The Lord Provides

Genesis 22

“What Is the Bible?”

Glen Scrivener in an article on Genesis 22 asks that insightful question. He writes,

Sometimes Christians are the worst at answering that question. Some will reply, “The Maker’s Instruction Manual,” or “God’s Road Map.” Creative types have even given us an acronym: BIBLE stands for “Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth.” Most often people, whether Christian or not, see it essentially as a moral guidebook. But if we read Genesis 22 through that lens, we’re in for a shock. When God says, “Sacrifice your son,” how should we react? Go and do likewise? No. If we copied or endorsed each practice in the Bible, we’d be in a terrible mess (not to mention jail). Genesis 22 should be read the way the whole Bible should be read. First and foremost it’s a biography—the Spirit’s testimony to the Son. And when we see it this way, the entirety of Scripture comes into focus. (Abraham’s Sacrifice: Genesis 22).

The Bible is not just a rule book or a collection of stories with morals to follow. To be sure, the Bible has a lot to say about how people ought to live. The Bible emphasizes faith in God and obedience to His commands. It is full of examples, both good and bad. But all of this ethical teaching rests on a foundation of divine revelation. The very God who created the universe has intervened in history. He has revealed Himself to people. He has spoken. We have the written record of His self-revelation. The Holy Scripture is the Word of God. This is what we have in our Bibles. It is God’s revelation of Himself to mankind.

Yes, God used human authors to write the 66 books which make up the Bible. But these diverse writings contain a unified message from our creator. As the apostle Peter writes, “knowing this first, that no prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation, for prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit” (2 Pet. 1:20-21). Paul agrees, “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.” (2 Tim. 3:16-17). All scripture is God-breathed, inspired by the Holy Spirit. Holy men of God wrote as they were moved (or carried long) by the Holy Spirit of God. So the Bible also has a divine author, the Holy Spirit of God.

What is the focus of God’s self-revelation in the Bible? It is salvation through Jesus Christ, the Son of God. Jesus said, “You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me” (John 5:39). Specifically Jesus taught this about the scriptures, “all things must be fulfilled which were written in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms concerning Me … Thus it is written, and thus it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day, and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem,” (Luke 24:44, 46). The Bible teaches that our sin had separated us from the Holy God and condemned us under His righteous judgment. But God sent His Son Jesus Christ who took away our sin by bearing its punishment in our place. The Bible is about God saving sinners through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Everything in the Bible contributes to our understanding of God’s eternal plan of salvation in Jesus Christ.

So central is God’s plan of salvation in Jesus Christ, so crucial was it that His people understand it, that God wove into the very history of His people in the Bible many anticipations of the Savior’s person and work, especially the incarnation, suffering, death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus. This is what for ages has been referred to as typology, prophecy in the form of persons, places, things, and events.

What do we mean by “types”?

The Apostle Paul gives the answer in 1 Corinthians 10. There Paul writes about the children of Israel and the “things” (1 Cor. 10:6) that happened to them in the Exodus from Egypt and their time in the wilderness. In 1 Corinthians 10:11 he writes, “Now all these things happened to them as examples, and they were written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages have come.” Paul indicates that while the Old Testament is a record of the history of the children of Israel, the events of that “history” are more than mere events; they are typical of the plan of salvation as revealed in the New Testament. They are not mythical nor allegorical, but they really happened to Israel and were recorded for our instruction in salvation through Christ.

The writer to the Hebrews tells us that these “types” are but “… a shadow of the good things to come, and not the very image of the things…” (Heb. 10:1). That is, the Old Testament “types” are but “shadows.” But there cannot be a “shadow” without some “real thing” to make it. And a “shadow” is not the “very image of the thing,” for a shadow is an imperfect representation of the thing it reveals. So the Old Testament types are “shadows” in the sense that they are not the “real thing,” and are but imperfect revelations of it (Larkin).

Some examples of Old Testament types that foreshadow our salvation in Christ can be identified with the comparative words “as” and “so”. For example in 1 Corinthians 15:22 Paul writes, “For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive.” Adam is compared to Christ. John 3:14 says, “And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up.” Moses lifting up the serpent is a type of Christ being lifted up on the cross so that those who look to Him believing will be saved.

