Sunday, March 6, 2011

Genesis 20:1-22:19 [Abraham's story coninued...]

At this point Isaac had been born from Sarah just as God had promised. Just as many Character's in the book Isaac was given his name for a reason. The name Isaac means laughter which was the reaction of both of his parents when they found out they would become pregnant and have a baby at such an old age. Abraham was 100 years old when Isaac was born.

We also see that Hagar and Ishmael are sent away for the their disrespect for Sarah and Isaac.

The most surprising of all of what we have read in these two Chapters would have to be God's testing of Abraham to sacrifice his one and only son. God did not want Isaac to die, but for Abraham to prove that he loved God and would do anything for him. The purpose of testing in itself is to strengthen ourselves and deepen our relationship with our Lord and Savior. So the question is do you put full trust in God?

16 comments:

  1. Brianna,
    No, I would not. If I heard a voice, any voice tell me to kill my son to prove my faith in him, I'd tell the voice to get lost (actually I'd probably say something much harsher).

    I'll give this advice to you, Abraham, and hopefully anyone else that thinks Abraham showed nobility in his willingness to take anothers life: If Allah, God, Yahweh, Ra, Buddha, or any deity or non-deity ever asks you to harm another to please him, tell him "F--- Off". And if some reason you can't find the courage to take that stand against a god that tells you to harm another, then take your own life before taking another. That's a much more respectable sacrifice.

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  2. God didn't really want Isaac to die though. He was just testing faith. Abraham didn't question God because he knew God had a reason for everything he asked no matter how strange or crazy the request may be. This is why the angel came to Abraham and told him not to kill his son and that God was simply testing his faith and God blessed him sevenfold because of him obedience to him.

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  3. Brianna,
    I think you're missing the point entirely. Whether your god wanted Isaac dead or not has nothing to do with it. The point is your god asks you to kill as a test of your faith. That's not something most peoples gods do, and its not a request most rationally minded people would follow if their god did (and I'm hoping you're saying you would not either).

    But in the time when these stories were written most gods required sacrifices of this nature. To kill animals and people based on faith was part of their culture.

    You are not part of their culture and it is alright to denounce such a practice. It does not make you less of a Christian. In fact, in Jesus's eyes it makes you more of one.

    "What Would Jesus Do" if his God asked him to harm another to prove his faith? Think about it. Really, really think about it.

    Thank you for your comments and I wish you peace.

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  4. Actually Sheri God did NOT want Isaac to die which is exactly why he sent his angel. As a matter of fact, Human sacrifice is a sin in his eyes:

    Leviticus 18:21 You shall not give any of your children to offer them to Molech, and so profane the name of your God: I am the Lord.

    Leviticus 20:1-5
    1 The LORD said to Moses, 2 “Say to the Israelites: ‘Any Israelite or any foreigner residing in Israel who sacrifices any of his children to Molek is to be put to death. The members of the community are to stone him. 3 I myself will set my face against him and will cut him off from his people; for by sacrificing his children to Molek, he has defiled my sanctuary and profaned my holy name. 4 If the members of the community close their eyes when that man sacrifices one of his children to Molek and if they fail to put him to death, 5 I myself will set my face against him and his family and will cut them off from their people together with all who follow him in prostituting themselves to Molek.

    Deuteronomy 18:10 There shall not be found among you anyone who burns his son or his daughter as an offering, anyone who practices divination or tells fortunes or interprets omens, or a sorcerer

    Jeremiah 7:31 And they have built the high places of Topheth, which is in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, to burn their sons and their daughters in the fire, which I did not command, nor did it come into my mind.

    Your getting the point. God's intentions here was not to have Abraham give Isaac as a burnt offering but rather to see if Abraham was obedient to God.

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  5. To continue here is also what I am getting at. When the angel comes to Abraham, here is what he says:

    Genesis 22:11-12

    11 But the angel of the LORD called out to him from heaven, “Abraham! Abraham!”

    “Here I am,” he replied.

    12 “Do not lay a hand on the boy,” he said. “Do not do anything to him. Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son.”

    Then he gives Abraham a ram to sacrifice and it moves on to say...


