by Jen | Jun 22, 2026 | 1-19, DISO studies, Genesis 22
NEW TO THIS STUDY? START HERE.
Hello, faithful friends! This week I started looking into how the author and his audience understood Genesis 22:8 and 14. Here’s what I discovered:
Last Week’s Work
LITERAL CONTEXT and WRITING TYPES
The most prevalent writing type I observed in Genesis 22:1-19 and its literal context is narrative. I believe this is an actual story involving God, his angel, Abraham, and Isaac. Knowing some of the rest of the Bible’s story, I also believe verse 8 contains prophecy, giving us a hint of what Jesus would do centuries later.
Reviewing Genesis 21, it begins with the long-awaited birth of Isaac. Abraham was finally beginning to see God’s promise fulfilled! God also clarifies here that Isaac was the son through whom Abraham’s offspring would be named, even though Abraham had an older son, Ishmael, from Sarah’s maid, Hagar.
On Sarah’s insistence, Abraham sent Hagar and Ishmael away to perish in the wilderness of Beersheba. But God had another plan. With divine assistance, she discovered a well that enabled them to survive.
HISTORICAL CONTEXT
Tradition indicates Moses authored this book as a compilation of stories handed down through the generations. It contains a history of the world and the ancestors of the Jewish race, men and women whom God called, watched over, and blessed.
Moreover, Genesis was written for the Israelites whom Moses led from captivity in Egypt toward the “promised land,” which I think includes Moriah, where Abraham traveled to offer Isaac! If that’s the case, I can see this writing connecting those former slaves to important ancestors and helping them establish a new identity as heirs to all of God’s promises.
Wow! As I write this, the Spirit is showing me a similarity between the literal Egyptian slaves, who would be the first audience for this book, and believers, whom Paul describes as former slaves taking on a new identity in Christ. How awesome is that?!
INTERLINEAR RESEARCH
I was most interested in learning more about the phrase will provide since it appears in both of my focus verses (twice in v14). This word is a translation of the Hebrew yir ’eh-, a form of raah (H7200), meaning to see. It’s the same root used in Genesis 1 to describe God’s actions when He saw that [each item He created] was good, and it connected my thoughts to Hagar’s statement, You are a God of seeing [or who sees me]. That made me think of our current expression to see to it, meaning to provide for or make sure something happens. I have definitely seen this aspect of God’s character in my life, especially since I was saved thirty years ago this month!
I also noticed Abraham’s response to Isaac’s question (v8) refers to God as ’Ĕ·lō·hîm (H430). This is a different designation than the acronym YHWH used in v14 and in our previous studies of God’s names (LORD, my Shepherd, and LORD of Hosts). According to biblehub.com, it’s a plural noun but appears with singular conjugation verbs, conveying God’s superlative majesty with a nod to His identity of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit in One.
In contrast, Abraham’s name for the sacrifice site and the axiom mentioning it (v14) refer to God as LORD or Yah-weh [YHWH] (H3068). This name is used in covenant context and was featured in both our previous studies in this series: YHWH Tsaba (Lord of Hosts) and YHWH Ra’ah (Lord, my Shepherd), where I quoted from biblehub.com’s information page describing YHWH as denoting the personal, faithful, sovereign God who creates, redeems, judges, and dwells with His people. To me, this reflects the relationship Abraham had with God and what we can also have with him. Isn’t it awesome that the most high God (Elohim) is also our personal and faithful God (YHWH) who keeps His promises?!
Dig-In Challenges
Here’s my study plan for the coming week if you want to work along with me:
- PRAY, of course.
- REFINE: Consult a concordance or online cross-reference study tool [I’ll be going here and here] to find and read through the available cross-references for your focus verse(s) and log what the Spirit shows you.
NOTE: For your study, follow one of the above links, then use the Prev or Next buttons below the verse text to go to your focus verse(s).
- REFINE: Next, compare at least a few other translations of your focus verse(s) and write about what you find in your study journal. I’m planning to compare the ESV, AMP, NIV, NLT, and GNT versions starting with this biblehub.com page. After following this link, you can navigate to your verse(s) by entering the reference in the Enter Reference or Keyword box at the top of the page and clicking the spyglass icon there.
- REFINE: Last, I plan to check a few commentaries on my focus verses, Genesis 22:8 and 14. If you already have a favorite study Bible or commentary, feel free to review it, too. If you don’t, I recommend bibleref.com if you’re new to the Bible or Bible study: it’s easy to follow and you can find information about the whole book and certain passages.
