Abraham And Isaac

THURS., APR. 4, 1985, 6:04 AM
FARM, STUDY

Later in this month you will develop another letter called Ruminations, the basis for which will be stories from the Holy Scriptures upon which I have commented. I would have been more pleased if it were ready to mail now, but you have had other important responsibilities. If you spent less time feeling sorry for yourself and more in actual positive work you would accomplish a good deal more. Just know that there shall be no acceptance of failure to accomplish these two major tasks this month. From one Who affirms that there finally is no such thing as time these are strange but strong words.

Early in the Biblical story of My active relationship with a chosen people here in the earth (and, yes, My choosing of the Jews also remains within the realm of mystery) you read the story of Abraham and Isaac. Upon this story I shall comment this day (since your cows are back in the pasture).

Abraham was a chosen servant. He was chosen late in life by present standards, and he had no special qualifications for what I would have him do and be. Basically he had to be faithful and had to accept this relationship thrust upon him without much question. His role was not to be an active leader, as Moses became. He just had to be the faithful patriarch.

You admit to some difficulty in seeing a direct link between the story of My relationship with the Jews (because you assume it continues… and you are right) and the Christianity of which you are a part and which is celebrated at this time of Easter. Just don’t get sucked into either/or thinking; they are both intimately related and quite separate from one another.

I chose to develop the Jewish nation and its traditions out of Abraham, but not directly. Abraham had one son, not twelve. I told him he would be the father of my chosen people, but he had only one son… by Sarah, the chosen lineage. The other son, Ishmael, was rejected, as Isaac’s other son, Esau, would be rejected. Yet hear Me say that those who appear to be rejected are not… necessarily. A way must be established, and some are cast aside, but then other opportunities come. Remember, of course, that I, as Jesus, was rejected, but from this rejection has come this vibrant faith, Christianity.

The story of My call to Abraham to sacrifice his chosen son, Isaac, is, admittedly, a strange one. In retrospect it was a test of faith, but did I know that he would be faithful? If I really knew he would be faithful, then it wasn’t a genuine test?! If he had not been faithful and had refused, at any point, to carry out the sacrifice of this son of his, would he, himself, have been rejected? After all, he would be protecting him whom I had already called to be part of the line to chosen people. If he didn’t trust me completely, in an irrational situation, he would be destroying the plan I had set in motion. The fact that I rescued Isaac, revealing the whole journey as a test of faith, makes a good story… but, could I have done any other?