Abraham and Isaac

Sacrificial Faithfulness

One of the many books my kids have is the Jesus Story Book Bible.

It’s awesome, and if you don’t have one you should get one.

There are places were even Corrie and I were like, “Wow, I’ve never thought of it this way.”

It’s a great book for people of all ages.

We have a copy in the Nursery if you ever want to look at it.

It has sold more than 2 million copies.

so it’s pretty popular and widely available.

It takes all the major stories of Scripture and ties them back to Jesus.

How Jesus is the main theme and focus of all the Scriptures.

Much like we are doing with this current series.

When we were going through it with Levi there was a story that would be skip over.

I eventually asked why we keep skipping over the story and Corrie said if you want to explain it to him. Then have at it.

What’s interesting about that fact is this is the story that God used to open Corrie’s eyes to the truth about the gospel message.

So I sat down with him, read him the story, asked what he thought and he looked up at me and asked for a Popsicle.

All of the anxiety, fear, and worry on our behalf was useless.

It is a beautiful story.

It is a weighty story.

It’s a story of trust.

It’s a story of faithfulness.

It’s a story of sacrifice.

It’s the story we are going to look at today.

So if you have your bibles open up to Genesis 22 and lets pray.

Before we begin in Genesis 22 let me set the stage for you.

This story has 2 main characters.

Abraham and Isaac.

Abraham is an important figure in the OT.

In fact, the is an important figure in history.

Three religions tie their identity and history back to Abraham.

Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.

He is a figurehead for all three.

Needless to say he’s important.

So what’s the big deal with Abraham.

We are first introduced to Abraham in Genesis 11 in a genealogy, but his story kicks off in Genesis 12.

Genesis 12:1–3 ESV

1 Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. 2 And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”

Father Abraham

Abraham was chosen by God at the ripe age of 75.

He lived in the land of Ur and worshipped the pagan God’s of his Father.

I mention this b/c Abraham wasn’t chosen b/c he was special.

He was special b/c he was chosen.

B/c he was faithful.

B/c he listened to God.

B/c he trusted God.

So God Calls Abraham to leave everything he knows behind and venture to a mysterious land that will eventually be shown to him.

And if Abraham would listen and obey he would be the recipient of a Fourfold promise from God.

He would be the father of many children.

He would have land.

He would be blessed.

And all the World would be blessed through him.

But there were problems.

Abraham was a nomad.

He had no ownership of land.

So he was going to have to trust God to show him and provide for him land.

Also, Abraham doesn’t have any children.

In fact, his wife is barren.

Unable to have children.

They have past their prime to have children.

But God makes a promise and he is intent on keeping it.

In fact, he makes that promise multiple times.

Genesis 15:5 “5 And he brought him outside and said, “Look toward heaven, and number the stars, if you are able to number them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring be.””

Genesis 17:4-7 “4 “Behold, my covenant is with you, and you shall be the father of a multitude of nations. 5 No longer shall your name be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham, for I have made you the father of a multitude of nations. 6 I will make you exceedingly fruitful, and I will make you into nations, and kings shall come from you. 7 And I will establish my covenant between me and you and your offspring after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your offspring after you.”

To speed things along and to try in his own power to fulfill God’s Promise, Abraham does have a child with his servant, Hagar.

But this child was a child of the flesh and not the child of the promise.

But God still fulfilled his promise .

God preformed a miracle.

God the Author and perfecter of life opened the womb of Sarah and she got pregnant.

90 year old Sarah and 100 year old Abraham had a son.

Genesis 21:5 “5 Abraham was a hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him.”

Abraham waited 25 years for God’s promise to be fulfilled.

He waited 25 years to see his son.

He waited 25 years to hold his son.

He waited 25 years to kiss his son.

He waited 25 years to look into his sons eyes and behold the promise.

The longing, the waiting, the anticipation, and the promise was fulfilled when God kept his promise to Abraham.

And then we get to our story today.

Genesis 22:1–4 ESV

1 After these things God tested Abraham and said to him, “Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” 2 He said, “Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.” 3 So Abraham rose early in the morning, saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him, and his son Isaac. And he cut the wood for the burnt offering and arose and went to the place of which God had told him. 4 On the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes and saw the place from afar.

The Test

God tests Abraham.

And not just any test.

