# 27 - Abraham Sacrifices Isaac - In this episode of The Chosen People with Yael Eckstein, Abraham faces the ultimate challenge of faith as he is asked by God to sacrifice his beloved son, Isaac. This episode explores the tension between obedience and love, revealing how Abraham's unwavering trust in God's plan becomes a profound lesson in faith and divine provision.
Episode 27 of The Chosen People with Yael Eckstein is inspired by the Book of Genesis.
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For more information about Yael Eckstein and IFCJ visit https://www.ifcj.org/
Today's opening prayer is inspired by Hebrews 11:1, “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”
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Show Notes:
(02:25) Intro with Yael Eckstein
(04:07) Abraham Sacrifices Isaac - Cinematic Retelling
(29:54) Reflection with Yael Eckstein
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Speaker 1: Previously on the chosen people.
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Speaker 2: Can you count the stars, Abram.
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Speaker 1: Abram shook his head uncertain.
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Speaker 2: You cannot, for there are too many. It is impossible.
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Speaker 2: It is to be the same with your offspring. The
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Speaker 2: great nation I shall make through your air would be
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Speaker 2: as innumerable as the stars in the night sky.
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Speaker 3: And they can't help it. You're never going to believe it.
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Speaker 3: It's finally happened. God's promised to us.
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Speaker 4: With child.
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Speaker 3: You're going to be a father.
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Speaker 4: Sarah has given you a son, Isaac Master. The boy's
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Speaker 4: name is Isaac.
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Speaker 1: They laughed until tears streamed down their faces. Everyone in
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Speaker 1: the room began to harmonize with them. Years of pent
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Speaker 1: up tension from yearning for a child had finally released, ironically,
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Speaker 1: just like the babies.
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Speaker 4: It is a miracle.
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Speaker 3: It is our God, It truly is, Abraham. You have
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Speaker 3: walked with our God for a long time and grown
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Speaker 3: accustomed to his voice. I have always wondered how you
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Speaker 3: sustained your faith all these years, waiting for the impossible.
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Speaker 3: But now I hear his voice too.
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Speaker 5: I hear his voice in the cries of our son
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Speaker 5: here and last, and I hear it in all our laughter.
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Speaker 5: God made me laugh when I first learned of his
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Speaker 5: intentions for my life. But now everyone will laugh with me.
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Speaker 6: Blessed be April by God Most High, creator of heaven
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Speaker 6: and earth. In Him, you and your great nation have
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Speaker 6: a protector and provider.
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Speaker 1: Abram was pleased to know that he had done right
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Speaker 1: by his God and that his reward would be something
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Speaker 1: akin to a legacy, enduring and everlasting, just as the
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Speaker 1: God Most High had promised him.
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Speaker 7: Poised in trembling hands, a father's heart aches from an
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Speaker 7: impossible command, shallo, my friends from here in the Holy Land,
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Speaker 7: Amya l. Eckstein with the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews.
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Speaker 7: Welcome to the Chosen People. Each week we'll hear dramatic
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Speaker 7: stories inspired by the Bible, stories filled with timeless lessons
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Speaker 7: of faith, love, and the meaning of life. Through Israel's story,
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Speaker 7: we'll find this truth that we are all chosen for
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Speaker 7: some thing great. If you've been listening along for a
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Speaker 7: while now, first of all, thank you, as we say
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Speaker 7: in Hebrew Todiraba, passion and heart has been put into
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Speaker 7: this project, and we're only getting started.
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Speaker 8: If you've been.
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Speaker 7: Inspired, entertained, encouraged, and if you've been enjoying it. We
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Speaker 7: would just love it if you shared your thoughts in
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Speaker 7: a review. I love to read them and see what
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Speaker 7: you're thinking and any feedback you have, and I can't
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Speaker 7: wait to hear from you.
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Speaker 8: Now.
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Speaker 7: Let's begin in the cool desert night, under a sky
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Speaker 7: spangled with stars. The story unfolds a tale of faith
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Speaker 7: and fear, of pesting, and trust of obedience of the
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Speaker 7: unknown Abraham, the father of nations. Here's the voice of
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Speaker 7: God calling him to an unthinkable task.
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Speaker 8: What does it mean to be tested by God? Come?
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Speaker 7: Let's delve into this profound and perplexing story inspired by
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Speaker 7: Genesis twenty two. Let's walk alongside Abraham up the mountain
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Speaker 7: to a place where God's will and the human heart collide.
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Speaker 1: Abraham lifted the water skin with care, tilting it gently
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Speaker 1: to pour its precious contents onto the base of the
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Speaker 1: tamarisk tree. The seedling had been planted after the covenant
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Speaker 1: between him and Abimelek had been sealed, a symbol of
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Speaker 1: peace in Beersheba. Each day since Abraham had made the
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Speaker 1: solemn pilgrimage to this spot, watering the young tree, the
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Speaker 1: parched earth drank eagerly. The water seeping down to the
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Speaker 1: tender roots below. This ritual had replaced his legendary walks
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Speaker 1: along the borders of his lands, a new duty that
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Speaker 1: brought him solace and reminded him of the steadfastness of
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Speaker 1: his God and the covenant they had forged. As Abraham
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Speaker 1: turned to leave, he felt the familiar sa stillness envelop him,
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Speaker 1: the world around him falling silent. The voice of his
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Speaker 1: God shattered.
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Speaker 2: The quiet Abraham.
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Speaker 1: The sound of his name spoken with such authority startled Abraham.
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Speaker 1: The formal address demanded his immediate response, and he answered
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Speaker 1: without hesitation. He had felt the presence of his God
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Speaker 1: each day, yet this call was different, as summons with
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Speaker 1: a weighty purpose.
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Speaker 2: Here I am listen.
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Speaker 9: Carefully, take your son, your only son, Isaac, whom you love.
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Speaker 9: Go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there
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Speaker 9: as a burnt offering on one of the mountains.
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Speaker 1: Abraham stood as if turned to stone, the words reverberating
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Speaker 1: through him. The stillness lifted, leaving him alone with his
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Speaker 1: tumultuous thoughts. His God was asking for Isaac, the son
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Speaker 1: of the Promise, the child he had waited for so long,
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Speaker 1: the one for whom he had sacrificed and journeyed far
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Speaker 1: from his homeland. How could he reconcile this command with
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Speaker 1: the promises his God had made?
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Speaker 10: What's this terrible thing you've asked me to do? To
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Speaker 10: give up the very promise I've been waiting for for
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Speaker 10: for a quarter century. You're the one who has affirmed
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Speaker 10: it time and time again, And now that's it. What
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Speaker 10: happened to the seed, the great nation, the blessing?
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Speaker 1: What Abraham's words seemed to fall to the earth. There
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Speaker 1: was no response from heaven, just a gnawing, foreboding silence.
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Speaker 4: Not even a.
