Tag: Isaac

God of Heaven and Earth

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Abraham said to his servant, the oldest of his household who was in charge of all that he owned, “Please place your hand under my thigh, and I will make you swear by the Lord, the God of heaven and the God of earth, that you shall not take a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I live.
Genesis 24:2-3 (NASB)

For the first time in Scripture, we see this phrase: “the God of heaven and the God of earth.”

The rabbis note that Abraham says this while in the Promised Land, but never says it while in Egypt or in Haran. Perhaps it’s a statement about the Holy Land. It is specially designated as God’s special place.

But there is a hint of divine parable in the phrase. In Genesis 1, God “created the heavens and the earth,” so we understand that God made them… together. To be together, like a man and his wife.

This chapter is about marriage and covenant, and how God establishes a union over an impossible distance.

A Reversal

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Genesis 24 introduces the union of Isaac and Rebekah, and in the chapter, very little is said about Isaac.

The focus sits squarely on Rebekah: she is the one who serves; she is the one who is praised; she leaves her father’s house, just like Abraham. But of Isaac, we read that he is comforted in his grief after his mother’s death.

What a fascinating reversal.

All Things

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Abraham was now old, advanced in years, and יהוה had blessed Abraham in all things.
Genesis 24:1 (The Contemporary Torah, JPS 2006)

I sometimes wonder if the Hebrew gematria (the system for finding numeric values of words based on the letters) is merely a helpful aid for memorizing scripture, or if it is also a part of the story.

ברך את אברהם בכל [THE LORD HAD] BLESSED ABRAHAM IN ALL THINGS — The numerical value of the word בכל is equal to that of בן (a son) — suggesting that God had blessed Abraham with a son and since he had a son he had to find him a wife.
Rashi on Genesis 24:1

For Abe to be blessed with “all things” and “a son” is fascinating.

Abraham Came to Mourn

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Sarah died in Kiriath-arba (that is, Hebron) in the land of Canaan; and Abraham came in to mourn for Sarah and to weep for her.
Genesis 23:2 (NASB)

In the Hebrew, it’s וַיָּבֹא֙ (vayavo) which means movement from one place to another. It appears that the text tells us Sarah’s location because Abraham was not there when she died.

So where was he?

Perhaps the Binding of Isaac in the previous chapter isn’t merely a story about a man who is asked to sacrifice his son, but also a story about a man who loses his wife while being obedient to God.

A son loses his mother in the same way.

What is the cost of obedience?

Abraham. Abraham!

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Now it came about after these things, that God tested Abraham, and said to him, “Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.”
Genesis 22:1 (NASB)

When God first called out to Abraham in Genesis 22, the text seems to show that Abraham responds immediately. He doesn’t know what God is about to say, but from Genesis 12 to now, God’s call has led to something positive. Blessing after blessing.

But the next time God calls Abraham, God says Abraham’s name twice.

But the angel of the Lord called to him from heaven and said, “Abraham, Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.”
Genesis 22:11 (NASB)

The text doesn’t explain it, but maybe God’s command to sacrifice Isaac is heavy to Abraham.

I can see Abraham not wanting to listen to God again after this. Would you? So maybe God has to say it twice.

Abraham’s Thoughts

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When we read about Abraham heading up the mountain to sacrifice his son, we aren’t given clues about Abraham’s internal thoughts, unlike when he pleads for Sodom and Gomorrah and when he pleads for Ishmael.

Abraham is silent.

I find this remarkable, not because of what it says about Abraham or about the text, but because of what it does to the reader.

With Abraham’s silence, you are forced to read it through your own experiences. The feelings that bubble up aren’t Abraham’s.

They are yours.

Do you see piousness and unquestioning obedience?

Do you see silent tears and brokenness? Hopelessness?

Do you see smoldering anger at the unfairness and injustice of it?

You are projecting. And perhaps you are supposed to.

I once heard that Torah is a mirror. What you see in it is a reflection of who you are. It reveals you.

But also, perhaps it asks you to feel and wonder. And learn.

