God has commanded us not to murder So why did God command Abraham to kill his Son Isaac?

The question is a valid question. One I will attempt my best to answer. We must keep in mind when asking God questions, we must never ask in a accusative manner for who are we to question God? Will the thing formed say to the one that formed him why did you make me like this? (Romans 9:20).

Exodus 20:13 commands us that we are not to murder. But in Genesis 22 we read the account of God commanding Abraham to offer Isaac as a sacrifice to Him (God). This on the surface it appears God is contradicting himself. Is He?

Let’s examine carefully these two commands.

First, in Genesis 22:1-19 we read:

And it came to pass after these things, that God did prove Abraham, and said unto him, Abraham. And he said, Here am I. 2 And he said, Take now thy son, thine only son, whom thou lovest, even Isaac, 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.

3 And Abraham rose early in the morning, and saddled his ass, and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son. And he clave the wood for the burnt-offering, and rose up, and went unto the place of which God had told him. 4 On the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes, and saw the place afar off. 5 And Abraham said unto his young men, Abide ye here with the ass, and I and the lad will go yonder; and we will worship, and come again to you. 6 And Abraham took the wood of the burnt-offering, and laid it upon Isaac his son. And he took in his hand the fire and the knife. And they went both of them together. 7 And Isaac spake unto Abraham his father, and said, My father. And he said, Here am I, my son. And he said, Behold, the fire and the wood. But where is the lamb for a burnt-offering? 8 And Abraham said, God will provide himself the lamb for a burnt-offering, my son. So they went both of them together. 9 And they came to the place which God had told him of. And Abraham built the altar there, and laid the wood in order, and bound Isaac his son, and laid him on the altar, upon the wood. 10 And Abraham stretched forth his hand, and took the knife to slay his son.

11 And the angel of Jehovah called unto him out of heaven, and said, Abraham, Abraham. And he said, Here I am. 12 And he said, Lay not thy hand upon the lad, neither do thou anything unto him. For now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son, from me. 13 And Abraham lifted up his eyes, and looked, and behold, behind him a ram caught in the thicket by his horns. And Abraham went and took the ram, and offered him up for a burnt-offering in the stead of his son. 14 And Abraham called the name of that place Jehovah-jireh. As it is said to this day, In the mount of Jehovah it shall be provided.

15 And the angel of Jehovah called unto Abraham a second time out of heaven, 16 and said, By myself have I sworn, saith Jehovah, because thou hast done this thing, and hast not withheld thy son, thine only son, 17 that in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heavens, and as the sand which is upon the seashore. And thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies. 18 And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed. Because thou hast obeyed my voice. 19 So Abraham returned unto his young men, and they rose up and went together to Beer-sheba. And Abraham dwelt at Beer-sheba.

In this account God is commanding Abraham to kill his son. By this time in his life Abraham is an obedient man, and has learned over time to trust in God. Notice verse five he tells his servants that he and the lad will go and worship and come again to you. That let’s the reader know that Abraham was convinced even if he had to sacrifice his only son, God would have to raise him from the dead. That’s great faith. Remember, God made a promise to Abraham that even before Isaac was born that all the nations of the earth would be blessed through Abraham’s seed; that being Isaac. The scriptures tell us that Abraham believed God’s word (Genesis 15:5; 22:18).

So, why the whole scene of sacrificing Isaac? Did God need to find out what Abraham would do? No. God knew all along what Abraham would do. The test was to prove Abraham’s faith to himself; to see if he would obey God’s command. The one thing that was most precious to him, his only son[i] God commanded him to give him up for the Lord. Abraham proved to himself that he loved God more than Isaac exhibited by his perfect obedience (John 14:15).

This account was an analogy of what would happen 2000 years later when the Father God would offer up his only Son the Lord Jesus Christ on that very mountain. Abraham knew this and called that place Jehovah Jireh – in the mountain of the Lord it will be seen (Genesis 22:14).

In Hebrews 11:17-19 we read, By faith Abraham when he was tested offered up Isaac, And he who had received the promises was in the act of offering up his only son of whom it was said through Isaac shall your offspring be named. He considered that God was able even to raise him from the dead, from which, figuratively speaking he did receive him back (i.e. Isaac).