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Speaker 1: Breeze graced his ears. Abraham had left everything, endured hardships,
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Speaker 1: and even sent away his first son, Ishmael, all for
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Speaker 1: this promise, and now his God demanded Isaac as a sacrifice.
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Speaker 1: The command was clear, but the purpose was shrouded in mystery.
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Speaker 1: Abraham's heart ached as he recalled the pain of parting
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Speaker 1: with Ishmael, a wound that had barely begun to heal.
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Speaker 1: How could he bear to lose Isaac, the son who
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Speaker 1: was to fulfill God's promise.
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Speaker 2: Of a great nation.
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Speaker 1: His mind was a tangled web of anguish and faith.
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Speaker 1: Yet he knew the faithfulness of his God. Every promise
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Speaker 1: had been kept, every word fulfilled, even when it seemed impossible.
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Speaker 1: Abraham grappled with the enormity of the command, the clash
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Speaker 1: between his love for his son and his unwavering faith.
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Speaker 10: If you require this, there must be a purpose, a
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Speaker 10: plan beyond my understanding.
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Speaker 1: Doubt and dread gnawed at him, but his result hardened.
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Speaker 1: He had to trust to obey, even when it defied
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Speaker 1: all reason. He supposed that his God could do miraculous things.
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Speaker 1: He had wrought plagues and brought victory. He had even
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Speaker 1: brought Sarah's barren womb back to life. Perhaps he would
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Speaker 1: do the same with Isaac. In his conflicted heart, he
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Speaker 1: relented his God could not be denied. The promise would
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Speaker 1: be fulfilled. Somehow. There had to be a way. There
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Speaker 1: had to be a plan, something he was not seeing.
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Speaker 1: He couldn't lose his nerve. He had to stay the course,
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Speaker 1: unlike all those other times before, those times when he
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Speaker 1: had deceived, or hid or taken matters into his own hands.
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Speaker 1: The land of Mariah lay a three day journey away.
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Speaker 1: He would need to prepare for this horrible task. He
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Speaker 1: would also need to decide what to say to us
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Speaker 1: Isaac and his wife. Abraham stopped in his tracks. Sarah
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Speaker 1: the child that had grown inside her very womb. He
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Speaker 1: was the answer to all of her deepest and most
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Speaker 1: desperate prayers. How could he possibly take that son away
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Speaker 1: from her? Going through with this act would cost more
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Speaker 1: than one life. Abraham would be responsible for the death
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Speaker 1: of his wife's faith, perhaps the death of their marriage
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Speaker 1: as well. Abraham cried out in his heart in torment
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Speaker 1: and fumbled for the comforting presence in the back of
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Speaker 1: his mind. This would be the ultimate test of his faith,
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Speaker 1: unlike anything he had experienced before. He reached out in
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Speaker 1: his groaning and longing for comfort, and was surprised to
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Speaker 1: find that he felt a distant, fluttering peace there in
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Speaker 1: the back of his mind, where the presence of his
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Speaker 1: God was often to be found. A simple question echoed
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Speaker 1: back to him for the source. Would he cling to
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Speaker 1: the sun he had been given or cling to the
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Speaker 1: word of his God. Abraham found his wife Sarah in
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Speaker 1: their tent, and he summoned all his courage As he braced.
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Speaker 2: To speak to her.
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Speaker 1: Abraham, she could immediately see that he was troubled. He
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Speaker 1: stamped down his fears and his doubts, and he held
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Speaker 1: fast to his flickering faith. He steadied himself and tried
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Speaker 1: to will his thoughts to the here and now.
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Speaker 2: I am here, Sarah, I.
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Speaker 3: My husband, you are beginning to scare me.
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Speaker 4: What is it?
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Speaker 10: I I was out of the sight in Beersheba, where
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Speaker 10: I planted the covenantry.
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Speaker 3: What happened?
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Speaker 2: Our God came to me.
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Speaker 10: He has asked something of me, of us. He asks
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Speaker 10: me to take our son Isaac to the land of
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Speaker 10: Moriah and off him there. He is to be a
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Speaker 10: burnt offering to our God.
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Speaker 3: What did you say?
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Speaker 10: I am to offer our son to our.
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Speaker 3: God, Our son Isaac. Yes, the one God promised to
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Speaker 3: us is to be slain. Yes, slain by your hand
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Speaker 3: his father?
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Speaker 4: Yes?
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Speaker 3: And you're sure you did not misinterpret? Were you drunk
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Speaker 3: or no?
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Speaker 10: His beaning was plain as day, just as plain as
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Speaker 10: the day he called me, Sarah. I know this is
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Speaker 10: difficult to understand. I don't claim to understand it at all, either,
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Speaker 10: But I sense this is a call I must answer.
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Speaker 4: Trial.
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Speaker 2: I must endure.
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Speaker 3: A trial that would end in execution, the death of
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Speaker 3: the very promise upon which our entire lives, Our entire
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Speaker 3: legacy stands.
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Speaker 10: I cannot believe I'm saying this aloud, but but yes,
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Speaker 10: you would murder our son.
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Speaker 11: I will do what our God asks of me.
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Speaker 3: Even this, you look him in the eye and drive
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Speaker 3: a blade into his throat like an animal. Abraham, listen
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Speaker 3: to yourself. We loved the gods of her long ago.
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Speaker 3: They were the ones who required sacrifices like this.
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Speaker 11: Perhaps there's something more to the plan we do not see.
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Speaker 11: It has yet to be revealed. But I must obey.
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Speaker 11: We must have faith.
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Speaker 3: You are going to do this thing. I see the
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Speaker 3: determination in your eyes, the single mindedness of your heart.
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Speaker 3: You know this act would devastate you, but you agree anyway.
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Speaker 3: You know it would kill me as well. But still
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Speaker 3: you come to tell me you didn't hide it or
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Speaker 3: sneak around me. But nor are you asking me or
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Speaker 3: seeking my counsel, Knowing full well, I would beg you
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Speaker 3: not to go, not to do this terrible thing. But
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Speaker 3: yet there you stand, resolved, unmoved.
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Speaker 4: They do not know.
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Speaker 12: How I will live with myself or what the future holds,
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Speaker 12: but I must be obedient to the call of today.
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Speaker 1: Abraham saw devastation in his wife's eyes. He could see
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Speaker 1: a great war of faith and understanding raging within Abraham's
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Speaker 1: sensed that this was as much a test of her
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Speaker 1: faith as it was one of his.
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Speaker 13: If you commit this act, I cannot accept you. If
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Speaker 13: you go to the mountain and sacrifice our son, it
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Speaker 13: will cost you your wife.
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Speaker 3: Are you willing to risk the hate of your family
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Speaker 3: for your God?
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Speaker 1: Abraham considered the weight of her words. He could see
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Speaker 1: his own consideration mirrored in her. He could see her
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Speaker 1: thoughts as if they were his own. How much was
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Speaker 1: Abraham's faith worth to him? What was he willing to
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Speaker 1: sacrifice to demonstrate his trust in his God? He knew
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Speaker 1: that his answer to both was of great consequence, more
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Speaker 1: than consequence, utterly imperative.
