Readers Guide: “The Word for Today” Tuesday, September 18, 2012 Read – Genesis 21 & 22 God is faithful. God keeps promises. Isaac is born to a 100 year old Abraham and 90 year old Sarah. It’s time to pause and rejoice. But our rejoicing does not last long. Almost immediately we hear a story of jealousy and even cruelty. We know this humanity too well. Hagar and Ishmael stand as stark reminder of that. Sarah, who has just been miraculously blessed with a child of her old age become jealous and Hagar and Ishmael are sent out into the desert to die. But God is gracious. Hagar and Ishmael are saved. Of course the world will bear some repercussion of that. We have already noted that it is through Ishmael that Islamic people trace their heritage. The fruit of Abraham and Sarah’s lack of faith does lay the groundwork for a challenge we still face today – can we live with those brothers and sisters who are so different from us – even threatening to us? The story grows even more challenging in the story of Abraham’s near sacrifice of his son Isaac – the son of God’s promise. The story of God commanding Abraham to sacrifice Isaac is a rich and challenging story. Why would God do this? What kind of God is God? We have been noticing the failure of Abraham’s faith often – here his deep faith shines. Abraham is faithful. And God is faithful too – Isaac is spared! It turns out that God’s command was really a test and that God never intended for Isaac to be killed. Does God still do this – test people by telling them to do something God does not intend just to see if they will listen? The story is complicated indeed. Christians, including the first writers of the gospel stories have long seen much more in this story. They have seen the contrast between Abraham and Isaac who was spared and God the Father and Jesus the Son who was not spared. Abraham was willing to give his only beloved son and God rescued Abraham and Isaac at the last minute. God gave his only beloved son and there was no rescuing of Jesus from death on the cross. The story gives us much to ponder.