It is the Lord’s sovereign rule of history and His infinite and exact knowledge of the future that makes typology possible. God has written enacted prophecy into the very history of His people in the Old Testament. He did it so that we would see Christ, the Savior of the world, and believe in Him for the forgiveness of sins and eternal life.

Now obviously we have such a prophetic type before us in the account of Abraham sacrificing his son Isaac. The symbolism is so obvious that no one who believes the scripture to be the Word of God has ever doubted that we have in this account of Abraham sacrificing Isaac an enacted prophesy of the death of Jesus Christ, the true seed of Abraham (Rayburn). Think of how many parallels there actually are, many of which the Bible either explicitly or implicitly calls our attention.

Parallels between Isaac and Christ

Notice the powerful parallels between Isaac and Christ. Isaac is one of the clearest types of Christ in the Old Testament (Dr. Larry Petton).

Both fulfilled PROMISES:

Isaac was the long-promised son, the seed of Abraham (Genesis 12:3; 13:15-16; 15:5; 17:7).

Jesus was the long-promised Messiah, the seed of the woman, the seed of Abraham, and Son of God (Genesis 3:15; 13:3, Matt. 1:1; Gal 4:4).

Both were the ONLY BELOVED SON of their father:

God said to Abraham that Isaac was “your son, your only son, whom you love…” (Genesis 22: 2).

God said of Jesus, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased” (Matthew 3:17).

When we hear God call Isaac “your only son” we also can’t help but think of Jesus’ words in John 3:16, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.”

Both had a conception and birth that was PRE-ANNOUNCED (Genesis 18:10; Luke 1:30–31).
Both had a MIRACULOUS BIRTH:

Isaac was born to a mother who not only was very old and passed the age of child-bearing, but whose womb had been barren all her life (Genesis 11:30; 18:11). When Sarah laughed in unbelief at God’s announcement, the Angel of the Lord asked, “Is anything too hard for the LORD?” (Gen. 18:14).

Jesus was born to a mother, Mary, who was a virgin and conceived by the Holy Spirit (Luke 1:34-35). When Mary asked how she could give birth as a virgin, the angel said, “For with God nothing will be impossible” (Luke 1:37).

Both were NAMED before their birth (Genesis 17:19; Matthew 1:21).
Both were MOCKED and persecuted by their own kindred (Genesis 21:9; Mark 15:29–32; Galatians 4:29).
Both were sacrificed near the very SAME PLACE (Genesis 22:2; Matthew 27:33).

God told Abraham to go to the land of Moriah (Gen. 22:2). The only other mention of Moriah is 2 Chronicles 3:1 where it says, “Now Solomon began to build the house of the LORD at Jerusalem on Mount Moriah, where the LORD had appeared to his father David, at the place that David had prepared on the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite.” This is where the temple was built in Jerusalem. Jesus said that He must die at Jerusalem (Matt. 20:18; Luke 13:33).

Both had a THREE-DAY experience:

Isaac had a 3-day journey with his father to Mt. Moriah (Gen. 22:4).

Jesus had 3 days from the cross to the grave to the resurrection (Luke 24:46).

Both were accompanied by TWO MEN:

Isaac by two servants (Genesis 22:3)

Jesus by two thieves (Matthew 27:38)

Both carried their own WOOD:

Isaac carried the wood for his own sacrifice (Genesis 22:6).

Jesus carried His own cross to His death (John 19:17).

Both were BOUND:

Abraham bound Isaac and laid him on the altar (Gen. 22:9).

Jesus was bound before He was taken to the cross (John 18:12).

Both SUBMITTED to their father:

Isaac willingly laid down his life, submitting to his father (Genesis 22:9).

Jesus submitted to his Father’s will and laid down his life for our sin (Luke 22:42, John 10:18; Romans 5:8).

Both asked a QUESTION of their father:

Isaac asked Abraham “Look, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?” (Gen. 22:7).

Jesus cried out from the cross “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Matthew 27:46).

Both rose from the place of death in RESURRECTION:

Isaac was raised in a figurative sense by the faith of Abraham (Heb. 11:19).

