Abraham's Story Part 3 (Isaac's Story Part 1)

Today's reading is from Genesis (Beresheet) 21-23.

Beresheet 21:1-4 "And Yahuah visited Sarah as He had said, and Yahuah did for Sarah as He had spoken. For Sarah conceived and bore abraham a son in his old age, at the set time of which Elohim had spoken to him. And Abraham called the name of his son who was born to him - whom Sarah bore to him - Isaac. Then Abraham circumcised his son Isaac when he was eight days old, as Elohim had commanded him."

Here we have Sarah, who finally had Isaac, and all is good, except for one thing... According to traditions of the land, the largest portion of a dad's inheritance goes to his firstborn son. Isaac isn't his firstborn. We know that Yahuah wants Isaac to be Abraham's heir, but what about Ishmael? I guess we'll have to find out in a minute.

Beresheet 21:5-7 "Now Abraham was one hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him. And Sarah said, 'Elohim has made me laugh, and all who hear will laugh with me.' She also said, 'Who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? For I have borne him a son in his old age.'"

To get a sense of just how old Abraham and Sarah were when they had Isaac, lets take a look at a normal family tree. You have you on the bottom, your parents above you, your grandparents above them, your great grandparents above them, and your great great grandparents above them. Let's say that there's a baby. Just born, brand new baby. Let's also say that everyone in the family has had kids at 25 for the past several generations. That would mean the baby's parents are 25, his grandparents are 50, great grandparents are 75, and great great grandparents are 100. Isaac being born is like if those great great grandparents had another kid at 100. Pretty much impossible. Now you see why everyone is so happy? He's not just a kid, he's an impossible kid.

Beresheet 21:8-11 "So the child grew and was weaned. And Abraham made a great feast on the same day that Isaac was weaned. And Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, whom she had borne to Abraham, scoffing. Therefore she said to Abraham, 'Cast out this bondwoman and her son; for the son of this bondwoman shall not be heir with my son, namely with Isaac.' And the matter was very displeasing in Abraham's sight because of his son.

Ishmael may not know this, but so far it looks like Sarah usually gets what she wants.

Beresheet 21:12-13 "But Elohim said to Abraham, 'Do not let it be displeasing in your sight because of the lad or because of your bondwoman. Whatever Sarah has said to you, listen to her voice, for in Isaac your seed shall be called. Yet I will also make a nation of the son of the bondwoman, because he is your seed.'"

It would appear that Hagar didn't tell Abraham what happened when she ran away.

Beresheet 21:14-16 "So Abraham rose early in the morning, and took bread and a skin of water; and putting it on her shoulder, he gave it and the boy to Hagar, and sent her away. Then she departed and wandered in the Wilderness of Beersheba. And the water in the skin was used up, and she placed the boy under one of the shrubs. Then she went and sat down across from him at the distance of about a bowshot; for she said to herself, 'Let me not see the death of the boy.' So she sat opposite him and lifted her voice and wept."

It's hot. They're in a wilderness, maybe a desert. The sun is beating down. You begin to see mirages. You take a sip of water, except you get just a couple drops. You have this feeling that it's hopeless, you're going to die. The sand sifts between your sandals with every step, burning your feet. Ishmael falls. You drag him under a bush and can't look at him anymore. There's nothing left to do but cry. Aren't you beginning to wish you started walking towards a town? Maybe get a ride on a camel taxi? It's too late for that. Then you hear something...

Beresheet 21:17-21 "And Elohim heard the voice of the lad. Then the angel of Elohim called out to Hagar out of heaven, and said to her, 'What ails you, Hagar? Fear not, for Elohim has heard the voice of the lad where he is. Arise, lift up the lad and hold him with your hand, for I will make him a great nation.' Then Yahuah opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water. And she went and filed the skin with water, and gave the lad a drink. So Elohim was with the lad; and he grew and dwelt in the wilderness, and became an archer. He dwelt in the Wilderness of Paran; and his mother took a wife for him from the land of Egypt."

I'm sure Ishmael's promise was the last thing on his mind. He wanted water right now, not a country. But Yahuah gave him both. Just in time, too. The rest of the chapter switches back to Abraham. He's talking with Abimelech, and they agree to live in peace for a good, long time. Let's fast forward a bit to chapter 22.

Beresheet 22:1-2 "Now it came to pass after these things that Elohim tested Abraham, and said to him, 'Abraham!' And he said, 'Here I am.' Then He said, 'Take now our son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.'"

We know that Yahuah is just testing Abraham's faith, but Abraham doesn't know that. He's waited a century to have this boy, now he finally has him, and it's time to go kill him. Would you like to know what's most fascinating about this chapter (aside from the fact that Yahuah doesn't like human sacrifices)? It says nothing about Abraham whining, complaining, asking to prepare any other sacrifice, nothing. He didn't request a way out, he just packed up his things and went. If anything, he was probably very quiet.

