Secrets of the Bible

• Introduction
• Genesis
• The Creation of Man
• The Paradise
• The Snake - Symbol of Evil
• The Wood of Life
• The Children of the First Created
• The 10 Tribal Leaders & the 6 Days of Creation
• The Tower of Babel
• Abraham
• The Sacrifice of Isaac
• Jacob and Esau
• Exodus
• The Laws
• Joshua
• The Deuteronomy
• The Prophecies of Daniel
• The Revelation
• The Gospels

The Sacrifice of Isaac

      The origin to offer sacrifices was indeed very primitive, it was the off-spring of the perception that the spirits of dead people needed to eat, drink, or at least to enjoy the shooting smell as when they were alive. The origin of circumcision was rather the Neolithic or so Age. This seems mostly clear while it is written that God told them to make stone knives and perform circumcision. Those traditions used to influence all the tribes, and certainly, the people of Israel couldn't have been exempt. As we read in the story of Abraham, and although it was rewritten many centuries after Abraham and after Moses, still bring up that the Angels of God ate veal and butter. In the story of Jacob and Esau, Jacob saw his brother like he saw a face of god, and also very often we read that God "asked" for sacrifices, and also that the Lord "was enjoying" the shooting smell. But the sacrifice was a way to express repentance, and asked for atonement. They also been used as penalties to bring them to their senses, it was a way to make them understand that the debts must be paid, and sins must be punished.

     General speaking, they didn't sacrifice only animals, but humans as well. The origin of this terrible tradition was the position of the first-born son. While was first, was very closed to his father, and so, he inherited his father's experience and position when he died. From some circumstantial and rather by the dreams, prevailed the perception that the dead father sometimes wanted to have with him his first-born son. There was also the unwritten law of the tribal leader, for the first-born son to inherit, but for the primitives, the first-born inherited only the position of his father, and his weapon as well, while there were not yet any private properties to inherit. At very posterior times, this unwritten law that remained as law of those deified fathers, caused serious problems, with great appositions and discords. That was happening mainly with the rich people, who were great owners and also brothers. Only the first-born had the right to inherit, while the second not only didn't inherit anything, but he also was enforced to become the slave of his brother.

      So the perception that the dead father "wanted" his first-born son, was the origin of human sacrifice, and also because they thought that dead needed service and food, prevailed the other traditional perception, as it was to bury sometimes the wife and slaves, as well as food and water. Even in recent times there still exist some remnants of this tradition, where boiled wheat is offered with the memorial services, and it share with the mourners to bless and forgive the dead, as is also watering the tomb of dead. As it was following this tradition was extended in terrible dimensions in times of very dark conditions, and used to sacrifice people for various intentions. In the books of Law is written that the death penalty should apply to anyone who sacrificed to Molochs, for the reason that the sacrifices on that god were only human sacrifices. The Moabites and Ammonites used to worship that terrible "god" who according the perception "used to ask" for human sacrifices, and especially only children. They used to set a fire until becomes very hot, and then put in its horrible arms some unfortunate child as an offering to the devil-god.

      All the tribes went through similar conditions including of course the Semitic tribes. In more advanced and development levels they were rejecting the human sacrifice, by thinking more humanist that the gods love the people and didn't want any more people sacrificed. By the opportunity it is I think worthy to look briefly the sacrifice of Iphigenia. In Homer's writing we read that goddess Artemis was very upset because the king Agamemnon killed her "holy deer", and this occasion informs us also to what other kind of cases the gods wanted human's sacrificed. The deer at the far back times was a totem for some tribes, and in this totem "was living" the goddess Artemis. Whoever killed a deer it was like committing a crime, and the goddess wanted for him to be punished.

       The same goddess certainly was before the chosen wife of some tribal leader. Homer, who was against the human sacrifices, wrote about times, when people started to reject the terrible custom of human sacrifices. The deer was still a totem, but the goddess didn't live any more in the deer. The goddess was a natural force, she was the goddess of the wind, or the wind was the goddess Artemis. But rather she was imported goddess, and because the Greeks were hunting the deer, only one deer was belonging to Artemis, and it was under "goddess's protection". When they placed Iphigenia on the altar, ready to sacrifice her, Artemis loved the alive and beautiful Iphigenia, she didn't care any more about her deer, (people didn't care any more about the deer of Artemis) they changed their decision as the goddess also did, they lifted up Iphigenia and transferred her in goddess's temple of Tauris. Well, then she became a prostitute in the "business" of those priests.

