We pray that God will make the faith of Abraham a real part of your life. May the Almighty God grant you understanding and faith just as he did for our father Abraham. God will keep his promises to you, just like he did for Abraham.
WHICH SON DID ABRAHAM SACRIFICE?
There are different views in the religious world over the son that Abraham was told to offer as a sacrifice. Jews and Christians follow the Bible story which makes it clear that it was Isaac, the son of Abraham and Sarah. Muslims believe it was Ishmael, the son of Abraham and Hagar. The Qur’an does not actually say which son was offered. It only says that a “gentle son” was offered by Abraham as a “noble sacrifice” (Sura 37, Al-Saffat). We can agree that the reason for this story is to show the faith of Abraham and the faithfulness of God. Abraham had total trust that God would be true to the promise of blessing the world through Abraham’s son. God tested the faith of Abraham and was glorified by the faithful obedience of this great prophet.
CIRCUMCISION OF THE HEART
Circumcision is spoken of in the Bible many times. The act of cutting off part of the skin of the male flesh of baby boys was a part of God’s covenant with Abraham and later with the people of Israel. God often spoke of a greater circumcision. This greater, more important circumcision is the circumcision of the heart. Hear the words of God through Prophet Moses in the fifth book of the Torah:
The LORD your God will circumcise your hearts and the hearts of your descendants, so that you may love him with all your heart and with all your soul, and live. Deuteronomy 30.6
The prophet of God named Jeremiah also wrote the words of the Lord to the people of Israel many years after Moses. He recorded these words of God:
Circumcise yourselves to the LORD, circumcise your hearts, you men of Judah and people of Jerusalem, or my wrath will break out and burn like fire because of the evil you have done—burn with no one to quench it. Jeremiah 4.4
Prophet Paul of the New Testament time of Jesus Christ wrote to believers that true circumcision is done by God on the heart of all believers:
And circumcision is circumcision of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the written code. Such a man’s praise is not from men, but from God. Romans 2.2
We may practice physical circumcision to honor the customs and traditions of Abraham and our fathers. However, the more important circumcision is that of cleansing our hearts of sin and hardness. This is done by belief and trust in the Word of God. The followers of Jesus Christ are certain of this special circumcision through faith in Jesus Christ and obeying him:
In him you were also circumcised, in the putting off of the sinful nature, not with a circumcision done by the hands of men but with the circumcision done by Christ. Apostle Paul, in Colossians 2.11