The Bible in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz) - Day 11: The Sacrifice of Isaac (2025)
Episode Date: January 11, 2025Fr. Mike explains the significance behind the sacrifice of Isaac, and why God chose to test Abraham as he reads Genesis 22-23, Job 11-12, and Proverbs 2:9-15. For the complete reading plan, visit asce...nsionpress.com/bibleinayear. Please note: The Bible contains adult themes that may not be suitable for children - parental discretion is advised.
Transcript
Discussion (0)
Hi, I'm Father Mike Schmitz and you're listening to the Bible In A Year podcast, where we encounter
God's Word and live life through the lens of scripture.
The Bible In A Year podcast is brought to you by Ascension.
Using the Great Adventure Bible timeline, we'll read all the way from Genesis to Revelation,
discovering how the story of salvation unfolds and how we fit into that story today.
This is day 11, So let's get started.
Let's keep on moving. We're not started. We're cruising right now. Day 11. We're going to be
reading from Genesis chapter 22 and 23. Very famous story, but so, so powerful and so important
for us as Christians. Genesis 22 and 23. We're also going to continue our walk with our friend
Job chapter 11 and 12. And we'll also be reading from Proverbs chapter 2 verses 9 and 15.
As always, I am reading from the Revised Standard Version Catholic edition of the Bible.
I'm using the Great Adventure Bible from Ascension and the reading plan that we're using is accessible
to you if you want.
You can go to ascensionpress.com slash Bible in a year.
Again, that's ascensionpress.com slash Bible in a year.
You can also subscribe to
this podcast by clicking subscribe and you can also sign up for our email list by texting the
word Catholic Bible to the number 33777. Again, that's Catholic Bible to 33777. As I said,
today we're kicking off by looking at this and journeying with Abraham in his greatest test of his life. He's been tested so
many times in his life, called by God to be faithful and today we have the one of
the greatest tests and one of the most iconic tests that is going to echo not
just in his life but is going to echo down the generations even to our lives today. So, we begin. Genesis chapter 22 and 23.
After these things, God tested Abraham and said to him,
Abraham, and he said, Here am I. He said,
Take your son, your only begotten son Isaac, whom you love, and go
to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering upon one of the mountains
of which I shall tell you.'
So Abraham rose early in the morning, saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men
with him, and his son Isaac, and he cut the wood for the burnt offering, and arose, and
went to the place of which God had told him.
On the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes and saw the place afar off.
Then Abraham said to his young men, Stay here with the donkey.
I and the lad will go yonder and worship
and come again to you.
And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering
and laid it on Isaac his son
and took in his hand the fire and the knife.
So they went both of them together.
And Isaac said to his father Abraham,
my father, and he said, here am I, my son.
He said, behold the fire and the wood,
but where is the lamb for
a burnt offering? Abraham said, God will provide himself the lamb for a burnt offering, my
son. So they went both of them together. When they came to the place of which Gata told
him, Abraham built an altar there, and laid the wood in order, and bound Isaac his son,
and laid him on the altar upon the wood. Then Abraham put forth his hand and took the knife to slay his son.
But the angel of the Lord called to him from heaven and said, Abraham, Abraham.
And he said, here am I.
He said, do not lay your hand on the lad or do anything to him, for now I know that you fear God,
seeing that you have not withheld your son, your only begotten son, from me.
And Abraham lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, behind him was a ram, caught in
a thicket by his horns.
And Abraham went and took the ram, and offered it up as a burnt offering instead of his son.
So Abraham called the name of that place, the Lord will provide.
As it is said to this day, on the mount of the Lord it shall be provided.
And the angel of the Lord called Abraham a second time from heaven and said,
By myself I have sworn, says the Lord, because you have done this, and have not withheld your son, your only begotten son, I will indeed bless you,
and I will multiply your descendants as the stars of heaven and as the sand which is on the seashore,
and your descendants shall possess
the gates of their enemies, and by your descendants shall all the nations of the earth bless themselves,
because you have obeyed my voice."
So Abraham returned to his young men, and they arose and went together to Beersheba,
and Abraham dwelt at Beersheba.
After these things, it was told Abraham, Behold, Milka also has born children to your
brother Nehor.
