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Friday, January 9, 2009

Abraham's Test of Faith - Thoughts

So since no one else has posted about Abraham yet I thought I'd leave some of my thoughts.  I'm sorry if they are kind of gruesome.  Abraham was told to sacrifice Isaac as a burnt offering.  That would mean first killing him and then burning the body.  Imagine having to stand there and watch your son's body burning.  That would take time.  It would be horrible.  

Today I also thought about how it says, "early the next morning."  I wonder if maybe the whole process was so tough on Abraham that putting it off would mean making it longer and that much worse.  And I also wondered if since Isaac was born if Abraham had a bigger faith.  Or maybe he was more willing to follow God.  His faith had been validated so maybe that's why he was willing to jump do what God said.  Maybe that's just how I feel.  I think when he put our faith in God and he comes through, we are more likely to do it again.  

And I wondered how it went when they reached the spot.  Before he bound Isaac, did Abraham tell him how much he loved him?  Did he tell him what God said?  Or did he just start tying him up?  It was very important for Isaac to hear God's voice when He stopped him.  Otherwise he'd probably just think his dad was crazy.  There must've been alot of reassuring and encouraging after that.  Or maybe God helped Isaac understand what was going on.  

Sorry for the brutality of the thoughts.  I'm a filmmaker, so I imagine things.  

5 comments:

Lisa Nguyen said...

Justin, thank you so much for your insight on today's reading!

I completely agree with what you wrote about Abraham and the fact that he was probably more willing to follow God because of the way his faith had been validated. Thanks for pointing that out! It made me realize that I definitely do not have the faith that Abraham had, and I need to! God has validated himself tremendously in my life, and I really need to hold to that! If God told me to exit off the freeway, much less sacrifice a child, I definitely would question it. I love how Abraham completely submits himself to God's will. How faithful is that?!! I definitely need to hold on to all the times God has revealed himself to me so that I will be more willing to follow him instead of questioning what I don't understand.

Tera Chau said...

Gosh what floors me is that although Abraham did not have to kill his son and watch his body burn, God had to watch as His son was totured and brutally killed (and only God knows what else occurred to Jesus during the 3 days before He rose).

Gina Vescovi said...

Thanks for the visual. I never thought of the fact that he would have to sit there and watch his son burn-crazy

Lisa Battig said...

Hi Justin,

Did you ever notice how Isaac's life is incredibly uneventful compared to the other 3 (Abe, Jake, and Joe) and how a couple of times, God is referred to as "the fear of Isaac"? As a converse, I wonder if Isaac lived the remainder of his life in a deep (and maybe we would even perceive today as unhealthy)fear of God and what God might do or ask him to do. What do you think?

Justin Seibel said...

Yeah I noticed that about Isaac. Its like all he did was be miraculous born and almost sacrificed. I wasn't familiar with 'the fear of Isaac,' but maybe because of what almost happened he knew what was possible. I could see how that experience would greatly effect him.