After 10 chapters, we’ve reached the big moment – Abraham is asked to sacrifice Isaac to God.
We met Abram back in chapter 11. He lied to some kings, built some altars, has a covenant with God, and has a son in his old age to fulfill the promise that he would be the father of many nations.
And now, in chapter 22, God has a test.
Some time later God tested Abraham. He said to him,
“Abraham!”
“Here I am,” he replied.
Then God said, “Take your son, your only son, whom you love—Isaac—and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on a mountain I will show you.”
Abraham takes some servants, his donkey, his son Isaac, and plenty of wood. They head for the location of the sacrifice. Isaac notices the sacrificial lamb is missing, and speaks up:
“Father?”
“Yes, my son?” Abraham replied.
“The fire and wood are here,” Isaac said, “but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?”
Abraham answered, “God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.” And the two of them went on together.
After reassuring him, Abraham continues with the preparations to sacrifice Isaac:
When they reached the place God had told him about, Abraham built an altar there and arranged the wood on it. He bound his son Isaac and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. Then he reached out his hand and took the knife to slay his son. But the angel of the Lord called out to him from heaven, “Abraham! Abraham!”
“Here I am,” he replied.
“Do not lay a hand on the boy,” he said. “Do not do anything to him. Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son.”
Abraham looked up and there in a thicket he saw a ram caught by its horns. He went over and took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering instead of his son. So Abraham called that place The Lord Will Provide. And to this day it is said, “On the mountain of the Lord it will be provided.”
In the end, Abraham walks away with his son, and a promise from God:
The angel of the Lord called to Abraham from heaven a second time and said, “I swear by myself, declares the Lord, that because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, I will surely bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will take possession of the cities of their enemies, and through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed me.”
————————————————–
This is a tough story to digest. The teaching is that Abraham showed faith, and this was righteous. But is it really? I see two ways to interpret this:
- Abraham didn’t know what God’s intention was, but trusted him, so he was truly willing to stab his son Isaac.
- Abraham knew God wouldn’t require him to kill Isaac, so he went through with it until God stopped him, like he knew He would.
Either way, I struggle to see what is so admirable here. We either have a willingness to commit murder, or we have Abraham calling God’s bluff, or winning the game of chicken.
God tested Abraham’s faith by asking him to sin?
Another question here is why God would use this as his test. Killing his son Isaac would have been a sin.
Imagine if God used another type of sinful scenario to test Abraham. What if he told Abraham to rape some women, and kidnap their children? Would it be holy for Abraham to begin going through with the plan until God stops him? Would this be a great display of faith, because Abraham only started the plan because he knew God would stop him?
It’s nutty! “Hey Abraham, do something I don’t want you to do, because I want to see if you know I will stop you before you do it.”
Another interpretation
I think it worth noting, I did read anther interpretation once, I believe it was in the book ‘The Gift of the Jews’, which was that this almost-sacrifice was a symbol of God doing away with child sacrifice, declaring that his religion would not require such horrible acts which the religions of old had required. This is a beautiful and meaningful interpretation, but the Bible itself only explains this story in terms of Abraham’s faith, and never explains it symbolically. What I think of is Paul explaining in Romans 4:3 that “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.”
This is the dilemma I find myself in with the Bible. There are wonderful ways to take meaning from it, but the meaning it provides for itself is a mess :/
God needs to make his covenant to Abraham again?
Another point of confusion for me here is the fact that God promises to make Abraham’s descendants as numerous as the stars and the sand because of his willingness to sacrifice Isaac. I thought God already made this promise to Abraham when he changed his name from Abram to Abraham. But now, it sounds as though God is promising it only because of Abraham’s show of faith, or sacrifice.