President Hugh B. Brown said that God commanded Abraham to sacrifice Isaac because “Abraham needed to learn something about Abraham”.

Abraham must have wept bitterly at the thought of having to sacrifice not only his son, the one he loved and cherished, but also to his knowledge, he was sacrificing the very promise that the Lord had given him. But Abraham needed to learn about himself, and prove his love to the Lord. He must have wondered in agony if God had indeed lied to him. How could God ask him to sacrifice the very miracle he and Sarah had been given? The very gift through which the promise of the Lord would be fulfilled?

Oh, he must have indeed wept with sorrow. Yet his enduring faith, and his covenant with the Lord, convinced him of the necessity of obeying. And obey he did.

What must have Isaac felt when he realized that his beloved father was to sacrifice him? He, too, must have known of the mission that God had for him. He too must have known that it was through him that Abraham's seed would flourish throughout the earth. Yet he did not struggle. He loved his father, and he loved his God. Even at such a young age he was willing to be sacrificed and also sacrifice all that the Lord had promised to him as well.

Elder Dallin H. Oaks said: “This story … shows the goodness of God in protecting Isaac and in providing a substitute (the ram in the thicket) so he would not have to die. Because of our sins and our mortality, we, like Isaac, are condemned to death. When all other hope is gone, our Father in Heaven provides the Lamb of God, and we are saved by his sacrifice”.

Abraham needed to learn something about Abraham. Isaac needed to learn something about Isaac.

Michelle needs to learn something about Michelle.