GOD COMMANDS
ABRAHAM TO OFFER ISAAC
And it came to pass after these things, that God did
tempt Abraham, and said unto him, Abraham: and he said, Behold, here I am
[Gen. 22:1].
The
word tempt is a
little bit too strong; actually, the word means “test.” James makes it very
clear in his epistle that God never tempts anyone with evil. God tempts
folks in the sense that He tests their faith. God did test Abraham, and He
asked him to do something very strange.
And he said, Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac,
whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there
for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of
[Gen. 22:2].
Right after this chapter, we are told that Sarah was 127
years old when she died (see Gen. 23:1). When you put that down with this
chapter, you find that this boy Isaac was not just a little lad. Sarah was
90 years old when Isaac was born and 127 when she died. That means that 37
years elapsed here. Since he is called a “lad” in this chapter, you would
not gather that he actually was in his thirties—probably around 30 or 33
years of age.
“Take now thy son [notice how this plays upon the
heartstrings of Abraham and of God Himself], thine
only son Isaac, whom thou
lovest.” “Take
now thy son”—the Lord Jesus has taken the position of the Son in the
Trinity. “Thy son, thine only son”—the Lord Jesus is said to be the only
begotten Son. “Thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest”—the Lord Jesus said,
“The Father loves Me.”
“And get thee into the land of Moriah” It is the belief
of a great many that Moriah—that is, this particular part—is the place where
the temple was built centuries later and also the place that the Lord Jesus
was sacrificed—right outside the city walls. When I was in Jerusalem, I had
the feeling that Golgotha and the temple area were not very far apart. They
belong to the same ridge. A street has been cut through there, and the ridge
has been breached, but it is the same ridge, and it is called Moriah. Let’s
not say that the Lord Jesus died in the exact spot—we don’t know—but
certainly He died on the same ridge, the same mountain, on which Abraham
offered Isaac.
“And offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the
mountains which I will tell thee of.” The burnt offering was the offering up
until the time of Mosaic law; then a sin offering and a trespass offering
were given. Here the burnt offering speaks of the person of Christ, who He
is. This is an offer of a human sacrifice, and, frankly, it raises this
moral question: Isn’t human sacrifice wrong? Yes, it is morally wrong. Had
you met Abraham on that day when he was on his way with Isaac, you might
have asked him, “Where are you going, Abraham?” He would have replied, “To
offer Isaac as a sacrifice.” And you would have then asked, “Don’t you know
that that is wrong?” Abraham would have said, “Yes, I’ve been taught that it
was wrong. I know that the heathen nations around here offer human
sacrifice—the Philistines offer to Molech—but I have been taught otherwise.”
You would then question him further, “Then why are you doing it?” and he
would explain, “All I know is that God has commanded it. I don’t understand
it. But I’ve been walking with Him now for over fifty years. He has never
failed me, nor has He asked me to do anything that did not prove to be the
best thing. I don’t understand this, but I believe that if I go all the way
with Him that God will raise Isaac from the dead. I believe that He will do
that.”
This is a tremendous picture as Abraham takes Isaac with
him:
And Abraham rose up early in the morning, and saddled
his ass, and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son, and
clave the wood for the burnt offering, and rose up, and went unto the place
of which God had told him [Gen. 22:3].
Abraham takes Isaac with him, and he takes the wood for
the burnt offering.
Then on the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes, and
saw the place afar off [Gen. 22:4].
It took Abraham three days to get there, but remember
that it was on the third day that Abraham received Isaac alive, back from
the dead, as it were. That is the way that Abraham looked at it: Isaac was
raised up to him the third day. What a picture we have here.
And Abraham said unto his young men, Abide ye here
with the ass; and I and the lad will go yonder and worship, and come again
to you [Gen. 22:5].
The transaction that is going to take place is between
the father and the son, between Abraham and Isaac. And actually, God shut
man out at the cross. At the time of the darkness at high noon, man was shut
out. The night had come when no man could work, and during those last three
hours, that cross became an altar on which the Lamb of God who taketh away
the sin of the world was offered. The transaction was between the Father and
the Son on that cross. Man was outside and was not participating at all. The
picture is the same here: it is Abraham and Isaac alone.
And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering, and
laid it upon Isaac his son; and he took the fire in his hand, and a knife;
and they went both of them together [Gen. 22:6].
“Abraham took the wood … and laid it upon Isaac his son.”
Remember that Christ carried His own cross. The fire here speaks of
judgement, and the knife speaks of the execution of judgment and of
sacrifice.
And Isaac spake unto Abraham his father, and said, My
father: and he said, Here am I, my son. And he said, Behold the fire and the
wood: but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?
And Abraham said, My son, God will provide himself a
lamb for a burnt offering: so they went both of them together [Gen. 22:7–8].
