We looked at a few of the most important stories in the Old Testament - the birth of Abraham's son, Isaac and the later offering of that son up in sacrifice, a sacrifice that God interrupts by providing an alternative sacrifice:
Gen. 20 - A doublet of 12:10, but involving not the king of Egypt but the King of Gerar, a kingdom south of Gaza, Abimelech. Abraham, now age 100 approximately - he will be 100 at the birth of his son Isaac in the next chapter - goes with Sarah to Abimelech's kingdom and presents Sarah as his sister. We are also told here that Sarah is indeed Abraham's half-sister (same father, different mother), so Abraham wasn't lying completely. After Abimelech sends for Sarah and "had [her] taken" God comes to Abimelech and tells him he must die because Sarah was Abraham's wife. Abimelech confronts Abraham over the deception and they a peace is arranged between them.
We talked about a couple of things in connection with this story: 1) the obvious repetition of this little anecdote and why it carried such importance, 2) the really blatant non-realism of the story [their extreme age and unlikelihood of Sarah being any kind of a temptation to the king]. Eileen pointed out that the extreme ages of Old Testament figures might have to do with uncertainties regarding their ages, discrepancies in the various sources, etc. But we also discussed the fact that unrealistic details in the story could be seen as a way of forcing the reader to "see" the reality of the story on a spiritual level rather than a strictly factual level. St. Augustine reminds us in one of his homilies that we should "not go looking with your eyes for what can only be observed with the mind" (Homily 13 of John's gospel).
Gen. 21 - Abraham, now 100, finally has his son Isaac (meaning ‘God smiled,’ or laughed). Sarah is also very old. Ishmael who, by Chapter 16 reckoning would be 15 years old here is pictured as still a child (14)—on his mother’s shoulder. At Sarah’s request, they are banished (again?). God promises Abraham to look after them and make a nation of Ishmael as well. This is a kind of an echo or shadow of the promise to Abraham. In the desert Hagar is reassured personally by an angel. They go to the wilderness of Paran (on the Sinai Peninsula south of the Negev,) and there Hagar gets a wife for her son from Egypt -- remember Hagar might be Egyptian as well.
Abimelech and Abraham make a covenant and settle a dispute over a well at Beersheba, just east of Gerar.
Gen. 22 - God puts Abraham to the test at Moriah (said to be where Jerusalem would later be built). Told to offer up his son, his only son, as a sacrifice, Abraham obeys. He has Isaac carry the wood on which he will be offered up - so many "types" and "figures" here that early Christian writers will see as shadows of Christ's crucifixion. On the way, Abraham says “God himself will provide the lamb. . .” (a prophecy of Christ?), and of course he does—not only ultimately but here proximately. God is looking only for Abraham’s willingness to obey and his recognition that the son he has is also a gift, something that the Lord has provided, not anything really belonging to him. What strikes me here is that having been asked to renounce the past (his ancient clan, the traditions and lands of his father in Ur), he is now asked to renounce the future (or at least any personal goal he might have for the future). He is to live in the relationship of faith only, not in any notion of what faith may get him.
Verse 20 traces the genealogy of Abraham’s brother Nahor to trace the relationship of Rebecca to Isaac. One of Nahor’s sons, Bethuel is Rebecca’s father, so Isaac and Rebecca will be cousins. The offspring of Nahor’s relationship with a concubine—Reumah—are also introduced.
No comments:
Post a Comment