Figuratively speaking, Abraham and Isaac were portraying the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

So we see the main issue wasn’t the sacrifice of Isaac, it was whether Abraham would trust and obey God at any cost. God chose to use the sacrifice of Isaac as the means of how Abraham was to demonstrate his faith in God.  God knew Abraham loved his son, but he had to show his love for God was greater than his love for his only son who was given to him by God.

Even if Abraham had literally killed Isaac at the command of God, it would not violate Exodus 20:13. Why? Because God commanded him to do it. I realize this seems confusing, and also offends our sense of moral ethics, but we have to remember, God is perfect, and everything he does is perfect as well. We are not perfect, we are sinners and we are finite. God is not like us and he’s infinite (Isaiah 55:8-9).

The marked difference with Exodus 20:13 vs Genesis 22 is that here God is commanding us not to murder. By this time in Israel’s history over 500 years has passed from Abraham’s day and the nation now has written legislation by way of the Decalogue or Ten commandments given to Moses from God.

The Hebrew word for murder is rāsah. This word is dealing with premeditated murder (manslaughter) and unintentional killing (involuntary manslaughter).

In the first case the book of Numbers says, that the manslayer should be put to death but not by one witness, but by multiple witnesses. The accused like today would go to trial for murder and if convicted, would be put to death (Numbers 35:30).

In the second case if a man killed someone accidentally, then the manslayer could flee to the city of refuge so he’s not killed. He can reside there until he goes to trial. He would be judged between he and the avenger of blood – a designated member of the victims family. The congregation would rescue the manslayer so that he could seek asylum from the avenger of blood in the city of refuge. There he would live his life in exile until the death of the high priest, and only then could he return to his own land. But, if the manslayer left the city of refuge before the death of the high priest and the avenger of blood finds him and kills him, then the avenger will not be guilty of shedding the manslayer’s blood because he broke the law and left the city of refuge before he was supposed to and according to the law the avenger had the right to seek retaliation for his murdered family member – a provision in the law sanctioned by God (Numbers 35:22-29).

Concluding, in Genesis 22 God commanded Abraham to kill Isaac to prove his faith and obedience to God. So in this scenario, what Abraham was doing was actually good, righteous and holy as hard as it may seem for us to understand considering naturally the crass nature of the event[ii].

Whereas in Exodus 20:13 God is commanding us to have regard for human life; not to murder for all life is created by him and for his pleasure (Revelation 4:11b). We have no right to extinguish it.

  

                                                                Final Thoughts

Something important for us to keep in mind is that God is not subject to the laws He creates (emphasis added). The laws that exist are for the good and boundaries of men. God does not need law and order, He is law and order. The allowances and prohibitions are for men not for God for He does not need permission to do anything and He doesn’t need any restraints like we sometimes do. Since man is inherently evil, God in his infinite wisdom places a checks and balance system on man. He is rewarded when he does well, and punished when he violates the laws of man ordained by God.

God is perfectly just when he commands men not to murder and at the same time command Abraham to offer up his son as a sacrifice. The offering (a foreshadowing and a symbol) of Isaac was not for no reason at all. It was to test Abraham’s faith which was to Abraham’s benefit and God’s glory. Whereas cold blooded premeditated murder is always sinful with no virtue in the act; only unbridled wickedness and malice.        



                                                             END NOTES

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[i] We know that Abraham had another son named Ishmael by Sarah’s handmaid Hagar. However he was not the son of promise (Genesis 16:15; Galatians 4:31). He was the son of the flesh and the bondwoman so Ishmael was disqualified as Abraham’s heir and sent away hence Isaac was his only son at that time. When Sarah died, Abraham married Keturah and had more children, but they were given gifts and sent away also (Genesis 25:1-3).

[ii] Another hard matter to accept was when God commanded the destruction of the Amalekites during the reign of King Saul. God through the Prophet Samuel commanded Saul to kill even the infants which of course had committed no wrong. God knowing all things knew that if those infants were allowed to live, they would grow up and oppress the Israelites and blaspheme God as their fathers did before them. This is a case of the sins of the fathers passing down to the children. The people were wicked and were ripe for judgment (I Samuel 15:1-3). This was not a gross act of senseless genocide on the Amalekites as some would view it. This was a divine decree from God to execute final judgment on His enemies – Holy War! Saul disobeyed the Lord in the command given to him whereas Abraham obeyed.