The Cross and Creation Part 4 - The Sacrifice of Isaac

For this episode Andrew is in conversation with Leisa Aitken as they discuss Andrew's paper on the "Sacrifice of Isaac".
The paper was a short exegesis on Genesis 22 and can be found at golsbysmith-my.sharepoint.com...

[@MrBully1967]

G’day. From the paper: “Do not underestimate the magnitude of this event in human history. No where in recorded history has the relationship between deity and humanity ever had the deity serving humanity. The perceived ‘natural order’ of things was for humanity to serve the deity. This is a world-first in recorded human history. And a complete 180-degree transformation of what was then the contemporary worldview.”
It was certainly the opposite of the Baalist notion of “stimulating” nature (the fertility of land and womb) via human sacrifice, or at least the cutting of human flesh. But the first instance of sacrifice in the Bible is the Lord serving as a priest for the mutinous “king” of the Garden in Genesis 3. Adam had willingly put his potential offspring on the altar, and not in a good way.
The main difference is that, like Abraham, Adam was promised fertility in land and womb, but unlike Adam, but God initially gave Abraham a barren land and a barren womb, to be transformed by faith.
So Abraham’s test related to the Garden.
Jacob’s test related to his wealth, amidst rivalry with his firstborn brother, relating to firstborn Cain and priestly Abel in the Land. Like Abraham, Jacob was willing to give up his miraculous wealth when faced with Esau, and he received it back again from God’s hand.
So recapitulation must be part of our interpretive grid.
So much for the Garden and the Land. What was the “World” episode? Faithful Joseph was chosen to be Jacob’s heir. Obviously, his brothers despised him. Joseph’s response to Potiphar’s wife shows that the actual temptation was to seize his master’s household by seizing his wife. Reuben tried this by sleeping with Bilhah. Absalom slept with David’s concubines. A man in Corinth slept with his father’s wife. The serpent seduced Eve to get his hands on Adam’s promised inheritance. Pharaoh seized Sarah. And “virgin” Jerusalem wagged her head in defiance of the great dragon Sennacherib who desired to attack the “impregnable” city.
In this “World” domain, Joseph remained faithful and finally received his own household from the hand of God-including a faithful Egyptian wife. So Genesis begins and ends with a contrast between two young men whom God put in charge of the food.
So the “ultimate” test is to hold loosely onto what God has given us, no to “grasp” it, but to receive and keep receiving it as a gift given to a faithful steward. I don’t think Abraham misunderstood God’s character. I think by this point, like Jacob and Joseph, his attitude, based on God’s promises to him, was, “OK, let’s see how You get Yourself out of this one.”