Bill's Bible Blog

Rustle, rustle…

Abraham’s head jerked up at the unexpected sound. Isaac leaned back at the sudden movement, rubbing the tears from his eyes and started to ask a question “What…?” Abraham’s hand snapped up in the command for silence as he continued to scan the landscape for potential dangers.

Rustle, rustle…

Both men’s heads turned to look down the mountainside where the sound had come from. A rustle in the bushes could just be a mountain goat foraging for tasty new growth, or it could be a mountain lion looking to feast on a tasty goat. Bears also denned in caves in the mountains.

Rustle, rustle, rustle…

This time the men saw the branches of one of the bushes move in time to the sound. Abraham reached down and picked up his discarded knife without taking his eyes from the suspect bush. He motioned Isaac to go to the left while he began his stalk to the right. Isaac absently removed the loop of the strap still snugged around his wrist and tucked it into his sash in unconscious imitation of his father. He then picked up a fist-sized rock which he could throw with such force and accuracy to discourage many beasts.

Rustle, rustle, rustle, rustle…

The motion had become more violent as they approached the sides of the shaking bush, their hearts thumping just as hard, but what they saw was totally unexpected.

Baaa…, the sheep sounded as he saw them, clearly asking for help from them. Abraham nervously scanned the landscape to see if there was a response to the sound, but seeing nothing, he sheathed his knife and stared at the scene before him. What he saw was not unusual–a young ram not yet used to their newly grown horns, foraging for tender shoots in a bush, as they were used to doing, but then their new horns catching on the limbs as they backed out.

It was also not unusual to see a young ram apart from a flock. Sometimes when the young rams began to feel the first strength of their adulthood and acted too aggressively toward the other rams, and would not submit to the lead ram, they would often be driven away from the flock. The situation was not unusual to the shepherds, but the location was. Sheep were creatures of the plains and meadows. It was not natural that a lone ram would be this far up a mountain.

Suddenly, Abraham straightened and his eyes grew wide. Isaac saw the sudden motion and, after a moment’s thought, his eyes grew wide too, remembering his father’s words on the path up, “The Lord will provide the young sheep for the sacrifice.”

Abraham shook his head to clear the thought and returned to the practical. He motioned Isaac to the rear of the sheep and the young shepherd knew what was needed. He took the strap from his sash, looked down to check the slip knot and suddenly was reminded that just a few minutes ago, it had bound his own hands as a sacrifice. He bound the sheep’s hind legs and then held the animal still while his father bound the front legs. Then Isaac lifted him while Abraham untangled the horns from the limbs. Feeling itself free, the ram tried to get to his feet and run away, but only fell to its side.

Abraham left the foolish sheep to kick and buck until it gave up while he studied the size of the ram and the steepness of the slope–it would take both of them to carry the ram up. As the ram finally lay still, breathing heavily from its exertions, Abraham motioned his son beside him and with a practiced motion they lifted the heavy ram over their heads and settled it on their shoulders, Abraham taking the heavier head end. Putting their arms around each other for stability and holding the ram’s bound feet with their other, arm in arm and step by step, the two men carried the sacrificial sheep up the steep slope to the altar waiting above.