《創世紀》講故事的一流功力

請先慢慢讀、大聲朗誦《創世記》 22章1-14節三次。
—讀完三次，那些問題浮現在你的腦海?

第一，我想知道那座山到底在那兒? 爬山上去倒底花了多少時間?


—仔細找找，整段文字的時間提示只有: sometime later, Early the next morning，之後故事就一直連續下去，彷彿爬這座山可以只要花半小時。但是因為大部分沉默地走著，我想那可愛的以撒(Isaac)一定覺得很悶，登山過程想是歷經千年萬年之苦。


這座山在那兒? 這卷書有提到一個地名Moriah，可以從https://bible.fhl.net/ 查到地圖相關位置，此事件後，Abraham會前往Beersheba。可以運用網路系統一探究竟，發現當地情景，最重要的是現代人是開車上山，而不是騎驢或是走路。

不過，剛剛提到的地點是用現在科技找出來的，這段文字提到此地，只說: one of the mountains，the place God told him about，十分神祕的聖山，好像只有Abraham知道。

精簡的文字，沒有冗字，反而增添莊嚴肅穆、神秘、和無窮的想像空間。

這趟旅程主要是Abraham帶隊，帶著Isaac，另外有兩個僕人，還牽著驢；到山腳時，Abraham還命令僕人牽著驢留下。所以，曾經有一段路，只有父子倆默默地爬上山，除了火苗和木頭，沒帶其他東西。沒提到有沒有帶水? 零食?手機? 相機…..。如果是一日往返的登山之旅，應該準備一些其他物資吧?!

Isaac問了最重要的一個問題，羊呢?

這段文字中，出現兩次 Here I am，當上帝呼喊時，Abraham總是馬上回應，這種呼喊與回應，說明Abraham隨時待命，主動、積極與正面面對生命中的每一個機緣。

英文的責任一字，responsibility，就是從respond一詞衍生，回應，立即的回應就是一種責任感。

"The Lord will provide"，多麼重要的心態!試問，Abraham的信心從何而來? 那就是他深知 神必預備，何必擔憂?默默、認真做手上的工作，不必擔心未來，不必害怕缺乏，篤定的心志，勇敢向前行。

你從這14節文字學到甚麼?是Abraham的傻?還是看到他的信心? 還是知道懂得珍惜每個機緣，回應"Here I am"，樂意付出? 你的理想是甚麼? 你願意犧牲自己最愛的東西，達到那理想嗎?

Genesis 22:1-14

—  22 Some time later God tested Abraham. He said to him, “Abraham!”

—  “Here I am,” he replied.

—  ² Then God said, “Take your son, your only son, whom you love—Isaac—and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on a mountain I will show you.”

—  ³ Early the next morning Abraham got up and loaded his donkey. He took with him two of his servants and his son Isaac. When he had cut enough wood for the burnt offering, he set out for the place God had told him about.⁴ On the third day Abraham looked up and saw the place in the distance. ⁵ He said to his servants, “Stay here with the donkey while I and the boy go over there. We will worship and then we will come back to you.”

—  ⁶ Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and placed it on his son Isaac, and he himself carried the fire and the knife. As the two of them went on together, ⁷ Isaac spoke up and said to his father Abraham, “Father?”

—  “Yes, my son?” Abraham replied.

—  “The fire and wood are here,” Isaac said, “but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?”

—  ⁸ Abraham answered, “God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.” And the two of them went on together.

—  ⁹ When they reached the place God had told him about, Abraham built an altar there and arranged the wood on it. He bound his son Isaac and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. ¹⁰ Then he reached out his hand and took the knife to slay his son. ¹¹ But the angel of the Lord called out to him from heaven, “Abraham! Abraham!”

—  “Here I am,” he replied.

—  ¹² “Do not lay a hand on the boy,” he said. “Do not do anything to him. Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son.”

—  ¹³ Abraham looked up and there in a thicket he saw a ramcaught by its horns. He went over and took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering instead of his son. ¹⁴ So Abraham called that place The Lord Will Provide. And to this day it is said, “On the mountain of the Lord it will be provided.”

英文版《聖經》網站:https://www.biblegateway.com/