Christians, would you do as Abraham did and obey God's order to murder your only child?
For those who aren't familiar, the story goes like this:
God: Hey Abraham, take your miracle baby Isaac and go kill him on an altar for me, k? Abraham: Will do, Lord✌
So Abraham gets up early the next morning, grabs Isaac and they start making the long journey to Moriah where God wants Abraham to murder his only child.
Isaac: Hey Dad? Abraham: Yes, my dearly loved son? Isaac: Uh....we didn't bring a sheep or anything to sacrifice. Abraham: Don't worry about it, kiddo😉
They finally arrive at Moriah whereupon Abraham builds an altar...
Isaac: Great altar, Dad! Now where do- wait what are you doing?!
...and ties Issac down onto it. He then takes his sacrificial knife and prepares to kill the son whom he loves dearly. But at the last moment an angel appears!
Angel: Hey Abraham actually stop tho. This was just a test, bud! Great Job! Abraham/Isaac: ..... *visibly traumatized*
And then Abraham spotted a ram caught in some bushes and cut that bad boy up for the Lord. Hurray! And lo, the walk home was pretty fucking awkward.😓
This page is a permanent link to the reply below and its nested replies. See all post replies »
It sounds pretty horrifying to any parent and the immediate reaction is how can a loving God ask something like that? Like everything in the Bible context is important.
In Genesis 17:4-7 God promised to make Abraham fruitful. Nations and kings were to come from him. There was a name and identity change in keeping with the challenges that would come. God established an everlasting covenant with Abraham and his generations after him.
God also knew that all of that would be challenging but God doesn't make mistakes with the people who he calls to do special things. He chose Abraham because of his strong faith.
Abrahams faith was so strong and he knew that God would have had a plan that was infinitely greater, so when God called Abrahams name, he responded. "Here I am"
Where our Bibles say "Here I am" The Hebrew word used is "Hineni". The true meaning gets a little bit lost in translation. When Abraham responds to God with "Here I am" The closer meaning is "Here I am, with unconditional readiness, no matter the cost"
How many of us can say we are unconditionally ready to follow God no matter what it costs us?
There's a lot to unpick from these Bible passages. Especially when we think about the fact that, through Jesus death on the cross, God made a unconditional sacrifice for each and every one of us. 🙂
