The Sacrifice of Issac

Abraham was 10 years older than Sarah (Genesis 17:17).

Abraham was 75 years old when he left Haran (Genesis 12:4).

He had lived in Canaan 10 years when he took Hagar (Genesis 16:3).

Ishmael was born when Abraham was 86 years old (Genesis 16:16).

Abraham was 99 years old when he was circumcised (Genesis 17:24).

Abraham was 100 years old when Issac was born (Genesis 21:5).

Sarah was 90 when Issac was born.

Sarah died at 127 years of age (Genesis 23:1).

Scripture doesn’t say exactly when Abraham believed God’s promise and was justified by faith (Gen. 15:6). It happened sometime between the time he left Haran and the time he took Hagar. Scripture also doesn’t say how old Issac was when he was offered upon the altar. It appears to have taken place before Sarah died.

From the existing testimony we can deduce that Abraham received the justifying promise before he was 85. Abraham was ten years older than Sarah. He was 137 when she died. Since Sarah was 90 when Issac was born, Issac could not have been more than 37 when he was offered. He was strong enough to carry the wood to the place of sacrifice and intelligent enough to reason (Genesis 22:6,7).

Issac is referred to as a “lad” (Genesis 22:12). Ishmael is called a “lad” (Genesis 21:12, 17, 18). He was at least 14 at the time. He was born when Abraham was 86. Issac was born when Abraham was 100. Ishmael was driven away when Issac was weaned. The age of weaning is not disclosed in Scripture. Samuel's age at weaning is not disclosed, although he was old enough to help Eli around the temple (1 Sam. 1:20-2:11).

Issac was between 14 and 37 when he was offered. If Abraham believed God and was justified just one year before he took Hagar, he would have been 84.There was at least 15 years between the time Abraham was justified and the time Issac was offered. There may have been nearly 35 years between those events.

James asks, “Was not Abraham justified when he offered Issac upon the altar (James 2:21)? Although the answer, in the mind of James is yes, Genesis tells us that Abraham was justified between 15 and 35 years before, when he believed the promise of God.