Genesis 22:1-19: The Promised Sacrifice

Greeting:

Good morning. Grateful to be here for week 2 now. Today is just a great day to worship Jesus Christ and look to his sacrifice for our lives today. Today we will be in Genesis 22:1-19. Before we get to that I want to recap last week so we can follow along today as we move a little further into the Bible today.

Recap:

If you were here last week, we talked about Genesis 3, and we talked about how the promise of Genesis 3:15 is the foundation of the entire Bible, as the Promise of Genesis 3:15 is the promised Redemption in Christ. That the work of the Cross and the Resurrection of Christ, when defeats sin and death this is what cuts off the head of the serpent, showing that God has broke the power of satan, and the only way satan can tempt us is by twisting God’s word. The main idea last week was that the fall of man leads to the promise of Redemption in Christ. We noted that the Old Testament is about promises made, the New Testament is promises fullfilled. Christ is in all scripture. Today is no different, Christ is implied in all of this text today, there are so many parallels of Christ in this passage today, and I could not even cover all the bases. As I said last week my prayer is that me and y’all would just have such a earnest desire for the word of God, and to delight in God, as when we delight in him through his word, it limits satan to be able to twist the words in our own life. So we will get into this passage today, in Genesis 22. I want to first start here by asking y’all something.

Intro:

I want you to imagine something today with me. I want you to imagine that you would have to give up your child or one of your most prized possessions, whom you love dearly or the possession that you love dearly, and you have to sacrifice it to worship God. Would you do it? Would you go through with this act of obedience to God, if God commanded you to kill your child, would you do it for the sake of following Christ. I was thinking about that when I was going through this passage today, and like I do not know if I could do it, I am not married, I do want to be and have children, I would do it, but it would be the hardest thing I would ever have to do, I mean this is a sacrifice that requires the most obedience and faith of Abraham. I want to set this up, not like any story we read but I want you to feel the weight of what Abraham was being asked to do he was being asked to sacrifice his only son, whom he waited years upon years just now for the Lord to just say now I want you to sacrifice him, I mean this is heavy, and this a great sacrifice that Abraham is being asked of here, he is offering up his child for the sake of being right with God, that’s faith. What we will all throughout this text today is that one mans obedience leads to one mans sacrifice.

Main idea:

The main idea of the text today is One man’s obedience leads to the Greatest sacrifice.

So now we will read the text, so the word of the Lord from Genesis 22:1-19:

Genesis 22:1–18 CSB

After these things God tested Abraham and said to him, “Abraham!” “Here I am,” he answered. “Take your son,” he said, “your only son Isaac, whom you love, go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains I will tell you about.” So Abraham got up early in the morning, saddled his donkey, and took with him two of his young men and his son Isaac. He split wood for a burnt offering and set out to go to the place God had told him about. On the third day Abraham looked up and saw the place in the distance. Then Abraham said to his young men, “Stay here with the donkey. The boy and I will go over there to worship; then we’ll come back to you.” Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and laid it on his son Isaac. In his hand he took the fire and the knife, and the two of them walked on together. Then Isaac spoke to his father Abraham and said, “My father.” And he replied, “Here I am, my son.” Isaac said, “The fire and the wood are here, but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?” Abraham answered, “God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.” Then the two of them walked on together. When they arrived at the place that God had told him about, Abraham built the altar there and arranged the wood. He bound his son Isaac and placed him on the altar on top of the wood. Then Abraham reached out and took the knife to slaughter his son. But the angel of the Lord called to him from heaven and said, “Abraham, Abraham!” He replied, “Here I am.” Then he said, “Do not lay a hand on the boy or do anything to him. For now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your only son from me.” Abraham looked up and saw a ram caught in the thicket by its horns. So Abraham went and took the ram and offered it as a burnt offering in place of his son. And Abraham named that place The Lord Will Provide, so today it is said, “It will be provided on the Lord’s mountain.” Then the angel of the Lord called to Abraham a second time from heaven and said, “By myself I have sworn,” this is the Lord’s declaration: “Because you have done this thing and have not withheld your only son, I will indeed bless you and make your offspring as numerous as the stars of the sky and the sand on the seashore. Your offspring will possess the city gates of their enemies. And all the nations of the earth will be blessed by your offspring because you have obeyed my command.”

