Genesis 18-23 Part 2 • Dr. Carli Anderson • Feb. 23 - Mar. 1 • Come, Follow Me

Welcome to part 2 with Dr. Carly Anderson, Genesis 18 to 23. We're going to skip to chapter 21 where the promise gets fulfilled. So she got the promise, it had a little bit of laughter in it, then we moved to verse 1. The Lord visited Sarah as he had said, and the Lord didn't to Sarah as he had promised. That word visited its pachad in the Hebrew, and it can be to visit, it can be to a point, it has a specialness to it. It marks it as a very important thing to be visited of the Lord to have that interaction, but also to have a special appointment. I'm seeing that Sarah is going to be able to step into her matriarchal power. The Lord visits Sarah, he pachads. It's a special ritual that moves her into a new space. And Sarah conceived and there Abraham, a son in his old age, at the set time that God had spoken. Abraham called the name of his son that was born to him, whom Sarah bear to him. Say it with me, you suck. We'd get down in verse 6, a little song that Sarah kind of sings to explain the naming. Sarah said, God made me to laugh so that all that here will laugh with me. For seven, and she said, who would have said unto Abraham that Sarah should have given children suck for I have born a son in his old age? The laughter behind it, God has made me to laugh. So I want to bring in a Jewish tradition that sees in her song something special. It's from Genesis Robot, which is a midrashic text. Midrash in the Jewish tradition is commentary and adding a little bit more explanation to the story. Midrash asked the question, so God made Sarah laugh, but what does that mean for us? And then the answer in this midrash is when Sarah was able to laugh and have her miracle, and remember everything she's gone through, then actually that laughter rippled out and more and more people started having miracles. There were women who were barren, who had children, the line people were able to see, lame people were able to walk. Midrash talks about that. It wasn't just Sarah's miracle. It rippled out and created more of the miraculous in the world. I love that for so many reasons, because Sarah and Abraham being so tied to the covenant, that impacting the world in a miraculous way, but also just thinking of the Savior who's going to be one of Sarah's descendants. Through whom many miracles take place, she is one of the kings that belongs in her lineage that is part of her matriarchhood. It's just majestic in its scope. We often call Abraham a father of nations. When you read that verse, kings of people shall be of her, or you said, shall belong to her. Could we call Sarah a mother of nations, then that seems like we could say that too. Yeah, I think so. Carly, this is fantastic. I'm looking through these chapters, and I have, John, how many new notes do you have? I can't even find places to write. I'm running out of post-its. Let's keep going. What's next? I'd like now to reframe Hagar. We've told the story from Sarah's side. Now I wanted to tell the story from Hagar's side, and help you appreciate how the text really treats her with a lot of respect and power as well. To give you a little bit of background on her in some chapters before chapter 21, which is where I'm going to focus, she starts as a maid servant. She's going to have a child part of this kin group, and then she's going to get a new title. She's going to be called Bond Woman or Handmade. Those are different terms in Hebrew. We don't need to get too much into it, except I want you to appreciate that she's elevating. She got in trouble for the disrespect, playing with the hierarchy a little bit, or not handling their respect as well, but even with that, she's able to move into a really powerful place. Actually, by the end of this chapter is going to be her own matriarch of her own line. That was the promise of the angel. I also want to remind you that when the angel talks to her and appears to her, the promise she gets, the wording is really similar to Abraham's, so it's setting her up as an equal to Abraham as well. But then also she does this really amazing thing in Genesis 1613. She names God. She gives God a title. She says, you are L. Roe, the God who sees. She's the only person in Scripture that gives God a name. God gives other people names, but she gives God a name. And then the well is named after that. Where we are now with Hegar is she's moved up in the kin system, the kin group. She's not a chiffra anymore. That's the Hebrew for a maid servant. She's now in Amma. It's translated differently in the English, but it's usually handmade or bond woman. And I want to talk about that just briefly, because the Amma is a level up for her, just like Sarah's leveled up and Abraham's leveled up. Hegar is also leveled up. And Amma, this research is still pretty new, but what scholars are seeing is that the chiffra seems to be a slightly lower position in the kin group than an Amma. Usually when a surrogate mother has the surrogate child, then they become an Amma, they're in a different place in the kin group. And we're still trying to figure out what that looks like, because we're looking back thousands of years to try to figure out what the surrogate, what they knew that we don't know. We can see there's a difference. She has more respect, and she's treated as a mother in the family. So she's definitely very much in a new position, which she deserves. We also know that she had the promised son, Ishmael, who's been born. When Isaac is born, it looks like Ishmael's probably around 13 years old, long time coming for Sarah. But Ishmael is part of the family and integrated well. And then we have in chapter 21 verse 8, this little small note that says, the child grew and was weaned, and then Abraham makes a great feast. It's a party for him. Children probably were weaned between two years and four years old. So we're going to put that to the 13-age for Ishmael when he gets circumcised. That puts Ishmael in this next part of the story around 17 or 18. That's important for the context of what's going to happen next. Because at 17 or 18, Ishmael is getting close to like, marriageable age. He's going to need a wife soon, and that's going to add a whole new dynamic. What's happening in the family if we bring this in? Isaac's still little, but Ishmael's an emerging adult. That helps to build the context for this. I'm just going to go to verse 9. This is a really hard verse for people to understand. Like even scholars don't quite know what's going on with this. Okay, so in verse 9, it says, Sarah saw the son of Heghar the Egyptian, whom she had born unto Abraham mocking. This word mocking is wildly the same root as