In the book of Genesis, Abraham follows God to whatever he needs to be fulfilled. Even sacrificing his own offspring because God has told him to do so. This shows he would do anything and everything God wanted him to do without hesitation. “God, however, has greater abilities and knowledge than we do, including control over life and death” ( "Why Did God Tell Abraham to Sacrifice Isaac?" N.p., n.d. Web. , n.d.). Most people would think that Abraham sacrificing his own son is wrong and should be punished by God. God told him to do so, god has the power to kill and bring back by his choosing. That what God commanded him to do was not wrong because god has the power to take life. So in turn he had the right to kill Isaac if he pleased. That when god …show more content…
gave him the commandment to sacrifice Isaac, he gave Abraham the power to kill. He put the knife in his hand. When God gave Abraham the commandment to sacrifice his son Isaac, he didn’t want to but he knew if god wanted him died that was the right thing to do.
Even though god is the one who put Isaac in their life. He thought that if god wanted so, he would give him something new to sacrifice instead of his own child. That he loved Isaac more than anything in the world, so he thought. God want himself to be the person that Abraham would cherish for life. “The point was for Abraham to demonstrate that he trusted God completely and placed him above all else, even his own son” ( "Why Did God Tell Abraham to Sacrifice Isaac?" N.p., n.d. Web. , n.d.). That god wanted to show how loyal Abraham was to him and he wasn’t doing it out of fear towards god. In the bible its says that he was testing him, but to me that is not how Abraham felt. To me Abraham was in fear to what would happen if this sacrifice was not fulfilled. That he was in fear when fulfilling the commandments god was giving him to complete. God wanted to see how loyal Abraham would be by giving him the hardest thing to do, which is sacrificing his own child. He wanted to know who he would choose; him or his own son. In the end he chose God over his own flesh and
blood. When first reading Genesis about Abrahams sacrifice of his son I was in shock. I was shocked in the fact that God would ask such a thing. I was even more shocked when Abraham was inches away from killing his son. That your child is the most precious thing God could give you. That every life that god brought has a purpose. “Do not do anything to him. Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son.” (Genesis 22, n.d.). God was even telling that what he was doing was wrong, but he gave him the power to do such things. He commanded him to sacrifice his son for God. So all in all God is the one to blame from what he would have done if he did not stop him. God wants people to follow him and obey him, but when people do and he changes his mind about that commandment it’s out of fear not loyalty. Fear in this chapter had a lot to do what influenced Abraham to do what he was about to do, but God shouldn’t have put that pressure on him deciding between God and his son. God who he would go to the end of the world for and his son that he was given to by God. When God said he did it out of fear was half right. He did out of fear because the man that gave him his child is asking for him to sacrifice him to him. This goes back to God has the power to bring people into this world (Isaac) and to bring people out of this world (sacrifice), he holds all the power in his hand. When Abraham and Isaac are making their way up to make the sacrifice, all Abraham is hoping is that God will bless them with another sacrifice so that his son will “saved” by God. To me this is God showing him the power that he has, the power to give and take a life from this world. Saying go and sacrifice your son and then when his about to end his life, God appears and says just kidding why would you kill your own son. Blaming Abraham that he was fearing God not worshiping him. Kind of scaring Abraham that he needs to worship him more, because he is the almighty creator and can do what he pleases. Overall, God fears that Abraham is just following him because Abraham fears him and doesn’t worship him. God was trying to test him to see if he would actually sacrifice his own child. What if he didn’t sacrifice Isaac? Would of Abraham refused to kill his own child? Would Abraham be blamed for not following God? Would God banish Abraham because he didn’t follow him? He would have been upset at Abraham because God goes first no matter what and that is what Abraham was doing. He put God first in hopes that God would repay him by giving him an animal to sacrifice in place of Isaac. When he does not withhold his son from God he will praise him, even though he didn’t fully complete his commandment. At the end God got what he wanted; Isaac not being sacrificed and him showing who the almighty ruler is. The one that can control life and death.
Sacrifices, though often difficult to make, can be ultimately be beneficial. Whether that sacrifice be a job, a person, a lifestyle, or a way of thinking, it can better the lives of everyone involved. A great example of this fact lies in John Steinbeck’s novel The Grapes of Wrath when a preacher named Jim Casy sacrifices his position after he has self-proclaimed “sinful ideas”, which he soon discovers to be more sensible and even applicable to his life, and moreover the entire work. When Jim Casy sacrificed his position as a preacher, and, with that, his past values, he opened his mind to accept profound ideas regarding holiness, togetherness, and revolution which ultimately prove to be the themes of the novel as a whole.
Almost everyday one decides to sacrifice an aspect of their life but is limited to only so many chances on behalf of their morals. In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee; Atticus Finch sacrifices himself, as well as his family's identity, well being, and precious time for his beliefs. The book takes place during the time span of the great depression where racism is a normal day-to-day behavior. Atticus being the highly skilled lawyer he is, is assigned to take matters into his own hands in a case defending an African American man by the name of Tom Robinson. While knowing that the “usual” act of the lawyer being appointed in Maycomb when defending an African American citizen during the great depression is to not give effort to the
God’s decision to save Noah and his family was, because He still longed for man’s obedience and faithfulness. Exodus is concerned with the relationship aspect of the Patriarchal promises. Sometimes this relationship is expressed in various ways, such as a blessing or guidance. By saying "I am the God of your father — the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob", He showed that he is faithful. He is faithful to His promises, such as God promised to give the Jews the land.
