And he said, Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou any thing unto him: for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son from me.
Lay not thine hand upon the lad. It has been recently alleged ('Essays and Reviews,' Stanley's 'Jewish Church') that Abraham, from his long residence in Canaan, where the practice of immolating human victims obtained-as is related by Diodorus Siculus, and by Philo, who says that the barbarians sacrificed their children, as the most acceptable gift-had caught the fierce spirit of the Syrian ritual; and having, by the delusive influence of surrounding manners, been stimulated to imitate the devotion of his neighbours by offering his son on the altar, God mercifully interposed to arrest and correct the mistaken act of his pious servant. This is a totally erroneous view of the transaction. There is no appearance of correcting an error-not a single element of rebuke to a blinded devotee discoverable in the angel's address to Abraham; but, on the contrary, a declaration made, in the most unqualified terms of commendation, that his conduct was pleasing and acceptable to God. In fact, the conduct of Abraham on this occasion had a far different origin than the dictates of a dark and malignant superstition. It arose from a command of God, haa-'Elohiym (H430), the personal God, who for a long course of years had communicated with him, generally in a formal, once in a familiar manner; and after such a series of manifestations, addresses, and miracles, Abraham must have been able to distinguish the voice and manner of his Divine Leader as easily and clearly as a man the accents of his earthly friend. He could not, therefore, be mistaken as to the quarter from which the command was issued.
The particular form of sacrifice which was appointed as a test of his devotedness to the true God may have arisen from the usual offering of the pagan to their false gods; but its adoption was not the dictate of his 'mistaken intuition:' it was required by a distinct order of God, who knew that the strength of Abraham's faith was equal to the greatness of the trial; and in whatever way it was made known to him, no sooner did he understand the full purport of the painful requisition, than he bowed in submissive obedience, without presuming to impugn the wisdom of the order, or to inquire how it was reconcilable with the perfections of the Divine Being. He believed that it was his duty to obey the divine command; and in the sense that God commanded Isaac to be offered, in that sense Abraham offered him, by a full and willing surrender. Had Abraham offered his son in sacrifice at the suggestion of his own spiritual sense or moral reason, the act would have been a cold-blooded, an atrocious, and inhuman murder. But the character of the deed is entirely changed when regarded as the command of God. In that case it became a duty; and having been performed in obedience to that command, it met a high reward from the hands of God.
Viewed in reference to God, the command admits of a full vindication, on the ground that He possesses a sovereign right to dispose of the lives of His creatures; and that, in regard to Isaac in particular, as He had given him to Abraham as a loan, in special circumstances, He was at liberty to recall it when He pleased. But he designed only to prove Abraham, in order that the extent of his faith, love, and devotedness might be manifested; and not that he should offer Isaac in sacrifice.
Now I know that thou fearest God, seeing, ... This is said in the anthropomorphic style. The omniscient God was well acquainted with the sincerity of Abraham's faith, as well as with the ardour and extent of his devoted love; because both of these were the fruits of divine grace imparted to the patriarch. He foresaw also the issue of the trial, and knew His own purpose respecting the life of Isaac. The meaning of this clause, therefore, is not that God had, by the events of this probation, obtained information regarding Abraham's character that He did not previously possess; but that these qualities had been made apparent, had been developed by outward acts.
It was made known to Abraham himself, for his own comfort, and to the church in all subsequent ages, for an example. What an extraordinary measure of grace dwelt in him! What a heroic faith was that which could, at God's command, unhesitatingly surrender a son who, after the removal of Ishmael, was his only son, the object of his fond parental affections, and on whose life all the promises of God, with his most cherished hopes, were centered.