The Special Altar

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Then they came to the place of which God had told him; and Abraham built the altar there and arranged the wood, and bound his son Isaac and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood.
Genesis 22:9 (NASB)

The rabbis point out that the word for “altar” here is in the definitive form. It is not an altar (as some translations render it), but it is the altar. The word “built” also means “re-built,” using the same stones.

According to rabbinical tradition, this is a specific and special altar, upon which Adam, Abel, and Noah have all sacrificed. And it points forward to the Temple.

God Reveals

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Abraham said, “God will [a]provide for Himself the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.” So the two of them walked on together.
Genesis 22:8 (NASB)

[a] Lit: see

Most translations say “God will provide” when Abraham answers Isaac regarding the sacrifice.

But in fact, the Hebrew word is יִרְאֶה־ (yireh), which means “to see.” Interestingly, this can also be used to mean “to reveal,” as in “to make seen.” This is an important word.

If you go back to Genesis 1, the text repeats the phrase “God SAW that it was good.” It’s this same word. The first instance is LIGHT.

Perhaps the correct understanding is not that God saw it for the first time, but that God REVEALED to us what was good. It’s a lesson.

When we get back to Genesis 22, the phrase isn’t merely “God will provide” or “God will see” the lamb, but that God will REVEAL the lamb to us.

This is followed by “and the two of them walked on together.”

Together

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The word “together” is יַחַד (yakhad) in Hebrew. In Scripture, it carries a deep meaning beyond simply “adjacent.” It’s not like two spoons in a drawer.

It means UNITED. It’s where we get the Gospel concept of “in one accord.”

It means no division. No hierarchy. As ONE.

Yakhad appears in five verses in Genesis, three of which are about Abraham, his son, and his young men, or servants. They act in UNITY.

And Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and laid it on his son Isaac, and he took in his hand the fire and the knife. So the two of them walked on together.
Genesis 22:6 (NASB)

Abraham said, “God will provide for Himself the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.” So the two of them walked on together.
Genesis 22:8 (NASB)

So Abraham returned to his young men, and they got up and went together to Beersheba; and Abraham lived in Beersheba.
Genesis 22:19 (NASB)

The Midrash suggests that Isaac’s obedience and willingness is critical to the story, because you can’t be both yakhad and coerced.

There is no unity of purpose when one party is forcing the other party into submission. And given that Abraham is over 100 years old at this point, it seems unlikely that he could overpower his son to restrain him.

Yakhad is the only way this story moves forward.

But the teaching about yakhad isn’t only found in the positive uses here in Genesis 22. When we read the word in Psalm 133, we’re given an important clue.

Behold, how good and how pleasant it is
For brothers to live together in unity!
Psalm 133:1 (NASB)

Yakhad is linked to “good.” This is the same good as from the Tree of Knowledge of “good” and “evil.”

If yakhad is good (joy and blessings), the opposite of yakhad is evil (misery and suffering). With that in mind, the other usages of yakhad in Genesis give us a clear teaching.

And the land could not support both of them while living together, for their possessions were so great that they were not able to remain together.
Genesis 13:6 (NASB)

For their possessions had become too great for them to live together, and the land where they resided could not support them because of their livestock.
Genesis 36:7 (NASB)

The opposite of yakhad is linked to too much wealth. Too many possessions.

It’s no wonder, then, that Jesus would teach that “it is easier for a camel to squeeze through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven.”

You can’t have yakhad with one another or with God when you’re clinging to all of your stuff.

The Wood of Atonement

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And Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and laid it on his son Isaac, and he took in his hand the fire and the knife. So the two of them walked on together.
Genesis 22:6 (NASB)

In Genesis 22:6, the Hebrew word describing “the wood” is עֲצֵי (aztay), which is literally the phrase “the wood of.” Here, it’s linked to the burnt offering. A sacrifice.

This phrase only appears one other time in Genesis. It’s in Genesis 6, contained in the instructions for building the ark.

Make for yourself an ark of gopher wood; you shall make the ark with compartments, and cover it inside and out with pitch.
Genesis 6:14 (NASB)

Do you remember the purpose of the ark? It’s being built to preserve humanity. To save Noah and his family.

God tells Noah to “pitch it with pitch,” and the words here are words that also mean “ransom” and “atonement.” These are theological words linked to salvation.

Surely, you can hear the scripture echo…