Did Abraham F* Jews Through Human Sacrifice? (Why We Needed Two Covenants)

What if, by asking Abraham to sacrifice Isaac, God was testing him? While his response showed obedience, Abraham demonstrated a total lack of independent moral judgment, which signaled to God that the Israelites required a FAR more micromanagey covenant, including super specific rules against child sacrifice (you’d think this would go without saying, but… well, God checked and Abraham demonstrated otherwise).

In today’s deep exploration of the story of Abraham and Isaac, Malcolm demonstrates that the test was never about whether Abraham would receive the promise but about the nature of the relationship between God and his people.

The discussion contrasts surface readings with deeper interpretations, examines Jewish and New Testament perspectives, and explains why the Jewish covenant emphasizes strict rules while highlighting moral agency in other traditions. It also addresses real-world implications of misreading such stories and how the account distinguishes different approaches to faith and scripture.

Episode Transcript

Malcolm Collins:Hello, Simone. I’m excited to be here with you today. Today, We are gonna be exploring the Lindsey Clancy of the bible, in this... Today’s tract. And this... Of all of the tracks that I have ever put together in terms of, like, studying the bible, attempting to understand it, This one threw me for the biggest wrench at first. Yes. It also had one of the biggest realizations for me that completely transform how I see the entire biblical narrative. Not only that, but once you notice it, there is no other way that this story can be read Really? To be logically consistent.

Simone Collins:Woah. Okay. This is very... Okay. Yeah. I’ve... Sorry. I’m extremely intrigued because I really don’t like child sacrifice. I’m like, how could this guy

Malcolm Collins:Yeah. If a god asked one of his people to commit a child sacrifice.

Simone Collins:Yeah. Like, that’s the whole thing is, like, that’s why god constantly is, stop, like, Moloch, this whole thing. Stop, you know, the baby sacrifice.

Speaker 3:Yeah. But

Malcolm Collins:that is that is what defines a people often in the bible as so evil they deserve a complete eradication.

Simone Collins:It’s a named no no in Leviticus. You do not pass your seed through the fire to Moloch. Like, it’s it’s... We don’t do child sacrifice at

Speaker 3:the end.