I've finally started reading the Bible, beginning from Genesis, and as of today, I've reached chapter 32.

But as I read, somehow I discover some issues which I wasn't aware of in the past.

For example, most of us would be quite familiar with the story of Abraham, and only at his old age did his wife, Sarah bore him a son, Isaac. And I reckon that most of us would be familiar with the episode of God commanding Abraham to sacrifice his only son as a burnt offering, and most of us would have heard the sermon (or read from somewhere) on how Abraham felt while they were on the road to the mountain he was to perform the sacrifice (Abraham would most likely have experienced a struggle in his heart, but ultimately his obedience for God led him to perform the sacrifice.)

Now, here comes the twist: God intervened at the eleventh hour when Abraham was just about to offer his son as a sacrifice, and we all would conclude how relieved Abraham would be to have God provide him with a ram as the burnt offering in place for his son. But how many of us wondered how Isaac felt when he was bounded, laid on the altar, and (most likely) saw his father holding a knife, inching towards him? I've never experienced such situations before, but I think most likely Isaac would have been traumatized! I believe Isaac would have screamed and struggled wildly when his father was tying him up, mustering all his strength to break loose and escape from the altar. Isaac was old enough to know what are the things needed for a burnt offering but I don't think he was matured enough to understand his father's "murderous" act was one done purely out of obedience for God. This episode must have left a deep imprint on Isaac innocent mind, but how and why was Isaac still a filial child to Abraham (remember that Isaac and his half-brother Ishmael attended to Abraham's burial)? The natural conclusion to this would be: God intervened, maybe even explained personally to Isaac on the whys. Whatever it is, there must be something remarkable about Isaac (coming to terms with this won't be easy) that we could learn from.

Another thing I have difficulty coming to terms with is the numerous accounts of Jacob's acts of deceit. He not only deceived his brother Esau to "sell" his birthright to him, Jacob [together with his mum] also cheated his father Isaac in giving his blessings to him instead of Esau; and how he gathered wealth for his own from his father-in-law. Jacob's life was full of these accounts of "underhanded" means of taking advantage of others and yet he was blessed greatly by the Lord. He even became the father of the 12 tribes of Israel. Why? God must have His reasons for doing this (and I'm sure it wasn't just because He wanted to fulfill His oath to Abraham) and I think I need to dig hard and long to find out why.

Genesis is full of these little stories on family building, disputes, reconciliations, etc, and somehow, it's very fascinating and is way, way better than the soap dramas shown on television.... :)