Uz the firstborn, Buuz his brother, Kimul the father of Aram, Chesed, Hadzo, Pildash,
Jidlaf and Bethuel.
Bethuel became the father of Rebekah.
These eight Milka bore to Nehor Abraham's brother, moreover his concubine, whose name was Riumah,
Bor-tiba, Gaham, Tahash, and Maaka. Sarah lived a hundred and twenty-seven years,
these were the years of the life of Sarah. And Sarah died, Ekerath-arba, that is, Hebron,
in the land of Canaan. And Abraham went in to mourn for Sarah and to weep for her, and Abraham rose up from before his dead and said to the Hittites,
I am a stranger and a sojourner among you. Give me property among you for a burying place, that I may bury my dead out of my sight.
The Hittites answered Abraham, hear us my lord, you are a mighty prince among us. Bury your dead in the choicest of our sepulchres.
None of us will withhold from you this sepulcher or
hinder you from burying your dead.
Abraham rose and bowed to the Hittites, the people of the land.
And he said to them, if you are willing that I should bury my dead out of my sight,
hear me, and entreat for me Ephron the son of Zohar, that he may give me the cave of
Machpala which he owns, which is at the end of his
field.
For the full price let him give it to me in your presence as a possession for a burying
place.
Now Ephron was sitting among the Hittites, and Ephron the Hittite answered Abraham in
the hearing of the Hittites of all who went in at the gate of his city.
No, my lord, hear me.
I give you the field, and I give you the cave that is in it.
In the presence of the sons of my people, I give it the field and I give you the cave that is in it in the presence of the sons of my people
I give it to you bury your dead
Then Abraham bowed down before the people of the land and he said to Ephron in the hearing of the people in the land
But if you will hear me, I will give the price of the field accept it from me that I may bury my dead there
Ephron answered Abraham,
"'My lord, listen to me.
"'A piece of land worth four hundred shekels of silver,
"'what is that between you and me?
"'Bury your dead.'
Abraham agreed with Ephron,
and Abraham weighed out for Ephron
the silver which he had named
in the hearing of the Hittites
four hundred shekels of silver
according to the weights current among the merchants.
So in the field of Ephron, in Machpala, which is to the east of Mamre, the field with a
cave which was in it, and all the trees that were in the field throughout its whole area
was made over to Abraham as a possession in the presence of the Hittites, before all who
went in at the gate of his city.
After this, Abraham buried Sarah his wife
in the cave of the field of Machpelah,
east of Mamre, that is Hebron, in the land of Canaan.
The field and the cave that is in it
were made over to Abraham as a possession
for a burying place by the Hittites.
Job chapter 11 and 12. Then Zophar the Namathite answered, Should
a multitude of words go unanswered, and a man full of talk be vindicated?
Should your babble silence men, and when you mock, shall no one shame you?
For you say, My doctrine is pure, and I am clean in God's eyes.
But oh, that God would speak and open his lip to you, and that he would tell you of the secrets of wisdom, for he is manifold
in understanding.
Know, then, that God exacts of you less than your guilt deserves.
Can you find out the deep things of God?
Can you find out the limit of the Almighty?
It is higher than heaven.
What can you do?
Deeper than Sheol, what can you know?
Its measure is longer than the earth and broader than the sea.
If he passes through and imprisons and calls to judgment, who can hinder him?
For he knows worthless men.
When he sees iniquity, will he not consider it?
But a stupid man will get understanding when a wild donkey's colt is born a man.
If you set your heart aright, you will stretch out your hands towards him.
If iniquity is in your hand, put it far away,
and let not wickedness dwell in your tents.
Surely then you will lift up your face without blemish,
you will be secure and will not fear,
you will forget your misery,
you'll remember it is as waters that have passed away,
and your life will be brighter than noonday,
its darkness will be like the morning, and you will have confidence, because there is hope.
You will be protected and take your rest in safety.
You will lie down, and none will make you afraid.
Many will entreat your favor, but the eyes of the wicked will fail.
All way of escape will be lost to them, and their hope is to breathe their last.
Then Job answered, No doubt you are the people, and wisdom will die with you.
But I have understanding as well as you. I am not inferior to you.
