Obedience Before Understanding
So Abraham rose early in the morning and saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son; and he split the wood for the burnt offering, and arose and went to the place of which God had told him.
In yesterday’s post, we saw that Abraham received a command from God to sacrifice Isaac, his only son from his wife Sarah. Abraham’s reaction to this command may at first seem surprising to most of us—especially given the unique circumstances of Isaac’s conception and birth. Seemingly without any protest or questioning, Abraham immediately begins to comply with God’s command to offer Isaac as a burnt offering.
Abraham had already experienced a painful ordeal as a result of deviating from God’s instructions: jealousy between Sarah and Hagar and eventually having to send Hagar and his first son away into the wilderness. Now, regardless of how terrible the instructions seemed, Abraham obeyed—even though he likely had no idea why God was asking this of him.
Abraham obeyed because he had faith that God knew what He was doing and that God would provide Him with understanding in time. He had faith that God could resurrect Isaac from the dead (Hebrews 11:19). The main lesson for us is that we must obey God—even if we may not fully understand the why of everything He commands His people to do. The Bible teaches that “a good understanding have all those who do His commandments” (Psalm 111:10).
We gain understanding through obedience.
To learn more about what God requires of you today, read our articles on “The 10 Commandments.”
Tomorrow on the Daily Bible Verse Blog: “Who Could Stand?”
