-
● Gen 22:1-3 . . Now it came about after these things, that God tested
Abraham, and said to him: Abraham! And he said: Here I am. And He said:
Take now your son, your only son, whom you love, Isaac, and go to the land
of Moriah; and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of
which I will tell you.
Isaac wasn't a child. He was old enough to shoulder a load of wood (Gen
22:6) and old enough to understand the purpose of he and his dad's trek to
the mountain (Gen 22:7).
If the events in Genesis are chronological, then Isaac's age would have been
roughly 37 seeing as how his mom was 90 when he was born (Gen 17:1-17)
and 127 when she died (Gen 23:1)
Also; Isaac was quite a bit younger than his dad and could have easily
escaped had he wanted.
That all tells me that Isaac was consenting, and good thing too or the whole
affair would have been a ritual murder which, according to Noah's covenant,
was a capital crime in those days. (Gen 9:5-6)
A technical point often overlooked in the "human sacrifice" issue is that in
every instance banning the practice in the Old Testament, it is underage
children that are condemned as offerings-- innocent children; viz: babes;
and in particular, one's own. (e.g. Lev 18:21, Lev 20:2-5, Deut 12:31, Deut
18:10, cf. 2Kgs 16:3, 2Kgs 17:31, 2Kgs 23:10, 2Kgs 21:6, Ps 106:34, Ezk
20:31, Ezk 23:37, Jer 7:31, Jer 19:4, Jer 32:35).
I have yet to encounter an instance where God expressed abhorrence at
sacrificing a consenting adult.
NOTE: It's often construed that God stopped Abraham from offering Isaac.
But the fact of the matter is; once something is placed on an altar, it is
reckoned offered whether dead or alive
● Gen 22:9 . . And they came to the place which God had told him of; and
Abraham built an altar there, and laid the wood in order, and bound Isaac
his son, and laid him on the altar upon the wood.
● Heb 11:17 . . By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
