> General Discussions
Abraham's Sacrifice of Issac - Why?
Jay:
Greetings, folks -
Another one of those "nagging" questions that I have from the biblical record concerns Abraham's attempted sacrifice of his son, Issac.
Why would God command Abraham to perform an act that is quite obviously against His own law? God commands against committing murder. Would not Abraham binding up his son on an altar, then slashing his throat and then burning him with fire constitute murder? If any parent ever tried this here in our legal system, there's no court in the land that would not exact punishment on that parent. Can we be more righteous than God? Can we have a keener sense of justice than He does? I seriously doubt that.
Isn't this act of placing one's child upon an altar for a sacrifice an abomination that the heathen practiced which drew forth God's condemnation? Did not God state in other places in the bible (can't remember where) that these acts that were committed by the heathen, you know, having their children burned in fire as a sacrifice to their false gods, something that God Himself has stated that such a notion never even entered His mind? If that's the case, then why would it enter into God's mind to have Abraham sacrifice his son in like manner?
Basically, I guess what I'm saying is that I am questioning both the translation and the meaning of that story in the scriptures. Is there anyone that can shed any light on this issue?
Thanks.
God Bless.
Jay
YellowStone:
Hi Jay,
The story of Abraham and Issac has in my belief a deep and meaningful meaning of the promise that was yet to be fullfilled.
Gen 22:2 And he said, Take now thy son, thine only [son] Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of.
Gen 22:3 ¶ And Abraham rose up early in the morning, and saddled his a@@, and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son, and clave the wood for the burnt offering, and rose up, and went unto the place of which God had told him.
Gen 22:4 Then on the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes, and saw the place afar off.
Gen 22:5 And Abraham said unto his young men, Abide ye here with the a@@; and I and the lad will go yonder and worship, and come again to you.
Gen 22:6 And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering, and laid [it] upon Isaac his son; and he took the fire in his hand, and a knife; and they went both of them together.
Gen 22:7 And Isaac spake unto Abraham his father, and said, My father: and he said, Here [am] I, my son. And he said, Behold the fire and the wood: but where [is] the lamb for a burnt offering?
Gen 22:8 And Abraham said, My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering: so they went both of them together.
Gen 22:9 ¶ And they came to the place which God had told him of; and Abraham built an altar there, and laid the wood in order, and bound Isaac his son, and laid him on the altar upon the wood.
Gen 22:10 And Abraham stretched forth his hand, and took the knife to slay his son.
Gen 22:11 And the angel of the LORD called unto him out of heaven, and said, Abraham, Abraham: and he said, Here [am] I.
Gen 22:12 And he said, Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou any thing unto him: for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only [son] from me.
Here we can see the connection between the ONLY son of Abraham and the ONLY son of God. :)
Gen 22:13 And Abraham lifted up his eyes, and looked, and behold behind [him] a ram caught in a thicket by his horns: and Abraham went and took the ram, and offered him up for a burnt offering in the stead of his son.
Here we see the ram being slain as a substitute for Isaac, in remarkably the same way that the Jesus Christ the man, was slain on behalf of all mankind.
I do not believe that the moral of the story has anything to do with committing murder, because this was not Gods plan. I believe it was instead used as a prelude of the promise to come.
Well that's my take on it.
Great question.....
Love in Christ,
Darren
YellowStone:
Hi Jay,
I want to add to the gross mistranslation of the King Jams in this story.
Gen 22:1 ¶ And it came to pass after these things, that God did tempt Abraham, and said unto him, Abraham: and he said, Behold, [here] I [am].
God did not TEMP Abraham, but rather tested him. We can learn more of this by looking at the Hebrew word translated "temp."
Temp - Hebrew for nacah {naw-saw'} [05254]
1) to test, try, prove, tempt, assay, put to the proof or test
a) (Piel)
1) to test, try
2) to attempt, assay, try
3) to test, try, prove, tempt
Test is the first meaning and God's on words spoken through his Angel gives us witness to this:
Gen 22:12 And he said, Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou any thing unto him: for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only [son] from me.
Of course God already knew, so this is not the message. The truth behind God's words is that Abraham could know that God was indeed testing him, and that his faith withstood the test.
How many of us who are Fathers today, measure up as Abraham did. Not many I bet :) Could be that it is because Angels don't ask us to do things like that.
Thanks and love in Christ,
Darren
DWIGHT:
"By faith Abraham, when he was tried, offered up Isaac: and he that had received the promises offered up his only begotten son." Heb. 11:17
At the time of this offering of Isaac, there was no law of Moses, there was only the promise of God to Abraham that he would be the father of many nations. His wife Sarah was barren and old past her time of life. His other son Ishmael, was the son of the bondwoman Hagar which was a type of the law. The promise was through Sarah who was a type of Jerusalem which is above, which is the mother of us all and came by faith. Without faith it is impossible to please Him.
Abraham knew that the promise was made through Sarah, that's why when God told him to sacrifice his only begotten son, by faith Abraham believed God that God would provide a sacrifice. This is law verses faith, called verses chosen, death verses life, darkness verses light, etc. etc. It is an alegory showing us that the just shall live by faith.
Darren's right, God did not tempt Abraham but tested his faith as He tests our faith daily. Romans 4:22
"And therefore it was imputed to him for righteousness." Hope this helps Jay.
In Him,
Dwight
Jay:
Thanks, Yellowstone and Dwight. I understand the part about Abraham and his only son being a type of God the Father sacrificing His only Son for the sins of the world. One thing that I thought of just a little while ago and Dwight touched on in. That being the faith that Abraham displayed which was accounted to him for righteousness. Maybe it was this God-given faith that constrained Abraham to go through with God's command BECAUSE Abraham knew that, since Isaac was the child of promise that God Himself would raise up Isaac from the dead in order to keep His promise. Then I found this scripture: Hebrews 11:17-19 - By faith Abraham, when he was tried, offered up Isaac: and he that had received the promises offered up his only begotten [son], 18 Of whom it was said, That in Isaac shall thy seed be called: 19 Accounting that God [was] able to raise [him] up, even from the dead; from whence also he received him in a figure.
But still in all, I'm thinking if it were me, I would have questioned whether or not it was really God commanding me to kill my son being that I know it is wrong to kill and certainly my spirit would recoil from such a command to kill my own beloved son and I think I would have rationalized that it can't be God telling me to commit such an atrocious act. So, its interesting how Abraham endured that ordeal.
Peace,
Jay
Navigation
[0] Message Index
[#] Next page
Go to full version