all of the laughter and the Isaac roots. It's Tsar. So it's Isaac's name, but in a slightly different conjugation, it's actually a participle. Sarah sees that he's doing this action, whatever it is. It's laughing, and nobody quite knows even to this day how to handle it. One scholar sees it as taking Isaac's, maybe even authority, he translates it that Ishmael is Isaacing. He's taking Isaac's position in a way. It's just ongoing at this point. Seems to just be happening as a matter of course, maybe even in that participle form of Isaac. And then another scholar actually looks at this and says that this is actually a clear hint that Ishmael is ready to get married. He's a marriageable age and we need to find him a wife. What does that do to the power dynamics? What's going to happen? This is the toughest verse for Sarah and Hagar, I think, verse 10. Wherefore she says to Abraham, and this is the translation, but I'll go through the heber so you can hear it in a different way. Cast out the spawned woman and her son, for the son of the spawned woman, she'll not be air with my son, even Isaac. This is the tough part when everybody hears this. They're like, Sarah is so mean. There are a couple of ways you can translate this and work with the Hebrew and even some word plays or some illusions that really quite soften it and maybe even make it amazing. Something happening in 9 is Ishmael is getting older and there's something going on with Isaacing or questions about what's going to happen with his position. What is he actually air to? He's given a promise by an angel through his mom. Abraham has some promises, but we also know that Sarah now has a son who is also an air. So we've got two airs. It's emotional and it's relational, but it's also legal. This is a diagnostic question we have to ask. What's really interesting is when Sarah says in the Hebrew that the cast out this bond woman, she uses the word amma. That's why I brought up those titles. She didn't say she's she didn't make her lower than she was. She said, amma, she said the handmaiden. She honored where he is. The idea of casting out it can be to cast out. This is the same route that is used to describe Adam and Eve being cast out of Eden. It also has agricultural movement to it and force to it. There's the growingness to this. Now hold that thought because I'm going to keep going. So when she says cast out move out can see like the growth for Adam and Eve in the Eden versus the growth once they leave. We know that story. They might even think, oh wait, okay, so they need to leave this place where it's been safe where it's been sweet where they have everything they need. Now they need to move out for some growth. That might be what the listeners or the readers are having come to their mind is this Eden myth. That's a possibility. There's other ways to do it, but I'm going to hold that and see if it works logically through the rest of the verse. Sarah says, garage, garage, move this, amma out, move this handmaiden honoring her new position out and also her son. Then the Hebrew because she will not inherit. I want to go into grammar again and talk about this verse. It's Yerash is too inherit or he will inherit or low you rush. He will not inherit. This could also be what's sometimes called a subjunctive. That's just a fancy word for should a what a could we need to move her out and her son out because he shouldn't have to share an inheritance with my son. Not he cannot because I'm being greedy for my son, but it could be Sarah and it reads very well this way both ways read fine in the Hebrew. What if this is Sarah saying move them out from this safe space because these boys both need room to grow and if he stays here his inheritance will be less. That's a possibility for reading this because you can hear that that works really well in the Hebrew not he shall not inherit but he should have to inherit with Isaac. They both have really great promises when these boys are born there already princes there already royal. You can read it it works in the Hebrew to have Sarah being nasty and like get them out because I'm not sharing could be that it could also in several scholars see it as this it could also be Sarah saying this needs to be different because both boys sharing isn't the promise these boys have individual destinies they have to follow if we keep them here wonder both of them might not follow them. When I talk about this with my students I joke boys are rowdy they need space but also like these boys have destinies if you read it that way then this is Sarah acknowledging the promise that the angel gave to Heygar when that angel took Sarah's baby away from her. There's a lot of poignant beauty if you read it that way and it reads find that way in the Hebrew you can read it quite easily this is Sarah saying I know the prophecy for my son and I know the prophecy and promise for your son for them both to have their destinies we have to split. Super beautiful that Sarah is the one and she would be the one because she's the give her a she's the great lady so she would say. This has to be different for everybody to fulfill their fullest destiny this might be Sarah acting in wisdom if you look in verse 11 Abraham doesn't like this idea like I said I see Abraham as somebody who just he loves his family wants his family around he lost his family he's lost a brother yet to leave his family. He loves having his family around this is me putting a character is Asian on Abraham but I see he doesn't want to break up this beautiful thing and this is a little bit like what happens in Eden Eve is like unseen some things and I was like oh no we don't do that. How about we stay here how about we don't leave now. Now Sarah is becoming a type of Eve right in this own way and that term for cast out and got rich that it's the term for get out of Eden move out it's loaded it's supposed to bring back those memories there's that poetic that stylized intent Abraham doesn't like it we might not even like it without even this background you might be like Sarah why are you so mean. Wow yeah Sarah is doing the right thing hey John will you read verse 12 and God said unto Abraham let it not be grievous in thy sight because of the lad and because of thy bond woman in all that Sarah had said into the harken under her voice for an Isaac shall thy seed be called. Basically God says Sarah's right. Now if Sarah's being mean and again the translation it really sounds that way the term bond woman it kind of sounds like she doesn't want to around she doesn't want to share the inheritance. If we can let Sarah be this noble amazing woman that she's been so far and that people all over that region of notice