Bible Q & A

The story of Abraham's thwarted sacrifice of Isaac seems to be full of contradictions but it, in fact, shows the supernatural aspect of scripture.

Genesis 22:1-12A, 19 states:

"Some time later God tested Abraham. He said to him, 'Abraham!' 'Here I am,' he replied. Then God said, 'Take your son, your only son, Isaac, whom you love, and goto the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains I will tell you about.'"

"Early the next morning Abraham got up and saddled his donkey. He took with him two of his servants and his son Isaac. When he cut enough wood for the burnt offering, he set out for the place God had told him about. On the third day Abraham looked up and saw the place in the distance. He said to his servants, 'Stay here with the donkey while I and the boy go over there. We will worship and then we will come back to you.'"

"Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and placed it on his son Isaac, and he himself carried the fire and the knife. As the two of them went on together, Isaac spoke up and said to his father Abraham, 'Father?' 'Yes, my son?' Abraham replied. 'The fire and wood are here,' Isaac said, 'but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?' Abraham answered, 'God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.' And the two of them went on together."

"When they reached the place God had told them about, Abraham built an alter there and arranged the wood on it. He bound his son Isaac and laid him on top of the wood. Then he reached out his hand and took the knife to slay his son. But the angel of the Lord called out to him from heaven, 'Abraham! Abraham!' 'Here I am,' he replied. Do not lay a hand on the boy,' he said. 'Do not do anything to him....'"

"Then Abraham returned to his servants, and they set off together for Beersheba. And Abraham stayed in Beersheba."

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Wow, look at all the apparent contradictions and errors! An atheist's dream!

If the Bible has been edited throughout the years then certainly this passage would have been cleaned up. It was written down before Jesus was born, someone should have cleaned it up by now.

Let's go through the above passage and find all the "contradictions."

"Some time later God tested Abraham. He said to him, 'Abraham!' 'Here I am,' he replied. Then God said, 'Take your son, your only son, Isaac, whom you love, and goto the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains I will tell you about.'"

"Only son?" What about Ishmael? (1 contradiction)

"Early the next morning Abraham got up and saddled his donkey. He took with him two of his servants and his son Isaac. When he cut enough wood for the burnt offering, he set out for the place God had told him about. On the third day Abraham looked up and saw the place in the distance. He said to his servants, 'Stay here with the donkey while I and the boy go over there. We will worship and then we will come back to you.'"

"We will worship?" Did Abraham lie here? (1 error)

"Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and placed it on his son Isaac, and he himself carried the fire and the knife. As the two of them went on together, Isaac spoke up and said to his father Abraham, 'Father?' 'Yes, my son?' Abraham replied. 'The fire and wood are here,' Isaac said, 'but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?' Abraham answered, 'God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.' And the two of them went on together."

Another lie? (1 error)

"Then Abraham returned to his servants, and they set off together for Beersheba. And Abraham stayed in Beersheba."

This is a big one. Notice that there is no mention of Isaac returning. (1 error)

So we have a total of 3 errors and 1 contradiction is this short passage - right? Wrong. This passage has been deliberately and supernaturally modified to convey a supernatural message. Let's look at it again:

"Some time later God tested Abraham. He said to him, 'Abraham!' 'Here I am,' he replied. Then God said, 'Take your son, your only son, Isaac, whom you love, and goto the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains I will tell you about.'"

"Your only son" - where have we heard this before? We know that God has an "only son."

The region of Moriah. We know from verse 14 that Abraham later named the place "The Lord Will Provide." Guess what the Lord provided on that very spot, about 2000 years later.

"Early the next morning Abraham got up and saddled his donkey. He took with him two of his servants and his son Isaac. When he cut enough wood for the burnt offering, he set out for the place God had told him about. On the third day Abraham looked up and saw the place in the distance. He said to his servants, 'Stay here with the donkey while I and the boy go over there. We will worship and then we will come back to you.'"

"On the third day" is an interesting phrase. Also, it looks like Abraham knew he was acting out a future event when he said "we will come back to you."

"Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and placed it on his son Isaac, and he himself carried the fire and the knife. As the two of them went on together, Isaac spoke up and said to his father Abraham, 'Father?' 'Yes, my son?' Abraham replied. 'The fire and wood are here,' Isaac said, 'but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?' Abraham answered, 'God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.' And the two of them went on together."

Notice that Abraham places the wood ON his son. About 2000 years later another "only son" would carry the wood that would be a part of His sacrifice.

Also note that, in the Bible, "fire" stands for judgment and the "knife" stands for the Word of God.

"God himself will provide the lamb" but later in the story God provides a Ram. When he says "lamb," Abraham speaks of an event that would take place later when God would indeed provide the sacrificial lamb - He would provide his own son as the sacrificial lamb.

"When they reached the place God had told them about, Abraham built an alter there and arranged the wood on it. He bound his son Isaac and laid him on top of the wood. Then he reached out his hand and took the knife to slay his son. But the angel of the Lord called out to him from heaven, 'Abraham! Abraham!' 'Here I am,' he replied. Do not lay a hand on the boy,' he said. 'Do not do anything to him....'"

Isaac is bound to the wood because he allowed it. Jesus was bound to a cross in this very spot about 2000 years later to willingly die for OUR transgressions.

"Then Abraham returned to his servants, and they set off together for Beersheba. And Abraham stayed in Beersheba."

Where's Isaac? He doesn't show up again until Chapter 24 when an unnamed servant presents Isaac with his bride.

We know the servant's name from another place in the Bible. It is "Eliezer" which means "comforter." The Holy Spirit is also called "comforter" in the NT. 2000 years later a son would die, rise again and then leave the world, not to return until His bride is presented to Him. The Church (the group of all believers) is called "the bride of Christ" and when the Son shows up again, the Holy Spirit will present the Church to Him.

We thank Chuck Missler of Koinonia House for enlightening us on the above passage. One thing you need to understand when you are reading the scripture and you come across an apparent contradiction - the Holy Spirit may be trying to tell you something that goes deeper than a light reading of the text suggests.

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