Rabbi Levi said: Twice “go you [lekh lekha]” is written,16Here and in Genesis 22:2. but we do not know which is more dear, whether it is the second or the first. From what is written: “[Go you] to the land of Moriah” (Genesis 22:2), we see that the second is more beloved than the first.17In the second, God told him his destination. Rabbi Yoḥanan said: “Go you, from your land” – from your district; “and from your birthplace” – this means your neighborhood; “and from your father’s house” – this means from your father’s household.
Why did he not reveal it [his destination] to him? It was to make it more endearing to him, and to give him a reward for each and every stride. That is in accordance with the opinion of Rabbi Yoḥanan [elsewhere], as Rabbi Yoḥanan said: “He said: Take your son, your only one” (Genesis 20:2). He [Abraham] said to Him: ‘This one is the “only one” to his mother and that one is the “only one” to his mother.’18Both Isaac and Ishmael were the only sons of their respective mothers.
He said to him: “Whom you love” (Genesis 22:2). He said to Him: ‘Are their partitions in the innards?’19Is there any limit on a father’s love for all his sons? He said to him: “Isaac” (Genesis 22:2). Why did He not reveal it to him [immediately]?
It was to make it more endearing to him, and to give him a reward for each and every statement. As Rav Huna said in the name of Rabbi Eliezer son of Rabbi Yosei HaGelili: The Holy One blessed be He withholds [information at first] and keeps the eyes of the righteous directed toward Him, and only then does he reveal to them the particulars of the matter. So: “to the land that I will show you”; “upon one of the mountains that I will say to you” (Genesis 22:2); “proclaim the proclamation that I speak to you” (Jonah 3:2); “Go out to the valley and I will speak to you there” (Ezekiel 3:22).