"The Lord will Provide" pt.2 Genesis 22:1-8

Introduction:

We saw last Sunday from Genesis 22:1-2 that God was testing the faith of Abraham.

The test was in the form of a command that Abraham was to go to the land of Moriah and on a particular mountain and sacrifice his son Issac.

Remember that this was the mirrored reflection of what God would one day do in giving His Son, His only Son whom He loved as the supreme sacrifice for sinners to die on a Cross on their behalf.

Our text this morning tells us that Abraham obeys the Lord but we need to understand that there was certain expectation associated with God’s covenant fidelity that governed Abraham’s obedience to the Lord in his faith.

This expectation caused Abraham to pursue obedience to the Lord with a covenantal understanding that was in full reliance on God’s promises.

This gives us insight into what Abraham knew for certain and why he believed it. The first thing we see is that Abraham was certain of returning. Look back at your text to verses 3-5:

I. The Expectation (3-8).

A. The Certainty of a Return (3-5).

Notice that Abraham wasted no time in obeying God. He rose early the next morning saddled his donkey and he took two of his servants with him along with Isaac. He even cut the wood for the burnt offering and went to where God had told him which was about three days journey (3-4).

But the certainty of Abraham is revealed in his words to his servants in Genesis 22:5 “5 Then Abraham said to his young men, “Stay here with the donkey; I and the boy will go over there and worship and come again to you.”

The word for “come again” is a plural construct. This indicates that Abraham understood the both himself and Isaac will both return to them. But in reality how is it that Isaac would be able to survive being a sacrifice for a burnt offering? Sacrifices usually don’t recover from such a thing.

So why would Abraham be so certain of such an outcome? Maybe the answer to this question gives us insight into what Abraham may have believed was one possibility of what would take place. Hebrews 11:17-19 tells us:

17 By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises was in the act of offering up his only son, 18 of whom it was said, “Through Isaac shall your offspring be named.” 19 He considered that God was able even to raise him from the dead, from which, figuratively speaking, he did receive him back.

You see the logic behind the divine commentary from Hebrews 11:17-19 informs us that Abraham’s actions implied that he had embraced an understanding of the possibility of the dead being raised to life.

And the rationale goes something like this: If God has made a promise to me that I will have offspring through Isaac as the child of promise, then it would serve to reason that he must be alive to father children. So even if I put him to death as a sacrifice and then burn his remains God would then have to raise him from the dead in order to keep His covenant promise to me.

So if he had to go through with it all the way, then he was certain of their return because he knew God would raise his son Isaac up from the dead.

In ancient times there were child sacrifices that were made in the pagan fertility cults. These pagan gods had to be appeased by such sacrifices in order to have worldly prosperity upon one’s life.

This was based on the idea that a person could buy off the deity in order to warrant their blessing of prosperity. But Abraham knew that the blessing of His God was not primarily dependent upon himself but upon the fidelity of the covenant God of the “I will.”

You see there was a righteous character and an unwavering fidelity to His covenant identity. And because of that He knew that Isaac’s life would be sustained. But regardless he pursued obedience in Genesis 22:9-12:

9 When they came to the place of which God had told him, Abraham built the altar there and laid the wood in order and bound Isaac his son and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. 10 Then Abraham reached out his hand and took the knife to slaughter his son. 11 But the angel of the LORD called to him from heaven and said, “Abraham, Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” 12 He said, “Do not lay your hand on the boy or do anything to him, for now I know that you fear God, seeing you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me

Abraham was going through with it. And the angel of the Lord called to him. Abraham already had the knife in his hand and Isaac was already bound and laying on the altar of sacrifice.

After a few million years in heaven I want to set down with Isaac and just see what he was thinking when he was bound on the altar with Abraham about to sacrifice him. I want to know what was he thinking at that very moment. The Scripture doesn’t tell us because that is not the primary point of this text.

This text is about the faith of Abraham and how it translated into obedience into Abraham’s life to reveal that his faith included the resurrection of the dead. But I think there are more implications that tell us that there was more that Abraham was certain about than this. Look back at your text to verses 6-8:

B. The Certainty of a Provision (6-8).

They are on their way to the Mountain of God. And Isaac takes notice of the elements necessary for the Sacrifice but notices there is no animal for the burnt offering. This wasn’t Isaacs first rodeo, he knew what it took for the burnt offering.

Notice specifically Abraham’s response in verse 8: God will provide for Himself the lamb for a burnt offering, my son.

The ESV gets it very literal to the Hebrew text. This is the idea that Abraham had a substitute in the place of Isaac. Two possibilities, raised from ashes or a substitute provided by God.

I think the two possibilities are inter-connected in the mind of Abraham. Because Abraham would have known from oral tradition that death came into the world from sin. Animals being sacrificed by humans goes all the way back to Genesis 4. For sin would need to be atoned for death to be overcome. And Isaac couldn’t have done it. It would take God to act on behalf of man in such a way as to compensate for sin in order to thwart death.

We see what happens in Genesis 22:13-14 “

13 And Abraham lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, behind him was a ram, caught in a thicket by his horns. And Abraham went and took the ram and offered it up as a burnt offering instead of his son. 14 So Abraham called the name of that place, “The Lord will provide”; as it is said to this day, “On the mount of the Lord it shall be provided.”

Notice the connection of the provision of the ram caught in the thicket and to the name of the place being called, “The LORD will provide.” It is just two words in Hebrew, Jehovah Jireh which emphasizes the provision of the Lord on the mountain of Moriah.

Conclusion:

Mount Moriah is mentioned in 2 Chronicles 3:1 as the place where King Solomon built the temple. It was purchased by King David from Ornan the Jebusite and it is currently the temple mound in modern day Jerusalem where the Dome of the Rock currently sets. It is one of the high holy sites of Islam.

But it was the place where the Jewish Temple was originally built. So you have Abraham sacrificing Isaac on Mount Moriah where God would providentially have the Temple built. It would commemorate what Abraham did into the hearts and minds of the Jewish people.

But this is all juxtaposed to another mountain, one shaped like a skull, Galgotha in Aramaic and Calvary in Latin.

Like we saw last Sunday there is a mirrored reflection of Christ and the gospel in this text. God’s decree has always been before the foundation of the world to reveal the glory of His covenant of redemption.

Why all the sermons on covenant theology? Painting by numbers versus an actual Rembrandt or Picasso.

His glory revealed in redemption is awesome and a personal expression of His love and mercy for His covenant people.

Believer Come to His grace confess your sin and rest in His covenant provision.

Unbeliever believe the gospel! Let’s Pray!