Pray over the text

Context:

Where are we at?

We know that up to this point God has created the heavens and the earth. Adam and Eve were created to dwell with God, however they sinned in the garden, and now because of their sin there is separation from God, and we are all affected by the sin of Adam in the garden, which makes us to be born in original sin. Then we go through the story of Cain and Abel, and then the promise of Genesis 3:15 continues through the line of Seth. But again the world goes against God then God floods the earth, and destorys every living thing except for Noah. God practically starts over and almost immediately Noah gets drunk and his children see it, and then it just all begins all again. Right before the story of Abraham the tower of Babel is destroyed, and the world is just a mess, but God is faithful because he knows the promise he made in the Garden in Genesis 3:15 and he will be faithful even when we are not. The story where are begins In Genesis 12 we see when God calls Abram, In Genesis 15, we see that God justifies Abraham by his faith in him, In Genesis 17, we see God give the sign of the covenant with Abraham, in Genesis 21 after many years of waiting, even after Abraham made the mistake of having a child with his servant, in Genesis 21, Isaac the son of Abraham and Sarah was born, Abraham was 100 years old. So Isaac has just been born, and he is called the promised Child, because we know the promise of the Abrahamic Covenant is that through Abraham’s offspring all nations will be blessed. This might get me removed from this church the rest of summer for saying this, but there are some of you in here that are a bit older in age, and I bet your thinking man its hard enough to have a kid at 30-40 years old, imagine having a kid at 100 years old, I mean Abraham and Sarah waited for so long before they had Isaac, to the point that Sarah even laughed at God when God told her that she would have offspring as numerous as the stars. After the long waiting however Isaac was born. So there were two sons of Abraham, the other was Ishmael, to throw something interesting at you this is why I say it every detail of the old testament matters and relates to Christ if you throw off one thing, it distorts the entire Bible. And so with this said, Muslims say that Ishmael is the promised child, even though the Bible is clear that he is not, Isaac, and their entire view of the Bible is now distorted and they can’t affirm Bible because of this. Every detail of the Old Testament is important as it relates to the promises made in the Old testament and how Christ fulfills the promise. So we are now up to speed where we are at, Isaac is considered Abraham’s one and only son. In Genesis 22, we see that Abraham is being tested by the Lord as he is commanded to go to place the Lord directs and give up his son’s life as a offering, this is a major sacrifice, and through his obedience and willingness to do whatever the Lord had him to do, we see that his obedience leads to the greatest sacrifice.

1. The Testing v.1-2

The first thing we observe in the text is that God is testing Abraham’s faith.

God calls Abraham in verses 1-2, to take his son, his only son, whom he loves and to go and offer him as a sacrifice on the mountain.

We do not know exactly how Abraham responded immediately, I would imagine he would probably have thought about asking the question why God, why have you made me wait this long and now you want me to sacrifice my son? I am sure Abraham had to wrestle a little.

Understand this today put yourself in Abraham’s shoes what would do if you had to sacrifice your son on the altar in order to follow him. This is a major test, if Abraham is disobedient here, then the entire story line of the Bible is messed up, Abraham however has seen the Lord provide him a child, and he knows that God will provide the right sacrifice for the atonement of their sins.

2. The Obedience v.3-12:

The Second thing we see is Abraham’s Response to the testing his obedience.

In verse 3, Abraham got up the next morning after being commanded to sacrifice his one and only son, and he prepared for the journey to the Land Moriah like the Lord God had commanded him to, and he set out to place he was supposed to go. We do not know how he was on the way up to the place he was going. We do know that his joy was not in things of this world but was in the promises of the faithfulness of our God, so imagine that it was a sorrowful journey, but the joy of the Lord is what carried him through. Reminds me of Jesus actually, Jesus is sorrowful in the Garden of Gathesemne as he knows that he is about suffer the worst death in human history, but we know from Hebrews 12:1–2 “Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.” We know that Jesus’s joy was not attached to things of this earth, but to his father in heaven, he knew the father’s will, fyi because he is God, while Abraham I imagine had a incredibly difficult time with having to do this, we know that he was resting in the promise that Lord will be faithful to provide, when Abraham obeys.

