very much!
V. The Grim Task (verses 9-10)
They finally arrived. Avraham built the altar. He ordered the trees—he set them in order so that they would burn just right. Then he tied up Isaac! He placed him upon the altar—upon the firewood trees!
Avraham then sent his hand… He took the meat cleaver to slaughter his son!
Questions
1. Why did Isaac submit to being tied? Isaac trusted Avraham. He had no reason to not trust him.
2. Did Avraham gag his son? The text doesn’t indicate that he did, and I don’t think that he did; but I have no proof either way.
3. Why did he tie him in the first place? Avraham was about to slaughter him. If his first strike didn’t kill him, Isaac would suffer great pain. Therefore, he needed to be still while Avraham slaughtered him. (This is a very frightening event!)
4. Had Avraham slaughtered his son in this way, would not this have been a heinous (enormously and shockingly evil) crime? Would it not have been wrong and sinful? If Yehovah had not commanded it, it would have been! Yehovah is the Gods. If He commands, it is not wrong to obey, and it is wrong to disobey, since He created man. Still, this event in the Bible is very surprising until the reader knows the reasons for it.
5. How would you feel about someone coming at you with a meat cleaver when you are tied up? (Each student needs to answer this.)
VI. The Results of the Test (verses 11-12)
Messenger Yehovah (also known as the Angel Yehovah) called Avraham’s name twice: “Avraham! Avraham!” Avraham responded, “Behold, I am!” This Messenger Yehovah commanded him to not send his hand unto the youth. He also commanded him to not do to him a blemish!
This Messenger said, “For now I knew that thou art a fearer of Elohim! And thou did not spare thy son thine only from me.”
Questions
1. Why did Messenger Yehovah call Avraham’s name twice? He needed to quickly stop him from going through with the slaughter!
2. Why did the messenger tell him to stop after Elohim had told him to do this? This whole action was a test and a type. Elohim had no desire for Avraham to slaughter Isaac. The picture of this was designed for readers to understand what Yehovah did with Yeshua.
3. Didn’t Messenger Yehovah already know that Avraham was a fearer of Elohim? Yes, since Messenger Yehovah is Yeshua, and He knows almost all things (except what He intends to not know). He had to prove it to readers, however. Besides this, what Elohim knows and what He proves to Himself are two different things. While He knows the end from the beginning, He still does not judge until a person (or an angel) has done what the person intended.
4. Who is Messenger Yehovah, and how could a reader know this? By identifying Himself as me in “thou did not spare thy son thine only from me,” this Messenger identified Himself as Elohim.
5. Would Avraham have killed Isaac? Avraham would have carried out Elohim’s orders had He not stopped him. He feared God.
VII. The Exchange (verse 13)
Avraham lifted his eyes. A ram was caught in a thicket by his horns. He was not damaged, but was stuck. Avraham walked to the ram, took it, and exchanged the animal and his son. He then ascended the animal on the altar.
Questions
1. Why did Avraham offer the caught ram (instead of letting it go, or instead of eating it)? He had prepared to do a sacrifice, and he had gained his son in the meantime.
2. Why did Yehovah provide a ram instead of a lamb? Careful readers would realize that this was not the prophecy that Avraham made. Therefore, they would look for the exact fulfillment of the prophecy, realizing that this isn’t that fulfillment!
3. Explain under his son in “he ascended him for an ascension under his son”: This Hebrew expression means in the place of his son.
4. The text stated, “And behold, another ram is caught in a thicket via his horns.” Explain why the text states, “another”: It is as if Isaac were a ram, and the animal were the second ram! (Biblical Hebrew does refer to persons as rams when they have the strength qualities or the rank (among their peers) of rams.
VIII. The Naming of the Place (verse 14)
It was Avraham who had said before that Yehovah will see to Himself the lamb for ascension. The animal caught was a ram, not a lamb.
Avraham now called that location Yehovah-Will-See. Yehovah will see in the mountain.
