God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son. Genesis 22:8 (NIV)
At Work Within Me – The Sacrifice and Sons Series – Part 5
Go to PART 1 | PART 2 | PART 3 | PART 4 | PART 5 | PART 6
In ancient Hebrew, the word for sacrifice is “korban.” It suggests a loss of something or a giving up of something, and although that is certainly a part of the ritual of sacrifice, it’s not at all the literal meaning of the Hebrew word. The word Korban comes from the word Karev, which means “to draw near,” and tells us that the primary purpose of sacrifice: to draw near to the divine.
Sacrifice isn’t required to make God happy, or to pay a debt, or to turn away wrath, or to gain pride. We sacrifice some things to grow closer to other things.
Now, the Divine is inclusive, gracious, loving. He commands us to love one another, and ourselves as we love him. The Divine has threaded this trinitarian connective idea into scripture from the very beginning. Think Adam and Eve, Cain and Abel… and now Abraham and Isaac. We are, in a way, each other's keepers.
When God asked Abraham to sacrifice his son, it was not a new idea in that day and age that to be appeased, a God would require a great sacrifice. It happened all the time. People delivered up their first born child hoping to gain favor with the Gods, which would manifest in provision, protection, and prosperity.
Perhaps not much has changed.
Perhaps we are still caught in the cycle of offering up that which has been entrusted to us hoping that that act will gain us more personal protection, freedom, rights, and fortune. Perhaps we are quick to devalue life and even quicker to hoard our own.
Although this story is ancient, its message is as relevant as ever. We have been entrusted with each other… are we busy walking others to the altar of sacrifice? Or are we seeking freedom for those we share the planet with?
Abraham seemed to willingly walk his son Isaac to the altar. It seemed that he was willing to kill his son to prove his faithfulness to God. But something else was going on, and I think Abraham and Isaac were in on the plot twist.
An intervention took place, which made this story different from every other child sacrifice story heard and seen at the time:
God stopped proceedings. He put an end to it. He called out to Abraham, and Abraham replied:
“Here I am.”
We did a whole series on the Hebrew word for “Here I am,” Hineni, back in October. It’s a word that has changed my life. “Here I am” isn’t a geographical indication, it’s an offering of presence. Here I am, at this moment, witnessing this exchange, and giving it my full attention. Aware, awake, alive, to the Divine at work within me, around me and through me. This phrase, Hineni, was used at transformational moments. Abraham's use of it here tells us that something significant and life-changing was happening.
Unlike the other Gods worshipped at Abraham's time, this God, Yahweh, was a God who provided, rather than demanded. He was a God who gave, rather than a God who took first-born children. He was a God of blessing, rather than a God of cursing. Relational, gracious, inclusive. A God who would sacrifice his deity to come close to those he loved.
As the drama unfolded, Abraham raised his arm, ready to kill his son, when God called out and stopped him. He looked up and saw a ram in the bushes.
If only we could be present enough to spot the difference between sacrifice and atrocity.
Go to Part 6 – There Is Always An Alternative »
Written by Lizzy Milani
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