     Well, of course, this doesn't mean, that it is a similar case to Isaac's sacrifice. Maybe there was some other similar case, but Moses' intention was certainly to teach his people to be faithful and obedient, and mainly to teach that there is nothing you can put in the place of God. So this sacrifice passes divine messages. But as we realize even this story is falsified and adapted to that time of ignorance about God. It is written that God wanted to test Abraham, and no more no less, they wrote that God was feigning as if really wanted Isaac to be literal sacrificed, in purpose to find out what Abraham would do. God they said asked Abraham to sacrifice Isaac, and so according to them, the Lord said something that did not mean it, which means lie, and was playing as hard to find out what Abraham would do. If it is possible! How they could know at their time that God knew the soul of Abraham, much more than Abraham knew himself, because His Spirit goes very deep and to "every corner" of the soul, and knew very well what Abraham would do. But of course these writings are not belonging to Moses, and certainly he never meant something like this. Abraham thought that he had to sacrifice Isaac, and not because God asked him to do so. In another words, this idea was put in his mind from the liar, the anti-god, and not of course God.

     We read that the Angel told him, do not lay your hand on the lad. But of course it wouldn't be possible for the Angel of God, that also had told him before to sacrifice Isaac, which means, told him something false and unsuitable to God, to find out what Abraham would do. God of course never pretends, and certainly will never use a lie to find out what the human would do. Even a wrong belief or misunderstanding would serve sometimes God's intention. He who tempts the human is not God, but the devil. The message of this story says; God asks you to sacrifice metaphorically your son. Don't convert your son into your idol. Don't worship your son or your daughter or anybody else. You should love your son with real love, but the real love doesn't create idols. When we comprehend the Lord's teaching we also comprehend the allegorical story of Isaac. The Lord Jesus spoke and said; if you love your son or your wife, mother or sister etc, more than Me you are not worthy of Me. Whoever put his son in the position of God, is not worthy of God.  Only God has the right to ask for something like this, no one else. True love is disinterested, and we must offer free, and without expecting returns, because if we do expect returns, then it is not love. It is something that belongs to exchanges and commodities. Human should love and at the same time must be free and independent.

      The message says, keep away from the idols. Do not worship anything; worship only God. Do not convert any famous "star" or any other human, or any other thing into idol; do not put your son or your lover, neither any other materialist treasure nor any thing else in the position of God. This I the idol, and not what people used to believe in their ignorance. Any thing we try to put in the position of God is an idol. And the attachment to an idol is a sick attachment to the death. Under this attachment everything related with life loses its meaning, and only what is related with death prevails. It alienates the meaning of freedom and independence; it alienates the holy meaning of the pure love.

        The attachment to an idol is an attachment to the death, but the attachment to God who is the Creator, the Spring of life and love, the Master of life, this attachment is the spiritual health that show the way in life, it raises the human to the higher levels that approach the Perfection, approach God. In God there is perfect life, the perfect love, justice etc. So if I love God more than anything else, which means, I do not put anything in the position of God, then I have perfect love, which I can offer it freely, and then I can really love my son or my lover and anyone else without be dependent from them and without converting them into my standing stool of my life. We do not worship anyone and we do not call anyone father, we call father only our Father the Creator and our natural father.     

      Love is a treasure, it is the presupposition of life's existence; it is the heart and breath of the life. It streams from the vivifying Spirits of God, and when we siphon this pure love, then we have this spiritual treasure in our soul, and so we offer what we have, we offer this spiritual treasure with disinterestedness to our son and anyone else, but first with this pure love we love God, we worship and express our thanks to the Lord, who is the Spring and Giver of the life and of the treasure of love. If we do not do that, then it means we are far away from God, and so we do not siphon pure love, we are then closer to the devil, and so we siphon other spiritual charcoals that come from the devil, which we mix them up with the indispensable means of life that stream from the Spirits of God. Then we do not know what we do, we do not know where we stand and what we want.