The faith and obedience of Abraham is proved in his readiness to sacrifice his son Isaac. He is stayed from the act by an angel. Former promises are renewed to him. His brother Nachor’s issue.
Isaac prefigured Christ and the sacrifice of God’s only son to come.
“Isaac is another type too (he can easily be taken in this other sense), this time of the Lord. He was a son, just as is the Son (he is the son of Abraham; Christ, of God). He was a victim, as was the Lord, but his sacrifice was not consummated, while the Lord’s was. All he did was to carry the wood of his sacrifice, just as the Lord bore the wood of the cross. Isaac rejoiced for a mystical reason, to prefigure the joy with which the Lord has filled us, in saving us from destruction through his blood.” (4) -St. Clement
Abraham showed his love for God through his actions and choices.
“’Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as justice,’ that which he knew at this moment is the time when Abraham received this testimony, and not the time when God also began to acquire this knowledge. By bringing his son as a holocaust, Abraham manifested the love that he had for God.” (4) -St. Hilary
Discussion: God tested Abraham in offering his son Isaac to him. In what way has God tested you?
God knows the way of the just, but the ways of sinners shall perish. (Psalm 1:6)
“We have heard enough on how God does not know the sinner, so we ought to consider now how the just man is known by him. God said to Abraham, ‘Leave your country, your kinsfolk.’ Abraham accordingly came into Palestine; he was in Abramiri; he sojourned a long time in Gerar. When his son Isaac was born, he had received the promise: ‘In your descendants all the nations of the earth shall be blessed.’ He took Isaac and offered him to God, and a voice from heaven was heard to say, Spare him. Straightway, at the very moment that he offered his son, what does God say to Abraham? ‘I know now that you fear the Lord, your God.’ Have you just now known Abraham, Lord, with whom you have communicated for such a long time? Because Abraham had such great faith in sacrificing his own son, on that account God first began to know him. Why have we said all this? Because it is written, ‘For the Lord knows the way of the just.’ Let us put it another way: The way, the life, and the truth is Christ; let us walk therefore in Christ, and then God the Father will know our way.” (4) -St. Jerome
“Many will say to me in that day: Lord, Lord, have not we prophesied in thy name, and cast out devils in thy name, and done many miracles in thy name? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, you that work iniquity.” (Matthew 7:22-23)
“But my people heard not my voice: and Israel hearkened not to me. So I let them go according to the desires of their heart: they shall walk in their own inventions.”(Psalm 81:11-12)
Discussion: God knows the just and sinners he does not know – as they have departed from him. How can we be careful to walk with the Lord and take time to hear him?
“This is a serious warning cry: Surrender without reservation to the Lord who has called us. This is required of us so that the face of the earth may be renewed.”
-St. Edith Stein
“The most deadly poison of our times is indifference. And this happens, although the praise of God should know no limits. Let us strive, therefore, to praise him to the greatest extent of our powers.”
- St. Maximilian Kolbe
“Jesus loves hidden souls. A hidden flower is the most fragrant. I must strive to make the interior of my soul a resting place for the Heart of Jesus.”
-St. Maria Faustina Kowalska
Women's Prayer Group In Christ 