"And He saith, `Take, I pray thee, thy son, thine only one, whom thou hast loved, even Isaac, and go for thyself unto the land of Moriah, and cause him to ascend there for a burnt-offering on one of the mountains of which I speak unto thee.'" Genesis 22:2 (Young's Literal Translation).
I want to answer that question by FIRST asking you two questions after you have read Jesus' statement in the New Testament passage below.
"Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword. For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in law. And a man's foes shall be they of his own household. He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me." Matthew 10:34-38.
Now, please answer these two questions about this passage:
1) IS JESUS SAYING THAT HE CAME TO BRING US A LITERAL- PHYSICAL SWORD TO GUT AND KILL ALL OUR FAMILY AND FRIENDS WHO WE MAY BE IN DANGER OF LOVING MORE THAN WE DO GOD?
2) OR, IS JESUS SPEAKING OF A SPIRITUAL SWORD WHICH WILL SEVER ALL IDOLATROUS TIES TO RELATIONSHIPS WHICH WE HAVE WRONGLY PRIORITIZED BEFORE OUR LOVE FOR GOD?
I hope this is a no-brainer. Option 2 above is the obvious answer. Otherwise, patricide, fratricide and homicide would be rampant. Murder would be the mark of true Christians as they went about slicing, dicing and slaughtering their loved ones, all in the name of God.
No. Never. Jesus is obviously speaking metaphorically here. He is using the sword as a symbol of the Lord's inner workings in our hearts. The Holy Spirit CIRCUMCISES our heart by cutting away all the carnal connections and fleshly relationships which keep us from loving the Lord with all out heart, mind, soul and strength.
Do you know people who love their children more than God, their spouses more than God, their friends more than God? Sure, we all know many such others. Moreover, we ourselves have all idolized certain people and relationships over our love for God.
Now, if it's this obvious in this passage that Jesus wasn't speaking of a literal sword, why isn't it JUST as obvious that the "burnt-offering" God spoke of in Genesis 22:2 is likewise symbolic?
In other words, God saw that Abraham was in danger of idolizing his love for his only son Isaac above and before his love for God. God was exhorting Abraham to "symbolically," NOT "literally," offer his son Isaac on the ceremonial altar of God. But the deeper purpose was for Abraham to trust and release Isaac to God on the altar of his heart.
God was warning Abraham not to idolize Isaac, but rather to wholeheartedly offer Him INTO the Lord's hands. We do the same today when we symbolically "confirm" or "consecrate" or "commit" or "release" our children into the Lord's calling.
These external ceremonies reflect a greater inner dynamic--- we are fully trusting the Lord by committing our children to Him. We are prioritizing our faith, hope and love in the Lord as we yield to Him what we formerly loved most--- our children and family relationships.
In short, we are placing God on our heart-throne by trusting and thrusting our relationship with Him FIRST before all others and BEST above all others.
This was all God was trying to tell Abraham in Genesis 22:2, and all Jesus was trying to tell his listeners in Matthew 10:34-38. Same God, same message: LOVE GOD FIRST AND BEST OVER ALL YOUR EARTHLY RELATIONSHIPS.
Abraham, in his zeal, and without the indwelling Holy Spirit to guide him, interpreted God's exhortation hyper-literally. He went "too far" and was actually going to kill and burn Isaac, thinking that God would resurrect him. And God certainly could and would have done that.
But, God would never have a parent kill his own child--- never. That would violate His flawless character and loving nature. Instead, God had a "literal" angel stop Abraham's "literal" knife. If Abraham was hearing God's voice clearly and with perfect understanding, there would be no need for a "stand-by" emergency angel to stay his hand.
But Abraham was an Old Covenant believer and not yet in-dwelt by the Holy Spirit. God certainly appreciated Abraham's zeal, but He was not about to let a horrible act of violence to be done in His name by one who was called "the friend of God." Divine friends don't let earthly friends drive the Bible drunk with literalism. This angel kept Abraham from crashing into a homicidal mistake.