Questions
1. What was significant about the animal being a ram rather than a lamb? The lamb refers to the Lamb of God, Messiah Yeshua, Whom Yehovah will sacrifice for sin (and for other reasons).
2. This verse states, “Yehovah will see.” What will He see? He will see to Himself the lamb for ascension. In other words, Yehovah will see Himself in the form of Yeshua, and Yeshua as the Lamb that Avraham prophesied.
3. In what mountain will Yehovah see this Lamb? I propose that He will see that Lamb in Mount Zion, the most important mountain on the planet. That is when the Lamb of God will reign as King.
IX. The Results of Obedience (verses 15-18)
Messenger Yehovah called a second time to Avraham from the heavens. He swore (vowed) via Himself.
Avraham had done two noble acts: He had
- done the saying of Messenger Yehovah
- not spared his son, his only.
Yehovah vowed to do the following:
- He will bless Avraham.
- He will multiply his seed as stars of the heavens and as sand that is upon the lip of the sea.
He also stated two results of these things:
- His Seed will inherit the gate of His enemies.
- All races of the land will bless themselves via His Seed.
All this was because Avraham had hearkened into His voice.
Questions
1. Why did Messenger Yehovah vow? He vowed because of the importance of what He was about to say. He could have promised, but a vow is much more important than a promise (in many cases).
2. Why did Messenger Yehovah vow via Himself? When one vows, one uses the name or identity of someone or something greater than himself. There was no one greater than Yehovah, so He vowed via Himself. A text mentions this:
Hebrews 6:13 When God made promise to Avraham, He swore by Himself (because He couldn’t swear by anyone greater) 14saying, “Blessing, I will bless thee, and multiplying I will multiply thee!” 15And so he [Avraham] obtained the promise after he had patiently endured—16(For men indeed swear by the greater. And an oath for confirmation is an end of all strife to them.)—17in which God confirmed it by an oath, far more willing to show unto the heirs of promise the immutability [unchangeability] of His counsel.
3. Do the stars of the heavens multiply? They don’t at this time, but they will many centuries from now during a time called the Millennium (meaning the thousand years). Messiah Yeshua will reign at that time over the whole planet. He will put many stars into the heavens, and they will multiply during that thousand years that He will rule.
4. Does the sand of the sea multiply? It does, even today! With every crashing wave, sand particles, which are made of silicon, and are tiny pieces of rounded glass, break into smaller pieces. Window glass is made of silicon; it is made of sand! The front window of automobiles is also made of silicon, but has a very thin piece of plastic between two pieces of glass so that it won’t easily shatter if broken. Glass that is broken is very sharp. Sand isn’t sharp, because the waves hit the sand particles together, rounding off any sharp edges. In this way, however, the sand particles multiply in number!
5. Verse 17 states, “thy Seed will inherit the gate of His enemies.” Identify this Seed: This Seed is Messiah Yeshua.
The word seed, like deer and fish, is a word that can refer to one, or it can refer to more than one (it can be singular or plural). When farmers and gardeners speak about seed, they normally mean a large group of individual seeds. Yet, they can also refer to one seed, like an avocado seed.
The seed in this text refers to One: to Messiah Yeshua. A verse explains this:
Galatians 3:16 Now, the promises were made to Avraham and his seed. He doesn’t say “And to seeds,” as of many, but as of one: “And to thy seed,” which is Messiah.
5. When will this Seed inherit the gate of His enemies, and why would the Seed want a gate? This Seed is Messiah Yeshua. He will inherit this gate at the end of a time period called the Tribulation, the worst time the world will ever see, and He will hold that gate for the entire Millenniuim (thousand years) during which time He will rule over all the earth.
If He holds the gate of the enemies, He holds the location of justice—like the courthouse of our cities. In some cultures, judges judge matters of law at the gate of the city or village so that there is plenty of room for folks to watch. This used to be where trials were held, and it will again be where they will be held in the far future. If Messiah Yeshua holds the gate of the enemies, He will hold the court system and the judges, and will make sure that all judgments are done right, according to His standards.
