ACC ~ Hebrews 11 v17 - 19

THROUGH ISAAC. THEODORET OF CYR: God promised to bring to light a vast number of Isaac’s offspring like sand on the seashore, and he it was who bade Isaac become a victim. Beset by the two conflicting thoughts, then, and with nature tearing at him more harshly than any torturer, the patriarch easily overcame it all and offered the sacrifice. He brings out as well the thoughts he employed in banishing the others, “God was able to raise men even from the dead.” He took issue with the thought arising in regard to the great number of offspring, believing that his son, even if slaughtered, could come back to life, God willing. “Figuratively speaking, he did receive him back,” that is, by way of a symbol and type of the resurrection. Put to death by his father’s zeal, he came back to life at the word of the one who prevented the slaughter. In him the type of the saving passion was also prefigured. Hence the Lord also said to the Jews, “Your father Abraham rejoiced at the prospect of seeing my day; he saw it and was glad.” INTERPRETATION OF HEBREWS 11.

WHEN GOD’S PROMISE SEEMED TO OPPOSE GOD’S PROMISE. CHRYSOSTOM: Great indeed was the faith of Abraham. In the case of Abel, Noah and Enoch, there was an opposition of reasonings to be overcome, and it was necessary to go beyond human reasonings. In the case of Abraham, however, it was necessary not only to go beyond human reasonings but to manifest also something more. For what was of God seemed to be opposed to what was of God; and faith opposed to faith, and command opposed to promise. I mean this: God had said, “Go from your country and your kindred, and I will give you this land.” But then he said, “He gave him no inheritance in it, not even a foot’s length.” Do you see how what was done was opposed to the promise? Again, God said, “Through Isaac shall your descendants be named,” and he believed, and again God says, “Sacrifice to me this one, who was to fill all the world from his seed.” Do you see the opposition between the commands and the promise? He enjoined things that were in contradiction to the promises, and yet not even so did the righteous man stagger nor say he had been deceived. … But you endure nothing except what was promised, and still you are troubled. ON THE EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS 25.1.

ABRAHAM BELIEVED GOD COULD RAISE THE DEAD. EPHREM THE SYRIAN: “By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac” as a victim, even though he had received this child with the promise that through him his descendants would have been named. And Abraham never doubted, not even when he was about to kill him, that through him his descendants would have been named.

He decided in his mind and accepted the idea that “God is able to raise men even from the dead; hence, figuratively speaking, he did receive him back,” that is, so that in him he might come to know the resurrection of the dead, and in him might know the children of the spirit whom he would have had. COMMENTARY ON THE EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS.

THE RAM WAS CROWNED WITH THORNS. AUGUSTINE: The apostle says, “He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all.” This explains why Isaac himself, just like the Lord carrying his cross, carried to the place of sacrifice the wood on which he was to be placed. … Note that when Abraham first saw the ram, it was caught by its thorns in a thicket of briers. This surely is a symbol of Jesus, crowned with thorns by the Jews before he was immolated. CITY OF GOD 16.32.

IN HARMONY WHEN VIEWED BY FAITH. CHRYSOSTOM: He heard the opposite of the promises from the one who had made them, and yet he was not disturbed but did them as if they had been in harmony. For they were in harmony, being opposed indeed according to human calculations, but in harmony when viewed by faith. And how this was, the apostle himself has taught us, saying, “accounting that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead.” By the same faith, he means, by which he believed that God gave what was not and raised up the dead, by the same was he persuaded that God would also raise him up after he had been slain in sacrifice. For it was similarly impossible—to human calculation, I mean—for a womb which was dead and grown old and already become useless for childbearing to give a child, and to raise again one who had been slain. But his previous faith prepared the way for things to come. ON THE EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS 25.2.

ABRAHAM BELIEVED IN A RESURRECTION THAT HAD NOT YET HAPPENED. ORIGEN: Give me your attention, you who have approached God, who believe yourselves to be faithful. Consider diligently how the faith of the faithful is proved from these words that have been read to us. “After these things,” the text says, “God tested Abraham and said to him, ‘Abraham, Abraham.’ And he said, ‘Here I am.’” Observe each detail that has been written. For, if one knows how to dig into the depth, one will find a treasure in the details. Perhaps also the precious jewels of the mysteries lie hidden where they are not esteemed.

This man was previously called Abram. Nowhere do we read that God called him by this name or said to him, “Abram, Abram.” For God could not call him by a name that was to be abolished, but he calls him by this name which God gave; and not only does God call him by this name, but he also repeats it. And when he had responded, “Here I am,” God says to him, “Take your dearest son Isaac, whom you love, and offer him to me. Go,” the text says, “into the high land, and there you shall offer him for a holocaust upon one of the mountains which I shall show you.”

