Daily Devotion for Lent 2018 - Day 17, Monday

Scripture Reading: Genesis 22 (NRSV)

The command to sacrifice Isaac is difficult for 21st century Christians for many reasons:

1) We do not have such a hierarchical value of human life as they did in Abraham's day.  While it may not have been lauded, Abraham could deal with those in his household as he saw fit.  Today, a child is valued perhaps even more than an adult.  It was not so in that day.  This may have been due, in part, to their high infant mortality rate.

2)  We do not deal with the blood slaughter of animals on a day to day basis.  The killing of animals for sustenance was very familiar and regular in their way of life.  The vast majority of people in the US are divorced from the means that meat shows up on their menus.

3)  We have not regularly sacrificed animals for worship to appease God for two millennia.  Blood sacrifice is not something we think is necessary.  As Christianity urbanized, it became much less practical.  Temple worship of pagan gods could manage it because their physical buildings were designed to accommodate it.  One can see that house worship where Christians met in large homes of the wealthier disciples would not look favorably on this practice.  Imagine sacrificing a lamb in your living room!

4)  Ethically, what does it mean for God to test Abraham in this manner?  Even though God knew that Abraham would not be asked to complete the sacrifice, what kind of Hell would that be to go through for several days' journey to Moriah?  For people not raised in the church, they look objectively at this passage and may have trouble worshipping one who would ask this of the followers.

The Sacrifice of Isaac (1598) by Caravaggio

Could it be that Abraham misunderstood God's call upon his life?  Could it be that God finally breaks through to show that animal sacrifice was preferable to child sacrifice?  As humanity moves away from violent death being such a norm, we begin to understand that God doesn't require any blood sacrifices.

Other passages in the Old Testament seem to verify this.

Deuteronomy 12:31 states, "You must not do the same for the Lord your God, because every abhorrent thing that the Lord hates they have done for their gods. They would even burn their sons and their daughters in the fire to their gods."  

This is pretty clear that God finds this behavior "abhorrent."

Jeremiah 7:30-31 states, "For the people of Judah have done evil in my sight, says the Lord; they have set their abominations in the house that is called by my name, defiling it.  And they go on building the high place of Topheth, which is in the valley of the son of Hinnom, to burn their sons and their daughters in the fire—which I did not command, nor did it come into my mind."

Here we see that child sacrifice is still occurring over a thousand years after Abraham and Isaac.  God calls it evil and states that this is not only not commanded but that God has not thought of asking for it.  This would seem to fortify the interpretation that Abraham misunderstood.

When Jesus is asked about the greatest commandment, he quotes the love of God from the Shema and adds to love one's neighbor as oneself.  The scribe responds that these are "more important than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices." Jesus interprets this as wisdom and declares, "You are not far from the Kingdom of God."

For me, this interpretation helps me to see the passage for what it is - a movement from the practice of the day (child sacrifice) to a better understanding of what God truly desires from us.

Dear Lord,
it seems that you are so madly in love with your creatures that you could not live without us. 
So you created us;
and then, when we turned away from you, you redeemed us. 
Yet you are God, and so have no need of us. 
Your greatness is made no greater by our creation;
your power is made no stronger by our redemption. 
You have no duty to care for us, no debt to repay us. 
It is love, and love alone, which moves you.

Amen.

Prayer by Catherine of Siena, Italy, 14th Century