32. Demand Naught of Sacrifice

Genesis 20:2 Then God said, “Take your son, your only son, whom you love—Isaac—and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on a mountain I will show you.”

So, God says “Hey, Abe, time to off the kid.” 

          Abraham says, “Okay.”

          There is no, “Hey what did he do now?”

          No, “Sorry God, I ain’t gonna do that.”

          Simply, “Alright God, the kid gets it.”

          To me, the story of Abraham sacrificing Isaac is intensely disturbing.  What is chilling is the matter-of-factness shown by Abe.  I have read more than one commentary that suggests that the lack of emotion recorded in the story is an indication that Abe was so distraught that the authors did not think it necessary to comment.  Bullshit.

          It was business as usual, nothing out of the ordinary.  Human sacrifice has occurred within all religious traditions, save those of the people indigenous to North America – specifically north of the Rio Grande.  As well Buddhism and Jainism hold an ethic of “Thou shall not kill” which extends to even animals; they too have not sacrificed humans.

          Well known within the history of Israel is the worship of Moloch.  At one time the Jewish people worshipped him and this was done by setting children on fire.  When Jesus tells us that it is better to go through life with one eye than enter the fires of Gehenna it is a reference to the valley where children were sacrificed to Moloch. So, when Abraham is told to go kill the kid, Abe says of course.

          Of interest Isaac catches on, and says “Hey Dad, we are going to make a burnt offering to God, where is it?”

          And so they arrived at the appropriate destination, and they get ready.  As Abraham goes to kill his son Isaac, he is stopped by an angel of God.  The Angel says hey, God has watched you and knows that you are obedient to him.  Take that Ram over there and kill it instead.  The story, I believe, shows God rewarding Abraham for the limitation of his sacrifice. 

          There are those that content that Abraham knew all along that it was a test by God, and that in the end God would come through.  I don’t think so.  I think Abraham intended to come back with one less kid.

          We portray God as demanding sacrifice, as this violent angry vengeful God.  Consider –

Micah 6:7 & 8 - Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, with ten thousand rivers of olive oil? Shall I offer my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.

or

Pslam 51:16 & 17 You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it; you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings. My sacrifice, O God, is a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart you, God, will not despise.

In an earlier post I wrote this “The words forgive along with forgiving and forgiveness is mentioned about 240 times in the bible.  Punishment is mentioned about 30 times.  Revenge is mentioned about 80 times.  Mercy in mentioned about 590 times.  Hate occurs 220 times, while love is mentioned about 800 times.”

So I ask you, where is this God demanding of vengeance and sacrifice? 

I do not want to dilute the message of the bible too much by overstating that much of it is written from the perspective of those witnessing the events.  There is an inherent danger in doing that as those parts of the bible that I do not agree with can be simply chalked up to perspective, context and culture.  But the times that I have seen reference to God being a violent nasty ass god, makes me wonder.  Is this the result of the author's perspective, or is that an accurate reflection of events?

So why does the myth of the God demanding sacrifice persist?  Because we are violent.  We created sacrifice.  It is our attempt to satisfy our guilt and shame by inflicting punishment on to another.  I see God's participation in the entire act of sacrifice as being one of tolerance and limitation to nonhuman offerings. 

Jeremiah 7: 22 & 23 For when I brought your ancestors out of Egypt and spoke to them, I did not just give them commands about burnt offerings and sacrifices, but I gave them this command: Obey me, and I will be your God and you will be my people. Walk in obedience to all I command you, that it may go well with you.

For me, it is not just a minor point.  If we worship a God of loving compassion, a God who loves us so much that he sent his only begotten son so that whoever believes in him shall have everlasting life.  Would not such an experience lead us to be compassionate, caring and gentle with each other?  Would not a God who is slow to anger, keeps no record of wrongs, and God who celebrates the return of one of his children inspire a faith similar to his heart?

"But God, who is rich in mercy, out of the great love with which He loved us even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ" (Eph 2:4-5).

But we e are called to sacrifice though -

Romans 12:1 Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship.