True Meaning And Context Of Genesis 22 1-19

In this exegetical paper, we will be investigating the true meaning and context of Genesis 22:1-19. In this ancient near east narrative Abraham is put to the test and blessed for obeying God. We will understand why Abraham is tested and what kind of blessing was given to Abraham. We will incorporate historical context to get a bigger picture of what is happening during the time of this narrative as well as understand why the author would tell such a story to the people of Israel. To conduct a thorough exegesis, we will use many resources to extract sensitive and crucial information from the text. We will also investigate the Septuagint writing that were written in Greek and transferred back to Hebrew by Jewish translators to get a more in
Mills 1995) or "the Akedah ". We are lead to believe that God commanded Abraham to sacrifice his only begotten son as a test of faith or trust in Him. To truly understand this narrative and its message, we have to look at the stories leading up to and happening after this text. As we begin to properly exegete this text, we find ourselves asking questions like, "what is the purpose of telling such a story?" “What is the true meaning of this text?" Before we begin feeding our hermeneutical suspicion, we must first investigate and understand the main character in the text, which is Abraham. In the book of Genesis, the two known sources are making it a priority to not only validate Abraham’s actions but also persuade the reader into believing that Abraham was chosen by God to give life to the Israelites
The command to sacrifice Isaac was a mandatory test for Abraham that allowed him to be blessed with the honor and responsibility to give life to Israel . This is a crucial part of biblical history because it created a foundation for future generations to stand on and use to know God. This foundation was not just for a nation or specific culture; it was for anyone who wanted to have an intimate relationship with God. We can understand this to be true because when we choose to "give our lives to Christ" , we are not just becoming a “body of Christ” but we are sacrificing an old and broken version of ourselves for a new and whole version of ourselves. By becoming a part of Christ you are making one of the most difficult sacrifices in your life, however you are now inheriting “the gate of his enemies” (biblestudytools.com n.d.). This in its self makes you Israel and allows you to possess the authority and power over evil. We start to understand terms like “Freedom”, “Salvation” and being “Redeemed”. Essentially this authority comes from knowing God who is the truth and when we are exposed to the truth, we are not easily put in bondage