As I was scrolling through Catholic memes on the Internet recently, I found a couple memes deriding God in the story of Abraham and Isaac. They were making fun of a God who demands child sacrifice for seemingly no reason, and then changes His mind. It is true that from an outside perspective, this story is pretty confusing. It doesn’t make sense at first why God would call Abraham to something so horrible. So why did the story happen the way that it did?

The whole narrative of Abraham demonstrates man’s struggle to trust in God. Even a person with strong faith still experiences temptation and sin, and there are very real consequences for the result of this failure. In his life, Abraham has three major failures, which God corrects. The sacrifice of Isaac is the culmination of Abraham’s struggles with faith, and a final test of his trust in God.

Abraham’s first recorded sin was his failure to stand up for his wife in Egypt. While traveling to Egypt to escape a famine, Abraham fears for his life, even though God has promised him incredible future blessings. Afraid that the Egyptians will murder him in order to steal his wife, Sarah, he says to her, “Say you are my sister, that it may go well with me because of you, and that my life may be spared on your account” (Genesis 12:13). Because of his weakness, Sarah is taken to be a concubine in Pharaoh’s court. Fortunately, God rescues her, and she and Abraham leave Egypt safely. However, Abraham must suffer the consequences of his sin. Every sin deserves death, since it is the act of rejecting God who is the source of all life. However, God is merciful to Abraham, and to the rest of humanity, in allowing the sin to be transferred to animals, and later to His only Son, so that they might die in place of us. Abraham offers an animal sacrifice to God, and God renews His promises to Abraham.

Unfortunately, in the very next chapter, Abraham fails again by taking matters into his own hands and having relations with his wife’s servant in order to produce an heir. This time, the consequence is more severe; instead of animal blood, it is his own blood that must be spilled, through the act of circumcision. God gives a very physical reminder of the covenant, and a warning against further sexual sin, to Abraham and to his entire household, who are supposed to follow the covenant as well.

Despite all the promises God has made, and the consequences Abraham has already received for his failure to trust in those promises, Abraham sins once again, by repeating his first failure and claiming Sarah is his sister again, this time to Abimelech, king of Gerar. In this case, Abraham really has no excuse. He is militarily powerful, and could easily destroy Gerar if the king tried to kill him. However, he fails to protect his wife and trust in God yet again. This time, God called Abraham to give up his only son, Isaac, whom God has promised will continue Abraham’s line.

God wanted Abraham to love Him by trusting in Him completely. Isaac was the most valuable thing to Abraham, more than animals or even his own flesh. By calling Abraham to sacrifice Isaac, God was calling him to give up everything he held dear, and trust that God would still provide for him. The sacrifice of Isaac was a test, not for God to know Abraham’s faith, but for Abraham to conquer his fear and finally trust completely in God’s plan for his life. This time, Abraham shows no doubt or fear; when questioned by Isaac about what the sacrifice would contain, he confidently tells him that “God will provide himself the lamb for a burnt offering” (Genesis 22:8). Abraham did not know how God would fulfill His promises if Isaac was dead, but he trusted that everything would still work out for good, and God rewarded his trust by giving his child back to him.

The story of Abraham and Isaac demonstrates that God is not cruel or sadistic, but He is just. Every loving parent knows that they must discipline their children if they want them to grow up to be good, happy, and healthy adults. This idea is repeated in the book of Proverbs: “He who spares the rod hates his son, but he who loves him is diligent to discipline him properly” (Proverbs 13:24 RSVCE). God, our loving Father, is the same way. He allows us to experience just punishment when we sin, but He does so in a way that helps us correct our flaws and avoid sin in the future. Like Abraham, we are called to a life of perfect love and trust in God, culminating in perfect union with Him in Heaven. Do not be discouraged by your weakness, for God uses every fall and failure to teach us to reject sin and rely on Him more closely!

I am praying for you all, and I hope you have a blessed week! If you have any questions, comments, or ideas for new posts, please let me know in the comments!