In verse 4, on the third day, wink wink, Abraham looked up and saw the place he was supposed to go to. Jesus is all over this to, the place of the sacrifice, where the Lord we find out in a few verses will provide, and Isaac wont have to be sacrified this happens on the third day, the parallels of Jesus are here.

In verse 5, Abraham and Isaac went to the place for the sacrifice, and he did hint that the two would return because would come back. I think Abraham believed in faith that when he would be obedient to sacrifice his son, that the Lord would provide far more than he could ever ask or imagine.

In verse 6, Abraham lays the wood on Isaac, and they continued to walk up, as Isaac was carrying the wood, Abraham had the knife and fire. So look here, now Isaac is carrying wood on his back, just does not Jesus do the same thing with the tree on his back.

In verses 7-8, Isaac spoke to his father, and asked him where is the Lamb for the burnt offering. Abraham responds and says God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering my son. Then they continued the journey.

The Lamb was the prominent animal for sacrifice as it was the means by which the act of sacrificing a lamb was necessary to atone for sins and worship God in right relationship. Animal sacrifices were the only way to get right with God.

In verses 9-10, they arrived to the place that God wanted them to be at, and them Abraham did the hardest thing he had ever been faced with in his life, he put his son on the altar of wood, and Abraham reached out to slaughter his only son. This is just so sad, I mean can you imagine the pain of Abraham at this moment to have to wait so long then to just give up what he waited so long for, I can imagine that this was a hard, I imagine tears coming down his face.

In verses 11-12, the angel of the Lord tells Abraham not to lay a hand on him, and Abraham replies with the statement Here I am, this a phrase of a man who is completely following God and is willing to do anything that God commands him to do. What we learn here is that Abraham fears God and is fully willing to lay the life of his own son down to follow God, this is true obedience, willing to give up every possession, every gift, everything to follow God and do whatever he commands to do.

In verses 3-12, we see the obedience of Abraham as he is willign to do anything to follow God and he trusts that the Lord will provide, and in verse 13 we see that the Ram a male sheep was provided.

3. The Promised Sacrifice v.13-18

In verse 13, we see that the Lord provides a ram, which is a male lamb, this is the substitute for Isaac. Back in verse 8, we see that Abraham believes that the Lord provide a lamb for sacrifice, and this was in place of his son Isaac.

In verse 14, Abraham named the place he went to sacrifice Isaac, THE LORD WILL PROVIDE, so today it is said that it will be provided here. What we see in verse 14, is that the Lord will provide the perfect sacrifice, and it will be his one and only son Jesus Christ.

In verse 15-18, we see that because of Abraham’s obedience, the promise of the Abrahamic Covenant which is promise that all nations will be blessed through his offspring, and that he will have offspring has numerous as the stars, this is reaffirmed again, and God promises that because of Abraham’s act of obedience, he will provide the true sacrificial lamb. The true sacrificial lamb is Jesus.

Isaac could not be true sacrifice, because as great as Isaac was, he is not better than Jesus. Isaac was born sinful because of the fall, so there was no way that Isaac could truly be the sacrifice, but we do know is that Isaac is an type/example of what is to come. Notice the description that God gives about Abraham’s son he says, “your only son,” “whom you love,” “offer him as a burnt offering.” What we see here is the parallel of Jesus, as we know that Jesus is the only begotten son, whom the Father Loves Deeply, and the Father offers up his son as a burnt offering, substitute for the full atonement of our sins.

We are Abraham’s offspring, the church is what is being promised by offspring here in verse 18, notice there is not two different offsprings of Abraham, there is only true offspring. The calling of the Great Commission to Go and Make Disciples of all nations why because the church is the offspring that is a blessing to all nations, we are the children of God, and Abraham. When we are in Christ we are children of faith and are Abraham’s children. When we live obediently to call of the Great Commission we are bringing the promise of Abraham forth, and nations are blessed.

Galatians 3:27–29 “For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise.”

