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| Praise Is Comely
And the outcome of the matter? No doubt Yahweh perceived Avraham’s misunderstanding, but allowed the test to continue. But before Avraham committed an act that would have amounted to him putting Yahweh to the test, rather than vice-versa, the heavenly messenger was sent to restrain his hand. And so Avraham was commended for his second-to-the-last act, the one of restraint, in which he did not do anything at all to the youth. Or was it on account of his very last act, the act of offering the ram instead of Yitschak? Or were both combined into one integral unit of righteous, faithful, obedience; in slight variation from the previously apparent course of action? “Because you have done this thing,” he says. Please note that Yahweh does not say, “Because you have done all these things,” or even “these things,” but only “this thing,” singular. And for the obvious intention of not withholding his son at all, he was blessed. Let us give glory to Yahweh. It will make his day, and hopefully he will make ours!
Let us at this time examine some of the specifics of the aforementioned commendation. Of all the things that Avraham had done, from his first utterance of “Here I am” in verse one, to his last in verse eleven, why was it that none of them persuaded Yahweh that Avraham “feared Elohim”? Rather, indeed, why was it something that he had NOT done? As it is written, “…for now I know that you fear Elohim, seeing you have NOT withheld your son…” Again, why was Avraham commended for “not withholding” rather than for “obediently offering”? Would not both phrases have similar meaning? Yes—but they would be far from identical in implication! Was it not a kind, mild and gentle reproof from Yahweh, and a witness to the future generations that Avraham didn’t completely “get it” at first? As they say in proverbs, “He who laughs last probably didn’t get the joke.”
At that point, it is doubtful that anyone was laughing; but having believed in Yahweh, and complying with the corrections, Avraham was therefore counted as having passed the test. So then let us consider this one thing, for it is significant. Yahweh commended Avraham for NOT doing anything (with the knife and fire) to his son, and for NOT withholding him (in that he brought him up to the mountain that he had been showed, as commanded) from Yahweh. Yahweh conversely could have, had he so chosen, commended him in a positive, rather than a negative manner. He could have commended Avraham for all the things that he had done to Yitschak, and for offering him as he had, so unhesitatingly, so completely, so unreservedly, and in such complete accord (again, your forbearance please) with the will of Yahweh; had he chosen to do so, but he did not! And why not? Let us meditate well on these things, as no doubt Avraham himself did after the events unfolded. And may Yahweh grant to us that we would do even half as well in the day of our own trial, because of all the weaknesses of the human character. Let us give therefore, “All the Glory to Yahweh,”- Col HaCavodh l’Yahweh, and rest patiently in his everlasting mercies!
And merciful he is. In exploration of that mercy, let us now rest for a moment in consideration of another time, another occasion, on which Avraham may have fallen short in faith or patience from the lofty heights to which Yahweh permits us to strive. And let us give thanks to the holy one, who blessed in kindness the fruit of the pathway that Avraham had taken, even though it was not exactly as Yahweh had chosen. “Avraham was called forth.” From the land of his birth, Ur of the Chaldees, from country and kindred, from father’s house; to a foreign land, called to a blessing, to greatness and might, favor in sight. No longer merely one man would he be, but a Goy, his soul; a Goy Gadhol; a great and a mighty nation to see; not merely a nation: a father of nations, an exalted Father of Goiim to be! But oh, the wait, the hope deferred, but never a word of complaint was heard, and years went by, and he would try, to comfort Sarai when she would cry, “No child have I,” and should we die, who then will be our heir? Take now my maid, be not afraid, for she upon my knee shall bear; and we shall raise a son- and praise the hearer of our daily prayer! So praise Yahweh, who overlooked, the followings of ways so crook’d; they had no way to know, you see, that years would follow, ten and three, “Sarai shall bear a son to thee, seed to the blessed mother free!” He’ll free us from our care. But Yahweh starts to search and takes a look into their heart; how will it fare, if they should dare, to love him more than me? A test proposed, and we shall see, if they will lift him up to me, be taught to always holy be, which tree to seek, and which to flee, that we may never part. So walk with Yahweh as you’re led, never try to run ahead, well within the narrow way, a happy man on judgement day! (“Prelude to a Testing”, g.p.) Dear reader, please note, it was not intended to offend by the above little rhyme. Please accept my apologies if we have done so. Although the term goy is often, or perhaps usually, used disparagingly to refer to non-Jews, or people of a different religion, that is yet another example of a word or a phrase of a certain meaning, acquiring over time a different meaning, by repeated misuse, marginal use, or by changing circumstances. Its actual meaning is very similar to the meaning of the word “nation.” Essentially, it means nothing more or less than a family, or families, grown large, usually living on a certain territory together, and usually exercising self-government, or autonomy. Israel is said to have become a “goy” while sojourning in Egypt, as it was foretold to Avraham so many years previously. They entered the land to sojourn, with just a few people (70) and left Egypt as a nation, or goy, of two million or more. They were of course required to remain distinct from the other nations, or goiim, (plural form) by their faithful practice of Yahweh’s instructions for holy living, but nowhere in the holy scripture is the word goy or goiim used in a derogatory or insulting way. To use it so, arguably, could be in itself a violation of torah, even as it is written, (Deuteronomy 23:7), “You shall not abhor an Edomite, for he is your brother; you shall not abhor an Egyptian, because you were a sojourner in his land.” You shall love your neighbor as yourself (Leviticus 19:18). Interestingly, and perhaps paradoxically to some, it can be proposed that Israel, in ancient times, and years later also the Jews, having been blessed by Yahweh in having been made “great goiim” for such a long time, ceased to be such. Having violated the holy covenant so persistently as “great goiim,” were they stripped of their status as such and sent into corrective captivities, no longer as goiim, but as remnants, mere individuals and families in a dispersion among the other nations?
