Abraham was counter cultural for his time. He is saved by
an angel from becoming the victim of his father’s sacrifice to the prevailing
pagan god of the land, an idol who his father had begun to worship despite
knowing Yahweh. Abram naturally decides
that it is no longer safe or healthy for him to live near his father. In
a world filled with pagan polytheists, Abraham is a lone monotheist who
worships a strange god that few have heard of, and whose rules and laws seem
downright strange to the natives of the lands he passes through. He
marries Sarah and by all accounts he ought to be happy. He is a rich man
with many flocks, herds, servants and other worldly wealth. He wins
several battles against local kings in his time and is praised and feared by
surrounding rulers. His conquests make him marvelously wealthy and the
good favor of his god Jehovah seems to smile upon him.
Yet despite all his good fortune Abraham has failed to produce
an heir. Then in his old age and in her old age Sarah bears Abraham a son
and they call him Isaac. To say that Isaac’s birth was a miracle is
perhaps an understatement. Isaac is allowed to grow and mature and become
a healthy young man. Then without warning the Lord speaks to Abraham and
tells him that he will take away Abraham’s son Isaac, and not only that but
Abraham must be the one to perform the sacrifice. If I were Abraham I
might have pleaded, “Anything but my son. Take me instead.” Perhaps
after much thought I would have said, “Lord, thy will be done, but please, let
it happen some other way. Don’t make me be the one to sacrifice
him.” To Abraham the thought must have been both nonsensical and at the
same time abhorrent. Abraham upon fleeing from his father must have
thought once, I will never subject anyone to such treatment, and here was the
Lord asking him to do just that.
And it must have seemed unfair to Abraham. He had spent his whole life devoted to
Jehovah, and with rare exceptions it seems that Abraham had been a loyal,
obedient servant, one worthy of reward.
Certainly there is no indication that Abraham deserved cruel
punishment. And so I wonder if Abraham
also raised his voice to the heavens demanding to know what he had done to
deserve how cruelly he may have perceived the Lord was dealing with him.
We aren’t told much about how Abraham felt about it, but we do know that he did
as he was commanded. They climb Mount
Moriah, quite an impressive climb for such an old man. He gives Isaac the
wood for the sacrifice and has him carry the burdens. On the way up the
act he was about to perform must have tortured Abraham. He must have
thought about turning back at every step. Isaac, knowing the manner of
sacrifice saw no lamb and inquisitively asked his father, “And where is the
lamb?” Abraham reassured his son that the Lord would provide. How
he must have been in agony. To my way of seeing things at this point
Isaac must have been old enough that Abraham would have to explain. After
all Abraham was an old man, and hardly a match for his healthy young son.
Wrestling Isaac onto the altar and strapping him down would have hardly been an
option. I can imagine the pain it must have caused Abraham to explain to
his son the deed he was about to do. I see no other way for it to have
happened then for Abraham to have explained through tears to his beloved son
that he had been ordered by God to sacrifice Isaac.
Isaac,
trusting in the Lord must have climbed onto the alter and allowed his father to
bind him for the sacrifice. What must Isaac have felt? When they had left
home he had not volunteered to be sacrificed. Yet he did it
willingly. Both Abraham and Isaac laid on the altar something they loved
for the God they loved more. Their sacrifice seemed pointless. They
had nothing to gain from it, and it didn’t seem that either deserved it.
But the Lord had asked it of them. Abraham raised the knife, ready to
perform the act. Again an angel of the Lord appeared to him and told him
that the sacrifice was not necessary, but that he had passed the Lord’s
test. What relief must have flooded over Abraham. It is interesting
to me to note that the Lord never wanted any of the things he asked Abraham to
sacrifice. He did not even require the sacrifice. Perhaps the Lord
could have simply done without the charade and spared Abraham and his son the
trouble and the trial, and quite probably the strained relationship.
After that if I were Isaac I would flinch every time my father picked up a
knife to chop the carrots for the stew, and I probably wouldn’t come near him
when he had a rope handy. But in reality why did the Lord do it?
Surely the Lord already knew that Abraham was willing to sacrifice everything
for the God that he loved. But did Abraham? Did Isaac know he had
the capacity to climb onto the altar and to tell his father that it was ok, he
could bind him? I think both father and son learned that day that they
had a great capacity to follow the Lord and that they were willing to sacrifice
everything. In thinking about this story, Isaac became an example to me.
He not only put something valuable to him on the altar, but indeed he put
his whole soul on the altar. All of Isaac's chances for mortal happiness,
fulfillment and his dreams were there on the altar with him. I find it
highly significant that although Isaac was willing to give it all the Lord sent
his angel to tell Isaac that his sacrifice was unnecessary. Christ has
laid down his life, and taken upon himself the penalty for our imperfections so
that we might not have to. Isaac’s blood
would not fulfill the demands of justice upon him or his father as Christ’s
would thousands of years later.
While the Lord does not often give us the same test and tell us to sacrifice
our firstborn, I believe that we are often faced with similar situations.
We are asked to covenant to sacrifice all that we are for the building of God’s
Kingdom. Such a requirement seems a tall order, and a hard covenant to
keep. I think though that we have a lot to learn from Abraham and
Isaac. When we are asked to sacrifice it is important to remember that
quite often it is not the sacrifice that the Lord wants. He does not
delight in our pain, our deprivation, our sadness, or our sense of loss.
Indeed he does not need our sacrifice. His work would continue just fine
without us. Perhaps he asks us to sacrifice by serving him as
missionaries, or by caring for a sick family member, or by being joyful even in our suboptimal circumstances. From some he
requires possessions, from others their time, from others their health, and from some, such as Alma from the Book of Mormon, that they be content even when God does not give them the desired power to shake the earth in proclaiming repentance with the voice of an angel. But in
all cases he requires the heart.
He could get along with most of his work just fine without these
things. As the creator of Heaven and
earth he can and does move mountains, heal the sick, and sends legions of
angels to guard, guide and help his children.
It was a tough realization when I came to terms with the fact that he in
no way needs me. “The Purposes and designs of God cannot be frustrated or
brought to naught.” Certainly not by me.
But there is only one who the Lord cannot help against my will, and
that’s me. And although I stumble and
fall, the Lord thinks I am of sufficient worth that he loves me and blesses me
and gives me opportunities to show that I am able to persevere in the face of
difficulty. What a miracle that he loves us despite our utter unworthiness of his love.
I think the case of Abraham and Isaac is illustrative of the
fact that the Lord requires our sacrifice because we desperately need to give
it. Alone it will not redeem us. It will never have the power to make us right
before our Maker. But by sacrificing for
the Lord we show ourselves that we are willing to consecrate our lives to the
Lord should he ask it of us. Sometimes he
will and we will be successful instruments in his hands. But sometimes we will fail and our efforts
will look paltry, weak and incomplete.
While the world looks at outcomes I believe in a God who looks not upon
the size of the countenance, for the Lord looketh on the heart. I am not anywhere near perfect yet, but I
rejoice that he increasingly gives me opportunities to prove to myself that I
am willing to consecrate my life in his service, and my prayer is that I will
cultivate the attitude of the virgin Mary, “Behold the [servant] of the Lord, be
it unto me according to thy word.”
