I was reading an Ensign article, "Christ & Culture in the Old Testament." These sentences stood out to me:
"As we approach a study of the Old Testament, many of us may have to overcome conditioning that leads us to look at this rich volume of scripture through the lens of our own culture. Otherwise, imposing modern cultural understandings on a society that existed thousands of years ago will make the Old Testament seem strange or out of touch...We cannot appreciate and understand the Bible if we remove it from its own context and place it in our modern culture. Rather, we have to change our mind-set to better understand the ancient way of life."
My modern mind equates incest with abuse. That probably wasn't the case back then. Incest was the culture in ancient times. Partakers may not have felt at odds with it. Maybe it was necessary due to lack of suitable partners.
I don't like when some people today use the scriptures as an excuse to abuse others, i.e. it's in the Bible, therefore it must be okay. (Yeah, I have issues).
Anyway, this insight on cultural differences is helping me prepare for Sunday's lesson about Abraham obeying God's command to sacrifice Isaac. I initially imagined it through Isaac's eyes and how terrified he must have been, his father is about to kill him because God told him to. One: I thought it was a cruel thing for God to do to a child, and Two: how many quacks in modern history try to pull off a crime by saying God told him to do it?
Maybe Isaac wasn't terrified. Maybe he was honored and had complete, sweet trust in his father just as Abraham had trust in his Heavenly Father. Sacrifice was the norm in ancient history. Most were animal sacrifices, but there were parallel societies that offered human sacrifices, so it wasn't unheard of. Abraham, himself, was almost sacrificed as a lad.
I'm trying to understand, I really am.
