"Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering." The test comes without warning. No explanation. No promise that it's just a test. God asks Abraham to sacrifice the son he waited twenty-five years for—the son through whom all the promises run. "Your only son." Isaac is not Abraham's only biological son; Ishmael is alive. But Isaac is the only son of promise. This is the most severe test in Scripture. Everything Abraham has hoped for is placed on an altar.

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