HEBREW WORD STUDY – APPEAR BEFORE A SUPERIOR – ‘OLAH עלה Ayin Lamed Hei
Genesis 22:2: And he said, Take now thy son, thine only [son] Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of.”
I was reading something interesting in the works of Rashi this evening. Rashi’s real name is Rabbi Sholomo Itzchaki but is known by the acronym Rashi. He was a medieval French Rabbi and author of a comprehensive commentary on the Talmud and the Old Testament. He has a very interesting take on the story of Abraham and his sacrifice of Isaac. When combined with modern Archaeological findings, I believe Rashi was right on the money.
First to understand this whole story of Abraham offering his son as a burnt offering we need to understand why God created a special Hebrew race. The time between the flood and Abraham is about 365 years, which mirrors Enoch who lived 365 years. There were ten patriarchs between Adam and the flood and ten patriarchs between the flood and Abraham. Abraham descends from Shem Noah’s son. These dates are much debated but it gives us a foundation to work on. The time between creation and the flood is about the same as the time between the flood and Abraham. In a matter ten generations the monotheistic belief of Noah became lost to polytheistic beliefs. Cultures developed, traditions developed, family ties were strong and even those charged with preserving the faith became corrupted.
So, God’s approach to preserve the belief in just one God – YHWH or Jehovah was to create a special race of people. This would be the Hebrew or Jewish race. They would be given the Divinely Inspired Word of God, the Torah which carried all the knowledge that man would need to understand God. The Jewish people are entrusted with the Word of God, the Hebrew language and 4,000 years of knowledge of God. They are the guardians of this knowledge. Only Christian arrogance causes us to believe the Jewish people have nothing to teach us. Maybe they did not accept Jesus as the Messiah, but that calling as the Chosen People, is still upon them.
So, after approximately ten generations after the flood man has fallen away from a belief in God. God comes to Abraham and calls him out of a pagan culture to start a new race, a religious race. Abraham a grew up in Ur Kasdim a Sumerian land in lower Mesopotamia during a 300 year famine. As people desperately sought to survive they clung to pagan religions worshipping idols that Abraham’s father made. People even offered human sacrifices of their children in hopes of wining the favor of these gods to help them survive. Human sacrifice was embedded in Abraham’s mind so he did not think it strange that God would call him to sacrifice his son Isaac.
It appears God was trying to purge Abraham of all his pagan beliefs. I mean he had no Bible, no traditions, no doctrine or dogma to guide him. He only had God’s voice and calling and he had to learn about God Jehovah by leaving the land of the Ur and moving North to the land of Canaan.
But, let’s pause here. Did God really tell Abraham to offer Isaac as a burnt offering? Rashi says no and I agree with Rashi. You see the word for burnt offering is “olah which lexicons tell you means a burnt offering only because that is what tradition teaches it to mean. But linguistically it comes from a Canaanite root which means to rise up, appear before a superior, withdrawing upward, mountain climbing and of course raising offerings to God.
According to Rashi, God only told Abraham to rise up or climb a mountain with Isaac and offer him up before God as the superior God ‘olah. It was Abraham’s embedded religious belief based on his pagan background that caused him to assume that God was asking for a human sacrificed when in reality all God was wanting was for Isaac to be dedicated to God, to ‘olah before his Superior.
Now keep in mind, God is an opportunist. He knew Abraham would misinterpret ‘olah and he let Abraham go as far as to almost sacrificing his son to to purge him of his pagan beliefs which were still embedded in Him.
God wanted to clearly show that if there was any human sacrifice to be made, He would do it, not us. So, what difference does it make if God instructed Abraham to make a burnt offering out of Isaac or He just used Abraham’s misunderstanding as an opportunity strip away any remaining pagan beliefs?
You know there are a lot of people who claim to be God’s prophets or ministers who are fleecing their flock. People are sacrificing money and things that they truly need to pay the rent, buy food, or medication and enriching these charlatans. God is not happy with it, He does not endorse, but He is an opportunist. If that person feels bad that they sacrificed to a crook, God is still pleased knowing their heart was with God.
I believe Abraham totally missed God’s call, but God knew His heart was right with Him and stopped the process before any harm was done ending up with a great demonstration of one’s willingness to serve a God he loves.
I would very much like to hear the archeological information on this. I know you have touched on it in class. However, a short snapshot of what has been discovered would be a great addition to this word study. I hope you do this for your readers.
