read it like a collection of stories and let it soak in.

Definitely. So far it is a collection of stories and I am enjoying it. I am having a hard time, though, with the whole God chose Abraham, Isaac and Israel and really the main virtue for chosing Abraham was because he was willing to sacrifice his son. I know its meant to show that he was obedient to God and was willing to follow His orders with full faith, but is it a coincidence that what God asked was child sacrifice?

If I did not know any better, it feels a lot like main stream subtly introducing things in thier programming to normalize what is not accepted as normal. Is it possible that the Bible as we know it has been manipulated over the years?

I will keep reading and keep an open mind, but would love to know what others think of these things.