While reading your post on “Abraham And The Jews Of Today” a question came to me. In Genesis 22 it says that God tested Abraham and told him to offer his son Isaac on one of the mountains He would show him. Many of my teachers past and several preachers I have listened to have said that Abraham was devastated, heart sick, and full of remorse to have to offer his son as a burnt offering, yet he reluctantly did what God wanted him to. I don’t think that was how it was, and would be very pleased to know your thoughts on the subject.
There are several hints that Abraham was probably not as devastated as some commentators make him out to be. For example in Genesis 22:5-6 Abraham told the servants to wait while he and Isaac went on and said they would both come back, and then they went up together. The Hebrew implies they were united, of one mind. And in Genesis 22: 8 Abraham told Isaac that God was going to provide a lamb for the offering, which is what happened.
But for me the most convincing sign for me is in Hebrews 11:19 which says Abraham reasoned that God could raise Isaac from the dead if necessary. The word translated reasoned means Abraham reckoned, or took into account the fact of God’s resurrection power. In other words, he thought it through and came to the conclusion that if God really wanted him to sacrifice Isaac, then God would resurrect him, because He had promised Abraham that all the promises would come true through Isaac. This is not the behavior you’d expect from an emotionally distraught man.