I realized I never finished my thoughts on Sarah and Abraham. Whoops.
So as I was saying before (here and here), Sarah is rather opinionated. She isn't afraid to speak her mind and she definitely goes after whatever it is that she sets her sights on.
In Genesis 22, God tells Abraham to go sacrifice his son. Woah. Really?
The first thing that strikes me is that God even asked this. I did struggle with this for quite some time, when God pointed out that there is huge benefit in the story itself. It shows how God always provides for us. This is how we learn about who God is. Generally speaking, I guess sometimes we do go through things simply for another person. And that isn't really asking too much. It is a form of letting other know about God.
And as I have thought about this more - I guess God didn't ask more than what He was willing to give himself. You know - He did actually sacrifice His son so that the rest of us could live.
The second thing that really struck me was Abraham's willingness. There was no "YOU'VE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME!" mentality from him - just a simple "Your will be done". He didn't whine or complain at all. He didn't argue. He didn't even initially refuse and come around. He just said "Sure thing!" And this was the son Abraham had waited for so very long. Waiting increases desire (in general). You can't tell me this wasn't a wanted kid.
I'm sure it was because Abraham so thoroughly an unequivocally trusted God. He knew that God had a master plan and that God had made a promise.
The last thing that I spent a lot of time thinking about - did Abraham tell Sarah? What would her reaction have been? I am leaning towards Abraham not telling her. I think Sarah would have flipped a lid and the departure would have been more dramatic. Abraham also didn't tell those that were going on the trip with him. I think this is another good indication he probably didn't tell Sarah.
I actually think that because of the previous point (Abraham's faith), it probably didn't cross his mind that he needed to tell her. He knew it would work out and it was no big whoop.
Abraham is amazing. His faith is amazing. It is no wonder God chose him and his descendants to teach everyone else about God. It came naturally to him. (Hey, there was no theology then! He figured it all out on his own!)
And this concludes my study of Abraham and Sarah. It was actually kind fun writing it all down and it helped me organize my own thoughts on some of it. I might just do it again sometime!
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