Abraham: Part Two

1 Now it came about after these things, that God tested Abraham, and said to him, “Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” 2 He said, “Take now your son, your only son, whom you love, Isaac, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I will tell you.” 3 So Abraham rose early in the morning and saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him and Isaac his son; and he split wood for the burnt offering, and arose and went to the place of which God had told him. 4 On the third day Abraham raised his eyes and saw the place from a distance. 5 Abraham said to his young men, “Stay here with the donkey, and I and the lad will go over there; and we will worship and return to you.” 6 Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on Isaac his son, and he took in his hand the fire and the knife. So the two of them walked on together. 7 Isaac spoke to Abraham his father and said, “My father!” And he said, “Here I am, my son.” And he said, “Behold, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?” 8 Abraham said, “God will provide for Himself the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.” So the two of them walked on together. 9 Then they came to the place of which God had told him; and Abraham built the altar there and arranged the wood, and bound his son Isaac and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. 10 Abraham stretched out his hand and took the knife to slay 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 stretch out your hand against the lad, and do nothing to him; for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from Me.” 13 Then Abraham raised his eyes and looked, and behold, behind him a ram caught in the thicket by his horns; and Abraham went and took the ram and offered him up for a burnt offering in the place of his son. 14 Abraham called the name of that place The Lord Will Provide, as it is said to this day, “In the mount of the Lord it will be provided.” (Genesis 22:1–14)

God Tested Abraham

The Scripture here and in Hebrews 11:17 is very clear: God put Abraham to the test.

Abraham and Sarah had longed for a son. God promised them a son. They waited decades after that promise for God to keep His Word. He did, and they had Isaac. It’s not unreasonable to think that Isaac’s birth made Abraham’s life complete.

But, did Abraham still fear God? Did Yahweh still have Abraham’s loyalty, affection, trust, obedience? Years before this took place, we are told, Abraham believed God and obeyed God when it meant getting what he most wanted: a son. Would he still obey God even when obedience meant the loss of what he loved most? Who was really God in Abraham’s life, God Himself, or Isaac?

It was time for a test. Yahweh command Abraham to put the son he loved to death, and to cremate the body. Abraham obeyed the Lord without argument or discussion. He obeyed immediately, leaving early the next morning. He obeyed the Lord step by step, and would have slain Isaac if the Angel of the Lord hadn’t stopped him.

He passed the test, as the Lord acknowledges in Genesis 22:12.

But there is more to the story than a test of Abraham’s personal loyalty to God.

God had decreed a plan for redeeming sinners before anything was created. Part of that plan was the incarnation of His own Son through a descendant of Abraham. And the Lord used this episode in Abraham’s life to give us a prophetic picture of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, almost 2,000 years before Jesus was born.

A PROPHETIC PICTURE OF REDEMPTION

Let me run through the prophetic pieces of this story.

First, Isaac is called Abraham’s only son three times in Genesis 22.

Ishmael was also Abraham’s son, biologically speaking. After Sarah died Abraham would marry again, and have more sons, and probably daughters as well. But spiritually, as far as God’s promise to Abraham was concerned, and as far as redemptive history was concerned, Abraham had only one son.

Likewise, the Lord Jesus is the only begotten Son of God, as we see in John 1:14, 18, 3:16, 18, Hebrews 11:17, and First John 4:9.

Second, Isaac was to be offered on a hill in the region of Moriah, which is identified in Second Chronicles 3:1 as the hill where Solomon built the temple.

Likewise, Jesus died on Golgotha, part of the low hills that make up Mount Moriah (Mark 15:22).

Third, Isaac was to be truly killed.

A burnt offering meant the death and complete destruction of the sacrifice. The animal is slain, and cremated. That’s what God commanded Abraham to do to Isaac: ensure his death.

Likewise, the Lord Jesus was crucified, one of the most certain means of killing someone in that time. What’s more, after Jesus had died, a Roman soldier pierced His side and heart with a spear, showing that He was truly dead (John 19:34).

Fourth, there were three days between the command to sacrifice Isaac, and the “resurrection” of Isaac, when Abraham received him back.

Likewise, Jesus predicted that He would rise from the dead on the third day (John 2:19, 19:17), and did (John 20:21).

Fifth, Isaac carried the wood for his own sacrifice up the hill.

Likewise, Jesus carried His own cross, John 19:17.

Sixth, Abraham had the confidence that God would provide a lamb for Himself in Isaac’s place, and the Lord did.

Likewise, the Father promised to provide a substitute for the redemption of His people (Isaiah 53:4-6, and Jesus was that substitute (Matthew 20:28).

Seventh, Abraham tied Isaac up.

Likewise, Jesus was bound at His arrest and for the trials, John 18:12, 24.

And eighth, Isaac accepts what is happening without resistance or complaint.

Likewise, Jesus was silent during His trial, submitting to the Father’s will, and speaking only to glorify God and fulfill prophecy, but never to defend Himself or complain of mistreatment. (Isaiah 53:7, Matthew 26:63).

Now let’s look at Hebrews 11:17-19.

ABRAHAM IN HEBREWS

17 By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises was offering up his only begotten son; 18 it was he to whom it was said, “In Isaac your descendants shall be called.” 19 He considered that God is able to raise people even from the dead, from which he also received him back as a type. (Hebrews 11:17–19)

Here we have Genesis 22 summarized: By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and passed the test.

As we’ve already seen in Hebrews 11, Abraham’s faith is a real-world case study for what biblical faith looks like.

