I assume most of you know this story, but just in case, here's a recap: God had been making a big deal about the birth of Isaac for a long time, and finally, in the last chapter, he delivered the goods. Abraham and Sarah, even though they are both in old age, had their son; not just any son, a son who would go on to father God's great nation.
After all that fanfare, Abraham finds himself here, in chapter 22, being asked by God to take Isaac up to a mountain and sacrifice him. Unquestioningly, Abraham does as God commands. He ties Isaac up and just as he is about to thrust a knife into him, an angel tells him to stop, explaining that God now knows for certain that Abraham is a true believer, and that Isaac doesn't need to be harmed.
Then, somewhat incongruously, we learn about the lineage of Abraham's cousins.
What does this story mean? Obviously, there's the lesson of faith - that your belief in God should be so strong that you should be willing to kill your own offspring for him. Barbaric, yes, but we should also keep in mind that God doesn't actually allow Abraham to kill Isaac. One illustrious Jewish scholar, Rabbi Joseph H. Hertz, Britain's Chief Rabbi of the early 20th century, wrote about how in that time, child sacrifice was actually quite common and that "in that age, it was astounding that Abraham's God should have interposed to prevent the sacrifice, not that He should have asked for it... Unlike the cruel heathen deities, it was the spiritual surrender alone that God required." Thus proving God superior and more compassionate to other gods.
Also of note is how some have drawn parallels between the binding of Isaac and the crucifixion of Christ, which was particularly interesting for me to learn after I observed in the previous entry that the story of Jesus' birth and Isaac's birth had some telling similarities. I'll let Wikipedia take it away:
"The majority of Christian Biblical commentators hold this whole episode to be an archetype of the way that God works; this event is seen as foreshadowing God's plan to have his own Son, Jesus, die on the cross as a substitute for humanity, much like the ram God provided for Abraham. And Abraham's willingness to give up his own son Isaac is seen, in this view, as foreshadowing the willingness of God the Father to sacrifice his Son; also contrasted is Isaac's submission in the whole ordeal with Christ's, the two choosing to lay down their own lives in order for the will of God to be accomplished, as no struggle is mentioned in the Genesis account. Indeed, both stories portray the participants carrying the wood for their own sacrifice up a mountain."
Since we've weighed in on the Jews and Christians, it's only fair to get the Muslim interpretation of this chapter as well. Many Muslim traditions hold that God doesn't tell Abraham to sacrifice Isaac at all, but Ismael. Ishmael, you'll remember, is Abraham's other son through his maidservant Hagar. He is also the figure Muslims trace their heritage back to. Though the Biblical text specifically uses the name "Isaac", God does also say, "your only son". Muslims use this phrase to interpret the text as saying that these events occurred before the birth of Isaac, back when Ismael was Abraham's "only son", and somewhere along the way the name "Ishmael" in the Biblical text started to be replaced by the name "Isaac".
There have been many interesting interpretations of Genesis 22, and I urge anyone reading this to check out this transcript of an interview with author Bruce Feiler by Krista Tippett on her radio show "Speaking of Faith". He offers many excellent insights into how Genesis 22 has been read throughout the centuries by different people of different faiths.
Pop Culture References to Gen 22: The first verse of Bob Dylan's song "Highway 61 Revisited" deals with the Binding of Isaac.
Oh God said to Abraham, "Kill me a son"
Abe says, "Man, you must be puttin' me on"
God say, "No." Abe say, "What?"
God say, "You can do what you want Abe, but
The next time you see me comin' you better run"
Well Abe says, "Where do you want this killin' done?"
God says, "Out on Highway 61."
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