God's Instruction to Abraham to Sacrifice His Son

Abraham was instructed to take his son Isaac to a specific place and sacrifice Isaac in Genesis 22:1-2, which was a test of Faith in God. 

Note that Abraham had two sons, where the first was Ishmael with the handmade named Hagar by the request of Sarah, but Isaac was the son of Abraham and Sarah which came later and is the son of promises made by God.  Ishmael, was still blessed by God as read in Genesis 17:20

The testing is confirmed in Genesis 22:12, when God speaks to Abraham and positively tells Abraham that the test was a sign of obedience.  The word fear in modern-terms has taken on a different meaning where the connotation in Genesis 22:12 means reverence, respect and obedience to do what God commands.

Note that God, in all of the entirety of the Old and New Testament has never required or condone human sacrifice.  Notice that God provides Abraham sacrifice in a ram, Genesis 22:13 which is a male sheep, after passing the test where there are several important points for us to recognize:

The sacrifice by Abraham was a ram, which is a male sheep, which points to Jesus Christ, as one of the symbols throughout the multiple books and authors in the scriptures as Jesus Christ is the Lamb of God.  See John 1:29, Revelation 7:14 and many others.  There is also something about the event that is discussed more in this topic's next section that is an amazing aspect that also occurred!

Isaac was Considered Dead for Three Days

In the scriptural passage dealing with Abraham taking Isaac to the mountain to perform a sacrifice to the Lord, the period of time was three days between the Abraham being instructed to go and the sacrifice.

Consider these points:

1. Abraham does not tell anyone, including Isaac, what God has commanded him to do. 
2. At the moment that Abraham heard the command from God to take Isaac to Moriah, it took three days to get to the destination.  This should also remind us of the three days in the tomb of the earth that Jesus Christ spent.  (Note: Jesus Christ may have been dead for 3.5 days where there was the period of time in the tomb.)
3. For Abraham, in his mind, the thought had to be that if Isaac is going to die, then therefore Isaac is now dead to Abraham in a symbolic sense, which also had to be very grievous for Abraham. 
   (a) This is of course is a horrible thought, but many Biblical Scholars also believe from the language in the text that Abraham also trusted God that if Isaac was to die then God would have to raise him from the dead because of the promises God made to Abraham concerning the destiny of Isaac such as many nations coming out of him. 
   (b) Therefore, Abraham trusted God and was not worried which is also a lesson for us in Faith.
4. Notice the "only son" reference is used also in John 3:16, which matches Genesis 22:2's reference.
5. Many Biblical Scholars point to the language of the "the boy" to indicate that Isaac was very young.  Other Biblical Scholars state the translation is inferring that Abraham, because of his advanced age, considered Isaac a young lad. 
   (a) According to textual references derived, at this point of traveling with his father, Isaac was most likely 20 to 30 years of age. 
   (b) A very obvious point is notice in Genesis 22:6 that Isaac carried the ample amount of wood necessary for a fire and offering. 
   (c) This author believes from the research, that Isaac was most likely right at the threshold of the Age of Accountability, where there is no absolute scriptural age limit, which meant Isaac was innocent and if Isaac died then he would go to Heaven.  The parallel with Jesus Christ is our Savior was perfectly innocent.

Rhetorically, does God condone human sacrifice, and the obvious scriptural based answer is absolutely "No!".  We know that God spoke about the evils of Child Sacrifice in many scriptures, so God was using this event for many, many reasons.

In Genesis 6:8, Abraham responds to the question by Isaac on "where is the lamb for the burnt offering" and Abraham says, "God will provide for himself the lamb for the burnt offering...".  Notice the word "himself".   This is a "type" or foreshadowing of something in the future.

Notice that Abraham did not withhold his son, which is similar to what Paul wrote that God Romans 8:32

The Same Location

Notice that Abraham, was taking his son Isaac to have him sacrificed as a test of Faith by God, which God was not going to allow to happen, Abraham made a very important statement in Genesis 22:12-13.  Note that the scriptural passage, because of the translation connotation may lead the reader to think that Abraham's son was a boy, where he was actually around 30 years of age based on other scriptural passages including Isaac carrying the wood.  Notice that two phrases:
(a) "The Lord will provide"  which means that God will provide a substitute.
(b) "On the mount of the Lord it shall be provided", which means this location in the future.

There is more to the location that God sent Abraham and Isaac to perform the sacrifice ultimately of the Ram.  The location, as pointed out by some Biblical Scholars, is where the Crucifixion of Jesus Christ was held roughly two thousand years later. 

• The three-day journey most likely was around a fifty-mile journey according to many Biblical commentaries.
• We know from 2 Chronicles 3:1 that Mount Moriah was the future location of the Temple in Jerusalem.
• It is near the temple that the Crucifixion, on Mt Calvary, would take place that was outside of the Temple and City Wall.
• The Crucifixion was conducted at Golgotha, which in Aramaic means "The Place of the Skull".  See Matthew 27:33, Mark 15;22, John 19:17

The question can be asked, was it on the exact spot on Mount Moriah that Abraham built the fire for the Ram offering?  We will never know but no one can deny the amazing parallels and patterns that God uses, which this is one of an uncountable list.

What to read next?

Jesus Christ Died on the Cross on Wednesday, The Crucifixion Psalm,  Risen - 4 Gospels and is there a discrepancy on Easter? and Flood ends where the next day is the first day on the new earth and it is the same day as Christ's Resurrection.  What is Salvation?  Is it is possible to lose Salvation?  We have eternal life.  Evolution is not real.  When a Christian suffers is there benefits from it.  Rewards in heaven.  Do we Tithe?  What does the 3rd Commandment tell us?  What is Grace and Mercy?  Is there an Age of Accountability?  Is there a place of unending punishment and exile form God?