Who does not know such things as these? I am a laughing stock to my friends.
I who called upon God and He answered me, a just and blameless man,
am a laughing stock.
In the thought of one who is at ease, there is contempt for misfortune.
It is ready for those whose feet slip.
The tents of the robbers are at peace.
Those who provoke God are secure, who bring their God in their hand.
But ask the beasts, and they will teach you, the birds of the air, and they will tell you,
or the plants of the earth, and they will teach you, the birds of the air and they will tell you, or the plants of the earth and they will teach you, and the fish of the sea will declare to you,
who among all does not know that the hand of the Lord has done this?
In his hand is the life of every living thing and the breath of all mankind.
Does not the ear try words as the palate tastes food?
Wisdom is with the aged, and understanding in length of days.
With God our wisdom and might. He has counsel
and understanding. If he tears down, none can rebuild. If he shuts a man in, none can open.
If he withholds the waters, they dry up. If he sends them out, they overwhelm the land.
With him our strength and wisdom. The deceived and the deceiver are his. He leads counselors away stripped,
and judges he makes fools.
He looses the bonds of kings
and binds the waist cloth on their loins.
He leads priests away stripped and overthrows the mighty.
He deprives of speech those who are trusted
and takes away the discernment of the elders.
He pours contempt on princes
and looses the belt of the strong.
He uncovers the deeps out of darkness and brings deep darkness to light. He makes nations
great and he destroys them. He enlarges nations and he leads them away. He takes away understanding
from the chiefs of the people of the earth and makes them wander in a pathless waste.
They grow up in the darkness without light. And he makes them stagger like a drunken man.
Proverbs chapter 2 verses 9 through 15
Then you will understand righteousness and justice and equity, every good path.
For wisdom will come into your heart and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul.
Discretion will watch over you, understanding will guard you, delivering you from the way
of evil, from men of perverted speech who forsake the paths of uprightness, to walk
in the ways of darkness, who rejoice in doing evil and delight in the perverseness of evil,
men whose paths are crooked and who are devious in their ways.
Father in heaven, we glorify you and praise your name. We thank you so much for your word.
We ask that you please enlighten our minds with your truth
and enliven our hearts with your love.
In Jesus name we pray, amen.
In the name of the Father, and of the Son,
and of the Holy Spirit, amen.
Okay, wow.
So that reading from Genesis is pretty phenomenal, but in so
many ways we can hear this reading and like so many other readings of
Scripture where we might not get it on the surface, we don't get like what is
God trying to reveal to us, we think like this is just crazy. I hope God never asks
me of that. I hope God never asks me to give him
the thing I love the most.
Because sometimes we look at this
as some arbitrary story.
Remember this, Abraham is over,
well over 100 years old at this point.
So Abraham has been walking with the Lord for so, so long.
This is not God springs on Abraham,
this offering of a sacrifice.
In fact, at the heart of everything in this reading
is the fact that we talked about this yesterday,
that Abraham is the father of faith.
And here is the moment where he not just demonstrates,
I would say he reveals the depth of his faith.
It is a profound trust in God.
Abraham is not under the impression that God is going to take away his son,
Isaac. That this story will end with Isaac's destruction. How do we know this? We know this
for so many ways. One is the very text itself. What happens is they have the two young men who
accompany Abraham and Isaac. And it says to the two young men
We're gonna go up to that mountain and we're gonna both come back to you. I mean he says it
He says we're both coming back to you
Abraham it says in the letter to the Hebrews
He knew that even if he were to sacrifice his son that God had the power
God who has the power of life and death to bring back even from the grave his own son
This is Abraham's deep and profound trust
in the father and
Yet we asked the question. Well, why would God do this though?
What what's the whole point of this story?
Because this this point of the story is not I don't think it's just simply for Abraham and for Isaac
I think that point of the story is it sets up the
Context for everything about the spiritual life. That's how that's how deep and profound this story is. It sets up the context for virtually
everything in the spiritual life.
Because this is not merely a story about
the father who's willing to sacrifice his son. This is the story of a father and a son team.
This is so important for us. You know art will sometimes depict this image, you know, the image of the story of a father and a son team. This is so important for us. You know, art will
sometimes depict this image, you know, the image of the sacrifice of Isaac or the binding of Isaac.
