A Commentary on Gen. 22:1-19 by Carl Schneider

The Bible tells us Abe and Ike
To Mount Moriah took a hike,
To do the sacrificial bit.
Who was the victim?  Ike was it!

This was no simple weekend frolic.
The whole event was quite symbolic.
Abe was the subject of a test.
Did he love God or offspring best?

Ike asked a question on the way:
“Where’s the lamb we plan to slay?”
He saw the firestone and the knife.
Abe did not say:  “God wants your life.”

Abe chose the Lord, his son was bound.
Abe built an  alter on the ground.
He raised the knife for fatal stroke.
Ike soon would go to God as smoke!

A voice yelled “Abe” from in the sky.
He answered it with: “Here am I.”
At hour eleven, an angel called.
He said: “I want this slaughter stalled!”

“You passed the test, Ike need not die.”
The angel made a ram stand by.
So Ike was taken off the pyre,
And in his place, the ram set fire.

For showing God his boundless love,
Abe got a promise from above.
To pass God’s test brought great reward —
A covenant, a grand accord.

Abe’s seed was blessed through generations,
To be a light for other nations.
But Ike’s reward was less exotic.
It’s said he grew up quite neurotic.