March 1, 2009: The One You Love; Give It Up, Part 1 – Michael Hidalgo

What would it be like to raise a knife up over your son? What would his face look like? What would you tell your wife when you got back home? Would “God told me to do it” really work? This is the place that Abraham finds himself. Yet, at the last moment God speaks to him and says, “Don’t do it … ever.” And he provides a ram in the thicket. This is more than a test for Abraham, this is a new turn in God’s relationship with humanity. 

For Centuries humans had performed human sacrifices. Even sacrificing their own kids in the fire. For the first time, the “gods” said “No.” God did not need the blood of Abraham’s son – he was willing to offer up his own. We will focus on God asking Abraham to do this, and then forbidding a practice of human sacrifice – a practice that was meant to appease the gods. Never again does a father allow his son to die … that is until Jesus.