See Genesis xxii.

This engraving represents one of the most striking examples of faith recorded in sacred history. Isaac was the only son of Abraham and Sarah the child of their old age. Around him clustered all the sweetest incidents of home with him was associated with the prophecy of future greatness for their descendants; for the promise had been made to Abraham that through Isaac he should become the father of many nations. But when the command came to Abraham to take this beloved son and offer him up as a burnt offering unto the Lord, great as was the sacrifice, he bowed in meek submission; unaccountable as must have seemed such a command, his faith in the promises of God was still unshaken. We see the aged patriarch toiling up the mountain, and before him Isaac, bearing the wood for the altar, the boy obedient unto his father, the father obedient unto God. In these verses from the Bible is the story related:

"And it came to pass after these things, that God did tempt Abraham, and said unto him, Abraham. And he said, Behold, here I am. And he said, Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the Mountains which I will tell thee of.

"And Abraham rose up early in the morning, and saddled his ass, and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son, and clave the wood for the burnt offering, and rose up, and went to the place of which God had told him. Then on the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes, and saw the place afar off. And Abraham said unto his young men, Abide you here with the ass, and I and the lad will go yonder and worship, and come again to you. And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering, and laid it upon Isaac his son; and he took the fire in his hand, and a knife; and they went both of them together. And Isaac spake unto Abraham his father, and said, My father: and he said, Here am I, my son. And he said, behold the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering And Abraham said, My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering. So they went both of them together. And they came to the place which God had told him of, and Abraham built an Altar there, and laid the wood in order, and bound Isaac his son, and laid him on the Altar upon the wood. And Abraham stretched forth his hand, and took the knife to slay his son. And the Angel of the Lord called unto him out of heaven, and said, Abraham. Abraham. And he said, Here am I. And he said, Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou anything unto him: for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son from me. And Abraham lifted up his eyes, and looked, and behold, behind him a Ram, caught in a thicket by his horns: and Abraham went and took the Ram, and offered him up for a burnt offering, in the stead of his son. And Abraham called the name of that place Jehovah- jireh, as it is said to this day, In the Mount of the Lord it shall be seen. And the Angel of the Lord called unto Abraham out of heaven the second time, and said, By myself have I sworn, saith the Lord, for because thou hast done this thing, and hast not withheld thy son, thine only son, that in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying, I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore, and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed, because thou hast obeyed my voice."