A Story of God and All of Us - By Roma Downey Page 0,15

the fire. The wind grows louder.

Abraham looks all around, and notices that he is all alone. Everyone in the camp, including Sarah and Isaac, has disappeared.

It has been a long time since God spoke to Abraham, but he still knows the voice well. "A sacrifice?" he whispers to God.

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It is common for Abraham to offer sacrifices to God. In a ritual slaughter, an animal's throat is sliced, and then offered up as a sign of thanks. The animal is then burned over an open fire.

God continues telling him the details.

At first Abraham doesn't comprehend what he's hearing. Then, as he realizes what God is saying, he becomes horrified. "No," he whispers.

"Please, no. Haven't I shown enough faith? Dear God, I will make any sacrifice You ask. Anything"--now he can barely speak--"anything but Isaac."

It is God's will. With a heavy heart, Abraham retrieves his best knife from his tent. He and his people are camped at the foot of a great desert peak, Mount Moriah. As the sun rises higher and higher in the sky, Abraham sets off in search of Isaac, his knife firmly secured in the sheath on his waist.

He finds him eating bread with Sarah. "Eat more," she encourages the boy.

"How will you ever grow if you don't eat?" But she stops talking as Abraham draws near. She sees confusion in her husband's eyes--confusion laced with determination. Something is about to happen, of that she is sure.

"Abraham?" she says cautiously.

"God wants a sacrifice," Abraham says, offering a hand to Isaac. He trembles as the boy places his palm in his father's meaty fist. "Come with me," he commands.

"Of course," Isaac says brightly, and then rushes off to gather his bag for the long and arduous trip up the mountain.

Abraham leads his son up Mount Moriah, leaving behind a confused Sarah, who assumes that Abraham will take a sheep from one of the pens to offer as a sacrifice.

Storm clouds are rolling in, and Abraham and Isaac can hear the faint boom of approaching thunder. The two gather wood for a fire along the way, and with each twig and branch that Isaac presents to his father,

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Abraham finds himself more and more distraught about what he is about to do. Isaac, the trusting and obedient son he believed would begin a dynasty, must be killed. Isaac, the son he and Sarah prayed for, must be killed. Isaac, the handsome and brave apple of Abraham's eye, must be killed. God has demanded this beautiful, innocent boy as a sacrifice.

"Father?" Isaac asks, handing him a new handful of twigs.

Abraham takes them. "Good work," he tells his son. "Let's get more."

Soon, the bundle is so thick that Abraham wraps it in rope and straps it to Isaac's back so they can carry it easier. Abraham soon makes another bundle, which he shoulders for the hike to the summit. "Enough sticks," he tells Isaac. "Let's just get up there."

"But why are we going directly the top?" Isaac asks. "We have the firewood for the sacrifice, but we still need to go back down and get the lamb."

Abraham sighs. His heart is heavy. "God will provide the sacrifice, my son."

At the camp, Sarah has become so troubled that she goes to the sheep pen and counts the flock. They are all there. Suddenly, horribly, she realizes Abraham has not taken a lamb with him. She falls to her knees. Could the sacrifice be their beloved son? Could Isaac be the Lamb of God? She rises to chase after them.

Up on the mountain, the storm grows more fierce. The sun, strangely, is completely white, then the sky turns black. Winds swirl. Clouds seem low and thick enough to touch. Abraham knows there can be no greater sacrifice than for a father to offer his son. This is the most difficult test of faith he has ever endured. Abraham loves God, but he is not sure he can do it.

Hands shaking, Abraham sets down the wood and begins making a stone altar. Using the rocks that litter the mountaintop, he carefully arranges a structure on which to lay the sacrifice. Stone by stone, Abraham builds the altar. He has done it countless times in the past, so the work goes quickly.

Once again, Isaac asks, "Father, where is the sacrifice? Will it be a lamb today or a ram?" He is puzzled because they have not brought a small animal with them, and he sees none atop the mountain.

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" Jehovah-jireh, " responds Abraham hopefully, invoking a common