I find it interesting that this reading begins with Abraham 1 which describes the method and victims (children and virgins) of sacrifice from the Pharaohs and Egyptian, Abraham included as one of the sacrifices. The last two chapters are about Abraham receiving Isaac as a son and then being asked to sacrifice Isaac in the very same method (though different motive) the Egyptians were sacrificing children to their idols.
In the beginning of Genesis 17, Abraham is commanded to be perfect. The footnote for perfect refers us to “integrity” in the Topical Guide. Yes, Abraham needed integrity for the experiences that were coming his way. But, before I get to that, I want to say a little bit about Sarah and Hagar.
These two women must have been very good women. Both of them very full of faith. Abraham and Sarah were told that they would bear children and have a great posterity, but it just wasn’t happening. So I believe that Sarah, in effort to help the Lord fulfill his promise, offered Hagar, her handmaid, to bear a child with Abraham. Previous to this read through I thought that Sarah might have given up, but it struck me this time around as an “after all you can do” (2 Ne 25:23) situation. Sarah was doing all that she could do to fulfill the Lord’s command, so was Hagar and so was Abraham. As we come to find out the Hagar (and Abraham and Sarah) did receive the grace of the Lord for their efforts for Ishmael also was blessed with a great posterity.
I think I’ll write about Abraham and Isaac’s sacrifice in a different post.
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