Binding of Isaac-Traditional View

A few years ago, I read an article on the Christian Think Tank web site explaining the traditional view of the near sacrifice of Isaac. It was called Why did God punish the Canaanites for child sacrifice, when He personally ORDERED Abraham to do it?!

It made a lot of sense to me at the time and there are aspects of it that still make sense that I mull over from time to time. Some of the points that the article makes :

* The construction in the original over-emphasizes that it was GOD who initiated this test, and that it was GOD who spoke to Abraham. The author wants his readers to have no doubt that Abraham knew it was God speaking.

* There is a word in the verse that is often used in the OT but only 4 times is it used by God. Every time it is used it is in conjunction with a staggering directive from God. The word is the Hebrew word "Na" and pretty much means "please". 3 of the 4 times "God uses" the word in the OT it is in a request to Abraham. The author of the article believes it was a vital clue for Abraham which would have amounted to God saying:

"Take, please, your son, your precious one who you love, Isaac, and go to the land of Moriah, where you shall offer him up as a burnt offering on one of the peaks I will identify for you"

* Abraham solved the apparent contradiction between "sacrifice Isaac" and "Isaac will have many descendants" by concluding that God would raise him from the dead.

* Isaac is often depicted in artwork as a little kid who could have easily been dragged up the mountain against his will. According to Jewish tradition Isaac was probably between the ages of 23 and 37. If he had not been willing he could have overpowered Abraham. Instead he carried the wood up on his back (which some commentators believe foreshadows Christ carrying his cross)

This article gave me some peace about this story in Genesis for quite a while....but I ran across other explanations that seemed to make sense also...and some troubling questions as well. Stay tuned for those views....coming up.