Note to the reader: This is part 3 of a series I am calling “7 Summits” where various Bible heroes have mountain top encounters with the Holy One. Thus far in the series we’ve touched down on the summits of Mt. Tabor (the Mount of Transfiguration) and Mt. Ararat (where God forms a covenant with Noah). This week’s summit is on Mt. Moriah and involves Abraham and Isaac. Note: A companion medium to these blogs can be found on the First Marion Baptist Youtube channel where sermons on these topics are recorded.
Abraham and Isaac’s visit to Mt. Moriah (Genesis 22) may well be one of the more troubling narratives in the Old Testament. It centers around plans for a child-sacrifice, as Abraham obeys God’s directive to take his son, “his only son” to Mt. Moriah “and offer him there as a burnt offering”.
Immediately the reader/hearer is faced with a conundrum. How do we understand what feels like a barbaric request more akin to the followers of Moloch than Yahweh? Is this a story of pilgrimage? Is it a story of an abusive God? Is it a story of a misguided patriarch (Abraham)? Or, is it a story of faith and trust?
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