Re: Abraham and Isaac
Rick Chapman (rchap@en.com)
Wed, 09 Apr 1997 16:19:05 -0400
yoel haalmoni wrote:
>=20
> Mike Earl-
> > 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 bur=
nt
> >offering. The story is found in Genesis chapter 22.
> > In this story we find Abraham out and about one fine day, mind=
ing
> >his own
> >business when -- out of the blue -- God tells him to do something
> >unthinkable. In verse 2 God says to Abraham, =ECTake your son, your o=
nly son,
> >Isaac, whom you love, and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him t=
here as
> >a burnt offering on one of the mountains I will tell you about.=EE
> > In other words, God was telling Abraham to kill his son. But =
God was
> >telling Abraham to do much more than simply kill his son. God was tel=
ling
> >Abraham to sacrifice his son as a burnt offering. And as you are abou=
t to
> >discover, sacrificing a human being as a burnt offering is a far cry f=
rom
> >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
> >Leviticus chapter
> >1. In that chapter we learn that the burnt offering was a greusome li=
ttle
> >ceremony that required the ritualistic killing, dismemerbment and burn=
ing of
> >certain animals. None of the animals slain during these rituals was e=
ver
> >eaten; they were simply slaughtered and then burned into oblivion.
> > The Bible tells us that the burnt offering was an act of deep =
religious
> >significance and was pleasing to the Lord. Of course, if you ask me, =
the
> >burnt offering was nothing more than a sick and detestible act of reli=
gious
> >insanity, the cruelty of which was exceeded only by its utter pointles=
sness.
> > Be that as it may, God was now telling Abraham to perform this
> >ritual on his
> >own son.
> >
> > What I=EDd 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=EDm goi=
ng to
> >paraphrase things just a bit by inserting -- where appropriate -- the =
names
> >of Abraham and Isaac. If you check these verses out for yourself, you=
=EDll see
> >that I=EDm not distorting a thing -- I only present the story in this =
way to
> >give you some idea of what Abraham was up against.
> > I use as my reference Leviticus 1, verses 4 through 9. They g=
o
> >something
> >like this:
> >
> >(1) [Abraham] is to lay his hand on the head of his son Isaac, and it=
will
> >be accepted on [Abraham=EDs] 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 =
against
> >the alter on all sides...
> >(4) Next, [Abraham] is to skin [his son Isaac] and cut him into piec=
es.
> >(5) Then [Abraham] is to put fire on the alter and arrange wood on th=
e fire.
> >(6) Then [Abraham] shall arrange the pieces of [Isaac=EDs] body, inc=
luding
> >Isaac=EDs head and his fat, on the burning wood that is on the alter.
> >(7) [Abraham] is to wash [Isaac=EDs] inner parts and [Isaac=EDs] 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 plea=
sing to
> >the Lord.
> >
> > Now I'll grant you, most people don=EDt give this stuff a whol=
e 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 id=
ea such
> >a story exists, or (2) they know story exists, but they don=EDt unders=
tand the
> >violent nature of God=EDs request, or (3) they read this story in the =
Bible,
> >and because they read it in the Bible they assume that whatever=EDs go=
ing on,
> >it must be something good.
> > But folks -- come on now! I mean, just how lurid do things ha=
ve 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 th=
em from
> >this story is a profound respect for Abraham=EDs willingness to carry =
out God=EDs
> >will. Only an overpowering presumption of Biblical goodness could lea=
d a
> >person to believe that Abraham=EDs resolve to barbeque his own child w=
as a good
> >thing. Yet when you talk to people about this story, that=EDs exactly=
what you
> >find.
> >
> > Of course, right about now some of you might be thinking, =ECH=
ey, wait a
> >minute. When we read a little further in Genesis 22 we find that Isaa=
c
> >wasn=EDt killed at all -- he was spared.=EE And you know something ..=
. that=EDs
> >absolutely right. Isaac was spared! It seem that just before Abraham=
thrust
> >his knife into his son=EDs throat, an angel appeared and told Abraham =
that God
> >had just called the whole thing off. In fact, God never intended for =
Abraham
> >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 =ECtests.=EE
> > So God was only testing Abraham.
