od said, "Gabe, I've got one last test for Abraham, and then I'm going to lock him in as father of my Chosen People."
I wondered what else he could want. He had been fooling around with Abraham for nearly forty years, dragging him from pillar to post, holding out the promise and not much else. About the only concrete thing he had done was give him Isaac through Sarah and that only after Abraham and all the males in his household had underwent circumcision. Surely all that ought to be enough to prove a man's character and loyalty.
"What does he have to do now?" I asked.
"I've told him to offer Isaac up as a sacrifice."
"You what !"
"Now, don't get yourself all in an uproar, Gabe. He's not going to actually go through with it."
"You mean he's going to refuse?"
"No, I mean he's going to try to out-bluff me."
"How do you figure that?"
'Think about it, Gabe. Isaac is his son, his only son as far as he knows, because he thinks Ishmael is dead, and the son he loves with all his heart. There's no way he's going to sacrifice him, promise or no promise. On the other hand, he's going to figure, and rightly so, that I've got a lot invested in all this, too. If he sacrifices Isaac, it all amounts to nothing, because it is through Isaac and his seed that my Chosen People will come. So he's counting on me stepping in and stopping him at the last minute. And if I don't, then he won't go through with it.
"In other words, if you blink first, he wins, and if he blinks first, you win."
No, Gabe, either way I win. I'm trying to teach Abe something and I'm taking this route because I want him to remember it and pass it on. What I want to teach him is it's all right to question my orders if they seem to be wrong. That's what a man's brain and conscience are for. There will come a time when I won't be so readily available, and my commandments to my people will come secondhand or thirdhand or even hundredthhand. They may be misinterpreted or distorted. If they don't seem in keeping with good sense, they shouldn't be followed blindly. That's what I want to get across to Abe."
"So you're going to blink first."
"Not if I can help it. I want him to have to openly defy me. Then, I'll forgive him. It'll be a good object lesson. Now, come on, Gabe, let's get down to that altar in the land of Moriah, where Abe is bringing Isaac.
Isaac was shifting the bundle from his back as we got there. Abraham had even made him carry the wood for his own burning! We watched as Isaac placed the wood on the altar, taking pains with it. As he finished, Abraham grabbed his hands and tied them behind him, then tied his feet and throwed him on the altar. Isaac uttered only one word, "Wait!" And then he was silent, because he understood what Abraham had in mind.
Abraham took the knife, raised it above his head and paused. And in that split second, I saw the look in his eyes, the wild crazy look of a mind that's lost control.
"Stop him!" I said. "He's going to do it!"
"Hold it!" God hollered as the knife began its downward arc.
Abraham froze, or God froze him, with the knife almost touching the skin above Isaac's heart.
After a while God said quietly "All right. You can untie him now, Abe."
Abraham done so. Isaac stood, rubbed the skin at his wrists. Then without speaking or even looking at his father, he made his way down the hill.
"Why, Abe?" God asked.
"I don't know. When I raised the knife, I never meant to go through with it. I was waiting for you to stop me. And then suddenly I thought, even if I do stab him, God will protect him. God, who can do anything, won't let any harm come to him. So I put my trust in you."
God put his arm around Abraham's shoulder. "Abe, old friend, I'm sorry for all of this. And I promise you, this is the end of it. No more conditions. No more games between me and you. You are truly the father of my Chosen People."
God was pensive on the way home. I was careful not to disturb him. Finally he said, "Gabe, let this be a lesson to you. There are times when even God hisself can act like a damn fool."
I thought about Abraham, who would have to deal with the fact that he had been willing to sacrifice his son for the Promise, and about Isaac, who would never again be able to trust his father or maybe anybody else, and I agreed. But I didn't say so.