and even the Lord has noticed then this fits better this fits better as a woman who's like Eve watching what's happening and saying we can't grow here. I think there's a different way and that way. Involves moving out and then God says Sarah's right. I think my wife is going to have me memorize that verse in all that Sarah have said unto the harken unto her voice she is right call this pink law. She just pulled that out of her pocket any time. Yeah that's interesting that completely changes the story here. Yeah it does doesn't it and our perception of Sarah yeah it fits her role it fits how close she is to God in her understanding of what's supposed to happen I love it. Yeah she's doing another hard thing she's willing to do it she's thinking of others and she's honoring the prophecy that took away her first hope so it's just so poignant and beautiful she's acting with a wisdom she's seeing things that not everyone is seeing and asking for that to be so. Hey God really is going to have a cool moment here with Abraham and the wording moves her into a really beautiful leading responsibility God says to Abraham don't be distressed I don't want you to be upset about it do what Sarah says Sarah's right there's an interesting element a couple of interesting words I want to bring into because we've been talking about how there might be echoes of Eden in this part of the story. God says Sarah's right whatever Sarah says do that then the Hebrew key be it's back because in Isaac yikare lecha Zara so that would be seed is going to be named to you it's been awkward phrase but I want to suggest maybe even like a possible ritual illusion to remember we talked about naming and how naming moves people into kingship. It is that the offspring is going to be continued through him but also the offspring is going to be named through the descendants of Isaac that might be a ritual illusion I'm not sure I can say much more about it but there's something there you see it mirrored but in different wording in verse 13 as for the son of the amma the handmaiden this is hey gar I will set him up as a nation so it's a see man who I'm going to set him up and you do. So that with kings you put them in a place where they can be seen a high place or it's elevated ritualistic in its way and his seed will also be yours we've got two matriarchs that are setting up independent lines working in the covenant in their specific ways. That seems to satisfy Abraham we don't get another objection then this next verse is really really pretty for hey gar I want to go through it slowly if we can Abraham rises up early in the morning and he takes bread and he takes like a water skin is usually how they'll translate skin of water and he puts it upon hey gar. Translating from the Hebrew here so the king James might be a little bit different he placed it upon her shoulder now that word shoulder is going to be important because the next thing that happens in the verse is and also the child in like even artistic renderings of this sometimes you'll see hey gar and she's like looking scared and she's got like one water skin and a little thing of bread and she's got this baby on her or like a kid. Hey hope you live if you read it in English it can read like that pretty easily but the Hebrew is so stylized first of all the word for the boy is yellow but that's a little child but we've already established he's not a little child use a grown man that's a symbolic word he gives her water he gives her bread and then he gives her the sun the yellow and he puts it on her shoulder and the shoulder is a really unique word. There's scholars who look at this with the idea of the shoulder that he puts it on her shoulder the water skin and the bread and the yellow and the boy who's not a boy he's a grown man and he sees it as Abraham giving her responsibility governing power over this child's life now. She now is the primary person who's going to care for this child who makes decisions decisions for this child or this boy he's a grown man for ish male. The shoulder in other places in scripture can be used as a symbol for governance for responsibility and even maybe kingship you know this from the really famous Isaiah 9.6 and the government shall be upon his shoulder. There's another Isaiah verse in chapter 22 verse 22 that talks about authority being placed on somebody's shoulder you'll see this in Nehemiah in a slightly different way they don't want to give their shoulders their authority away they want to keep their freedom and in Zephaniah 392 so there's places where shoulder becomes symbolic of royal power leadership if that makes sense what's happening here probably is Abraham not casting Hagar out. But giving her the royal charge she's now the queen this is her lineage she's the queen she's making decisions for it it's freedom it's also setting up the promise with that idea of royalty for her son she's the queen he's the prince and they now go she's under his authority they see this is reflected in the fact that she picks a husband for ish male later if he was still in the middle of the world. If he was still in Abraham's household Abraham would pick the wife but Hagar picks the wife so she has legal royal authority she's being invested with this power by Abraham in this verse you can read it as you just gave her some stuff in hopes you lived actually what I think is going on here is that he says okay we're going to do what we said we do you're right the boys can her together. I know in this to you with this authority to be the matriarch over this line then she goes out into the wilderness of birchava then there's one more cool word that I think you like it has to do with further down on the verse it says she departed and wandered in the wilderness of birchava so you can picture her just like we think about it in normal way she's got food water a kid who's 17 or 18 right we hope she finds water before everything runs out. But I don't think it's that I think it is stylized and the wandering also reinforces that there's some really cool recent scholarship that looks at this route to wander and sees in it an illusion to not wandering like where am I what's going on more wandering strategically which echoes what the nomadic people that will be the descendants of ish male do in the desert they wander strategically they don't know what they're doing. They don't settle down necessarily right like think of better and nomadic communities they wander they know where the water is they know where the wells are they know where the OEC are they wander strategically and it isn't a straight route it's very strategic this color sees it as a word play on what her descendants what ish male and haggars