Why God gave him this particular name and called him Abraham, he himself has interpreted. “Because,” the text says, “I have made you a father of many nations.” God gave him this promise when he had his son Ishmael, but it is promised him that the promise will be fulfilled in a son who will be born of Sarah. He had kindled his soul, therefore, in love for his son not only because of posterity but also in the hope of the promises.

But this son, in whom these great and marvelous promises have been made, this son, I say, on whose account his name is called Abraham, “he is ordered to offer for a holocaust to the Lord on one of the mountains.”

What do you say to these things, Abraham? What kind of thoughts are stirring in your heart? A word has been uttered by God that is such as to shatter and try your faith. What do you say to these things? What are you thinking? What are you reconsidering? Are you thinking, are you turning over in your heart that, if the promise has been given to me in Isaac, but I offer him for a holocaust, it remains that that promise holds no hope? Or rather do you think of those well-known words, and say that it is impossible, for him who promised, to lie;be that as it may, the promise shall remain?

But I, because “I am the least,” am not able to examine the thoughts of such a great patriarch nor can I know what thoughts the voice of God which had proceeded to test him stirred in him, what feeling it caused, when he was ordered to slay his only son. But since “the spirit of prophets is subject to the prophets,” the apostle Paul, who, I believe, was teaching by the Spirit what feeling, what plan Abraham considered, has revealed it when he says, “By faith Abraham did not hesitate, when he offered his only son, in whom he had received the promises, thinking that God is able to raise him up even from the dead.”

The apostle, therefore, has reported to us the thoughts of the faithful man, that the faith in the resurrection began to be held already at that time in Isaac. Abraham, therefore, hoped for the resurrection of Isaac and believed in a future that had not yet happened. How, then, are they “sons of Abraham” who do not believe what has happened in Christ, which Abraham believed was to be in Isaac? No, rather, that I may speak more clearly, Abraham knew himself to prefigure the image of future truth; he knew the Christ was to be born from his seed, who also was to be offered as a truer victim for the whole world and was to be raised from the dead. HOMILIES ON GENESIS 8.1.

GOD TESTED ABRAHAM TO MAKE HIS PROMISE KNOWN TO ALL. CHRYSOSTOM: And he shows another thing too, by saying that “God tempted Abraham.” What then? Did not God know that the man was noble and approved? Why then did God tempt him? Not that God might learn but that God might show to others and make his fortitude manifest to all. And here also he shows the cause of trials, that they may not suppose they suffer these things as being forsaken of God. ON THE EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS 25.2.

IN OFFERING HIS SON HE WORSHIPED THE SON OF GOD. ATHANASIUS: Here is a man of true faith, for when the Lord asked him to sacrifice Isaac, his only son, he was willing to do so. By faith he offered up the one through whom the Lord had given him the promise of a nation of descendants. And in offering his son he worshiped the Son of God. When the Lord held him back from sacrificing Isaac, Abraham saw the Messiah in the ram that was ultimately offered as the sacrifice to God.

We see, then, that the patriarch was tested by means of Isaac—not that Isaac was sacrificed but rather the one who was pointed out in Isaiah, “He shall be like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is dumb.”He was, in truth, tested by him who took away the sin of the world.

That is why Abraham was held back from laying his hand on the boy. If he had sacrificed Isaac, the Jews might very well have rejected all the prophecies concerning the Savior. Undoubtedly they would have especially rejected such prophecies given by the psalmist as, “You have not wanted sacrifice and offering; for you have prepared a body for me.” They would have referred all such prophecies to the son of Abraham.

Thus the sacrifice was not for the sake of Isaac but of Abraham, who was tested by being called upon to make this offering. And of course, God accepted his intentions, but God prevented him from slaying Isaac. The death of Isaac would not buy freedom for the world. No, that could be accomplished only by the death of our Savior, by whose stripes we are all healed. He alone picked up the falling, healed the sick, satisfied those who were hungry and filled the poor. Above all else, he alone raised us all from the dead, and having abolished death, he has brought us from sorrow and sighing to the rest and gladness of this feast. That, dear friends, is a joy that reaches heaven! FESTAL LETTERS 6.8.

NOT OF GRACE BUT OF DEBT. CHRYSOSTOM: Afterwards, that no one may suppose he does this in despair, and in consequence of this command had cast away that faith, but may understand that this also was truly of faith, he says that he retained that faith also, although it seem to be at variance with this. But it was not at variance. For he did not measure the power of God by human reasonings but committed all to faith. And hence he was not afraid to say that God was “able to raise him up, even from the dead.”

