god told abraham to kill his son and the devil told him not to. why is god the good one?

Question

am i missing something here?

im not trying to offend anyone with this question just the way i heard it didnt make sense so i wanted to know the opinions of people who understood it

Answer 1

God didnt actually make Abraham kill his son, He was just testing him to see how faithful he was.

Answer 2

Context. Context. Context.

Abraham lived hundreds of years before the Ten Commandments were given to Moses and the Jewish people.

Abraham lived in a society where human sacrifice and child sacrifice was the normal thing to do.

God was just beginning to reveal himself to mankind and Abraham did not have the Bible or much of anything else to go on.

Abraham knew that his son was a gift from God. If God demanded that Abraham kill the son, then Abraham, although it probably broke his heart, would do it.

Under the same circumstances (context) would we be able to follow God's will?

Under the much easier circumstances that we live in today, can we follow God's will as Jesus revealed it to us?

With the Ten Commandments, the Prophets, and especially Jesus Christ as part of our current circumstances (context), God would not put us to this test.

But we do have similar issues to tackle, like abortion where we kill our children who are miraculous gifts from God just like Isaac was to Abraham.

In abortion we sacrifice our children to the gods of lust, convenience, economy, and selfishness.

With love in Christ.

Answer 3

You're right I guess... God says he will not be tempted, but here is an instance of him tempting man... but then, you could argue that god is above man... or you could argue that God was simply commanding, and the devil was doing the tempting... maybe god knew that faith was more important to Abraham even than his first born son? That could be the point... of course, an all powerful god wouldn't need a man to do killing for him...

it was worth it anyway, otherwise we'd have no 'Highway 61 Revisited'. Ah, c'mon, you know the words, sing along...

"God said to Abraham, kill me a son- Abe said man, you must be puttin' me on. God said no, Abe said what? God said you can do what you wanted, but next time you see me comin' you'd better run, and Abe said where'd you want this killin' done. God said 'out on Highway 61'.

Answer 4

this is one of those curious anomolies from the Old Testament.
we all know that there are conflicting elements and that some
of the things are downright bizarre.
In one of my previous answers i said that i felt
God has grown and evolved.
this actually supports my theory that God is obviously a living being. Hence the term Living God.
We know also that Abraham's hand was stayed from this
act. it was a show of loyalty. strange though, for sure.
I think it is fair to say that if God Himself then subsequently
laid down His mortal life through Jesus, it is most unlikely
that He would
a) tell anyone to kill their child and
b) tell anyone to kill anyone else. period.
being prepared to kill and being prepared to lay down your own life are two entirely different matters altogether.
the overall result is that God did not tell him to kill his child, He only desired the spirit of willingness to give up that which Abraham loved most.
God requires a spirit of self-sacrifice and self-denial sometimes. But a lot of the time, i think He desires most of all that we have fun and really enjoy our lives to the full.
In truth also, the devil is the one that encourages people to kill others and then laughs at them a) when they go to prison or b) when they are doomed to eternal damnation. the devil is a thief who comes to rob people of their eternal future.
a) because he hates God
b) because he hates people (who are created in God's image.)
thus if you ever find out there is a devil, you should immediately turn to God as the truth is that the devil is trying to rob you of something so big that he encourages people to kill, steal, commit wanten fornication, take drugs, kill themselves, hurt themselves and follow false religions.
to be honest, anything which happened before the New Covenant is irrelevant.
Jesus was the Life
the promise,
the sacrifice,
the proof.
a long sermon but as ever all i would ask is for open mindedness as if it ever comes down to it, it would be really good if as many as possible gave themselves a fighting chance for survival in the long term. some say this to make a personal statement of faith. i only say it because i believe it may help.

Answer 5

Girl, I might not go to church, but I do know that God isn't the protagonist in the Bible, the people are.

God has his own things going that we don't know. We only get lil' peaks at what he thinks, anyway!

So try not to worry about God's reasons.

The story is about how people respond to horrible things, like losing something you love, or having to do things you don't want to do, or losing a dream that you've had ever since you could remember.

Sh'up, now I'm all junked up. Anyway, don't look at God like a person, cos he's not.

Know?

Answer 6

God did test Abraham, a tough test,We are supposed to put God first, We would not be here with out God and We would not have children,but You are wrong,Satan was not there The Holy Angel from God stopped it.

Answer 7

Apparently you are missing something; later the lord via an angel tells Abraham not to kill his son (Gen 22).

Answer 8

instead of accepting heary why not pick up the bible and read the account for yourself. The Devil did not say anything to Abraham. and the offering of his promised seed and only son ( yes he had another son by Hagar ) prefigured god offering up his only begotten son. Abraham as good as offered Isaac up because he was stopped only when drawing the blade to Isaac's throat. ( i imagine )

Answer 9

interesting paradox... I dont recall the devil specifically in this story but suppose he was there in "spirit".

like most of these answers say... it was a test of faith - nothing more nothing less. God never said we would not be tested - only that HE would provide a way out from it. as He is faithful and just.

Answer 10

Read the real account of this story as it is written in the Holy Bible, in Genesis 22:1-14.

In verse 11 the scripture states that, "an angel of the Lord" called out from heaven to Abraham, to stop him from slaying his son ISAAC. Not Ishmael. This story was recorded 1,500 years prior to the arrival of Jesus Christ, and then nearly 600 years after Christ, mohammed plagerized the story into the qu'ran. And many other half-truths and lies did he pen. This is a fact of history.

Answer 11

No you just have the wrong story. God told Abraham to sacrifice his son, and at the last minute God stopped Abraham, not Satan.
It was a test of faith. And yet, God himself did not hold back his own son for our sake. Amazing Grace.