If you’re looking for something with more detail, try checking the commentary section of StudyLight.org. There, you can access multiple verse-by-verse commentaries on Genesis 22:1-19 by clicking the box for your focus verse, then clicking the name of the commentary listed immediately under the text of the verse you chose. I recommend you review more than one commentary and listen to the Spirit’s guidance on them
I encourage you to do what you can this week to dig deeper into God’s Word. I know you’ll find immense treasure there. And I hope you’ll check in with me again next week!
GO TO WEEK 7 >
by Jen | Jun 16, 2026 | 1-19, DISO studies, Genesis 22
NEW TO THIS STUDY? START HERE.
Wow! I have so much to share with you this week—let’s get right to it.
Last Week’s Work
COMPARISONS
I found just one instance of a literal comparison in this text: in v17, as the second blessing, the angel said the LORD declared for Abraham that He would surely multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven and as the sand that is on the seashore.
As I’ve been studying this passage, though, I’ve felt the Spirit draw me to another comparison connected with my previous knowledge of God’s Word: how Abraham’s willing sacrifice of his only son, Isaac, is similar to God’s willing sacrifice of His only begotten son, Jesus. In fact, Abraham’s statement God will provide the lamb seems prophetic when considered that at Calvary, Jesus became the Lamb who took the place of all Christians to die on the wood of a Roman cross (as the ram took Isaac’s place and died on the wood of the altar on Mount Moriah).
CAUSES/MOTIVATION
Reason: [God] said to [Abraham], Take your son…, Isaac… and go to… Moriah and offer him there…
Connector: So [therefore]
Action: Abraham rose and took his son… Isaac… to the place.
Action: the angel told Abraham, “Do not lay your hand on the boy or do anything to him…”
Connector: for [because]
Reason: now I know… you fear God, seeing you have not withheld your son… from me.
Reason: Abraham… offered [the ram] as a burnt offering instead of his son
Connector: So [therefore]
Action: Abraham called… that place, “The LORD will provide.”
The next two causes in the ESV translation stood out to me: I can’t remember ever seeing another instance where two reasons are attached to a single action like this. It certainly made me pause and reflect on what the angel was telling Abraham!
Action: [the angel said,] “I will surely bless Abraham, and … multiply his offspring, and he shall possess the gate of his enemies, and in him, all the nations… shall be blessed.”
Connector: because
Reason 1: Abraham had [offered Isaac as a burnt offering] and had not withheld his son…,
Connector: [and] because
Reason 2: [Abraham had] obeyed [the LORD’s] voice.
CONDITIONS/METHODS
The Spirit brought my attention to the steps Abraham took in obedience to God’s command: he quickly embarked on the three-day journey to the place of the sacrifice, taking what he needed with him, including Isaac. There, Abraham restrained Isaac and physically put him on the altar to kill him, stopping only when the angel intervened.
I cannot imagine being in that position, especially when Isaac asked about the lamb. I think Abraham’s answer explains how he was able to do what he did: his faith in God was so strong, he had no doubt the LORD would provide either a substitute or another Isaac. How I wish I had that kind of faith!
Dig-In Challenges
This coming week, I’m planning to:
- PRAY. Of course!
- REFINE my understanding of this text by making a note of all the types of writing (instruction, law, letter, narrative, poetry, and/or prophecy) I discover in Genesis 22:1-19, then skimming the text before and after these verses to ensure I haven’t taken this story out of its literal context and to see if the author provides other details related to my personal treasure.
- REFINE: Next, I’ll research the book’s historical context by referencing an Introduction to the book of Genesis, starting here. If you’re working along with me, note any relevant or interesting facts you uncover in your review of these materials. Based on the writing type (from step 2, above) and what you discover in the introduction, should Genesis 22:1-19 be interpreted literally?
- REFINE: Last, I’ll be looking up the meaning of a few words and phrases from my focus verses using an interlinear Bible tool. I like Biblehub.com’s Hebrew tool for this research. To use it, follow the link above. You can quickly access a verse by selecting it from the dropdown box showing 22:1 at the top of your screen, or you can scroll to it by clicking the right-pointing arrow (to the right of the verse citation, Genesis 22:1) for higher numbered verses. Once you locate the verse, click the number in the Strong’s column that corresponds to the English word or phrase you’re researching. Note anything the Spirit highlights for you in the information provided.
