Through the Bible in 2012

Readings:

Genesis 22
Genesis 23
Psalm 16

Comments:

There are parts of the Bible that are troubling, deeply troubling. Genesis 22 is one of those parts. God, who was upset with Cain when he killed his brother Abel, now tells Abraham to sacrifice his own son. You know, the son that he promised to Abraham more than once. In Abraham’s old age! The son who was born after Abraham tried to pass off his servant as his heir. The son who was born after Abraham had a son with his wife’s servant! Oh yeah, THAT son. God tells Abraham to now sacrifice Isaac. “Laughter”? Not much to laugh about in chapter 22.

What kind of God is this?

I have to admit at this point I do not have any easy answers. Except to say the story ends well in that Abraham is stopped from going through with it by God. The story tells us that God was testing Abraham. Evidently Abraham passed the test!

Yesterday in church we were exploring the idea of God communicating with us and how to determine if it’s really God or not. Someone asked, “Why is it important to prove that it’s God?”

I think in my own personal example from yesterday’s sermon, there were no real implications. It was not a matter of life or death. However, in this story, it is a matter of life or death – Isaac’s life!

If God told you to sacrifice your own child today, every one of us would think you were crazy. We would say that is not God!

It’s a perplexing story. It’s a tough story. We should not read it too quickly and move on to nicer stories. Nor should we be satisfied with easy answers. “Well, God KNEW he would provide the ram. God KNEW Isaac would not really die! God was MERELY testing Abraham.” Those very well may be true statements, but when listening for God’s voice, it is very important for us to know when God is truly speaking to us.

What bothers us most about this story? That God would ask this of Abraham? That Abraham was evidently willing to do it? Or that Abraham’s commitment to following God appears stronger than ours? How many times have we felt God calling us to do something, but we don’t follow through? Or we give up easily?

What are your thoughts about Genesis 22?