Hearing and Obeying

Genesis 22 is one of the most moving and mysterious moments in all of Scripture. Abraham, the man of faith, is called to offer up his beloved son Isaac — the very child of promise. With a heart full of trust, he climbs Mount Moriah, believing that even if Isaac were to die, God could raise him from the dead (Heb. 11:19).

But Mount Moriah is no random mountain. Later, Scripture identifies it as the place where Solomon built the temple in Jerusalem (2 Chr. 3:1). Many scholars believe this mountain range — Zion — may even have been the very region where Eden once stood: the meeting point between heaven and earth. Humanity was once exiled from God’s presence in Eden, but on Moriah, that presence begins to be restored.

As father and son walk together, Isaac carries the wood for his own sacrifice — just as Jesus would one day carry his cross on that same mountain. When Isaac asks, “Where is the lamb?” Abraham replies, “God will provide for himself the lamb” (Gen. 22:8). That promise reaches beyond the ram caught in the thicket. It points forward to the true Lamb, Jesus, God’s own Son, who would be offered on that same mountain to take away the sin of the world.

Then comes the turning point — God’s covenant oath. It’s the only place in Scripture where God swears by himself:

“By myself I have sworn… because you have done this… I will surely bless you… and in your offspring shall all the nations of the earth be blessed.” (Genesis 22:16-18)

Here, sacrifice, covenant, and mission come together. The Father’s love, the Son’s obedience, and the Spirit’s purpose converge on one place — Zion, the mountain of God’s provision and restoration.

Later Islamic tradition moved the story to Mecca and replaced Isaac with Ishmael, detaching it from its covenant roots. But the Bible keeps our focus on Moriah — the place where the Lord provides, where Eden’s story begins to be restored through the Lamb who was slain and lives again.

Isaac’s Willing Heart

A question often arises: what about Isaac? What was going through his mind?

The text doesn’t tell us directly, but we can read between the lines. Abraham was over a hundred years old; Isaac was young and strong. If he allowed himself to be bound, it suggests he trusted both his father and the God his father served.

This means the story isn’t just about Abraham’s obedience — it’s also about Isaac’s faith. He had grown up hearing the promises. He likely believed, as his father did, that God could raise the dead if necessary (Heb. 11:19). His silence wasn’t fear; it was trust — a quiet confidence in God’s goodness even when everything seemed impossible.

That’s why Jewish and Christian tradition often portrays Isaac as a willing participant, not a passive victim. His cooperation foreshadows the willing surrender of Jesus himself — not a forced sacrifice, but a Son who chooses to trust his Father completely.

On Mount Moriah, the story of redemption comes into focus. The Lord provides. The Lamb is given. And the way back to God’s presence begins to open once more.

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Scholarly Note

1. Eden, Moriah, Zion, and the Gihon: The Geography of God’s Presence

A number of biblical theologians have drawn attention to the deep symbolic — and possibly geographical — connection between Eden, Mount Moriah, Zion, and the Temple Mount.

In Genesis, Eden is portrayed as a mountain sanctuary: from its elevated source flow four rivers, watering the earth (Gen. 2:10-14). One of these, notably, is named the Gihon, which flows “around the whole land of Cush” (Gen. 2:13). While its precise identification is debated, the reuse of the name Gihon in Jerusalem — referring to the Gihon Spring at the foot of the City of David, the only natural water source feeding the ancient city and the temple area — has prompted many scholars to see intentional theological correspondence rather than coincidence.

In Ezekiel 28:13-14, Eden is described as the “holy mountain of God,” and in later temple theology, Jerusalem comes to function as a new Eden — a restored meeting place between heaven and earth. The Temple, built by Solomon on Mount Moriah (2 Chr. 3:1), mirrors Eden’s imagery: cherubim, palm trees, and flowers adorn its walls (1 Kgs. 6:29–35), symbolizing life in God’s presence. The spring beneath the city corresponds to Eden’s life-giving river, from which water flows outward to bless the nations (cf. Ps. 46:4; Ezek. 47:1-12; Zech. 14:8; Rev. 22:1-2).

Thus, the Gihon Spring functions as a geographic and theological bridge between the Garden of Eden and the Temple Mount: both are sources of divine life that flow outward from the place of God’s dwelling. This view, explored by scholars such as Jon D. Levenson, T. Desmond Alexander, Gregory K. Beale, and John Walton, sees Mount Zion as the re-creation of Eden — the restored cosmic center of God’s presence. In this light, Abraham’s act on Mount Moriah becomes the first movement in a long arc of restoration: the place of sacrifice becomes the site of the temple, and ultimately, the place of the cross.

2. The Islamic Reinterpretation

The Qur’anic account of the sacrifice (Sura 37:99-113) does not name the son, though early Muslim commentators were divided on whether it was Isaac or Ishmael. By the 8th-10th centuries, dominant tafsir traditions, especially those of al-Ṭabarī and later exegetes, identified the son as Ishmael and situated the event near Mecca, integrating it into the emerging Islamic sacred geography associated with the Kaʿbah and the ʿĪd al-Aḍḥā festival. This reinterpretation reshaped the Abrahamic story around Ishmael’s descendants and the Arabian setting.

From a biblical-theological standpoint, however, the Genesis narrative remains firmly anchored in God’s covenant through Isaac (Gen. 17:19-21) and the geography of Moriah-Zion, where the Lord provides the lamb and restores fellowship between heaven and earth.

Worthwhile resources:

• Jon D. Levenson, Sinai and Zion: An Entry into the Jewish Bible (Harper & Row, 1985)
• T. Desmond Alexander, From Eden to the New Jerusalem: An Introduction to Biblical Theology (Kregel, 2008)
• Gregory K. Beale, The Temple and the Church’s Mission (IVP Academic, 2004)
• John H. Walton, The Lost World of Adam and Eve (IVP Academic, 2015), esp. pp. 99-114
• Michael Morales, Who Shall Ascend the Mountain of the Lord? (IVP Academic, 2015)

Featured image by Jonatan Aguilar on Unsplash