創世記22:1-19

22:1 這些事以後，上帝要試驗亞伯拉罕，就呼叫他說：「亞伯拉罕！」他說：「我在這裡。」
22:2 上帝說：「你帶著你的兒子，就是你獨生的兒子，你所愛的以撒，往摩利亞地去，在我所要指示你的山上，把他獻為燔祭。」
22:3 亞伯拉罕清早起來，備上驢，帶著兩個僕人和他兒子以撒，也劈好了燔祭的柴，就起身往上帝所指示他的地方去了。
22:4 到了第三日，亞伯拉罕舉目遠遠地看見那地方。
22:5 亞伯拉罕對他的僕人說：「你們和驢在此等候，我與童子往那裡去拜一拜，就回到你們這裡來。」
22:6 亞伯拉罕把燔祭的柴放在他兒子以撒身上，自己手裡拿著火與刀；於是二人同行。
22:7 以撒對他父親亞伯拉罕說：「父親哪！」亞伯拉罕說：「我兒，我在這裡。」以撒說：「請看，火與柴都有了，但燔祭的羊羔在哪裡呢？」
22:8 亞伯拉罕說：「我兒，上帝必自己預備作燔祭的羊羔。」於是二人同行。
22:9 他們到了上帝所指示的地方，亞伯拉罕在那裡築壇，把柴擺好，捆綁他的兒子以撒，放在壇的柴上。
22:10 亞伯拉罕就伸手拿刀，要殺他的兒子。
22:11 耶和華的使者從天上呼叫他說：「亞伯拉罕！亞伯拉罕！」他說：「我在這裡。」
22:12 天使說：「你不可在這童子身上下手。一點不可害他！現在我知道你是敬畏上帝的了；因為你沒有將你的兒子，就是你獨生的兒子，留下不給我。」
22:13 亞伯拉罕舉目觀看，不料，有一隻公羊，兩角扣在稠密的小樹中。亞伯拉罕就取了那隻公羊來，獻為燔祭，代替他的兒子。
22:14 亞伯拉罕給那地方起名叫「耶和華以勒」（就是耶和華必預備的意思），直到今日人還說：「在耶和華的山上必有預備。」
22:15 耶和華的使者第二次從天上呼叫亞伯拉罕說：
22:16 「耶和華說：『你既行了這事，不留下你的兒子，就是你獨生的兒子，我便指著自己起誓說：
22:17 論福，我必賜大福給你；論子孫，我必叫你的子孫多起來，如同天上的星，海邊的沙。你子孫必得著仇敵的城門，
22:18 並且地上萬國都必因你的後裔得福，因為你聽從了我的話。』」
22:19 於是亞伯拉罕回到他僕人那裡，他們一同起身往別是巴去，亞伯拉罕就住在別是巴。

Some time later God tested Abraham. He said to him, “Abraham!”

“Here I am,” he replied.
² Then God said, “Take your son, your only son, whom you love—Isaac—and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on a mountain I will show you.”
³ Early the next morning Abraham got up and loaded his donkey. He took with him two of his servants and his son Isaac. When he had cut enough wood for the burnt offering, he set out for the place God had told him about. ⁴ On the third day Abraham looked up and saw the place in the distance. ⁵ He said to his servants, “Stay here with the donkey while I and the boy go over there. We will worship and then we will come back to you.”
⁶ Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and placed it on his son Isaac, and he himself carried the fire and the knife. As the two of them went on together, ⁷ Isaac spoke up and said to his father Abraham, “Father?”
“Yes, my son?” Abraham replied.
“The fire and wood are here,” Isaac said, “but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?”
⁸ Abraham answered, “God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.” And the two of them went on together.
⁹ When they reached the place God had told him about, Abraham built an altar there and arranged the wood on it. He bound his son Isaac and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. ¹⁰ Then he reached out his hand and took the knife to slay his son. ¹¹ But the angel of the Lord called out to him from heaven, “Abraham! Abraham!”
“Here I am,” he replied.
¹² “Do not lay a hand on the boy,” he said. “Do not do anything to him. Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son.”
¹³ Abraham looked up and there in a thicket he saw a ram^[a] caught by its horns. He went over and took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering instead of his son. ¹⁴ So Abraham called that place The Lord Will Provide. And to this day it is said, “On the mountain of the Lord it will be provided.”
¹⁵ The angel of the Lord called to Abraham from heaven a second time ¹⁶ and said, “I swear by myself, declares the Lord, that because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, ¹⁷ I will surely bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will take possession of the cities of their enemies, ¹⁸ and through your offspring^[b] all nations on earth will be blessed,^[c] because you have obeyed me.”
¹⁹ Then Abraham returned to his servants, and they set off together for Beersheba. And Abraham stayed in Beersheba.

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    上帝為了讓亞伯拉罕知道：他要以上帝為最重要，甚至超過他最喜愛的兒子以撒。所以，要亞伯拉罕但以撒到摩利亞地的山上去，要亞伯拉罕在那裡將已薩如祭物獻上！

    相信這對亞伯拉罕是一個重大的考驗，但是亞伯拉罕明白上帝的心意，義無反顧的將以撒帶出去，就往摩利亞地的山上去。而以撒也不是笨蛋，他是聰明的小孩，在路上的時候他也覺得奇怪，去獻祭給耶和華，為何沒有帶祭牲呢？所以問亞伯拉罕，而亞伯拉罕為了讓上帝的旨意成就，只好回答：「我兒，上帝必自己預備作燔祭的羊羔。」

    說到這裡，許多時候我們期盼為上帝做什麼，可是面對的卻是艱難重重，總是不盡人意，卻不知上帝要如何？這個時候，我們要向亞伯拉罕一樣，要存著盼望向前，因為「在耶和華的山上必有預備」。今生雖然短暫，不盡人意，但在永生上帝親自成為我們的福樂！