After these things God tested Abraham. He said to him, "Abraham!"
Abraham answered, "Hinneni", which means "Here I am" or "Yes, I am ready right now."
When one responds to God by answering "Hinneni", one better be ready to face what follows.
"Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him as a burnt offering…"
It might seem strange that Abraham who interceded for Sodom and Gomorrah, did not protest the commandment to kill his son Isaac.
Fast forward to the end of this test. Abraham picked up the knife to slay his son. The angel of the Lord called forth, "Abraham, Abraham!"
Abraham answered, "Hinneni."
The angel of the Lord said, "Do not lay your hand on the boy…; for now I know that you fear God…"
Along with a test for Abraham, it seems to me that it was also a test for God himself. He needed to find out something He did not know. "Now I know." Thus, God underwent His own suspenseful ordeal. Would Abraham obey Him? Was he a worthy partner in their joint enterprise? God needed to test Abraham's loyalties, exhibiting a strange insecurity as though He were a jealous lover doubting His beloved.
This whole episode had proven for Abraham that his "fear of God" was greater than his allegiance to his son, he had implicitly declared that his role as a worshiper of God superseded his role as a father. One wonders how the Patriarch might have faced Sarah after this, if she ever found out that she had almost lost her son. Would their relationship be the same ever again?
Isaac would remain forever bound by his father while Abraham would remain forever the man who had raised a knife to his own child. Abraham realized that Isaac, for the rest of his life, would remember that his father had almost killed him. Isaac would never be able to see Abraham as his trusted father again. It is possible that Isaac felt betrayed by both God and Abraham.
Mount Moriah had proved for all three - God, Abraham and Isaac, a "Dark Victory".
Epiphany 2020