Abraham stretched out his hand and took the knife to slay his son.
But the angel of Yahweh called to him from heaven and said, “Abraham, Abraham!”
And he said, “Here I am.”
The angel said, “Do not stretch out your hand against the lad, and do nothing to him; for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from Me.” (Gen. 22:10-12)

If God hadn’t commented on this scene, then we could get away with pretending that Abraham didn’t really believe God would make him go through with it. But God’s response to Abraham’s actions gives us a clear view into Abraham’s heart. He had every intention of murdering his son in order to please his God. He wasn’t going to hold anything back, Covenant or no Covenant.

So what was the point of this traumatic ordeal which must have permanently damaged the trust between father and son? God has already told us what the point was.

“—for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from Me.” (Gen. 22:12)

This whole thing was about correcting Abraham’s slipping priorities. Why was there ever a question that God wasn’t first in Abraham’s life? Because the promised child was becoming a bit too important in the old man’s eyes. God was starting to feel crowded, so He came up with a way to swiftly get Abraham back on track. By now, Abraham and God have a long personal history together. They have a solid bond. God isn’t about to let His little man slip away without a fight. When you’ve waited twenty-five years for God to give you a son you desperately want, it’s hard not to start obsessing. Abraham has already driven away his first son Ishmael for Isaac’s sake. Isaac is the shining star of the family—the heir to all of his father’s great wealth. No doubt he was spoiled rotten and probably a bit of a brat. But when God saw that Abraham was getting too attached to his son, He made His move. God wants to be first—totally first, not sharing the position with someone else. Isaac needed to be shoved way back from God’s throne in Abraham’s heart.

Personally destroying something you care about is a very powerful way to detach yourself from that thing. If I take a hammer to your phone, then you will think I was a jerk and fixate over the loss of something that was very important to you. But if you’re going to be the one who smashes your own possession, then a different mental process must take place. First you must choose to sever whatever heart bond you have formed with the object that you’re going to destroy. And once you make this mental shift, it’s never the same again. When Abraham looked at Isaac after God called off His test, he no longer saw someone he couldn’t stand to lose. Instead, he saw someone that he was willing to throw away for God’s sake. This ordeal had a very powerful, long-lasting effect on Abraham’s mind and soul. For Isaac, it had to have been extremely traumatic. A boy is going to be cautious about moving within dad’s reach again after he’s been seized and bound. No doubt there was a healthy distance between these two as they made the long journey home again. No doubt Isaac was extremely glad to run into his mother’s protective embrace. And yet the damaged trust would have only worked in Yahweh’s favor by preventing the previous bond of intimacy from being restored to its original strength.