I believe that the testing of Abraham was a necessary requirement
for God to be able to restore righteousness to man through Jesus.
There is a constant thread through the bible of God being bound by his
own law. God never wished to judge man. But after the fall in the
Garden, God was obliged to hold man accountable for his sin - accountable
to God's law. The penalty for sin is death and that price must be paid.
God's law could be satisfied through the substitutionary death of
animal sacrifices as in the Mosaic tradition, or through the perfect
sacrifice of Jesus.
Now a little conjecture. Before God could offer up his own son for
the sake of mankind, God's law required that a man must be found that
would be prepared to do the same. God could not act unless there was
a man who was prepared to sacrifice his own son. That man was Abraham.
There are sciptual references to support much of this.
Ge: 22:18
"In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because
you have obeyed My voice."
The identity of the "seed" is elaborated on in Galatians.
Gal: 3:16
Now to Abraham and his Seed were the promises made. He does not say,
"And to seeds," as of many, but as of one, "And to your seed," who is
Christ.
Substituting "Jesus for seed" in Ge:22:18 "In Jesus all nations of the
earth shall be blessed...". The direct consequence of Abraham's obedience
is the coming substitutionary sacrifice of Christ. The refrain,
"your son, your only son" in previous verses, seems to resound
God's own commitment.
Suddenly, with this interpretation, what appeared to be a sadistic act
of a spiteful God, is transformed into the act of a loving God intervening
on behalf of all mankind.
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"Free will?" God knows our decisions as He is outside of the time domain. We are limited to 4 dimensions whereas God is not. This allows God to 'know the end from the beginning'. Even though God already knows what are decisions will be, we make our choices & are held accountable for them. This also implies God does not have to "learn & grow" in His relationships w/us as some PBS guests have suggested.
"God wants blind obedience?" If God is who He says He is & can be taken @ His Word( & I would assert that He can )then one may be blind in regards to obeying the 'Why'( e.g. why sacrifice Isaac? )as we know & trust the 'Who'( i.e. God ). Did Abraham have any reason to doubt God? I believe his faith allowed him to obey whether he fully understood God's plan or not. Isaac's faith in God was on par w/Abraham's as he obeyed &, therefore, it was not 'child abuse'. And what is so intrinsically wrong w/obeying God??
"Why a human sacrifice?" To suggest "giving up a Lexus" as compensation fails to comprehend the moral decay sin involves. A just God cannot allow any imperfection into heaven & simply giving up stuff won't get one off the hook. We could not keep the commands of God ourselves( from Adam forward )& only on the merit of what Jesus did for us, are we able to be forgiven. The shedding of innocent blood( where life is found )is the only acceptable sacrifice( i.e. payment )for sin. The wages of sin is death & the only equivalent payment for this is that of the substitutionary death of an innocent man, Jesus. Jesus is our Passover lamb as His blood allows Death to 'pass over' us. Jesus conquered mankind's greatest fear, death, & did so in a way that we could all relate to, as a man. God was associating Himself w/the lowest of mankind & experiencing the cruellest death. The act was so dramatic( to get our attention..? )that we still talk about it almost 2000 years later.
some Isaac/Jesus similarities:
- both carried wood for the sacrifice on their back
- Isaac was dead 3 days then resurrected( from Abraham's view ) as was Jesus
- why travel ~30miles to Mt. Moriah? it was here that another Father would sacrifice His only Son( i.e. Jesus )
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