Genesis 22:5

Abide ye here. The solemn duty Abraham was about to perform seemed to him too sacred for other human eyes and ears. None but God could understand. For two days he had concealed his thoughts and emotions. Isaac was to be the first to know, and the only one to share with him this hour of passion and pathos.

I and the lad. Each of the three verbs of the sequence thus introduced contains the pronoun “we.” The English translation does not reflect the prophetic faith implicit in the Hebrew. Literally, Abraham said to his two servants, “I and the youth, we will go yonder, and we will worship, and we will come again.” Though he did not understand God’s purpose, he did believe that God would raise Isaac from the dead (Heb. 11:19). Had not God promised, without qualification, that Isaac was to be his heir (Gen. 21:12)? Abraham did not anticipate being spared the gruesome act of slaying his own son, but believed that Isaac would be restored to him. Accordingly, he spoke in faith when he said, “We will come again.” Only by faith was it possible not to expect to return alone, to report to the men that with his own hands he had taken the life of his son and offered him to God (see PP 151, 152). The height of his spiritual experience is evident, not only in his unwavering obedience, but also in his unflinching faith in God’s unfailing promises.