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Speaker 12: I am I trust that our Guard will provide and
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Speaker 12: hold true to his promise to us. I would ask
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Speaker 12: you to place your trust in our Guard as well.
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Speaker 12: It is with a humble heart I ask at all,
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Speaker 12: for I know it is you alone who can decide
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Speaker 12: how to place your trust.
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Speaker 1: Sarah inclined her head in answer. When she lifted her head,
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Speaker 1: he saw tears fill her eyes, and they stood like
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Speaker 1: that for some time, eye to eye, heart to heart.
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Speaker 1: But she did not beg him. She did not ask
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Speaker 1: him to not go and complete the task that had
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Speaker 1: been given to him. She turned her back to him.
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Speaker 1: Abraham watched her shoulders quiver. He stepped forward to comfort her,
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Speaker 1: but didn't. His embrace would only add to the confusion
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Speaker 1: and sorrow. Abraham rose early the next morning and prepared
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Speaker 1: for the jail. He arranged for two young servants to
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Speaker 1: accompany them to set and break camp and prepare meals.
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Speaker 1: He split wood for the offering and packed it on
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Speaker 1: the donkeys, remembering the sparse terrain around Mariah. Isaac met
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Speaker 1: him with an expectant smile at dawn, just as he
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Speaker 1: had told him.
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Speaker 4: Oh, good morning, father, I'm ready for our journey.
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Speaker 10: Good morning, my son.
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Speaker 2: Come help me with the.
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Speaker 4: Last of this wood.
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Speaker 1: Abraham watched Isaac's arms load the wood. They were thin,
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Speaker 1: but tight, and showing signs of growth from childhood to adolescence.
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Speaker 1: Abraham's chest tightened at the thought that Isaac may not
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Speaker 1: live to become a man. Abraham and the three set
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Speaker 1: out for the land of Mariah. On the third day.
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Speaker 1: Abraham recognized the terrain they neared the city of Salem,
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Speaker 1: where he had once met the mysterious King Melchisedek. Much
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Speaker 1: had changed in that meeting. As they approached a hilltop,
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Speaker 1: Abraham felt a stirring, a confirmation.
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Speaker 10: This was the place Di Dan came you all. This
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Speaker 10: is the place where my son and I will depart
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Speaker 10: from you. I will take the boy to worship on
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Speaker 10: that mount, then we'll come back to you. Stay with
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Speaker 10: the donkeys and prepare the camp.
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Speaker 1: Abraham unstrapped the wood from the back of one of
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Speaker 1: the donkeys.
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Speaker 10: Isaac, I will have you carry this wood for our offering.
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Speaker 10: It's too heavy for me to carry up to the mount.
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Speaker 4: Of course, Father, lay it on my back.
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Speaker 1: Abraham took the leather straps from the donkey and fastened
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Speaker 1: a makeshift back from the same donkey's pack. Abraham's stomach
00:17:48
Speaker 1: tightened as he brought out some spare rope and his
00:17:51
Speaker 1: hunting knife. He felt sick as he gripped the worn
00:17:54
Speaker 1: handle and stared at the sharp, jagged edges of the blade.
00:17:58
Speaker 1: His fingers remember the grip and the strength required to
00:18:02
Speaker 1: pierce flesh. His body remembered the violence wrought by this knife,
00:18:07
Speaker 1: but absent with the war cries and bloodlust of battle.
00:18:11
Speaker 1: His young son stood demurely before him. Waiting for him
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Speaker 1: to take his lead up the mount to their destination.
00:18:19
Speaker 1: Hands shaking, Abraham stowed the blade in the folds of
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Speaker 1: his robe. He couldn't bear to look at it and
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Speaker 1: be reminded of the task slated for it a moment longer.
00:18:30
Speaker 1: With his other hand, he fumbled for the flint buried
00:18:33
Speaker 1: in the pack on the still waiting donkey. Isaac doubled back,
00:18:37
Speaker 1: deftly found the flint and handed it to his father.
00:18:41
Speaker 1: His face was the picture of patience and expectance. Abraham's
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Speaker 1: heart throbbed. He knew his son loved him more than
00:18:49
Speaker 1: anything and would do anything he asked for them. Abraham
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Speaker 1: shoved that thought aside and gave him a tight smile
00:18:57
Speaker 1: before taking the lead, And so they began their ascent
00:19:01
Speaker 1: the Killer and the Innocent. Father and son hiked intense silence,
00:19:09
Speaker 1: traversing the rocky goat path cut into the hill, father
00:19:13
Speaker 1: lost in his thoughts, and son sensing his distress. Abraham
00:19:18
Speaker 1: did not trust himself to speak on their climb. Instead,
00:19:22
Speaker 1: he focused on placing one foot before the other, each
00:19:26
Speaker 1: step taking him closer to a moment that would surely
00:19:29
Speaker 1: alter the course of his life and legacy. Forever. Isaac
00:19:34
Speaker 1: could see they were nearing the top and began looking around.
00:19:38
Speaker 2: Father, Here I am, my son.
00:19:44
Speaker 1: Abraham could not help but recognize that he had given
00:19:46
Speaker 1: the same answer to his God only four days prior.
00:19:50
Speaker 1: Here I am. He had even uttered something similar to
00:19:53
Speaker 1: his wife. He found that if he thought too far
00:19:57
Speaker 1: ahead to the task at hand, he would become over whelmed.
00:20:01
Speaker 1: But he was here, he knew who he was and
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Speaker 1: what he was called to do. He would not be
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Speaker 1: overtaken with fear.
00:20:09
Speaker 4: I'm carrying the wood, and you have what you need
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Speaker 4: for the fire. But where's the lamb for the burnt offering?
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Speaker 1: Abraham swallowed. He found he could not bring himself to
00:20:20
Speaker 1: tell Isaac the truth about what or who would serve
00:20:23
Speaker 1: as the sacrifice for the burnt offering. Not yet, don't fear, Isaac.
00:20:30
Speaker 1: Abraham again paused, summoning his own strength, and encouraged his
00:20:34
Speaker 1: son with words meant for himself as well as Isaac.
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Speaker 10: Our God will provide them the lamb for the burnt offering.
00:20:44
Speaker 1: Isaac accepted his father's words without question. Isaac was a
00:20:49
Speaker 1: simple soul, trusting and unyielding an optimism. His mind was
00:20:54
Speaker 1: untainted by the deep gnawing questions that plagued more intelligent men.
00:20:59
Speaker 1: Abraham adored his son more than life itself. He would
00:21:04
Speaker 1: gladly lay himself at the altar if it meant his
00:21:07
Speaker 1: son would live. But God had not asked for the father.