God tests Abraham by asking him to give up, to sacrifice, the thing that he holds most precious.

His Son, His Only Son, Isaac whom he loves.

The Child of the Promise.

We may bristle at the thought of God asking something so extreme.

It may makes us uneasy at the thought that God would ask for a human sacrifice.

Especially b/c we know that God condemns the practice in his law.

He condemns murder.

But here he is asking for a human sacrifice.

But we must not overlook what we know.

The Author wants us to see and Know that God is testing Abraham.

This word test is best understood as “to prove the quality of” faith and obedience.

He is not asking Abraham to do something immoral, he is asking Abraham to demonstrate his faith in God.

God was testing Abraham’s character, integrity, and allegiance to God and God alone.

So here’s what God was really asking Abraham.

Do you love me? Or do you love what I can do?

Do you love who I am? Or do you just love my blessings?

Do you trust that I will keep my promises or do you want to hold on to what you have?

These are all valid questions that God asks us to.

He doesn’t ask us to offer up our children as a sacrifice.

But he does ask us to offer up our money.

Offer up our time.

Offer up our talents.

Offer up our jobs.

So do we really love God.

Or do we love him when its convenient?

Do we love him as long as we can hold on to what is dearest to us?

Or do we love him unconditionally knowing that all that is good in our lives comes from him?

During this exchange, the only thing that Abraham said was “Here I am”

He didn’t ask why.

He didn’t argue.

He didn’t want further explanation.

He just said “Here I am”

He is receptive and attentive to what God has to say to him.

This is a test.

We know that.

Other readers of the story know that.

God knows that.

You know who doesn’t know that?

Abraham. Isaac.

All Abraham knows is that God has been faithful in the past.

And he will be faithful again.

He doesn’t know what that will look like, but he trusts.

Let’s talk about a burnt offering.

A burnt offering was first introduced in Genesis 8.20.

After the flood waters receded.

Noah offered up a burnt offering.

The purpose of a Burnt offering was to make atonement for sin.

The animal would be slaughtered and then placed on the altar and consumed with fire.

There would be nothing but he bones left of the animal.

This was what God tested Abraham with.

Go slaughter your son then set him on fire.

Offer up your most precious possession.

And what did Abraham do?

Genesis 22:3 “3 So Abraham rose early in the morning, saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him, and his son Isaac. And he cut the wood for the burnt offering and arose and went to the place of which God had told him.”

Abraham got up early.

There was no delay.

He was ready to give up everything to obey God.

There was no time to waste.

Abraham must get moving to demonstrate his steadfast obedience to God.

So he starts cutting the wood for the burnt offering.

I can just imagine that with every swing of the ax he is picturing what was going to happen on that mountain top.

This wood was going to be used as the fuel to burn the body of my son.

The author of Genesis doesn’t give us any insight into the mind of Abraham.

I believe that is by design.

I believe that he is giving us an opportunity to empathize with Abraham by inserting our own thoughts into the story.

The uneasiness.

Being baffled at the request.

Nevertheless, not wasting anytime being obedient.

In Abraham’s mind, the moment the request was made to offer up Isaac, he was already dead.

So for the 3 days of travel Isaac was as good as dead and gone.

Three days they were traveling together.

Three days that Abraham was thinking about what he had to do.

Three days that reality had to set in.

Three days Abraham had to contemplate in his mind how God was going to be faithful to his promise.

If God said that Isaac is the one that fulfilled the promise of a multitude of offspring.

Then that promise had to be fulfilled.

So if God was going to make him go through with the sacrifice God was going to have to bring about another miracle.

Abraham looked up and he saw the mountain.

And he knew that it was time to go.

It was time to demonstrate his faithfulness to God.

That he loved God more than he loved the gift.

Genesis 22:5–10 ESV

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.” 6 And 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 they went both of them together. 7 And Isaac said to his father Abraham, “My father!” And he said, “Here I am, my son.” He said, “Behold, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?” 8 Abraham said, “God will provide for himself the lamb for a burnt offering, my son.” So they went both of them together. 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.

The Binding

When Abraham saw Mount Moriah in the distance he stopped and told those traveling with him to stay back with the donkey.

Only him and the boy would go to the mountain.

And it’s interesting to read what he said they were going to do.

They were going to Worship.

They were going to bow down and submit their life to God.

