This question, of course, is in reference to what the Lord told Abraham to do in Genesis 22:1-19. It is amazing to realize that when the Lord told Abraham that he would have a son in his old age, that Abraham questioned the Lord. We read in Genesis 17:17, “Then Abraham fell upon his face, and laughed, and said in his heart, Shall a child be born unto him that is an hundred years old? and shall Sarah, that is ninety years old, bear?” Yet, when the Lord told Abraham to offer that son, Isaac, to him, Abraham neither hesitated nor questioned. We read in Genesis 22:2-3, “And (God) said, Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of. And ABRAHAM ROSE UP EARLY IN THE MORNING, and saddled his ass, and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son, and clave the wood for the burnt offering, and rose up, and went unto the place of which God had told him.”

Did the Lord really intend for Abraham to kill his son, Isaac? NO. Did Abraham realize that? NO. We understand from the Word that Abraham fully intended to sacrifice his son as the Lord commanded. Let’s read Hebrews 11:17-19, “By faith Abraham, when he was tried, offered up Isaac: and he that had received the promises offered up his only begotten son, Of whom it was said, That in Isaac shall thy seed be called: ACCOUNTING THAT GOD WAS ABLE TO RAISE HIM UP, even from the dead; from whence also he received him in a figure.” Knowing that the promise of God to Abraham would be realized through Isaac, his seed, Abraham trusted that the Lord would raise Isaac from the dead after he slew him.

The testing of Abraham in Genesis 22 is a unique event in the scriptures. Of course, the Lord was tempting, or trying Abraham as we read in Genesis 22:1, “And it came to pass after these things, that God did tempt Abraham…” We later read where the Lord said to him in verse 12, “And he said, Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou any thing unto him: FOR NOW I KNOW that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son from me.”

Would I kill my son if the Lord told me to? I can answer that question by stating without hesitation that THE LORD WOULD NEVER TELL ME TO KILL MY SON, neither would He ever tell someone to kill someone else in that type of situation. How do I know this? For the Lord to tell me to kill my son would be contrary to His Word. The Lord tells us in Exodus 20:13, “You shall not murder.” (NKJV) God never contradicts Himself, so He would not tell someone to murder someone else.

Questions like this are normally asked to confuse or confound people of faith. If you were to answer that you would not kill your son, then your faith in the Lord would be called into question. In Matthew 22, the Sadducees asked the Lord a hypothetical question. If a woman married a man, but he died before they had a child, then according to the law, she should marry his brother and have a child. If this happened and the woman married seven brothers without ever having a child, whose wife would she be in the resurrection. The Lord’s answer in Matthew 22:29 was perfect. “Ye do err, not knowing the scriptures, nor the power of God.” Theirs was not a logical question. They did not know the scriptures, neither did they know the Lord and His power. Some have asked the question, “Can the Lord create a rock too heavy for Him to pick up?” Again, the question is not logical, neither is it profitable.

In closing, let me point out that God did indeed kill His Son. We read prophetically of the Lord Jesus speaking to His Father in Psalms 88:6-8, “Thou hast laid me in the lowest pit, in darkness, in the deeps. Thy wrath lieth hard upon me, and thou hast afflicted me with all thy waves. Selah. Thou hast put away mine acquaintance far from me; thou hast made me an abomination unto them: I am shut up, and I cannot come forth.” Indeed, Christ died for our sins that through faith in Him, we might have forgiveness of sins, eternal life, and become the sons and daughters of God. Thank God for the death, burial, and resurrection of His own Son, Jesus. (295.2)