Genesis 22 | Jen Cason | Digging into Scripture Ourselves

Genesis 22:1-19 Step 1: Pray & Step 2 Survey

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

We find out right away the purpose of this scenario: God is testing Abraham.
And Abraham responds, Here I am. Seems he says that more than once.
Moriah was more than a three-day journey for Abraham; it seems like giving up his only child wasn’t the only sacrifice Abraham made that week.
Pretty astute of Abraham to not be completely candid about the original planned sacrifice; see also my HUH? about this response, below.
Abraham certainly seems committed to killing his son.
Interesting how the ram was caught behind Abraham (unlike the carving above, huh?!).
Really drawn to this language: on the mount of the LORD it shall be provided.

HUH?s

Why the distinction, your only son Isaac?
What’s the significance of the location: Moriah?
Whoa! Give up your child as a burnt offering? Wasn’t that what the pagans did?
What a response to Isaac’s question, God will provide for himself the lamb. How did Abraham know that?
At the beginning, God speaks directly to Abraham; but later, an angel speaks to him. Any significance to this change?
What does the angel mean, I know that you fear God?
What does your offspring shall possess the gate of his enemies mean?

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 >

Genesis 22:1-19 DISO Study Introduction

by Jen | May 19, 2026 | 1-19, DISO studies, Genesis 22, Introduction, Jen

Hello! Thank you for joining me for this new eight-week study! This time, we’re looking at YHWH Yir·’eh-, The LORD will provide through a study of Genesis 22:1-19. This is my third God Who? study, in which I’m looking to learn as much as I can about the many names of God found in Scripture. I can’t wait to see what the Holy Spirit will reveal over the next eight weeks!

Let’s Study Genesis 22:1-19!

This week, I’ll begin by praying and surveying Genesis 22:1-19. If you want to study on your own with me, here’s what I recommend you have ready:

A copy of Genesis 22:1-19.
I like to refer often to the text I’m studying and sometimes make notes on it, so I copy the passage from blueletterbible.org, paste it into a word processing program like Google Docs or MS Word, change the formatting to suit my preferences, and print it out. If you want to use the ESV translation, here’s a pdf of my Scripture study sheet with lots of room for doodles and notes.
A study journal.
We’ll spend the next seven weeks immersed in and learning about Genesis 22:1-19. Since the work we’ll do each week builds on what came before, plan to record at least some highlights from your work over the coming weeks. I’m old-school and like the pen-and-paper method for journaling my studies, but it’s okay if that doesn’t work for you. If you don’t have time to write out or type your notes, consider dictating them into a notes app or recording audio files instead.

Or, you may decide to just try a few of the steps on your own as you feel led and/or read my notes posted here. That’s great, too. You’ll get familiar with the process and see how the Spirit speaks to my situation. Either way, I appreciate you checking in with me, even if you can’t dig into Genesis 22:1-19 yourself right now.

Dig-In Challenges

So, here’s how I’ll be studying this week:

PRAY: I’ll be creating a prayer with which I’ll start each of my weekly study sessions. Full disclosure: I usually just adapt a previous prayer. Though I’ve pretty much memorized it, I still write my prayer in my study journal as a reminder to pray each time I study this text this way.
SURVEY: Then I’ll read Genesis 22:1-19, noting anything that makes me say, “huh?” (as in, “I wonder what that means?”) or “wow” (as in, “that is so awesome!”). I’ll record these and later ask the Spirit to direct me to the one I should dig into right now.

If you’d like more information about Steps 1-5, check out this printable summary of the process I’ll be using. Or, you can always reach out to me with your questions through my contact page or at [email protected]. I’m looking forward to sharing what I discover in this process with you. I hope you’ll make a habit of checking in with me each week!

GO TO WEEK 2 >