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BIBLE PERVERSIONS - Child sacrifice BIBLE WOMEN: REBECCA - 'and he loved her...'
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ISAAC |
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FAMOUS
PAINTINGS |
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MAN PAYS A FORTUNE FOR ONE PLATE OF FOOD |
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Isaac was the long-awaited child, the beloved son of Sarah and Abraham. His name means 'he laughs' - a happy sort of name. He was promised to Abraham by an angel, so great things were expected of him. Despite her advanced age, Sarah was able to breast-feed him, and when he was weaned a great party was held. During it, something happened that brought the simmering quarrel between Sarah and Hagar to a head. As a result, Isaac's older half-brother Ishmael was ejected into the desert to die (though he did not) and Isaac became the undisputed heir to his father Abraham. THE SACRIFICE OF ISAAC Some years later, Abraham received a message from God instructing him to sacrifice Isaac on Mount Moriah. Isaac knew nothing of this until the moment approached for his death - but when he did know, he seems to have accepted the idea with fortitude, not quarreling with his father's intention to kill him. Abraham tied his son him with a rope, placed him on the altar they had built together, and raised the knife to cut Isaac's throat. Fortunately the boy was saved from death by an angel, who instructed Abraham to sacrifice a ram instead - one being conveniently caught in a thicket nearby. Writers seem to gloss over the horror of this incident and the permanent psychological damage it must have done to Isaac. ISAAC FALLS IN LOVE When it came time for Isaac to marry, his father Abraham decided (as was the custom) that Isaac should marry a cousin. This practice kept power and wealth in the hands of the tribe's ruling family. Abraham sent to his brother Laban in Mesopotamia, who had a grand-daughter called Rebecca. A trusted messenger was sent, offering marriage to Isaac. When Rebecca met the messenger she offered water not only to the man but to his thirsty animals, showing a gracious hospitality that impressed him. The go-between introduced himself and told her of his mission, Rebecca agreed to the match, and she and Isaac were duly married. They were happy, but for quite awhile there were no children. Rebecca seemed to be barren. But then she became pregnant, and after a difficult nine months she bore twin sons, Esau and Jacob. Isaac preferred the older twin, Esau, a real man's man and an excellent hunter. Rebecca begged to differ. She loved Jacob, the quiet one, the one who thought before he acted. STRUGGLE FOR THE BIRTHRIGHT Esau, being the elder of the two, would inherit more of his father's goods than Jacob - that was his birthright. One day he came in hungry and tired from a day in the fields. Jacob was cooking a stew, and Esau demanded some of it. He was famished. But Jacob withheld the food. He asked Esau for something in exchange - his birthright as older brother. Did he say it jokingly? There is no way of telling. Esau certainly took it as a joke. 'Just give me the food' he said. 'What use is a birthright to me if I die of hunger?' Jacob still withheld the food. 'Swear to me' said Jacob, and Esau swore the oath giving his birthright to his younger brother. Jacob handed over the food, Esau ate, and the birthright was Jacob's.
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'Just
give me the food' he said. 'What use is a birthright to me if I die of
hunger?' |
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_____________________________________ ISAAC TRICKS KING ABIMELECH A little later there was a famine, and Isaac took his flocks into Gerar, where King Abimelech ruled and pasture was plentiful. He worried about Rebecca - she was beautiful, and he feared she might be desired by the foreign men who saw her. This could result in trouble for him and his clan. So he old people that Rebecca was his sister. This way, they courted his favor rather than wishing him dead. But he could not keep his hands off Rebecca, and one day King Abimelech saw Isaac fondling her in a most un-brotherly way. The King confronted Isaac, who admitted the ruse. The King wass annoyed, not so much because of the deception but because of the guilt that might have been heaped on his people if one of them had had sex with Rebecca, not knowing she was married. Despite this fracas, Isaac did well in Gerar, becoming very wealthy. His flocks increased dramatically. But animals need water, and water was scarce. There were quarrels about the wells in the area, and eventually Isaac moved, ending up at a well his men dug at Shibah, a place that became known as Beer-sheba. Esau had married two Hittite women, foreigners. Neither Isaac or Rebecca approved of his choices, and the wives responded by making life bitter for Isaac and Rebecca. WHO WILL SUCCEED ISAAC? Meanwhile Isaac grew older, and the question of his successor resurfaced. The question was, how to make his father Isaac agree? After all, Isaac has always preferred Esau, and custom dictated that the father give a Blessing to his heir, to cement his position as leader of the tribe. Rebecca and Jacob waited. Then, when death was approaching for Isaac, when he was old and blind and failing, they acted. They prepared Isaac's favorite food, and Rebecca coached Jacob on how to trick his father into mistaking the younger son for the older. Esau was hairy, with hair on his arms and shoulders. Jacob was smooth - in more ways than one. She dressed Jacob in Esau's favorite clothing and covered his arm and neck with the skins of a young goat. Thus disguised he was able to fool Isaac and gain the all-important Blessing. Esau was enraged when he found out what had happened. He set out to kill his brother. But Rebecca got wind of his plan, and smuggled Jacob out of the camp, and away to her relatives in Mesopotamia. Why, she asked, should she lose both her sons in one day? Before Jacob went, Isaac told him to marry a girl from his family in Mesopotamia - not to marry a foreigner as Esau had done. Esau took note, and a little after this, he married another wife, but this time it was a relative, the daughter of Abraham's son Ishmael. Years later, Isaac breathed his last. Jacob was with him when he died at Hebron, and his two sons, now reconciled to each other, buried him there.
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BIBLE
REFERENCE
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PEOPLE
IN THE STORY
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FAMOUS
QUOTES
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INTERESTING WEBSITES - stories, pictures, reconstructions Love at first
sight - famous paintings of Rebecca and Isaac The mothers of
Isaac and Ishmael struggle for power Isaac and
Rebecca - the great love story Tent dwellings of nomadic herdsmen
like Isaac The
story of the
father who offered Isaac as a human sacrifice Lies, lies, lies
- the story of Isaac's son Jacob Childhood
trauma for Isaac? What were the long-term results? ______________________________________________________________________
ACTIVITIES AND FOCUS QUESTIONS Understanding
yourself
Living
with your past
In
depth study of one person's story In
your presentation (approximately 10 minutes), answer the following questions: 1.
What are the main events of the person's life? 2. What were their main qualities? What made them stand out from the crowd? 3.
What obstacles did they face? 4.
How did they use their abilities to do God’s work? 5. Which part of their story appeals to you most? Why? You must include three short quotations from the Bible texts to illustrate the points you are making.
Focus
Questions
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