So Avraham was tested, yes, and what a test! And tests, by definition, can evade definition. Multiple choice: three answers wrong, and one right? Or three right but one better? Or one wrong, but three even worse? Who can say that a test always needs to be easy- or difficult; simple- or complex; predictable- or chaotic; conventional- or disparate; or standard in any way? All a test needs to be is completable, as it is written, “With every testing there is a way of escape.” Or two or three? Remember the test that says, “Read all instructions carefully before beginning?” Then the last of many tedious instructions says, “Sign your name, leave the rest of your paper blank, and pass it in.” A test, but not of intellectual prowess, as we usually expect, but rather of humble obedience, to “Read all instructions carefully before beginning.” Do you think that this example of classroom-humor may have been inspired by thoughts of the Testing of Avraham? Good old school days.
And so Avraham received Yitschak back in a “type” of a resurrection, a type of a resurrection after a “type” of a death. Truly, if even water immersion is a type of death, then how much more so is lying up on a pile of wood with a knife ready for one’s throat? And even being present for the vicarious sacrifice of the provided ram was in itself a type of death, in that it was killed tachath, (under, in place of, as a substitute for) Yitschak the intended, or perhaps we should rather say unintended victim? (An interesting elucidation of the Hebrew word tachath, and its meaning, and how it relates to Yitschak’s experience, is found in Esther 2:4 and periphery. Esther reigned tachath Washti, and Washti was exempted from the royal responsibilities. In parallel, the ram was offered tachath Yitschak, and it appears evident, therefore, that Yitschak was exempted from the slaughter, although many have contended that he actually was not.) And two or three ways of escape? The permissibility (or rather obligation?) of a substitute offering, the angelic restraint, and the provided ram. And of course the sacrifice of the perfect “lamb” of Yahweh to come, as it is written, (Yohn 8:56) “Avraham saw my day, and rejoiced.” In the mount of Yahweh, we trust that it will be seen, and hopefully, better understood. As it has been said, “Sufficient to the day is the evil thereof.” And so, perhaps wisely it is, that the Holy Scripture speaks little of the matter afterward, only hints and allusions here and there. A good example for us to follow?
And now, if we may, a stroll on the lighter side, a walk through the Book of Imagination. Why was Avraham tested at all? Yaacov tells us: “Each man is tested, when he is drawn away by his own lust, and enticed.” Can we speculate then, that even the faithful friend of Yahweh may have been enticed by his own lust prior to the testing? He married his half-sister, it is true, and obeyed her voice to go in to Hagar, both acts questionable in the light of Torah and Prophesy. Yet in both these cases, Avraham got “physical” when perhaps he should have remained “spiritual” –ample grounds for a future testing? Or was Avraham perhaps tardy in teaching Yitschak any of the precepts of Yahweh? Or did he fail to give glory to Yahweh in some other small way? Did the blessing of a son by Sarah go to his head? The implication of that possibility is hinted at in the term that Yahweh used to describe what Yitschak was to Avraham, his y’chidh, his “only one.” That same term was later used by the psalmist Dawidh to describe what Yahweh was to him; his “Only One,” in Psalms 22:20 and 35:17, and by the Evangelist, Yohn (John 3:16) to describe the only-begotten of Yahweh. Was Avraham coming to love Yitschak more than he loved Yahweh, or as much as the psalmist loved his Elohim? We can only speculate at this time; but for sure: after the “dust” settles from marriage, and concubinage, and the promised son is growing and flourishing; a test.
Has Avraham after so many years learned all the lessons of spirituality? Or will he get “physical” again? One may recall an occasion wherein Yahweh allowed King Dawidh to choose the least of three evils (2 Sam.24:12). Isn’t life full of such choices? Can you imagine Yahweh saying therefore; could he even have said; “We will command Avraham two commands in one; and let him choose which he should obey! And perhaps we will see how his wisdom compares to that of his son Shlomo the King, who will in years to come command to divide the child!” (please see 1Kings3:16-28 for the rest of the story.) And the REST of the story, of course, is history.
next…
Give Glory to Yahweh!
Index to all 7 segments of "After The Last Trial" After the Last Trial ; an overview of the Akedah, “ looking beneath the surface”
Yahweh’s Private “Turf”; remaining within our prerogative, deference to Yahweh
Akedah!; .............................. remember, Yahweh chose the words
Torah on Guard! ; lechaiim! (to life) renouncing the “covenant with death”!
Just Following Orders? why not just follow the instructions? .
Praise Is Comely; a refining pot for silver,…and a man according to his praises…
Give Glory to Yahweh!; …”can’t we all just give Glory to Yahweh?”...
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