Fear of the Lord

The sudden harsh beeping of the Emergency Broadcasting System interrupts our day and is followed with the words, “This is just a test…” The story of the Binding of Isaac [Genesis 22:1-14], the long promised and awaited son of Sarah and Abraham, begins with the words, “After these things came to pass, God tested Abraham.” And to modern ears it all sounds terribly harrowing: asking the aging patriarch of all monotheistic religion, Judaism, Christianity and Islam, to sacrifice the son he thought he would never see. But this is not “just a test.” This is Elohim, the title for the Bible’s God of Justice, setting the stage for all that is to come after – all of which depends on Abraham, who so far has not been 100% dependable. Looking to the end of the story, what appears to be at stake is what the Bible repeatedly calls “fear of the Lord.”

“Now I know that you are one-who-fears-God, since you did not withhold your son, your one-and-only, from me” [v 12]. It helps to know that there is no equivalent Hebrew word in the Bible for ‘religion,’ so that “fear of the Lord” serves that purpose. ‘Fear of the Lord’ is about having a relationship with the One ineffable and transcendent God who has chosen you, Abraham in this instance, to be the one person God can trust to be a blessing to all the peoples of the world – which is God’s stated promise and desire to and for Abraham. “Fear of the Lord” is the core religious virtue in the Bible; “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; fools despise wisdom and instruction.” (Prov 1:7). To fear God is to live in humble recognition of the incalculable difference between God and humans. This story is the first time we see anyone practicing this virtue. So, this is not just a test. This sets the table for everything that eventually winds up with God coming to us himself as flesh and blood in Jesus, who descends from this first family of the biblical narrative. All this leaves the morally alert reader with two questions: How could a virtuous person be willing to kill a child? And, How could a good God demand that Abraham kill his son?

To address these questions I am grateful to a long-time friend and colleague, Ellen Davis, and her analysis of this important narrative found online at Bible Odyssey. Davis allows that although the story is often cast as being about obedience, we all know there is no virtue in absolute obedience to tyrannical demands. The opening words, “After these things…,” however, suggest that there is more to this request. God’s plan for the entire human family is at stake in this one man, and so far, he has not been particularly virtuous or trustworthy. For instance, he has given up his wife Sarah twice to the harem of a foreign king to save his own skin, not trusting God to find a way forward. Mutual Trust is the issue at stake in this episode. Mutual Trust is necessary to bring blessing and good to the all the peoples of the world. The point of the test is to see if Abraham trusts God even to the point of being willing to sacrifice his son whom he loves. Abraham’s Fear of the Lord is the human condition upon which the entire future of the covenant, and human kind, rests. We’re not talking about Abraham’s obedience, but rather his trust in the Lord, aka his ‘fear of the Lord,’ so that the Lord knows he can trust Abraham.

Davis goes on to say that there are only two grounds upon which God can be exonerated from charges of sadism or tyranny. First, this is a real test. The book of Genesis offers no evidence whatsoever to “support the common theological notion that God knows everything before it happens, every human response before it is offered. Thus, when Abraham passes the test, God’s own relief is palpable: ‘Now I know,’ says the Lord. (Gen 22:12). [Ibid, Bible Odyssey] God asks everything of us and has no idea how we might respond. This is Free Will.

God asks everything of Abraham so that Abraham will realize who is ultimately in charge of the covenant: Elohim, the God of Justice. When Abraham submits to the request to sacrifice Isaac, he behaves very differently than when he interceded for the innocent people of Sodom back in Genesis 18, where he aggressively, and rather presumptuously, challenges God’s judgment: “Shall not the judge of all the earth do what is just?” (Gen 18:25). As a result of the power of his intercessory prayer, Abraham is the first person in the Bible called a prophet by God. In the worldview of Genesis, a true and trusting relationship with God entails a balance between such boldness on behalf of humanity and submission to God. Both are necessary for Jews, Christians and Muslims to remain in covenantal relationship with God. “Thus,” concludes Davis, “with this most important ancestor, the Bible begins to show what it is to serve ‘prophetically’ in the covenantal context: negotiating dual commitments to humanity and to God, from moment to moment, discerning when to challenge God on behalf of a weak and sinful humanity and when to submit in “fear” to the sometimes inscrutable divine demand.” [Ibid]

The tenth chapter of Matthew winds up a long discussion of what is required of all who would be disciples of Jesus. Jesus himself pushes both boldness and submission a bit further when he says, “Whoever welcomes you welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me. Whoever welcomes a prophet in the name of a prophet will receive a prophet's reward; and whoever welcomes a righteous person in the name of a righteous person will receive the reward of the righteous; and whoever gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones in the name of a disciple-- truly I tell you, none of these will lose their reward.” [Mt 10:40-42] Those who will be welcomed not only by Jesus but by God his Father, “the one who sent me,’ are those who welcome Prophets like Abraham who embody these core biblical values of boldness on behalf of humanity and submission to God. The same pertains to those “righteous ones” who strive to honor all aspects of the covenant which demands love of God and love of neighbor.

This is a call to radical hospitality as Jesus pushes commitments to humankind one step further it seems – those who offer “a cup of cold water to one of these little ones” will not lose their reward! Little ones can refer to children, who in the culture of the first century middle eastern world were at the very bottom of the social hierarchy – along with slaves, foreigners and the poor of the land. It is easy to welcome prophets and those who carefully observe Torah and the covenant. Further, marriage and creating families is not primarily about happiness, but about sustaining trust and our hope that the falseness of this world is ultimately bounded by a greater truth and light despite the fact that the world rarely provides much evidence that such hope is justified. Like Abraham, we are setting the table for all that is to come after us!

Later, Jesus indeed extends the notion of “these little ones” to all those who are hungry, thirsty, naked, in prison, in need of healing, and strangers [Matthew 25:31-46]. These are not only to be welcomed but to be served. On our knees. Like the one who gets down on his knees to wash our feet. He says that in serving them we are serving him- Jesus. And in serving Jesus we serve God. To show ourselves as those who truly wish to be disciples and those, who like father Abraham, ‘fear the Lord,’ we have a whole lot of welcoming and serving to do. To live a life of ‘fear of the Lord’ is not easy work, as Abraham learned on top of Mount Moriah. But the rewards at the end of the day are worth every difficulty and demand made – eternal life with the Lord of Life, Justice and Love.

Every day, after all else we do, we are being tested. Every day we are sent to the top of Mount Moriah to sacrifice things we hold dear, things that we love, so that God’s promises for humankind are sustained. Every day God seeks evidence that we are those people who truly can be trusted to be people capable of both boldness on behalf of humanity and submission to God’s covenant promises. Every day God looks to us to be a people who are a blessing to all others, to all the peoples of the Earth. Not some, not many, but all – all the peoples of the Earth. Amen.