> > 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 liv=
ed
> >in the days
> >of what the Old Testament refers to as the judges. Jephthah was appoi=
nted to
> >lead a branch of Israelites known as the Gileadites against one of Isr=
ael=EDs
> >enemies -- the Ammonites. But before going against the Ammonites in b=
attle,
> >Jephthah sought the help of the Lord. In Judges chapter 11:30-31 we r=
ead,
> >=ECAnd Jephthah made a vow to the Lord: =EBIf you will give the Ammoni=
tes into my
> >hands, whatever comes out of the door of my house to meet me when I re=
turn in
> >triumph from the Ammonites will be the Lord=EDs, and I will sacrifice =
it as a
> >burnt offering.=ED=EE
> > The Bible tells us that Jephthah did triumph over the Ammonite=
s,
> >destroying
> >some 20 towns in the process. However, when Jephthah returned to his =
house
> >to see which of his animals would meet him and therefore become the ob=
ject of
> >his burnt offering, he was met instead -- not by an animal -- but by h=
is
> >daughter -- his only daughter -- his only child!
> >
> > Now I know that keeping one=EDs vow is pretty important in the
> >Bible. But if
> >ever there was legitimate exception to this vow stuff, you think it wo=
uld be
> >now -- right?! I mean, you=EDd think God would step in about now and =
say
> >something like, =ECLook, Jephthah, I know what you were thinking. You=
thought
> >when you returned from battle you=EDd be met by one of your animals, a=
nd it
> >would be one of your animals that you would sacrifice. I know you wer=
en=EDt
> >thinking about slicing your daughter=EDs throat from ear to ear, teari=
ng the
> >skin off her body, cutting off her head and chopping her into little p=
eices
> >and then burning her dismembered carcass into oblivion. I know you di=
dn=EDt
> >mean that! So I tell you what. Why don=EDt you just take one of thos=
e animals
> >over there, sacrifice it, and we=EDll call it even?=EE
> >
> > It goes without saying that God had the power to intervene in =
this
> >situation, just as he had with Abraham. But God chose not to interven=
e this
> >time.
> > Of course, God also had the power to make sure that upon retur=
ning from
> >battle, Jephthah was met by a rat or a cockroach -- rather than his da=
ughter.
> > But God did not do this either.
> >
> > What God did to Abraham and Jephthah -- not to mention their k=
ids
> >-- was as
> >cruel as it was unnecessary.
>=20
> yoel-
> And anyone who does these things OR IS PREPARED TO DO THEM is perverted=
and
> sick. But according to the Bible [Romans 4:1-22], Abraham, willing to
> butcher and roast his son for his religion was "righteous".
>=20
> Oh, but right! What IS "good" or "righteous" anyway...? An enigma insid=
e a
> riddle inside the Christian mind. How stupid of me to even question th=
e
> morality of Abraham's "faith". Jeffrey Dahmer the Christian may well ha=
ve
> found great joy in Abraham's and Jephtah's "faith".
>=20
> Is any Christian on this list prepared to butcher and roast any member =
of
> his family to prove his "love" of God? Yet, in Churches around the wor=
ld,
> for 2000 years until today, the willingness of Abraham to dismember and
> cook his son has been touted as noble, worthwhile and acceptable. A
> righteous proof of faith.
>=20
> So I can understand the confusion of some Christians in regards to what
> "good" means.
>=20
> yoel
That wasn't just in O.T. times. About once a week I pick up the
newspaper and read where some fundamaniac butchered his whole family, or
just his kids, because God told him or her to do it.
Why do they put these people in jails or looney bins? Maybe God was just
testing them, but forgot to tell them class was recessed for a while.
What would David Court, or Walt Jr., or MacDonald do if they thought
they heard a little voice going off in their heads claiming to be God?
Jeffrey Lundgren was a good example. Man of God, many sheep in his
flock. Who was he to argue with God when he was told to take out the
Avery family?
Rick