descendants are going to do in the wilderness down by birchava in that area. It changes how you read the verse because she's not just wandering and we hope she doesn't die she's been invested with authority by Abraham to lead this line to be this matriarch also is learning the ropes maybe or she's setting up the skillful knowledge of the desert that there she and ish male descendants are going to have remember this is mythic like I said it's not true it's the use of the ancestral myths of these people and you can hear it in the words. That loosens it so much I think it makes it quite beautiful for everybody down doesn't seem like she got shoved away she ran out of water later in the day. Yeah we get to the part of the story where she can't find water gives her story a little bit more nuance she's been wandering skillfully which implies she knows how to find water in a desert we know it because there's shrubs nearby which means there's got to be water underground somewhere she knows what she's doing. She's looking for the thing expects it to be there and it's not there here is her parallel to what happens for Sarah and what happens for Abraham all three of these are going to lose or almost lose a son and I want to set it up to because like what I'm saying earlier about how our individual experiences can shape our faith and it becomes really unique kinds of faith. The faith that Sarah developed is going to be different hey gar has to develop the faith of doing something alone she's not with the family more she had to get out of that place and grow create the inheritance right she had to do it alone that's its own experience the faith that you have to develop if you've ever been a single parent or if you've ever had to bear a really heavy responsibility alone you know what it is to dig deep and try to figure it out then you also know that sort of shock when you're like I'm here it should be here what's happening and it's not there the miracle story then is she's looking for water it should be there and it's not there when the water is gone I don't think this is the same water Abraham gave her I think in the wandering she's getting water she knows where to find the water but at this place that looks like there should be water there it's not now she's feeling it's not there. She's feeling that pinch that stress she goes down a distance and it says a bow shot away and this bow shot away is an illusion to again the ancestral tradition it smells descendants are going to have archery and bowmanship it brings in that that's a little mythic illusion then she says I don't know what to do I don't think I can watch my child die again the challenge it's really poignant she's had to go out alone this was the right thing God said it everybody knew it and Abraham invests her with authority she's making it work she's doing well and setting up these patterns for her ancestry but then the thing she thinks should be there isn't there you can really two experiences of that where like I showed up and it should be here and it's not here so what do I do it's very similar to Sarah's story I had a promise and it's not going to happen not in the way you think anyway yeah I don't think I can watch it happen I can't watch the promise disappear I can't watch the boy die like with Sarah Sarah's came a little bit later Hey, guys comes almost immediately it's an angel Carly so far I have to tell you Sarah has come to life for me and Hagar you feel their stories more there's a lot of heartache and pain and growth and God working individually with each woman we never want these just to be names in our scriptures you said we were going to do three people today Sarah, hey, and I'm guessing now we moved Abraham correct we're going to go to Abraham now there stories parallel each other can talk about how each of them is going to lose or almost lose a child spoiler alert but you probably know what happens in Genesis 22 this is a family dealing with really complicated problems complicated issues around like surrogacy and the legalities and friendship and relationship it's all kinds of difficulties on the ground but it's still beautifully symbolic beautifully told in a way that calls in imagery from Eden and calls in imagery of royalty and special lines and princes and again these are ancestral stories for the ancient people they're seeing themselves in the story they're seeing their families their lineages but it's also just about a family trying to navigate how life is sometimes hard and it's hard to be in a family and sometimes it's hard to grow and sometimes you get disappointed you added another layer by telling us quite not only are these stories not written in English they're written a long time ago and the people reading them there's things written in there for them they're not as ancient they're ancient compared to us these descendants are going to be neighbors they're going to be cousins yet you still don't lose the majesty the majesty of what's happening for these roles it's all acknowledged these are real lines these are special sons these are special women this is a special family maybe just one takeaway is God can take a family with a lot of complicated issues and use them for his purposes right yeah that gives us all a little bit more hope right because ever having Sarah and Heycar it's a spiritual lineage were adopted into these families they had these families this is their story complicated and messy it's encouraging whatever I'm going through what I don't seem to be getting right yeah they're still hope for me yeah and then God's going to use our family yeah exactly okay tell us about Abraham I love Abraham's story I mean this is the one we know well this is the one that we tell it's a beautiful story and it has a gorgeous parallels to Christ and the plan of salvation also in thinking about the parallels with what's just happened for Sarah and Heyguard we've been looking at them I want to read this also with an eye for Abraham's faith and for the way that he moves through his challenge for his exquisitely difficult trial the thing that he has to overcome and experience there's some really beautiful poetic language in this text that we can play with to help you appreciate how it was told it is still I think even today understood by scholars and by people who study the Bible as literature to be one of the most beautiful chapters in the entire book it's beautifully written it's beautiful in the Hebrew it's beautiful even in translation the narrative style pulls you in I mean the story itself will pull you in but the way it's told us the way it's told us all so quite beautiful we've gone through all of this we've got the princes set up they're in