While discussing my last writing with a very dear pastor friend, something I think is worth writing about came up. In my previous blog entry, I had zeroed in on the following passage where God spoke to Abraham:

Genesis 22:2 ESV
[2] He said, “Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.”

I argued that two elements in this statement are inaccurate: Isaac is not Abraham’s only son, and we have no clear evidence that Abraham loved Isaac. My friend disagrees with this claim on the grounds that God himself makes the claim, and we may not challenge God’s statement. Now, this is a critical pushback. But if we argue that the statement MUST be correct because God says so, then we have to wrestle with the fact that God earlier (Genesis 17:20) acknowledged Ishmael as Abraham’s son and even promised to bless Ishmael for that reason. The argument would imply a contradiction or divine amnesia. That’s one reason I think the divine statement is not meant to be taken at face value but invites readers to look deeper.