Why did God command a child sacrifice from Abraham? September 11, 2008
Posted by Brent Cunningham in : blog , 7 commentsPrint This Post | Email to a Friend
I had just come upstairs from putting Brielle, my four year old daughter, to bed, an hour past her bedtime—as usual. Earlier, as I sat down on her bed to tuck her in I noticed she was reading from her Children’s Illustrated Bible. She immediately fired a question, “Dad, why is this guy holding a knife?” Not the sort of thing you normally hope to be your child’s last thoughts before drifting off to sleep. Caught off guard, I looked and saw that she was “reading” (or examining the picture of) the story of Abraham’s near sacrifice of his son, Isaac, in obedience to God (Gen 22). While I knew this could not be a quick answer, I immediately found myself struggling to say much of anything. I could just imagine her furrowed little brow communicating that I had left her with far more troubling questions than she had begun with. So, I rapidly regrouped and told her that I would love to explain it but that we’d need more time. “Remind me tomorrow and I’ll tell you all about it.” This all happened last night. And tonight, right at bedtime, she reminded me. This time I skipped the several false starts of explanation and went right to the bit about needing more time. But to be totally honest, it really isn’t a “bit.” I did need more time to explain the whole story. Jumping right in with a 30 second answer, neglecting the bigger context of the story, would have left her with understandable concern and even worry. And I think that for most of us adults, the situation is not all that different. (more…)
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