their separate territories in Genesis 22 we get this in first one the setup this is again more dramatic irony either readers know what's happening maybe even before Abraham does inverse one we get it set up and it came to pass after these things that God attempt Abraham no I want to change that because the Hebrew has a sense of tempting but it really is a sense of trying this is I need to see where you're at Abraham so it's not attempting I'm going to pull you over here and see if you'll go gets more of I need to see where you're at it's nice I it's the idea of a trial really basically I need to see how you'll respond to the situation we're setting that up God's going to do that and then there's this lovely interaction between God and Abraham that I want to highlight this would be stylized then he will have echoes later in some of the stories the biblical stories God says to Abraham and he just says his name Abraham by your mayor of other home value where he and he that's God says Abraham and Abraham says here I am so this word he and he is a really interesting word it's like an acknowledging of yourself like I'm right here you can use it almost as a beginning of something and look this happened something like look would be the he and it's got a sense of pause but it's also got a sense of identifying your self in a place and it's also used in some sacred setting so a similar exchange is going to go on between the boy prophet Samuel and God it's going to have this kind of interaction God says someone's name and then they say here I am it also happens in Isaiah Isaiah 6 Isaiah is going to respond to God saying here I am Abraham is beginning this situation with God saying Abraham and Abraham says he and he is a lot of ways you could look at this but what I see in this is it's preparing Abraham for again the next level I'm going to pull you up to this next level which I feel like happens to us a lot in life. We get through things we go through trial with settle in maybe we're like okay I learned a lot I'm right and then there'll be the next thing but it is about growth we didn't come necessarily just to like sit on a beach and play ukulele although I would really love to do that. So it's like Abraham we're moving up again I wonder if Abraham's like okay I know what this means. He may need that word that he would work is going to appear multiple times in the story and it's going to be used in interesting ways Abraham is always saying I'm here here I am showing up being there. John will you read to okay Genesis 22 verse 2 and he said take now my son I'm only son Isaac whom the love is and get the into the land of more I and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell the of. Awesome in the English you can see that he's stating multiple times by identifying who you're supposed to take. What's beautiful about this is it moves a step by step in zeros in on a specific we get multiple ways of thinking about Isaac our Isaac our rejoicing laughter son you can also see it's inching closer and closer to specifics and each one. So point it I want you to take your son. The one you really love I want you to take Isaac now in Jewish tradition I just want to share this because I think it's nice you can hear the pacing in it also gives it a little bit of depth this is also in Genesis robot that midrash when they see this repetition of we haven't quite gotten to the name yet and now we're going to Isaac. They imagine this conversation God says to Abraham take your son and Abraham says I have two sons God says your only one and he says each is the only son of his mother God says the one you love and Abraham says I love them both and then God says Isaac. It pulls that pace out a little bit more and you can appreciate each one of those words another really interesting thing is that the only one take your son your only son this one is a really interesting word and it's going to be a repeated word it's Yachid it's yachid or you had it comes from this route you had the route can be only it can be solitary but it can also imply unity there's a unity a oneness but also a singleness a solitaryness it's going to bounce back and forth between those but I love this word in this passage because it's not hard to see types of Christ that this is a simple word. This is a similar story about Christ and his toning sacrifice and how there is someone that takes place of Isaac so that sacrifice is take place on the temple mountain Jerusalem but then there is the last sacrifice that it's Christ take your son your only one the one you love your beloved son take Isaac the rejoicing laughter one the joyful one. And then offer him as a burnt offering on one of the high places that I'm going to show you the burnt offering this word is Ola there are lots of different kinds of sacrifices and offerings in the Bible and the biblical text ways you could do this what the Ola is the offering that you would bring to the temple or that you would offer up when you wanted absolute communion with God wasn't that you had like you're worried about something that it happened or you wanted to be grateful and say thank you the Ola is where you just take the whole animal and you just put on there and you let it burn and it's symbolic of your whole self the deepest kinds of consecration putting yourself right on the altar emptying your sense of self even absolute consecration that's what he's asking I want you to offer him up as an Ola as a deep deep consecrated act. So what to the mountain just like wells are places where you're like oh something good's going to happen mountains are also good places in the biblical text if you're going up to a mountain something interesting something good probably something sacred is going to happen mountains carry that connotation we got wells we've got mountains take him up on a mountain then you get in verse three a kind of a slowing down of the pace here's the test here's what I'm going to do. I'm looking for your son the only one the one you love Isaac then we get what Abraham does and what scholars of news is that this pace we get him slowly gathering things to get ready to go that's one verse and then like miles get covered in a couple of verses we go really fast then when we get to the mountain it's going to slow down again and this is part of the lyrics style you can hear it and you can see that in the English really well but it's really lovely storytelling to pull the way you want to do it. So let's pull this into the story and find the beauty in the story the next morning Abraham saddles his ass and he takes two of his servants and his son Isaac he split the wood for the burnt offering and he sat out for the place which got a