01.08. Offering of Isaac
8 The Offering of Isaac
By faith Abraham, when he was tried, offered up Isaac: and he that had received the promises offered up his only begotten son.
Of whom it was said, That in Isaac shall thy seed be called:
Accounting that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead; from whence also he received him in a figure (Hebrews 11:17-19). The first section in Hebrews 11:1-40 (Hebrews 11:4-16) terminates with an inheritance beyond the Flood -- that is, an inheritance beyond the Great Tribulation, in the Kingdom Age. In Hebrews 11:17 there is a new beginning in the chronological framework, which carries us once again through the same period, but from a different perspective. This section begins and ends at the same two places as the first section -- the shedding of blood, and the Messianic Era. In this section, as in the first section, Old Testament characters with their individual, peculiar experiences are used in an overall, typical framework to teach great spiritual truths.
The offering of Isaac is recorded in Genesis 21:1-34. This is the second of five consecutive chapters which set forth in type the complete history of Israel and the Church, from the birth of Israel’s Messiah to that future day when Israel’s Messiah returns and restores the kingdom to Israel. These are basic, primary, fundamental chapters which must be understood if one is to have a proper grasp of God’s program for the ages. Consequently, our study of the offering of Isaac in Genesis, chapter twenty-two will include not only events in the chapter itself, but also the proper place and relationship of this chapter to the overall framework of events in Genesis 21:1-34; Genesis 22:1-24; Genesis 23:1-20; Genesis 24:1-67; Genesis 25:1-34.
Overall Scope of Genesis 21:1-34; Genesis 22:1-24; Genesis 23:1-20; Genesis 24:1-67; Genesis 25:1-34 In Hebrews 11:17-19 the offering of Isaac is specifically stated to be a "type." It is a type of the offering of God’s Song of Solomon 2,000 years later. Thus, in Genesis 21:1-34, "Abraham" is a type of God the Father, and "Isaac" is a type of God the Son. It follows then in the other chapters in this overall framework of events in Genesis that the "wife of Abraham" (Genesis 21:1-34, Genesis 23:1-20, Genesis 25:1-34) is a type of the Father’s wife, the nation of Israel, and the "bride" secured for Isaac by Abraham’s servant (Genesis 24:1-67) is a type of the bride presently being secured for Christ by the Holy Spirit.
1. The Birth of Isaac (Genesis 21:1-34)
Isaac was born in a supernatural manner at a set time. Sarah was barren and beyond the age of childbearing, but God intervened, restored unto Sarah "according to the time of life," and "Sarah conceived, and bare Abraham a son in his old age, at the set time of which God had spoken to him" (Genesis 17:1-7; Genesis 17:16-21; Genesis 18:10-14; Genesis 21:1-7).
The birth of Jesus occurred in a supernatural manner at a set time (Galatians 4:4). "Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise: When as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Spirit" (Matthew 1:18). God Himself became flesh in the person of His Son -- the God-Man (John 1:14).
2. The Offering of Isaac (Genesis 22:1-24)
Abraham was instructed to offer his son for a burnt offering upon a particular mountain in the land of Moriah. After Abraham and Isaac were on the mountain, God provided a substitute. Isaac paid the penalty for sin through a ram slain in his stead -- a substitutionary atonement (Genesis 22:13).
God offered His Son at Calvary on a particular mountain in the land of Moriah. Facts derived from the Biblical account indicate that God’s Son, in all likelihood, died in exactly the same place that Abraham offered his son. A substitutionary atonement was provided for man at Calvary. God Himself in the person of His Son -- the Passover Lamb -- paid the penalty for sin. God purchased man’s salvation with His Own blood (Acts 20:28). The Jewish Passover, 30 A.D., was "The day God died" -- to be raised from the dead on the third day (Genesis 22:4; Luke 24:21).
3. The Death of Sarah (Genesis 23:1-20)
Following the offering of Isaac, the wife of Abraham, Sarah, died.
This typifies the fact that following the offering of Jesus, the wife of God the Father, Israel, was set aside.
4. The Bride for Isaac (Genesis 24:1-67)
Following the death of Sarah, Abraham sent his eldest servant into a far country to obtain a bride for Isaac. After the servant’s journey had been prospered by the Lord, he returned to Abraham’s home with the bride.
This typifies the fact that following the setting aside of Israel, God the Father sent the Holy Spirit into the world (far country) to obtain a bride for His Son. After the Holy Spirit’s mission has been completed, He will return to the Father’s home with the bride.
