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Letter of the Day | Abrahams’ misunderstanding of Abraham’s God

Published:Tuesday | July 7, 2020 | 12:14 AM

THE EDITOR, Madam:

Dr Michael Abrahams’ comments in his article of July 6 are understandable when one assesses the biblical Abraham’s actions, using today’s context. But the context of Abraham’s actions was vastly different, and Bible believers today understand that.

No normal Bible believer today would use Abraham’s experience, in seeking to carry out God’s instruction to him regarding offering up his son Isaac, as a basis for trying to kill anyone. The teaching of Bible Christianity, as Jesus taught and demonstrated them, is clear – love your neighbour as you love yourself.

Regarding Abraham’s experience, the following context should be noted: the offering of human sacrifices was commonplace at the time – a norm of the culture. The God of Abraham hated it. This God was the only God who did not seem to require that kind of appeasement. But the fact that other people did it and Abraham would not, reasonably raise the question as to whether Abraham was less committed to his God, the Creator, than others were to their (false) gods. God’s test to Abraham demonstrated that this was not the case.

Further, there was more to the matter. God had promised Abraham that through Isaac, He would make Abraham’s descendants as numerous as the sands of the sea. Abraham knew that even if Isaac died, God, being true to His promise, would raise Isaac from the dead. And there was still more: God would have to bear seeing His own Son – His only begotten Son – killed by wicked hands, motivated by Satan, the god of this world, so that human beings might be able to see Satan exposed and be converted away from Satan and his ways.

God wanted to give Abraham a glimpse of the sacrifice that God would have to make, on that very same mount, years later, in order to rescue humanity from wicked ways; although God, being the life-giver, would raise His Son from the dead.

To those who saw the risen Christ and have testified of Him, this was no fairy tale – they saw Him risen. To those of us who have accepted their eyewitness testimony, and have embraced a life of goodness, service and love – in some instances, at much personal sacrifice, and even death – we are assured that the same life-giver who raised Jesus from the dead will give Him the power to raise us, at the Second Coming of Christ.

And those who follow the prophesies and see them coming to pass, see the signs and know that it is true, and that Christ’s coming is near.

MOSES MIGHTY