11-09-2019, 07:58 AM
(11-09-2019, 03:41 AM)balldontliez Wrote: sodom and gomorrah? when god told abraham to kill his son as a sacrifice and then was like lol jk dont
Sodom and Gomorrah:
The Biblical narrative is all about human rebellion against the created order. This is manifested in Cain, the son of Adam and Eve who kills (takes life that God has created) and builds the first city (a sterile, life-destroying environment antithetical to the garden setting). This whole endeavor the Scriptures refers to as "the world" which I think is best translated as "Civilization." Sodom and Gomorrah as well as Babylon and Egypt become the prototypes and archetypes of this. The way of life that Civilization lives is inherently self-destructive and destructive to the rest of the creation. So throughout the OT we see the manifestation of the "judgment of God" against Civilization. God is allowing passively or even actively participating in the destruction of Civilization (see the flood, Sodom & Gomorrah, Egypt's plagues, Jericho, Isaiah 6 reference to the cities of Israel, etc.). God is doing this to SAVE his actual creation and created order. God is all about this salvation and every judgment he allows or brings is with this refining fire and cleansing intent. Like a forest fire is necessary for the restoration of the environment, so too is the destruction of human Civilization necessary as a salvific act for God's created order.
Abraham & Isaac:
One of the great idols in the Biblical narrative is the family system. The family puts itself in the place of God and the family is also about procreation and attaining immortal or eternal life (you live on through your children and they are hope for a new world). God is actively through the whole narrative saying that our families (going back to Cain) are NOT going to save us. Yet God wants to create his OWN kind of family. He does this through the childless couple of Abraham and Sarah. This will be a different and holy family not about human control, Civilization, etc. They resist this and with Hagar try to play the family system game. God rejects this and finally brings Isaac from a dead womb. This is GOD'S child, not theirs. So God needs to teach Abraham to have a light grip on his son. This is the test that Abraham faces. Will you obediently let go of your child and surrender your control over making something of yourself and trying to fix this world? Abraham passes the test by obeying and trusting that even if Isaac dies, God can raise the dead and will make his family somehow, someway, even "from the stones" as Jesus and John the Baptist say. Jesus echoes this by saying in Luke 14 no one can follow him who does not "disown" ("hate" is a bad translation) his wife, children, father, mother, brothers, and sisters and even his own life. Family is an idol that is destructive and oftentimes deeply rooted in Civilization. God is trying to save us from that.