The binding of Isaac is introduced immediately as a test. Not deception, not cruelty - explicitly a test. The text is upfront about what's happening, even if Abraham isn't.
I teach literature, and this narrative structure fascinates me. The reader knows it's a test; Abraham doesn't. We experience the story differently because of what we know. Abraham lives in the brutal ambiguity of not knowing if God is truly asking him to kill his son.
Life feels that way sometimes. Something terrible is happening, and I'm desperate to know if this is a test I'll survive or if this is actually the end. The passage doesn't resolve that ambiguity for Abraham until the very last moment. But it does suggest that God knows what's happening. Someone is watching. That's not enough to erase the pain, but it matters.
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