5. The Remarriage of Abraham (Genesis 25:1-34)
Following the completion of his servant’s mission in the far country, Abraham again took a wife. Abraham’s second wife, Keturah, was far more fruitful in childbearing than Sarah.
This typifies the fact that after the completion of the Holy Spirit’s mission in the far country, God will again take Israel unto Himself as His wife. Israel today is the adulterous wife of Jehovah, but in that future day she will be cleansed and will -- as Keturah -- be far more fruitful than in prior years, typified by Sarah.
Faith Approved Through Testing "And it came to pass after these things, that God did tempt [test] Abraham..." (Genesis 22:1).
It had taken approximately sixty years for the Lord to bring Abraham from a life of Idolatry in Ur of the Chaldees to the walk by faith in the land of Canaan which he now occupied. Abraham was seventy years old at the time of his call in Ur. God then waited thirty additional years, bringing Abraham through various experiences, trials, and testings, before He allowed the promised seed to be born. God then waited another comparable length of time before He tested Abraham in the manner recorded in Genesis 22:2 ff.
All his previous experiences, trials, and testings had worked together to prepare Abraham for the events recorded in this chapter. In his response to the Lord’s testing at this point in his life, Abraham could draw upon his experiences in Haran, on the mount between Bethel and Hai, in Egypt, and on the plain of Mamre in Hebron. He could draw upon his experiences with Lot, Hagar, Ishmael, and events surrounding the miraculous birth of his son, Isaac. The man whose paths God had directed for six decades, who had led a victorious army against kings, been blessed by Melchizedek, and spoken to the Lord face to face, was about to undergo the supreme test in his life.
Every new development in Abraham’s life throughout his entire pilgrim journey was for a purpose. Nothing came to pass in a haphazard manner. All events in Genesis 12:1-20, Genesis 13:1-18, Genesis 14:1-24, Genesis 15:1-21, Genesis 16:1-16, Genesis 17:1-27, Genesis 18:1-33, Genesis 19:1-38, Genesis 20:1-18, Genesis 21:1-34 anticipate events in Genesis 22:1-24. Events in Genesis 22:1-24, in turn, anticipate events in Genesis 23:1-20, Genesis 24:1-67, Genesis 25:1-34. The offering of Isaac in Genesis 22:1-24 forms the acme toward which all preceding events moved, and events in this chapter must occur before the events in succeeding chapters. Isaac must die before Sarah can die (Genesis 22:1-24, Genesis 23:1-20). Sarah, in turn, must die before the bride can be obtained for Isaac (Genesis 23:1-20, Genesis 24:1-67). And the bride must be secured before Abraham can remarry (Genesis 24:1-67, Genesis 25:1-34).
Throughout history God has always moved His people through various experiences, trials, and testings for particular reasons; and His dealings with Christians today are no different. Christians are to "count it all joy" when subjected to various testings, knowing "that the trying [approval through testing] of your faith worketh patience" (James 1:2-3; cf. Romans 5:3). The word "patience" in James 1:3 is from the Greek word hupomone, which could be better translated, "patient endurance." This is the same word used in Hebrews 12:1, where the writer, reflecting upon the experiences of all the faithful in chapter eleven, states, "Wherefore...let us run with patience [’patient endurance’] the race set before us." God allows trials and testings of one’s faith in order to work "patient endurance" in an individual’s life. Why? Because "patient endurance" is not only intimately associated with Christian maturity (James 1:4; 2 Peter 1:6), but, "If we suffer [’patiently endure’] we shall also reign with him" (2 Timothy 2:12; cf. 1 Peter 1:6-7). Or, in the words of James: "Blessed is the man that endureth [’patiently endureth’] temptation: for when he is tried [’approved’], he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him" (James 1:12).
Through all the various trials and testings which Christians encounter, God has one great purpose in mind:
"And we know that all things work [’are working’] together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate [’foreordain’] to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he [Christ] might be the firstborn among many brethren [Christians, following the adoption]" (Romans 8:28-29; cf. Romans 8:17-23; Hebrews 2:10).
Christians today bear the "image of the earthly"; but God’s great purpose looks beyond this earthly image and the present trials and testings to that future day when Christians will bear the "image of the heavenly," occupying positions of power and authority with Christ as sons of God in the coming kingdom (Revelation 2:26-27). The Offering of Isaac
"And he [God] 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" (Genesis 22:2).
