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It may be more than coincidence that Yahweh’s first two speeches about “your offspring/seed” occur in immediate connection with Lot, Abram’s nephew. Immediately after Yahweh’s initial command, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you,” the narrator tells us, “so Abram went, as the LORD had told him” (Gen 12:1, 4). Abram’s obedience is clear, but we are also told that “Lot went with him.”
We should not expect that even when God does reveal his will that each decision should be clear and lead to positive consequences.
As phrased, this action is Lot’s. But the next verse reads, “Abram took his wife Sarai and his brother’s son Lot.” It would seem that it was Lot’s initiative to go with Abram, but then it was Abram’s decision to bring him along. It is at this point that Yahweh promises Abram, “to your offspring (or “seed”) I will give this land.” Later, the narrator explicitly makes the point that it is “after Lot had separated from him” that Yahweh delivers his second speech about Abram’s offspring/seed: “I will make your offspring like the dust of the earth” (Gen 13:14-16). Due to lack of clarity about the identity of Abram’s seed and how that should come about, it would appear that Abram has been hedging his bets by bringing his nephew as a potential heir. Moreover, it is after Lot’s apparent return to Sodom (Gen 14:16; 19:1) that Abram laments, “You have given me no offspring, and so a slave born in my house is to be my heir” (Gen 15:3).
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These observations raise another question: while Abram obeyed Yahweh by going from his land/country (Gen 12:1, 4), did Uncle Abram ignore the command to go from his “kindred” and his “father’s house” by bringing his nephew? So it would seem, especially in view of the consequences Abraham and his descendants would have to face. The narrator expends several chapters to spell this out. The next chapter tells of the feuding that erupted “between the herders of Abram’s livestock and the herders of Lot’s livestock” (Gen 13:7) and the consequent separation of uncle and nephew. The next chapter records how Abram endangered his own life by engaging in a military rescue of Lot (Gen 14:12, 16). It is Lot’s presence in Sodom that brings Abram’s intercession for the city and its subsequent destruction centerstage in the story (Gen 18:16-19:29). Finally, Lot himself is the reason for the birthing of the peoples of Moab and Ammon (Gen 19:30-38), who will later become the sworn enemies of Israel (Deut 23:3-6).
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Nonetheless, Yahweh most certainly does not abandoned Abram to his own devices. In spite of Abram’s taking one of his “kindred” with him, Yahweh repeatedly reassures Abram and even heightens his promises (Gen 13:14-17; 15:1ff., etc.). In fact, Yahweh discloses his intentions to Abraham as a confidant (Gen 18:17-19) and gives him the privilege of making intercession. Yahweh’s rescue of Lot was specifically because “God remembered Abraham” (Gen 19:29). Even though Abraham’s obedience was not complete, Yahweh faithfully remains “the God of Abraham.”
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It is ironic that Yahweh offers the promise, “Do not be afraid, Abram, I am your shield” (Gen 15:1), only after Abram has returned from battle. One might have preferred hearing this promise of military protection in Gen 14:1—before putting one’s life on the line. But it is noteworthy that Abram suffers the distress of battle and is reassured only later by Yahweh. Perhaps Yahweh’s point is that you should now realize from experience that “I am your shield.” The “torah” or “instruction” implicit here is that one may endure hardship with no reassurances from God until after one has passed through that hardship.
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God the Covenant Partner and Victim (Gen 15)
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While Abraham's faith in God is commendable, he also wants to know that God will deliver on his promises.
Back in Chapter 12 Yahweh had promised to Abraham land and numerous descendants (Gen 12:1-2, 7). Three chapters later Yahweh promises, “your reward shall be very great” (Gen 15:1).
We are not given the time span, though it is apparently within 10 years (see Gen 16:3.). As wonderful as this promise is, Abraham remains dubious: “O Lord God, what will you give me, for I continue childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?” (Gen 15:2). He calls God to account, respectfully but forthrightly. To this point he has received little evidence that this deity lives up to his word. So Yahweh assures him, “This man shall not be your heir; no one but your very own issue shall be your heir” (Gen 15:4). And then with intimate condescension Yahweh “brought him outside and said, ‘Look toward heaven and count the stars, if you are able to count them…. So show your descendants be’” (Gen 15:5).
Having addressed the issue of an heir, Yahweh reassures Abraham about the promise of land (future) by reminding him oftheir shared past (history): “I am the LORD who brought you from Ur of the Chaldeans, to give you this land to possess” (Gen 15:7). But once again Abraham responds with skepticism: “O Lord GOD, how am I to know that I shall possess it?” (Gen 15:8). We should not be hard on Abraham here, if we are honest with ourselves. But these expressions of Abraham’s hesitation (Gen 15:2-3, 8), appearing as they do both before and after Gen 15:6, make the claim of that verse all the more noteworthy: “And he believed the LORD; and the LORD reckoned it to him as righteousness.”
