It’s a story filled with angelic visits, tearful goodbyes, and a final, audacious request. According to Legends of the Jews, after Michael the archangel’s arrival, a joyous meal was shared in Abraham's home. Prayers were offered, a sign of the deep connection between the human and the divine. But peace was soon shattered.
In the dead of night, Isaac, Abraham's son, awoke with a start. Filled with dread, he rushed to his father's chamber, crying, "Open, father, that I may touch thee before they take thee away from me!" Can you imagine the scene? Father and son, weeping together in the darkness. And Michael, the celestial being, weeping alongside them.
Sarah, hearing the commotion, called out, wondering if news had arrived of Lot, Abraham's nephew. But Michael reassured her, deflecting the truth with a gentle lie, attributing the weeping to a bad dream of Isaac's.
But Sarah, wise and perceptive, recognized Michael as one of the three angels they had previously hosted, a divine messenger. She subtly alerted Abraham. As Abraham reflected, he, too, realized the divine nature of his guest, recalling the washing of the feet at the oak of Mamre (Genesis 18), and their mission to save Lot.
Abraham then pressed Isaac to recount his dream, which Michael then interpreted. The message was clear: Abraham was to be taken to the heavens, though his body would remain on Earth until the resurrection. The time had come to set his affairs in order.
Now, Abraham, never one to shy away from a challenge, responded with a refusal! "I will not go with thee," he declared, essentially telling the archangel to do as he was commanded. Bold. Michael returned to heaven with this unexpected defiance. God, in turn, sent Michael back to reason with Abraham. He reminded him of God's blessings and the inescapable nature of death, framing it as a kindness that God was sending Michael rather than the "sickle of death." "Wherefore, then," Michael asked, "hast thou said to the chief captain, I will not go with thee?"
Faced with the divine will, Abraham relented. But he had one final, audacious request. "I beseech thee, lord," he said to Michael, "if I must depart from my body, I desire to be taken up in my body, that I may see the creatures that the Lord has created in heaven and on earth." Abraham, facing death, doesn't ask for more life, but for a glimpse of the divine tapestry, the entirety of creation.
Michael, again, ascended to heaven to present Abraham’s request. And God, recognizing Abraham as His friend, granted it. "Go and take up Abraham in the body and show him all things, and whatever he shall say to thee, do to him as to My friend."
What does this story tell us? Perhaps it's about the human struggle with mortality, even for the most righteous. Maybe it's about the power of faith and the audacity to ask for more, even in the face of death. Or perhaps it's simply a reminder that even the most profound moments can be filled with tears, love, and a touch of defiance. Whatever it is, Abraham's final request reminds us to never stop seeking, never stop wondering, and never stop asking to see the world in all its glory.
Then Michael went into the house of Abraham, and they ate and drank and were merry. And when the supper was ended, Abraham prayed after his custom, and Michael prayed with him, and each lay down to sleep upon his couch in one room, while Isaac went to his chamber, lest he be troublesome to the guest. About the seventh hour of the night, Isaac awoke and came to the door of his father's chamber, crying out and saying, "Open, father, that I may touch thee before they take thee away from me." And Abraham wept together with his son, and when Michael saw them weep, he wept likewise. And Sarah, hearing the weeping, called forth from her bedchamber, saying: "My lord Abraham, why this weeping? Has the stranger told thee of thy brother's son Lot, that he is dead? or has aught befallen us?" Michael answered, and said to her, "Nay, my sister Sarah, it is not as thou sayest, but thy son Isaac, methinks, beheld a dream, and came to us weeping, and we, seeing him, were moved in our hearts and wept." Sarah, hearing Michael speak, knew straightway that it was an angel of the Lord, one of the three angels whom they had entertained in their house once before, and therefore she made a sign to Abraham to come out toward the door, to inform him of what she knew. Abraham said: "Thou hast perceived well, for I, too, when I washed his feet, knew in my heart that they were the feet that I had washed at the oak of Mamre, and that went to save Lot." Abraham, returning to his chamber, made Isaac relate his dream, which Michael interpreted to them, saying: "Thy son Isaac has spoken truth, for thou shalt go and be taken up into the heavens, but thy body shall remain on earth, until seven thousand ages are fulfilled, for then all flesh shall arise. Now, therefore, Abraham, set thy house in order, for thou wast heard what is decreed concerning thee." Abraham answered, "Now I know thou art an angel of the Lord, and wast sent to take my soul, but I will not go with thee, but do thou whatever thou art commanded." Michael returned to heaven and told God of Abraham's refusal to obey his summons, and he was again commanded to go down and admonish Abraham not to rebel against God, who had bestowed many blessings upon him, and he reminded him that no one who has come from Adam and Eve can escape death, and that God in His great kindness toward him did not permit the sickle of death to meet him, but sent His chief captain, Michael, to him. "Wherefore, then," he ended, "hast thou said to the chief captain, I will not go with thee?" When Michael delivered these exhortations to Abraham, he saw that it was futile to oppose the will of God, and he consented to die, but wished to have one desire of his fulfilled while still alive. He said to Michael: "I beseech thee, lord, if I must depart from my body, I desire to be taken up in my body, that I may see the creatures that the Lord has created in heaven and on earth." Michael went up into heaven, and spake before the Lord concerning Abraham, and the Lord answered Michael, "Go and take up Abraham in the body and show him all things, and whatever he shall say to thee, do to him as to My friend."
