The Only Son Isaac

When the Saints were suffering great persecution in Missouri in 1833, the Lord gave this as at least part of the explanation for why this was happening: “Therefore, they must needs be chastened and tried, even as Abraham, who was commanded to offer up his only son” (D&C 101:4).  This scripture has bothered me for a while because of the reference to Isaac as the “only son” of Abraham.  This is the same language that we get in the actual description of the event in Genesis 22: “And it came to pass after these things, that God did tempt Abraham, and said unto him, Abraham: and he said, Behold, here I am.  And he said, Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of” (Genesis 22:1-2).  What seems wrong to me is that the Lord referred to him as the “only son” of Abraham when he really wasn’t.  Abraham’s first son was Ishmael and he was alive at the time that Abraham was commanded to sacrifice Isaac.  Why would the Lord refer to him as his only son?

               Hagar and her son Ishmael certainly seem to have had a difficult time when they were within Abraham’s household.  It was Sarah that gave Hagar to Abraham as wife, and yet Hagar was “despised in [Sarah’s] eyes” after she became pregnant with Ishmael (Genesis 16:4).  Hagar ran away at this point and only came back because “the angel of the Lord found her by a fountain of water in the wilderness” and brought her back to Abraham (Genesis 16:7).  Abraham surely loved Ishmael, for he “said unto God, O that Ishmael might live before thee!” (Genesis 17:18)  After Isaac was born, Ishmael apparently didn’t treat him very well and Sarah “said unto Abraham, Cast out this bondwoman and her son: for the son of this bondwoman shall not be heir with my son, even with Isaac.”  Abraham again showed his love for Ishmael, for “the thing was very grievous in Abraham’s sight because of his son” (Genesis 21:10-11).  The Lord told him to go ahead and follow Sarah’s request, and as far as I know Abraham never saw them again.  An angel again came to Hagar, this time saving her life in the wilderness.  She was blessed and Ishmael was preserved by the Lord, ultimately becoming the head of his own great nation.  I don’t understand why the Lord would have Abraham permanently separate from his wife Hagar and from his son Ishmael, but I think the story holds the key to understanding why the Lord would call Isaac the “only son.”  This was recorded in Genesis 21, right before the account of Abraham being willing to offer Isaac in Genesis 22.  So when the Lord referred to Isaac as the “only son” of Abraham, it was after Ishmael had been cast out from his household.  Isaac was his only son left with him when he was commanded to take Isaac to slay him.  So while “only son” was not technically correct as far as we understand the relationships, for all intents and purposes he was the only son Abraham had left.  He wasn’t going to see Ishmael anymore and so Isaac was the son he had left to be with him.  At any rate, the symbolism is clear: just as God the Father had to offer up his only begotten son and Abraham had to offer up his beloved Isaac, so too will we be required to offer heart wrenching sacrifices to the Lord if we are to be His people.