Quote:
Originally posted by the happy heathen:
I was just reading the story of Abraham and Isaac today, and was yet again reminded how God truly cares for his people. If you start at the beginning of the story, you will note that Abraham and his wife Sarah were barren, but God blessed them with a child Isaac in their old age. God was not being a "total **** " by having Abraham sacrifice his son, but he was testing his servant Abraham, to see if he truly loved the Lord his God.
Oh, I get it. So God was benevolent enough to bless Abe and Sally with a kid. But then--ZOINKS!--"just kidding, you have to give him back now!" And then once again--ZOINKS!--"just testin' ya there. You can keep him some more, I guess."
Didn't God have anything better to do than act like a 7 yr old on the playground, testing his servant's loyalty and showing off how big he was? Maybe he could have gone back to his magical creation lab and created indoor plumbing or painless childbirth--that would have been a better use of his time.
<font color="#a62a2a"><font size="1">[ January 13, 2007 09:40 PM: Message edited by: the happy heathen ]</font></font>
<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">God was not acting like a 7 year old at the playground. He was testing his servant, and he was not showing "how big he is" but testing him. In Genesis 22:12 it states, "Do not lay a hand on the boy," he said. "Do not do anything to him. Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son." and verses 17-18 state:I will surely bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will take possession of the cities of their enemies, 18 and through your offspring [b] all nations on earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed me." He did this to test Abraham's faithfulness, and though I'm sure it was hard for Abraham, he still willingly did it.