sacrifice your son?

Mario David said:

God asked Abraham to sacrifice his son Isaac and he was going to do it but was stopped by a messenger of god.

I think about this often if god had asked me to sacrifice my son (I don't have one but if I did) it would be impossible for me to do such a thing I believe.

so I wonder if this was a situation that even if Abraham spared his son and wasn't able to carry the sacrifice if God would have understood or seen this differently.

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God made a covenant with Abraham. A covenant had to have blood from both parts. All God asked for to Abraham was animal sacrifices and to circumcise his household. But what God was offering to Abraham and Humankind was His own Son, our Jesus Christ. Abraham story serves to reflect on the sacrifice God made for us. We put ourselves in Abraham's shoes, but is not Abraham loyalty we should reflect on, in his story we are able to empathize with our God, who indeed had to see humans mistreating His Son, killing Him. this is what matters. What matters is: God doesn't ask us for more than we can give. Abraham has no idea how it is to sacrifice a son, he only know how it is to think he is going to do so. God knows how it is to make such sacrifice. We are not judges here, we are the guilty party, cleaned by Jesus Christ blood.

Mario David said:

God asked Abraham to sacrifice his son Isaac and he was going to do it but was stopped by a messenger of god.

I think about this often if god had asked me to sacrifice my son (I don't have one but if I did) it would be impossible for me to do such a thing I believe.

so I wonder if this was a situation that even if Abraham spared his son and wasn't able to carry the sacrifice if God would have understood or seen this differently.

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It is a picture of how our sins deserve death, but that God died for them. I don't look at it as if I could sacrifice a son. No human has a life to give that would satisfy God for our sins. I look at it as a picture of God's grace; God providing the lamb to take the place of Isaac just like God did for us in Christ.

Mario David said:

God asked Abraham to sacrifice his son Isaac and he was going to do it but was stopped by a messenger of god.

I think about this often if god had asked me to sacrifice my son (I don't have one but if I did) it would be impossible for me to do such a thing I believe.

so I wonder if this was a situation that even if Abraham spared his son and wasn't able to carry the sacrifice if God would have understood or seen this differently.

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Hey Mario,

Abraham being asked to sacrifice his son was very symbolic of what Jesus is asking his followers to do. If you will read the four gospels you will see that Jesus says you can have nothing before him, (so if you not willing to give up everything then you are not worthy of him). In Luke 14:33 Jesus says "whosoever does not forsake everything he owns cannot be my disciple". The word whosoever is a very big word there. It shows that he is talking to everyone, not just one group. Also Mario Jesus also says in Mathew 10:37 if you love your wife, children, mother or father more than him you are not worthy of him. In Luke !4:26 he actually says, "if anyone comes to me and does not HATE his mother, father, son and daughters and yes even his own life he can not be my disciple".

So in conclusion do i think God was asking to Abraham to kill his son, yes he certainly was. Just that same way Jesus,(which is the Word of God made in flesh) (John 1:1, revelation 19:13) is telling us we must forsake everything to be a disciple. You can also change the word disciple to Christian because in (Acts 11:19) tells us that Disciples and Christians are the same thing. Mario i beg you bro, read the four gospels like you have never read them before and find the teachings of Jesus, and put them into practice in your life.

oldhermit said:

Perhaps a more intriguing question would be, how did Abraham know that God could raise Isaac from the dead? How did he come to this conclusion? The text never says this knowledge was ever revealed to Abraham by the Lord. He had never had a sacrifice get up off the altar and follow him home after the ordeal. He had no experience with the dead being raised to life again nor does he know anyone who has. The only thing his experience can confirm to him about death is that it is always decisive and irreversible. So, how did he come to such an extraordinary conclusion?

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Apparently this was known to certain people in the OT, Job 19:26.

mark kennedy said:

Apparently this was known to certain people in the OT, Job 19:26.

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I really don't think Abraham cared, he had a command from God, and he was going to do it, until the Angel stopped him. He was following orders just like Jesus wants us to follow his orders today.

mark kennedy said:

Apparently this was known to certain people in the OT, Job 19:26.

