Many people are familiar with the story of Abraham and Isaac. Genesis 22:1-5:
1 Now it came to pass after these things that God tested Abraham, and said to him, “Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” 2 Then He said, “Take now your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.” 3 So Abraham rose early in the morning and saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son; and he split the wood for the burnt offering, and arose and went to the place of which God had told him. 4 Then on the third day Abraham lifted his eyes and saw the place afar off. 5 And Abraham said to his young men, “Stay here with the donkey; the lad and I will go yonder and worship, and we will come back to you.”
It sometimes horrifies us to think how God could require human sacrifice. Yet, the point of this story is to show God testing Abraham’s faith and loyalty; nothing more. Genesis 6-12:
6 So Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on Isaac his son; and he took the fire in his hand, and a knife, and the two of them went together. 7 But Isaac spoke to Abraham his father and said, “My father!” And he said, “Here I am, my son.” Then he said, “Look, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?”
8 And Abraham said, “My son, God will provide for Himself the lamb for a burnt offering.” So the two of them went together. 9 Then they came to the place of which God had told him. And Abraham built an alter there and placed the wood in order; and he bound Isaac his son and laid him on the alter; upon the wood. 10 And Abraham stretched out his hand and took the knife to slay his son. 11 But the Angel of the LORD called to him from heaven and said, “Abraham, Abraham!” So he said, “Here I am.”
12 And He said, “Do not lay your hand on the lad, or do anything to him; for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from Me.”
We may never know if God would have allowed Abraham to follow through and kill his son, Isaac. Fortunately, we have the privilege of knowing how this story ends.
One of the areas of focus for this story is looking at what the Bible has to say about love and where it originated. In today’s society, we throw around the word “love” rather loosely. It is not so much a Christianized idea and because of this, love can often be associated with “tolerance,” “affirmation,” and “acceptance.” Even within the walls of progressive Christianity, there is a connection with a worldview of love. This makes us wonder; Where did love originate?
William McDonald, author and former president of Emmaus Bible College, stated “the first occurrence of a word in the Bible often sets the pattern for its usage throughout Scripture.” The Hebrew word for “love,” אָהַב (˒âhab, aw-hab,) was first used in Genesis 22:2:
2 Then He said, “Take now your son, your only son Issac, whom you love…
We know from reading Genesis 21 that Isaac was almost a miracle child for Abraham and Sarah, because of their older age. There was likely a lot of hope for them that through their offspring, their lineage would continue. Therefore, we are left wondering why God would require Abraham to give up his only son when He knew how important this child was to them. And, on top of that, let’s not forget the request to kill Isaac.
Within the context of defining love, we look at Abraham’s love for his child. Warren Wiersbe, author of With the Word Bible Commentary, explains that this was a test of love:
Abraham loved his son, but he loved God more. Isaac was God’s gift to Abraham, but the gift had to become a sacrifice to God. If the gift becomes more important than the Giver, it becomes an idol.
We have no evidence that Abraham told God outright, “I love you,” but we know from this text that Abraham passed the test which proved to God, through action and obedience, that God meant more to him than anything. He may have ever realized that if it were not for God, he wouldn’t have Isaac. Furthermore, his actions exemplify the love that a parent has for their children. Later in Genesis 25, we see Isaac with his children, Esau and Jacob.
27 So the boys grew. And Esau was a skillful hunter, a man of the field, but Jacob was a mild man, dwelling in tents. 28 And Isaac loved Esau because he ate of his game, but Rebekah loved Jacob.
As parents, we rarely show favoritism to our children. However, Isaac showed favoritism toward Esau, the older twin brother of Jacob. We see this continue to Genesis 27:
1 Now it came to pass when Isaac was old and his eyes were so dim that he could not see, that he called Esau his older son and said to him, “My Son.” And he answered him, “Here I am.” 2 Then he said, “Behold now, I am old. I do not know the day of my death. 3 Now therefore, please take your weapons, your quiver, and your bow, and go out to the field and hunt game for me. 4 And make me savory food, such as I love, and bring it to me that I may eat, that my soul may bless you before I die.”
The same word “love” is used in this scripture but its meaning is different. We all have a favorite food that we love. It might be apple pie, chocolate cake, or cookies. If you don’t have a sweet tooth, maybe you love mashed potatoes, turkey, and green bean casserole. Whatever it is, most of us have a love for food. Even in the Bible, we find that people had a love for certain foods.
Another kind of love is romantic or sexual love. We see an example of this in Genesis 29:30 (NKJV):
30 Then Jacob also went in to Rachel, and he also loved Rachel more than Leah. And he served with Laban still another seven years.
This time, love is interpreted to mean love between two people. In this example, we are given a biblical model of romance and sexual love between a man and a woman. This kind of love is one of God’s greatest gifts to humanity. In today’s society, many try to minimize the significance of this blessing by forcing the acceptance of other types of sexual and romantic love upon us. Unfortunately, this has been one of the reasons romantic and sexual love are often disregarded with couples refusing to commit to the marriage vows or even breaking marriage vows in time.
Looking at the origin of love is an exciting journey. God allowed humankind to develop feelings of certain things. All these various kinds of love, whether it be romantic love or love for certain foods, it was all placed within the boundaries that always put God first. Even for Abraham, it was to put God first. Some might even read Genesis and say that love toward God was implied, but that’s not always explained. Jumping into the book of Exodus 20:4-6, we see an example of this (NKJV):
4 “You shall not make for yourself a carved image—any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; 5 you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me, 6 but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.
We see another example of loving God in Deuteronomy 6:4-5 (NKJV):
4 “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one! 5 You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.
While there are many other examples of loving God throughout the Bible, another example, this time stated by our Lord Jesus Christ, is in Mark 12:28-30 and Matthew 22:34-40. Matthew 12:28-30 reads:
28 Then one of the scribes came, and having heard them reasoning together, perceiving that He had answered them well, asked Him, “Which is the first commandment of all?” 29 Jesus answered him, “The first of all the commandments is: ‘Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. 30 And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ This is the first commandment.
The origin of love is encompassed within the boundaries of the Kingdom of God. Its purpose is to love God and to put God first. By doing this, we can be sure that everything else will fall into place. When the world tries to redefine the meaning of love and sexuality the results will always end in heartache. Even for those who indulge in the love of food, it still brings all kinds of problems, including health issues, obesity, addiction, etc. However, the biggest difference with food is that we need food to survive. I don’t think God intended for us to not have a favorite food, but food cannot become one’s God.
People can love their families and should love their families. But people who do not love God do not always know how to love their families. Or to turn it around, people who do not love their families cannot love God. This is not to say that people do not get hurt by their families, and sometimes we have to forgive people but remain distant. And in many cases, we have to love people at a distance.
The Bible has something to say about love in just about every book. Sometimes, people struggle with studying their Bible because they think they need to read the book starting with Genesis, all the way through. It can be really helpful and rewarding to do a word study, and in this case, take a word (like love) and identify where and how that word is used in the Bible. One can gain a great deal of spiritual understanding just by reviewing that word and seeing how it repeats itself, what different versions of the word are used, and how it unfolds through the scriptures. Love is certainly a gift from God and true love is from God. We can seek out love throughout the Bible and every time we find God, we will also find love.
Title: Formerly “The Origin of Love” | Sermon: October 8, 2023, Shubert Christian Church, Shubert, Nebraska
