Although Oahspe explains the near-sacrifice of Abraham’s son as just a lesson in deception, it seemingly means more to the Abrahamic religions. Oahspe says that an angel posed as God, but the Hebrew Scriptures say it was God testing Abraham by telling him to sacrifice his first-born (legitimate) son, and that Abraham was willing, but was stopped at the last minute. The Abrahamic religions seem to agree that as a reward for passing the test, God promised Abraham many descendants through his son and that his “promised offspring” would “take possession of the cities of their enemies”, which referred to the land of Canaan (see Image 3). Agreement stops, however, when it comes to (1) whether Abraham almost sacrificed Isaac or Ishmael and (2) who comprises Abraham’s “promised offspring”.

Most or all of the Hebrew Scriptures of the Abrahamic religions, with the exception of Islam’s Quran, seemingly specify Isaac as Abraham’s son. Islam’s Quran does not specify the name of the son. Early Islam honored the account given in the same scriptures of Christianity and Judaism, which pre-dates the Quran, because they also believe(d) that both Isaac and and Ishmael were promised great nations, that Jesus inherited the blessing from Isaac, and that Muhammed inherited the blessing from Ishmael. But later, after the Quran came about and as tensions between Christianity and Islam grew, many Moslems argued that it was Ishmael that was almost sacrificed¹⁰.

Regarding the “promised offspring”, most or all Abrahamic religions, with the exception of Islam, seemingly believe that although Ishmael was Abraham’s firstborn son, Sarai tricked Abraham into passing the “blessing” to Isaac rather than Ishmael and that Isaac then passed the inheritance on to his son, Jacob, who was later renamed Israel, and became the father of the 12 tribes of Israel (Oahspe also includes Jacob). Judaism seems to stop right there, but Christianity seems to veer away from Judaism when they add Jesus, their messiah, to the line-up by saying that Abraham’s willingness to sacrifice his only (legitimate) son foreshadowed how God would soon sacrifice his only son who would wash away the sins and give everlasting life to those who believe in him¹¹. Islam, on the other hand, seems to be divided about the “promised offspring”. Some within Islam seemingly believe that the descendants of Ishmael have always been the “promised offspring” because Ishmael, not Isaac, was the son that was almost sacrificed by Abraham. Yet others within Islam seem to believe that Isaac started out as the “promised offspring”, which would have given the inheritance to the Jews and Christians, but the Jews and Christians “were unfaithful to the Abrahamic legacy and their infidelity brought about the final revelation, the “Quran” transferring the inheritance to Ishmael’s descendant, the prophet Muhammed¹²