The Sacrifice Of Isaac
2022년 8월 7일The Sacrifice Of Isaac
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The story in the book of Genesis about God asking Abraham to sacrifice his only son Isaac initially seems very difficult, if not impossible, to understand. I mean, what father would listen, much less obey such an outlandish, barbaric command? And what kind of cruel, bloodthirsty God would ask for such a thing? This is why Bible study isn’t just important, it’s essential. To understand this story you must put it into its historical context. At that time the Canaanites, neighbors to the Israelites, worshiped the god Moloch. And Moloch was a bloodthirsty god, demanding the Canaanites sacrifice their firstborn son in a barbaric ritual where the infant was handed over to the priest, who brought it to the sacrificial altar. It looked like a large stone head inside of which a fire burned. The tongue of the idol stuck out and acted as a slide on which the priest placed the baby and stabbed it once before letting it fall into the flames. Trumpets would blare to drown out the screams of the dying children. And the worse part is the Canaanites willingly sacrificed their children to Moloch.
Now the story of God asking Abraham to sacrifice Isaac makes sense. Was Abraham’s faith as strong as that of the Molochites? Yes! Abraham showed he was willing to sacrifice Isaac, his firstborn son. But the story says Yahweh was more merciful than Moloch, and substituted a ram in place of Abraham’s son. Thus Abraham’s faith was rewarded by God showing mercy. What are you willing to sacrifice? What do you possess that God hasn’t given you? We should take great consolation and reassurance from this story. No matter what happens, remember we place our trust in the hands of a most merciful God, who would show us how much God loves us by sacrificing his only Son that we might live. God allowed a ram to be sacrificed in place of Abraham’s son Isaac. One day God would sacrifice his Son to save us.