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Job is not talking about the resurrection but the state of the righteous after death.

Mario David said:

God asked Abraham to sacrifice his son Isaac and he was going to do it but was stopped by a messenger of god.

I think about this often if god had asked me to sacrifice my son (I don't have one but if I did) it would be impossible for me to do such a thing I believe.

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Yeah, but you're not Abraham who had contact with God.
Different times too.
This was a foreshadowing of what was to come in 30 AD.

so I wonder if this was a situation that even if Abraham spared his son and wasn't able to carry the sacrifice if God would have understood or seen this differently.

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Abraham had 100% faith in God, and submitted to God's Will.
That was the test, it seems.
But i'm sure God would have understood if Abraham wouldn't have complied.

Hieronymus said:

But i'm sure God would have understood if Abraham wouldn't have complied.

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It was Abraham's willingness to sacrifice Isaac that proved his faith. Because of this God said, "Now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from Me." His unwillingness to sacrifice his son would have proven that he did not fear God and he would not have gone down in scripture as the exemplar of faith. Not only this, it would have destroyed the typology.

Mario David said:

God asked Abraham to sacrifice his son Isaac and he was going to do it but was stopped by a messenger of god.

I think about this often if god had asked me to sacrifice my son (I don't have one but if I did) it would be impossible for me to do such a thing I believe.

so I wonder if this was a situation that even if Abraham spared his son and wasn't able to carry the sacrifice if God would have understood or seen this differently.

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I don't even consider that passage for myself since the sacrifice has been fulfilled by Jesus. It's no longer to be considered in my opinion. Does that make sense. Now it would clearly be an offense to God, and he would not ask anyone to do it after the crucifixion.

oldhermit said:

It was Abraham's willingness to sacrifice Isaac that proved his faith. Because of this God said, "Now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from Me." His unwillingness to sacrifice his son would have proven that he did not fear God and he would not have gone down in scripture as the exemplar of faith. Not only this, it would have destroyed the typology.

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That is interesting, fearing God. I have found that Satan deceives people thru fear of what they think is God. But truly God is not to be feared but instead love for God leads to peace. Not to argue with scripture but maybe things have changed since the crucifixion? Later in the bible the scriptures give command not to kill.

devin553344 said:

I don't even consider that passage for myself since the sacrifice has been fulfilled by Jesus. It's no longer to be considered in my opinion. Does that make sense. Now it would clearly be an offense to God, and he would not ask anyone to do it after the crucifixion.

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He sent Jesus to teach us as well, not Just die for us. I suggest you read the four gospels and find out exactly what Jesus did teach. I think you will be surprised that Jesus is asking us to actually sacrifice our own lives for him. Yeah bro read em just like Jesus is giving you instructions on how to live your life, if you want to follow him.

I will be interested in hearing your thoughts when you get done.

Peace and love

puttingothersfirst said:

He sent Jesus to teach us as well, not Just die for us. I suggest you read the four gospels and find out exactly what Jesus did teach. I think you will be surprised that Jesus is asking us to actually sacrifice our own lives for him. Yeah bro read em just like Jesus is giving you instructions on how to live your life, if you want to follow him.

I will be interested in hearing your thoughts when you get done.

Peace and love

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Thanks, I've read the 4 gospels many times. I don't believe I will lose my life for proclaiming Christianity as I live in the USA and not in the persecution country or era where Jesus and the Apostles lived. I do proclaim God to people when it appears correct to do so regardless of fear of doing it. I think Satan uses fear to steer people.

I should point out the reason I posted the answer that I did. My mother in-law told me a story once of a man she knew that had schizophrenia and thought God told him to sacrifice his child like Abraham. Apparently he attempted it and it shocked my mother in law enough that she expressed it to me.

So then even now days people get deceived by what ever it is that deceives them. Sad story really.

So I think we should be careful how we tell that story, there are listening ears. And that the story doesn't apply to us anymore.