Did Abraham still fear God after getting what he most wanted in life? Did Yahweh still have Abraham’s loyalty, affection, trust, obedience? Years before this took place, we are told, Abraham believed God and obeyed God when it meant getting what he most wanted: a son. Would he still obey God even when obedience meant the loss of what he loved most? Who was really God in Abraham’s life, God Himself, or Isaac?

Abraham offered up his only begotten son.

The writer of Hebrews emphasizes, as Moses does in Genesis, that Isaac was Abraham’s only begotten son. He uses the same phrase as we find in John 3:16, God gave His only begotten son.

We are never told that Abraham argued or thought about disobeying the Lord. But let’s not think that it wasn’t the greatest challenge Abraham ever faced. It wasn’t just about the loss of Isaac to cancer or an accident; Abraham was to do the deed himself.

And in faith he obeyed. He trusted God. He feared God. In spite of Isaac’s birth, in spite of the tremendous gift of that boy, Abraham loved Yahweh more.

But it seems that Abraham’s faith was not simply one of mindless obedience, but confidence in the Person and Power and Character of God.

Abraham trusted that God could raise the dead.

Abraham trusted that God could raise the dead, and he trusted that God would raise Isaac if it came to that.

After all, the Lord had promised Abraham that he would be the father of a great nation, and the father of a multitude of nations, and that he would have countless descendants, as innumerable as the sand on the shore and the stars in the sky. And God insisted that those nations and descendants would come through Isaac.

At the point Abraham is commanded to sacrifice Isaac, Isaac is unmarried and childless.

We miss the point of Abraham’s faith if we simply say that Abraham trusted that God wouldn’t take the most precious thing from him, that Abraham trusted that God would never cause him pain or anguish.

Abraham’s faith was that God would fulfill His promises to the last detail.

Abraham trusted the Person of God. God called him, God made the promise. Yahweh, the God of Noah and Shem, the Divine Being who had created everything from nothing. Abraham fully trusted the Person of God.

Abraham trusted the Power of God. There was nothing too difficult for God to do. Abraham believed that with all his heart and soul. Nothing could hinder the Lord from doing what He pleased. As far as Abraham was concerned, if he had slain Isaac and then cremated him on the altar, God would raised Isaac up from the ashes.

And Abraham trusted the Character of God. God had made elaborate promises to Abraham. He wouldn’t lie. He couldn’t lie. He wasn’t playing some cruel joke on Abraham. He wasn’t torturing him. He had a purpose in this command, but that purpose didn’t cancel the promise that He had previously made.

Many might have accused God of cruelty, but Abraham trusted the Person and Power and Character of God. He acted immediately. He obeyed step by step.

And Abraham received Isaac back. His son, who was as good as dead, was restored to him. He passed the test.

But again, this wasn’t just about Abraham personally; God’s redemptive decree was prophetically described in a fair amount of detail, as we’ve seen.

Abraham received Isaac back as more than a son.

And when Abraham received Isaac back it was more than just as his son.

Hebrews 12:19 says that Abraham received Isaac back as a type. The Greek word is parabole, and it is usually translated parable. It means an illustration of spiritual truth using common experiences and objects.

What does Isaac illustrate? We might think that Isaac is an illustration of Jesus.

He is Abraham’s only son.He was to be offered within shouting distance of Calvary. He was to be truly put to death. Three days passed between the command and receiving Isaac back.Isaac carried the wood for his sacrifice. Isaac was tied up.Isaac accepted these events without argument or defense.

But Isaac isn’t a type of Christ, because in the end, Isaac didn’t die. So Isaac isn’t really a picture of Christ, but of the redemption of sinners.

Once God had sentenced Isaac to die, there had to be a death. The faithfulness of God is that He never changes, regardless of what He has determined. Isaac was sentenced to death; he had to die.

In exactly the same way, the Lord determined that sin would be punished with death, and that each sinner owes Him a death. Adam and Eve sinned, and they died. They passed sin on to their descendants, and each of their descendants dies. We must all come to judgment.

Now, before creation, when God determined that mankind would sin, and that all sin required the death of the sinner, He also determined that He would provide for Himself a lamb, the Lamb of God, Jesus Christ, and that His Lamb would die in the place of the elect.

Jesus didn’t die because of human hatred.

Jesus didn’t die, as some believe, because He made mistakes and offended people.

Jesus died because He was the ram caught in the thicket. He is the substitute, the Lamb God provided for Himself, to satisfy both His just demand for a death for my sins, and His desire to demonstrate mercy toward me, the sinner.

BRINGING IT HOME

By faith Abraham obeyed God, because he feared God more than he feared losing Isaac. His faith in God gave him confidence that he could, and would, lose nothing of what the Lord had promised him.

That’s the example of faith before us today. By the grace of God, Abraham set His God above all else in His life.

Turn to Genesis 25 with me. I want you to see verses 7-8:

7 These are all the years of Abraham’s life that he lived, one hundred and seventy-five years.

Abraham spent the last 100 of those years were spent knowing His Creator, not just knowing about Yahweh, but knowing Him in His faithfulness and mercy and holiness and provision.

8 Abraham breathed his last and died in a ripe old age, an old man and satisfied with life; and he was gathered to his people. (Genesis 25:7–8)

As Abraham drew his final breath, he was satisfied with life.

But do you remember what Hebrews 11:13 says? “All these died in faith, without receiving the promises.”

There is only one way to live satisfied with life, and that is to live in faith, fearing and loving God more than anything else. Everything else can be lost; the Lord cannot be lost.

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