First
And He said, “Take your son, your favored one, Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there” Genesis 22:2
Love – There’s a first time for everything. First times are usually quite significant, especially when the occurrences are in the Bible. For example, the first time we encounter the word ‘ezer (translated “helper”), we learn something incredibly important about women. You’ll have to wait for the book (soon I hope) or listen to the little bit on the audio download. In this verse, we encounter the word ‘ahav for the first time. Oh, you need to know what ‘ahav means. This is the Hebrew word for love.
Do you find this a bit curious? After all, here we are in the middle of Genesis. We have already covered the creation, Adam and Eve, Noah, Abraham’s call and the birth of Isaac, but not once is the word ‘ahav used in any of those stories. If we were writing the book of Genesis from our John 3:16 evangelical perspective, we would probably start with this word. “In the beginning, God loved,” is probably how we would open the text. But the Hebrew Scriptures reserve this word until God challenges Abraham to sacrifice his only son. That’s when ‘ahav becomes the only word significant enough to capture the thought. There must be a reason for this linguistic economy. What makes this particular story so different that it requires the introduction of this very special word?
If you connected this story to the sacrifice of another Son, then you’re in the right ball park. ‘ahav describes a relationship between Abraham and Isaac that reflects another relationship, one that becomes the center point of all human existence. The Father and Son share a special destiny, and a special bond. And the love is not one-way. Isaac has to love Abraham enough to willingly lay down his life in obedience. Certainly Isaac could have easily overpowered Abraham and saved himself. But there is not a single hint of this in Scripture. Isaac loves his father. In Hebrew, that love is displayed by trusting him, no matter what the circumstances might seem to indicate. Does Isaac anticipate something is wrong? Of course. “Where is the sheep for the offering?” Does it prevent Isaac from walking alongside his father to the place of sacrifice? Not at all. Isaac obeys. That’s love.
Does Abraham love Isaac? How could a man who loves his son be willing to sacrifice him? But the text tells us that Abraham does love Isaac. In fact, he loves Isaac in a way that is unparalleled in any previous relationship between human beings. This is the first time ‘ahav occurs. Abraham loves Isaac so much that he is willing to trust his son’s fate to the God he has known for a century. Abraham withholds nothing. That is also love. And, not coincidentally, all these factors play a part in the love of the Father for the Son as the story concludes 3000 years later.
The Scriptures are God’s living word. They are deliberate words. When they don’t follow the patterns we would expect, we need to pay very close attention. There is usually something hidden from view that we need to know.
Topical Index: ‘ahav, love, Genesis 22:2
A love story. (and a story of adventure!).. This is the life of faith. Has this been confirmed in your life?
Even in the beginning.. G-d so loved. G-d is love. Pure, holy, undefiled, outshining, outpouring,-other-love.
What if we approach the holy book as a Love Story between Creator and the creature. A story of Ruth the Moabite half-breed and Boaz-her Kinsman Redeemer. And then, several
chapters later- the Creator Himself takes on flesh as becomes as the creature. This God-man finds a
wounded Samaritan (a half-breed) and generously pours oil and wine into a wounded, bleeding, suffering citizen of the planet (yes, at expense to Himself). Several characters and several chapters later we see this Creator who is now in the form of the creature pinioned and staked to a shameful cross. We see sacrificial Love in its fullness. But this His-Story is far from over! There are chapters upon chapters to add to this Book of Life. There is yet to come a coronation and a consumation when this Kinsman-Redeemer returns to claim His holy bride. There is an eternal celebration yet to be! And chapters yet to be written and stories of characters yet to be told in this Love Story between the Creator and His beloved. Recommended reading: The Divine Romance by Gene Edwards
Thanks for reminding me of this book. I took it off the shelf, and noticed the copyright page says 1984, so it has been ‘a while’ since I read it. 🙂 I had forgotten what a beautiful book this is, and am anxious to re-read it.
An excellent book! The love story of eternal proportions. The bare-foot shulamite girl and the shepherd boy/King and their eternal love and passion.
Oh how we should take these stories to heart and make them our dream, our hope, knowing that true love NEVER fails.
The story of chapter 22, the “cross” of Genesis, bears out the scriptures themselves. We are told
“John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son”. What we dont see is hidden in the Hebrew language. God our Father is spelled Aleph-Beyt. God changed Abram to Abraham by adding one of the letters of His own name to Abram’s. The letter hey. When we add the same letter to the center of “Father” the root word for love is formed Aleph-hey-beyt, Ahav the same word you write of here.
