Wednesday, July 16, 2025

A long slow walk…

We need to remember all that happened to Abraham and Sarah in the years between Genesis 12:1 and 22:2, the first time and the last time that “God spoke to Abraham.” For a great many years, this aging man with a barren wife lived on a promise. God appeared, withdrew, appeared again, withdrew again. Sarah could only laugh at the absurdity of it all, and no wonder. But as Paul says, in spite of these trials Abraham went on hoping against hope because of the God in whom he believed. So we have before us a man who has been living with radical trust for a very long time. His response to God’s appearance in chapter 22 speaks volumes: “After these things God tested Abraham, and said to him, ‘Abraham!’ And he said, ‘Here am I.’ He said, ‘Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and . . . offer him . . . as a burnt offering upon one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.’ So Abraham rose early in the morning” (22:1-3).—Fleming Rutledge, The Crucifixion, 263 (emphasis original)

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