God Put Abraham Through Hell
A journey from childlessness to the father of a heavenly kingdom
You may say there is nothing so brutal or excruciating that Abraham endured, certainly nothing like what Job or the early Christians endured, to state that he endured hell. That is true; however, the external trials we go through may differ for everyone, but the internal conflict is what needs our attention now.
In a story, the characters’ wants, needs, values, and the conflicts that emerge through them drive the plot. However, in many great stories, the goal of the author is the internal transformation.
If you think you have given your life to an author who could write a great story, you better know that he will put you through hell to tell a great story through you.
Now, speaking about trials and testing, I thought God tested Abraham to see if he would truly obey him. If we see testing as a method God uses to evaluate us, I believe we have missed the point. We have misunderstood him as an examiner rather than an author. It is silly to think that God doesn’t know until Abraham proves it.
However, there is also another idea across the Bible where testing is compared with the refining of silver or gold. I think that is close to what authors do to their characters. Every person God chooses, he transforms into His image, by removing the impurities through fire. We call this process sanctification.
That is exactly what we do not want. Foolishly, we think comfort and pleasure are God’s blessings.
We humans are notoriously stubborn about change. We do not change until we are forced to. In great stories, authors put their characters through hell because that is the only way to change.
As I study character arcs in fiction writing, I am slowly trying to understand that the important aspect of any story is character transformation, and there is no transformation without conflict.
“Somehow, we realize that great stories are told in conflict, but we are unwilling to embrace the potential greatness of the story we are actually in. We think God is unjust, rather than a master storyteller.” — Donald Miller.
But why transformation, you may ask. It is because life is a journey from one spiritual/emotional/intellectual place to another. From a biblical point of view, salvation is a journey from death to new creation. A journey, not a ticket to heaven after you die, as many of us believe.
Character arc could be positive or negative. Nevertheless, what is this transformation about? In positive arcs, it could be a journey from lie to the truth, from chaos to order, etc.
Abraham’s external journey is from the land of his birth to the promised land. Yet, his internal journey, I think, is a journey from barrenness to eternal flourishing, as one who had no heir, to a father of all the faithful from all nations.
How did that happen? It just began by simply believing God’s promise. If God has given the son he promised at the beginning, there is no story for us. The Bible would have just recorded that Abraham lived some years and fathered so-and-so children. The transformation that came through conflict is the goal.
We humans don’t like trouble. We are not really interested in the positive transformation that the author thinks. Because we believe we are generally good, and it is the problems that we need to eliminate.
Regardless, authors don’t look that way; they see the character that is flawed and use their wants, needs, values and conflict to refine them as pure gold. In a positive arc, the conflicts help the character discover the truth and confront the lies he has been believing. In a negative arc, it makes them worse.
The authors challenge the character to act in accordance with the truth. At this important plot point, a transformed character is ready to sacrifice everything for the truth, even though everything is going against him. Confronts the lies at the climax and proves to be a new person.
All that Abraham wanted was a son, but what God wanted to make of him was the Father of a great nation. A nation that God would call his own, a faithful people of many nations.
If you see the back story, just before God called Abram, we see the Tower of Babel episode where God divided mankind according to the number of the sons of God.
“When the Most High gave to the nations their inheritance, when he divided mankind, he fixed the borders of the peoples according to the number of the sons of God.” Deuteronomy 32:8
In this context, we can see that God is raising his people through a man of faith.
I think Abram did not fully understand this. He merely wants a son so that his household does not become an inheritance to his servant Eliezer. He was fine with Ismael as his heir.
When God gave him a son out of all odds after a long period, he discovered the truth that he needed to know. I think the truth that he came to know is that it is not just about Abraham’s son, but it is about God making him a father of a heavenly kingdom. “For he was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God.” Hebrews 11:10
Now, at the climax of his story, God asks him to sacrifice his only son. It is not an easy battle, but I think he could sense where this is heading. When asked where the lamb for the sacrifice was, he said, “God will provide for himself…”. I think he now knew well that it is not just about him or his son, but about God’s nation. Therefore, God will provide for himself. He willingly offered up his son and even himself for that truth in an act of worship.
Abraham would have chosen a negative character arc and rejected the truth about God’s nation, and kept his son. But the beauty is, the hell did not overcome him but rather refined him purer and made him the father of God’s heavenly nation, that today by faith I too could become a child of Abraham. Abraham’s willingness to sacrifice in worship to the Lord is the foundation for God to carve out a nation for himself and make him the father of all his people.
We have, in many ways, lost the truth that the goal of the gospel story is to transform those who believe into the image of Christ. But to think that we can be transformed into the image of Christ without trials and testing is wishful thinking.
“Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.” Romans 5:3–5
Some blame God, others Satan for their troubles. Many pious Christians normally have a belief that sees trials as persecution by evil people, so we blame others for our problems or even fight against them, or they think of them as a punishment for their sins. Naively, we believe that a godly person has no trouble. Some even pretend to be happy and trouble-free, to let everyone know that they are godly.
We may not clearly know why we end up in battles even when we walk righteously, but for a follower of Jesus, it is good to remember that the goal of our battles is transformation, not blaming others.
“Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.” Matthew 5:11,12
“For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.” Romans 8:29
If you call yourself a follower of Jesus, joyfully carry your cross every day. That is the only way to be transformed like your risen Lord. Reject the lies about yourself. Hold on to the Truth, who is Christ and his promise, into whom you are being transformed. The author of your faith is writing a great story that will be told for eternity. Isn’t that wonderful? Don’t choose a bitter ending.
