The Power of Doubt

The Power of Doubt

Mark Bertrand

Read the following passage:

After these things God tested Abraham and said to him, "Abraham!" And he said, "Here am I." He said, "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 on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you." So Abraham rose early in the morning, saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him, and his son Isaac. And he cut the wood for the burnt offering and arose and went to the place of which God had told him. On the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes and saw the place from afar. Then Abraham said to his young men, "Stay here with the donkey; I and the boy will go over there and worship and come again to you." And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on Isaac his son. And he took in his hand the fire and the knife. So they went both of them together. And Isaac said to his father Abraham, "My father!" And he said, "Here am I, my son." He said, "Behold, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?" Abraham said, "God will provide for himself the lamb for a burnt offering, my son." So they went both of them together. When they came to the place of which God had told him, Abraham built the altar there and laid the wood in order and bound Isaac his son and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. Then Abraham reached out his hand and took the knife to slaughter his son. But the angel of the Lord called to him from heaven and said, "Abraham, Abraham!" And he said, "Here am I." He said, "Do not lay your hand on the boy or do anything to him, for now I know that you fear God, seeing you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me." And Abraham lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, behind him was a ram, caught in a thicket by his horns. And Abraham went and took the ram and offered it up as a burnt offering instead of his son. So Abraham called the name of that place, "The Lord will provide"; as it is said to this day, "On the mount of the Lord it shall be provided." (Genesis 22:1-14 ESV)

Then read Genesis 18:22-33

Did you notice anything?

Abraham pleads for Sodom, but NOT for Isaac! Why?

Perhaps it is because Abraham knew something about God: God was perfectly holy and told Abraham that murder was wrong. Hmm... How would a perfectly holy God order someone to murder his own son? The answer is that he wouldn't, and perhaps Abraham knew this.

Would God ever order us to murder? This question is asked by atheists a lot as a way to get Christians to doubt. They say that "God told old testament people to kill all the time... Why would he not tell you to?" the answer is very simple: God is perfectly consistent and Holy. He also is perfectly just. Killing is not wrong if the person is being punished by God. Look at Sodom and Gomorrah.
I believe that Abraham knew that whole time that God would never tell him to murder, however he was so tuned into following God that he probably would have gone through with it had God not stopped him.

Let's look at Matthew 28:16-17

Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. And when they saw him they worshiped him, but some doubted. (Matthew 28:16, 17 ESV)

Did you catch it? "but some doubted"

Is doubt permissible? Yes. But it should not be commonplace.

In the play Hamlet, the prince doubts the legitimacy of his fathers ghost's claims. Hamlet is looking for verification. He must be sure before he kills his uncle. Abraham just believes God, he doesn't question him.

Doubt is powerful. Rene Descartes once said:
"I will suppose therefore, some malicious demon of utmost power and cunning has employed all his energies to deceive me."

Doubt requires grace to be overcome. We can't do it on our own.

Abraham doesn't have to go through with the sacrifice of Isaac but God went through with the sacrifice of Jesus.

Look at the parallels between Romans 8:32 and Genesis 22:16-17