00:21:11
Speaker 1: He asked for the son. They approached the summit of
00:21:15
Speaker 1: the hill. The charcoal clouds above them were thick and unruly.
00:21:20
Speaker 1: Abraham secretly hoped lightning would strike him down before he
00:21:24
Speaker 1: had a chance to complete his task. Abraham identified the
00:21:29
Speaker 1: place that served as their altar. They placed stones in
00:21:32
Speaker 1: an oval shape, building the firewek. Isaac played the wood
00:21:37
Speaker 1: for the pyre, then faced his father expectantly. Abraham toyed
00:21:42
Speaker 1: with the rope, his other hand gripping the knife.
00:21:46
Speaker 10: My son, Ay, I must ask something of you.
00:21:53
Speaker 4: Whatever you ask of me, father, I'll do.
00:21:55
Speaker 1: Abraham's hearts strained at the words that his son's face,
00:22:00
Speaker 1: so eager to please, so eager to do whatever he
00:22:04
Speaker 1: could to ease his father's clear discomfort.
00:22:12
Speaker 2: Lay down across the wood.
00:22:15
Speaker 1: Isaac blinked at the command. Abraham saw confusion flash across
00:22:20
Speaker 1: his face, but he quickly mastered it into determination. Isaac obeyed,
00:22:26
Speaker 1: Now hold your feet in the hands.
00:22:29
Speaker 10: Steady, I'm going to fasten the ropes.
00:22:33
Speaker 4: Again.
00:22:34
Speaker 1: Confusion mixed with alarm made their appearance on Isaac's face,
00:22:38
Speaker 1: but he held out his arms and legs to be secured.
00:22:41
Speaker 1: Abraham stood back from the scene of his son held
00:22:44
Speaker 1: in bondage and tied to the wood that would serve
00:22:47
Speaker 1: as their altar. His arms were outstretched and his head
00:22:50
Speaker 1: slumped uncomfortably to one side. Though he was almost fully grown,
00:22:55
Speaker 1: he looked small and vulnerable looking up at his father.
00:22:59
Speaker 1: What now for Abraham was astonished at his son's submission,
00:23:04
Speaker 1: his willingness to trust completely in the words of his father.
00:23:08
Speaker 1: The boy he loved so much had come to love
00:23:11
Speaker 1: his God and was willing to follow the faith of
00:23:13
Speaker 1: his father, even unto death. Onto the wood, the wood
00:23:18
Speaker 1: he had unwittingly and unknowingly carried. The notion gave him
00:23:23
Speaker 1: the courage he needed to advance on Isaac and draw
00:23:26
Speaker 1: his knife. Upon seeing the knife, terror flooded Isaac's face.
00:23:34
Speaker 1: He gaped up at Abraham standing above him. He pulled
00:23:38
Speaker 1: on his restraints, fear and instinct taking over Father.
00:23:43
Speaker 4: What are you doing? What? I busts?
00:23:46
Speaker 1: The sound of fear and betrayal in his son's voice
00:23:50
Speaker 1: was visceral and gut wrenching. It unlocked a torment in
00:23:54
Speaker 1: Abraham's soul he had never imagined was possible, but he
00:23:58
Speaker 1: had come this far. Thunder rolled in the distance, and
00:24:02
Speaker 1: the winds began to churn violently. Abraham dug deep within himself,
00:24:07
Speaker 1: desperately drawing out enough grit and determination to lift the blade.
00:24:12
Speaker 1: There was no turning back, no faltering. Lightning struck a
00:24:17
Speaker 1: mere mile away, illuminating the horror on Isaac's face. Abraham
00:24:21
Speaker 1: squeezed his eyes shut, unable to bear the sight of
00:24:25
Speaker 1: his son's terror. The thunder clapp'd again, and a chilled
00:24:29
Speaker 1: wind bit at Abraham's face. Tears rolled down his cheeks
00:24:33
Speaker 1: as he slowly, painfully lifted the blade high above his head. Legacy, destiny, dreams,
00:24:44
Speaker 1: the future. Isaac represented all those things. With one fell
00:24:50
Speaker 1: swoop of his blade. He would end it all, sacrifice
00:24:53
Speaker 1: it all for his God. Abraham poised to strike and
00:24:59
Speaker 1: shouted to the head Eavans. His voice billowed against the wind.
00:25:03
Speaker 1: He threw his hips back, cocked his arm, and began
00:25:07
Speaker 1: his descent into sorrow. Abraham, Abraham, the voice clapped alongside
00:25:14
Speaker 1: the thunder, Abraham dropped the blade immediately it fell to
00:25:18
Speaker 1: the ground with a clatter on the stones. Abraham shook uncontrollably.
00:25:24
Speaker 14: Here I am, here, here I am.
00:25:31
Speaker 4: Do not lay a hand on the boy or do
00:25:34
Speaker 4: anything to him. For now I know that you fear
00:25:38
Speaker 4: your God, since you have not withheld your only son
00:25:43
Speaker 4: from me.
00:25:44
Speaker 1: Abraham's eyes snapped open at that, and his eyes met Isaac's.
00:25:49
Speaker 1: He reached for his boy's face with trembling hands and
00:25:52
Speaker 1: kissed him. Isaac recoiled at first to his father's touch,
00:25:56
Speaker 1: but then relaxed himself. Relief flooded Abraham, and he quickly
00:26:00
Speaker 1: picked up his blade and cut his son's bonds. Isaac
00:26:04
Speaker 1: sat up slowly, without saying a word, and rubbed his wrists.
00:26:09
Speaker 1: His eyes were wide with shock. Isaac had heard the
00:26:12
Speaker 1: voice as well. Abraham sank to his knees, utterly spent,
00:26:18
Speaker 1: and sobbed. The voice of his God had faded, and
00:26:23
Speaker 1: Abraham began to hear the noises of the sparse wilderness
00:26:27
Speaker 1: begin to return. His senses narrowed in on a faint
00:26:31
Speaker 1: rustling that was coming over the ridge. He gathered his
00:26:34
Speaker 1: remaining strength, stood and took up his knife as he approached.
00:26:39
Speaker 1: The still bewildered Isaac stayed where he was on the
00:26:42
Speaker 1: locks and watched his father. Abraham palmed the handle of
00:26:46
Speaker 1: the knife. As he neared the edge of the hilltop,
00:26:48
Speaker 1: a ram was struggling to free itself from the dense
00:26:52
Speaker 1: thicket of shrubs. Its great horns were tangled in the
00:26:55
Speaker 1: gnarled branches, fixing it in place. Abraham nearly cried out
00:27:00
Speaker 1: in jubilation. This was not quite the lamb his son
00:27:03
Speaker 1: had inquired about, but this substitution would do. Abraham swiftly
00:27:08
Speaker 1: made the kill, grabbing the ram by the back of
00:27:11
Speaker 1: the foot to steady it to slit its throat. He
00:27:14
Speaker 1: called Isaac down to where the ram now lay dead,
00:27:17
Speaker 1: and the two of them carried it to the altar,
00:27:19
Speaker 1: lit a fire, and offered it to their God. Abraham
00:27:23
Speaker 1: ran a sooty and bloodied hand over his face as
00:27:27
Speaker 1: he could no longer contain the tears of relief that
00:27:30
Speaker 1: now freely flowed from his eyes. He pulled an equally
00:27:34
Speaker 1: relieved Isaac into his arms and embraced him, crying all
00:27:38
Speaker 1: the harder. The scene around them still for a second time,
00:27:42
Speaker 1: and again they heard the word of their God in
00:27:45
Speaker 1: their midst.