Beresheet 22:3-5 "So Abraham rose early in the morning and saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son; and he split the wood for the burnt offering, and arose and went to the place of which Elohim had told him. Then on the third day Abraham lifted his eyes and saw the place afar off. And Abraham said to his young men, 'Stay here with the donkey; the lad and I will go yonder and worship, and we will come back to you.'"

I'm guessing that was one tense donkey ride. His young men may have been talking to each other, Isaac may have been running around looking for bugs, but I imagine that Abraham didn't say much, and when he did, it served to quiet everyone around him down.

Beresheet 22:6-8 "So Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on Isaac his son; and he took the fire in his hand, and a knife, and the two of them went together. But Isaac spoke to Abraham his father and said, 'My father!' And he said, 'Here I am, my son.' Then he said, 'Look, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?' And Abraham said, 'My son, Elohim will provide for Himself the lamb for a burnt offering.' So the two of them went together."

That's sort of like a kid and his dad walking along, the kid has wood for the fire they're gonna cook dinner on, the dad has the flint and steel, and it suddenly occurs to the kid that they don't have anything to cook.

Beresheet 22:9-11 "Then they came to the place of which Elohim had told him. And Abraham built an altar there and placed the wood in order; and he bound Isaac his son and laid him on the altar, upon the wood. And Abraham stretched out his hand and took the knife to slay his son. But the Angel of Yahuah called to him from heaven and said, 'Abraham, Abraham!' So he said, 'Here I am.'"

Isaac was about to be barbequed! Abraham was going to do it! He knew he had to do whatever Yahuah told him to do, and he was going to sacrifice Isaac. This man has his priorities in order, whether he likes it or not. If this was a movie, you'd have the scary music starting when he left the house and coming to its peak right around here. The suspense has been building up, it's getting scarier by the minute, when suddenly it stops.

Beresheet 22:12-14 "And He said, 'Do not lay your hand on the lad, or do anything to him; for now I know that you fear Elohim, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from Me.' Then Abraham lifted his eyes and looked, and there behind him was a ram caught in a thicket by its horns. So Abraham went and took the ram, and offered it up for a burnt offering instead of his son. And Abraham called the name of the place, Yahuah-Will-Provide, as it is said to this day, 'In the Mount of Yahuah it shall be provided.'"

I was reading another book by the people who made my Bible. The book is called Extreme Faith, and one of the chapters is about Isaac. It brought to light something I had never really thought of before in this passage; what was going through Isaac's head? He let himself be bound and put on the altar, it doesn't say he squirmed or anything, he was letting it happen. Either the guy has no sense of self preservation, or he had the same level of faith as his father, and that is really something.

Beresheet 22:15-19 "Then the Angel of Yahuah called to Abraham a second time out of heaven, and said: 'By Myself I have sworn, says Yahuah, because you have done this thing, and have not withheld your son, your only son- blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply your descendants as the stars of the heaven and as the sand which is on the seashore; and your descendants shall possess the gate of their enemies. In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice.' So Abraham returned to his young men, and they rose and went together to Beersheba; and Abraham dwelt at Beersheba."

If it was a tense ride there, can you imagine how tense it was on the way back? Abraham was going to sacrifice Isaac, and there's Isaac, still standing, near Abraham. The rest of the chapter has Abraham getting a report of his extended family having grown, and yes, that means there's more genealogies.

Beresheet 23:1-6 "Sarah lived one hundred and twenty-seven years, these were the years of the life of Sarah. So Sarah died in Kirjath Arba (that is, Hebron) in the land of Cannan, and Abraham came to mourn for Sarah and to weep for her. Then Abraham stood up from before his dead and spoke to the sons of Heth, saying, 'I am a foreigner and a visitor among you. Give me property for a burial place among you, that I may bury my dead out of my sight.' And the sons of Heth answered Abraham, saying to him, 'Hear us, my lord: You are a mighty prince among us; bury your dead in the choicest of our burial places. None of us will withhold from you his burial place, that you may bury your dead.'"

The rest of the chapter has Abraham shopping for a burial spot. He eventually buys one for four hundred shekels of silver that was probably large enough for everyone in his family to be buried there eventually; at least for a few generations. To get an idea of how much he paid, today a shekel is worth about a third of a dollar. Four hundred divided by three is about 133 and a third. He paid roughly $133.33 for that land. If you take into account the inflation of the past few thousand years... Hmm... Let's just say he paid a good price for it.

Tomorrow's reading is Genesis (Beresheet) 24-28:9.