The Faith of Abraham, Pt. 2

April 20th, 2026
by Lance Waldie

Hebrews 11:17-19 By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises was offering up his only begotten. 18 it was he to whom it was said, “In Isaac your descendants shall be called.” 19 He considered that God is able to raise people even from the dead, from which he also received him back as a type.

Abraham waited for 25 years to have a son after God promised him that his offspring would be as numerous as the sand by the seashore. But he never wavered in spite of both he and Sarah being advanced in age. His faith remained strong, however, for he believed God (Gen. 15:5-6). Then, after Isaac was miraculously born, God tested Abraham’s faith again, commanding him to take the young Isaac to a location of God’s choosing in order that Abraham offer him as a sacrifice to God. Astonishingly, God called Abraham to sacrifice his own son!

This account in Genesis 22 gives no hint of Abraham hesitating for a single moment after God instructed him regarding Isaac. Though he did not understand, he knew how to obey; he had been obeying God for 40 years. The scene plays out as “when he was being tested,” or in the midst of this divine trial, Abraham “offered up” (Gr. prospherō) his son (11:17), a perfect tense verb indicating a complete sacrifice. It appears from the verbiage that Abraham had actually made the sacrifice. But only in his mind had he done so. The verb is then used again in v. 17 in the imperfect tense (“was offering up”) showing past tense, ongoing action. The point is that in his mind Abraham fully committed to God that he would offer up Isaac, once and for all. After all, that is what God instructed him to do. Yet God never intended for Abraham to actually kill his son, only the commitment to obey. So, while Abraham “was offering up his only begotten” (imperfect tense verb), without having completed the physical task, Abraham completed God’s spiritual test. God did not actually require him to sacrifice his son; He only wanted to test Abraham’s faith. When he offered his beloved and only son, holding nothing back from what God required of him, God’s test was complete. Abraham was indeed faithful.

Notably, v. 17 speaks of Isaac as Abraham’s “only begotten” (Gr. monogenēs)—two words in Greek: “mono” (one) and “ginomai” (to come into being). Together, these words mean “one of a kind; unique.” This is notable because Abraham also had a son named Ishmael who was still living (cf. Gen. 16). Therefore, the only way Isaac could be Abraham’s “only begotten” son is if he was Abraham’s unique son. And he was, just as Jesus is God’s unique Son in John 3:16.

Verse 19 gives insight that Genesis 22 does not, for we are told that Abraham set out to kill Isaac as God had commanded all the while believing that Isaac would be resurrected from the dead. After all, Abraham knew that a dead Isaac would put an end to any hope of Abraham’s descendants being numerous since Isaac himself had no children at the time. Abraham had to balance God’s promise of numerous descendants with God’s command to kill the boy who would carry out God’s plan. The solution in his mind while on their journey to Mt. Moriah was that God was going to honor his faithfulness by resurrecting Isaac from the dead.

Now of course God did not require Abraham to carry out his task. Since God only wanted to test Abraham, when he was about to sacrifice Isaac God provided a substitute—a ram. This of course is indicative of Jesus Christ dying in man’s place. The author of Hebrews says that Abraham “received” (Gr. komizō) his son back as a “type” (Gr. parabolē), or comparison. Abraham was thus rewarded (received) Isaac’s life as a comparison which can only refer to Christ being raised from the dead, for v. 19 says that Abraham believed Isaac would be resurrected. There was no passivity in Abraham concerning God’s promises, for he was certain of the things he hoped for and convicted of the things he could not see (Heb. 11:1). In short, he was a man of faith simply because he trusted God.

Food For Thought
Abraham’s faith made him “the friend of God” (2 Chron. 20:7; Isa. 41:8; James 2:23). What an incredible honor to be called God’s friend! But Jesus said as much in John 15:13-15 when He told His disciples: “You are My friends if you do what I command you. No longer do I call you slaves, for the slave does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I have heard from My Father I have made known to you.” So the friends of God are those who know God’s will and who obey Him as Abraham and the disciples did. What a wrap on faith! Knowing God’s word, believing it, and obeying it. That’s faith unto salvation!