Genesis 22

ell, now we come to one of the most difficult chapters to digest in the whole Bible (in my opinion). How could God ask Abraham to sacrifice Isaac his son? Isn't that cruel, barbaric, itself a proof for the non-existence of the Jewish or the Christian conceptions of God and their religions?

Could be.

It's a tough chapter, if you are serious about your Faith. I have gone back and forth between interpretations myself attempting to figure out what on Earth is being communicated here, how this can be Divinely Revealed truth. The way I have thought about it the past few years, however, is in terms of God's Accommodation to human culture. 

Abraham was a reformed pagan. He likely was familiar with, if he didn't worship himself, gods like Molech, to whom kings and peasants alike would sacrifice their infant children, "passing them through the fire", to appease the deity. That's what God is working with here. That is Abraham's default mindset. There is no Western Civilization, yet. God must reform Abraham and his descendants into the kind of people who could transmit it, through their culture, through their philosophy, through their religion, and most importantly, through the Incarnation. But all of that has yet to be.

I believe that for Abraham to understand God, and the level of personal commitment God required of him, there was no moral equivalent that God could have used. He had to speak in Abraham's terms, and that meant asking Abraham to provide a human sacrifice, the life of his son. By stopping Abraham, sparing Isaac, God is beginning to express his Nature, and the fact that it is morally wrong for man to slay the innocent, for any reason. The father of monotheism is being trained. But the level of commitment required of Abraham is also made clear. God requires Abraham's all. Isaac is Abraham's only son. No spares. 

Supernaturally, we are given by the author of Hebrews to know part of what was going through Abraham's mind: 

17 By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises was offering up his only begotten son; 18 it was he to whom it was said, “In Isaac your descendants shall be called.” 19 He considered that God is able to raise people even from the dead, from which he also received him back as a type. Hebrews 11:17-19

A textual scholar might say it is possible that the author of Hebrews is reciting a pious midrash, or Jewish parable based upon the life of a famous person, in this case Abraham. But I believe this is the accurate portrayal of what was going through Abraham's mind. So Abraham believed that through sacrifice he would still get his son back with blessing and abundance. Abraham had faith in God even to raise the dead, because God had shown himself to be faithful and to keep His promise.

The fundamental virtue is loyalty, is faithfulness. To your project, to your boyfriend, to your wife, to your family, to your nation, to your God. Sticking with someone when things get tough, despite the fact that they are tough, when that person has shown themselves faithful to you. This is the virtue Abraham demonstrates. It is the virtue without which families cannot exist, and so it is the cornerstone of civilization: Trust in those who are trustworthy. Isaac yields to Abraham, a man of over one hundred years of age. Civilization requires radical trust in each other. Isaac shows us this truth as well.

God, give me faithfulness to do Your Will when it is most difficult, and when I am weakest and most desire to follow after other gods who promise ease and pleasure. Help me to trust You enough to endure in what I have decided is right, to turn back to the one deserving my love. Amen.

The Sacrifice of Isaac, Caravaggio (1571-1610) in the Baroque tenebrist tradition.