(c) 2014 C. B. Park, all rights reserved
The
story of Abraham’s near sacrifice of Isaac brings up raw emotion any time it is
read and discussed. There are so many complications! The first is the utter
conflict of this story with God’s promise to Abraham that he would be the
father of nations. The second is that
God would actually ask Abraham to do something so heinous. The third, that
Abraham would actually go about the doing of it without question. Add into this the fact that this story is
told to our Muslim friends, albeit with Ishmael facing the knife, means that
all of the children of Abraham need to wrestle with the meaning of this tale of
terror.
I would
love simply to fall back on one rabbinic interpretation that this story is a
story of Abraham’s failure. The
interpretation hinges on Abraham’s past experiences with God where he argues
over Sodom’s destruction. Why would
Abraham argue with Yahweh over complete strangers and not argue over his
progeny? To my chagrin, the Jewish Study Bible upends this interpretation. There, the text notes point out that Abraham’s
earlier arguments with God are based on forensics – what past actions God has
done should figure into God’s decision over Sodom.
The
story about Isaac is about sacrifice…and only the most perfect, most
unblemished, first-fruits of the earth or the womb are to be offered to God.
And, good heavens, that makes this whole situation even worse.
This
discovery left me looking for loopholes, in the truest W.C. Fields’ deathbed
fashion, because I really don’t want to stay in this place. “Well,” I said to myself, “if this story is
in the Quran, maybe it’s more like the creation story – something that is built
into every culture to prove a point. I
wonder where else this type of mythology could be found.” Hello Internet.
Lo, and
behold, there is a Greek myth that is related to this near-sacrifice
story. It’s not the same, but there’s
enough similarity to make you say “hmmmm.” Before Jason and the Argonauts was a
lad named Phrixus.
King Athamas lived in Boeotia and his
wife Queen Nephele. Athamas, who had grown tired of his bride decided to take
for himself another. Though Nephele was still very much alive, the amorous king
chose to wed Ino, a daughter of King Cadmus of Thebes. Ino at once came to live
in the palace and in due time bore her husband two children. This posed a great
problem for the king's new consort. Athamas already had two children by his
first wife; a daughter named Helle and a son named Phrixus.
Phrixus was the eldest of the king's
two boys and considered to be next in line to inherit the throne. Ino knew she
needed to dispose of Phrixus to make way for her own son to become king of
Boeotia.
Afraid to openly oppose the children
of Nephele, Ino devised a plan that would guarantee the death of Phrixus
without drawing any attention to herself. She secretly entered the granary and
scorched all the seeds that had been set aside for the next sowing. This was to
prevent the upcoming season's crops from sprouting and thereby threaten the
city with starvation. Just as Ino hoped, Athamas dispatched a group of couriers
to seek advice from the Delphic Oracle. While the messsengers were away, Ino
hid herself among the dark corriders of the palace and awaited their return.
She then bribed the men, asking them to deceive the king with a false story.
Instead of the true words of the priestess they were instructed to recite a
script which Ino had written herself.
The
messengers appeared before the desperate king and revealed their tale of
deception. Athamas was told the corn would not grow again unless his son
Phrixus was offered as a sacrifice.At first
the sorrowful king resisted, but after much pressure from the townspeople, he
decided he had no other choice but to obey the Oracle. Reluctantly, Athamas led
Phrixus to the altar of Zeus and prepared him for the ritual. Just before the
fatal moment a beautiful ram with fleece of gold appeared in the sky. Phrixus
climbed upon his back and the glorious beast flew towards the northeast, never
to be seen in Boeotia again. Phrixus made it safely to Aea, where he sacrificed
the ram to Zeus in a grove sacred to the god Ares, and presented the fleece to
King Aeetes as a gift. The king fastens the fleece to a tree for good luck. (From http://www.medeaslair.net/phrixus.html)
There’s
more, but I’m going to stop here. There are differences – the king argues, it’s
the stepmother who is the mean one, not the mother. But the similarities – deceipt, the ram, the tree,
the escape leading to the building of kingdoms.
Not only does this little tale prefigure Abraham, Isaac, Ishmael, Sarah
and Hagar, it continues with Rebecca and on and on and on.
So, what
do I believe about all of this?
Obviously,
there’s nothing new under the sun.
People have been treating each other badly since the beginning of
time. Theologically, though, I think
there is much to ponder. I believe that
the story of the near-sacrifice of Isaac tells us that God is God and we are
not; that God’s justice and fairness are not ours to define. And, folks, that’s just scary. God expects us to offer our very
best…something pure and unspotted…not something left over after we’re done with
it. God also expects that this offering will most likely grieve us at some
level.
I
believe that offerings may be sacrificial but that sacrifice is not synonymous
with execution. We need to carefully discern whether or not the call to
sacrifice is one of offering or one that requires someone to die – physically
or metaphorically. I think about how
driven we all are in our lives. That
drive may be internal or external, but often we are driven to the point where our
successes require the sacrifice of family or relationships. We need to discern
whether or not this is divine or something masquerading as divine. Remember
the destruction of human lives at the hands of Jim Jones in Guyana or David
Koresh in Waco, Texas, and realize the danger of believing someone who says
they and only they have heard the word of God or that they or only they have
all the answers.
I
believe that God allows us to fail in order to teach us something. We make light of those “gosh-darn learning
experiences” – you know, the times when we find ourselves at the mercy of our
own bad choices or the victim of someone else’s. However, if we’re honest with
ourselves and give ourselves enough time to grieve, forgive, and look back,
we’ll admit that it is in the most difficult times that give us wisdom and help
us experience God’s presence.
Therefore,
I think that what I need to do with this is to discern carefully what God is
asking me to offer and remember that discernment requires community. I invite
you to do the same. I know that this may
require some personal sacrifice, but I have no need to be afraid. My office is full of sheep and other stuffed
animals.
Agnus
Day, on the other hand, should be very afraid …... Amen.
(c) 2014 C. B. Park, all rights reserved
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