The primary religious rituals of Israelite religion involved sacrifices and offerings. The ritual system within the Israelite cult evolved around gifts and offerings that were presented before Yahweh. In examining the book of Leviticus, the sacrificial system of the Israelites can be identified. It is this sacrificial system that was handed down by God through Moses that allowed the people of Israel to cross over the gap between their own weaknesses and corruption to the expectations presented by God. Sacrifices symbolized an acknowledgement of guilt and a need for divine grace and forgiveness.
... In conclusion, Abraham is shown to be justified; he is not a murderer. In Fear and Trembling, Kierkegaard wrote that "the future will show I was right (Kierkegaard, 91). " Well, Abraham was proven right by the result. He does not kill Isaac.
One of God’s monikers is “The Creator”. He made the universe in seven days, brought a huge flood upon the Earth and rained fire and sulfur on Sodom and Gomorrah. Killing through massive disaster was the only option for God, because he couldn’t control the people and make them benevolent. He didn’t have the power. If God had the power, then he would have acted accordingly. God doesn’t like to kill his people, despite him being quick to kill. He wants humans to be fruitful and multiply, he doesn’t want to destroy them. It is irrational to believe that a creator would want his creations to die. In the story of Sodom and Gomorrah, God even gives the town a chance to redeem themselves, but the town fails.
...f the process by which God perfected Abraham’s faith. Both the story in Genesis and God’s explanation of it in James 2:20-24 tell us that God was showing Abraham what Abraham was made of. 5) To discipline and correct us. All people, even the most godly among us, sin. Proverbs 3:11-12 and Hebrews 12:4-11 tell us that God uses suffering to guide us back to his way when we stray from it. Both passages show God as a loving Father who wants to correct behavior that will destroy us if we persist in it. Throughout Scripture, God deals with sin; not to vindictively punish us, but to lovingly correct us. In the final analysis of this passage from Job as an example of faith in the Old Testament, faith in God’s sovereign love must step in. The story of Job, with all his pain, is not only a story of one man’s faith in God’s love; it is an exercise of man’s faith in God’s love.
Abraham obeyed God by preparing wood and loading his donkey and took away Isaac and two servants with him. On reaching the place ordered by God, Abraham built an Alter and arranged the wood on it. He tied up his son and placed him on altar, on top of the wood and picked up the knife to kill him. Abraham was stopped by the Lord’s voice from heaven telling him, he was an obedient man who honored God. The angel of God confirmed to him how God would richly bless him and give him many descendants as there are stars in the sky or grains of sand along the seashore.
In the end, Abraham failed, so the city was destroyed by fire. This showed that God was serious about telling people that they needed to change. It gave them concrete proof that God would come through when He said that He would demolish their city. Another example of God’s relationship with Abraham is shown when He orders Abraham to sacrifice his only son, Isaac. God wanted to test Abraham’s faith in Him and how loyal Abraham truly was.
Repetition is also the concept that the Hebrew Creator-God uses throughout the story of Genesis to educate Abram about God's purpose and His nature. God is aware of the doubtful and cynical nature of Abram. Over time, God uses Abram's own repeated mistakes to build a conceptual understanding of Himself for Abram. This model provides Abram with a relevance for God in Abram's own life. Though the classic view depicts the patriarch Abraham as blindly, obedient, there is significant evidence within the story of Abraham to show that he was not so naturally submissive. The text often depicts Abram as doubtful, indignant, and sarcastic to a fault. Taking this side of the text in context illustrates Abraham as the antagonist in a battle against God. In this struggle with God, Abraham achieves excellence by learning, through repetition of his own errors and the reinstatement of God's promise, that it is in his best interest not to fight against his own personal idea of God, but to recognize, respect, and accept the true will of God.
A reader can further understand Yahweh after reading Exodus 20-23. In Exodus 20:13, the Commandments begin, starting with “You shall not murder”. Yahweh takes clear stances on moral issues, preaching to not kill, steal, covet, bear false witness, etc. However, all of these rules have exceptions. In Exodus 21, it is revealed that there are several reasons to morally murder a person. Exodus 22:18 says that female sorcerers cannot live. Yahweh (or the Israelites) gives several exceptions to the most important rules in Judaism and Christianity. However, despite the countless exceptions, he still breaks most of his
Jewish people tend to argue that the sacrifice is a test of Abraham’s loyalty and God’s ban on human sacrifices. Christians tend to view it as a prophecy for what is to come in the New Testament, although many also agree with the Jewish interpretation of the story. Muslims disagree with Jews and Christians, disputing the son that was named in the text and interpreting it to be Ishmael. This is an example of different groups interpreting the same Biblical story to confirm their worldviews and justify their faith, which is a major theme of this
Since the Fall, it has not been possible for the individuals on earth to live without sin and enjoy the presence of God based on their own moral purity. In order for human beings to be free of sin, God commanded sacrifices to be given. There are many sacrifices that take place within the Old Testament and the New Testament. The idea of sacrifice is not fully established or clarified until the book of Leviticus and when these scriptures were understood then it would be made clear that they would eventually lead up to the ultimate sacrifice and atonement that was accomplished through the death of Christ in the book of Hebrews.
Isaiah 53 says “He was led as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, So He opened not His mouth.” Isaac was an example of this complete obedience to his Fathers will. The only question he asks is, “Where is the sheep for the burnt offering?” What it must have meant to Abraham to give up his first born son, but it was far greater for Father God to give up his first born Son, that each and every one of us that believes in Him will not be
The Abrahamic Covenant is supposed to be a covenant of promise and grace. It was when God promised to Abraham and his future family that they would be blessed. The promise was land and constant blessings. He will make him the “Father of many nations and kings will come” from his descendants. Abraham was supposed to hold up God’s requests in order for this promise to be upheld. Abraham didn’t do anything special to earn these promises. All the other covenants