If God truly wanted Abraham to kill Isaac, the Lord would have simply let the knife fall. God most assuredly did not allow it, so God most assuredly did not will or want it to happen. Had Abraham had the indwelling Spirit, He would have known the Lord was speaking symbolically and metaphorically, just like Jesus did in Matthew 10:34-38.
One last point. What part did Satan play in spreading misinformation, disinformation, and deformation to this incident?
Satan's role in this event was surely to enable Abraham's zeal go "too far" in a "hyper-literal" interpretation of the Lord's word to him. Satan is always lurking near the surface of our thoughts, always trying to muddle the Lord's deeper and truer meanings by keeping us bound in literalistic interpretations of the divine impulses He sends us.
Remember, "the letter kills" (2 Corinthians 3:6). And here it almost killed Isaac. Satan used it in trying to urge Abraham to "literally" slit his own son's throat.
In fact, even though Genesis makes no mention of Satan, it is significant to note that other early Jewish sources do. Jubilees 17:16 actually attributes the initiative to kill Isaac to "Prince Mastema," a well-known name for Satan in this document, where he is acting in the role of a prosecutor.
Satan's role IS important to see here. The reason? Because of the importance of this whole episode as a foreshadowing of Christ's atonement at the cross. You see, if we believe that the heavenly Father is the party who "slit" Jesus' throat by offering His only begotten son at the cross, then we will subscribe to the cruel Penal Atonement Theory which sees the wrath of an angry God as the killer of Jesus.
But, if we believe that Jesus' life was a RANSOM for our sin paid TO Satan BY God, then we will subscribe to the Christus Victor Atonement Theory, also known as the
Ransom Theory of the Atonement. This theory, which was the predominant view of the early Church, sees Satan, along with the principalities and powers which rule this fallen world, as the actual killers of Jesus.
These fallen demonic powers drove us to physically execute Jesus, while they themselves attempted to torture, corrupt and destroy His soul in Hell.
Under this view, Jesus willingly laid His noble head on Satan's chopping block as a payment for all OUR sin. Satan had legal access to capture and control us because of the access we have corporately given him. WE freely forfeited to Satan the dominion of this earth God originally gave us. This is why Paul called Satan the "god of this world" and Jesus called Satan "the prince of this world." Satan did indeed rule here because of the authority WE voluntarily handed over to him.
So, read this passage and choose your atonement theory carefully. It will ultimately
determine what you REALLY think about the nature of God. You will either see Him as an angry and wrathful Father who killed Jesus because of His hatred for us, OR you will see God as a hero who gave Himself over to our captor in order to save us from ourselves and Satan.
The bottom line here is that Satan is the only killer in this Biblical event involving Abraham and Isaac. God, on the other hand, is the only hero. Isaac, as a type of Jesus to come, heroically entrusted himself to his Father's care and was willing to die for us in the process in order that we might be saved. God the Father likewise heroically intervened to save Jesus' soul from Hell. Peter preached of God's heroism in the important passage below:
"Ye men of Israel , hear these words; Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs, which God did by him in the midst of you, as ye yourselves also know: Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain: WHOM GOD HATH RAISED UP, having loosed the pains of death: because it was not possible that he should be holden of it. For David speaketh concerning him, I foresaw the Lord always before my face, for he is on my right hand, that I should not be moved: Therefore did my heart rejoice, and my tongue was glad ; moreover also my flesh shall rest in hope: BECAUSE THOU WILT NOT LEAVE MY SOUL IN HELL, neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption. Thou hast made known to me the ways of life; thou shalt make me full of joy with thy countenance. Men and brethren, let me freely speak unto you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his sepulchre is with us unto this day. Therefore being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him, that of the fruit of his loins, according to the flesh, he would raise up Christ to sit on his throne; He seeing this before spake of the resurrection of Christ, that HIS SOUL WAS NOT LEFT IN HELL neither his flesh did see corruption. THIS JESUS GOD HATH RAISED UP, whereof we all are witnesses." Acts 2:22-31"
