Comparing the tradition of Avraham’s many tests to the Biblical text leads us to a question: If, as the rabbis claim, the ten different challenges faced by Avraham are all to be viewed as trials, why does the text only explicitly describe his last ordeal – when he is called to sacrifice Yitzchak – as a trial? Should not the Torah have described all ten incidents as trials?
The more one studies the binding of Yitzchak, however, the more one appreciates the Torah’s creating a special category for this one particular test. In fact, it is so unique that it is the only place in the entire Torah where the word nisa (tested) appears with reference to an individual. While it is almost self-evident that every major decision in Avraham’s life had ramifications for his descendants, more than anything else it is his final test that truly established Avraham’s legacy. The rabbis make this point in explaining that had Avraham failed the last test, it would have put all of his other accomplishments into question. Of course, once we recognize the critical weight of the last test, we come to ask the opposite question: what was the need for all the other trials; if everything depends on the final test, why bother with the other ones at all?
Assuming Avraham to be human, however, the only natural way for him to have passed his ultimate test would be for God to prepare him with graduated ones – each of which would prepare Avraham for the next. For in order for a man to master his challenges, he needs suitable preparation. When someone prepares for a great physical feat such as running a marathon, he must build up his physical stamina one step at a time, running progressively longer distances at each stage. The same is true in the spiritual arena: Emotional stamina will only be built by progressively more difficult spiritual challenges.
Although some of the tests are not clearly elucidated, starting with what appears to be the first test – when God tells Avraham to leave his homeland – each test gets progressively harder. For example, the first test is coupled with Divine promises assuring Avraham that he has nothing to worry about and that he will only benefit from complying with God’s wishes. Such assurances are given to Avraham even though it is a relatively easy request, especially compared to the final one. Still, God’s first explicit command needed to be one that Avraham could obey with minimum discomfort, thereby building his confidence for the tests that would follow.
Among some of Avraham’s major subsequent tests in order of their appearance are his journey to Egypt to escape famine and Sarah’s abduction, first in Egypt and then in Eretz Yisrael. The former is something that Avraham may well have accepted as an unavoidable challenge due to the fluctuating weather patterns of the arid Middle East. Moreover, he had recently completed his earlier move from Charan, so emigration was not totally new to him. This was a greater trial than leaving Charan because this time he received no Divine guidance. In fact, God’s promise regarding his possession of Eretz Yisrael made it more difficult for Avraham to know how to react to a famine that seemed to compromise his hold on the land.
The next test, the abduction of Sarah, was certainly an even greater test of Avraham’s faith in the Divine promises granted him. Now, not only was he stripped of his land, he was also stripped of his wife, who was supposed to bear him the next link in the nascent Jewish people. For Avraham to be a stranger without a land was not completely new. At the same time, whether in Eretz Yisrael or in Egypt, his being a stranger only served to underscore the existential importance of his relationship with Sarah. As a result, the prospect of a life without Sarah was even more difficult for him than the prospect of a life in exile. And so on and so forth.
Thus, each test was there to prepare the ground for the next one. In this way, they were exactly what allowed Avraham to become the Avraham that was fit for the last and monumental test.