The Voice That Asked for Sacrifice {gn22}

Photo © Wikimedia Commons/Laurent de La Hyre

It has been said
that Abraham was crazy,
that the voice he heard
asking him to sacrifice Isaac
was not God's,

that God would never ask a father
to sacrifice his son—
even to prove a point.

I don't buy it.

Not because I'm so convinced
God would use such a method
to make such a point,

but because I'm pretty sure
that any man who obeyed the voice
which asked him to cut off the tip of his
— you know what —
would recognize that voice
if it ever spoke to him again.

Foreshadow of Faith {gn17:10-11}

Forefather Abraham must have been filled with
such foreboding as the appointed blade drew near.

He could never have foreseen God's circumscriptive request...
nor foregone its fulfillment once it had been proposed.

After all, he was God's foremost friend on the planet.
Mostly, though, he didn't want God to foreclose on the covenant—

Ishmael had turned out to be the forerunner of the promise,
just a foretaste of the legitimate heir.

God was still forecasting Isaac's arrival,
so obedience was forefront on Abraham's mind.

He cut a deal, therefore, skin and all.