The Lord Provides?

Genesis 21:1–3 NET

The Lord visited Sarah just as he had said he would and did for Sarah what he had promised.So Sarah became pregnant and bore Abraham a son in his old age at the appointed time that God had told him. Abraham named his son—whom Sarah bore to him—Isaac.

Genesis 22:1–14 NET

Some time after these things God tested Abraham. He said to him, “Abraham!” “Here I am!” Abraham replied. God said, “Take your son—your only son, whom you love, Isaac—and go to the land of Moriah! Offer him up there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains which I will indicate to you.” Early in the morning Abraham got up and saddled his donkey. He took two of his young servants with him, along with his son Isaac. When he had cut the wood for the burnt offering, he started out for the place God had spoken to him about. On the third day Abraham caught sight of the place in the distance. So he said to his servants, “You two stay here with the donkey while the boy and I go up there. We will worship and then return to you.” Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and put it on his son Isaac. Then he took the fire and the knife in his hand, and the two of them walked on together. Isaac said to his father Abraham, “My father?” “What is it, my son?” he replied. “Here is the fire and the wood,” Isaac said, “but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?” “God will provide for himself the lamb for the burnt offering, my son,” Abraham replied. The two of them continued on together. When they came to the place God had told him about, Abraham built the altar there and arranged the wood on it. Next he tied up his son Isaac and placed him on the altar on top of the wood. Then Abraham reached out his hand, took the knife, and prepared to slaughter his son. But the Lord’s angel called to him from heaven, “Abraham! Abraham!” “Here I am!” he answered. “Do not harm the boy!” the angel said. “Do not do anything to him, for now I know that you fear God because you did not withhold your son, your only son, from me.” Abraham looked up and saw behind him a ram caught in the bushes by its horns. So he went over and got the ram and offered it up as a burnt offering instead of his son. And Abraham called the name of that place “The Lord provides.” It is said to this day, “In the mountain of the Lord provision will be made.”

This is a weird story. No, not just weird. It’s messed up. It’s disturbing. It’s wrong.

To give you some background… [Fill in the Abraham, Ishmael, and Isaac story and promise - 3 minutes]

Which brings us here. To this terrible story. Abraham has spent decades waiting for God to fulfill the promise that he would be the father of nations, and God has finally fulfilled it, saying Isaac is the one through whom God will bring about the promise. But now… now God asks Abraham to sacrifice Isaac? That can’t be right, can it?

There are some more details in this story that I can’t really shake. For instance, God’s general silence in this story. Abraham seems to hear God’s voice at the beginning, but never again through this three day ordeal. When we reach the climax, it’s not God popping up and saying “April Fool’s Abraham!” Instead, it’s a messenger of God. A different voice than the one Abraham heard at the beginning.

Then there’s the matter of Isaac. He’s strong enough to carry the wood, which Abraham evidently is not. Abraham is old and weak. Yet Isaac winds up tied to the altar any way. Why doesn’t he fight back?

Worst of all, there’s the fall out. Look, I know this story supposedly ends on a high note, but come on. Do we really think Abraham and Isaac’s relationship wasn’t fundamentally changed by this? Does anyone honestly believe the two of them could go back down the mountain, thick as thieves, rejoicing in God’s provision? No! There’s no way that happens. There is now a rift between these two that cannot be closed. And while we’re not reading some of the other stories this year, it’s safe to say that a lot of this family’s future dysfunction - and they have a lot of future dysfunction - probably stems from this incident.

It’s just an awful story.

A story that’s often used and abused by people seeking to justify horrible actions which they claim they are doing in the name of God.

Sure, there’s a glass half full way of looking at this story - God did provide the ram, right?

But the way it’s written, I believe we’re actually meant to look on this story with the disgust that I can’t seem to hide.

Textual evidence tells us that this story was a later addition to the Abraham narrative, put in there by an author whose main goal was to show how God had ordained the system of animal sacrifice as a worthy replacement for the practice of human sacrifice which other tribes had adopted. It’s done in dramatic fashion, bringing the patriarch of Israel within inches of committing a terrible action, so that by the time the ram is provided, everyone hearing this story is left saying “Oh. Thank God Abraham didn’t do it!” We’re not meant to be impressed with Abraham’s willingness to sacrifice Isaac, but with God’s refusal to accept a human sacrifice.

Well, first of all, the language in which this story is written suggests it comes from

That alone might be enough, but I think there are two other reasons we should be suspicious of this story.

God doesn’t test!

During our James study, we read that God does not tempt people to sin. So the fact that this story begins with God supposedly tempting Abraham to commit murder ought to be a big red flag.

Those different voices.

Remember earlier, when I pointed out that the voices at the beginning and end of this story are different? Well, the more I studied that, the more important it became. All throughout the Abraham story, he deals with the same person. If God talks to him, God is the one to follow up. If a messenger of God talks to him, that messenger is the one to follow up.

But here, he gets his marching orders from one voice, which he attributes to God. And then he is stopped by a different voice, which is said to be God’s messenger.

When did that policy change?

I’d like to suggest it didn’t. Further, I’d like to suggest Abraham was wrong about who was addressing him.

It wouldn’t be the only time this happened in Scripture. In the book of 2 Samuel, we read that God tells David to commission a census, and then God punishes David for commissioning a census. By the time this same story is told in 1 Chronicles, the author says it was Satan who gave David the first instruction.

What if the same is true here? What if the reason the voices are different is because the first voice wasn’t God at all? What if God’s silence as Abraham and Isaac journey to Moriah is because God is hoping Abraham will realize his mistake?

I’ll tell you what - if that’s the case; if Abraham, who walked and talked with God on the regular, could mistake an evil idea for the command of God, then we certainly can too. And that’s why we need to do what Abraham failed to do; Abraham did what he believed he was supposed to. Consulting no one, refusing to evaluate his course of action, not even stopping to pray. And it almost cost him everything.

If you think you are hearing from God, don’t be like Abraham. Pray about it. Compare what you are hearing to how God has been revealed to you in Scripture and in the Tradition of the Church. And above all, share what you’re hearing with others, and let them discern with you. Otherwise, you might find yourself making the biggest mistake of your life, and placing the blame on God.