Am I reading this right? Are people claiming that they are unable to retire but their heart is in the right place so they are content with their piety? Well, you are supposed to store 10% for yourself as well, but the first of it should go to God. Anyways…
Interesting study, Chaim. I believe that you have done a piece on this before that talked about Abraham having to look back to see the ram in the bush, which would have reminded him of his past in the land of Ur, where a statue of a ram reaching up to the top of a bush to eat would have been at the entrance to a pagan place of sacrifice. I believe this was an archaeological discovery, and dates back to the same time frame. So, God is having Abraham remember his past and how they sought favor with their gods, and showing that God is providing the sacrifice by way of a ram, which is the very symbol that was at the temple entrance of a pagan god… he is defeating the gods of Abrahams past? I think it has to do with a lot of things, all three that are mentioned: in the post about Rashi’s thoughts, what El Floyo mentioned in their post, and what is mentioned here in this post about him looking to his past where they had to sacrifice their own and now God provides the kid.
Fascinating study Chaim. One point of contradiction for me regarding Abrahams purpose as stated by Rashi is the point the Isaac asked in V7 about the lamb for the sacrifice . To which Abraham said “The Lord will provide”
This is indicating to me the both of them knew about animal sacrifice, so why would it be that Abraham would sacrifice Isaac knowing that and not just present him to God?
Single words open the ayin or insight of the lamed or learning of heh or presence of God
Ayin lamed heh
Thank you
Oh Wow! This perspective reveals far greater depth and beauty to this event!
The story of Abraham and Isaac has always brought fear to my heart as I contemplate what seems to be a very hard side to God’s heart; a harshness that subconsciously causes me to keep holding back from ‘boldly approaching the throne of grace.’
Not only does the fear melt into a warmer love for my Father, but it also reveals a different understanding of God’s heart in those times when I so often misunderstand what He is saying, and I confuse His voice with the voices of past harsh, legalistic teachers.
Thank you Chaim, for opening another door into the heart of God.
Hi Chaim, now you are really stirring me up. :-) I really got to get my giving issue sorted.
Sometimes I am very hard on myself for losing some money on the share market but now come to think of it I also have gladly given 10% to the church and or various ministries over my christian life.
Whilst I own my own home and am grateful for that I have no retirement and am deep down disappointed that at my age I cannot retire due to finances and have to keep going.
I just realised with tithes and offerings over my lifetime I have given away my retirement.
Oh well I seriously mean that at least my heart was in the right place.
Kind regards and keep preaching
Opa
Thank you for this! It confirmed, as your teachings continue to do,what God put in my heart several years ago with respect to tithing. Thank you for continued service to Him.
How wonderful this teaching is with beautiful clarity on this topic. I always knew that Abraham was following his pagan practices, but this really clarifies it for me!!
Keep up the Great work!!!
This is another fascinating interpretation on which to meditate. However, Is the word for burnt offering the same in verse 3 & 8 as translated or interpreted in verse 2? Additionally Moriah means land of provision. What was God going to provide? Did Abe lie to Issac when he said God would provide a lamb for a burnt offering? (again how does the word translate in this verse,VS 8?). Finally, this mountain range is the same one that Jesus was sacrificed on – although it may not be the exact point where Jesus was sacrificed. Abe said I and the lad will return. Was Abe just offering Issac as an offering of dedication as Rashi postulates or did Abe believe God would resurrect Issac after he was burned to ashes? Abe has gone through a lot of spiritual growth over the years before his experience with God on Mt. Moriah. I believe he did expect God to resurrect Issac from the ashes. Why else would God say, “… now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son from me.” ? Why would God then provide a ram to be sacrificed in Issac’s stead? Then Abe builds an alter and calls the place “Jehovah Jireh, God’s covenant name, The Lord will Provide. There is too much symbolism here pertaining to the ultimate sacrifice of Jesus, for Issac to be just a dedication to God.
I appreciate your knowledge of the pragmatics and semantics of the Hebrew text and context. I was taught years ago by a minister that the whole point of the sacrifice was to cleanse Abraham’s heart. That seems to correspond with your explanation of delivering Abraham out of his pagan upbringing. As you say, God is an opportunist, so for me all the rest of the events, surroundings, historicity, and symbolism within the sacrificial context simply support that God wanted to cleanse Abraham in order to raise a neo-pure-blood Isaac as the progenitor of God’s peculiar culture and eventually the ultimate Sacrifice.