(1) Why does Abraham agree to the request made of him by God? (2) Is Abraham lying in 22:5 and 22:8? (3) What is the God’s intention in making Abraham go through with this ordeal? (4) Is Abraham praiseworthy? Is God?
Abraham agrees to the request made of him by God because he was trying to serve him in any way possible. Leading up to this story, everything that God told Abraham would come true, did eventually come true, such as the birth of their son Isaac. This wasn’t supposed to happen, as Sarah and Abraham were both well beyond the age of producing children. I believe that after witnessing the birth of his son Isaac, Abraham was then willing to do anything possible to serve the Lord. By agreeing to this challenging request, the angels of the Lord then realized that Abraham would even offer up his own son if God had requested him to do so, displaying his obedience as well as fear of God. In those two verses, I believe that Abraham was lying, but there was also some sort of truth behind the lie. When he told Isaac that “God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son,” Abraham was indeed lying, because he knew that the lamb for the burnt offering was supposed to be Isaac. The truth that we was telling in this statement to his son was that God was the one who provided the lamb for the offering, as the Lord provided Abraham and Sarah with their son Isaac.
God’s intention was to discover how loyal and faithful Abraham was to the Lord. The Lord believed that if Abraham would obey this bizarre request, then God could trust that we will carry out and protect their covenant. Abraham and God are both praiseworthy in my opinion. Abraham was requested to carry out an extremely harsh act of violence on his own son by the Lord, yet he still put all of his trust and faith in God and believed that whatever the Lord had planned was going to work itself out. Although God requested such a harsh act for Abraham, God can also be praised for saving Isaac, as He could’ve simply let Abraham carry out the violent act without stopping him.
Pat's Blog 
I never thought about how the birth of Isaac would influence Abraham’s faith. This idea adds more depth to the sacrifice of Isaac later in the Abraham’s life. His trust in God increases as he is given a son at an old age. Yet, it is this faith gained from birth that motivates Abraham to kill his own son. This shows that faith is not dependent on the harshness of a particular circumstance, ideally we must preserve our trust in God.
I disagree with your comment that Abraham was lying. To me, Isaac was the lamb that God offered. Being born to Abraham and Sarah at an age where childbirth was impossible, God gave them a son. This son would later be the metaphorical lamb that Abraham must sacrifice. In this sense, Abraham does not lie.
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I find very interesting your comment regarding how everything God said to Abraham ended up becoming true. Basing ourselves in this statement we can understand that after Abraham’s interactions with God he knows that, if he obeys God, good thing will eventually come his way. As Abraham has seen this happen over and over again he now has full trust in God and is willing to sacrifice his son, as he now trusts that this action, ordered by God, will lead to something bigger and better.
We can also apply this same argument to the “God will provide” sentence. Abraham knows, as you sad, that if it wasn’t because of divine intercession his son wouldn’t have been born. So in a way he knows that his son doesn’t belong to him but rather belongs to his creator. On top of that, Abraham’s trust in God is such that he tells his son that God will provide, saying that if God orders them up without a lamb it is for a reason. It’s almost as if Abraham already knew that something else was going to happen.
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I don’t think that the command was harsh as God never demands anything of us that he has not equipped us to handle or that He believes we are incapable of managing. As such, He always has our best interests at heart and each act is to enable us to grow closer to him and also experience self-growth and realization. Both of which I think Abraham obtained through his willingness to kill Issac. Through this act of complete faith in God, Abraham learned that God would never let him down and would always provide for his needs. Additionally he learned that God truly has his best interest at heart, as He did not let him loose Issac. All these things enabled Abraham to grow closer to God, all while undergoing some internal growth, in regards to his character.
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