I encourage you to use these tools and dig as much as you can this week. I pray the Spirit will bless your efforts, my friend!
GO TO WEEK 6 >
by Jen | Jun 9, 2026 | 1-19, DISO studies, Genesis 22
NEW TO THIS STUDY? START HERE.
Hello again! Did the Spirit show you anything exciting in your review of the text this week? Here’s what I discovered.
Last Week’s Work
REPETITION
This time the Spirit called my attention to four items:
- Offer/offering occurs seven times in six verses. Two things stood out to me as I reviewed this:
(A) God commanded Isaac be offered, not sacrificed as a burnt offering. There’s a difference between offering something (as in making it available) and sacrificing it (as in permanently giving it up), but I didn’t really catch that until the Spirit showed me this repeated concept!
(B) Abraham didn’t use either word to describe what he and Isaac would be doing while the young men accompanying them stayed with the donkey. Instead, he called it worship!
- The statement Here I am, which was Abraham’s response to God, to Isaac, and to the angel on the mountain. Abraham answered everyone who called upon him the same way, making himself available to all of them.
- Your only son, the statement by which God and the angel (here and here) described Isaac to Abraham.
Technically, I know that Isaac was not Abraham’s only son when they traveled to Moriah in Genesis 20. In Genesis 16, Sarai (Abra[ha]m’s aged wife who’d clearly given up on God’s plan to produce a child through her womb) told him to procreate with her slave Hagar. He did, and she produced a son named Ishmael, Isaac’s older step-brother. While God honored Abraham’s request and indicated Ishmael would also father a nation, He made it clear that Isaac was the son through whom the covenant promises would be fulfilled.
- The phrases will provide / shall be provided appear three times: once describing what Abraham expected God to do about a sacrificial lamb rather than requiring Abraham to murder his own child and twice designating the site on which this act of salvation occurred.
SPECIAL STATEMENTS
I noted:
LISTS
I noticed four elements of the burnt offering described in this study passage:
- wood, brought from home, laid on Isaac, mentioned in Isaac’s question about the sacrifice, and formed the base on which Abraham nearly sacrificed Isaac;
- a fire,
- a knife, and
- the lamb.
The four-part blessing Abraham received for offering Isaac—God would
- surely bless Abraham,
- multiply Abraham’s offspring,
- ensure Abraham’s offspring would possess the gate of his enemies, and
- bless all nations in Abraham’s offspring.
Dig-In Challenges
This week, let’s wrap up Step 3 by:
- PRAYING the prayer we wrote for Step 1.
- MINING comparisons by reading through the passage again, looking for statements of difference or similarity in or related to your focus verses. These may be statements featuring key words such as [not] like, as, is, are, or of; qualitative comparisons indicating how one item is more or less than another; and/or contrasts that highlight or discuss how one concept differs from another.
- MINING: Next, look for causes or motives by focusing on key words or phrases I call cause connectors. In the ESV translation of this study text, look for the connectors because, for (where it means because), and so (where it means therefore) in your focus verses, then check the text surrounding the connector for an action and the reason or explanation for that action. For example: in the sentence, I went to the store, for I was out of milk,
the action = I went to the store
for [because]
the reason = I was out of milk.
NOTE: the words for and so don’t always connect actions and reasons. To determine if they do in your verses, read the sentences containing them while substituting the word because in place of for, and therefore in place of so. If the sentence(s) created from this exercise make(s) sense and mean(s) the same as the original, look for the action statement before the for and the stated reason after the for; but with so/therefore, the reason will appear first, and the action statement will come after: I was out of milk, so [therefore], I went to the store.
- MINING: Finally, see if you can find any conditions for action in this narrative and/or descriptions of how action happens or should happen.
– For example, does the text say if or when a certain condition exists, some action takes place?
And/or
– Does the author describe a method or process (for example, specific steps) taken to achieve something?
Or
– Does he indicate how action is accomplished more generally by or through attributes or actions? For example, … saved by grace, through faith (Ephesians 2:8).
Finally,
– Does the text include any adverbs (typically words ending in ly) that describe how action happens?
These exercises are a bit more involved, but I’m confident you can do this with the Holy Spirit! Don’t forget to check your How to Dig Into Scripture Ourselves guide, and you can always reach out to me at [email protected] if you have questions.
