Introduction
Human being is nothing but God’s creation. God has given guidance to the human beings through Holy Books so that they can lead their lives in the direction of those who are on the righteous path. Genesis is one of them, which reveals God’s message. God tests His creature no matter that he is a trivial human being or His messenger. Genesis has a chapter in which God’s test story has been discussed. The chapter is not a myth but it is the ‘Word of Almighty God.’ Isaac is the messenger of God and this chapter discusses the Sacrifice Story of Isaac.
In Christianity, the Genesis chapter is known as "The Sacrifice of Isaac" However, in Judaism, it is called as "The Akedah" which means ‘the binding of Isaac.’ The story of Isaac is debatable in Christianity, as well as, Judaism religions. Numerous debatable questions have been arisen on Isaac’s sacrifice story for instance; some say that the story is about abusive God, some say it is about the misguided Abraham while others say it is the story of obedience and faith. There are modern interpretations which say that the story is an etiological tale, which depicts a shift from human sacrifice to animal sacrifice. In Israel, many cultures believe that Isaac story gives a message of sacrificing their children although Prophet condemned such brutal act. This study discusses the modern vs. old interpretation of Genesis 22 (Moss 2006).
Discussion
In Judaism and Christianity, "the Akedah" is considered as the fundamental story. Both religions interpreted the jest of Isaac sacrifice in a different way. Jews considered the Isaac sacrifice act as their fundamental act, so they followed the sacrifice act at Jerusalem Temple. On the other hand, Christian interpretation of the act was considered Isaac sacrifice of his beloved son as the greatest example of his faith and obedience. The story up until now is considered as the faith against all odds. Although, the story has a rich interpretation, but many have attempted to negate the findings and interpretations of this incident. In the modern era, where religious extremism exists, there the new interpretation of this story may lead the world towards violence and brutal crime. It is highly suggested that whoever is preaching this story must mention the fact that the God does not ask for child sacrifice but faith and obedience (Levenson, 1993).
The chapter highlights the theme in which God commands Abraham to sacrifice his son by throwing him on a burning flame. Abraham did not show resistance and proceed as per his Lord’s saying. God accepted his sacrifice and replaced his son with a substitute. The question arises on the reason behind such command. Many scholars interpreted as per their understandings. Speiser suggested that God tested patriarch’s faith; Skinner suggested that the command was given to replace human sacrifices with animals. Yates believed that the command was given to show God abhorrence towards human sacrifice. One of the best explanations was given by Francisco; he said that God wanted to give a message to His believers that faith is nothing but submission of everything to God's will. It is not enough to keep faith in the heart, to prove faith by the actions is an important thing that counts. There is another purpose of God's command, and that is to show people that there is no need to sacrifice their sons/daughters to attain God's will. The greatest sacrifice for God is the submission to His will.
Verse 1-2
“God did prove Abraham” In this verse, the word, “prove” depicts that God tests the faith of Abraham. The whole sacrifice was nothing but the test of faith of Abraham by the God. If God asks for any other belongings, then the level of faith could not be measured. The other versions use the word ‘Tempt' instead of ‘prove' is nothing but misleading. God never tempts any person; the actual interpretation is that God tests the faith of Abraham by sacrificing his dearest son for God’s will.
"Land of Moriah one of the mountains " The question arises with this verse that where the land of Moriah is located. The answer to this is Jerusalem. The journey from Abraham place to Jerusalem is less than three days. In the previous chapter, it is mentioned that Jerusalem was about 50 miles away from the place Abraham resided. The Bible declares Jerusalem as the Land of Moriah. However, Jewish does not agree with this fact. As per them, the temple was built on the mountain by Solomon where Isaac was offered. However, Willis said that the evidence provided in the verse about the location is quite vague, but the scriptural identification convinces about the location what the writer suggested. Many others like Kline, Yates, and Adam Clarke link Moriah with Jerusalem (Davis 2001).
Verse 3
“And Abraham rose early in the morning saw the place afar off.”
“So Abraham rose early” the verse depicts the fact without any doubt that Abraham must have suffered from the sleepless night when he rose early in the morning. Abraham showed his full trust in God although he did not comprehend the meaning and purpose of his God's command. When one submits fully to his Lord, then there is no other way out. The interpretation suggests that although Abraham did not feel like doing as per the command of his Lord. There is no word in the verse that defines the feeling of Abraham when God commands him. Because he was faithful by actions not bound to his feelings so interpreting the feelings is not correct. Saddled his donkey suggests that although Abraham had plenty of servants he did all the work by himself to gain his God's will. “Went to the place told him” the phrase shows his obedience and trust level on God (Trible 1990).
Verses 4-8
"Then on the third day.two of them went together."
