The Meaning of Faith (Part 2): Offering Isaac

Quick Overview

This article examines faith after the promise has been received. Using Genesis 22, it explains that God calls people for His purpose, not their talent, and often requires them to surrender what they value most. Abraham’s willingness to offer Isaac is viewed as an act of returning the “firstfruits” to God. The author shows how faith involves trusting the Giver more than the gift and dedicating every blessing to His service. Believers are urged to honour the Lord with their possessions and rely on the Holy Spirit’s anointing to fulfil His call.

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“Take your son,” He said, “your only son Isaac, whom you love, go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains I will tell you about.” Genesis 22:1–4

This might be one of the most controversial statements of God found in Scripture. In this passage, we not only get a visible representation, prefiguring how God would later give us His son as a worthy sacrifice. We see a demonstration of Abraham’s faith, not just in waiting, but in receiving, offering a compelling model of the posture believers are called to have after receiving the fulfillment of God's promise.

The Anointing of the Holy Spirit

To understand this, we first have to consider the ‘pattern’ God uses when calling us to be His servants. This is where the word ‘anointing’ becomes relevant. The Greek verb that is generally used in the Bible to describe this act is χρίω (e.g. 2 Cor 1:21). This is translated by the BDAG lexicon as “…an anointing by God setting a pers[on] apart for special service under divine direction…” The corresponding noun χρῖσμα is “…taken to mean anointing w[ith] the Holy Spirit…” according to the same source. The same pattern is visible in the Old Testament when we see how when someone is being anointed, they are being set apart for divine service; this goes hand in hand with the reception of the Holy Spirit (e.g. 1 Sam 16:13; Isaiah 61:1). Where this was once reserved for kings, priests, and other spiritual leaders, Pentecost marked the moment when all followers of Christ were invited into special service under divine direction. Another aspect of this ‘pattern’ worth pointing out in this study is that God generally does not call us based on our talents or other obvious reasons. Rather, He typically chooses the one least likely to be chosen. He chose Moses to speak to the Israelites even though he was known to be a bad public speaker, at least according to Moses himself [Exod 4:10], He chose David to be king while he was considered the least among his brothers [1 Sam 16:11–13], Jesus chose fishermen for His disciples [Matt 4:18–22; Mark 1:16–20], and even the Savior of the world started His life on earth in the humble position of a carpenter’s son [Matt 13:55; Mark 6:3]. The main reason for this is that a talent is naturally bound, and an anointing is supernaturally bound.

Trusting the Source

Don’t collect for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal. But collect for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves don’t break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. Matthew 6:19–21

Repeatedly in Scripture, we are told to lean on God, rather than the things we can grasp. In fact, the violation of this is what caused the first sin [Gen 3]. Another example is what we see in the book of Job. The satan pointed out to God that Job’s faith in God was merely based on the possessions God had blessed him with. For this reason, he dared God to “…strike everything he owns, and he will surely curse You to Your face” [Job 1:11]. In both these cases, the enemy used their earthly riches as a tool for his deception. In the case of Adam and Eve, he caused them to direct their focus to earthly riches, and with Job, he believed his eyes were already on his earthly riches and therefore chose to attack those. Why? Because this is all he can touch. The enemy’s access is limited to the treasures we keep on earth. As Matthew 6 points out, he cannot diminish God’s power or rob you of your heavenly riches. He cannot cut you off from God’s hope, peace, love, and joy, and he cannot undo the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross. However, he can redirect your focus from it, causing you to build on the blessing, rather than the Blesser.

So we do not focus on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. 2 Corinthians 4:18

So how does this play out with regard to our anointing? If God’s calling on your life as a worship singer and leader is based on your musical talent and amazing voice, temporarily losing your voice would jeopardize the anointing. If education is what drives your calling as a pastor or teacher, the enemy can attack your studies. However, if we consider that we were chosen because of God’s capabilities and not ours, we will realize that if God has called you to worship, you will be used by Him to worship; If God has called you to teach, you will teach whether or not you will finish a formal education. Your qualities never produced the anointing, so they will not harm it either. Abraham was called to be a father of many, even though he and his wife were not able to have children; Paul was chosen to be one of the most influential apostles and teachers of all time, in spite of the fact that he was a persecutor of Christians. An anointing is supernaturally bound and will not be compromised by anything on earth.

Against our Expectations

But everything that was a gain to me, I have considered to be a loss because of Christ. More than that, I also consider everything to be a loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. Because of Him I have suffered the loss of all things and consider them filth, so that I may gain Christ. Philippians 3:7–8

The reason I mentioned earlier that “…God generally does not call us based on our talents…” is because sometimes He does exactly that. However, not in the way we would expect. One of the best examples might be Paul. Paul, a persecutor of Christians, became a teacher of the Gospel and an apostle of Christ, appointed by Christ Himself; as mentioned earlier, this was against all odds. However, one of the reasons Paul was the perfect candidate was his history. Paul was a man who was highly educated “…according to the strict view of our patriarchal law” [Acts 22:3]. This is what he tells the Galatians: “I advanced in Judaism beyond many contemporaries among my people, because I was extremely zealous for the traditions of my ancestors” [Gal 1:14]. This made him able to show in his letters how Christ was prefigured in the Old Testament law and prophesied by the prophets. In spite of this legacy, he considers “…everything to be a loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus.” He knew that his knowledge and education were not what called him to this purpose; it was Christ who put him in this position, regardless of his past life. His knowledge gave him the intellectual background he needed to do the thing God had called him to do; the fact that he was called in the first place is what glorified God. Through Paul, God demonstrated that He is not bound by or limited to our expectations.

The First Fruits of the Promise

"Speak to the Israelites and tell them: When you enter the land I am giving you and reap its harvest, you are to bring the first sheaf of your harvest to the priest." Leviticus 23:10

So what does this have to do with Isaac? If we take a quick look at the Old Testament law, we see that the Israelites were commanded to offer God the ‘first fruits’ or their harvest once they had entered the promised land (e.g. Deut 18:4). It was a reminder that God was the source of their prosperity, not the land He had given them. Isaac was the first fruit of Abraham’s harvest. Just as the Israelites were promised a fruitful land (e.g. Exod 3:8), Abraham was promised to be fruitful and have many descendants. Abraham needed to remember that Isaac was not the source of the promise; God was. He trusted in the Giver, rather than the gift. Contrary to the free gift of salvation, an anointing will cost you everything. God’s blessings are often manifested in the material, but do not rely on it. Faith is being willing to sacrifice the things we thought were important. We will enjoy the promise as long as we understand who the source is and are willing to dedicate the gift to Him. By doing this, we give God our first fruits and guard ourselves from the attacks of the adversary.

"Honor the Lord with your possessions and with the first produce of your entire harvest; then your barns will be completely filled, and your vats will overflow with new wine." Proverbs 3:9–10

To dive deeper into the concept of anointing, also read "The Anointing of the Holy Spirit."

Bible translation: The Holy Bible: Holman Christian Standard Version. (Nashville: Holman Bible Publishers, 2009).