And it has Abraham, the old man who has bound up his son Isaac, who is like struggling and who is
like a child. And yet this is Abraham and Isaac working together. How do we know this? Because
we know that Isaac is not a child. We know he's a child compared to the hundred-plus
year old Abraham, but Isaac is not a child who was overpowered by his father.
In fact, if anything, Isaac is the one who's stronger in this story. Why? Well,
they go up the mountain. They go up the hill, right? Amoriah.
And it says that Abraham laid the wood for the altar, the wood for the sacrifice, on the back of his son.
Now, if his son is like a seven-year-old kid, he could not possibly carry enough firewood
that would actually be able to be a holocaust, right?
A burnt offering of an entire human being up the mountain.
Isaac is in his, in fact, the tradition is that Isaac
is in his 30s, maybe even 33 years old.
Think about that for a second.
Isaac is stronger than his father Abraham
in this time in their lives.
And so Isaac carrying up the wood demonstrates
that he could overpower his father,
that he submitted to his father
Binding him and he laid down willingly and this is what what is this teaching us? This is setting the stage for
the eternal father with his only beloved only begotten son whom he loves in
that sacrifice of the son and of the Father on Calvary.
This is unmistakably a preparation for Christ's sacrifice.
I mean, even think, what do the words say? Take your only Son, your only begotten Son, whom you love.
With John chapter three verse 16 say,
for God so loved the world that he gave his only beloved
son.
This story of Abraham and Isaac is not just about Abraham and Isaac, it is a revelation
of how the Father in heaven and the Son of God cooperate with each other in bringing
about salvation.
This deep and profound trust all the way to the point of death.
Here is Abraham or Isaac, the son walking up with the wood of the sacrifice on his back of Mount Moriah,
which is right outside of Jerusalem.
You have Jesus, the son walking up with the wood of the cross on his back up on Mount Moriah,
right outside of Jerusalem.
Calvary and Moriah are part of the same mountain range right outside of the city of Jerusalem.
What you have here is this deep and profound cooperation.
And this is what we cannot miss.
This is why this story of Abraham and Isaac is about us.
Not because God is going to ask you to sacrifice everyone and everything you love.
That's not the point.
The point is trust.
That is the number one word.
Abraham is the father in faith.
Why?
Because when it came down to it, he was willing to trust God.
But it wasn't just him alone. It was the father and the son, Isaac,
trusting each other.
And this is why this is so important for us to get this into our hearts.
God is not your enemy.
This is what Job was wrestling with. Is God my enemy?
Does God care?
But the deep and profound expression of our faith as Christians, we realize, we know that this is true. what Joe was wrestling with. Is God my enemy? Does God care?
But the deep and profound expression of our faith as Christians, we realize, we know that this is true,
that even the only begotten Son of God,
Jesus Christ our Lord,
on the night before he was to be crucified,
he had said, Father, let this cup pass for me,
yet not my will, but yours be done.
He was able to call out to his father
and say, I don't want this to happen and
At the same time in the same breath he was able to say but I trust you and I will be done
And that's what we're called to do man today. Gosh you guys we're just started
We just started this journey through the Bible and it has been a trip so far. Oh my gosh
I hope that this is a blessing to you
I know it has been a blessing to me walking with you these days.
And also I want you to know that I have been praying for you these days and
please keep me in your prayers. Keep each other in your prayers.
This is a large community of people who are,
who are walking through the scriptures with each other.
So please keep each other with your prayers. You have any prayer intentions?
Just, you know,
lift those up and know that the people who are listening with you also have
prayer intentions. We struggle to trust the Lord. We struggle to walk with him
We struggle when we're in the position of our friend Job
And we also struggle when we're being asked to cooperate and trust the Father in the midst of what looks like the end
But we know cannot be the end because he is too good to let the end be simply destruction
He's too good. That's why this is not the end of the book.
This is the beginning of the book.
My name is Father Mike Schmitz,
and I am so honored to be able to walk with you
through the scriptures.
And I cannot wait to walk with you some more.
I'll keep praying for you today,
and we'll walk further into scripture tomorrow.
God bless.