The verses depicted the journey when Abraham started his journey to offer Isaac on God's will. On the third day," the phrase depicts that the journey was less than three days. The offering of Isaac was done in the Mount Moriah, which is modern-day Jerusalem. ‘I will go worship' the word worship is used for the first time in Bible concerning God. The phrase depicts that Abraham and Isaac went to the mount to worship God. ‘And we will come back to you' the phrase depicts that Abraham did not know that he would not have sacrificed his son, but he knew that God would raise him from the dead because God promised him to carry Isaac on the line of covenant and blessing. The phrase ‘Isaac your seed shall be called,’ depicts that God raises Isaac even from the dead. ‘He took the fire and a knife’ depicts that Abraham was fully ready to sacrifice his loved one for attaining God’s will. ‘The two of them went together’ the phrase depicts that Abraham and Isaac were willingly ready to submit them in front of God.
The interpretation depicts that at that time, Abraham was not aware of God’s test. ‘My son. Burnt offering’ the phrase depicts that Abraham knew that God would protect his son but still ready to sacrifice his life. The phrase also interpreted that Abraham knew that God would send some sacrifice; the question arose from where the Lamb came from. The John declared that God sent lamb that took away sins from this world (Moss, n.d).
Verse 9
"Then they came.upon the wood."
The phrase ‘they came to the place’ identifies Mount Moriah where Isaac was being offered. ‘Abraham built. Bound Isaac' Abraham was 100 years old, and Isaac would have a chance to find an escape from his death, but he surrendered himself for the sake of God’s will. The event depicted that Abraham faith was worth remembering, but one should also not forget about Isaac faith as well. ‘Upon the wood' the phrase is the true reflection of willing submission of Isaac for the sake of God's will (Moss 2006a).
Verses 10-14
Abraham willingness to sacrifice his son’s life because of his faith in God’s ability to bring back Isaac from death. One of the interpretations criticized and declared that it is not a righteous thing that God should not have backed off what He had initially asked from Abraham to do. If he wanted Abraham to sacrifice his son, then He should have made him sacrifice his son’s life without replacing it with lamb. Another interpretation of this phrase is that God's takes the will of any action from his people. The event is the great explanation of a martyr life which never dies. The phrase depicts that we are living a life of a martyr.
‘Do not lay anything to him’ through this phrase, the God shows to Abraham that He is not like the pagan gods who just wanted human sacrificed. Instead, God only wants true faith of His believer who submits themselves towards righteous deed. The phrase cleared that God never wants human sacrifice. ‘You have not withheld from me’ Abraham showed his heart and willingness to give up his son’s life over God’s command. In the same way, God showed his heart by giving His begotten son. The interpretation of this phrase is done in a manner that God asked Abraham to sacrifice his son’s life when He wanted to see his love and commitment. In the same way, God being the father showed his love and commitment by sending His son to us. He did not withhold with his son and send him to us. ‘Abraham went instead of his son' God did not back off with the sacrifice, he wanted sacrifice but not of a human being so He replaced Isaac with a substitute.
‘Abraham called the name ’ Abraham clearly mentioned the name of the place where he would sacrifice his son. It was mentioned ‘in the mount, it shall be provided.' One of the explanation declared that Abraham did not name the place according to his experience, but he named the hill where he expected his Lord would raise his son from death. He named that place as the Mount provision. He was aware of the fact that someday on that hill his Lord would provide the ultimate salvation. ‘As it is said to this day' the event is also a depiction of the prophecy of Jesus who would rise on the third day. The third-day depiction was mentioned in the scriptures. However, in the Old Testament, it is depicted in the picture of Isaac. The phrases are the true depiction of Jesus as both loved by their father; they offered their lives to God; on the same hill they both were sacrificed; last but not least they both raised from the death on the third day (Moss 2006).
Verses 15 to 19
“Then the angel Abraham dwelt at Beersheba.”
‘Blessingblesses you’ the phrase reflects the eternal happiness of Abraham of passing the test of his faith and trust. ‘I will multiply.on the seashore’ the estimated calculation was provided and said that the total number of stars in the sky and grains of sand on the sea exist in the same quantity which is 10 to the power 25 (Chilton, n.d).
Verses 20-24
“Now it came to pass after Tebah, Gaham, Thahash, and Maachah”
In this verse, the word ‘His concubine’, interpretation is done as the wife who was considered as inferior as a principal wife. The children from inferior wife did not have the right to inheritance rather they were endowed with gifts (Moss 2006b).
References
Chilton, B. (n.d.). Genesis in Aramaic: The Example of Chapter 22. The Book of Genesis, 495-518. doi:10.1163/9789004226579_022
Davis, E. F. (2001). Getting Involved with God: Rediscovering the Old Testament. Cambridge, MA: Cowley Publications.
Levenson D. J., (1993).The Death and Resurrection of the Beloved Son: The Transformation of Child Sacrifice in Judaism and Christianity. Yale University Press
Moss, D. (2006a). Genesis twenty-two: A signed limited edition giclee print. Berkeley, CA: Bet Alpha Editions.
Moss, D. (2006b). Genesis twenty-two: The binding of Isaac. Berkeley, CA: Bet Alpha Editions.
Moss, D. (n.d.). Genesis twenty-two: The binding of Isaac.
Trible, P. (1990). Genesis 22: The sacrifice of Sarah. Valparaiso, IN: Valparaiso Univ. Pr.