told him he doesn't want to leave to do it can you kind of hear it like we get details on how he's preparing and get ready to go you can hear the hesitation in the telling of the story then on the third day Abraham looks up and he sees the place from afar. What I want to focus on is verse five there's some beautiful stuff that happens in the Hebrew that you might miss in the English Abraham says to his servants or to his young men abide here with the ass and I in the lab will go beyond and worship and come to you again sounds pretty cut and dry. Each one of those descriptions of what he and Isaac are going to do are really interesting this is grammar but it's a really interesting conjugation and it's called a co-ordative don't forget about the word the courtative just means it's a command to the first person usually when I think of a command I'll be like hey take your shoes off or hang your hat over there the you is implied sit down eat the sandwich whatever the you is implied I'm commanding a you I'm commanding a person. In the co-ordative it's a command to yourself or to the collective so I can say to myself I command you to do this I will you to do this I wish this to be done let me or I shall is often ways that it's translated it has a sense of will like I will this to be so if I was going to come out myself to eat a cookie I would be like I shall eat a cookie let me eat a cookie. It's not common in English but it does show up a lot in Hebrew it's common in my house I shall eat a cookie I shall eat a cookie. You get in the sense of it because it's you want it to be like I want that cookie so bad so when he says I am going to yonder and worship that's what he means I yeah but notice it's not I it's we and we just see that because you can see Abraham's. Faith you can see or Abraham would like this to go and how he remember he wrestles with God he negotiates he knows he can talk to God he can tell him what he wants he can tell him what he thinks first five he says I in the lad will go yonder the two of them they're going to do it in the Hebrew you can see it's the we it's two of us two together we will go up it's a command so we shall or I will that we're going to go up. Go up to odd code to that place you can almost see him pointing in the telling of the story also a co-orditive we are going to worship the two of us we are going to worship and we're going to do the thing we're going to do the ritual we're going to do the worship then come again to you that's also a we it's not singular and it's co-orditive I will that we return. He returned not should I I willing let us both return let us not just me he knows what he's supposed to do you can see his faith it's so powerful to me is there an element of trust like this is going to work out. Yeah that's what I see even maybe an element of prayer he's saying we're going to go up we're going to worship and we're going to come down. Both of us that's a we that's not clear in the English but it's very much there in the Hebrew I wonder if he thinks okay I'm going to go through it this but. I think that God's going to bring him back maybe something like that maybe he's not going to stop me but something's going to happen yeah we get a hint of what he's thinking when Isaac asks a little bit later in verse seven Isaac asks we've got the fire we've got the wood but where's the sheep in verse eight Abraham says it's God who will see to the sheep God's going to provide the sheep so we get a hint of what he's thinking now you can read it it's got a lot of irony in fact. If you're just listening to the story or you just reading it in its stylitions poetic form yeah what's going to happen how is this going to be solved. And also you can see Abraham's hope he's like God's going to provide we don't really know what he's thinking except that we know he wants them both to come down and he's trusting that God's going to provide a way. Then in verse six I want to go back to that remember that route you're glad that is both solitary and alone or only but also unity it comes back into the telling in verse six Abraham takes the wood for the burnt offering and he lays it upon Isaac a son and he takes the fire in his hand and the knife and they went both of them together. That both of them together it's that same route you're glad it's you're done the two of them together there's unity in that one the last time we saw it was take your son your only one. But now it's the two of them and it's there united they're going together now there's going to be a little exchange then we're going to get it again the two of them walk together and you can see that both of them together another little interesting element in this verse is that there was a lot of fun. That there were been exchanges noticed is that Abraham gives Isaac the wood and Abraham has the fire and the knife in his hand those are the dangerous things that's the lethal stuff Abraham has that in his hands one interpretation of that is that Abraham is holding it because it's got to be his job. Another interpretation is that he's holding it because he wants to keep it as far away from Isaac as he can before anything has to happen that makes sense so he's holding the lethal stuff. Isaac is also holding the wood you can see a beautiful parallel of holding the wood that ties to the idea of Christ and the cross and the wood and the tree. I don't remember when I made this note might have been four years ago but I had next to verse five and we come to you again inserting the word we in the nrs v and I have maybe God will raise him again maybe that was the like you said will come back to you both of us maybe God will raise him again whoa. Yeah he's got faith it's a willingness I need this to be it's like it's a command not even willing this that's not even the right word it's it's a command I want this to be so then they take the instruments and they walk the two of them together that phrase is going to come up again in verse eight in between that between the first expression of them walking together in unity and the second one is a conversation that happens and it's Isaac he asks in verse seven. In verse seven Isaacs they can to Abraham his father and said my father notice that what does Abraham say Isaac starts the conversation my father so he calls in my name then he said Abraham responds what does he respond do you see it. Hey, nanny. Good. There it is again. He responds to Isaac in the same way he responds to the Lord. He's like here I am it's so poignant it's so powerful there Isaac starts his conversation in that same sacred transaction that Abraham and God were having. Here I am my son Isaac says behold the fire and the wood but where is the lamb