JIREH [PT II]

Continued...

...Finally, Abraham said "Your will be done YHWH" 

The hardest words Abraham had spoken in his 113 years of existence... No words had chewed his heart and spirit harder than these... he bled from every pore of his soul as the words dripped out... he could imagine Sarah's reaction when he told her the instructions he had received from YHWH... sure hysteria... what would his servants think when they heard that he had sacrificed his son... 

Would they flee his home and service knowing this madman could sacrifice any of them...? Was it right for him to have sent Ishmael away...? He had told YHWH he would sacrifice Isaac... but could he follow through on his words...? Kill his own son? What kind of father did that? 

He lifted his face off the earth as he felt a tug on his left leg... It was Isaac... 

"Dad, why are you lying on your face?" he asked 

Abraham considered his son's face and a single tear rolled down his wrinkled lids... "YHWH was here" 

"Where dad?" an excited Isaac searched the surrounding earnestly for YHWH, having been told long exciting tales about YHWH's visits... Abraham considered the boys energy and sighed... if only he knew... 

*** 

In his palatial home, later that evening at dinner Abraham stared at his wife ad infinitum, but she was just a translucent glass through which he stared into eternity... Sarah stole glances at Abraham and made faces at Isaac as she served him huge chunks of lamb steak... 

"Dad had a visit from YHWH today" Isaac blurted and a startled Abraham came out of his reverie 

"You don't say?" Sarah retorted as she slipped into the drawn chair close to her husband of over 75 years... "Darling?" 

"Dad fell flat on his face and was weeping" Isaac continued... Abraham, who hadn't touched the heavy pouri serving, pushed back his seat and rose... 

"Darling?" Sarah called the second time 

"I need to take a walk" Abraham touched Sarah's graying hairs and swallowed hard... Sarah smiled weakly... the last time her husband looked this way was when YHWH asked him to leave his father's house... Even then, he had not been this distraught... Whatever YHWH had required of him was heavy?

 "Should I come with you darling?" Sarah asked 

"I'll be fine" Abraham smiled weakly... then he walked out... 

*** 

Later that night... 

Sarah lay awake awaiting the arrival of her husband... the sheets felt cold without him... the room felt heavy... she could feel the weight on him even in his absence... you don't spend the number of years they'd spent together and not share each other's burdens... 

The room door creaked open and a hunched Abraham dragged his frame in... he pulled off his overcoat and slipped into the soft livestock-fur bed pulling the tanned leather over his tired frame... He was aware that Sarah was wide awake awaiting his taciturn report... 

"I am leaving for Mt Moriah tomorrow" He said while looking away from her... He felt her turn round to face him... Please don't ask me what for 

"YHWH wants you to offer a sacrifice?" Sarah asked "So, why are you distraught?" 

The long silence bore many holes in Abraham's heart... what was he going to tell her...? How would he explain YHWH's instructions... the child she had waited for over 25 years to conceive... the same child she had been mocked for...? Abraham thought about the many days Sarah had cried on his shoulders over the issue of her infertility... matters had gotten worse when Hagar conceived and bore Ishmael... then there was no disputing the fact that Sarah was indeed barren... 

After enduring all that shame for gruelling years... how could he tell her that YHWH wanted that same son SLAUGHTERED? 

"Oh no" Sarah gasped and grabbed Abraham's toned arm "You are going with Isaac... isn't it? That's why you've been sulking all evening... you have been worrying about tearing him away from me for a week" 

She doesn't know the half of it... Abraham thought... 

"It's okay my King" Sarah continued as she snuggled closer to Abraham "You can go with him... I will learn to cope without him... He needs to learn about YHWH experientially... Yes My King" 

Another tear rolled down Abraham's cheek... thoughts of her hysteria when he returned without Isaac flooded his mind... Sarah snuggled closer, worsening the state of his wrecked heart....

The tale continues next week...