Why did an angel intervene rather than God Himself? The Midrash answers: God alone may order death, but to save a human life, an angel is enough.

A profoundly generous and beautiful explanation, but I have another which I prefer. Mine allows me to do what until now I could not; namely, to identify not only with Isaac but also with Abraham.

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The time has come for the storyteller to confess that he has always felt much closer to Isaac than to his father, Abraham.

I have never really been able to accept the idea that inhumanity could be one more way for man to move closer to God. Kierkegaard’s too convenient theory of occasional “ethical suspension” never appealed to me. Kierkegaard maintains that Abraham concealed Isaac’s fate from him in order to protect his faith in God; let Isaac lose faith in man rather than in man’s Creator. These are concepts rejected by Jewish tradition. God’s Law—we said it earlier—commits God as well; but while God cannot suspend His law, it is given to man—to man and not to God—to interpret it. However, faith in God is linked to faith in man, and one cannot be separated from the other.

Let us once again examine the question: Why didn’t Abraham tell Isaac the truth? Because he thought the Akeda was a matter strictly between himself and God; it concerned nobody else, not even Isaac.

Thus I place my trust in man’s strength. God does not like man to come to him through resignation. Man must strive to reach God through knowledge and love. God loves man to be clear-sighted and outspoken, not blindly obsequious. He respected Job because he dared to stand up to Him. Abraham had interceded on behalf of the two sinful cities long before the test with Isaac.

A double-edged test. God subjected Abraham to it, yet at the same time Abraham forced it on God. As though Abraham had said: I defy You, Lord. I shall submit to Your will, but let us see whether You shall go to the end, whether You shall remain passive and remain silent when the life of my son—who is also Your son—is at stake!

And God changed his mind and relented. Abraham won. That was why God sent an angel to revoke the order and congratulate him; He Himself was too embarrassed.

And suddenly we have another coup de théâtre. Abraham never ceases to astonish us: having won the round, he became demanding. Since God had given in, Abraham was not going to be satisfied with one victory and continue their relationship as though nothing had changed. His turn had come to dictate conditions, or else . . . he would pick up the knife—and come what may!

Let us listen to the Midrash:

When Abraham heard the angel’s voice, he did not cry out with joy or express his gratitude. On the contrary, he began to argue. He, who until now had obeyed with sealed lips, suddenly showed inordinate skepticism. He questioned the counterorder he had been hoping and waiting for. First he asked that the angel identify himself in due form. Then he demanded proof that he was God’s messenger, not Satan’s. And finally he simply refused to accept the message, saying: God Himself ordered me to sacrifice my son, it is up to Him to rescind that order without an intermediary. And, says the Midrash, God had to give in again: He Himself finally had to tell Abraham not to harm his son.