Tried Even as Abraham

The writer of Genesis prefaced the story of Abraham offering Isaac as a sacrifice with this statement: “And it came to pass after these things, that God did tempt Abraham.” The footnote suggests that tempt here really means to test or prove, and so the reader understands from the beginning that this command to offer up his son Isaac is a test for Abraham. In the book of Abraham we have this statement that we often quote about the overarching purpose of our mortal existence: “And we will prove them herewith, to see if they will do all things whatsoever the Lord their God shall command them” (Abraham 3:25). Abraham learned this in his vision with the Lord long before this experience with Isaac, and perhaps he remembered those words as he walked the long journey to Moriah to offer up his only son. It is impossible to fully comprehend the anguish of soul he must have felt as he chose to put God’s will above his own, but I believe he had such faith in the promises of the Lord that he believed if he sacrificed Isaac that the Lord would raise him up again. This is what Paul suggested, “By faith Abraham, when he was tried, offered up Isaac: and he that had received the promises offered up his only begotten son, Of whom it was said, That in Isaac shall thy seed be called: Accounting that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead; from whence also he received him in a figure” (Hebrews 11:17-19). It is no wonder that we call Abraham the “father of the faithful”: his faith in the Lord’s promises was unshakeable.

               Perhaps the most sobering part about this story is the Lord’s commentary on it in our day. Speaking of those who had been driven out of Jackson County in 1833 He said, “Therefore, they must needs be chastened and tried, even as Abraham, who was commanded to offer up his only son. For all those who will not endure chastening, but deny me, cannot be sanctified” (Doctrine and Covenants 101:4-5). That, we must assume, means that all of us are to be tried in some way similar to Abraham. Another scripture given by the Lord through the Prophet Joseph Smith has a similar message for us: “For he will give unto the faithful line upon line, precept upon precept; and I will try you and prove you herewith. And whoso layeth down his life in my cause, for my name’s sake, shall find it again, even life eternal. Therefore, be not afraid of your enemies, for I have decreed in my heart, saith the Lord, that I will prove you in all things, whether you will abide in my covenant, even unto death, that you may be found worthy” (Doctrine and Covenants 98:12-14). We must prove to the Lord that we will abide in his covenant in all things. John Taylor recorded this about Abrahamic tests that he learned from Joseph Smith: “I heard the Prophet Joseph say, in speaking to the Twelve on one occasion: ‘You will have all kinds of trials to pass through. And it is quite as necessary for you to be tried as it was for Abraham and other men of God, and (said he) God will feel after you, and He will take hold of you and wrench your very heart strings, and if you cannot stand it you will not be fit for an inheritance in the Celestial Kingdom of God.’” Joseph himself certainly experienced this, and there is a somewhat enigmatic statement about Emma and Joseph related to some kind of Abrahamic test the Lord gave them: “Verily, I say unto you: A commandment I give unto mine handmaid, Emma Smith, your wife, whom I have given unto you, that she stay herself and partake not of that which I commanded you to offer unto her; for I did it, saith the Lord, to prove you all, as I did Abraham, and that I might require an offering at your hand, by covenant and sacrifice” (Doctrine and Covenants 132:51). The student manual says this about that verse: “Because Joseph and Emma Smith’s personal circumstances are not fully known or understood, the meaning of some verses is not clear. For example, the Lord commanded Emma to ‘stay herself and partake not of that which [the Lord] commanded [Joseph] to offer unto her’ (D&C 132:51). We do not know what the Lord had commanded Joseph to offer Emma. However, the revelation suggests that the Lord intended the ‘offer’—whatever it was—to serve as an Abrahamic test of faith for both Joseph and Emma.” From Abraham’s example to this verse about Joseph and Emma, it is clear that we too must be ready to give all that we have to the Lord in our own way and however the Lord requires of it of us.