The Riddle of Isaac

Repeatedly God's Word prohibits child sacrifice (Leviticus 18:21; Jeremiah 18:21; etc.).  It is an abomination to God and what the pagan religions practice.  The paradox, tension and riddle within scripture is where God tells Abraham to bind his son and offer him as a sacrifice (Genesis 22).  How can God tell Abraham to sacrifice his son if it is morally wrong and goes against God's own commandments?

This biblical text may be one of the most misunderstood and scandalous texts in the Bible.  What people don't see spiritually is it is a riddle.  The riddle of Isaac.  The ancient Jewish rabbinic literature speaks of "the sacrifice of an innocent or righteous person will redeem the world."  We don't get the riddle or can wrap our brains around it because we think like Greek philosophers today and not like the ancient Hebrews.

What is the riddle of Issac?  It is Abraham's silence.  Abraham spoke out and argued with God over the destruction of Sodom but not about his own son?  The book of Hebrews says Abraham thought if he killed his son, God would raise him from the dead (ch.11:17-19).  That answers the first part of the riddle for Isaac but what about the part of child sacrifice being an abomination to God himself?  Why did Abraham not speak out concerning that?

Rabbinic Judaism has within their own writings a kind of resurrection of Isaac.  Every year this story is read during Rosh Hashanah.  They remember Jewish martyrs, they lament the persecution and suffering of God's people Israel.  They enter into the story and thank God for providing atonement so they can be at one with God.  Is Abraham an example of obedience and faith here or not?  The answer is yes and no.  Abraham succeeded in trusting God in faith and obeyed what God told him to do.  Abraham failed to question God or argue with God over the requirements of God's own word.

I love the rabbinic story of Akeda.  A father asks his son, "Why are you crying?  The boy replied in response to his father telling him the binding of Isaac story, "But what if the angel had come a moment too late?  The father answered, "Human beings are sometimes late but angels are never late."
The Jewish faith recognizes that Abraham raised the knife twice to Isaac.  The first time at his circumcision and the second when Isaac was an adult child and consented to his Father's request.

Abraham could say his silence was guaranteeing future generations that God would show compassion on the sons and daughters of Israel.  Job could say to Abraham but you should have questioned, demanded God to answer his own dilemma.  For the Christian, Isaac is a type of Christ and a foreshadowing of Christ's death and willing sacrifice on the cross for all people and for all time.

1.  Isaac is called Abraham's "only" son.  Jesus is called the only begotten son of God.

2.  Abraham and Isaac rode a donkey to Mt. Moriah.  Jesus rode a donkey into Jerusalem on the Sunday before his crucifixion.

3.  Isaac willing lay down his life (Gen.22:6) and Jesus willingly laid his life down on the cross (John 10:17-18)

4.  The Torah says Abraham and Isaac" walked on together" (Gen.22:6).  Jesus said, "The Father and I are one (John 10:30)

5.  The ram was caught in a thorny thicket (Gen.22:13).  Jesus wore a crown of thorns (Matt.27:29)

Each autumn in Judaism, the Isaac story is read and chanted out loud with the story of Elisha and the miraculous conception, death, and resurrection of the Shunamites's son.  Ancient Jewish Midrash has contained and withheld this seed idea of sacrifice linked to resurrection.  The Jerusalem Talmud says, "Since Isaac was redeemed, it is as though all Israel has been redeemed" (Tannit 1:4).

Abraham binding Isaac in the Context of the Book of Job

I finally found Richard Middleton's blog where he discusses some of his interpretive moves in regards to Genesis 22. God wants Abraham to argue like Job and show a discerning faith. Abraham shows a blind allegiance in following this pagan act of child sacrifice which Abraham should have argued with God like he did concerning the Sodom incident. He also says the angel commends Abraham because even though his faith is imperfect, God's mercy always works with imperfect people (this is my short summary of his view).

I do want to say that Richard is not doing anything much different than some of the ancient Rabbi's who had problems with this story as well. I always love his provocative ways he makes me think about the biblical text in new ways. Richard is one of the best and most prolific Old Testament scholars I know of today.

After saying all that, I think this is a possible way to look at the biblical text but I am going to push back some.

1. The book of Hebrews says Abraham believed that God was going to resurrect his son (11:17-19). I have no idea where the writer of Hebrews gets this information because it is not in the Genesis text at all. After saying that, if fuller progressive Christological revelation is correct (the writer of the book of Hebrews received it from the Holy Spirit), then Abraham was silent and never pushed back because he firmly believed God would restore his son. The writer of Hebrews at least throws some doubt on the silence imagery being pushed as far as Richard may be doing here?

2. There are always exceptions to rules and Richard could be right in the end. I will say I am concerned when our interpretive moves goes contrary to how ancient Judaism and Christianity has always understood the biblical text. There would have to be excessive weight of evidence or a powerful seed idea of the Spirit moving us forward and beyond to tread a different path than the ancient Jewish-Christian tradition.

3. Lastly, by analogy, let me share where I think Richard has a great insight in one regard. Abraham believes God will let him kill his son and fulfill a pagan like child sacrifice. Ancient proclivities can be very different in their context and day but it does seem like as Richard suggests that this should have been a problem for Abraham. Why is he silent here?

Now the analogy, some Christian missionaries ask people who are converting to Christianity, are they willing to give up their multiple wives? If they answer, yes, they baptize them without making them give up their wives. If no, they don't baptize them for they are not ready yet. It is a matter of Jesus Lordship and willing to go against one's tribal traditions (in one's heart----the heart is the issue).

It seems if God never ultimately intended to force or make Abraham sacrifice his son but he wanted to see if he would hold nothing back, even his own child (anything can become an idol, even our own children) then moral problems of the text may not have to be pushed to the extent for Richard's interpretation?  I will say that I do believe God wants us to wrestle with the biblical text and that is exactly what Richard Middleton does do.  I do concur with Richard we need a deeper theology of lament.

The Genesis of You

One can read many academic books on the book of Genesis by many various scholars but it is difficult to find someone who preaches and teaches on the book of Genesis from a pastoral perspective.  Peter Hiett is writing a three book series on Genesis one through three and his first book is called "The History of Time . . . And the Genesis of You (Relentless Love Publishing, 2015)

Hiett challenges modern Christians to read the book of Genesis within its historical context and its spiritual implications for our lives today.  The great adventure of missing the point in Genesis is not about the age of the earth or whether or not dinosaurs were on the ark (sorry Ken Ham).  Hiett rightly says, "The point is always Jesus Christ and him crucified" (1 Cor.2:2).

The book of Genesis is not just a book of beginnings but it is God's love letter written to you.  You were created to read the story and fall in love with the author.  Rather than allowing God to fashion us into His image, we try the reverse and fashion the book of Genesis and God into our image which is just another form of idolatry that this book is trying to counteract.

God's story is Jesus story which is also your story.  This first book of the Bible is the genesis of you.  Christ in you.  It is the grand story of God making all things new (2 Cor.5:17).  What we find in the book of Genesis is the story of God, the story of creation, the story of Israel, the story of Christ, and the story of your life all wrapped up into one glorious story.