GO TO WEEK 5 >
by Jen | Jun 2, 2026 | 1-19, DISO studies, Genesis 22
NEW TO THIS STUDY? START HERE.
Welcome back! I hope you’ve had a chance to connect with Genesis 22 in a meaningful way this past week.
As I prayed over my huh?s and “wow!”s from last week, the Spirit drew me directly to verse 8, which made me question how Abraham knew God would provide the lamb and also marvel that his response to Isaac’s question wasn’t completely candid. I also connected with verse 14, especially the phrase on the mount of the LORD it shall be provided. I can’t help but be amazed at how both these verses also connect to our series topic (the names of God)!
Last Week’s Work
Here’s what I discovered as I focused on the setting of our study verses.
WHO (CHARACTERS)
I noticed four key players:
As I considered these characters’ interactions, I was reminded of my observation last week that God only spoke to Abraham when he was alone, and an angel directed Abraham when he was in the presence of others. I think that’s significant, and I hope, as this study progresses, the Spirit will help me really understand that significance!
WHERE (LOCATION)
This story begins with Abraham living in the land of the Philistines. He’s directed by God to go to the land of Moriah to sacrifice his only son on a mountain there. After Abraham passes the test, he sees a ram caught in a thicket on the mountain and sacrifices the ram instead. Abraham subsequently names the place of the sacrifice the LORD will provide. And after this episode, Abraham relocated to Beersheba.
WHEN (TIME FRAMES)
I noticed two specific timeframes in this passage:
- Early in the morning (when Abraham left home and traveled to Moriah); and
- On the third day of the journey (when the place God designated for Isaac’s sacrifice finally came into view). Seems to me that’s a long way to go and a long time to think about what Abraham knew he’d be giving up when they reached their destination!.
Dig-In Challenges
Here’s my plan for this week (feel free to work along with me if you like!):
- PRAY the prayer I wrote last week before I study. Then I’ll…
- MINE: Look for repeated words or phrases in this passage and check for synonyms or pronouns that refer to the same concepts.
- MINE: Locate any special statements (blessings, commands, curses, prayers, promises, requests, and/or warnings) in the passage.
- MINE: Note any lists (3 or more similar items) mentioned in Genesis 22:1-19.
- Record what the Spirit prompts so I can use it in Steps 4 and 5.
Remember, you can download this printable summary of the DISO process for more specific instructions.
I’ll share what I discover with you next week, so I hope you’ll join me then.
GO TO WEEK 4 >
by Jen | May 26, 2026 | 1-19, DISO studies, Genesis 22
NEW TO THIS STUDY? START HERE.
Hello! This post is set to publish the day after Memorial Day in the United States. On that day, we honor war fighters who gave their lives to advance freedom and democracy throughout the world. As the wife of a combat veteran, this holiday represents more than picnics and parades. God bless all the men and women who have served our country in any capacity where their lives have been on the line. And God bless the families who’ve lost loved ones on any battlefield, foreign, domestic, or internal. May their souls rest in peace.
Speaking of battles, let’s look at my work from this past week on what surely had to be a monumental internal conflict for Abraham in Genesis 22:1-19.
Last Week’s Work
MY PRAYER
Thank You, Father God, for Your Word and what I’m learning about Your character in this series! As I focus on Genesis 22:1-19, help me see, hear, and understand the lessons You have for me. Teach me what I need to know and do to faithfully represent You to everyone I meet. I ask this in Jesus’s name. Amen.
HUH? and WOW! MOMENTS
Here are my reactions as I read Genesis 22:1-19 this week:
WOW!s
HUH?s
Dig-In Challenges
If you’re working on your own study, listen to the Spirit’s guidance this week and choose one of your Huh?s or Wow!s to be your personal treasure, the topic on which you’ll focus your attention as we dig deeper into Genesis 22:1-19. This can be anything you noticed in your survey of the text that raises a question or resonates with you, or you can use one of my responses above if you like.
- PRAY for the Spirit to direct your focus for the remainder of this study. Then, in your journal, record the personal treasure He identifies, along with any verse(s) relating to it from the study text.
- MINE: Read Genesis 22:1-19, focusing on three factors setting the stage in this text: note anything the Spirit emphasizes about the characters involved, any locations mentioned, and any timeframes discussed.
I’m looking forward to sharing my notes with you next week!!
GO TO WEEK 3 >