Jesus literally rose bodily from the dead on the third day (Matthew 28:6-7).

Both would have their SEED multiplied

God would multiply Abraham’s seed and bless all nations through Isaac (Gen. 22:17).

The gospel of Jesus would be preached to all nations bringing many sons to glory (Isa. 53:10-11; Matt. 28:19; Gal. 3:8; Heb. 2:10).

What a beautiful illustration of the infinite wisdom of God and of the inspiration of God’s holy Scriptures! Think about it. There are no accidents or coincidences within the will of God. The story of Abraham and Isaac was given to us to show us God’s plan of salvation through the sacrifice of His only Son, Jesus Christ, for our sin. Whereas Isaac was spared death, Jesus Christ actually died in our place. But God allowed Abraham to go right up to the point of killing Isaac to illustrate the fact that God Himself would one day sacrifice His only begotten Son for the sin of the world.

God provides the substitute

But not only is Isaac a picture of Christ, but so is the ram. Notice Genesis 22:13, “Then Abraham lifted his eyes and looked, and there behind him was a ram caught in a thicket by its horns. So Abraham went and took the ram, and offered it up for a burnt offering instead of his son.” Remember that Abraham told Isaac, “My son, God will provide for Himself the lamb for a burnt offering” (Gen. 22:8); and, of course, God did. The ram was offered “instead of” or “in place of” Isaac. It was the substitute. Therefore, “… Abraham called the name of the place, The-LORD-Will-Provide; as it is said to this day, “In the Mount of the LORD it shall be provided.”” What would God provide? A substitute sacrifice. The doctrine of substitutionary atonement was not invented by Christian theologians. Even Abraham believed that God would save his people from death—the death that is due to all of us because of our sin—and this God would do by providing a substitute in our place. “In the Mount of the LORD it shall be provided,” and it was. In that very place two thousand years after Abraham, 1500 years after Moses wrote, God provided Himself the lamb for the sacrifice.

Jesus is clearly presented to us in the Bible as “The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29). He is the one that Isaiah wrote about when he said, “He was led as a lamb to the slaughter” (Isaiah 53:7). He is the one the Book of Revelation calls “the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world” (Rev. 13:8). On the cross, God “made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him,” (2Cor. 5:21). When Abraham saw the ram that God provided in the place of Isaac, he rejoiced; because what he had believed was true—God DID provide for Himself the lamb for the burnt offering. It was a promise that God would provide Himself the ultimate Lamb of God to take away sin. And perhaps that may be why Jesus said about him: “Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day, and he saw it and was glad,” (John 8:56).

If we attempt to read the Bible primarily as a rulebook, it crumbles between our fingers. With such a mindset, Genesis 22 is a scandal and a barrier to faith. Yet when Scripture is read as intended, we see it as a testimony to Christ. Instead of Genesis 22 being an insurmountable barrier to faith, with Jesus at the center it becomes an incredible boost to faith. Suddenly we realize that all the Bible, and all believers in every age, are fixed on the one truth that towers above all others: “Worthy is the Lamb who was slain To receive power and riches and wisdom, And strength and honor and glory and blessing!” (Rev. 5:12). Worthy is the Lamb who was slain and now is alive forevermore.

As we come to the Lord’s table this morning, I believe it’s a very good thing that we remember the story that God has given us of Abraham and the offering-up of his own son Isaac. Clearly, God has given this story to us in order to point us to the once-for-all offering God made for us of His own beloved Son. But let’s also remember one great difference between the story of Isaac and the story of Jesus. God stopped Abraham from offering his son; but God the Father fully did what Abraham the father was stopped from doing. God the Father “did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all,” (Rom. 8:32). “For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved,” (John 3:17).

As we partake together of the bread and the cup we see in these elements symbols His body broken for us, and His blood shed for us. We believe that God has provided Himself the Lamb for the sacrifice. He gave His only begotten Son, who gave His life willingly on the cross. Have you believed in Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God? Do you believe it was because of your sins that He died? Do you believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead? As we partake of this memorial meal, let us come thankfully and keep our eyes fixed on Calvary; where it can truly be said that, “in the Mount of the LORD it shall be provided” (Gen. 22:14).