In the New Testament this verse rightly marks Abraham’s exemplary faith (Rom 4:3; Gal 3:6; James 2:23), but the immediate context illustrates for us the nature of that faith. He is not the unwavering hero of faith that many Christians have imagined. Yet readers should take to heart that, wavering as Abraham’s faith is, this verse nonetheless judges that faith as sufficient and endorsed by Yahweh himself. Even when faith may waver in uncertainty, believers can still claim to reflect the faith of Abraham, which God approved. In the Old Testament true “faith” does not preclude the desire for certainty and evidence (“how am I to know?”). In the New Testament, faith and doubt may be opposites (Matt 21:21 // Mark 11:23; Rom 14:23; James 1:6), but even there faith and doubt may coexist (Matt 14:31; Mark 9:24).
Info Box: Paul’s Interpretation of Abraham
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Some readers might suppose that my description of “Abraham’s faith” as “wavering” is a direct contradiction of Paul’s characterization of Abraham (esp. considering that Romans 4 is largely an exposition on Gen 15:6): “He did not weaken in faith when he considered his own body, which was already as good as dead (for he was about a hundred years old), or when he considered the barrenness of Sarah’s womb. No distrust made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, being fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised” (Rom 4:19-21).
In context, Paul is taking a retrospective perspective and is speaking in ultimate terms in order to encourage his Christian readers to choose justification by faith, as distinct from justification by works of the law (see esp. Rom 4:2-5; 5:1). When Abraham’s life is viewed as a whole, he did ultimately choose the way of faith. But even in the verses just cited, Paul acknowledges that Abraham “considered his own body” and “considered the barrenness of Sarah’s womb,” thus showing that he was fully aware of Gen 17:17 (“Then Abraham fell on his face and laughed, and said to himself, “Can a child be born to a man who is a hundred years old? Can Sarah, who is ninety years old, bear a child?”). He also acknowledges that “faith” is something that “grows” and that one needs to be “convinced.” Paul is careful to note that the opposite of “faith” is not doubt, but “distrust,” which is an act of willful disbelief.
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Once again, Yahweh remarkably concedes and provides Abraham with a measure of certainty through a strange, but powerfully symbolic, ceremony.
In response, God ratifies his earlier promises (Gen 12:1-3) in a legal covenant/contract.
It is precisely because of Abraham’s question in Gen 15:8 that Yahweh now formalizes his promises in a legal contract and guarantee or “covenant.” We should note that, as marvelous as this covenant ceremony is, it is a concession from God. In Gen 15:9 and following, Yahweh is responding to Abraham’s question of Gen 15:8. Up to this point Yahweh has given his “word” (esp. Gen 15:1, 4), but now Abraham asks for something more tangible. In addition to his verbal word, Yahweh volunteers to “sign on the dotted line” of a legal contract. Perhaps ideally one should take a person, such as God, at his word, but the Bible is realistic that sometimes people need legal guarantees.
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Yahweh responds by commanding Abraham to bring certain animals. This may sound bizarre to our ears, but the passage implies that Abraham understood what Yahweh was initiating. After collecting these animals he proceeds, without further instruction, to “cut them in two, laying each half over against the other; but he did not cut the birds in two.” The story presupposes that this ritual is not newly revealed to Abraham nor unique to Yahwism. Later the narrator tells us, “a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch passed between these pieces. On that day the LORD made (lit. ‘cut’) a covenant with Abram” (Gen 15:17-18). What could this mean? This ritual is attested and elucidated by an ANE “land grant” of the same time period:
“Abbael [the master] swore the oath to Yarimlim [the subordinate] and cut the neck of a lamb, <saying:> ‘If I take back what I have given you <may I be cursed>’” (Alalakh Text 456, lines 39b-42 in COS 2.137).
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Thus it appears that slaying the animal is to illustrate the fate of the one granting a promise, should he renege his obligation. He takes an oath by invoking a self-curse.
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Info Box: Alalakh Text
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The rituals in both Genesis 15 and this text from Alalakh occur in the context of a “land grant,” where a superior gives land to a subordinate (note esp. Gen 15:18). Likewise, both Abbael and Yahweh are the ones who invoke the self-curse. For further discussion see Richard S. Hess, “The Slaughter the Animals in Genesis 15,” He Swore an Oath: Biblical Themes from Genesis 12-50 (Cambridge: Tyndale House, 1993), p. 57.
