(Genesis 22:1-19)

1 Some time later God tested Abraham. He said to him, "Abraham!"
"Here I am," he replied.
2 Then God said, "Take your son, your only son, Isaac, whom you love, and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains I will tell you about." 3 Early the next morning Abraham got up and saddled his donkey. He took with him two of his servants and his son Isaac. When he had cut enough wood for the burnt offering, he set out for the place God had told him about. 4 On the third day Abraham looked up and saw the place in the distance. 5 He said to his servants, "Stay here with the donkey while I and the boy go over there. We will worship and then we will come back to you." 6 Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and placed it on his son Isaac, and he himself carried the fire and the knife. As the two of them went on together, 7 Isaac spoke up and said to his father Abraham, "Father?"
"Yes, my son?" Abraham replied.
"The fire and wood are here," Isaac said, "but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?" 8 Abraham answered, "God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son." And the two of them went on together. 9 When they reached the place God had told him about, Abraham built an altar there and arranged the wood on it. He bound his son Isaac and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. 10 Then he reached out his hand and took the knife to slay his son. 11 But the angel of the LORD called out to him from heaven, "Abraham! Abraham!" "Here I am," he replied. 12 "Do not lay a hand on the boy," he said. "Do not do anything to him. Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son." 13 Abraham looked up and there in a thicket he saw a ram caught by its horns. He went over and took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering instead of his son. 14 So Abraham called that place The LORD Will Provide. And to this day it is said, "On the mountain of the LORD it will be provided." 15 The angel of the LORD called to Abraham from heaven a second time 16 and said, "I swear by myself, declares the LORD, that because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, 17 I will surely bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will take possession of the cities of their enemies, 18 and through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed me." 19 Then Abraham returned to his servants, and they set off together for Beersheba. And Abraham stayed in Beersheba.

The Christian church views Abraham's willingness to follow God's command to sacrifice Isaac as an example of faith and obedience. I have never liked the story of Abraham and Isaac and I don't like the traditional, pious interpretation given to it. The idea that God would ask Abraham to sacrifice his son - that God would ask Abraham to commit an immoral act to test his faith. That seems wrong to me on so many levels it's not even funny.

Leonard Sweet asks a (Out of the Question. Into the Mystery) asks a number of questions of the passage:

1. In an earlier story God tells Abraham of his plans to destroy Sodomon and Gomorrah. Abraham argues with God for the lives of the faithful in the city? Why didn't he do the same here? Why didn't Abraham argue with God about the killing of his innocent son like he did when God told Abraham about God's intention to kill the Sodomites' sons and daughters?

2. Abraham does not appear to tell Isaac's mother Sarah anything about the purpose of his trip with her son to the land of Moriah. Why did Abraham keep the planned sacrifice a secret from those closest to him? Why didn't he tell Sarah or Isaac about what God had ordered him to do?

3. How did Isaac deal with the fact that his father had to be forcibly restrained from cutting his throat? What went through Isaac's mind as he stared at his father with a blade descending? Abraham may not have wounded Isaac with a knife, but he wounded him nonetheless (sketch cutting the head off a teddy).

4. Why did God no longer speak to Abraham after the outcome of this test was known? God delivered the Mount Moriah test in person, but as Abraham was about to carry out the command, an angel intervened and stayed his hand. Why didn't God show up to intervene? And after the conclusion of this episode, God never spoke to Abraham again. The intimacy of their relationship was over. Likewise, from that point on, Abraham never "speaks to God" but only "speaks about God."

5. What did Abraham and Isaac talk about on their three-day journey home? In fact, it appears more likely that Abraham returned alone to Beersheba. Abraham climbed Mount Moriah with his son, but he arrived alone when he returned from the mountain. And he never spoke to his son again. Isaac never saw his father alive again - only reuniting with his brother Ishmael to bury their dead father. Even though God gave Abraham back his son on the altar of sacrifice, Abraham never did get his son back.

Is it reading too much into the text to wonder why Isaac grieved for his mother when she died, but the Scriptures say nothing about his grief upon his father's death? Or that it took Rebekah (Isaac's wife) to comfort Isaac after the death of his mother. There was no sign of Abraham's even being there to console his son.

Sweet argues that there are really two tests taking place here: a faithfulness test (which Abraham passes) and a relationship test (which Abraham fails miserably). After coming down from the mountain Abraham travels home (most likely alone) and lives in isolation from his most beloved for the rest of his life - including God.