Verse 13 tells us that shortly after this there was a ram
that was caught in the thicket by his horns, and Abraham got that ram and
offered it. Abraham says here that God will provide Himself a
lamb. But there was no
lamb there; it
was a ram, and
there is a distinction. The Lamb was not provided until centuries later when
John the Baptist marked Him out and identified Him, saying, “… Behold the
Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world” (John 1:29). “God will
provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering”—it is very important to see
that Abraham was speaking prophetically.
Abraham is now ready to offer this boy on the altar
although he does not quite understand.
And they came to the place which God had told him of;
and Abraham built an altar there, and laid the wood in order, and bound
Isaac his son, and laid him on the altar upon the wood [Gen. 22:9].
Isaac is not just a little boy whom Abraham had to tie
up. He is a grown man, and I believe that Isaac could have overcome Abraham
if it had come to a physical encounter. But Isaac is doing this in
obedience. The Lord Jesus went to the cross having said, “Not My will, but
Thine be done.” He went to the cross to fulfill the will of God. What a
picture we have here!
And Abraham stretched forth his hand, and took the
knife to slay his son [Gen. 22:10].
At this point you and I might have said, “Abraham, are
you going through with it? It looks now like God is going to permit you to.”
He would have said, “I sure am. I’ve been taught that it is wrong, and I
don’t understand, but I’ve also learned to obey God.”
This is a real crisis in Abraham’s life. God has brought
this man through four very definite crises, each of which was a real
exercise of his soul, a real strain upon his heart. First of all, he was
called to leave all of his relatives in Ur of the Chaldees. He was just to
leave the whole group. That was a real test for Abraham. He didn’t do it
very well at the beginning, but, nevertheless, the break finally came. Then
there was the test that came with Lot, his nephew. Abraham loved Lot—he
wouldn’t have been carrying Lot around with him if he hadn’t. But the time
came when they had to separate, and Lot went down to Sodom. Then there was
the test with this boy of his, the son of Hagar, Ishmael. Abraham just cried
out to God, “Oh, that Ishmael might live before Thee!” He loved that boy; he
hated to be separated from him. Now Abraham comes to this supreme test, the
fourth great crisis in his life: he is asked to give up Isaac. Abraham does
not quite understand all the details for the very simple reason that God has
told him, “In Isaac your seed shall be called.” Abraham believed God would
raise Isaac from the dead (see Heb. 11:19), but as far as Abraham is
concerned, he is willing to go through with the sacrifice.
GOD RESTRAINS
ABRAHAM
James
wrote that Abraham was justified by works when he offered up his son. But
wait just a minute. Did Abraham offer his son? Does your Bible say that
Abraham plunged the knife into his son? No, and mine doesn’t read that way
either.
And the angel of the
Lord called unto him out of
heaven, and said, Abraham, Abraham: and he said, Here am I.
And he said, Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither
do thou any thing unto him: for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing
thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son from me [Gen. 22:11–12].
Now God knows that Abraham fears Him. How does He know?
By his actions, by his works; previously it was by his faith. God sees your
heart—He knows whether you are genuine or not—but your neighbors and your
friends do not know. They can only know by your works. That is the reason
James could say that “faith without works is dead.” Faith has to produce
something.
God tested Abraham. I believe that any person whom God
calls, any person whom God saves, any person whom God uses is going to be
tested. God tested Abraham, and God tests those who are His own today. He
tests you and me, and the tests are given to us to strengthen our faith, to
establish us, and to make us serviceable for Him. This man Abraham is now
given the supreme test, and God will not have to ask anything of him after
this.
And Abraham lifted up his eyes, and looked, and behold
behind him a ram caught in a thicket by his horns: and Abraham went and took
the ram, and offered him up for a burnt offering in the stead of his son
[Gen. 22:13].
All the way from the Garden of Eden down to the cross of
Christ, the substitution was this little animal that pointed to His
coming—and God would not permit human sacrifice. But when His Son came into
the world, His Son went to the cross and died: “He that spared not his own
Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely
give us all things?” (Rom. 8:32). That cross became an altar on which the
Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world was offered. It is very
important to see that.
And Abraham called the name of that place
Jehovah-jireh: as it is said to this day, In the mount of the
Lord it shall be seen [Gen.
22:14].
Abraham now names this place which a great many people
believe is where Solomon’s temple was built. Golgotha, the place of a skull,
is right there on that same ridge where the temple stood. There Abraham
offered his son, and it was there that the Lord Jesus Christ was crucified.
This is a glorious, wonderful thing to see. Abraham calls the name of this
place
Jehovah-jireh, meaning Jehovah will provide.
Here is where God intervened in his behalf.
McGee, J. Vernon: Thru the Bible
Commentary. electronic ed. Nashville : Thomas Nelson, 1997,
c1981, S. 1:ix-93