They were going to humbly submit their lives to the Holy One, the promise keeping God.

They were going to pay homage to the creator.

At this time only Abraham knew the true purpose of the trip.

And yet he describes the slaying of his son as worship.

He is truly ready to submit and offer all that he loves up to God.

But Abraham assures those there that both the boy and he will return.

“I and the boy will go over there and worship and come again to you.”

Heb 11:19 “19 He considered that God was able even to raise him from the dead, from which, figuratively speaking, he did receive him back.”

Abraham still believed the promises of God.

He still held to the fact that God is going to follow through just as he had done in the past.

Regardless of how it looked now, God had been faithful, and would continue to be faithful and so would Abraham.

So Abraham took the wood that he had chopped off the donkey and placed it on the back of Isaac.

Isaac was going to bare the wood of the altar up the mountain while his father carried the knife and fire.

Abraham mentally preparing for the fact that in his hands the life of boy hangs in the balance.

The tools used for sacrifice are being carried by a loving father, while his son is carrying the altar on his back.

They make their way together up the mountain.

They proceed in silence.

Not a word being said.

Not until Isaac begins to notice that something is missing.

He recognizes the fact that something very crucial is missing in the equation.

There is no lamb for the sacrifice.

So Isaac says, “Where’s the lamb, Dad? We’ve got the fire and the wood, but not the lamb.”

What’s Abraham supposed to say.

You’re the lamb.

We don’t have one b/c you are the sacrifice that is to be offered.

God wants me to sacrifice you.

God has asked that you be set apart for him.

But don’t worry, God will bring you back to life.

He will restore and resurrect you.

Just have a little faith.

Trust me.

No, he doesn’t say that.

Instead, he says

Gen 22:8 “8 Abraham said, “God will provide for himself the lamb for a burnt offering, my son.” So they went both of them together.”

Can you hear the trust in this statement.

I don’t know where this lamb is going to come from.

I don’t know how this lamb will appear.

I don’t know when we will see it

But I do know that God will provide it.

The whole situation is in God’s Hands Now.

They reach the designated area.

They place God instructed Abraham to go.

And stone by stone, brick by brick Abraham builds the altar.

Then he takes the wood from Isaacs back.

Places it on the altar.

Then binds Isaacs hands and feet and places him on the altar.

Most of the time when this story is depicted Isaac is a young boy or a child.

But the reality is that he is probably in his late teens or early twenties.

He took a 3 day trip with his very aged father.

He is strong enough to carry fire wood up a mountain.

In fact, most People estimate that he was between 18-37 years old.

We will be conservative and say that he was 18 when this even took place.

So if he was 18, that means that Abraham was 118 years old.

Why is this important?

B/c Isaac trusted his father.

He could have easily overpowered Abraham.

He could have ran away from Abraham.

He could have simply refused to be bound, but instead he submitted to his father and allowed himself to be bound and placed on the altar.

Isaac willingly listened, trusted, obeyed, and submitted to his father’s request.

Even at the cost of his own life.

So with Isaac tied down, the moment of truth had arrived.

Abraham placed the knife in his hand, raised his arms to plunge it into his son, his only son, whom he loved, Isaac.

Genesis 22:10 “10 Then Abraham reached out his hand and took the knife to slaughter his son.”

He was going to offer up his son as an offering to the Lord.

He was going to trust in God’s promise.

He was trusting in God’s promise.

Abraham had every intention of going through with this sacrifice.

But God intervened.

Genesis 22:11–14 ESV

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.” 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.”

The Substitute

Before Abraham slaughtered his son the Angel of the Lord called out to him.

Preventing Abraham from following through with the sacrifice.

Instead the Angel of the Lord directs Abraham’s attention to a Ram caught in the thickets and thorns of a bush.

A substitute was provided.

God Provided a substitute for Isaac.

The Ram was offered as a burnt offering.

Abraham out of overwhelming joy and excitement Genesis 22:14 “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.””

Abraham has passed the test.

He has proven the value, worth, and trust that he has placed in God.

He has shown that He loves, trust, and obeys God even in the most extreme of circumstances and requests.

And God provided for Abraham.

Now out of all the stories that we are going to cover in this series this one is pretty straight forward as to how we see Jesus, but let’s take a look anyway.

Matthew 3:17 ESV

17 and behold, a voice from heaven said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.”

