117 - Isaac's offering

Wording of this Handout:

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117
The Offering of Isaac.

When some people read the story of how God told Abraham to offer Isaac his son as a sacrifice, the decide that God must be bloodthirsty! They miss the really important things about the event, they make a silly fuzz about something they don't understand.

For a start, human sacrifice was common in the days of Abraham, so it wasn't unusual for Abraham to be called to do it. Also, fathers had total authority over their children in those days.

But God was not about to die. He wanted to test Abraham's obedience. That's all.

But consider this. If a man owns a shop, and all the things in it, he is perfectly within his rights to tell one of his workers to take money from the till, or destroy some of the goods in the shop. All belongs to him, so he may do with it as he pleases. It is the same with God. He owns the world and all in it. If he wants to take the life of Isaac (whom he owns) he may. It has nothing to do with Abraham. (He owns Abraham too!)

But rest assured, God is not about to order people to kill each other. He loves us. In the case of Abraham, God was only giving the man a similar test as the one he gave to Adam and Eve. You too have been tested in similar ways - to do something or not to do something. Time and time again you and all Christians come to points in life where a choice has to be made - to obey, or not to obey?

If you obey, you stand with Abraham.

Hey kids - you have my permission to eat anything you like from my shop!

Any bones?

The Bible says "In you seed all the nations of earth will be pleased because you have obeyed my voice." (New King James Version)