Genesis 22:15–19

Then the Angel of the LORD called to Abraham a second time out of heaven, and said: “By Myself I have sworn, says the LORD, because you have done this thing, and have not withheld your son, your only son— blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply your descendants as the stars of the heaven and as the sand which is on the seashore; and your descendants shall possess the gate of their enemies. In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice.” So Abraham returned to his young men, and they rose and went together to Beersheba; and Abraham dwelt at Beersheba.

Abraham has passed the test. The LORD Himself declares this to be the ultimate act of faith. The whole Bible declares this to be the ultimate act of faith. But why? Sure, what Abraham did was impressive, but why does this make him the father of faith? Why is this act of faith so special?

Because it’s the opposite of what he did with Hagar. That time, Abraham tried to help God keep His promise. That was totally faithless. If the LORD is God, He can keep His own promises.

But on Mount Moriah, Abraham was ready to do something that would, without divine intervention, destroy the promise. That was just as totally faithful. This time, God’s promise will be kept only if God keeps it.

And Abraham didn’t know what was going to happen next. Sure, we know from Hebrews 11:19 that he knew that God was able even to raise him from the dead—God is able to do lots of things—but Abraham didn’t know what He was going to do.

In other words, Abraham didn’t have a hand-hold. He had nothing to cling to. He had to let go of all expectation and all understanding. God said, “Trust me,” in a situation where the normal response is, “No way! This is nuts!”

But this wasn’t just anyone saying, “Trust me.” It was the LORD himself, and if He is who He says He is, the normal response doesn’t apply. So Abraham let go of everything rational and did what God told him to do.

That’s faith, baby.

You don’t really know that parachutes work until you’ve jumped out of an airplane. That’s how faith works—and how it grows though practice.

But you have to jump, and it takes a lot of faith to jump in the first place. How are we to get the faith to jump before we’ve actually jumped?

That’s the miracle of the action of the Holy Spirit. The faithless discover faith. The dead come to life.

But then comes the jump. Chicken out and your faith stays stuck at the beginner stage.

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These weekday DEEPs are written by Mike Slay. Saturdays' by Matt Richardson. Subscribe here: https://www.ailbe.org/resources/community

The weekly study guides, which include questions for discussion or meditation, are here: https://www.ailbe.org/resources/itemlist/category/91-deep-studies

Except as indicated, Scripture taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. ESV stands for the English Standard Version. © Copyright 2001 by Crossway. Used by permission. All rights reserved. NIV stands for The Holy Bible, New International Version®. © Copyright 1973 by International Bible Society. Used by permission. All rights reserved. NASB stands for the New American Standard Bible. Used by permission. All rights reserved. KJV stands for the King James Version.