Faith in God was not for the squeamish.

Then he slaughtered the Whole-Burnt-Offering. Aaron’s sons handed him the blood and he threw it against each side of the Altar. They handed him the pieces and the head and he burned these on the Altar. He washed the entrails and the legs and burned them on top of the Whole-Burnt-Offering on the Altar.

What makes this ritual bloodshed more remarkable is the idea that the sacrifices were of animals that he was hand-raised from birth. These were known, and possibly even named, animals. Atonement then was a personal, bloody, elaborate process. A fitting parallel to the atonement we rely on now.

I’ve heard this story so many times, but I’ve never considered that when Isaac asked Abraham where the sacrifice was, Abraham was actually right. He said God would provide a sheep and God did. I don’t know if he was expecting God to stay his hand the whole time, or misleading Isaac only to see God prove Abraham correct. But to Isaac that must have been enormous. Tied on the wood, his father wielding a knife with the apparent intent to kill and suddenly that sheep Abraham mentioned earlier appeared.

Other thoughts on Genesis 22?