The Bible is clear that the church is Abraham’s offspring, and so with that being said we are effected by Abraham’s obedience so many years ago, because he was obedient to go and offer up his only son, the story of the Bible continued to which he could have said no, and then without it then there would be no promised child, and the promise of Genesis 3:15 forgotten. But we learn here in week 2 is that God is bound by his nature and his word, when he promises something he is faithful to fulfill his promise, and in Genesis 22 as Abraham’s obedience led to God’s promise of a true sacrifice, we see the promise of Genesis 3:15 continuing through this promise. Abraham’s obedience and faith led to the greatest sacrifice for salvation in Christ.

Hebrews 11:17 “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,”

Romans 3:21–25 “But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it— the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins.”

Jesus is the wrath of appeasing True Sacrifice Lamb that fulfills all of the promises made in the Old Testament.

1 John 4:9–10 “In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.”

You see here the story of the Bible continues because of one mans obedience leads to one mans great sacrifice. As John Piper says, “Jesus was the sacrifice to end all sacrifices.”

Praise God today, that we do not have to sacrifices I mean can you imagine having to constantly sacrifice animals to atone for our sins, Praise God today that Abraham obeyed the command God gave because of this We see now that the Lord will provide a true lamb, that will be our true substitute for our sins, and on the cross Jesus the true lamb is our perfect substitute, he died in our place, taking on our sin, so that those who repent and believe in him, his righteous now becomes our own, bringing us back into right relationship with God, reversing the curse of the fall which is separation from God.

The obedience of Abraham leads to the promised Sacrifice of Jesus. Christ is in all of scripture, and what we see here today is the obedience of one man that leads to the ultimate sacrifice one man, Jesus is promised here and the promise of Genesis 3:15 is continuning. What we learn here that God is progressively revealing his sovereign plan to his people, Genesis 3:15 promises that one will come along and cut the head of the serpent, Genesis 22 promises that the one that will come to cut the head of the serpent will give his life up as a atoning sacrifice. Today this is beautiful, God is sovereign and we learn that his plan is better than ours, Abraham recognized that God was doing way more than he could imagine when he was faithful to obey.

Application for us:

This passage today teaches us to be faithful and remember that the Lord is always working together for his glory and our good, do not miss out on the life that God gives because your not willing to follow him at a cost. None of us are faced today with having to give up our only son right? Do not hold back what you have from God, use what God has gifted you with and be obedient to him, not out of duty, but I promise when you place your delight in the pleasures of God, the things of this earth, the possessions of this earth, the money of this earth, the lusts of this earth will grow strangely dim in the light of God’s glory and grace.

Being obedient to God in the ordinary things of life is a life of significance

Abraham was willing to sacrifice his own son, and lay his life down for the sake of following the way that God showed him. The faith that Abraham has in God is very strong, the stronger our faith and trust is in God the more obedient we become.

True Obedience requires laying your own life down and doing whatever the Lord hand has you do.

The question today is do you have faith in God? I do not mean that faith of just raising your hand and saying I am saved faith, but I mean faith that if you lost everything you would still stay with the Lord. Whats holding you back from having faith like Abraham had?

The most important question of all today is do you recognize the true sacrificial of Jesus.

Through one man obedience all nations will be blessed.

The sacrifice of Jesus Christ is a wrath appeasing sacrifice, that when we repent and believe in him, we are righteous in the sight of God, I pray if you are not saved today, that today the Lord would open your eyes to Calvary where the greatest man and greatest sacrifice took place. If you do not have saving faith today, I pray today that you would trust the Lord.

For the believer today, I pray that God would give you the faith like Abraham to sacrifice your everything for God. This week I pray that we would be all out for the advancement of the kingdom of God, that we would give up everything that holds back from following Jesus, and pursue him wholeheartedly today, whatever that looks like for you.

Pray.

Next week, if you want to read ahead we will be Exodus 12 looking at the Passover, when God says he will strike the firstborn of all the Land, but the ones who door has the blood applied, he will not touch them and they will be safe from judgement, highly encourage y’all to read the passage and really soak in and meditate on it, and I will be here next week, for week 3 as we continue to look at Christ in all of scripture.

I want to end today with this modern hymn that I love called Christ the True and Better:

Christ the true and better Isaac Humble Son of sacrifice Who would climb the fearful mountain There to offer up His life Laid with faith upon the altar Father's joy and only Son There salvation was provided Oh, what full and boundless love.

Benediction:

Ephesians 3:14–20

“For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us,”