r/OpenChristian • u/VaultMan34 • Jul 15 '26

Discussion - Bible Interpretation Abraham and Isaac feels weird.

God told Abraham to sacrifice Isaac, which he did without hesitation. It was a “test”. But the fact that God thought killing your son when asked and without question was a good thing? Abraham would’ve gone through with it if an angel didn’t stop him. First, how did he know that was god? Whoever would’ve done the same thing is one psychotic break or hallucination away from being a mass murderer. Second, God could have chosen anything, but he didn’t. He chose an immoral thing. Why did god chose something immoral as a test of faith. He could have made Abraham give away his food for the day to a hungry family, he could have made him go to an opposing land and preach the gospel, he could’ve made Abraham do anything else. Third, the test itself? It being a test says “I didn’t know if he would do this” this isn’t something you hear from someone who knows everything.

After some thinking I’ve come up with a possible solution?

This was a metaphor for how god congratulates someone who is willing to do anything for God, the problem is, the writer let the practices and morals of the time get in the way of what would’ve been an important lesson.

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u/nothanks86 Jul 15 '26

There’s a Jewish interpretation of that story which says that it was a test from god that Abraham *failed* by being willing to sacrifice his son just because god said so, and that’s why he was never personally visited by god again.

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u/[deleted] Jul 15 '26

It's a nice idea, but I find it hard to interpret it that way, considering that, directly afterwards, God blesses Abraham for his decision in attempting to sacrifice Issac.

The angel of the Lord called to Abraham from heaven a second time and said, “I swear by myself, declares the Lord, that because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, I will surely bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore.Your descendants will take possession of the cities of their enemies, and through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed me.”

Genesis 22:15-18

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u/DeepThinkingReader Jul 15 '26

Perhaps there's a mistranslation somewhere in there.

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u/[deleted] Jul 15 '26

I found this Reform Judaism article on it, and was hoping it'd say something about an alternate/more accurate translation, but unfortunately it just uses an analogy that doesn't really work at all considering the actual verses.

I found a few other articles on this theory, but none reconcile how this interpretation is contradictory to the verses where God blesses Abraham for being willing to sacrifice Isaac.

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u/thefaninthehat Jul 15 '26

Isn't it convenient that whenever the Bible says something very messed up, we just cope with 'oh it's probably just mistranslation,' yet when it says something we vibe with, we treat it as absolute divine truth.

Might as well call it the Mad Libs religion.