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Traditional religious art has depicted Abraham's altar as a simple pile of stones in the wilderness. In researching the story for this CD, however, we came across an alternative possibility -that of Abraham using an established worship site used by others in the region. The story is obscure and opinions abound even as to the correct location of the altar, many placing it at Mt. Moriah --the rocky hill upon which Jerusalem was later built. If this is so, it is probable that the location was already in use by locals. This question is beyond the scope of our Abraham and Sarah CD, but the use of Sacred Pillars in our depiction is not.
The setting of Sacred Stones was a widespread practice in ancient Israel, indeed, through the Middle East and the entire world. Stonehenge is one great example. In addition to merely providing some sort of ceremonial structure and grandeur, Sacred Stones were often thought to embody the presence of the gods or God, or ancestors and spirits. That Israel set up Sacred Stones is no secret, and the Bible is careful to call them "memorials."
In
our Abraham and Sarah CD, however, we make the stones embody
a new type of "witness" --our kids venturing into this
story. Through the magic of "green screen" video technology
(just like the weatherman uses on TV) we bring five kids like
yours into the scene to witness the near-sacrifice and ask some
important questions, such as, "Why?" and "What
does this mean?" In fact, we do it through some neat 3-D
animation and video set to a song: "O Father Abraham."
(hear streaming song
clip
-2.6 mb)
Like a lot of you, we began
this CD concerned about how to portray this dramatic episode.
It can't be ignored -because it is the culminating test of Abraham
(and Sarah's) obedience, pre-tells Christ's sacrifice, AND because
it demonstates an essential quality of our God -mercy, a God
without unrealistic expectations. This section can be bypassed
or used only in part. But we suggest you don't miss it --our
customers reviews of this section are absolutely glowing.
Our thanks to Dr. Uzi Avner for his permission to use his photo of one such archaeological site in the "study notes" section of our CD-ROM and at the top of this webpage. His photo originally appeared in Biblical Archaeological Review magazine. He is at the Institute of Archaeology, Hebrew University, Jerusalem and did his Thesis on "Researches in the Material and Spiritual Culture of the Negev and Sinai population during the 6th-3'rd Millennia B.C."
<><Neil MacQueen
Sunday Software