Re: Abraham and Isaac (and David)
Ian Dorion (dorioni@intellinet.com)
Tue, 08 Apr 1997 20:30:18 -0600
AFerrarini@AOL.COM wrote:
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> Hello Errancy Fans!
>=20
> I recently sent Yoel a copy of an audio tape I made (i.e., produced). =
The
> tape is a moral critique of several Old Testament stories. Yoel sugges=
ted I
> post the script to the list. The tape is about 90 minutes total, so I'=
ll
> post only a sample.
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> Hope you like it.
>=20
> Mike Earl
> AFerrarini@aol.com OR reason_works@bigfoot.com
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> Story #9
> Abraham and Isaac
> (Genesis Chapter 22)
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> Another popular Old Testament story that never really gets the =
scrutiny I
> think it deserves is the story of Abraham, his son, Isaac, and the burn=
t
> offering. The story is found in Genesis chapter 22.
> In this story we find Abraham out and about one fine day, mindi=
ng his own
> business when -- out of the blue -- God tells him to do something
> unthinkable. In verse 2 God says to Abraham, =93Take your son, your on=
ly son,
> Isaac, whom you love, and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him th=
ere as
> a burnt offering on one of the mountains I will tell you about.=94
> In other words, God was telling Abraham to kill his son. But G=
od was
> telling Abraham to do much more than simply kill his son. God was tell=
ing
> Abraham to sacrifice his son as a burnt offering. And as you are about=
to
> discover, sacrificing a human being as a burnt offering is a far cry fr=
om
> lethal injection or a quick bullet to the back of the head.
> Allow me to explain.
> The proper way to perform a burnt offering is described in Levi=
ticus chapter
> 1. In that chapter we learn that the burnt offering was a greusome lit=
tle
> ceremony that required the ritualistic killing, dismemerbment and burni=
ng of
> certain animals. None of the animals slain during these rituals was ev=
er
> eaten; they were simply slaughtered and then burned into oblivion.
> The Bible tells us that the burnt offering was an act of deep r=
eligious
> significance and was pleasing to the Lord. Of course, if you ask me, t=
he
> burnt offering was nothing more than a sick and detestible act of relig=
ious
> insanity, the cruelty of which was exceeded only by its utter pointless=
ness.
> Be that as it may, God was now telling Abraham to perform this =
ritual on his
> own son.
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> What I=92d like to do next is read to you from those verses in =
Leviticus that
> explain just how the burnt offering is to be performed. But I=92m goin=
g to
> paraphrase things just a bit by inserting -- where appropriate -- the n=
ames
> of Abraham and Isaac. If you check these verses out for yourself, you=92=
ll see
> that I=92m not distorting a thing -- I only present the story in this w=
ay to
> give you some idea of what Abraham was up against.
> I use as my reference Leviticus 1, verses 4 through 9. They go=
something
> like this:
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> (1) [Abraham] is to lay his hand on the head of his son Isaac, and it =
will
> be accepted on [Abraham=92s] behalf to make atonement for him.
> (2) [Abraham] is to slaughter his son [Isaac] before the Lord,
> (3) Then [Abraham] shall bring the blood of [Isaac] and sprinkle it a=
gainst
> the alter on all sides...
> (4) Next, [Abraham] is to skin [his son Isaac] and cut him into piece=
s.
> (5) Then [Abraham] is to put fire on the alter and arrange wood on the=
fire.
> (6) Then [Abraham] shall arrange the pieces of [Isaac=92s] body, incl=
uding
> Isaac=92s head and his fat, on the burning wood that is on the alter.
> (7) [Abraham] is to wash [Isaac=92s] inner parts and [Isaac=92s] legs =
with
> water, and shall then burn all of [his son, Isaac] on the alter.
> (8) This is a burnt offering, an offering made by fire, an aroma pleas=
ing to
> the Lord.
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> Now I'll grant you, most people don=92t give this stuff a whole=
lot of
> thought. In trying to understand this indiffernce, I have come to the
> conclusion that people do one of 3 things. They either (1) have no ide=
a such
> a story exists, or (2) they know story exists, but they don=92t underst=
and the
> violent nature of God=92s request, or (3) they read this story in the B=
ible,
> and because they read it in the Bible they assume that whatever=92s goi=
ng on,
> it must be something good.
