Isaac - the son of the promise.

As we return to our look at some of the best-known, and most important, of the characters from the Tanakh (the Jewish Scriptures; the Old Testament in the Christian Bible), we turn to Yitzchak (Isaac). Avraham, you may recall, was promised by El Shaddai, that he would be the father of a mighty nation, whose numbers would be as the stars of the sky - and that at a time when there was none of the light pollution to which most of us are subjected, and that hide the majority of stars from our sight. All very well - except for the fact that, at that time, Avraham and his wife, Sara, were childless! It is difficult to be the progenitor of a nation if one doesn't have even one child with which to start!

Avraham did what many of us try to do - he decided (or, to be more accurate, Sara suggested, and he acquiesced!) to give God a helping hand. In what was culturally acceptable at the time, Sara gave him her handmaid to bear a child on Sara's behalf. Hagar, the maid, did bear a son to Avraham - a boy who was named Ishmael, and from whom the Arab peoples are descended. 

Some fourteen years later, El Shaddai appeared to Avraham, and assured him that, in the following spring, Sara would bear a son. At this time, Avraham was 100 years old, and his wife was ten years younger. She was, to put it mildly, sceptical! "I am old, and so is my lord; am I to have pleasure again?" (Gen. 18:12). Well, who could blame her?! However, "... with God everything is possible." (Matt. 19:26) and, in the spring, Sara did, indeed, give birth to the boy who was named Yitzchak.

The most important part of the story of Yitzchak is, surely, the command of God, to Avraham, to sacrifice this son of the promise. Not only was the command given, but it was given in such a way as to, metaphorically, "twist the knife"! "Take your son, your only son, whom you love, Yitz’chak; and go to the land of Moriyah. There you are to offer him as a burnt offering on a mountain that I will point out to you." (Gen.22:2). Not just your son, Avraham, but your only son! Not just your only son, but the son whom you love! And in case there is still any doubt, his name is Yitzchak.

This is an episode with which the Jewish world has wrestled. How could a loving God ask any human father to sacrifice his own son? One key to understanding this event is to recognise the way in which what are called "types" (or "foreshadows") are used in the Tanakh to point us to events that would take place in future time. 

Avraham and Yitzchak set off to climb Mount Moriah

Early the next morning, and having made the appropriate preparations, Avraham sets out, with Yitzchak and two servants, on a three-day journey to the land of Moriyah - possibly the treeless ranges of Sinai down near Kadesh.  When they arrived at the foot of the mountain, Avraham and Yitzchak set off up the mountain, leaving the servants behind. As they climbed, Yitzchak asked: "I see the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?" His father immediately answered "'God will provide Himself the lamb for a burnt offering, my son'; and they both went on together."

On the mountain, a stone altar is constructed; the wood is laid out; and Yitzchak is bound and placed on the wood. It is worth remembering that Yitzchak, by this time, was a young man so, while we consider Avraham's obedience, we must also note that Yitzchak was willing to be bound and offered.  Avraham slowly takes the knife, placing it at Yitzchak's throat, ready to make the fatal cut. It is only at this point that El Shaddai intervenes by sending "... the angel of YHWH ..." (often identified as the Son)  to stop him from sacrificing his son. “Avraham? Avraham!” He answered, “Here I am.” He said, “Don’t lay your hand on the boy! Don’t do anything to him! For now I know that you are a man who fears God, because you have not withheld your son, your only son, from Me.” (Gen.22:11-12).

Avraham looks behind him, and there is a ram, caught in a thicket. He takes the ram, and sacrifices it instead of Yitzchak.

In the next post, we shall look at this concept of "types". I shall try not to have you wait for too long!!!