Post 2: Abraham and Isaac

One of my favorite stories in the Bible is the story of Abraham and Isaac. However, the reason it is my favorite is because of an insight that often goes overlooked. The story of Abraham and Isaac is a two-part story, with the biblical part being the second half. The story actually begins in the Pearl of Great Price.

In Abraham 1, we read about how Abraham himself was nearly sacrificed by the hands of his own fathers:

5. My fathers, having turned from their righteousness, and from the holy commandments which the Lord their God had given unto them, undo the worshiping of the gods of the heathen, utterly refused to hearken to my voice;

7. Therefore they turned their hearts to the sacrifice of the heathen in offering up their children unto these dumb idols, and hearkened not unto my voice, but endeavored to take away my life by the hand of the priest of Elkenah. The priest of Elkenah was also the priest of Pharaoh.

While Abraham's father wasn't the person trying to sacrifice Abraham, he at the very least allowed it to happen. It was only at the intervention of the Lord that Abraham was saved from being sacrificed.

I am an adamant believer that Abraham, after experiencing the betrayal of his own father, made a promise to himself that he would never allow any of his children to have to go through what his father forced him to endure.

With this in mind, let's return to the story that most are more familiar with. Abraham, many years later, was commanded to sacrifice his son. This commandment was not received from a dumb idol, but from God. This was by design. God knew about Abraham's previous trials, and he knew what Abraham had promised himself. That is exactly why God commanded him to sacrifice Isaac.

Sometimes, revelation comes that makes absolutely zero sense from our limited perspectives. Sometimes, God wants to test our faith to see if we really would put Him before ourselves, our plans, our hopes and dreams. Sometimes, God asks us to sacrifice our own Isaacs, so to speak. Sometimes, our trials can be to do something we have promised ourselves we would never do, all as a test to leave those promises behind us and place our trust in God and Christ.

I don't think it was a coincidence that God commanded Abraham to sacrifice his son. I know that our own personal trials aren't coincidences either. God knows what tests will permit us to grow more like Him. With that perspective, we should remember that the experiences given to us in mortality can become sacred growth opportunities, if we allow them to be so. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.