April 30, 2018 - Day 22 - Genesis 22

I am writing from my desk in Seattle, WA.

Genesis 22:

We open with God testing Abraham by asking him to sacrifice his only son, Isaac, as a burnt offering on a mountain.  I'm picturing Stannis Baratheon.  So Abraham gets all his party supplies ready for the barbecue.  We are not told why Abraham is being told to roast his child.

Isaac can tell that there's a sacrifice about to take place and his asks his pops where the lamb is.  Abraham chooses to be misleading and says that God will provide the lamb (knowing that he's about to throw his boy on the barbie).

Well he ties Isaac up and then right before Abraham is about to knife him, an angel yells out and tells Abraham that he actually doesn't need to kill his son after all.  I guess God just wanted to know that he would.  LOL OKAY.

Because God loves roasted animals, Abraham found a trapped ram and cooked that instead of Isaac.

God tells Abraham (again) that him and all of his descendants will be blessed, this time because he was prepared to murder his child.  Neat.

I've heard folks romanticize this story and say that Abraham was just following God, and this is about obedience.  Okay.  But God asking you to kill your child to test your faith isn't an act of good God, its an act of a maniac.  Lets just call it what it is.

Do I think God actually did this?  No.  But sacrifice was en vogue.

The chapter ends with some uninteresting lineage.

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