Genesis 22:12

12. Lay not thine hand upon the lad That is, for the purpose of slaying him . “God did not seek the slaying of Isaac in fact, but only the implicit surrender of the lad, in mind and heart . But if all mental reservation, every refuge of flesh and blood, all mere appearance and self-delusion were to be avoided, this surrender could only be accomplished in the shape in which it was actually required. If it was to be wholly an act of faith left to its own energies, without any other point of support, God could not merely ask a mental surrender, but must have demanded an actual sacrifice. On the part of any other than God such a quid pro quo would have been a dangerous game. Not so on the part of God, who held the issue entirely in his own hand. When Abraham had, in heart and mind, completely and without any reserve, offered up his son, God interposed and prevented the sacrifice in facto, which was no longer required for the purpose of trial” Kurtz.

Now I know The Covenant Angel speaks here after the manner of man, as when, in Genesis 18:21, he said: “I will go down now and see,” etc . The word, says Murphy, “denotes an eventual knowing, a discovering by actual experiment; and this observable probation of Abraham was necessary for the judicial eye of God, who is to govern the world, and for the conscience of man, who is to be instructed by practice as well as principle.”

Thou hast not withheld thy son This passage seems to have suggested to Paul the language of Romans 8:32: “He that spared not his own son, but delivered him up for us all.” But it is misleading to speak unqualifiedly of Isaac as a type of Christ. Isaac did not lay down his life at all, nor do we know that he was a willing victim. Not Isaac, but Abraham, is the great figure in this scene. See below, on the typical lessons of this chapter.