Isaac was a grown man at this time. The word translated "lad" (Heb. naar) in verse five is used elsewhere in the Word of God to describe men who have attained their majority. The word is used in Genesis 41:12 to describe Joseph at the age of twenty-eight. The word is used in 2 Chronicles 13:7 to describe Rehoboam after he became king, and Rehoboam was forty-one years old when he began to reign (1 Kings 14:21). This same word is also used to describe the two men who accompanied Abraham and Isaac on their journey to the land of Moriah (Genesis 41:3). Isaac was either in his twenties or thirties, but not above the age of thirty-seven, for the events of Genesis 23:1-20 began when Isaac was thirty-seven. Isaac, in the type, was possibly about the same age as Christ at the time of His crucifixion in the antitype.
God commanded Abraham to offer his only son for a burnt offering upon a particular mountain in the land of Moriah. In Hebrews 11:17 we are told that Isaac was Abraham’s "only begotten son." Abraham had another son, Ishmael (who dwelt in the wilderness of Paran at this time), but Isaac alone was the "only begotten son." Isaac alone was born after the Spirit in a supernatural manner, and, thus, was the only son recognized by God as fit for the sacrifice.
God’s Song of Solomon, 2,000 years later, was offered upon a particular mountain in the land of Moriah. He was God’s "only begotten Son" (John 3:16). God had other sons (angels, Adam, and Israel are called "sons of God" because of special, creative acts), but Jesus alone, as Isaac, was the "only begotten Son." Angels could not fulfill the requirement for substitutionary atonement (Romans 5:17-19). Nor could Adam or his descendants fulfill this requirement, for "by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned" (Romans 5:12). Consequently, Israel, although a special creation in Jacob, could occupy no place in fulfilling this requirement beyond being the channel through which God would send the Saviour. Sinful man with his natural birth from below (typified by Ishmael’s birth) cannot pay for his own sins. Only one Man in all history -- the virgin-born Son of God, born after the Spirit in a supernatural manner (typified by Isaac’s birth; cf. Matthew 1:20) -- has been judged qualified to be man’s Redeemer. Thus, Jesus, as Isaac -- the "only begotten Son" -- was the only Son recognized worthy for the sacrifice (Revelation 5:2-6).
The mountain in the land of Moriah upon which Abraham was instructed to offer his son appears undoubtedly to be the same mountain (Mt. Calvary) upon which God later offered His Son. Everything in the account points to this conclusion. The land of Moriah was the region in Palestine where Jerusalem was built (2 Chronicles 3:1). Abraham at this time lived in Gerar, in the land of the Philistines (Genesis 20:1; Genesis 21:34), some sixty miles southwest of this area. The distance from Gerar to Mt. Calvary would require about a three-day journey, which was exactly the time required for Abraham and Isaac’s journey. God was very particular about the place Isaac was to be offered. The site is called the "mount of the Lord" where "the Lord will provide [the literal meaning of ’Jehovah-Jireh’]" (Genesis 22:14); and comparing verse eight with verse fourteen, an individual can be drawn to only one conclusion: At some point in the course of man’s history, God would "provide himself a Lamb" on this mount.
For the first time in Scripture a human sacrifice was involved. There are only two such sacrifices under the direction of the Lord in all Scripture, and both occurred on a particular mountain in the land of Moriah, separated by two millenniums. The offering of Isaac points back to Adam and forward to Christ, indicating the fact that it was man who sinned, and it must be by man that sin is put away. Abraham offered his son on the "mount of the Lord" as recorded in Genesis 22:1-24, and God offered the greater Son of Abraham (Matthew 1:1) on, it would appear, the same mount 2,000 years later as recorded in the four gospel accounts.
Following God’s command to Abraham concerning the sacrifice of his son, there was no remonstrance nor delay. "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 into the place of which God had told him" (Genesis 22:3). Abraham, through various experiences, trials, and testings, had been brought to the place of complete obedience. Abraham set his son aside for a sacrifice and was perfectly willing to slay his son, in accordance with God’s command.
God’s Son was set apart for a sacrifice by the Father and was to be slain upon a particular mountain of God’s choosing. Christ was "foreordained" and "slain from the foundation [the founding of the entire visible order] of the world" (1 Peter 1:20; Revelation 13:8). The Jews and the Romans of that day did only "whatsoever" God had "determined before to be done," for the Cross was according to the "determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God" (Acts 2:23; Acts 4:28). God’s Son was set apart for a sacrifice at a time before the ages began, which was long before the creation of Adam and the entrance of sin into the human race. The experiences of Abraham and Isaac in Genesis 22:1-24, thus, actually look back in time to the councils of eternity preceding the existence of the material universe, and forward in time to the events of Calvary, which anticipate events yet future even today. Consequently, Genesis 22:1-24 becomes the pivotal chapter in a book wherein the roots of all Biblical doctrine lie.
