This story is a good one for young and old; the story of Abraham, I believe, is also the source of suffering for many around the world…but that’s a more adult conversation. Teaching this story to young kids, will require that we as secular parents focus on the story, and the general themes that are contained therein.
In case you’re not quite familiar with Abraham (and his wife Sarah), he was one of God’s most loyal servants in the Old Testament. One day, God asks Abraham to gather his family and leave their city. Abraham agreed to a contract with God: do what I say, and I’ll give you a land of your own-and many children.
After Abraham completes this task, the children do not come; Sarah is barren. Now this is where things get weird. Sarah “gives” Abraham her maid, Hagar “And Sarai Abram’s wife took Hagar her maid the Egyptian, after Abram had dwelt ten years in the land of Canaan, and gave her to her husband Abram to be his wife. And he went in unto Hagar, and she conceived: and when she saw that she had conceived, her mistress was despised in her eyes.” (Gen. 16:3) Ishmael is the name of the child that follows.
After Ishmael is born, God gives Sarah the power of motherhood “For Sarah conceived, and bare Abraham a son in his old age, at the set time of which God had spoken to him.And Abraham called the name of his son that was born unto him, whom Sarah bare to him, Isaac.” (Gen 21: 2-3) God also decrees that Issac will be the line from which all Abraham’s descendants will come.
Hagar and Ishmael, Abraham’s first child, are thrown away by decree of God, “AndAbraham rose up early in the morning, and took bread, and a bottle of water, and gave it unto Hagar, putting it on her shoulder, and the child and sent her away: and she departed, and wandered in the wilderness of Beersheba” (Gen. 21:14) Since she was a mistress, Hagar is not needed and Ishmael is not the ‘chosen seed.’ God tells Hagar not to feel bad about this because he will take care of her son–but why not let him be raised by his father and mother? Isn’t that the best way to ‘take care’ of a child?
Later, God wants to test Abraham’s will. He orders Abraham to sacrifice Issac, to show his loyalty to God: “Take now thy son, thineonly son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of.” (Gen. 22:2). After Abraham agrees, God decides to spare Issac and bless the lineage: “In blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies.” (Gen. 22:17)
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Now, this is a great Bible story, in terms of what it can teach young people. The most obvious being: if someone gives you all the things you desire, do you owe them ANYTHING they want? I asked my girls, if someone gave you a $20 bill, and then asked you to do something you knew was wrong, would you?
Why this analogy? Because it was insane for Abraham to even consider killing his child for God.
Now,strong red flags should come to mind when reading this story-I suggest you talk to your young one about them. First, if God is all Good, why would he ask you to do something so bad? Also, why is Issac better than Ishmael? It’s not his fault that Hagar is his mom instead of Sarah—-> my oldest did not like what God did in this situation.
Personally, I had very rough pregnancies; I almost lost both of my daughters. If it wasn’t for technological advances, I wouldn’t have them. So, ANYONE asking me to sacrifice them would be considered a lunatic. Why would Abraham kill a child that he and Sarah were lucky enough to conceive?
Now, the obvious answer is because this is a Biblical parable; God said do it, and the moral is, be loyal to God, and your most precious child will live. And, why was Ishmael garbage all of a sudden? This sends the message that it’s ok to favor one child and disown another.
Teaching children to look deeply at the logic of this story, I think, will help them spot irrational thought in their daily lives; especially if you can find examples from their personal life to draw on; teenagers will love this story-can we say teenage pregnancy stats, anyone?
Are there positive messages in the story? I suppose one could say that strong loyalty always pays off.
But, I ask, at what cost? Is being loyal to God worth losing the life of family members, and destroying the life of a little boy and his mother? Not as far as I’m concered.
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