00:27:47
Speaker 4: By myself I have sworn, because you have done this
00:27:52
Speaker 4: thing and have not withheld your only sun, I would
00:27:56
Speaker 4: indeed bless you and make your offspring essence numerous as
00:28:00
Speaker 4: the stars of the sky and the sand on the
00:28:04
Speaker 4: sea shore.
00:28:06
Speaker 1: Abraham drew Isaac close again as he listened to the
00:28:09
Speaker 1: familiar words of his calling. His God was satisfied with him.
00:28:14
Speaker 1: He had passed this harrowing test, and now the promise
00:28:19
Speaker 1: was again being confirmed. But then the voice of God
00:28:22
Speaker 1: added to the familiar proclamation.
00:28:25
Speaker 4: Your offspring will possess the city gates of their enemies.
00:28:31
Speaker 1: Abraham wondered at that they were no conquerors, and they
00:28:34
Speaker 1: were not city dwellers.
00:28:36
Speaker 4: And all the nations of the earth will be blessed
00:28:39
Speaker 4: by your offspring, because you have obeyed my command.
00:28:45
Speaker 1: With that, the voice again fell silent, and the world
00:28:49
Speaker 1: around them resumed. Abraham and Isaac exchanged very few words
00:28:55
Speaker 1: as they watched the flames around the charred body of
00:28:58
Speaker 1: the ram begin to dwindle and die out. When the
00:29:01
Speaker 1: fire had at last consumed the sacrifice and had no
00:29:05
Speaker 1: more fuel to sustain it, they turned from the place
00:29:09
Speaker 1: and headed down the mound to the camp below. Abraham
00:29:12
Speaker 1: knew his son would have questions about this strange and
00:29:15
Speaker 1: mighty legacy he was to inherit, but that would come later.
00:29:19
Speaker 1: They enjoyed one another's company in amiable, if not exhausted silence.
00:29:25
Speaker 1: The topic remained untouched until days later, when they returned
00:29:28
Speaker 1: to camp and found an overjoyed and wildly relieved Sarah.
00:29:33
Speaker 1: She cried at the sight of them, bloodied and covered
00:29:37
Speaker 1: in soot and dust from the travel and the ordeal.
00:29:41
Speaker 1: Abraham held his family close, faith confirmed, tested and approved,
00:29:47
Speaker 1: and began to teach his precious son, Isaac, all the
00:29:51
Speaker 1: ways of his God.
00:29:59
Speaker 8: Wow.
00:30:00
Speaker 7: What an incredible story, one of the most heart wrenching
00:30:03
Speaker 7: stories that we've studied so far. Abraham, that ancient patriarch
00:30:08
Speaker 7: heres God's voice and what God asks of him is well,
00:30:12
Speaker 7: let's just say it makes you sit up in question
00:30:14
Speaker 7: everything you thought.
00:30:15
Speaker 8: You knew about God.
00:30:17
Speaker 7: To sacrifice his son, Isaac, the son that he prayed for,
00:30:22
Speaker 7: the son that he waited for, the son of Promise,
00:30:26
Speaker 7: the son through whom God had said all nations would
00:30:30
Speaker 7: be blessed. He tells him to go and sacrifice him.
00:30:34
Speaker 8: One minute.
00:30:35
Speaker 7: God is promising abraham descendants as numerous as the stars,
00:30:39
Speaker 7: and the next he's asking for the life of the
00:30:42
Speaker 7: promised child. You might find yourself asking what kind of
00:30:47
Speaker 7: God would make such a request. Is this the God
00:30:51
Speaker 7: of love and compassion? Or is this a test, a
00:30:54
Speaker 7: cruel test to see just how far Abraham's faith will go.
00:31:00
Speaker 7: It's easy to read these ancient texts and to miss
00:31:03
Speaker 7: the raw human emotion in them. Can you imagine Abraham's turmoil,
00:31:09
Speaker 7: the sleepless nights, the heavy heart, the pleading eyes of
00:31:13
Speaker 7: his son, And what about Isaac? How did he recover
00:31:17
Speaker 7: from this experience? What was his relationship like with Abraham
00:31:21
Speaker 7: and God after almost being killed. It's a Bible story
00:31:26
Speaker 7: that brings Abraham and Isaac and us as we read it,
00:31:31
Speaker 7: right to the brink, asking all of us to trust
00:31:35
Speaker 7: God with everything, even the unthinkable. That's what this story
00:31:41
Speaker 7: seems to push us towards. And then there's resolution. God
00:31:47
Speaker 7: stops Abraham at the very last minute. Aram is provided instead,
00:31:53
Speaker 7: Isaac lives.
00:31:55
Speaker 8: So what was it all for?
00:31:59
Speaker 7: Was it just a How could God ask this of someone,
00:32:04
Speaker 7: specifically Abraham, the holy patriarch of his chosen people. A
00:32:10
Speaker 7: possible answer to this can be found in the original
00:32:14
Speaker 7: Hebrew of the very verse in which God uses to
00:32:17
Speaker 7: issue his command. Chapter twenty two. Verse two reads like
00:32:22
Speaker 7: this in English. And then God said, take your son,
00:32:27
Speaker 7: your only son, whom you love, Isaac, and go to
00:32:31
Speaker 7: the region of Moria. Sacrifice him there as a burnt
00:32:35
Speaker 7: offering on a mountain. I will show you. This is
00:32:39
Speaker 7: what that important and scary verse sounds.
00:32:42
Speaker 8: Like in Hebrew.
00:32:43
Speaker 7: The yomer hahna et binra et yidra ashera hata et izrak,
00:32:50
Speaker 7: the lel ertamoria, the alusham leola alhad herim esarev amarlacha.
00:33:00
Speaker 7: So what is it that God is asking Abraham to do?
00:33:05
Speaker 8: Well. To answer that, we have to look at.
00:33:07
Speaker 7: A very important word in that verse, and that word
00:33:11
Speaker 7: is ollah.
00:33:13
Speaker 8: Let's say it again. The word is oh lah. Say
00:33:17
Speaker 8: it with me, oh Lah.
