Abraham and his son

So why doesn't God disobey his own rules about forgiveness then?

I agree, but would it have still been just for Abraham to kill Isaac? Even if God asked him to? Is it just for God to ask us to sin for him?

The only logical answer I can come up with is that it is not a sin to sacrifice a human, unless you do it to any other god but God.

Thanks for your response, I'm sorry to be so stubborn about this!

__________________
If every day you aren't having a head-on fight with satan, it just means you're both going in the same direction...

If God asked Him to, then it would not be sin because he would be acting as a tool of God just as the magistrate does not sin when he executes because murder is not just killing but unlawful killing.

__________________
Poets have been mysteriously silent on the subject of cheese. - G.K. Chesterton

I agree that anything God does is not sin, but isn't that hypocritical? Like in Frost/Nixon where Nixon makes the mistake of saying "When the President does it, it's not illegal".

Obviously, God has the power and domain to do whatever he wants but he does not sin. It's not like he can't (he can do anything), but he doesn't (and never will). I'm under the impression, and please correct me if I'm wrong, that whatever God does isn't sin just because God did it, it isn't sin because God would never sin.

Is there anything wrong with it just not being a sin because it would have been a sacrifice to the one true God? This is the only conclusion that's made sense to me, but I can't seem to get anyone to agree with me on it.

__________________
If every day you aren't having a head-on fight with satan, it just means you're both going in the same direction...

Like most OT events, this is a typology. Meaning that it actually happened but represents a prophecy as well. God may not have really needed to do this for himself, because he knew Abrahams heart. So he did this for the benefit of Abraham and for Prophecy.

It makes a lot of sense when you consider some key points, and add some reasonable assumptions. We are allowed to read between the lines :-)

- Abraham was a "friend of God" Is 41:8
this accords Abraham a special status, nobody else was called this. Therefore we can say that Abraham trusted God, because friends trust each other.

- Abraham was told he would have countless descendent's; Gen 15:5
but he had no children, and he and Sarah were old.

So after many years and probably a lot of effort :-) not to mention a 'scandal' he eventually has his son Isaac. Now Isaac has grown up, Abraham is not going to have any more children, so he knows that God's promise of many descendents is through Isaac.

- I see no reason that Isaac was a 'boy' he may well have been an adult at this stage. We have been influenced by childrens bible stories with pictures. After all he carried the wood on his back.

- They rode to the mountain with a donkey and two servants. The servants would have walked, and you would think that Abraham would have let Isaac ride the donkey- it was the least he could do.

- Gen 22, God commands Abraham to sacrifice Isaac. So what does Abraham think here? we know he doesn't question it or refuse, so why not?

Abraham knows God's promise and he trusts God. So Abraham is obviously thinking., "ok god, I will do what i am told, but keeping your promise is your problem" Abraham may well have even understood that God would resurrect Isaac (its just a thought - its not scriptural).

- Isaac obviously complied with the sacrifice - It is unrealistic to think that a 100 yo could hold and bind a young man or a boy. Would have taken him a split second to work out that he was toast and easily could run away.

- Moriah where the sacrifice took place is supposedly the future site of Jerusalem, perhaps even more significantly the Temple or Calgary. Sorry I do not know the scriptural reference for this.

So you can see what prophecy is being carried out here?

The son arrives on a Donkey
The son is carrying the wood on his back
The son willingly gave himself for sacrifice
God provides the sacrifice.

hope that helps.

__________________
loud graphical signatures are against my religion.

Thanks for the input,
Yes I can see that it's a prophecy of what God was going to do with his Son. But that has little bearing on whether or not it is a sin to sacrifice a human.

The only conclusion I can draw (but can't seem to get anybody to discuss with me!) is that it is NOT a sin to sacrifice a human for God. It IS a sin to sacrifice a human to an idol or anything else. After all, wasn't Jesus a human sacrifice (or at least a sacrifice in human form)?

__________________
If every day you aren't having a head-on fight with satan, it just means you're both going in the same direction...

I have no doubt that it is a sin to sacrifice a human. Isaac was not sacrificed and Abraham must have known that Isaac would live.

I feel that here is nothing to discuss. Ten Commandments make it clear that we may not take another human life.

__________________
loud graphical signatures are against my religion.

I disagree. Abraham had full intention to kill his son. Besides that, wasn't Jesus a human sacrifice?

Exactly, and didn't God tell Abraham to take his son's life? And didn't Abraham carry this out (fully in his heart, and partially with his hands)?

__________________
If every day you aren't having a head-on fight with satan, it just means you're both going in the same direction...

The beginning of faith is the fear of God. God never had any intention of Abraham killing his son. It was a test to see if Abraham really feared God. I would say that Abraham passed the test.

But Abraham did, isn't that a sin?

__________________
If every day you aren't having a head-on fight with satan, it just means you're both going in the same direction...

I think that the whole point of the Bible telling us that God asked Abraham to sacrifice his "only begotten son" was because then later God sacrificed his " only begotten son. During the first covenant Man(Abraham) was asked to do it but stopped short. But for the next new second covenant God did it and he didn't stop short. So who make the real ultimate sacrifice. His only begotten son, can you believe it! Jn. 3;16 tells it all. It's just a way of trying to show us how much God loves us. It isn't at all about whether or not it's allowed or not. Focus on Jesus, always, to understand the Bible. If you focus on anything else, it may not be seen clearly, you may go astray, treat something else more important that God's love for your and his sacrifice. Thats the entire point of the Abraham sacrifice story, I think. Otherwise look at how so many Christians are focused and preoccupied on which day is the Sabbath, should we take blood transfusions, should women talk in church, must we be water baptised? Focus only on God's son Jesus, Don't you think God is, it was his son that died. thats what I think anyway.