Abraham reaches out his hand and takes the knife to slay his son. The moment of maximum tension in the narrative. The hand has been raised, the knife is in it, and the action is about to be completed. Hebrews 11:17 says Abraham offered up Isaac — the theological evaluation is that the offering was made, even though the completion was interrupted. The intention, fully expressed, is the moral equivalent of the action. The application: the faith that raises the knife before the intervention is the faith that counted everything as God's to give and God's to take. Job 1:21 expresses the same faith: the LORD gave and the LORD has taken away; may the name of the LORD be praised.

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