then Abraham in verse eight says my son God will provide himself a lamb for the burnt offering then we get the repetition of the phrase that we had right before this conversation and the two of them walked together it sandwiches that conversation so if you're listening skillfully you'll hear they walk together Isaac says dad where's the lamp and Abraham says God will provide it's just loaded does Isaac know what's happening what's the explanation for this we do know that after that conversation Abraham says God will provide and they walk together and I would translate it even in unity they're walking together in unity it could be subtext right there's an exchange that's not verbal but they implicit between the two of them. I also really love that idea of unity that you can see mirrored in the story with Isaac and Abraham but you can also see that mirrored in Christ in his unity with the father that they walk together in that unity and that one this. It's getting very intense as you read yeah even though we all know what's going to happen it's still. The pace is just so perfect and what's being emphasized is so poignant the idea of questions that are being asked they're still moving forward in unity and Abraham still has his faith God's going to provide God's going to provide. And then in verse nine they arrive at the place in which God had told Abraham Abraham builds the altar and lays the wood in order we're slowing back down this is the same pace as when he was packing to go you get a play by play what's happening every minute instead of a couple of verses where they wandered for three days you're feeling the anguish you're feeling this is the moment the miracles got to come. I'm holding that faith and I'm keeping that in my heart I want that to be true he builds the altar they lay the wood they bind Isaac slow slow slow and lays him on the altar upon the wood it's just wild because you can hear momentum leading up to this first 10 and Abraham stretched forth his hand and took the knife to slay his son it's up in the air. This story is so poignant that there's actually images across the three Abrahamic traditions Judaism Christianity Islam. The show Abraham with his hand up with a knife in it and Isaac and then the angel the angel show up to keep things okay they keep the covenant alive they fix the situation here he is with his hand up. And the angel the Lord called out to him from heaven God says Abraham Abraham interesting that he says it twice right first time you just said it once. I am I'm here I am in the act ready to do this thing that I don't want to do and then of course verse 12 and he said lay not the hand upon the lad neither do anything unto him for now I know that thou fear's God seeing that thou has not withheld thy son. Thy only son from me and there's that only again that Yachad root you better be the most punctual angel ever like you cannot be late to this isn't it how God waits until the last minute sometimes before intervention absolutely last minute okay we're going to put to death all the believers have a nice night. At the going down of the sun and third Nephi. I had a friend who said once God loves a photo finished it does seem that way faith requires pushing the edges. What to build it you have to get pushed the strength that comes from it's just like spiritual straight training there's something about it just getting pushed just to the edge to just see if you can hold it. Forever more we refer to Abrahamic tests as the ultimate that's really true it becomes our type of all big trials. You remember in the beginning it's an allah this is a consecration but it's also any side it's also a test this is a test to see how consecrated is Abraham. It's frightening even what is happening and what seems to be being required there is that level of total consecration just total trust this is pulling it I think every part of emotionally physically spiritually from the progary price this is like childhood trauma even he's facing. The Lord is let me put you face to face with the ultimate nightmare. Do you trust me everybody walks out even the Lord is like you really impressed me there right. Don't you think that's how the Lord is with us when we go through these tough times and these trials that feel so heavy or that pushes to the brink where you're back is against the wall it's now or never Lord. I love that you said I think even the Lord was impressed because I think he's impressed with us to. There's something that I know John loves to quote and John I actually have the exact story here that you've quoted to me many times this is Truman G. Madsen it's called the power from Abrahamic tests. Brother Madsen says once I was in the valley known as heparan now beautifully fruitful and where tradition has it there is a tomb to father Abraham as I approached the place with elder hubi brown I asked what are the blessings of Abraham Isaac and Jacob elder brown thought for a moment and answered in one word. Posterity that I almost burst out why then was Abraham commanded to go to Mount Mariah and offer his only hope of posterity it was clear that this man nearly 90 have thought and prayed and wept over that question before he finally said Abraham needed to learn something about Abraham. Wouldn't you say we learn more from our hard experiences than from our easy ones but I don't pray for hard experiences. The end of that talk brothers and sisters today we need Abraham's. We need those who are willing to stand and who having done all stand. We have people now need more who can listen to the living word and the present commitment of the Lord Jesus Christ through his prophets and stand may God help us respond and become Abraham's. Like that word stand when you think of the word stand and standards that come from it and the opposite of stand would be to shrink or buckle or wilt or compromise. Be a standard bear do you stand with the leaders and represent their view to the people or do you stand with the people and represent their view to the leaders which way do you face where do you stand. Those are all tough questions and how do you feel if you're Abraham and you went the distance is that why he names the mountain name of the place. Yeah thank you for taking us there yeah he names the mountain there's so much that's beautiful about this name this mountain is going to be traditionally the place of the temple. When scholars look at this they're seeing this as the sacrifices that are going to take place on the temple mirror this story and then also echo ahead to Christ who is the person that makes faith possible. A lot of people are very interested in that real estate right there. Yeah it's true. Descendants of Isaac