Despite everything I believe about the telling of stories in order to bring the Bible to life, I have always wrestled with one story in particular whenever my son is the audience. The sacrifice, or at least aborted sacrifice, of Isaac at the hands of his father, Abraham. At first the question was, how do I tell a story like this to my own son? But soon after it became why would I tell it to him at all. It didn't take me long to actually resent this story all together. Even as a kid I was never crazy about it, but now as a father I abhorred it. This certainly failed to fit in with my picture of the loving God. For the better part of my fundamentalist upbringing, I had to deal with this as a true story of man's devotion to God above all else, including his own child. Then later, despite all the mental torture one could imagine that Abraham must of gone through, dealing with this cold request from God, I determined that Abraham was greatly mistaken as to just how much conviction God was looking for; not unlike some estranged mother in the wilderness who takes the life of her child in a mercy killing, truly believing that God approves. Then of course there was the thought that it was simply an overly dramatic, moralistic tale emphasizing our need to put God first in all things, but if that was so, what a mean example.

So it went for some time that I shoved aside this passage like an odd shaped piece from a jigsaw puzzle, hoping maybe one day if I could only finish the rest of the puzzle I could then spot the hole which it would fill. Alas, set away from the puzzle it only stood out more. As a result, my passionate disdain for this text brought me into an intimate relationship with it. Only then was I able to penetrate the surface of the text and see in to its heart.

The first thing I had to do was look beyond the players in this story as mere men. As with most ancient Hebrew writing main characters often times represent much more than individuals. Particularly in regard to the Patriarchs. However, whether or not one would argue that these figures represent groups, clans or cultures rather than individual men is beside the point. Their role in the scriptures transcend any necessity that they be actual historical figures. Therefore to understand the scriptures we must understand what the main characters represent.

Like Abel, Abram (Abraham) was a shepherd and like the culture Abel represents, he was somewhat of a nomad. This places Abraham in the proper light; that is the ancient lifestyle that was most pleasing to God. Abraham's relationship with God, and his willingness to go where God sent him without argument makes him the perfect example of what it means to follow the will of God. Therefore in Hebrew culture this makes him the quintessential Jew. (As a side note, consider that in Islamic culture this makes him the quintessential Muslim, but we will address this later.) As a whole then, what we can understand about Abraham and his role in scripture is he represents the Hebrew race at its most perfect relationship with God. He is the conscience and the embodiment of the Hebrew people. Most often when we look to the scriptures to see who Abraham is we say he is the father of nations, or more precisely, the father of the Hebrew nation. This is only correct insofar as he gained this as a result of who he was. This brings us to the Covenant.

The father of many nations. The promise of land. A nation under God. Here are the obvious things we take away from God's Covenant with Abraham. Certainly these are the things that seem to be in the Covenant for Abraham, but a covenant is a two way agreement. Looking at this closer we must ask ourselves, what is in this for God? If we look at the religious history of the Bible, we see in it what appears to be man's quest for God. Religiously speaking, this is true, but God is not religious--we are. The Bible is a salvation history (heilsgeschichte). It is the quest of God to be rejoined with His creation. All actions in the Bible that hold firm and lead us to our salvation are those of God, not man. This is seen in the Covenant as it is God who passes through the pieces of the animals cut by Abraham, rather than Abraham himself. God's purpose then was not simply to bless Abraham with these things so that Abraham might enjoy the fruits of his relationship to God, but more so to build on his relationship with Abraham a multitude of people so that they may take into the world, to all nations, this invitation from God to be reconciled to Him. In essence Abraham was the first evangelist for God. God knew that Abraham was one who would follow His will, and God's will is that all of creation, not just a single nation come back to Him. Being a chosen nation under God was to be no easy task, it offers little protection from the world, because it is not of the world. It does not make one nation higher than another, it simply obligates it to be in submission to the will of God so that God's living presence on Earth can be known. Its duty then is to share the good news that God is alive and waiting for all to come to Him in peace. Therefore any man or nation that stands against this covenant stands against God.

The Covenant seems to come in two parts and it is probably no coincidence that the Jewish redactors, at the time this book was compiled, choose to place the birth of Ishmael in the middle. Again we can see that Ishmael is the result of man attempting to control his destiny; a birth contrived by man to create for himself an heir. For this reason Ishmael cannot be the heir of God's Covenant. The only heir can be one chosen by God Himself. So then God defies human expectations and places his heir in the womb of Sarah. Then only after the Covenant is complete is Isaac born.

We have now seen that Abraham represents the nature or full embodiment of the Hebrew people, and that the Covenant represents not only a promise, but a commission. Isaac then, is the tangible results of God's promise to Abraham, and although Isaac is the son of Abraham, as we can see by the circumstances surrounding his birth, he belongs to God. Isaac, having been born out of the Covenant, is the future of the Hebrew people. The concept of the Hebrew people as a nation lies in Isaac. Without Isaac there is no nation. It's here where man's agenda and God's can come into conflict. A nation under God can accomplish great things, but when man begins to focus more on the nation than God's will for it, its fruit is no longer of God and trouble begins. Therefore we must test our love for the things God has given us and determine the focus of that love.

Abraham loved Isaac. It is here where Abraham must come to terms with what it means to be a nation. In our realm here on Earth a nation means powerful things. It's easy for us to think that a nation itself, by virtue of that power has the wherewithal to provide for all the needs of its people and create laws to bring everything and everyone around it into conformity. Certainly as an earthly kingdom these things take place, but earthly kingdoms are only concerned with the matters of men, and a nation that concerns itself only with its existence as a nation reduces itself to being an earthly kingdom. God is not interested in earthly kingdoms.

God, now having set into motion his covenant with Abraham, had one last thing to determine. Was Abraham's love for Isaac focused on God or a nation? The future of Israel would lie in its ability to place God's will above its own existence as a nation. By being willing to sacrifice Isaac, Abraham insured the future of Israel. Had Abraham refused to do this the Covenant would have been broken and the future of Israel lost. Isaac the boy was never in danger, he would either be saved by man or by God. Because of Abraham's obedience to God it was the latter.

When it comes to religious nationalism we mustn't forget our promise to God. We must sacrifice our ideas of earthly rule and place our pride in ourselves as a nation on the altar every time we approach God, saying His will be done. We must never lose sight that all of the abundance God has ever promised us extends from a Covenant we must keep with Him--a Covenant He has never broken with us.

Earlier I mentioned Abraham as a perfect Muslim in the eyes of the Islamic people. For them this is also the case, but when it comes to Isaac and Ishmael the Quran tends to shift a few things around. This however does not change God or God's intentions with His Covenant. The same holds true to Islam what holds for Israel. God or Allah, if you chose, still wishes for all nations to come to Him, and whomever lays claim to the Covenant bears the burden to live it according to God's will. The Jews and the Muslims in modern day Palestine would do well to start thinking about God's wishes rather than their own, for there will be no earthly triumph that stands in favor of God's will and there will be no peace among them till the proper sacrifice is made.

Now when I think, how could God ask such a thing of a loyal servant? I see things a little differently. The answer it seems is only a loyal servant can be counted on to let God do the saving. This was not about killing Isaac, it was about saving him--saving Israel. Perhaps it is not for us to know how and why God chooses to do things, but only that they must be done by God. God knew that one day He would sacrifice His own Son for the sake of the world and not a nation. And as we have seen, only the things chosen by God are eternal. This is all we need to understand.