abraham and isaac
January 28, 2010God has proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that He exists to Abraham. Abraham has heard His voice, has witnessed his justice, and has finally experienced the fulfillment of the promise. Now, God orders Abraham to do something that tests Abraham’s belief in God’s goodness, wisdom, and justice. He orders Abraham to make a child sacrifice. I do not think I can fully understand the emotional weight that is in this passage of Scripture. Isaac is a child, his son, his only son born to his before barren wife whose womb God Himself opened miraculously. Isaac is the promised seed that God had Abraham wait for, whom Abraham will leave everything to. Every hope of Abraham rests on this child, and God demands Abraham’s own hand to kill him.
God does not apologize for his command. He knows there is something dangerous in the promise that must be weeded out. It is that Abraham would love, trust, hope in, obey, and fear the promised blessing more than the Giver. God demands Abraham’s worship, obedience, and sacrifice, but the reason is to protect Abraham from from idolatrous love of his son. (We see later in Genesis what happens when fathers are not protected from this. The next two generations, Isaac and Jacob, both have families that are split because of a father’s impure love of a son.)
Again, God is stretching Abraham’s ability to comprehend His love and wisdom through His treatment of the promise. God is after the deepest parts of Abraham’s heart: his love and his fear. He is molding Abraham’s heart so that His blessing will not cease to be a blessing. A seed is not a blessing unless it too falls to the ground. The life of a seed is always in its death. Hold it too tightly, and you will choke it.
