Obedience Vs. Feeling–Abraham & Isaac

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Ask the children to pay very close attention to the story. During the story, you will give the “either/or ” choices to continue the story. The children will have to determine which choice is the correct one for the story.

Many times in your lives God will allow you to go through difficult times to prove your love and obedience to Him. That is what happened to Abraham. Abraham had only one son, his name was either Isaac or Jacob. (Have the children choose the correct one.) Abraham had waited one hundred years before he had his son that God had promised to him. The day came when God tested Abraham to find out if he loved Him more than his son Isaac. God called Abraham by name, told him to take his only son Isaac whom he loved to the region of Moriah, and either dedicate him to God or sacrifice him as a burnt offering. (Have the children choose the correct one.) Abraham knew God had promised to give him either a dairy farm or a whole nation of descendants through Isaac. (Have the children choose the correct one.) The New Testament says that Abraham believed God would raise Isaac from the dead if necessary. So, because of his love and trust in God, Abraham set off the next morning with Isaac and the wood for a burnt offering.

After three days, Abraham saw the mountain where he was to make the sacrifice. He told his servants, “We will worship and” either “I will come back to you” or “we will come back to you.” (Have the children choose the correct one.) Though Abraham had waited so many years for this son that he loved, he trusted God enough in this difficult test to believe that both he and Isaac would come back alive. Isaac carried the wood. Abraham carried the fire and the knife. Isaac said, “Father, the fire and the wood are here, but where is the lamb?” Abraham told him that either Isaac was the sacrifice or God would provide the lamb. (Have the children choose the correct one.)

Notice another important lesson from Abraham. Though Abraham was obeying God, things happened that made it appear that God’s promises would not come true. Abraham did not obey based on how hopeless the situation looked or how he felt. He could have felt horrible pain and fear, being asked to sacrifice his son. But Abraham trusted God to know best and still believed that God would keep His promises. Abraham built the altar, arranged the wood, and either went hunting for a lamb or tied up Isaac and laid him on the wood. (Have the children choose the correct one.) As Abraham raised his knife to kill his son either Isaac jumped off the wood or an angel called Abraham’s name. (Have the children choose the correct one.) The angel said not to harm the boy because Abraham had proven his love for God by being willing to give up what he loved most, his son, Isaac. Suddenly Abraham looked up and saw either a ladder coming out of heaven with angels walking up and down on it or a ram caught in a bush. (Have the children choose the correct one.) Abraham took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering instead of his son. Abraham named the place either Bethel, meaning ‘house of God’ or Yahweh Yireh, meaning ‘the Lord will provide.’ (Have the children choose the correct one.) Just as Abraham trusted God to keep His promise and chose to obey Him during the biggest difficulty of his life, a situation that could have caused him much worry and fear, each of you can trust God during difficult times, do what God tells you to do, and see His promises come to pass.

A Prayer Time is also available in the Vault on the topic of Obedience vs. Feelings.