Celebrate! May 31, 2025 Devotional
May 31, 2025
GENESIS 22:10-14 | 10 Then Abraham reached out his hand and took the knife to kill his son. 11 But the angel of the Lord called to him from heaven and said, “Abraham, Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” 12 He said, “Do not lay your hand on the boy or do anything to him, for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me.” 13 And Abraham looked up and saw a ram, caught in a thicket by its horns. Abraham went and took the ram and offered it up as a burnt offering instead of his son. 14 So Abraham called that place “The Lord will provide,” as it is said to this day, “On the mount of the Lord it shall be provided.”
Yesterday’s meditation emphasized collective responsibility. Today’s scripture is the famous story of the near-sacrifice of Isaac by Abraham. Isaac was the future of his family, and the heir of the promises, and Abraham was no doubt loathe to destroy his own son. Interpreters read this dramatic moment in different ways. Some see a teaching moment when God can demonstrate that He values life and hates human sacrifice, in contrast to pagan gods like Molech who demanded children to appease him. Others connect this to the Exodus, in which God passes over the Israelite firstborn but notes that they can only be redeemed with a costly sacrifice that he must provide. Most see a preview of the cross of Christ, a beloved son offering himself in obedience, preserving Jesus’ self-offering on behalf of the guilty. A few see it as a test of Abraham’s obedience.
I see it also as a warning. What seems barbaric and primitive is commonplace today—parents sacrifice their children to the cultural gods of pleasure, popularity, power, and prestige. Those who pursue these things in the wrong way, and teach others to do so, spend themselves in unholy and unnecessary pursuits.
How do you read this story?
Gracious God,
Help me live, and encourage others to live, in ways that honor life and not death.
Amen.
