Abraham is completely devoted to God. Before God even reveals himself to Abraham, he is aware that he is speaking to a god as the speaker establishes himself as an intelligent being, and “he has seen directly into Abram’s heart, for the promises that are made respond to Abram’s deepest longings” (Kass). God promises Abraham land and more important He makes the promise that He “will make [Abraham’s] name great” (Gen 12:2). This contrasts the people of Babel saying that they wanted to make a name for themselves. God blesses and protects Abraham, which establishes Abraham’s dependence on God. Additionally, despite having a beautiful wife, Sarah bares no children. However, God also grants him that desire by promising that Sarah will bear a son, named Isaac. He owes God everything he has, so when God calls him to offer his son “as a burnt offering” (Gen 22:2), he prepares to make the sacrifice. It is also possible that Abraham did it out of fear, as when the angel comes down to stop the sacrifice he says that he knows that Abraham fears God (Gen 22:13). This shows that although God is merciful and just, he is still all-powerful and there are aspects of him that humans should fear.
By asking Abraham to sacrifice his favorite son, God is testing Abraham’s obedience and love. Many times in the past, humans have disappointed God through their corruptness. God is hopeful for the good in Abraham but wants to see if he is truly loyal. When Abraham does as he is told without question, this allows God to trust him and afterwards justly bless him with a successful line as Abraham is a faithful follower.
Abraham is not necessarily lying in 22:5 and 22:8. Although Abraham intends to go through with the sacrifice, he has full faith in God. When he spoke to God in Genesis 18, Abraham believes that God deals justly with the earth and that He is merciful when they talk about the innocent versus the evil in the city of Sodom. Abraham trusts that God has a plan. So, he alleviates his language, but they are indeed going to worship God on the mountain although it is questionable if both will return in Gen 22:5 and Abraham does believe that God will see the sheep, although this could be a symbolism for the son as we see later in the Bible the lamb of God refer to Jesus, God’s son.
I think that Abraham is praiseworthy as he intended to go through with the sacrifice despite being blessed with a son at such a late age. His faith is a model for all of us; God wishes for all to be as loyal as Abraham is. God also is praiseworthy as he stops the sacrifice. This further proves that God is merciful and loves his creations. He did not intend to hurt the boy, but was just testing Abraham. After the ritual, God blessed Abraham with abundance and success, only showing more reason to praise God.
Emma Danes's Theology Blog 
Emma, I love the way that you incorporated a lot of text from the outside sources into your response – you make a lot of really strong points. I totally agree with you upon the fact that, time and again, humans have disappointed God, and he is testing Abraham to see if he will be different, someone that he can trust. My question is, do you think that Abraham had faith that God would not make him actually sacrifice his son, or did he have faith that, once he did sacrifice his son, God would have something else in store for him? Would he have been mad at God and lost faith in Him if God had made him follow through with the sacrifice?
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Emma, great reference to Kass — it shows that God’s command for Abraham is all the more demanding, considering He is demanding his most prized possession, Isaac. Isaac meant the world to Abraham. I also like what you said about God’s mercy, shown through his saving of Isaac. However, God’s mercy is often shown in mysterious ways, and, as Pagliarini has mentioned in class, death can sometimes be the most merciful act of God. If God had not sent an angel to save Isaac from Abraham’s sacrifice, do you think God would still be merciful were He to follow through in his command for Abraham to sacrifice Isaac, by preventing Abraham from idolizing Isaac, or making Isaac his “god”?
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I do not think God would have been merciful if He followed through with the act as would a true merciful God kill an innocent child just to test a man’s loyalty? And if God is doing it to prevent Abraham from making Isaac his “god”, this would suggest that God is jealous that Isaac would get Abraham’s praise.
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Emma,
You made a lot of great points in this blog post, my the most thoughtful of which appears to be your note on the test-like nature of God’s demand for Abraham to sacrifice Issac. As you claim, it is important for God to test Abraham’s devotion and loyalty to Him before blessing him with a successful line. This is likely in order to avoid calamities such as those which we witnessed earlier in Genesis. Your point about Abraham carrying out God’s orders and almost killing his own son out of fear of God is a very interesting notion, and one I will have to think more about. However, upon first interpretation, it seems as though this following of God’s orders is based in respect, trust, and piety in God rather than fear, which is more a negative sentiment than a positive one. Great job overall.
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Emma,
I appreciate your thoughtfulness in this post. I do believe that we are intended to view Abraham as a model. His actions are praiseworthy in that they are the ultimate sacrifice that can be made to God. I also found it compelling that you referred to the sheep on the mountain as symbolism for later in the Bible when God refers to the “Lamb of God” as Jesus. That was a great connection and beautifully drawn out.
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