“From this also he received him in a figure,” that is in idea, by the ram, he means. How? The ram having been slain, he was saved, so that by means of the ram, he received him again, having slain it in his stead. But these things were types, for here it is the Son of God who is slain. And observe, I beseech you, how great is God’s lovingkindness. For inasmuch as a great favor was to be given to humanity, God, wishing to do this, not by favor but as a debtor, arranges that a man should first give up his own son on account of God’s command. God does this in order that God might seem to be doing nothing great in giving up God’s own Son, since a man had done this before God, so that God might be supposed to do it not of grace but of debt. We do kindness to those we love. We may seem to give all when they have first received something little. We boast more of the receiving than of the giving. We do not say, “We gave him this,” but, “We received this from him.” “From this also” are his words, “he received him in a figure,” that is, as in a riddle, for the ram was, as it were, a figure of Isaac or as in a type. For since the sacrifice had been completed and Isaac slain in purpose, therefore he gave him back to the patriarch. ON THE EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS 25.3.

ISAAC IS A TYPE. CLEMENT OF ALEXANDRIA: Isaac is a type of the infant Lord as son, and, in fact, Isaac was the son of Abraham as Christ is of God, victim as was the Lord. But he was not cut down like the Lord; no, Isaac only carried the wood of the sacrifice, as the Lord did his cross. He laughed mystically by way of prophesying that the Lord fills us with joy, we who have been redeemed by his blood. He did not suffer but left to the Logos, as is fitting, the first fruits of suffering. What is more, because he was not immolated, he signifies also the divinity of the Lord. For after his burial, Jesus was raised up, thus leaving suffering behind, just as Isaac had escaped the sacrifice. CHRIST THE EDUCATOR 1.5.23.1-2.

HE SUFFERED NOTHING UNDER DEATH’S POWER. THEODORE OF MOPSUESTIA: He obtained it in accordance with his faith. For believing in the resurrection, he received him who had died symbolically. For the fact that he suffered nothing, although he fully expected to die, was a symbol of the one who would truly rise, inasmuch as, “having tasted death for a short time,” he rose, having suffered nothing under death’s power. For this was done “in a parable” instead of in symbols. FRAGMENTS ON THE EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS 11.19.

ABRAHAM RECEIVED ISAAC IN A FIGURATIVE WAY. PHOTIUS: One can understand the statement “hence, figuratively speaking, he did receive him back” in the following sense: “Abraham received Isaac in a figurative way.” For, as he says, since he showed some untold obedience and a faith that conquers even the laws of nature itself, he received his son again, not merely because he offered his son but because he offered him with great assent and his worthy faith. For Abraham received Isaac, who bore a figure and likeness to the Son of God and God himself. For such faith can set matters aright. But if you understand “in a figurative way” to apply to Abraham and Isaac, in that Abraham acted as a type of the Father and as a figure and likeness of him, while Isaac acted as a type of the Son, this interpretation would accord well with the understanding we have already stated. Abraham’s faith brought him such a gain, he says, because after offering him he received him back with great addition. What sort of addition? That he would receive him again “in a figurative manner” and likeness of the action with the Father and the Son, that is, he received his son with so great profit, since both became a type of the offering with which the Father thought it good to be completed in his Son.

Or one can understand it as follows. God “in a figurative way received” Isaac, that is, because of the faith and zeal of Abraham. To be sure, later a ram was offered, and even then it was not brought out of Abraham’s flock but was also provided by God. Nonetheless, God received the sacrifice in this way, as if Abraham had offered Isaac himself albeit in a symbolic manner and through the substitution of the ram. Therefore he says, “He received him,” namely, Isaac, “in a figurative way” and substitutionof the ram, that is, the intended and fulfilled purpose of Abraham and the desire of his faith. Thus God received the sacrifice of Abraham in this manner. FRAGMENTS ON THE EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS 11.19.

THE METAPHOR OF THE BALL. CHRYSOSTOM: Do you see that what I am constantly saying is shown in this case also? When we have proved that our mind is made perfect and have shown that we disregard earthly things, then earthly things also are given to us, but not before, lest, being bound to them already, we receiving them should be bound still. Loose yourself from your slavery first, he says, and then receive, so that you may receive no longer as a slave but as a master. Despise riches, and you shall be rich. Despise glory, and you shall be glorious. Despise avenging yourself on your enemies, and then you shall attain it. Despise repose, and then you shall receive it, that in receiving you may receive not as a prisoner or as a slave but as a free person.

For as with little children, when the child eagerly desires childish playthings, as a ball, for instance, and such things, we hide them from the child with much care, that the child may not be hindered from necessary things. But when the child thinks little of them and no longer longs for them, we allow them fearlessly, knowing that no harm can come to the child from them, because the desire no longer has strength enough to draw the child away from things necessary. So God also, when God sees that we no longer eagerly desire the things of this world, henceforth permits us to use them. For we possess them as free people, not as children. ON THE EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS 25.4.

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