    Genesis 22:15-18

    15 The angel of the LORD called to Abraham from heaven a second time 16 and said, “I swear by myself, declares the LORD, that because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, 17 I will surely bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will take possession of the cities of their enemies, 18 and through your offspring[a] all nations on earth will be blessed,[b] because you have obeyed me.”

    God was looking for obedience in Abraham, NOT human sacrifice! God never had any intentions of allowing Abraham to sacrifice Isaac.

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  6. Brianna,
    If I understand Sherri, she isn't saying God intended to kill Isaac. I copied the paragraph below:

    "I think you're missing the point entirely. Whether your god wanted Isaac dead or not has nothing to do with it. The point is your god asks you to kill as a test of your faith. That's not something most peoples gods do, and its not a request most rationally minded people would follow if their god did (and I'm hoping you're saying you would not either)."

    What I think she is saying is the problem is a god that *asks* you to kill someone. I think I agree with her. That is a problem, even if it is just a that god being tricky. I know I wouldn't do it. Would you?

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  7. You know that would be tough for me and no I probably wouldn't have been as obedient as Abraham was, but the point of the story as a whole was God asks us to give up things in glory of him and sometimes they are things we love. In this story Isaac was so loved in his heart that God wanted to see if Abraham loved God more. When he realized Abraham was willing to give up the one thing he loved the most was when he blessed Abraham. Just as in our life we are asked to give up things and sometimes they may not make sense, if we obey, we too will be blessed.

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  8. Brianna,
    You do realize the god in this story was asking Abraham to take a life that was not his to take, right? It feels like you're missing this.

    He was not 'giving up Isaac', he was going to kill him.

    If the point of the story is what you said, god has no need to ask Abraham to kill, to take a young life, to take a son away from his wife, to take a person from this earth. That's not necessary at all. God knows that and you know that.

    But you are correct that, within the time context of this story, Abraham would have thought of his son in this manor, as property. Just like the story where Lott offers up his virginal daughters to be raped. That was part of the culture when these stories were written, to look at their offspring as property, but it is not part of yours.

    It concerns me that you can not make this differentiation in cultures, even though you said you "probably" wouldn't kill you offspring. "Probably" isn't a word most people would use in this situation. I am hoping the belief structure you have been indoctrinated into does not result in harm to you or anyone you love.

    Thank you for commenting and I hope my words help in some way. I wish you peace.

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  9. The God in this story is the same God in the NT as he is in the OT. He never had intentions of having Abraham take anyone's life which is EXACTLY why he sent the angel to Abraham. I'm not understanding why you keep saying "This God" and "That God". There is only one God and the bible is his word and his word is the truth. As Christians we can't take one section of the bible but not the other.

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  10. SheriK I just have to ask, are you a Christian? If so then you should not reject the bible as truth, other wise you reject your entire faith.

    John 17:17 God's word is truth

    We are called to take the bible literally unless the bible says otherwise. Yes human sacrifice was the cultural norm but as the bible says this was NOT his intentions in this story. It was God's intentions to test faith. You cannot take one passage and not the other. If you read the entire story as a whole, it tells us God's true intentions.

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  11. Brianna,
    I follow the teachings of Yeshua bar Yosef, as well as many other teachers.

    I hold a PhD in religious studies from University of Pennsylvania and have studied all the books of the Tanakh and Septuagint (most in the original Hebrew since a lot is lost in the translation).

    I'm assuming when you refer to 'the bible' that you are referring to the Authorized King James Version. Are you familiar with it's origins and how it was derived from the various Jewish and Christian writings?

    This is actually pretty critical to understand since the verse you quoted from John was written approximately 75 AD, while the book you are referring to didn't exist until the early seventeenth century.

    I wouldn't argue with John's quote from Jesus "God's word is truth", however I have to ask why would you think this refers to a book commissioned by King James over 1500 years later?

    I do want you to note this is a discussion where one side argues the one true God would never cause harm, distress, or fear in his creations, and the other argues that he would, and the question before us is 'which argument better represents the teachings of Jesus Christ'.

    Thank you for posting and I wish you peace.

