The truth is we still had
some residual hard feelings about the Hagar story when we gathered this week at
the roundtable. We were, at various times and to various degrees, angry at all
of them – Abraham, Sarah, and Hagar – for the harm they did to one another. But
we were not angry at God. Not yet.
The story of the binding of
Isaac – this was a different matter.
This was a test of Abraham.
Why was a test required? Had he not shown himself to be a faithful man,
obedient to God in every way?
When God gave the order,
Abraham did not say a word – unlike the time when he made a vigorous case for saving
Sodom from destruction. Was it not worth the trouble, this time, to argue with
God?
He took Isaac and some
young servants with him on the journey to Mount Moriah for the sacrifice. He
offered no information other than that they would be worshiping God.
We assume he lied to his
servants out of necessity. Wouldn’t they have tried to stop him if they knew
what he was intending to do? Wouldn’t any one of us have tried to stop him?
He made ready the fire and
the boy, placing him bound on top of the wood. Then he took the knife to kill
his son.
This is one of the most
unbearable stories in the scriptures and I may very well go to my grave not
knowing what to make of it.
What to make of a father
who, after so many years of waiting for a child, so many years of obedience to
a mysterious God with a vague promise, responds to this outrageous demand with –
nothing.
Abraham does not challenge
God, as he did in the case of Sodom. He does not seem greatly distressed, as he
did when Ishmael was to be banished. Now, when the promise has become flesh and
blood, when Abraham has love and laughter in his house, when he can see a clear
future beyond him – he says nothing. He simply follows the order of God.
One thing alone we hear
from the boy Isaac. “Father, the fire and the wood are here, but where is the
lamb for a burnt offering?” Abraham
simply says, “God will see to it, my son.”
In this sentence, I am
listening for hope. I am hoping that Abraham has hope that God will provide
another lamb to be sacrificed. Or, if not, that God will provide understanding,
that Abraham might somehow, someday, see why this was necessary.
In the end, we have an old
man and a boy who are alive, but most certainly traumatized – and, perhaps, hopelessly
bitter.
The truth is this: I find
nothing praiseworthy in this story. I accept that undivided loyalty to God is
necessary, and that this loyalty requires very hard choices at times; that God’s
commitment to us is steadfast, and that blessings abound. But, to imagine that
this father and son would have to submit to such profound suffering for the sake
of a test? I’m not there yet.
Photo: By BigBrotherMouse - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0,
https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=29147624
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