Remember that perfect love has no fear: 1 John 4:18

The fear of God is not necessarily being scared of Him.
The word fear in our translations means the highest level of reverence and acknowledging his Power.
None the less, we are to fear Him rather than the devil, since the devil may take your physical life, but God can also take your spiritual life / your spirit to die.

oldhermit said:

I do not think there was anything psychotic about Abraham. In fact, the principle lessons of the narrative prove just the opposite. The reason Abraham was willing to go through with the request was because he generalized to an eternal truth based upon the promise of God that through Isaac, his descendants would be as numerous as the stars of the heaven. Abraham believed in the certainty of the promise but, if Isaac was dead, how could God fulfill the promise? His conclusion was that God must be able to raise Isaac from the dead, even though such knowledge had not been revealed to him. I think this is rather extraordinary because it required Abraham to abandon everything he thought he knew about death and about the natural world. This kind of faith requires us to dismiss all human reason in favor revelation. This is why Abraham is called the father of the faithful.

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I don’t think that matters though. Understanding intellectually that God wouldn’t let his son die and appreciating it emotionally are different things. A normal person, with normal emotions, would not be able to go through with it. Abraham would have done it, which means he truly was a psychopath.

Jon Osterman said:

I don’t think that matters though. Understanding intellectually that God wouldn’t let his son die and appreciating it emotionally are different things. A normal person, with normal emotions, would not be able to go through with it. Abraham would have done it, which means he truly was a psychopath.

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Or what if Abraham said to God, if you want something done right, do it yourself Maybe Abraham wouldn't do it correct enough to please God? That would have put it back on the spirit that commanded him. Would God be angry then? How could he?

Jon Osterman said:

I don’t think that matters though. Understanding intellectually that God wouldn’t let his son die and appreciating it emotionally are different things. A normal person, with normal emotions, would not be able to go through with it. Abraham would have done it, which means he truly was a psychopath.

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I agree, which is the reason that I believe there to be a defect in the story --- something that we are unaware of perhaps due to verses edited out when the Hebrew scriptures were redacted during the Exile. In spite of all the inventive interpretations in this thread, the story as it stands, presents both Abraham and God as psychopathic. It is interesting that the Bible records no further interaction between Abraham and either Sarah or Isaac. Can't blame them.

JackRT said:

I agree, which is the reason that I believe there to be a defect in the story --- something that we are unaware of perhaps due to verses edited out when the Hebrew scriptures were redacted during the Exile. In spite of all the inventive interpretations in this thread, the story as it stands, presents both Abraham and God as psychopathic. It is interesting that the Bible records no further interaction between Abraham and either Sarah or Isaac. Can't blame them.

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I agree in that there is just something about God tempting people to kill that just doesn't make sense.

devin553344 said:

I agree in that there is just something about God tempting people to kill that just doesn't make sense.

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Not just "tempting" but ordering.

Jon Osterman said:

I don’t think that matters though. Understanding intellectually that God wouldn’t let his son die and appreciating it emotionally are different things. A normal person, with normal emotions, would not be able to go through with it. Abraham would have done it, which means he truly was a psychopath.

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Well, if that how you see Abraham, that is certainly your prerogative but, a psychopath is a person who suffers from a chronic mental disorder that typically manifests itself in abnormal or violent social behavior including murder. Scripture never represents Abraham in such a way. If you will follow the history of Abraham's life, there is nothing in his recorded experiences that even elude to psychotic behavior, including the sacrifice of his son. Would you accuse God of being a psychopath for commanding Abraham to sacrifice his son? Bear in mind, this was not a request from the Lord. This was issued as a command.

JackRT said:

Not just "tempting" but ordering.

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My thoughts on the scripture was: Why would God command an order that would have no affect on mankind other than the death of a loved son? God gives command that has zero good power, and all evil outcome? I couldn't make any sense out of it. How I see God is if he's going to give a command, it's going to have some effect and meaning in life. Or how is he our God?