00:33:20
Speaker 7: Most translations interpret that word as a burnt offering, a sacrifice,
00:33:25
Speaker 7: and it's true that is the word that's often used
00:33:28
Speaker 7: for sacrifice. But ollah needs something else. Oh Lah also
00:33:35
Speaker 7: means that which goes up. That's the literal translation oh lah,
00:33:43
Speaker 7: which is translated in English and the Bible for Christians
00:33:46
Speaker 7: very often is burnt offering. Literally translates into that which
00:33:52
Speaker 7: goes up. One of our great Bible commentators says that
00:33:56
Speaker 7: when the moment came for Abraham to sacrifice his son,
00:34:01
Speaker 7: God stopped him as if to say, no, I don't
00:34:05
Speaker 7: want you to kill your son for me.
00:34:07
Speaker 8: I want you to dedicate him to me.
00:34:09
Speaker 7: As in ollah, as someone who rises high in his
00:34:15
Speaker 7: spiritual life.
00:34:18
Speaker 8: Right that word ollah that.
00:34:20
Speaker 7: We always think that God is saying, I want you
00:34:22
Speaker 7: to dedicate him to me as a sacrifice. No, no, no,
00:34:26
Speaker 7: God is saying, I want you to dedicate him to
00:34:28
Speaker 7: me as someone who rises high in his spiritual life.
00:34:34
Speaker 7: You know, in ancient world there were many pagan cults,
00:34:37
Speaker 7: and some of them believed that the greatest thing a
00:34:40
Speaker 7: parent could do would be to kill their child in
00:34:42
Speaker 7: the name of their God. That would prove their dedication
00:34:46
Speaker 7: to this God.
00:34:47
Speaker 8: Of theirs.
00:34:48
Speaker 7: Child sacrifices back then was mainstream. But in this Bible story,
00:34:55
Speaker 7: God is saying, no, I do not want that. I
00:35:00
Speaker 7: don't want your son to die for me. I want
00:35:03
Speaker 7: him to live for me.
00:35:06
Speaker 8: This was the epiphany of Abraham.
00:35:10
Speaker 3: This was a.
00:35:11
Speaker 7: Proclamation from God to the Jewish people and to the
00:35:15
Speaker 7: entire world a new concept. Yes, there have been many
00:35:20
Speaker 7: times in our history that we have sacrificed our lives
00:35:23
Speaker 7: for God, for who we are as His chosen people.
00:35:27
Speaker 7: But that isn't the main lesson here. We're not supposed
00:35:32
Speaker 7: to die for God. That's not the ideal. The story
00:35:36
Speaker 7: of Abraham and Isaac teaches us that the ideal is.
00:35:40
Speaker 8: To always be living for God.
00:35:44
Speaker 7: One area of the Fellowship's work that resonates deeply with
00:35:48
Speaker 7: me is the support that we provide to Israeli soldiers
00:35:51
Speaker 7: and veterans and their families. Among these brave souls are
00:35:55
Speaker 7: remarkable lone soldiers. These are young men and women from
00:36:00
Speaker 7: across the globe who arrive in Israel with no family.
00:36:05
Speaker 7: They're all alone, and they come to Israel driven by
00:36:08
Speaker 7: a sacred call to serve in the israel Defense forces
00:36:13
Speaker 7: protecting this holy land. I stand in awe of their courage,
00:36:18
Speaker 7: their readiness to step forward and declare. Sometimes at eighteen
00:36:22
Speaker 7: years old, here I am to the call to defend Israel.
00:36:28
Speaker 7: And I thought about the soldiers of the idea. While
00:36:31
Speaker 7: listening to today's Bible story, you might ask, why is that. Well,
00:36:36
Speaker 7: after stopping Abraham from sacrificing Isaac, the Angel pronounced three
00:36:41
Speaker 7: blessings over Abraham, but only one of those blessings was
00:36:46
Speaker 7: actually new. The other two had already been revealed to
00:36:49
Speaker 7: Abraham in earlier passages in Genesis that we've already looked at,
00:36:54
Speaker 7: we've already seen. The Angel promised Abraham that his descendants
00:36:58
Speaker 7: would be as numerous as the stars and the sand,
00:37:01
Speaker 7: and that they would conquer their enemies, and that all
00:37:04
Speaker 7: nations would be blessed through them. The message here strikes
00:37:10
Speaker 7: a very poignant chord, familiar to all Israelis who have
00:37:13
Speaker 7: served in the idef familiar to all parents with children
00:37:17
Speaker 7: of military age be included, and familiar especially to the
00:37:22
Speaker 7: families of every fallen soldier. May we never know with
00:37:27
Speaker 7: this blessing the Angel of God conveyed to Abraham that
00:37:30
Speaker 7: triumph over our enemies sometimes necessitates the willingness to offer
00:37:36
Speaker 7: up our sons and daughters, even at the cost of
00:37:40
Speaker 7: the ultimate sacrifice. Sometimes we have to pay with our
00:37:45
Speaker 7: lives in order to protect what's most sacred, God's values,
00:37:51
Speaker 7: God's land. It's something here in Israel every single person
00:37:55
Speaker 7: faces every single day, and that's why at the Fellow,
00:38:00
Speaker 7: thanks to our faithful supporters like you, we are able
00:38:04
Speaker 7: to work around the clock to comfort not only the
00:38:07
Speaker 7: orphans and the widows, but to comfort the brave.
00:38:10
Speaker 8: Young men and women of the.
00:38:11
Speaker 7: Israeli defense forces, as well as the families of the
00:38:15
Speaker 7: fallen soldiers who gave their lives defending our freedom. We're
00:38:19
Speaker 7: able to be there for these heroes to say you're
00:38:23
Speaker 7: not alone. Millions of Christians stand with you in your
00:38:27
Speaker 7: plight for freedom and recognize that you are not only
00:38:31
Speaker 7: living for God, but you're willing to die for Him
00:38:34
Speaker 7: as well. May their memories and their sacrifices never be forgotten,
00:38:39
Speaker 7: and may their courage inspire us all to stand firm
00:38:44
Speaker 7: and stand in faith in the face of adversity. And
00:38:48
Speaker 7: that's what the story of Abraham and Isaac and Mount
00:38:51
Speaker 7: Moriat is really about.
00:38:53
Speaker 8: It's about faith.
00:38:54
Speaker 7: Faith is a word that we often use, but do
00:38:57
Speaker 7: we really understand it. True true faith is more than
00:39:01
Speaker 7: just a belief. True faith is shown through obedience and
00:39:05
Speaker 7: trust in God's ultimate goodness even when his commands seem
00:39:10
Speaker 7: to defy our understanding, and true faith is often forged
00:39:15
Speaker 7: in the furnace of God's tests. In those moments of
00:39:19
Speaker 7: being tested, our trust in God's goodness is truly challenged,
00:39:25
Speaker 7: and it's in those moments, those most difficult moments, that
00:39:30
Speaker 7: our true faith is revealed. Do we have faith that
00:39:35
Speaker 7: God is good, that His ways are always for the best,
00:39:40
Speaker 7: even when we don't see it.
