Something wasn’t right. Things were way too calm in the back of the van. Seven-year-old Billy was never this quiet on the ride home from church. He was usually picking on his little sister or clamoring to go to Culvers for lunch. His mother was worried; had something happened in Sunday school? She reached across the console between the seats and nudged her husband. When he shot her a glance, she motioned to the back of the van with her head and mouthed, “What’s wrong?” Her husband just shrugged. She turned and looked at Billy. He was sitting stiffly in the very back corner with his arms crossed and looking out the window. She had never seen such an intense frown on his face.
Finally, she asked him, “Is something wrong Billy?”
She was greeted with indifferent silence.
“Billy, I’m talking to you.”
He uncrossed his arms and looked at her.
“What’s wrong Billy? I have never seen you so quiet before. Is something bothering you?”
“I don’t want to talk about it,” he replied.
“Talk about what?”
“Nothing”
Growing a bit more impatient she firmly asked, “William Taylor, what is bothering you?”
Sensing that his mother wasn’t going to let this go he blurted it out, “Daddy isn’t going to kill me, is he?”
“Of course not, whatever are you talking about son?”
“You know how you are always talking about how we have to make sacrifices now because of Daddy’s work. Well, Mrs. Adams told us the story of Abraham and Isaac today, how God asked Abraham to sacrifice Isaac. Daddy isn’t going to do that to me is he?”
With a sudden sense of relief and bewilderment, the young mother comforted her son and reassured him that no harm was going to come to him or his sister. Keeping it as simple as possible she explained that it was an old story and God didn’t expect parents to sacrifice their children. They did stop at Culvers to get Billy his favorite meal.
The story of God’s test of Abraham is one of the most troubling in all of Scripture. It is like a game of faith chicken between God and Abraham; who is going to blink first? The story almost begs us to scream our disbelief at both of them. According to any test of sensibility, God and Abraham both failed miserably. After all, this God was supposed to be different from the other gods. Yahweh, the God of Abraham wasn’t supposed to want or need human sacrifice. Yet, there were Abraham and Isaac trekking into the wilderness of Moriah with the firewood and knife to do the deed.
Where was the outrage from Abraham? If this was truly a test wouldn’t God look more favorably upon a father who wanted to protect his child? How can one be faithful to God if one is not faithful to one’s family? God and Abraham are both despicable in this story and they defy every human sensibility. However, let us remember this story is not about sensibility, it is about faithfulness.
Before we become too critical of Abraham over his apparent willingness to sacrifice Isaac, let us ask ourselves; to what gods do we sacrifice the children of the world? Where are our altars? How many of our children have been sacrificed on the altars of adult made wars? How many children have had their lives broken apart by divorce, feuding parents or sexual abuse? How many children’s lives have we laid at the golden feet of organized sports programs, neglect, urban violence, endless daycare, the unquenchable appetite of consumerism, deficient education and health systems, multinational corporation sponsored sweat shops, child pornography…How many of our children do we sacrifice each and every day? We have no moral high ground on Abraham.
To be repulsed by this story is to miss a very important point. The story is all about trust; it is a love story focused on faith. There is God’s trust in Abraham, Abraham’s trust in God and Isaac’s trust in his father. Is it possible that after spending years building his relationship with God that Abraham had come to the point where he knew and understood the will and heart of God?
There is something small in this story which is easily overlooked. Three times Abraham was addressed and each time he replied with the words, “Here I am.” Notice there was a sense of immediacy every time Abraham responded. When God called to him at the start of the story, immediately Abraham said, “Here I am.” When Isaac called to him, asking about the sacrifice, immediately he replied, “Here I am.” Finally, when the angel addressed him to give the order to stop the sacrifice, without hesitation he said, “Here I am.” Abraham was so close to God that he responded immediately. Perhaps it was this closeness which allowed him to reassure Isaac, “God will provide.” Yes, perhaps Abraham knew the heart of God.
Remember however, this relationship did not grow overnight. Abraham responded to God’s call to depart for the land of Canaan only after his father died; doubting that God would protect him from Pharaoh when he ventured into Egypt he passed Sarah off as his sister; when Sarah could not give birth to an heir of the covenant, he fathered the child Ishmael by Sarah’s maidservant Hagar; when God promised that Sarah would give birth to a son in her old age, Abraham and Sarah both laughed at God; when Sarah felt threatened by the presence of Hagar and Ishmael Abraham cast them out to die in the wilderness. It was not a stellar record of faithfulness on Abraham’s part and there was good cause for God to test the depth of Abraham’s commitment. Yet with each of those tests, with all of those trials, Abraham grew closer and closer to God, close enough to begin to know the heart of the Almighty. So, it was with a degree of confidence that Abraham could tell Isaac, “God will provide.” That is why Abraham is considered our pioneer in faith.
Yet it wasn’t just Abraham who demonstrated faith. We might be tempted to ask why an all-knowing God would need to test Abraham’s faith. Doesn’t God know everything? That is what we say when we call God omniscient. However, as the story is told, it appears that God truly doesn’t know how Abraham will respond to this outlandish test. You see, there is a sense in which God also became vulnerable in this story. If Abraham had refused obedience and to give up his only son, where would the future of the covenant with humanity have stood?
Building any relationship means making oneself vulnerable. There was a powerful story that circulated a few years ago. A hospital worker told of a little girl who was dying and needed a blood transfusion. Since her five-year-old brother had already beaten the disease, he had become immune to it and was found to be a perfect donor. So, the transfusion was arranged. As the procedure progressed color began to return to the little girls face and she improved. The little boy’s face grew pale and his smile faded. With a trembling voice he asked the doctor, “Will I start to die right away?” Being so young the little boy thought he was giving all of his blood to his sister. Still, he was willing to do it. For the sake of love the little boy made himself vulnerable.
In the story of the sacrifice of Isaac both God and Abraham made themselves vulnerable as they strengthened the bond of trust. They both put the future of the covenant at risk. Without Isaac to carry it forward, the covenant ended. Likewise, if Abraham could not be trusted, there was no covenant to begin with. In confirming their bond of trust, both demonstrated important lessons. God knew that Abraham could be trusted with the covenant and Abraham came to understand that God always provides what is needed. They cemented a relationship which was passed on to generations of Abraham’s descendants. It was a relationship built on trust and vulnerability.
This story is all about providing, even the setting, Mount Moriah, means God will provide. Do you know the story of Moriah? It is one of the hills that makes up Jerusalem. When David bought the land for the Temple, it was on Mount Moriah. Don’t you see, long ago the stage was actually set for an even greater demonstration of the truth that God does provide.
When the relationship between God and Abraham’s descendants could not be maintained God still provided. This time another son climbed his own Moriah; like Isaac he carried the wood for the sacrifice on his back, a cross rather than firewood; there he was nailed to that cross by sinful people and he died. Through his sacrifice the relationship between God and humanity was sealed forever. God did exactly what he had asked Abraham to do; he gave up his only begotten son so we might have life through him. Don’t you see, God does know the pain of sacrifice, because God does provide.
Want to know a secret, God is still providing. Sometimes it is with people like you and you and you and me. God provides whenever we cross paths with someone who needs a cool drink of water, needs a comforting hug, a word of encouragement or any form of human kindness. We cross those paths for a reason, for indeed, God has provided and now it is our turn.