Village Shepherd

If any of us ever stopped to really consider the implications and responsibilities of being a parent, we would probably never have children. But fortunately, since we're mostly young ourselves when our children are born, we have no idea of what lies ahead and blithely assume that we'll be excellent parents, that our children will be perfect and that everything will be fine.

It's only later that we begin to realise that parenthood isn't that easy. Children have a habit of being themselves, which may be very different from the way we want them to be. This becomes most apparent during the teenage years, when children begin to really assert their independence. Some youngsters rebel so much that they seem to become the opposite of the way their parents would like them to be and some drift into drugs and sex and fast cars and alcohol, perhaps in an attempt to find themselves.

It's only too easy to look at a young person's background and assume that they are the awful way they are because of the awful way in which they've been brought up. But life is rarely quite that simple and in desperately trying to avoid the mistakes their parents made, all parents make different mistakes, but mistakes which might nonetheless have serious consequences. The only certain thing is that no parents get it right. Some may be better than others at bringing up children, but no parents are perfect, as their offspring are usually very quick to point out. We can only hope and pray that our mistakes won't irreparably damage our children.

Spare a thought then, for Old Testament character Isaac. His father Abraham took him on an expedition to worship God by means of a sacrifice. The Old Testament sacrificial system was a way of communication with God which covered every eventuality such as praise, thanksgiving, forgiveness for sins, or ritual cleansing. There were all sorts of different types of sacrifice, such as burnt offerings, peace offerings and blood offerings.

At first sight today's story from Genesis sounds like an admirable father-son bonding expedition, a sort of camping trip into the hills. Perhaps that's exactly how Isaac viewed the outing and perhaps he was excited and happy to be spending a few days alone with his father away from home.

Isaac didn't complain when he had to carry the wood for the fire but merely pointed out the obvious, as children have an irritating habit of doing. "We have the wood and the means to make fire," he said, "but where's the lamb?" Clearly he had no idea what was about to happen, and his father lacked the courage to tell him. Although his words turned out eventually to be true, Abraham in fact lied to his son or at least hid the truth from him. "God will provide the lamb," Abraham said.

When they came to the place that God had shown him, Abraham built an altar there and laid the wood in order. Did he speak to his son during this time? Did he ask Isaac to help him? Did he at any point warn Isaac of what was about to happen to him? The next thing we're told is that Abraham bound his son Isaac, and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. Then Abraham reached out his hand and took the knife to kill his son.

Did Isaac scream? Did he beg for mercy? Did he even understand what was about to happen to him or was he in such shock that he couldn't think straight? And what about Abraham? Was he weeping as he raised the knife? Were tears streaming down his face? Was his hand steady or shaking so much that he could barely hold the knife?

At the last minute Abraham was unable to sacrifice his son, even for God. We're told that the angel of the Lord called to him from heaven, and said, "Do not lay your hand on the boy or do anything to him; for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me." And fortuitously, at that very moment, Abraham looked up and saw a ram, caught in a thicket by its horns.

Did Abraham actually hear a voice or was that written into the story afterwards? Perhaps he looked up and saw the ram and immediately interpreted such an amazing and happy coincidence as a message from God, as indeed it was. God so very often speaks to us even today in terms of coincidences.

Whatever the reason, the outcome was overwhelmingly important for all time, because it made clear once and for all that unlike the religions of local tribes all around, child sacrifice was not acceptable in the Israelite religion. Although the first fruits of everything, including the human family, were to be dedicated to God, this didn't mean that they had to be killed. Much later Hannah dedicated her first born son Samuel to the Lord, and Mary and Joseph dedicated their son Jesus to the Lord when he was just a few weeks old.

But what of Isaac? Did he ever get over that traumatic event or did it hound him for the rest of his life? Was he ever able to trust his father again? We hear less about Isaac than about any of the other patriarchs. Is that because he was scarred for life by this terrible experience?

Perhaps the story is only finally ended in Jesus, for it could be said that God did sacrifice his only son, not for God but for human beings. So in a way, the story of Abraham and Isaac has come full circle. Two thousand or so years after the time of Abraham and Isaac, Jesus was sacrificed on a cross not at God's whim but at the whim of human beings. But that sacrifice ended happily too, for Jesus rose again so that through that sacrifice, death itself was defeated.

And perhaps that's a perfect end to the story of Abraham and Isaac.