00:39:43
Speaker 8: To speak more on God's.
00:39:44
Speaker 7: Goodness through the Christian lens is our good friend, Bishop Lanier.
00:39:50
Speaker 14: Thank you ya elle Well. You've heard me use the
00:39:55
Speaker 14: word consequential a lot in our conversations, and I have
00:40:00
Speaker 14: really got to use it now because I'm telling you
00:40:03
Speaker 14: this is indeed one of the most consequential conversations events
00:40:09
Speaker 14: of our holy faith. You're more than familiar with. When
00:40:16
Speaker 14: God called Abraham and said to him, I want you
00:40:20
Speaker 14: to leave who you've been, with, whom you've been, where
00:40:25
Speaker 14: you've lived, all of that. I want you to follow me.
00:40:30
Speaker 14: Listen to my voice. And in the Christian Scriptures again
00:40:34
Speaker 14: in the Book of Hebrews chapter eleven, it says by faith,
00:40:38
Speaker 14: Abraham pursued a city whose builder and maker is Goden.
00:40:45
Speaker 14: But now at a situation where the Lord is basically
00:40:48
Speaker 14: saying to Abraham, I know that in your youth, in
00:40:53
Speaker 14: your seventy five year age, you were willing to leave
00:40:57
Speaker 14: everything and to follow me. Now I'm asking you now
00:41:03
Speaker 14: that you have your son, your only son of covenant,
00:41:09
Speaker 14: the one you love more than anything in the world,
00:41:14
Speaker 14: will you sacrifice him? Will you give me your entire future?
00:41:22
Speaker 2: Wow?
00:41:24
Speaker 14: Well, for Christians we see a remarkable typology here. What
00:41:29
Speaker 14: is a typeology, It's a theme, it's a sign, it
00:41:35
Speaker 14: is a motif, something in the Hebrew scriptures that's pointing
00:41:39
Speaker 14: something for us, even we would say greater in the
00:41:43
Speaker 14: Christian scripts. And this is a profound one here where
00:41:47
Speaker 14: God loved his only son. We're told the Book of John,
00:41:53
Speaker 14: chapter three, verse sixteen, for God so loved the world
00:41:58
Speaker 14: that he's sacrificist, or gave his only begotten son, And
00:42:05
Speaker 14: that Jesus baptism at the Jordan River by John, the
00:42:09
Speaker 14: voice of the Father spoke. And I don't believe everyone
00:42:13
Speaker 14: heard it, or there would have been a different reaction,
00:42:16
Speaker 14: but Jesus surely heard it, and he would need to
00:42:19
Speaker 14: hear it because in a matter of moments he would
00:42:21
Speaker 14: step into the wilderness. And the first temptation was if
00:42:26
Speaker 14: you are the son of God. Well, Jesus needed to
00:42:31
Speaker 14: hear that voice from the Father saying, this is my
00:42:35
Speaker 14: beloved son. And so we recognize This is indeed a
00:42:41
Speaker 14: powerful typeology for Christians. God said to him, I want
00:42:47
Speaker 14: you to take your son, your only son, the one
00:42:51
Speaker 14: whom you love most, and I wanted to go to
00:42:55
Speaker 14: Mount Moriah, and there you are to sacrifice him. To me,
00:43:02
Speaker 14: this could not make any sense, but Abraham had learned
00:43:07
Speaker 14: not to live by his senses. He had learned this
00:43:10
Speaker 14: won't be logical, it won't be rational or reasonable. But
00:43:15
Speaker 14: this is the kind of conversations I have with my God.
00:43:22
Speaker 14: So Abraham got up early. They packed up everything they
00:43:26
Speaker 14: were going to need for a three day trek. And
00:43:30
Speaker 14: you know, I've read that this is actually the moment
00:43:33
Speaker 14: when Abraham's wife, Sarah died. I don't know, but what
00:43:39
Speaker 14: I've read that says that when she got up and
00:43:42
Speaker 14: she looked, and she saw what they had packed, and
00:43:45
Speaker 14: maybe Abraham had even spoken some of his plans to her.
00:43:50
Speaker 14: I can't be sure, but somehow or another, she knew
00:43:55
Speaker 14: what was coming and it was too much, and it
00:43:59
Speaker 14: was there she died. And when he returned, he took
00:44:06
Speaker 14: her to Hebron and buried her in that cave at Makpilar.
00:44:14
Speaker 14: And it was after he buried Sarah that he surely
00:44:18
Speaker 14: began thinking more about his generations, didn't he We'll talk
00:44:24
Speaker 14: about that later. But again, it took Abraham and his
00:44:29
Speaker 14: entourage three days to make the journey to mak Pillar
00:44:34
Speaker 14: to Hebron. A thousand years later, David bought that threshing
00:44:42
Speaker 14: floor and built an altar there, and Solomon built a
00:44:46
Speaker 14: temper there. Isn't it remarkable that in all of Israel,
00:44:51
Speaker 14: the most contested spaces, most embattled are those not simply
00:44:57
Speaker 14: that God promised to Israel, but a you actually purchased
00:45:04
Speaker 14: it with money. Abraham bought Shachem, Abraham bought Mahpilai in Hebron.
00:45:15
Speaker 14: David bought the threshing floor in Jerusalem. And again those
00:45:20
Speaker 14: are the most some of the most contested areas in
00:45:24
Speaker 14: all of Israel. And it's then and there that Abraham
00:45:30
Speaker 14: makes one of the most profound statements of faith you're
00:45:33
Speaker 14: ever going to find in your Bible. He says to
00:45:38
Speaker 14: the men gathered, I'm taking my son up this mountain,
00:45:44
Speaker 14: and we're going.
00:45:45
Speaker 4: To worship there what.
00:45:50
Speaker 14: We're going to worship. That's how Abraham viewed this most
00:45:56
Speaker 14: consequential sacrifice he would ever make. I'm going to walk
00:46:02
Speaker 14: up this mountain build an altar, tie down my son,
00:46:07
Speaker 14: light the fire, take his life. And I consider all
00:46:12
Speaker 14: of it worship unto my God because it is surrender
00:46:18
Speaker 14: unto him. And what moves me supremely is that Abraham says,
00:46:24
Speaker 14: after we've worshiped together, my son and I are going
00:46:30
Speaker 14: to return to you at the bottom of this mountain.
