Sarah, Abraham and Isaac

Sarah is a very interesting character to me. She is a faithful women. She had to be to be the wife of Abraham. There’s always the adage that, behind every great man is an even greater woman. Though we don’t have a lot of information about Sarah, though more than most scriptural women, we don’t know exactly what she was like. I think it’s interesting that some of the passages about her portray her as faithless and pushy. She may have been, at least in the situation with Hagar, Ishmael and Isaac. In Gen. 21:9-13 Sarah is bothered by the possibility of Ishmael receiving all of his father’s inheritance so she tells Abraham “cast out this bondwoman and her son: for the son of this bondwoman shall not be heir with my son, even with Isaac.” While her method of delivery might not have been socially pleasing, the Lord agreed with the result. Abraham was worried about casting them out, but the Lord said,

“Let it not be grievous in thy sight because of the lad, and because of thy bondwoman; in all that Sarah hath said unto thee, hearken unto her voice; for in Isaac shall thy seed be called. And also of the son of the bondwoman will I make a nation, because he is thy seed.”

This situation is a good example of the necessity of different, very human, personalities to bring forth gospel purposes. There are many examples in the scriptures of people who don’t exactly conform to gospel standards, yet propel learning and growth. I think that it is common to have a “spiritual persona” expectation. For example, a spiritual persona might be someone who is humble, quiet, but wise, helpful, understands their purpose and is obedient. But someone else might think a “spiritual persona” is someone who speaks their mind, valiantly fights for peace, is obedient but not quiet. Maybe it’s the difference between Captain Moroni and the Anti-Nephi-Lehi’s. They are obedient and valiant, but in different ways. So, Sarah, just because she “laughs” or was pushy, doesn’t mean she’s not fulfilling her purpose or helping others fulfill theirs. It takes all kinds, right?

Enough cannot be said of the sacrifice Abraham is asked to make. After being a near victim of unrighteous and unnecessary sacrifice to nonexistent gods, years later Abraham is asked to sacrifice Isaac. I will refer again to the scripture that says: (Gen 18:17-18) the Lord said, “Shall I hide from Abraham that thing which I do; seeing that Abraham shall surely become a great and might nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him? For I know him, that he will command his children and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of the Lord, to do justice and judgment.” The Lord knows Abraham, as well as Isaac. Asking both Abraham and Isaac to take part in human sacrifice was definitely a mortal test and surely was full of emotion and grief. But I also wonder if Abraham had so much spiritual wisdom (since the Lord did not “hide from Abraham that thing which I do”) that the emotion and grief were a bit muted or at least counter balanced (compared to how I would react anyway). This really speaks much of what kind of father Abraham must have been to Isaac, for Isaac to comply to the command as well.

Come to think of it, what are the current commands for sacrifice for Abraham’s time? It must be of the first born (which technically was Ishmael), it must be animal (never has the Lord asked a human life except for himself) among other details. I can’t image that asking to sacrifice Isaac made much sense to Abraham, emotionally or doctrinally. I wonder when Abraham said, “My son, God will provide himself a lamb,” if he knew exactly which Lamb he was talking about. Did he know he needed to do this as a type? When he was at that point with the knife in his hand, was he thinking of the now or the future. Was this more of a test for Isaac, to mold him into the prophet he would become? Probably all of the above. What a blessing it is to have these men as examples of obedience and being one with the will of the Lord.