Genesis 12-22

Abraham agrees to sacrifice his only son Isaac per God’s request due to his complete and everlasting devotion to God. Despite a couple of instances, such as when Abraham slept with his wife’s servant Hagar, Abraham has always had complete trust in God and has always done as he says. He also knows that Isaac himself was a gift given by God since both Abraham and Sarah were too old to naturally reproduce at the time he was conceived and, therefore, he should obey God’s wishes. In line 5 and 8 of Genesis 22, Abraham is technically telling the truth since he tells his servants they will return, which they do, and that God will provide the lamb for sacrifice since the lamb was supposed to be Isaac, who was a gift from God to Abraham and Sarah. I believe that Abraham knew God had something else in mind when he told him to sacrifice Isaac because he trusted God would keep his promise to give Abraham countless descendants. However, Abraham was still fully willing to follow through with God’s request which shows his complete devotion and love for God. This is what God was intending when he told Abraham what he had to do. He wanted to test his faith and trust in God to see if he was entirely devoted to him because the fact that Abraham was willing to sacrifice his only son per God’s request was the ultimate sacrifice he could have made. This act, among others, shows that Abraham is in fact a praiseworthy person in Genesis as he has completely devoted himself to God. He is also a compassionate person, seen as when he speaks back to God for the first time out of concern for the righteous people in the city of Sodom who would have been destroyed along with the city. God on the other hand has his worthiness of praise called into question in this story. If God loves all people equally, why does he make Ishmael a “wild donkey of a man” while establishing his covenant with Isaac? Why does he turn Lot’s wife into a pillar of salt simply for looking back at the city as they fled for their lives? Yes, he says he would spare a city for the sake of ten righteous people living in it, but as he destroys the city, one of the supposedly righteous people (Lot’s wife) is killed, calling into question the morality of some of God’s actions.