Genesis 22
Day 1: When Obedience Doesn’t Make Sense
Scripture: Genesis 22:1–2
“Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love… and offer him… as a burnt offering.”
Reflection:
God’s command to Abraham is shocking—offensive, even. After decades of waiting for Isaac, the son of promise, Abraham is told to give him up. Obedience in this moment seems completely contradictory to everything Abraham knows about God’s promises.
Yet we find ourselves in similar positions. When God calls us to give up control, forgive someone who’s hurt us, or remain faithful in a season of pain, it can seem like He’s working against His own goodness. The question becomes: Can I trust Him, even when I don’t understand?
Prayer Prompt:
Lord, help me obey you even when your ways confuse me. Give me faith like Abraham—to listen, to rise early, and to walk with trust.
Day 2: The Cost of Trust
Scripture: Genesis 22:3–8
“God will provide for himself the lamb for a burnt offering, my son.”
Reflection:
Abraham obeys, step by agonizing step. For three days, he walks beside Isaac, knowing what God has asked. Yet he clings to a quiet confidence: God will provide. His trust isn’t based on understanding God’s plan—but on knowing God’s character.
Faith doesn’t mean having all the answers. It means walking the hard road while trusting the Provider. Abraham wasn’t relying on what he could see—he was relying on who he knew God to be.
Prayer Prompt:
Lord, grow in me a faith that walks even in darkness. Help me say, God will provide, not just with my lips, but with my life.
Day 3: Behold, the Substitute
Scripture: Genesis 22:9–14
“Abraham went and took the ram and offered it… instead of his son.”
Reflection:
God intervenes. A ram is caught in the thicket, and Isaac is spared. Abraham had told Isaac that God would provide a lamb—but what God gave was a ram, a placeholder.
Centuries later, John the Baptist would see Jesus and cry, “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.” The substitute on Mount Moriah foreshadowed the Substitute on Calvary.
Jesus was bound to the wood. And this time, no voice cried out to stop the blade. God did not spare His own Son so that we might be spared.
Prayer Prompt:
Jesus, thank you for standing in my place. Help me never lose sight of the cross, and let your sacrifice become my greatest affection.
Day 4: Faith That Follows
Scripture: James 2:21–23
“You see that faith was active along with his works… and he was called a friend of God.”
Reflection:
Abraham’s faith wasn’t abstract. He acted on it. He trusted God’s promise even when it demanded everything. That kind of faith—faith that obeys, that sacrifices, that surrenders—is what Scripture holds up as saving faith.
True faith doesn’t merely believe in God—it believes God. And that belief will always show itself in action. Not perfection, but pursuit. Not comfort, but surrender.
Prayer Prompt:
God, I want a faith that follows. Even when it’s hard, even when I’m afraid. Help me trust you more than I trust myself.
Day 5: The God Who Blesses
Scripture: Genesis 22:15–18; Romans 8:32
“Because you have not withheld your son… I will surely bless you.”
Reflection:
Because Abraham did not withhold his beloved son, God reaffirms His promise. And because God did not withhold His beloved Son, He has given us every spiritual blessing in Christ.
You don’t earn these blessings. You receive them by faith. Forgiveness. Adoption. An eternal inheritance. You are no longer on the outside—through Christ, you are brought into the covenant family.
As you behold the Lamb, may your love for Him grow. May your obedience flow not from guilt, but from joy. As Thomas Chalmers said, may a “new affection” for Christ drive out every lesser love.
Prayer Prompt:
Father, thank you for not withholding your Son from me. Help me rest in your unchanging promises, and live with joy in your gracious blessings.