Shalom, one of the most important pieces of literature is Genesis chapter 22, the binding of Isaac So le we take a close look at it. In order to do this, you really should have a bible in front of you and I want to look at the text the way our rabbis would, doing exegeses and homiletics. It begins by saying, some time afterward, well after what? You have to go back to the last chapter and figure out why the Torah would bother saying that, what is it in context to. God put Abraham to the test, well, why would god do that? What kind of test? In fact, the Talmud says that Abraham had ten tests including the one from chapter before which God so told him o leave his home.
Now what is God testing exactly? And does God want Abraham to pass or fail the test? Does he want him to argue with God, like he did when God said he was going to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah because it does not look like Abraham argued with Him at all when He says kill his son. He said to him “Abraham.” And Abraham said “(foreign language), here I am .” that word is used often, it is a very important word of extra straggle identification, that we just had it in the Isaiah prophetic portion for the week of shealth theme in the middle of the book of Deuteronomy, it is used by several of the great leaders.
So he says, “Here I am.” And then He says “Take your son.” Okay well he had two sons, he had Ishmael and Isaac. So, according to the rabbis Abraham said “Well I have two sons.” Because he knew it was coming, he was trying to stall. So then God says “Your favorite one.” And Abraham says “Well, they are both favored.” and then He says “Take Isaac…” Okay “…whom you love and go to the land of Moriah and offer him as a birth offering in the heights that I would point out to you.”
Now in Mount Moriah, that is a very important mountain, that is where the dominant rock is, where the holy temple was and Abraham does not argue, in the text here anyway, so that is surprising, why not? So early the next morning, he got up very early the next morning and he sat on his ass and he comes with him two servants, now who were they? Well, according to tradition, they were Ishmael and Elias or Ishmael, his other son, because that says servant, and Elias is his servant who goes later to find his wife Ryzek. And he split the wood for the burnt offering and he set out for the place of which God had told him.
Now on the third day, Abraham, so what happened the other two days? If it is walking along, it does not say what conversation took place, imagine. Now it also does not tell us that Abraham mentioned anything to Sarah, in fact she dies right after the story, so probably according to the Midrash anyway, the rabbis that an angel, a bad angel told her what had happened and she died hearing the news that her husband took her son to go over and get killed. And of course the drama is that Abraham and Sarah waited until they were very, very old to go here, to have a son ad now God is saying goes kills that son.
So Abraham said to his servants, you stay her, the boy and I will go up there and we will worship and we will return to you. Now, is he just trying to put them off or did he really know that in the end, God was not going to go through with this but Isaac would go along with him. So he took the offer, he put it on Isaac, how is that for a drama? And he himself took a fire and a knife and the two walked off together and Isaac said “Father.” “Yes, my son?” “I see the fire in the wood, where is the burnt offering?” So Abraham has to lie to him or maybe he knew that God was not going to go through with this and he said “God will see to sheep for his burnt offering, my son.”
And the two of them walked on together. And they arrived at a place and Abraham built an altar and then he laid out the wood, he bound his son Isaac. Now according, if you add up the chronology of years, Isaac is 37 years old. Seems like he is a little boy, he is 37. So, you think a 37 year old guy is just going to lie down and be killed. So the Midrash says that Isaac says to him “Dad, I know you want to go through with this, and I know God spoke to you and told you to do this and I do not know why, but I am 37 and you are very old. So you better tie me really tightly so I do not fight you when that knife comes down because I would inadvertently try and protect myself.”
So he picked up the knife and he was going to go through with it and then the angel who the Lord calls said “Abraham. Abraham.” Now why twice? Would not one enough, once been enough? And Abraham said again he named “Here I am.” Again he named him. “Do not raise your arm to that boy, do not do anything for I know that you fear the Lord and you have not would have your son for me.” So that was the test, do not withhold his son. Now the context of this is, that before the bible, and even during the bible, people killed their children to serve God. Now, maybe the story is saying do not do it, because God continues to rail against that and the prophets against mullock worship which they sacrificed their children.
So this story is unique, it is not surprising to the ancient there is that God would say “Kill your son.” That is what they did before the bible, what is surprising here is that God said “Do not do it.” Maybe that was the test. Maybe Abraham should not argue with him, maybe that what is God was looking for, because God never ever, ever talks to Abraham after the story. So, the rabbis argue o both ways, some thought he passed the test, some thought he should have argued with God. Okay so Abraham looks up and his eyes fell upon a ram caught in the thicket by its horn, so that is one of the reasons this is read in Rosh hashana, he is caught by the fire, the horn, out of his ear.
So he took it and he sacrificed it and he named the site, I do not know you were there and then it says at the end of the story that Abraham then returned to his servants and they departed together for Beersheba, Abraham stayed in Beersheba. But Isaac does not say that Isaac went back with them, so where did Isaac go? Did Isaac die on that mountain? We did not know, was not written on the story. Did he, after that story about, be willing to go back with his father? We do not know. Anyway, it is a very interesting way to look at the text, the text begs to be expounded, there has been articles and books written about this few lines, one of the most dramatic and powerful stories in all literature, a close reading of Genesis 22 from Verse 1 through 19.
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