God tested Abraham commanding him to go to the land of Moriah to offer Issac as a burnt offering. He obeyed, and took two young men and Isaac. On the 3rd day he arrived at the place. He told his young men to stay with the donkey while he and Isaac go and worship, then they will come back. He laid wood for the burnt offering on Isaac, and he took fire and a sacrificial knife, and they walked together. Isaac asked where the lamb was for the offering, and Abraham responded that the Lord will provide the lamb. Abraham built the altar, arranged the wood, bound Isaac and put him on the altar. He reached out to slaughter Isaac, but the Angel of the Lord called out, “Abraham, Abraham!” He said not to kill him, because he fears God. Then he saw a ram caught in the thicket, and they offered it as a burnt offering. The Angel of the Lord said, “Because you have done this thing and have not withheld your only son, I will indeed bless you and make your offspring as numerous as the stars of the sky and the sand on the seashore. Your offspring will possess the gates of their enemies. And all the nations of the earth will be blessed by your offspring because you have obeyed my command.” Abraham went back to his young men, and they went back to Beer-sheba, and that’s where they settled. The chapter ends with Rebekah’s family.
This entire event is a reminder and a further strengthening of God’s covenant. God promised that Abraham’s family would bless all the nations of the earth, and that his offspring would be as numerous as the stars in the sky and the sand on the seashore. All of this after Abraham tried to take the fulfillment of the covenant into his own hands in having Ishmael. God is kind to hold to His Word. He will fulfill His promise. And even as Abraham didn’t have to follow through with killing his son, God killed His one and only Son – Jesus Christ – so that His people wouldn’t bear the curse of eternal death but life.