Abraham by Frances Worthington

Author:Frances Worthington
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-1-61851-008-2
Publisher: Bahai Publishing
Published: 2012-03-14T16:00:00+00:00

THE RANSOM

On the morning after God had requested the sacrifice of Abraham’s only son, Ishmael and Abraham rose early. Calling for two servants to accompany them, Abraham saddled a donkey, and the party of four began a three-day trek toward the mountain where the burnt offering would be made As they drew near their destination, Abraham told the servants to hunker down, keep an eye on the donkey, and wait for His return. Abraham had brought a load of wood along, and He now loaded it onto the strong shoulders of Ishmael. When that was done, Abraham picked up a knife, grabbed a firepot with which to kindle the wood, and the two of them walked out of sight.

Following the plan He had been given, Abraham built an altar and placed the wood on it. He laid Ishmael on the wood so that he was in the proper position to be burned. Gripping the knife, He prepared to slay His cherished son before lighting the fire that would consume the dead body. Then something unexpected happened: “But the angel of the Lord called to him from heaven and said, ‘Abraham! Abraham!’ And he said, ‘Here I am.’”12

The Old Testament, the Qur’án, and the Bahá’í scriptures all confirm that God halted Abraham’s hand and prevented Him from killing His son. They also agree that in lieu of the son, something else was sacrificed. The Old Testament describes the substitute as a ram, saying, “Abraham lifted up his eyes, and looked, and behold behind him a ram caught in a thicket by his horns: and Abraham went and took the ram, and offered him up for a burnt offering in the stead of his son.”13

A few hundred years later, during the Revelation of Moses, the basic scenario of substituting an animal for a child was repeated. When the Angel of Death was called by God to pass over Egypt and kill all firstborn sons, including the infant son of Moses and the sons of His followers, Moses instructed each family to sacrifice a lamb. Blood from the lambs was used to mark the doorposts of the faithful families so that the Angel would know to pass over those houses and spare the babies within.

In considering the many spiritual functions of the ram / lamb in the sacrifices made by Abraham and Moses, two possibilities leap out immediately: an educational function and a prophetic one.

The act of sacrifice itself was nothing new because cultures around the world had been accustomed to sacrificing an animal or a person long before Abraham and Moses arrived on the scene. When a sacrifice was made—including a human sacrifice—eating some vital part of the victim was sometimes part of the ritual. Because human sacrifice was still being practiced in Canaan and other regions during the lifetimes of both Abraham and Moses, it is logical to conclude that one of the goals of these Messengers of God was to bring an end to this spiritually degrading practice. The tribes

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