Bible Study: Genesis 22
Written Aug 16th, 2007 by Josh Rives | Email This
Genesis 22 is a very difficult passage because God commands something that He forbid in Genesis 9:6. Christians generally accept this passage as a great display of faith, but from a secular point of view God is usually in the wrong. The question usually debated is what do you do when God tells you to do something that is immoral. Christians generally laugh this off by saying God was just making sure Abraham had true faith. I think Christians should debate this a little more. God strictly forbid murder, but commands it later. When we feel led by God to do something today, how do we know if it is from the Lord or somewhere else? Usually we would turn to the Bible and see if it lines up with Scripture, but what if there is a contradiction like this one?
I would think that Isaac would have a firm understanding of his place in his father’s eyes after this event. He now knows for sure that he is not the most important thing to Abraham. I wonder how that affected his relationship with his father. I would guess that this was not a story that was often relived at family dinners.
Regardless of the morality of the command, it did serve as a final testing of Abraham’s faith and we likely realize how small ours is in comparison. God assures Abraham that He will fulfill His promise and make a great nation through him and Isaac. And the lineage of Abraham’s brother was probably placed here because Rebekah will be introduced into the story soon to help continue that promise.
One thing that I was surprised about, when I really studied this passage, is the fact that his son had to have been at or near adult age. Old man Abraham had to haul the wood for the fire all the way up the mountain. The amount needed for the sacrifice would have been a hefty load and he could not have carried it alone, Isaac must have helped.
Since he was big enough to help carry the wood he was also big enough to have an understanding of what was going on. This story not only tells of the faith of Abraham, it also tells the faith of Isaac too. For him to willingly lay down his life because God said so, shows me he had strong faith in his father and in God. No wonder he was to be the one to begin the chosen line.
Rev Will
I agree with Rev Will.
I might also add that within the ten commandments is one forbidding murder, yet God demands the Israelites to murder not only their enemies, but the disobedient sons and daughters among their fellowship. How about the time that Joshua had to single out who had taken the forbidden items in a time of plunder. The whole family was desecrated by the Israelites. Even the innocent ones had to die because of it.
If sanctity of life is valuable enough to God to make a commandment of not ending life, why would God turn around and command death? There are many such “contradictions” in the scripture– if you want to call them that. But the contradictions are to our carnal mind and this is why secular intellect can not understand faith. The New Testament tells us that God’s Word is a mystery and is only understood with help from the Holy Spirit and is SPIRITUAL. When the word is properly administered via the Holy Spirit it always glorifies God through the power of the cross. But from start to finish you will never impress our secular intellect with the scriptures. It’s bizarre to claim the resurrection, and even more bizarre to say we eat of the body and blood of Jesus in communion. It’s bizarre to say we are indwelled by the Spirit of Christ, or that we “heard” His voice. But, spiritually, they answer to our soul and the faith to claim the promises comes from outside our intellect and reasoning. In fact, our reasoning is an enemy of God until it is redeemed. After it is redeemed it has an outside source gaurding us from the default thought patterns of man, therefore making passages such as those described not only understandable to us, but immensely valuable lessons of the faithfulness of God.
I’d like to direct your attention to Jephthah, from Judges 11. Another very bizarre story of murder and this time God didnt cry out from heaven and stop it. Yet the scriptures tell us this was a mighty man of God and SPIRIT LED. We know God has never asked us to sacrifce our children on the altar and He despised those heathen religions that did so. Now, why on earth did Judges 11 have to take place? I know there’s a good explanation and I’ve heard a few. Spiritually it is RICH. But reasonably it is so wrong. Do you think the spirit led him to go this far?
~Lori