Abraham and Issac and Truman G. Madsen

Abraham is stopped by an Angel

You may look at this drawing and say, "He drew Isaac too old."  You might ask also, "Why is the knife black?"  Maybe you are right about Isaac's age, but some biblical scholars think that Isaac was a young man, not a boy, when his father was commanded to offer the human sacrifice.   This makes it clear that Isaac was easily able to run off if he wanted to.  But, according to Jewish tradition, Isaac asked to be bound to prevent himself from stopping his father from completing the sacrifice.  The Jewish tradition calls this "The Binding."  You see, Abraham was promised that he would have millions of descendants via his son Isaac, then God seemingly commanded the unthinkable and told Abraham to offer his son Isaac as a sacrifice.  Abraham himself had almost been offered as a human sacrifice by an Egyptian Priest.  And also, Abraham had preached against human sacrifice.   You have to wonder if he was worried about what he was going to tell his wife, Isaac's mother, Sarah.

Abraham did as commanded...or rather, he was trying to do as commanded when an angel appeared and told him that he was being tested and that he should not kill his son.  This then led to Abraham noticing that there was a ram with its horns caught in a thicket.  Abraham untied his son Isaac and they offered the ram as the sacrifice.  Clearly it had been a test of Isaac's obedience as well.  Isaac went on to have 12 sons, the fathers of the 12 tribes of Israel.   This very difficult test was a type or symbolic of how our Heavenly Father would offer his own Beloved Son as a sacrifice for us.

I almost forgot, about the knife... It is possible, I think, that Abraham had an obsidian knife.  Obsidian is a form of volcanic rock that cooled into a glass.  It can be made so sharp that it is even used in some surgical scalpels.  So THAT is why I drew the knife black. 

I had a college philosophy class called "Mormonism and Judaism."  The professor was Truman G. Madsen, a renown Mormon who was an expert in Ancient Languages, Philosophy including Jewish Philosophy, Latter Day Saint Church History and Doctrine.  I learned SO much from Dr. Madsen and that class... including about "The Binding."  Truman Madsen helped open the Jerusalem Center in Israel.  BYU students can go there to study.

Truman G. Madsen

Dr. Truman G. Madsen has passed on now.  He had an incredible mind but as one of his former students over 30 years ago...I can also tell you how kind he was as well.  He, and his wife Anne (also a PhD and professor at BYU) always had time for me if I stopped by their office to talk.  To me that was a sign of truly great people.  I eventually became an elementary teacher and then a science teacher.  I wonder if Brother Madsen is pleased about that.

Below is a photo of the BYU Jerusalem Center.  I used this photo to help me draw the above picture.  You will notice that I simplified it some.   The center is situated on the Mount of Olives in East Jerusalem.  It is a satellite campus of Brigham Young University or BYU.  It must be a great view!

BYU Jerusalem Center