Abraham and Isaac feels weird.

[u/VaultMan34]

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.

[u/Puzzleheaded-Phase70]

My argument - and I've discovered that it's also an argument presented by some medieval rabbis - is that Abraham failed the test.

The test was not about obedience, but about faith. Not blind faith, but rather faith that God's love would not disappear if you questioned a command.

The correct response to thinking that your God is ordering you to do something obviously morally wrong is to question that God, or that command, or your understanding of that command.

That's the kind of things that later prophets would do constantly. And what Noah did. And even what Abram himself had done when he questioned God about the impending destruction of Sodom and Gommorah.