> But folks -- come on now! I mean, just how lurid do things hav=
e to get
> before what the words on the page are telling us finally start to sink =
in? I
> mean, God has just commanded this man to murder his son, his own flesh =
and
> blood, his own child -- and in a manner that would offend the likes of
> Charles Manson! Yet the only thing most people ever seem take with the=
m from
> this story is a profound respect for Abraham=92s willingness to carry o=
ut God=92s
> will. Only an overpowering presumption of Biblical goodness could lead=
a
> person to believe that Abraham=92s resolve to barbeque his own child wa=
s a good
> thing. Yet when you talk to people about this story, that=92s exactly =
what you
> find.
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> Of course, right about now some of you might be thinking, =93He=
y, wait a
> minute. When we read a little further in Genesis 22 we find that Isaac
> wasn=92t killed at all -- he was spared.=94 And you know something ...=
that=92s
> absolutely right. Isaac was spared! It seem that just before Abraham =
thrust
> his knife into his son=92s throat, an angel appeared and told Abraham t=
hat God
> had just called the whole thing off. In fact, God never intended for A=
braham
> to kill his son in the first place. This was just one of those little
> practical jokes God likes to play on his people at times. The Bible
> euphemistically refers to these episodes as =93tests.=94
> So God was only testing Abraham.
(Ian 4/8) Now wait a minute! Dave just got through telling me that this d=
evotion=20
Abraham had towards god was one of the good things in the bible. Certainl=
y David=20
couldn't be all that demented - could he? He also mentioned some laws in=
Leviticus=20
- what do you suppose they could be? That is, what could be more importan=
t than a=20
sacrifice to god? Look guys, I think we had all better watch ourselves ar=
ound=20
David.
> But God was not testing a man named Jephthah.
> Let me tell you what happened to Jephthah.
> Jephthah was a mighty Gileadite warrior and man of God who live=
d in the days
> of what the Old Testament refers to as the judges. Jephthah was appoin=
ted to
> lead a branch of Israelites known as the Gileadites against one of Isra=
el=92s
> enemies -- the Ammonites. But before going against the Ammonites in ba=
ttle,
> Jephthah sought the help of the Lord. In Judges chapter 11:30-31 we re=
ad,
> =93And Jephthah made a vow to the Lord: =91If you will give the Ammonit=
es into my
> hands, whatever comes out of the door of my house to meet me when I ret=
urn in
> triumph from the Ammonites will be the Lord=92s, and I will sacrifice i=
t as a
> burnt offering.=92=94
> The Bible tells us that Jephthah did triumph over the Ammonites=
, destroying
> some 20 towns in the process. However, when Jephthah returned to his h=
ouse
> to see which of his animals would meet him and therefore become the obj=
ect of
> his burnt offering, he was met instead -- not by an animal -- but by hi=
s
> daughter -- his only daughter -- his only child!
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> Now I know that keeping one=92s vow is pretty important in the =
Bible. But if
> ever there was legitimate exception to this vow stuff, you think it wou=
ld be
> now -- right?! I mean, you=92d think God would step in about now and s=
ay
> something like, =93Look, Jephthah, I know what you were thinking. You =
thought
> when you returned from battle you=92d be met by one of your animals, an=
d it
> would be one of your animals that you would sacrifice. I know you were=
n=92t
> thinking about slicing your daughter=92s throat from ear to ear, tearin=
g the
> skin off her body, cutting off her head and chopping her into little pe=
ices
> and then burning her dismembered carcass into oblivion. I know you did=
n=92t
> mean that! So I tell you what. Why don=92t you just take one of those=
animals
> over there, sacrifice it, and we=92ll call it even?=94
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> It goes without saying that God had the power to intervene in t=
his
> situation, just as he had with Abraham. But God chose not to intervene=
this
> time.
> Of course, God also had the power to make sure that upon return=
ing from
> battle, Jephthah was met by a rat or a cockroach -- rather than his dau=
ghter.
> But God did not do this either.
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> What God did to Abraham and Jephthah -- not to mention their ki=
ds -- was as
> cruel as it was unnecessary. And it kind of makes you wonder that if t=
his is
> the way God treats his best and brightest, what could he possibly have =
in
> store for the rest of us!