[quote]JEATON wrote:
[quote]DoubleDuce wrote:
So what is your take on the Abraham Isaac sacrifice?
Was Isaac willing?
Was God testing Abraham or the other way around?
I was even reading that there is a jewish tradition that Isaac was actually killed, supported by the specifics of what the angel says and that Isaac isn’t mentioned as returning from the hill.
Basically, what happened and what impact does the incident have on your faith.[/quote]
Very few passages in the Bible give me more trouble than the Abraham Isaac sacrifice. Having two children that I love more than life itself, I often wonder if I could ever trust a god/God that would put me to such a test. I know that this is wrong in my faith, but not in my heart.
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Oddly enough, I have always been puzzled by the confusion and consternation regarding the near-sacrifice of Isaac by his father. “What’s the big deal?” I thought.
Then I was flipping through the channels (a mistake, Mrs. Jewbacca hates that we even have TV in our house, and she is probably correct — but I am a football, er, soccer, addict) and stumbled across the history channel show of the Bible, and, as it happened, it was this very incident — Abraham taking his young son up the mountain.
“No, no, no.” I was screaming at the TV.
All factually wrong, and just flat ignoring both the timeline set forth in the Torah itself, not to mention the longer versions of these events set forth in the Talmud.
This Hollywood idea of Isaac as a young boy I think is why people completely miss the point of the story.
Isaac was NOT A YOUNG BOY.
He was in his mid/late 30s or so. Basically the point a blue collar man (which he was, a shephard) is at his toughest when it comes to a knock-down drag out fight. Abraham was well into his dottage. Very, very old. Had to be helped up the mountain by Isaac. Just remember, Abraham was OLD when Isaac was conceived. He was VERY OLD at this point.
If you read the complete story, Isaac had to steady Abraham’s hands and assist him along the most of the way.
So, was Isaac willing? Yeah. He could have beat the sh-t out of Abraham if he wanted. He REQUESTED being tied down in case his nerve slipped.
Was Abraham willing? Yeah, barely.
Now, on to the “testing” issue. Well, who gets the benefit of the test? HaShem? Do you think G-d needed to know how this was going to end? No, of course not. G-d knew exactly what was going to happen.
Abraham and Isaac, however, did not know.
Abraham and Issac each did not know the depth and commitment of not only each of his own faith, but Abraham did not know the depth of his son’s faith (nor vice versa, although perhaps not as critical for Isaac to know the depth of his father’s faith).
Rememeber, Ishmael was Abraham’s first son, probably really Abraham’s favorite. Abraham drove Ishamael out reluctantly and was plauged with doubts as to whether he did the right thing, as would be any good father.
This test gave Abraham the confidence that he chose wisely with Isaac. Similarly, it gave Isaac the confidence that he was chosen wisely, and was, indeed, the man for the job ahead.
As far as my faith is concerned, these are literally my ancestors, and it gives me the confidence to know that, in my small way, I may yet have (or my children may have) a part to play.
Similarly, when I am tested (for example, when the first Mrs. Jewbacca was murdered by descendants of Ishmael), I know that the purpose of this trial (and my coming out the other end with lovely adult daughters) was to benefit me, no matter how crappy and sad it makes me at the time — or how crappy and sad the death of my wife and my unborn son makes me as I type this.