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  12. I'm reading out of the NLT Student's Life Application study Bible at the moment. As a Christian I believe in the entire word. I do not pick and choose which verses I believe and which I do not. So in this specific scripture after Abraham brings Isaac to the alter to be sacrificed the Angel of God comes to him and says:

    Genesis 22:11-12

    11 But the angel of the LORD called out to him from heaven, “Abraham! Abraham!”

    “Here I am,” he replied.

    12 “Do not lay a hand on the boy,” he said. “Do not do anything to him. Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son.”

    If his intentions were to actually harm Isaac why would he send his Angel down to tell Abraham this?

    Secondly God and Abraham had a covenant and God had made promises to give Isaac many nations. Given that this did not happen yet, I'm pretty sure Abraham knew God had other plans since the covenant had not been fulfilled. God was not done with Isaac yet.

    I personally do not believe in organized religion because in my readings of the bible I learn that Jesus was not a fan of organized religion. I believe in faith which is a belief based on no proof; However, God has proved to me many times in my life that he is real and if I be faithful to him he will provide.

    In reading the bible as a whole we also know it says in 2 Peter ...

    2 Peter 1:20

    20 First, you must understand this: No prophecy in Scripture is a matter of one’s own interpretation.

    This means the bible is not for personal interpretation but is inspired by God himself. Given that Moses wrote Genesis, I fully trust this book and the bible as a whole was inspired by the Lord himself.

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  13. **proven. My apologies for misspellings

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  14. I think that people who study the Bible, in the original Aramaic, Greek or whatever language it was written, for those of us who love God, and believe that He sent His only Son to die for our sins, an inner understanding of His workings and how He operates resonates within our spirit. The Pharisees knew the Torah, the Mishnah, and quite frankly they knew nothing. Knowledge within itself is nothing without putting it into practice. They only spoke truths in the way that they wanted to hear them, when it suited them. They were unteachable and looked only to the letter of the law, NOT what God was really trying to accomplish through it. Putting faith into practice is about trusting a God, the only God, who is perfect. Putting my faith, my hope in Him, and striving that He be my all in all. Knowing just how much He loves me, cares for me, better than anyone else could possibly love and care for me, then taking it one step further, full well KNOWING all He has done for me, will I trust Him with my life?? With the life of my friends, my family? Those I love dearly? If I can trust the chair I sit in more than I do God, than I have no faith. It's not about killing sacrifice, it's about what's in my heart. What do I hold more dearly in my life? What if it were taken from me, would I be bitter, give up on life, or see a greater good? If I had nothing, nothing, yet had the love of God on my side, then in my heart, am I fulfilled? Or do I need materialism, or knowledge to make me strong and feel that I am worthy??

    As far as faith, whether it be in the garden of Eden, or with Abraham with Issac, resistance is always needed in order to become strong. Just like weight training. For our faith to become strong, we need the struggle, resistance, and working through.

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  15. Brianna, I found you of BBC and I just want to say that I'm challenged by your post and following comments. Your faith is strong and that is admirable. I believe that in the moment God asks you to do something, that in that moment. he will give you the grace to obey. I also completely agree that God had a plan the whole time to provide the lamb as a sacrifice. It's just what it says. It's a good challenge, would you obey God no matter what. Continue to press into God, he will reveal even deeper insight.

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  16. Angel said:
    "The Pharisees knew the Torah, the Mishnah, and quite frankly they knew nothing. Knowledge within itself is nothing without putting it into practice. They only spoke truths in the way that they wanted to hear them, when it suited them. They were unteachable and looked only to the letter of the law"

    Angel,
    I think we agree on this, and this has been my point all along. If you study these texts like the Pharisees did, as an illustration of their (your) god and what he is like, you will know as much as they did about the one true God that Jesus teaches about.

    The God you speak about, "the only God, who is perfect" is not the god in these books. The God that Jesus has opened our eyes to need not test you to know you.

    When Jesus is teaching the Hebrews, he will refer to these writings as "your law", not "my law" or "our law". He did not believe in an unsure god that tests people by asking them to kill, or strikes them down out of judgement. He knew God, His Father and Your Father as the perfect God, unconditionally loving.

    There is only one true God. The Hebrews that authored these stories over 3000 years ago had not yet known him. But Jesus came along helped you and I to know him.

    Thank you for your post and I wish you peace.

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