Genesis 22 contains the famous account of Abraham’s aborted sacrifice of Isaac. But in the aftermath of that event, there was apparently some drama going on in the background. What did Sarah think of all this?
After Abraham came back from the mountain, he lived in Beersheeba. “So Abraham returned unto his young men, and they rose up and went together to Beer-sheba; and Abraham dwelt at Beer-sheba” (Gen. 22:19).
A few verses later, when we are told that Sarah died, Abraham comes to lament for her, and to arrange for her burial. But she was living at Hebron, about 26 miles away from Beersheeba. Abraham and Sarah were living apart at the time of her death. “And Sarah died in Kirjath-arba; the same is Hebron in the land of Canaan: and Abraham came to mourn for Sarah, and to weep for her” (Gen. 23:2).
Where was Isaac in this? We are not told explicitly, but in the account of Rebekah, we learn that he was very close to his mother. “And Isaac brought her into his mother Sarah’s tent, and took Rebekah, and she became his wife; and he loved her: and Isaac was comforted after his mother’s death” (Gen. 24:67).
So there you are, and you can make of it what you will. But it seems to me that Abraham’s great act of obedient faith was not exactly met with universal acclaim at the time. Not everyone was thrilled.
Pastor Wilson, I love this sort of thing, and take a good deal of pleasure in letting my mind “wander” in the scriptures. I try to guard against allowing such musings to inform my understanding of the word, but if I’m totally honest, I’m sure there is some “cross-contamination”. The church I currently go to has an ethos that the word should be taught and read “16 ounces to the pound, nothing more,nothing less.” While I respect that position, it seems restricting in some ways . In the above post you say “make of it what you will” –… Read more »
Hmmm…. I’m obviously missing something here. I don’t see how you are drawing that conclusion. The way I see it (and I’ll make an A B case of it), one chappie, chappie A, goes up to the mountain and almost sacrifices his son, chappie B. Meanwhile, chappie C is down the mountain, probably about 26 miles away. Chappies A and B come back down, and a bit later, chappie C dies. Then chappie A goes to mourn. For some reason, the writer chappie, chappie w, doesn’t mention chappie B in all of this. How does it follow that chappie… Read more »
Can you imagine how that conversation went? Sarah: “Where were you two this whole time?” Abraham: “Well, if you must know, I had taken Isaac up to a mount to slice him up with a Ginsu knife” Sarah: “You did WHAT?” Abraham: “Don’t worry. God sent an angel and stopped me right in time. Apparently, he just wanted to see what I would do! Go figure. Of course, as He IS God, He knew what I would do, but … let’s not question the whole thing, yeah? Shouldn’t you be cooking something?” “great act of obedient faith …” There you… Read more »
James, is your imagination so small that you cannot conceive of anything beyond madness motivating Abraham to do such a thing?
Interesting post Pastor Wilson, and something I had never considered. On initial examination, it seems that you may very well be correct in your “reading between the lines.” After all, Sarah did not have access to God’s word in Hebrews 11:17-19 to affirm her husband’s act of faith. With that later scripture at our disposal, those who would label the Genesis account an “unwarranted atrocity” seem happy to use it as a trowel to compact their rapidly hardening heart. That may not end well for them, though I for one will still pray for their repentance (I use the plural here… Read more »
Psychobible admonitions should be built upon and preached from just interlineal foundations.
I believe that Paul’s instruction to speak in unknown tongues only if there is someone present to interpret may be applicable to blog comments also ;-)
But how long are a few verses? Sarah was 90 when she bore Isaac. She was 127 when she died which makes Isaac 37 and Abraham 137. Isaac married 3 years later age 40. He was then at Beer La Roi living in his mother’s tent.
Before the sacrifice all were living at Beersheba, so they returned there. Thus Hebron was after the event, neither were in Hebron before.
Abraham *went* to mourn Sarah but uncertain what we can read into that. Presumably Isaac was much younger than 37 at the time of sacrifice?
Interesting point with the chronology, Bethyada. Beyond that, the entire sequence is structured in a pattern which is later expressed in Israel’s festal calendar. The offering of Isaac and the death of Sarah constitute the “Day of Coverings” section of this sequence. On that day, the High Priest would approach the Most Holy twice, firstly for the priesthood, and and secondly for Israel. Here, Abraham enters the Land twice, firstly to offer Isaac as an ascension, and secondly to bury Sarah.
Isaiah, chappie A was married to chappie C. If Chappie C didn’t know about A’s extended camping trip, that doesn’t exactly make the situation any less puzzling.
That said, bethyada’s comments on the time frame seem very significant.