6. Identify “all races of the land”: Those are all races that are on the planet. A race is a very large group of individuals who all come from a common ancestor.
7. What does “will bless themselves via thy Seed” mean? Since this Seed is Messiah Yeshua, and since a blessing is normally something very good that has been given to another in order for that person to benefit (do good for) others, this means that all races will benefit other races by means of Messiah and what He gives to them. That means that races won’t waste time hating and trying to destroy each other, but will instead do great business with other races and do them much good.
8. Why will such good things occur, according to this text? The text states, “[on the] heel-that thou hearkened into my voice!” The expression, “on the heel that” means that this follows the other. If something is on your heel, it is right behind you! Put that into the text, and you will see that all races of the land will bless themselves right behind (on the heel of) the fact that Avraham hearkened to [both listened and obeyed] Messenger Yehovah’s voice!
X. The Return (verse 19)
Avraham and Isaac returned back to the waiting youths. They all walked together unto Well-Of-Oath, Beersheba. Avraham dwelt there.
Questions
1. Perhaps now you can answer the question why Avraham took the youths with Isaac and him: He took them so that they would be with Isaac after Isaac was slaughtered and raised from the dead! He took them, because they were Isaac’s companions, and they would benefit Isaac after this traumatic event.
2. The text states that “they stood.” Who stood? The youths stood. They were sitting there, waiting for Avraham and Isaac to return.
3. What was the topic of conversation as they walked to Beersheba? The Bible doesn’t say what it was. The Bible only includes information that is directly pertinent [on the same subject] and important to the plan of God. It never includes unimportant details.
4. Did Avraham like Beersheba? Yes! He lived there for quite a while.
XI. Names (verses 20-24)
Avraham had a brother named Nahor (which means snorer). His wife was Milcah, meaning Queen. Someone (identified only as he) told Avraham that Milcah had birthed sons, so that Nahor and Milcah now had children.
I have provided meanings for the names of the children. I can be certain of the meanings of some of the names, and I am less certain of the meanings of other names because I have very little information upon which to determine their meanings. Please know this as you read the meanings that I have proposed.
|
English Name |
Proposed Meaning |
| Huz | Counsel |
| Buz | Contempt |
| Kemuel | They-Stood-A-Mighty-One |
| Aram | I-Will-elevate |
| Chesed | As-Violence/Devil |
| Hazo | His-Vision |
| Pildash | Distinction-Of-Fertility |
| Jidlaph | He-Will-Drip |
| Bethuel | They-Wasted-A-Mighty-One |
| Rebekah | Multiplied-Decanting |
| Reumah | They-Saw-What? |
| Tebah | He-Slaughtered |
| Gaham | He-Burned |
| Thahash | Thou-Wilt-Hush |
| Maacah | Thy-Belly |
Questions
1. Why did folks name their children with such weird names? Those names serve two functions: they explain what the parents were seeing or experiencing when the children were born, and they give prophetic information about events yet to come! (If you carefully string the names together, you will see sentences that give information about events to come.) That means that Yehovah participated by making certain that parents named their children in these ways (usually without the parents knowing anything much about Yehovah, and not knowing that He was participating).
2. Why would a parent name a baby Snorer? I suspect that the child snored from the time it was born! But I don’t know.
3. What does decant mean? It means to pour liquid from one container into another.
4. What is a concubine? A concubine is a wife, but she will not receive any inheritance left by the husband. It is the same thing that a man and a woman might agree to do today as part of a prenuptual agreement (a pre-marriage agreement).
5. How is Rebekah’s name prophetic? Her name is Multiplied-Decanting. She decanted water from buckets into watering troughs for camels. That was how Avraham’s slave knew that Yehovah chose her. See Genesis 24 for the whole story!