REMBRANDT’S "THE SACRIFICE OF ABRAHAM"
In 1634 renowned Dutch painter Rembrandt painted a great work of art that depicted Abraham’s sacrifice of Isaac. The painting ("The Sacrifice of Abraham") captures perfectly how the Lord intervenes to stop Abraham from slaying his son Isaac.
Isaac’s eyes did not meet his father’s eyes. He was lying on the ground, his arms bound behind his back and his eyes covered by his father’s left hand, but his head was thrown back revealing the neck. Isaac’s curled right leg was completely relaxed while the other curled leg was ready to kick off.
The most fascinating part of Rembrandt’s drawing was the activity on Abraham’s right hand. Abraham had raised his right hand to strike the boy, but an angel’s hand grabbed hold of his hand. As a result the knife barely fell out of his hands on its way to the ground. The angel’s right hand had such a tight grip on Abraham’s hand that Abraham was forced to drop the knife out of his hands.
The angel held his left hand up as if to signal for Abraham to stop what he was doing. The angel’s eyes were most tricky. He was looking intensely at Abraham as he gripped him by the wrist and, at the same time, looking at the boy to see if he was alright.
(SOURCE: Victor Yap, SermonCentral.com, "God’s Friend", 6/29/08)