After two day’s travel, on the third day, Abraham lifted up his eyes and saw the mount afar off. From that point Abraham and Isaac left the two men who had accompanied them thus far and traveled the remainder of the way alone. Abraham laid the wood on his son, and he himself carried the fire and the knife as they proceeded toward the mount (Genesis 22:4-6).
The "wood" which Isaac carried toward the mount foreshadowed the Cross which Christ carried toward the mount. "Wood" in Scripture symbolizes humanity, pointing in Genesis 22:1-24 to man’s sin, which made necessary both the wood which Isaac carried and the Cross which Christ carried. The "fire" and the "knife" which Abraham carried toward the mount symbolize God’s judgment upon sin and the Word of God respectively. God was about to judge sin upon the mount in accordance with His revealed Word.
God’s judgment upon sin throughout Scripture is emblematized by "fire." (Note the flaming sword at the entrance to the garden in Eden following Adam’s sin; the destruction of Sodom, Gomorrah, and the cities of the plain by fire from heaven; the tabernacle worship; Elijah’s experience with the prophets of Baal; judgment during the coming tribulation; the judgment seat of Christ; the Valley of Hinnom; the lake of fire.) Judgment, in turn, is always administered in accordance with God’s revealed Word, "the sword of the Spirit" (Ephesians 6:17; cf. Genesis 3:24; Judges 7:18; Hebrews 4:12; Revelation 1:16; Revelation 19:15).
The great truth brought out here sets forth two inseparable facts: 1) Sin must be judged; 2) the Word so states! In Genesis 22:1-24 God judged sin in accordance with His revealed Word (cf. Genesis 3:21; Genesis 4:4), and 2,000 years later on Calvary’s Cross God also judged sin in accordance with His revealed Word. In the case of God’s Son dying at Golgotha, it was not only God judging sin in the person of the Living Word Who was "made flesh, and dwelt among us" (John 1:14).
Abraham and Isaac went together alone to the mount. The two men who had accompanied them from Gerar remained a sufficient distance from the mount that they neither had part in nor witnessed the scene on the mount.
God the Father and God the Son went together to Mt. Calvary. And when it came time for God to place on His Son "the iniquity of us all," They were alone. God caused a darkness to cover the entire land during this time. The transaction between Father and Son at Calvary, as the transaction between father and son in Genesis 22:1-24, had no other participants or witnesses.
As Abraham and Isaac journeyed toward the mount together, with Isaac carrying the wood and Abraham carrying the fire and the knife, Isaac observed that there was no lamb for a sacrifice. He then said to his father, "Behold the fire and the wood: but where is the lamb for a burnt-offering" (Genesis 22:7)? Abraham responded, "My son, God will provide himself a Lamb for a burnt-offering" (Genesis 22:8). This statement cannot refer to the ram caught in a thicket (Genesis 22:13), for Abraham knew nothing of this ram and believed that he would actually have to slay his son. Abraham’s response to Isaac looks beyond the offering of Isaac to the offering of Abraham’s greater Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. (Note the statement of John the Baptizer in John 1:29 : "Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world." In essence, John not only answered Isaac’s question ["Where is the Lamb?"], but he also identified the One to Whom Abraham referred ["God will provide himself a Lamb"].) God provided the Lamb, and the Lamb was God Himself in the person of His Son.
Isaac in the type offered no resistance as he was bound and placed on the altar upon the wood. He willingly allowed himself to be the sacrifice.
God’s Son, likewise, in the antitype, offered no resistance as He moved toward Calvary. He willingly endured the Cross, allowing Himself to be the Sacrifice which would put away sin.
As Abraham "stretched forth his hand, and took the knife to slay his son," he was stopped by the angel of the Lord; and a "ram caught in a thicket by his horns" was provided as an offering "in the stead of his son." The ram died in Isaac’s place. The wages of sin (death) were satisfied via a substitute (Genesis 22:10-13).
The wages of sin today, likewise, have been satisfied in the person of a Substitute. God has provided Himself a Lamb. The Lord Jesus Christ has paid the required price to atone for man’s sin, and God is satisfied with the price which His Son has paid. Man can either receive Jesus Christ Who paid the wages of sin on his behalf, or man can pay the penalty himself. The Lamb has died, but the death of the Lamb is insufficient without the proper application of the blood (Exodus 12:6-7; Exodus 12:12-13).
