Sacrifice

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Abraham, Adam, Faith, Psalm 1, Sin, St. Hilary

St. Hilary continues to play with and illustrate the verb to know:

Now God shews clearly in the cases of Adam and Abraham that He does not know sinners, but does know believers. For it was said to Adam when he had sinned: ‘Adam, where art thou?’ (Gen 3:9). Not because God knew not that the man whom He still had in the garden was there still, but to shew, by his being asked where he was, that he was unworthy of God’s knowledge by the fact of having sinned. But Abraham, after being for a long time unknown—the word of God came to him when he was seventy years of age—was, upon his proving himself faithful to the Lord, admitted to intimacy with God by the following act of high condescension: ‘Now I know that thou fearest the Lord thy God, and for My sake thou hast not spared thy dearly loved son’ (Gen 22:12).

To reiterate, the verb to know that St. Hilary is quoting from 1 Corinthians 14:37-38 is ἐπιγινωσκέτω which is more accurately translated as let him recognize. Thus, when He asks Adam where He is, it is not due to the fact that He does not know where He is, but rather that He no longer recognizes Him as a righteous man. Adam, having sinned, moved away from God — thus, God frames the question in terms of location.

In contrast, God knows (recognizes) in Abraham a truly deep faith because (like Himself) He is willing to sacrifice his only-begotten son by Sarah. It would be good also to examine here the verb to fear. At its root in Hebrew is the verb to tremble with a connotation of to feel reverence or to hold in respect.

In Greek, the root of the word terror is τέρας, which means monster; however, like the Hebrew, there is a connotation of wonder. The presence of the τέρας is always accompanied by an act of power, to which one has a sense of wonder and awe.

Thus, the fear that Abraham displays by being willing to sacrifice his son is born of a deep respect and honor of God, by whom Abraham is awed and is filled with wonder. Also implied is a great deal of trust. What God asks of him makes little sense, because Isaac has been promised to be the seed through which Abraham will father the nations and yet God asks for Isaac’s life.

Abraham so trusts, so honors and so respects God that he does not stay his hand until the intervention of an angel. What God does not allow Abraham do to — sacrifice his only-begotten for the sake of the nations — God Himself does in and through His Only-Begotten Son — our Lord, God and Savior Jesus Christ. Thus, God recognizes in Abraham righteousness — a willingness to sacrifice for the salvation of the world.

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Bible Study Notes: Trinity

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Faith, Name of God, prayer, St. John Chrysostom, Trinity

During Bible Study this week, we spent a majority of our time on the Epistle Reading for Sunday (1 Timothy 1:15-17) Our discussion began with a recognition of verse 15 as the source for the communion prayer:

I believe and confess, Lord, that You are truly the Christ, the Son of the living God, who came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the first.

It was also noted that verse 17 sounded familiar:

To the King of Ages, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory to the ages of ages. Amen.

Thus, we took a look at the Anaphora of St. John Chrysostom to compare:

It is proper and right to sing to You, bless You, praise You, thank You and worship You in all places of Your dominion; for You are God ineffable, beyond comprehension, invisible, beyond understanding, existing forever and always the same; You and Your only begotten Son and Your Holy Spirit.

Note that both use apophatic language (declaring what God is not, rather than what God is — because God cannot be contained by language). Also, note that though Chrysostom’s declaration is longer, it doesn’t change the basic truth of St. Paul’s words. Rather, Chrysostom clarifies — these attributes of the Father are also the attributes of the Son and the Holy Spirit because they are the only God.

Someone then asked the question of whether or not this understanding of God as Trinity could be seen in the OT. We discussed the opening lines of Genesis:

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light (1:1-3)

God the Father is present — He is the one who speaks. The Son is present because He is the Word of God. The Holy Spirit is present because He is hovering over the face of the waters.

We also took a look at the burning bush when God revealed His name to Moses. Again, the Father is the one who speaks. The Son is present as the Word of God. The Holy Spirit is the unconsuming fire. In addition, the name of God revealed to Moses can be seen in its Greek translation in the halo of Christ in most icons depicting our Lord, God and Saviour:

It was then noted that this understanding of Christ as God is present it the Gospel Reading (Luke 18:35-43). When the blind man at Jericho cries out “Son of David, have mercy on me!” he is acknowledging Christ as God. Not only is He calling Him by a proper title (the Son of David) but he is attributing Him with the power of God to have mercy. This faith is then put on display when, prompted by Christ, he asks for His sight.

Finally, it was noted how the blind man continued to cry out (even all the more) in the face of rebukes.We should all aspire to have such a faith.