The KJV Holy Bible

 

Genesis Chapter Twenty Two

 

1 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.

2 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.

3 And Abraham rose up early in the morning, and saddled his ass, and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son, and clave the wood for the burnt offering, and rose up, and went unto the place of which God had told him.

4 Then on the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes, and saw the place afar off.

5 And Abraham said unto his young men, Abide ye here with the ass; and I and the lad will go yonder and worship, and come again to you.

6 And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering, and laid it upon Isaac his son; and he took the fire in his hand, and a knife; and they went both of them together.

7 And Isaac spake unto Abraham his father, and said, My father: and he said, Here am I, my son. And he said, Behold the fire and the wood: but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?

8 And Abraham said, My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering: so they went both of them together.

9 And they came to the place which God had told him of; and Abraham built an altar there, and laid the wood in order, and bound Isaac his son, and laid him on the altar upon the wood.

10 And Abraham stretched forth his hand, and took the knife to slay his son.

11 And the angel of the Lord called unto him out of heaven, and said, Abraham, Abraham: and he said, Here am I.

12 And he said, Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou any thing unto him: for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son from me.

13 And Abraham lifted up his eyes, and looked, and behold behind him a ram caught in a thicket by his horns: and Abraham went and took the ram, and offered him up for a burnt offering in the stead of his son.

14 And Abraham called the name of that place Jehovahjireh: as it is said to this day, In the mount of the Lord it shall be seen.

15 And the angel of the Lord called unto Abraham out of heaven the second time,

16 And said, By myself have I sworn, saith the Lord, for because thou hast done this thing, and hast not withheld thy son, thine only son:

17 That in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies;

18 And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice.

19 So Abraham returned unto his young men, and they rose up and went together to Beersheba; and Abraham dwelt at Beersheba.

20 And it came to pass after these things, that it was told Abraham, saying, Behold, Milcah, she hath also born children unto thy brother Nahor;

21 Huz his firstborn, and Buz his brother, and Kemuel the father of Aram,

22 And Chesed, and Hazo, and Pildash, and Jidlaph, and Bethuel.

23 And Bethuel begat Rebekah: these eight Milcah did bear to Nahor, Abraham's brother.

24 And his concubine, whose name was Reumah, she bare also Tebah, and Gaham, and Thahash, and Maachah.

 

 

Esoteric Interpretation & Commentary

 

The Hermetic Blueprint of Genesis: The Ultimate Surrender and the Ram in the Thicket

"Genesis Chapter Twenty-Two details the most Profound and terrifying Alchemical Trial of the Adept. Having finally manifested the Pure Spiritual Consciousness (Isaac)—the Ultimate prize of the Great Work—the Infinite Mind demands that it be sacrificed. This is the Supreme Test of Non-Attachment. The Spiritual Will (Abraham) must prove that its allegiance is to the Divine Source itself, not merely to the Spiritual gifts, manifestations, or 'gold' it has acquired. By demonstrating an Absolute Willingness to Surrender Everything back to the ALL, the Adept permanently shatters the final, most subtle illusion of the localized ego, Unlocking the Highest Macrocosmic Authority over the material and Mental planes."

 

Verses 1-5: The Command and the Ascent of the Mind - "Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest... and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains..." 

The Infinite Mind tests Abraham. He is commanded to take his promised son to the land of Moriah (meaning "Chosen by Jehovah") and offer him as a burnt offering (Calcination). Abraham's response is immediate and devoid of analytical friction. He rises early, saddles his ass (disciplining the stubborn physical vehicle), and travels for three days—a complete cycle of Mental preparation. When they arrive at the base of the mountain, Abraham tells his two young men to stay behind with the ass. Esoterically, the Mountain represents the Absolute Highest Peak of Exalted Consciousness. The Adept knows that the lower, analytical faculties (the young men) and the dense physical body (the ass) cannot survive this altitude; the Final Ascent into Pure Divine Surrender must be made by the Will and the Spirit alone.

 

 

Verses 6-10: The Alchemical Wood and the Raised Knife - "And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering, and laid it upon Isaac his son; and he took the fire in his hand, and a knife..." 

Isaac carrying the wood mirrors the physical vehicle bearing the very elements of its Own Alchemical Trial. When Isaac asks, "where is the lamb for a burnt offering?", Abraham replies that God will provide. This is the zenith of Hermetic Faith—Absolute Certainty in the Provision of the Infinite Mind. They build the altar, and Abraham binds Isaac. This is the Akedah (The Binding). The Awakened Will is Actively, Consciously preparing to use the knife (Separatio) to sever its attachment to its Own Highest Spiritual Achievement. The Willingness to slay Isaac Represents the Death of the Final Spiritual Ego—the Realization that even Enlightenment itself Cannot be "Owned" by the Individual.

 

 

Verses 11-14: The Divine Intervention and the Ram - "And the angel of the Lord called unto him out of heaven... Lay not thine hand upon the lad..." 

At the very microsecond the Will proves its Absolute, Unhesitating Surrender, the Divine Mind intervenes. The test was never about the literal destruction of the Pure Spiritual Consciousness; it was about the Willingness to detach from it. The Universe demands to be the Supreme Authority. Abraham lifts his eyes and sees a ram caught in a thicket by its horns. In Esoteric Astrology and Symbolism, the Ram (Aries) represents the Fiery, Assertive, animalistic generative Force of the Mind, and the thicket represents the tangled, chaotic web of the lower material plane. The Adept sacrifices the ram instead. The final, lingering remnants of the animal intellect and localized ego are offered up to the Alchemical Fire, Completely Purifying the Spiritual Center.

 

 

Verses 15-19: The Macrocosmic Oath and Absolute Dominion - "That in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven... and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies;" 

Because the Spiritual Will withheld Absolutely nothing from the Infinite Mind, the Universe responds with an Unbreakable Cosmic Oath. The promise moves from localized manifestation to Absolute Macrocosmic Power. The seed of the Adept will be multiplied like the stars and the sand—symbolizing Total saturation of both the Spiritual (stars) and Material (sand) Planes. Most importantly, the Divine Consciousness will "possess the gate of his enemies." This means the Awakened, Purified Mind will have Complete, Unassailable Dominion over Every Lower Passion, Fear, and Material Limitation that previously opposed it. The Great Work of this cycle is Sealed.