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This ritual is nowhere else attested in the Old Testament (it is notably absent in Leviticus), except for a close parallel in Jer 34:18-19:
Remarkably, Yahweh "cuts a covenant" with Abraham in a ritual whereby he invokes a curse upon himself.
“And those who transgressed my covenant and did not keep the terms of the covenant that they made before me, I will make like the calf when they cut it in two and passed between its parts” (Jer 34:18).
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Although Jeremiah’s 6th-century BC judgment oracle has no direct connection to Abraham, it also sheds light on the meaning of the ritual. King Zedekiah and his officials had “cut a covenant” to release all Judean slaves, but later reneged on this contract. In this prophetic oracle Yahweh threatens to execute the curse that the officials had invoked in their covenant/contract to release the slaves. Thus, when the superior who grants a promise passes between the pieces of the sacrifice, he invokes on himself the fate of the dissected animals, should he break his promise.
What is shocking in Genesis 15, of course, is that the superior who invokes a self-curse is none other than God himself! In unprecedented fashion Yahweh vows—by his very life—to keep his promise to Abraham. The notion of a deity threatening death upon himself sounds ridiculous until we open the pages of the New Testament: “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree”—in order that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith” (Gal 3:13-14). The Son of God becomes both victim and victor over death and sin.
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God the Monster? (Gen 22)
The Binding of Isaac Mosaic,
Beth Alpha Synagogue (6th century CE)
The Binding of Isaac
(Church of the Holy Sepulcher)
Dome of the Rock
(Fish-Eye Interior View)
God tests Abraham by commanding him to offer his promised son as a burnt offering.
This is one of the most troubling chapters of the Bible. To hear it properly we must respect it as given to us and make no attempts to domesticate it by subconsciously rewriting it to conform to our theological expectations of what behavior we consider appropriate for God.
We must let the narrative unfold the story for us and thus “forget” how it ends and what we know about God that Abraham does not know.
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God had promised Abraham a son and he made good on that promise, but what few recognize is that Abraham had to wait 25 years (Gen 12:4; 21:5)! Now in the story of Gen 22 Isaac appears to be at least a teenager, so we are about 40 years from God’s first promise to Abraham.
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Right at the start the narrator leaks some vital information to his audience: “God tested Abraham” (Gen 22:1). Otherwise, the story would be unbearable and put God in the midst of a bald contradiction. But we must remember, Abraham does not know this is a test. He thinks it is the real thing.
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Next God gives a horrifying command: “Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains that I shall show you.” This is not a kind speech reminding Abraham how precious Isaac is to him; it is a cruel speech demanding the surrender of what one loves the most. If we cannot hear the contradiction in God’s command, we cannot appreciate that this is indeed a “test.” God had been clear in his promise concerning this child: “… you shall name him Isaac. I will establish my covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his offspring after him” Gen (17:19, and also Gen 17:21). And he repeats himself: “it is through Isaac that offspring shall be named for you” (Gen 21:12).
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Were God to tell me to sacrifice my son, I would refuse. But I need to recall that I have a distinct advantage over Abraham: I know those passages in Leviticus, Deuteronomy, and the Prophets that Yahweh abhors child sacrifice (e.g., Lev 20:1-5; Deut 12:31; 2 Kgs 17:17; Jer 7:31; Ezek 16:20-21; 20:31). And I know that God is not fickle but faithful to his promises.
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But what does Abraham know about God? He has grown up with a pagan heritage of many gods with conniving dispositions (Josh 24:2-3).
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What does Abraham know about this God? He makes big promises but has yet to deliver on them.
His God is indeed a God of great promises (for many descendants, great blessing, and the land of Canaan), but Abraham has seen precious little evidence that he delivers on those promises. In fact, God is now reneging on the one solid piece of evidence Abraham has, namely Isaac.
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Info Box: What has God actually done for Abraham?
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Yahweh had protected Sarai and Pharaoh’s harem, but Abraham became wealthy by his own conniving (Gen 12:16-17). There is no hint of divine intervention and Abraham’s rescue of Lot and battle with the four-king alliance (Gen 14). God indeed made a covenant with Abraham, but this is simply a legal ratification of the earlier verbal promises, not an actual delivery on those promises. In the Sodom and Gomorrah incident Yahweh dramatically demonstrated that he judges sin (Gen 18-19).
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Not only is Yahweh’s character in this narrative puzzling but also Abraham’s. He shows no hesitation to obey this demand for child sacrifice (see Yahweh’s retrospective in Gen 22:18). In fact, he “rose early in the morning” to go “to the place in the distance that God had shown him.” Back in Genesis 18 Abraham had gone to considerable lengths to intercede for his nephew Lot, but now for his son Isaac there are no objections recorded. And where is Sarah in this story? Ironically her next mention in Genesis appears in the next chapter where she dies (Gen 23:1-2).