Father and Son

Much like the relationship btw Abraham and Isaac, God the Father Loves Jesus.

This mirrors what was Said to Abraham when he was first called out to offer him up.

Genesis 22:2 “2 He said, “Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love,...”

We also read about Jesus being the only son of God in

John 3:16 “16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.”

Much like Jacob, Jesus comes by Miraculous birth.

Jacob is concieved through the power of God.

His mother was very old and barren.

Jesus is born of a virgin by the power of God through the Holy Spirit.

God is the author of Life.

He is the one that gives life to all.

Much like Abraham, the Father is the one that Leads Jesus to be the sacrifice.

Remember in the Garden of Gethsemane?

Luke 22:42 “42 saying, “Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done.””

Jesus knowing that it is the will of the father for him to trust and obey.

Like Isaac, Jesus carried his own instrument of death up that mountain.

It wasn’t a bundle of sticks.

It was a heavy Cross.

Where he would willingly lay down his life.

Not to fight back against the coming sacrifice.

Knowing that there was not a lamb in the thicket, but he was the lamb that was provided as a substitute for the sin of the World.

Here’s something else.

That area where God was leading Abraham, Moriah, was the Jerusalem area.

There Abraham climbed a mountain with his son.

Calling it the Lord will provide.

Notice he didn’t say “The Lord had provided”

He was looking to the future when the Lord would provide the perfect blameless lamb for sacrifice.

Where Jesus was provided to cover our sin and Shame.

Where Jesus died to make us whole.

To set us Free.

God was the only one that could provide and he did.

In the land of Jerusalem, Jesus took his Cross and gave his life.

“God did what Abraham didn’t have to do he made his son as an offering for sin.”-Edmund Clowney

He gave his son for us.

Rom 8:32 “32 He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all...”

John 8:56 “56 Your father Abraham rejoiced that he would see my day. He saw it and was glad.””

Abraham longed to see the Day that Jesus would come and offer his life up as a ransom for many.

God gave Abraham a picture of how that would occur.

In fact, the very mountain where Abraham was going to offer up his son is where the Temple would be erected.

But on that Same mountain range, outside of the city walls the greatest offering would be made.

Not of bulls, goats, lambs, or rams but of God himself offering his life as a living sacrifice.

Our Sin costs us something.

Our sin cost Jesus everything.

He willingly laid down his life so that we may be restored.

That we may be made whole.

That we may be brought back into relationship with him.

Can I tell you something?

Jesus was there on that Mountain when Abraham was about to slaughter Isaac.

In Fact, Jesus was the one that stayed Abraham’s hand.

We read about the Angel of the Lord calling out to Abraham to stop the sacrifice.

The Angel of the Lord is an interesting character in the OT.

He comes and goes a few times in the lives of OT saints.

He is a pre-incarnate Christ.

Meaning that he is Jesus in his spiritual form before he takes on his physical body.

We call them Christophanies.

Well this is one and we can tell that by the language he uses to bless Abraham.

Genesis 22:15–18 ESV

15 And the angel of the Lord called to Abraham a second time from heaven 16 and said, “By myself I have sworn, declares the Lord, because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, 17 I will surely bless you, and I will surely multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven and as the sand that is on the seashore. And your offspring shall possess the gate of his enemies, 18 and in your offspring shall all the nations of the earth be blessed, because you have obeyed my voice.”

Jesus

Notice how the Angel of the Lord speaks to Abraham.

He speaks to him in the same ways that God has spoken to him previously.

He uses First Person pronouns to demonstrate that he is the one that made the promise.

“By myself I have sworn…I will surely bless you…I will surely multiply your offspring...”

This Angel of the Lord is speaking on God’s behalf as only God could.

God Himself is the only one who could have made those promises and sworn those oaths.

Jesus was there watching a loving Father trust in the promises of God the Father knowing that soon his time would come to do the same.

The promises of God are always fulfilled.

He promised Abraham that He would be the father of many nations.

He promised Adam that he would restore humanity and set wrongs right.

He promises you that if you would place your trust in him he would restore and renew you.

So the question is, Do you trust him?

When are you going to place your trust in Jesus.

When are you going to recognize that your life with him will be better than a life without him?

He wants you to trust him.

He wants you to love him.

He wants you to follow him.

He is calling out to you.

Will you answer him?