Readings for Lent and Easter
22 After a period of time, God decided to put Abraham to the test.
Eternal One: Abraham!
Abraham: I am right here.
Eternal One: 2 Take your son, your only son Isaac whom I know you love deeply, and go to the land of Moriah. When you get there, I want you to offer Isaac to Me as a burnt offering on one of the mountains. I will show you which one.
3 Abraham did as he was told. Early in the morning he got up, saddled his donkey, and taking two of his trusted servants with him and his son Isaac, he cut the wood for the burnt offering and traveled to the place God had told him about. 4 On the third day of the journey, Abraham looked up and saw the place far in the distance.
Abraham leaves Beersheba as he left Haran many years earlier. God calls and he leaves. It is as simple as that. No map. No directions. Just an unwavering trust that God will lead him where he needs to go. Mount Moriah becomes one of the most important places in all of the promised land, the one place in the world set apart for the worship of the one True God. According to 2 Chronicles 3:1, Solomon builds his temple on Mount Moriah in Jerusalem, not far from where God tests Abraham.
Abraham (to his servants): 5 Stay here with the donkey. The boy and I will go over there. We will worship, and then we will come back to meet you here.
6 Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and set it on the shoulders of his son Isaac to carry. Abraham himself carried the fire and the knife. The two of them walked on together.
Isaac (to Abraham): 7 Father!
Abraham: I am right here, Son.
Isaac: Look, we have the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?
Abraham: 8 God will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.
The two of them continued to walk on together.
9 When they finally arrived at the place God had shown him, Abraham took some stones and built an altar there and arranged the wood carefully on top of it. Then he bound up his son Isaac with rope and laid him on the altar on top of the stack of wood. 10 Just as Abraham reached over to grab the knife that would kill his son, 11 the special messenger of the Eternal One called his name from heaven.
Special Messenger: Abraham! Abraham!
Abraham: I am right here!
Special Messenger: 12 Don’t lay your hand on the boy or do anything to harm him. I know now that you respect the one True God and will be loyal to Him and follow His commands, because you were willing to give up your son, your only son, to Me.
13 Abraham glanced up and saw a ram behind him with its horns caught in the thicket. He went over, dislodged the ram, and offered it up as a burnt offering in the place of his son. 14 From that day forward, Abraham called that place, “The Eternal One will provide.” Because of this, people still today say, “On the Mount of the Eternal, all will be provided.”
The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.