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And what does Abraham mean when he says, while he and Isaac take leave from the servants, “Stay here with the donkey; the boy and I will go over there; we will worship, and then we will come back to you” (Gen 22:5, emphasis mine)? Given what we know about Abraham’s character, especially his truth telling (e.g., “Say you are my sister,” Gen 12:13, 19; 20:2, 5, 12), we are not sure whether he is using a ploy to avoid confrontation with his servants or he believes that God will somehow spare or restore Isaac. Isaac’s question, “the fire and the wood are here, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?,” reveals that Abraham has kept a deep secret. His reply is equally enigmatic: “God himself will provide the lamb for a burnt offering, my son.” Again, is it a ploy to postpone confrontation or is it an expression of hope that God will call the whole thing off?
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Abraham’s actions become unambiguous in Gen 22:9-10, where he clearly has every intention of practicing child sacrifice: “When they came to the place that God had shown him, Abraham built an altar there and laid the wood in order. He bound his son Isaac, and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. Then Abraham reached out his hand and took the knife to kill his son.”
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God's test of Abraham is resolved when he discovers that Abraham does fear God.
Yet at the last moment Yahweh intervenes: “But the angel of the LORD called to him from heaven, and said, ‘Abraham, Abraham!’ And he said, ‘Here I am.’ He said, ‘Do not lay your hand on the boy or do anything to him; for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me’” (Gen 22:11-12).
To appreciate the theology of this passage we must respect the literary form in which it is packaged, namely a narrative full of tension, suspense, and apparent contradiction. If we cannot appreciate the horror of Genesis 22, we have missed the point.
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Info Box: Søren Kierkegaard, a Danish existenialist (19th century), retells Genesis 22
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“It was early in the morning, Abraham arose betimes, he had the asses saddled, left his tent, and Isaac with him, but Sarah looked out of the window after them until they had passed down the valley and she could see them no more. They rode in silence for three days. On the morning of the fourth day Abraham never said a word, but he lifted up his eyes and saw Mount Moriah afar off. He left the young men behind and went on alone with Isaac beside him up to the mountain.
But Abraham said to himself, ‘I will not conceal from Isaac whither this course leads him.’ He stood still, he laid his hand upon the head of Isaac in benediction, and Isaac bowed to receive the blessing. And Abraham’s face was fatherliness, his look was mild, his speech was encouraging. [I suppose that at first Abraham looked upon Isaac with all his fatherly love; his venerable countenance, his broken heart, has made his speech the more impressive, he exhorts him to bear his faith with patience, he has let him darkly understand that he the father suffered from it still more. However that was of no avail.] But Isaac was unable to understand him, his soul could not be exalted; he embraced Abraham’s knees, he fell at his feet imploringly, he begged for his young life, for the fair hope of his future, he called to mind the joy in Abraham’s house, he called to mind the sorrow and loneliness.
Then Abraham lifted up the boy, he walked with him by his side, and his talk was full of comfort and exhortation. But Isaac could not understand him. He climbed Mount Moriah, but Isaac understood him not.
Then for an instant he turned away from him, and when Isaac again saw Abraham’s face it was changed, his glance was wild, his form was horror. He seized Isaac by the throat, threw him to the ground, and said, ‘Stupid boy, dost thou then suppose that I am thy father? I am an idolater. Dost thou suppose that this is God’s bidding? No, it is my desire.’ Then Isaac trembled and cried out in his terror, ‘O God in heaven, have compassion upon me. God of Abraham, have compassion upon me. If I have no father upon earth, be Thou my father!’
But Abraham in a low voice said to himself, ‘O Lord in heaven, I thank Thee. After all it is better for him to believe that I am a monster, rather than that he should lose faith in Thee’”
(Søren Kierkegaard, Fear and Trembling and Sickness unto Death [Princeton: Princeton, 1954], p. 27; the portion in square brackets above is from p. 11).
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Such biblical stories are not mere history. They are told because they reveal God and how he acts with his people. The narrator tells us not just about the distant past but also about how God may appear to the readers of this story. God still tests his people, and in times of trial we may feel he is a monster, precisely because, like Abraham, we do not know it is a test.
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We may never come to terms with Genesis 22, but if we can at least acknowledge it, we are better prepared to face any darkness in our future.
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Even after the angel the Lord had stayed Abraham’s hand and repeated to him the promise of innumerable descendants, we would probably feel that God has jerked us around just to “test” us, if we were to walk in Abraham’s shoes. It would be difficult to maintain respect for God.
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