Thursday, October 2, 2008

the storyline of scripture, pt. 6b (or Why Abraham Almost Killed Isaac)

“God ordered Abraham to make a burnt offering of his longed-for son. Abraham built an altar, put firewood upon it, and trussed Isaac up on top of the wood. His murdering knife was already in his hand when an angel dramatically intervened with the news of a last-minute change of plan: God was only joking after all, ‘tempting’ Abraham, and testing his faith. A modern moralist cannot help but wonder how a child could ever recover from such a psychological trauma. By the standards of modern morality, this disgraceful story is an example simultaneously of child abuse, bullying in two asymmetrical power relationships, and the first recorded use of the Nuremberg defence: ‘I was only obeying orders.’ Yet the legend is one of the foundational myths of all three monotheistic religions.”
- Richard Dawkins in The God Delusion


“By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises was in the act of offering up his only son, of whom it was said, ‘Through Isaac shall your offspring be named.’ He considered that God was able even to raise him from the dead.”
- Hebrews 11:17-19


Redemption in the storyline of Scripture first shows up immediately after the Fall. In the Garden of Eden Yahweh told Satan and Adam and Eve that one would come who would deliver the human race. There was a promised seed/offspring who would crush the head of the enemy (Genesis 3:15). Redemption was promised and redemption would come through a man born from a woman.

What did the devil do in response? He eliminated the first two candidates to be the seed. Abel was murdered and Cain was cursed. (Genesis 4)

As the human race grew the serpent of old sent his minions to corrupt the flesh of man (Genesis 6:1-4). If man no longer existed as man, but only as Nephilim, then the promised seed could not come. Yet men looked for the deliverer to come. Lamech believed his son, Noah, was the promised seed (Genesis 5:28-29). But Noah wasn’t. He was, however, the means by which man was delivered from the Flood. The Flood was judgment, but it was also a means of preserving man for redemption. God bound the demons that went after the flesh of man to corrupt it. They are now kept “in eternal chains under gloomy darkness” in Tartarus where they wait for the judgment reserved for them in the final day (1 Peter 3:19-20; 2 Peter 2:4; Jude 6-7).

As you continue through the Old Testament you see that the stories continues in much the same way. Just as soon as God reveals a little more information about the Promised Seed who would redeem, we see that the devil tries to prevent such things:
So, He will come from Abraham through Sarah? Well, then may Abraham sleep with Hagar.

He will come through Abraham through Sarah in the next year? Then may Abimelech or Pharaoh get her pregnant in the next 6 months.

So, He will come through Isaac’s son Jacob? Then may Esau try to kill Jacob.

So, He will come through the people of Israel? Then may they be enslaved and murdered by Pharaoh.

If they are delivered from Egypt and declared to be the chosen people through whom redemption is to come, then may they turn from Yahweh and worship the calf.

If He is to come in the Promised Land then may the people be too afraid to enter in.

If He is to come through David, then may David be a murderer and an adulterer deserving of the death penalty.

If He is to be the Son of David then may David’s sons fight and kill one another.

If He is to come through Solomon, but is to belong to the nation of Israel, then may Solomon seek after hundreds of women from foreign nations.

If He is to come through Israel and the nation of Judah, may they be annihilated by foreign powers and assimilated into foreign peoples.

And on, and on, and on... The devil has sought to prevent the promised seed from coming. Yet, the Lord always delivered. And as Yahweh continued to deliver man he revealed more and more about what the One who was to come would look like. If the people would trust God in faith that He would one day deliver them, they were saved. God delayed judgment on those who trusted Him until Christ came.

This is why the Spirit has said through Paul, “But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it – the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe... This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus” (Roman 3:21-26)

When reading the Old Testament it is important to see that God was preparing the way for Christ. Everything that happened in the Old Testament had to happen for Christ to come (Ephesians 1:10). Everything that happened in the Old Testament was to teach us about what sort of redemption was coming in Christ (John 1:45; Luke 24:25-27,44). In the OT redemption through Christ is promised, foretold, and foreshadowed through words, people, and events. Understanding this is a big step in understanding the Old Testament and its place in the storyline of Scripture.

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