Death -- Burial -- Resurrection
Abraham possessed God’s promise that "in Isaac shall thy seed by called" (Genesis 21:12). From the time of Abraham’s call in Ur of the Chaldees, God waited thirty years to give Abraham a son. God then waited another comparable length of time before He commanded Abraham to offer his son for a burnt offering. During the intervening years, the original promise given in Ur of the Chaldees was reaffirmed on several occasions. Abraham knew that God could not leave Isaac in the place of death and, at the same time, fulfill His promise. Thus, God would, of necessity, have to raise Isaac from the dead. This is what is meant by the statement in Hebrews 11:18-19 : "Of whom it was said, That in Isaac shall thy seed be called: Accounting that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead..."
It is apparent that Abraham also understood many things about the prophetic significance of the offering of his son on the mount. Galatians 3:8 reveals that the gospel (comprised of three parts: Death, Burial, Resurrection; 1 Corinthians 15:3-4) had been proclaimed to Abraham. Abraham knew that the events of his day foreshadowed events of a coming day, which provided a second reason why Abraham knew that God would have to raise Isaac from the dead. This fact is set forth in the word "figure" (Hebrews 11:19). The Greek word translated "figure" is parabole, from which we derive the English word "parable." A parable is one truth placed alongside a previous truth to help explain the previous truth. The offering of Isaac was placed alongside the gospel which had been previously proclaimed to Abraham. The gospel, in turn, looked beyond the offering of Isaac to the offering of Abraham’s greater Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, 2,000 years later. Abraham received his son from the dead in a parable -- truth set forth in the offering of Isaac which was placed alongside previously revealed truth (the gospel). The gospel message announced that God’s Son would be raised from the dead, and, in this manner, Abraham knew that his son (a type of God’s Son) would also be raised from the dead.
According to the Record, Abraham, in God’s sight, actually offered up his son. Note the words in Hebrews 11:17, "By faith Abraham, when he was tried, offered up Isaac." Isaac then, to complete the type, was raised from the dead on the third day. Note in Genesis 22:4, it was on the third day that Abraham "lifted up his eyes, and saw the place afar off." Isaac had been dead for two days and was raised on the third day. God provided a ram, and the ram was to be slain in order that Isaac might live. Not only do we have substitutionary atonement, but we also have resurrection. The ram not only died in Isaac’s stead, but the ram also died so Isaac (who was looked upon as dead at this point in the account) could live. That is resurrection!
Concluding Thoughts:
There is no mention of Isaac’s coming down from the mount with Abraham. Of course, we know from Genesis 22:5 that Isaac undoubtedly returned with Abraham. But to guard the overall type within Genesis 21:1-34; Genesis 22:1-24; Genesis 23:1-20; Genesis 24:1-67; Genesis 25:1-34, the Record is silent on this point. The next appearance of Isaac within the framework of these five chapters is in Genesis 24:62 as he comes forth to meet Rebekah at "eventide." This is after the death of Sarah (Genesis 23:1-20), after the completion of Eliezer’s mission in the far country (Genesis 24:1-67), and immediately before the remarriage of Abraham (Genesis 25:1-34).
All of this in graphic, unblemished detail foreshadows the experiences of Christ in the antitype. Following His resurrection, He, as Isaac, was removed from the scene. He ascended into heaven. And the next appearance of Christ will be the same as that foreshadowed by Isaac in Genesis 24:62. Christ, as Isaac, will not reappear until that time when He comes forth to meet His bride at "eventide" -- at the end of the present age. This time follows both the setting aside of Israel (Genesis 23:1-20) and the completion of the Holy Spirit’s mission in the far country (Genesis 24:1-67), and will occur immediately before the restoration of Israel (Genesis 24:26).
Just as surely as the day arrived when Eliezer completed his mission and Rebekah was removed from the far country, the day will arrive when the Holy Spirit will complete His mission and the bride of Christ will be removed from the far country (earth). And, just as Isaac came forth and met Rebekah between his home and her former home, Christ will come forth and meet His bride between His home and her former home. Then just as Rebekah went to Isaac’s home and became his wife, the bride of Christ will journey into heaven with her Bridegroom and become the wife of the Lamb (cf. Genesis 24:61-67; 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17; Revelation 19:7-9).
Then will follow the antitype of Abraham’s remarriage. Israel will be cleansed, restored as the wife of Jehovah, and established at the head of the nations on earth. This will occur at the conclusion of 6,000 years of man’s history, and the long-awaited Messianic Age will follow. All these things were decreed in the councils of eternity during a time before the ages even began. And the Lamb dying on Calvary, the pivotal event in God’s plan for the ages, makes everything possible.
"Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honor, and glory, and blessing.
And every creature which is in heaven, and on earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, heard I saying ’Blessing, and honor, and glory, and power, be unto him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb forever and ever’" (Revelation 5:12-13).