Chapter III: Abraham and Isaac

THE STORY

=Sec.8. Abraham's Devotion= (Gen. 21:2, 3; 22:1-19)

A. THE SACRIFICE OF THE FIRSTBORN

And Sarah bare Abraham a son in his old age, at the set time of which God had spoken unto him. And Abraham called the name of his son Isaac. And the child grew. And it came to pass, that God did prove Abraham and said unto him, "Abraham."

And he said, "Here am I."

And he said, "Take now thy son, thine only son, whom thou lovest, even Isaac, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of."

And Abraham rose early in the morning, and saddled his ass, and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son; and he clave the wood for the burnt offering, and rose up, and went into the place of which God had told him. On the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes, and saw the place afar off.

And Abraham said unto his young men, "Abide ye here with the ass, and I and the lad will go yonder; and we will worship, and come again to you."

And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it upon Isaac his son; and he took in his hand the fire and the knife; and they went both of them together.

And Isaac spake unto Abraham his father, and said, "My father."

And he said, "Here am I, my son."

And he said, "Behold, the fire and the wood: but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?"

And Abraham said, "God will provide himself the lamb for a burnt offering, my son."

So they went both of them together. And they came to the place which God had told him of; and Abraham built the altar there, and laid the wood in order, and bound Isaac his son, and laid him on the altar, upon the wood. And Abraham stretched forth his hand, and took the knife to slay his son.

B. THE DIVINE INTERFERENCE

And the angel of the Lord called unto him out of heaven, and said, "Abraham."

And he said, "Here am I."

And he said, "Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou anything unto him: for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son, from me."

And Abraham lifted up his eyes, and looked, and behold, behind him a ram caught in the thicket by his horns: and Abraham went and took the ram, and offered him up for a burnt offering in the stead of his son. And Abraham called the name of that place Jehovah-jireh: as it is said to this day, "In the mount of the Lord it shall be provided."

And the angel of the Lord called unto Abraham a second time out of heaven, and said, "By myself have I sworn, saith the Lord, because thou hast done this thing, and hast not withheld thy son, thine only son: that in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies; and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice."

So Abraham returned unto his young men, and they rose up and went together to Beer-sheba; and Abraham dwelt at Beer-sheba.

=Sec.9. The Selection of Isaac's Wife= (Gen. 24)

A. THE COMMISSION OF THE SERVANT

And Abraham was old, and well stricken in age: and the Lord had blessed Abraham in all things. And Abraham said unto his servant, the elder of his house, that ruled over all that he had, "Swear by the Lord, the God of heaven and the God of the earth, that thou shalt not take a wife for my son of the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I dwell: but thou shalt go unto my country, and to my kindred, and take a wife for my son Isaac."

And the servant said unto him, "Peradventure the woman will not be willing to follow me unto this land: must I needs bring thy son again unto the land from whence thou camest?"

And Abraham said unto him, "Beware thou that thou bring not my son thither again. The Lord, the God of heaven, that took me from my father's house, and from the land of my nativity, and that spake unto me and that sware unto me, saying, 'Unto thy seed will I give this land,' he shall send his angel before thee, and thou shalt take a wife for my son from thence. And if the woman be not willing to follow thee, thou shalt be clear from this my oath; only thou shalt not bring my son thither again."

And the servant sware to Abraham his master concerning this matter.

B. THE MEETING WITH REBEKAH

And the servant took ten camels, of the camels of his master, and departed; having all goodly things of his master's in his hand: and he arose, and went to Mesopotamia, unto the city of Nahor. And he made the camels to kneel down without the city by the well of water at the time of evening, the time that women go out to draw water.

And he said, "O Lord, the God of my master Abraham, send me, I pray thee, good speed this day, and show kindness unto my master Abraham. Behold, I stand by the fountain of water; and the daughters of the men of the city come out to draw water: and let it come to pass, that the damsel to whom I shall say, 'Let down thy pitcher, I pray thee, that I may drink;' and she shall say, 'Drink, and I will give thy camels drink also': let the same be she that thou hast appointed for thy servant Isaac; and thereby shall I know that thou hast showed kindness unto my master."

And it came to pass, before he had done speaking, that, behold, Rebekah came out, who was born to Bethuel the son of Milcah, the wife of Nahor, Abraham's brother, with her pitcher upon her shoulder. And the damsel was very fair to look upon; and she went down to the fountain, and filled her pitcher, and came up.

And the servant ran to meet her, and said, "Give me to drink, I pray thee, a little water of thy pitcher."

And she said, "Drink, my lord": and she hasted, and let down her pitcher upon her hand, and gave him drink. And when she had done giving him drink, she said, "I will draw for thy camels also, until they have done drinking." And she hasted, and emptied her pitcher into the trough, and ran again unto the well to draw, and drew for all his camels.

And the man looked stedfastly on her; holding his peace, to know whether the Lord had made his journey prosperous or not. And it came to pass, as the camels had done drinking, that the man took a golden ring of half a shekel weight, and two bracelets for her hands of ten shekels weight of gold, and said, "Whose daughter art thou? tell me, I pray thee. Is there room in thy father's house for us to lodge in?"

And she said unto him, "I am the daughter of Bethuel the son of Milcah, which she bare unto Nahor." She said moreover unto him, "We have both straw and provender enough, and room to lodge in."

And the man bowed his head, and worshipped the Lord. And he said, "Blessed be the Lord, the God of my master Abraham, who hath not forsaken his mercy and his truth toward my master: as for me, the Lord hath led me in the way to the house of my master's brethren."