Now I know

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And he said, “Do not stretch out your hand against the lad, and do nothing to him; for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from Me.” (Gen. 22:12 NAS)

The two Hebrew words which are translated as: Now I Know. …

Reading from left to right, the second word is “I know”- verb qal perfect 1st person common singular . First person singular does not admit “it is known”. The simple fact is that God is recorded as saying “Now *I* know!. The object of certain knowledge was that Abraham did not switch his allegiance from God to some other personal interest. There could be no other greater test for Abraham than the life of Isaac, his only son. The son who was the perpetuation of his line and and legacy as the “father of many nations.” Those truths could not but have been a great source of pleasure and sense of honor. After all, being the father of many nations is not something that just anyone can claim.

But some will point out, surely God knew Abraham, knew him better than he knew himself. Yes that is true. But the truth is that until a person is faced with a choice that challenges their most cherished hope is their ultimate purpose for life put in the balance. There is no predicting with absolute certainty the outcome of such a decision. And that it what God came to test. He never intended to let Isaac be harmed. Indeed, that is exactly how God learns what we will do in such circumstances.

“And thou shalt remember all the way which the LORD thy God led thee these forty years in the wilderness, to humble thee, and to prove thee, to know what was in thine heart, whether thou wouldest keep his commandments, or no.” (Deut. 8:2 KJV)’

source: W Scott Taylor (facebook – godisopen).