Hebrew Bible Sacrifice Essay

Hebrew Bible “The Gift of Sacrifice.”

Roxanne Lester In this paper I am going to discuss the reason for sacrifice, I will speak of the near sacrifice of Isaac in Genesis, why it occurs where it does in the text, and the faith that Abraham had in God. I will take texts and examples from certain parts of the scriptures to show my point and to explain where these answers are. Sacrifice was a huge deal back in the bible days. People would sacrifice animals all the time to show how loyal they were to God. “The definition of sacrifice is written as, an act of slaughtering an animal or person or surrendering a possession as an offering to God or to a divine or supernatural figure.” (Oxford Dictionary, n.d.) People back in the bible days’ use to sacrifice animals to show their loyalty and faith to God. The entire life of Abraham is at times compared to Moses. Abraham seems to suggest the positive qualities of faith, while Moses is in some ways the negative example. This does not mean that Moses was not a holy man because he certainly was. But the difference is that Abraham is shown to exhibit faith in God without the Law. Usually, the mention of faith and believing are positive qualities mentioned before Moses gave the commandments to the Jewish people (Genesis 15:6; Exodus 4:5; 14:31; 19:9). After

This remarkable act of trust was based on the promise—that God would make through him and his descendants a great nation (12:2-3). But in Genesis 22:2, God commanded Abraham once again to “go.” Indeed, he is to go to the land of Moriah. This time Isaac, the covenant son of the promise, is involved. “Abraham couldn’t have missed the connection being made bells are going off in Abraham’s mind God is clearly reminding him of his promise of blessing in Genesis 12 even while he’s being commanded to do what seems to be utterly opposed to that promise.”