The account
of Abraham asked to sacrifice Isaac is an amazing story. In Genesis 22 the account is laid out from
the command of Yahweh to the eventual provision of a ram. The context of this story in the life of
Abraham makes it even more remarkable.
Abraham has been promised that through Isaac will his promise from
Yahweh be fulfilled. And now he carries
a torch and a knife, lays the wood on Isaac, and heads up a mountain to kill
Isaac, the child of promise. It had to
be odd for Abraham, but he never questions his Master.
Chambers
points out the amazing level of obedience in Abraham. He goes the next day, he doesn’t get the
insight of others, but he also doesn’t question Yahweh. This is especially odd since Abraham is not
above questioning his Master. He
questioned his Master about Sodom and Gomorrah.
He questioned his Master when Ishmael was not the chosen child. He questioned his Master when he was
initially told he would be the father of a great nation. He questioned his Master all along before,
but not here. Told to sacrifice the
child of promise, and now he doesn’t question.
Even though
Yahweh is specific; actually overly specific in his command, “take you son,
your only son, whom you love, Isaac;” Abraham is giving up more than Isaac by
obeying. Yahweh made a covenant with Abraham
that subordinated Yahweh to the promise, and yet here he asks Abraham to do
something that would go back on that promise.
He asks Abraham to participate in that renege, and bring about the
loss. The context brings out a much more
powerful loss than just of Abraham’s son, and Abraham doesn’t question. “Here, help Me ruin your life, break My
promise, and take away what is most precious to you.” I would have a question.
So, for me,
what would be at stake if it were I at this point? Honestly, one of the first things that
springs to mind is how I will explain this to others. So, my first problem is people-pleasing
again. But I also squirm under such a
command because it doesn’t fit my understanding of my Master. It might not be Him commanding me. So my second problem is limiting the
character of my Master to only what I can imagine. Lastly, I just want the boy alive. I wouldn’t want to do it. I would push back hard to defend what I hold
precious. So, another problem I have is
idolatry. The more I dig, the more
problems I find in myself through this account.
Abraham had
learned not to question. He had learned
through the previous questions that he could never master the character of his
Master. Can I accept that I will never
really understand my Master?
Abraham
learned from his attempts to work out the promise on his own that he could not
accomplish the plans of his Master; only Yahweh accomplishes the plans of
Yahweh. Am I able to accept that, in
obedience and submission, I largely play a spectator role?
Abraham had
friends, he had servants, and his household was a family. He takes one of his servants with him, and
has him stay with the donkey while he goes up the mountain to worship with
Isaac. Abraham knows he won’t be coming
down with Isaac and that they didn’t take a goat. It won’t take a brilliant servant to figure
out what happened up there. The household
of tight relationships will never be the same, and he goes anyway without
question. How can I be unquestionably
obedient before my peers knowing what will happen?
I don’t like
these areas of growth in my life. I don’t
want to grow in them; I want to maintain my independence in these areas. But they cause a separation between me and my
Master. After seeing the command of my
Master on Abraham, do I want to close that gap between us? Do I want to be closer to such a God?
The end of
the story is that Yahweh provided a ram for the offering. The point at which He provided was at the
point where the point of the knife was about to plunge into Isaac. What if He hadn’t provided the ram? Can I follow through in my obedience without
the expectation that my Master will take away the consequences of my
obedience?
I have been
down part of this road already. The
process my Master led me through to get to Nevada touched some of these points. But the lesson of accepting the character of
my Master as He is, not as I want Him to be is one I have left before me. I sense that I have assumptions, unconfessed frameworks
of my own manufacture, that I use to view and interact with my Master. Those will need to go. I don’t know when or how, but I know my
Master will not leave them in place.
When the lesson comes, I don’t want to question. That would mean I have yet another lesson
after that one…oh wait, yeah, never mind.
Duh me, of course I have lots of lessons ahead of me. Well, I have my pencil and paper for notes, I
will have a good breakfast, and I’m ready for the test, I think.
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