In Hebraic Rabbinical thought, this is the “heart of the Father revealed”. There is so much to be learned from God’s word, but sadly, so many barely scratch the surface.
Keep up the good work Skip. May the Lord reveal Himself to you in a yet deeper way.
Berachot Shalom (Blessings of Peace Ron Fink
Hi Skip et al,
“Cutting Ties” and “First” both provide us with some very powerful insights into the relationship between God and Abraham.
And this community provides me with great comfort during what are for me very difficult times.
So please bear with me when I say that Abraham seems to be very “Other” from a historical perspective.
Most of us would probably not have sex with a slave girl, just to have a son.
After all, we have been commanded by God not to commit adultery, and we do not accept slavery.
Based on my reading, Abraham seems to think of his “afterlife” as something that is determined by his descendants.
And I don’t see any evidence in the text that Abraham believes in resurrection for himself or his son.
Moreover, if I’m not mistaken, at this point in history, human sacrifice, which is unthinkable today, was not uncommon.
What strikes me about this text is that there seems to have been an evolution of consciousness from the time of Abraham.
With Abraham, “love” is introduced for the first time.
Much later, with Moses, we have 10 new commandments to live by.
Then, with Yeshua, we are told to love our enemies.
I don’t want to take away from Abraham’s heroic stature or his model of absolute obedience and trust in God.
But for me Abraham seems a bit more like Odysseus than most people we know 🙂
thanks brother Ron.. G-d’s Word is amazing. I had no idea what a gold mine it is once you learn to use a “Hebrew” shovel. The Holy Spirit through Skip has brought so many treasures to my attention. Even in the hidden (“na”)- or “please” of this story shows the incredible humility of G-d the Father in “asking”, not commanding Abraham for this sacrifice of the son of promise. Add to this the manner of Yeshua’s birth, the manner of his life of service, the incident with the towel, and the manner of his death-all speak of the humility of God. We just don’t think of G-d as being humble do we? Even “behold, I stand at the door and knock”, seems a little bit strange to me. But then, in the scriptures we are also admonished to “let” (allow or permit) this mind be in us which also was in Yeshua. Such abundant and life-transforming love. What a joy and priveledge is ours to be called the children of such a Father.
Genesis is the most unusual book in the Bible. Yes, that includes Revelation which is filled with apocalyptic imagery. But Genesis still ranks at the top of the list, precisely because it presents so many apparently historical events that don’t seem to be anything like we experience. The creation story is strange enough – men from dirt, talking snakes, trees that give immortality – but then there are all kinds of other problems – talking with God face to face, obliteration of cities for which no evidence has yet been found, requests to kill a promised child, meeting angels, wrestling with God – lots and lots of strange things. Maybe that’s why Genesis is so absolutely critical to our understanding of God and His purposes.
Let me comment a bit about the Abraham and Isaac story – the Adekah (the binding) in Hebrew. First, all of this is discussed on the forthcoming audio files. So, take advantage of those when they are available. Second, while the surrounding cultures did practice child sacrifice as part of the fertility cult rituals, there is no indication whatsoever that anything like that is happening here. The narrator tells us that this is a test, thereby setting apart any consideration of child sacrifice. Abraham doesn’t know it is a test, but the reader does. Next, I believe that you are correct. From Abraham’s point of view, there is little indication that he thinks Isaac will be raised from the dead. This is even clearer when you realize that the intention here is burnt offering sacrifice. Isaac is not just going to be put in the grave (e.g. Lazarus). He is going to be burned up. Now, how does resurrection work when the body is destroyed? Furthermore, in the Old Testament there is very little consideration of an afterlife. Basically, the perspective is here and now, a good life on this earth and once it is over, everyone, good and evil, goes to Sheol. As for an evolution in consciousness, that is also part of this story, but not in the way we would think of contemporary religious evolution. Abraham does not come to a new understanding of God. The evolution is an evolution in Abraham’s trust in God, a trust that is now demonstrated in spite of all evidence to the contrary. The reason the Adekah is so important is that it shows us that obedience has a REAL PLACE in our relationship with God – not the place of grace for that is God’s choosing, but the place of intimacy with Him. Obedience is not a supplement to faith. It is faith. To claim relationship with God but not demonstrate obedience, even when that obedience seems to fly in the face of everything I know, is to misunderstand the purposes of God.
More later. Get the audio.
Skip