00:46:34
Speaker 14: Now he had just said, I'm going to the top
00:46:37
Speaker 14: of the mountain. I'm going to do what my God
00:46:40
Speaker 14: said to do, which was to take his life. But
00:46:45
Speaker 14: then together, how do you reconcile that, Abraham? Well, it
00:46:49
Speaker 14: goes like this. My God called me many years ago
00:46:54
Speaker 14: and told me that my wife and I were going
00:46:56
Speaker 14: to conceive and bring forth the Son, and that through
00:47:00
Speaker 14: him was coming a nation of people. And I've lived
00:47:04
Speaker 14: by that promise since that moment. And I don't know
00:47:08
Speaker 14: how God's going to do what God's going to do,
00:47:11
Speaker 14: but I know he's God and He's going to do
00:47:14
Speaker 14: what God does. So if I indeed sacrifice the life
00:47:20
Speaker 14: of my Isaac and his body is consumed in these flames,
00:47:25
Speaker 14: this I know. If God has to take the ashes
00:47:30
Speaker 14: like he took the dust at creation and molded in
00:47:34
Speaker 14: his own image and exhaled his divine essence into my
00:47:39
Speaker 14: boy and bring forth a living soul all over again.
00:47:43
Speaker 14: I don't know how God's going to do it, but
00:47:47
Speaker 14: He's going to do whatever's required for himself to fulfill
00:47:51
Speaker 14: his promises to me. So I'm telling you we'll be back.
00:47:57
Speaker 14: I don't know how I got to the point. Maybe
00:47:59
Speaker 14: you did as well. Where we heard that Isaac was
00:48:03
Speaker 14: twelve or thirteen years of age when all of this
00:48:05
Speaker 14: went down. But I've studied this thing, and there are
00:48:09
Speaker 14: many Jewish writers who will say that, no, no, Isaac
00:48:13
Speaker 14: was actually thirty nine years of age, and that really
00:48:16
Speaker 14: makes sense after the fact when we find out he
00:48:19
Speaker 14: was forty and unmarried, and again we'll talk about that later.
00:48:25
Speaker 14: What moves me is Isaac, if he's indeed thirty nine
00:48:28
Speaker 14: years of age, he's fully strong, grown enough to resist
00:48:34
Speaker 14: this whole situation. He doesn't have to pack anything, or
00:48:39
Speaker 14: travel three miles or trek up the mountain, or lie
00:48:45
Speaker 14: down on an altar, or allow his father to tie him.
00:48:49
Speaker 14: He doesn't have to do any of this. He could
00:48:53
Speaker 14: have probably successfully resisted. And there's no record that God
00:48:59
Speaker 14: ever spoke to and told him what was coming, So
00:49:02
Speaker 14: why did you do it? Isaac because my father asked
00:49:05
Speaker 14: me to, because my father told me about his God,
00:49:10
Speaker 14: and I trust him.
00:49:12
Speaker 4: Again.
00:49:12
Speaker 14: Reminds me of Noah, doesn't it. There's no record God
00:49:15
Speaker 14: spoke to Noah's sons. But if my father says we
00:49:19
Speaker 14: need to build a boat, well hand me a hammer.
00:49:23
Speaker 14: And you know that in that climactic moment when Abraham
00:49:28
Speaker 14: reached back with the knife, and when he did it,
00:49:31
Speaker 14: all of a sudden an angel stopped him and said, Abraham, no, No.
00:49:38
Speaker 14: It was at that moment that Abraham heard the ram
00:49:46
Speaker 14: in the thicket and he knew where it was going.
00:49:49
Speaker 4: Now.
00:49:52
Speaker 14: I don't know about you, but I sure would have
00:49:57
Speaker 14: liked to have heard that ram the thicket when I
00:50:01
Speaker 14: was at the bottom of the mountain. I could have
00:50:04
Speaker 14: walked a little quicker up Mariah and wouldn't have taken
00:50:08
Speaker 14: me as long to build that altar. And if I
00:50:11
Speaker 14: just could have heard that ram before, That's not.
00:50:14
Speaker 2: The way faith works.
00:50:17
Speaker 14: We don't get to hear the ram cry until we're
00:50:20
Speaker 14: willing to lay down everything that matters to us upon
00:50:25
Speaker 14: that burning altar and take back only what God raises
00:50:31
Speaker 14: up himself. And I believe that from that sacrifice in
00:50:37
Speaker 14: those ashes. The only thing left from that ram was
00:50:43
Speaker 14: his horns, and that interesting we call them horns, and
00:50:49
Speaker 14: perhaps it was Abraham himself who cleaned them up and
00:50:53
Speaker 14: made a show far out of those things. And that's
00:50:57
Speaker 14: what God is asking from us. We would be willing
00:51:01
Speaker 14: to lay it all upon the altar and trust that
00:51:04
Speaker 14: no matter what the fire does, we might have nothing
00:51:08
Speaker 14: in the ashes but a praise.
00:51:14
Speaker 4: And it is enough.
00:51:19
Speaker 7: This chapter is included in the prayer books that Jews
00:51:22
Speaker 7: around the world read during the high holidays during the
00:51:25
Speaker 7: sacred season. We pray that just as God had compassion
00:51:28
Speaker 7: on Isaac and did not allow him to lose his life,
00:51:32
Speaker 7: that God might have compassion on us, constantly renewing our
00:51:36
Speaker 7: lives every minute. I think that this prayer is meaningful
00:51:40
Speaker 7: for us all as His chosen people, all of the time,
00:51:44
Speaker 7: that instead of death we embrace life, which God has
00:51:49
Speaker 7: blessed us with through His Holy Spirit. Here's a final
00:51:54
Speaker 7: blessing for you. Ivarre hashem vie schmercher Yeah, Heir hashempanave
00:52:02
Speaker 7: ileha virocher ye, Sir hashempanave lechra.
00:52:07
Speaker 1: Salon.
00:52:08
Speaker 7: May the Lord bless you and keep you. May the
00:52:10
Speaker 7: Lord make his face shine upon you. May he be
00:52:13
Speaker 7: gracious to you. Made the Lord turn his face towards
00:52:17
Speaker 7: you and give you peace.
00:52:19
Speaker 1: Amen. You can listen to the Chosen People with Isle
00:52:23
Speaker 1: Eckstein add free by downloading and subscribing to the Prey
00:52:27
Speaker 1: dot Com app today. This Prey dog comproduction is only
00:52:32
Speaker 1: made possible by our dedicated team of creative talents. Steve Katina,
00:52:36
Speaker 1: Max Bard, Zach Shellabarger and Ben Gammon are the executive
00:52:40
Speaker 1: producers of the Chosen People with Yaile Eckstein, edited by
00:52:44
Speaker 1: Alberto Avilla, narrated by Paul Coltefianu. Characters are voiced by
00:52:49
Speaker 1: Jonathan Cotton, Aaron Salvato, Sarah Seltz, Mike Reagan, Stephen Ringwold,
00:52:54
Speaker 1: Sylvia Zaradoc and the opening prayer is voiced by John Moore.
00:52:58
Speaker 1: Music by Andrew Morgan Smith, written by Bree Rosalie and
00:53:02
Speaker 1: Aaron Salvato. Special thanks to Bishop Paulinier, Robin van Ettin,
00:53:07
Speaker 1: kayleb Burrows, Jocelyn Fuller, and the team at International Fellowship
00:53:12
Speaker 1: of Christians and Jews. You can hear more Prey dot
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