worship there for however long and now the descendants of Ishmael worship there yeah yeah. Secret to all three Abrahamic traditions and on of our first days Hank and one of the first Old Testament lessons and come follow me is to look for Jesus in these stories. Parallels here are pretty hard to miss. Yeah the way it's told just brings them up think of Jehovah watching this. Play out knowing that when it plays out for him. There is no there's no angel to stop him. He and his father will go through with this right he will like Isaac it it seems a lot of wonder about this if Isaac was submitting to this that Jesus will seems like it yeah be a willing sacrifice. Even after every time I've read this the way you walked us through it Carly I'm got a great here I'm like okay. It's such a powerful story. I love that it was written so beautifully I mean all of I think all of the Genesis stories especially written so beautifully but this one there's just something in it that is relatable but also. Cosmically vastly a type of the whole beauty of the plan of salvation. Yeah we've had we have one father two mothers two sons and so many separate journeys. Yeah parallels but different and Jehovah working with each one giving promises each one testing each one. Carly I laughed really hard today you really pulled on my soul here with this last story of Abraham and also talking about Heygarn and Sarah how do you want to wrap this up. Taking us to verse 14 the very end of the story right after they see the ram and the ram becomes the sacrifice so Isaac lives Abraham's face came through and God showed up right in the next time. This story ends with a word play that's actually going to be pulled in by Christ later when he's talking about Abraham I think you'll like how he brings us full circle but let's look at verse 14 first there's some Hebrew in here it's Anglicized Hebrew but does anyone want to try it. Go for a John Genesis 22 14 and Abraham called the name of that place Jehovah year a as it is said to this day in the mount of the Lord it shall be seen. This is an ideology this is a verse that says here's why this place has this name and here's what this place means because of this name and this story it's like a little bow at the end of the story but it also marks the place that that's where this happened we're hearing it in 2026 but the ancient people would hear it too and understand that this is the place where the sacrifices happen and this is the story about why they happen the way they do. And it's interesting because that literally reads the Lord will see or the Lord sees continually like the Lord is is watching this and then it says and to this day it's called in the mountain of the Lord it shall be seen it's both an active and a passive the Lord sees and then this is where it will be seen. Let's go to John chapter 8 verse 56 and I need to shout out to a friend and colleague Matt Bowen who wrote about this and saw this connection was really very beautiful. Matt's been on our show before couple of times. The connection here is going to tie all of our stories together this is Christ talking about Abraham he's referring to this mythic story again when I say myth I never mean not true it's just really symbolic full culturally weighty story. He pulls in the word play verse 56 your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day and he saw it and was glad what you can see in here is seeing Abraham seeing which is how we end this story the Lord sees and it will be seen on this mountain. But also there's rejoicing in that actually might be a tie to Isaac remember Isaac is joyful laughter you talk means to rejoice and laugh what's beautiful to me about this first is it's Christ knowing these stories knowing these people knowing these figures and saying in a beautifully poetic way possibly bringing in Isaac with the rejoicing and bringing in the seeing and. Abraham on the mountain and all of it together is away that salvation comes to the human family with sacrifice and seeing and rejoicing and these covenant people this beautiful covenant family. Carly isn't Jesus standing at the exact same spot yes yes good I'm glad you saw that I have been here before. He's to tower knuckles old yeah now are not yet 50 years old you've seen Abraham and Jesus says not all of I see Abraham I've been right here with Abraham that's really awesome. The story and the experience in all the faith and then the salvation the being that's going to bring it about all their in place and space and story it's rejoicing ultimately it's just going to be rejoicing. Carly I can't tell you how wonderful this has been John I say this a lot I know when I'm feeling the Holy Ghost is when I don't want it to end and I want to be a better person. Carly this is our family we don't realize we're doing family history when we study these stories right I like that yeah even though John and I don't speak the Hebrew you opened it enough to us to where I feel like we got closer to the original. Good I'm glad you saw that I felt that it. There's something about it that really opens up the stories and makes them rich. Thank you for your time Carly thank you. John we absolutely need to thank two people Gaelene and Russell Anderson in Sandy Utah they gave us this opportunity Carly's parents. I'm really lucky I my parents are the reason that I you're making me cry guys my parents are the reason that I have the spiritual curiosity they brought these stories to life for me my mom and my dad when I was little they encouraged me in my study and I am what I am because of them. Thanks for the shout out they deserve it beautiful perfect place to finish we want to thank Dr Carly and Anderson for being with us today it has been pure joy we want to thank our executive producer Shannon Swanson our sponsors David and Verla Swanson in every episode we remember our founder Steve Swanson we hope you'll join us next week. We've got more of Genesis to cover on follow him as a thank you to our wonderful listeners we'd love to gift you the digital version of our book finding Jesus Christ in the old test. It offers short meaningful insights drawn from our past Old Testament episodes visit follow him dot co that's follow him dot co to download your free copy today and you'll also find the link to purchase the print edition thank you for being part of our follow him family. Of course none of this could happen without our incredible production crew David Perry Lisa spice will stoked it crystal Roberts are a Elk water Heather Barlow Amelia Kavika Sydney Smith and Annabelle sorts whatever questions or problems you have the answers always found in the life and teachings of Jesus Christ turn to him follow him.