Abraham’s Test

Answers Bible Curriculum Second Edition Unit 4 Lesson 38

This week in Sunday school, we look at the great test of Abraham: the command from God to offer up Isaac as a sacrifice. Why did Abraham obey God? What can we learn about walking by faith before God today? And what is the connection between this episode and the work of Christ on the cross?

Our text for this lesson is Genesis 22:1-19.

Auto Transcript

Note: This rough transcript was automatically generated by YouTube’s AI algorithm. We provide it here for your convenience, but know it will surely contain errors as it has not been proofread or edited by a human.

morning welcome to Sunday school and you ll hear me oh great thank you so we’ve come down to a climactic moment in the narrative describing the life of Abraham and it is the moment where God commands Abraham to sacrifice Isaac but before we get to that let’s just briefly review where we were at last week last week we saw the birth of Isaac and before that the Covenant of circumcision and we saw that from far from a meritorious work circumcision was a sign it was merely a sign of the unilateral covenant that God had inaugurated with Abraham and with Abraham’s chosen seed we also saw that in Isaac’s birth God showed that the blessings of Abraham are not earned or even automatically passed down to physical descendants rather God’s gracious choice is what determines who would be an inheritor of Abrahamic blessing on that basis Hagar and Ishmael were cast out because they were not chosen but Isaac was chosen so just as the New Testament says we see that salvation and blessing they are always due to the grace of God and they’re not due to works of Merit or physical inheritance but again today we come to Abraham’s great test and this is the famous narrative I know many of you now all of you are familiar with this passage but any passage that we’re familiar with we have to be particularly careful with because once we think we know we stopped paying attention to it and we can miss we’re fail to appreciate what that passage is actually saying to us so let’s pay close attention to this section of Scripture again today we weren’t given this record of what happened with Abraham and Isaac that we would merely say huh what an interesting story or that’s amazing God requested this Abraham a baby Aidid had a happy outcome nowhere to learn something this is for orange production we’re to learn that we can trust the faithfulness of God in the same way that Abraham did and was vindicated we also see that our devotion to God must be a book I need the things of this world even the things that God gives us as precious gifts here’s our outline from today’s class we’re first gonna need and make observations on the Genesis why into account and we’ll ask interpretation questions focusing on how and why Abraham obeyed God even under such a great test and then we’ll consider how this narrative ties into Jesus’s work on the cross and other issues of application so let’s pray before we continue and Lord God we thank you for this word we thank you God that you you love us in so many ways but one of the ways that you love is God is you gave us your word and you open our minds to it those of us who are in Christ so god I pray that you would open our minds to understand this passage to be instructed by it be changed by it to apply its truth and god I pray that we would we would walk in lives of greater faith knowing you knowing your faithfulness knowing your love’s knowing how you are a rewarder of those who seek you I pray that you’d be with us now as we turn to your word in Jesus name Amen okay please open your Bibles to Genesis 22 using the few Bible it’s page 20 I still marvel at those very small numbers but page 20 in the Pew Bible close to where we were last time in Genesis 21 by Genesis 22 Isaac has grown from a toddler to a young man he’s perhaps as old as 25 then a word that describes Isaac in this passage it means young man and so it could mean someone who’s just become a man a teenager or someone who’s in his early 20s he’s a strong man even at marital age but at this point everything seems to be going really well for Abraham promise that is all that God comes to visit Abraham with a very striking message so let’s read Genesis 22 starting from verse 1 and going down to verse 19 so follow along with me as I read now it came about after these things that God tested Abraham and said to him Abraham he said 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 so Abraham rose early in the morn again saddled his donkey so two of his young men with him and Isaac his son his splitting wood for the burnt offering in a rose and once the place at which God had told on the third day Abraham raised his eyes and saw the place from a distance Abraham said to his young men stay here with the donkey 9 the lad will go over there and we will worship and return to you Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering laid it on Isaac his son he took in his hand the fire and the ninth so the two of them walked on together Isaac spoke to Abraham his father and said My father and he said Here I am my son and he said hold the fire and the wood but where’s the lamb for the burnt offering Abraham said God will provide for himself the lamb for the burnt offering my son so the two of them walked on together 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 Abraham stretched out his hand and took the knife to slay his son but the angel of the Lord that is the angel of Yahweh coupled to him from heaven and said Abraham Abraham and he said Here I am he said do not stretch out your hand against the left and do nothing to him right now I know that you fear God since you have not withheld your son your only son from me the neighbor him raised his eyes and looked and behold behind him a ram caught in the thicket by his horns and Abraham went took the RAM and offered him up for a burnt offering in the place of his son Abraham called the name of that place Yahweh will provide and they just said to this day in the mount of Yahweh it will be provided then the angel of Yahweh called to Abraham a second time from heaven and say by myself I have sworn declares Yahweh because you have done this thing and have not withheld your son your only son indeed I will greatly bless you and I will greatly multiply your seed as the stars of the heavens and as the sand which is on the seashore and your seed shall possess the gate of their enemies in your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed because you have obeyed my voice so Abraham returned to his young men and they arose and went together to bear Sheva and Abraham lived at Beersheba really just an amazing account and this all actually happened let’s start with observations to text God tells Abraham to do something very unexpected sacrifice your son is a burnt offering on a particular mountain in the land of Moriah this command is brief I gotta say very much an explanation though God does take the time to describe Isaac in a couple of different phrases he says take your son your only son the one whom you love Isaac now this is some repetition we’ve noted before times at repetition and he was in the Old Testament and New Testament is for emphasis so what is God emphasizing to Abraham by using these phrases is it not the preciousness of Isaac this is your precious son I know that but I’m asking you I’m commanding you offer him up as a burnt offering to me remember our last lesson we noted how long Abraham had waited for this son of promise it was decades even after God had specifically promised a multitude of descendants it was still 25 years he was born miraculously in Abraham and Sarah’s old age Isaac was obviously extremely precious David he was going to be the means by which God was going to accomplish the promises that God had given to Abraham and to Abraham’s descendants Isaac was a key part of that he said through Isaac your descendants shall be called as I said Isaac has grown up he’s reached marriageable age God unfathomably tells Abraham to sacrifice Isaac as an act of worship why this command is made more surprising by how strong God is later in the Old Testament in his condemnation of human sacrifice for example Jeremiah 19 5 Jeremiah 19 5 God condemns the people of Judah for sacrificing their children as offerings and this is what God says Jeremiah 95 and they have built the high places of bale to their sons in the fire has burnt offerings to bail a thing which I never commended or spoke up nor did it even enter my mind God says in Jeremiah that he forbid human sacrifices for Israel and for Judah it was so far from his purpose that he says it didn’t even enter my mind so why does he command Abraham to do it here and with the son a promise could you imagine being in abraham’s place this command makes no sense but God tells the purpose of this command to us the readers the listeners in verse 1 what is the purpose it is to test Abraham after these things God tested Abraham but Abraham doesn’t know doesn’t know that is the specific function of this to me and the text mentions the land of Moriah where is this land where is the mountain to which Abraham goes but actually doesn’t tell us too much about this place though it is mentioned another time in the Bible in a very significant way listen to what we see written in second chronicles 3 verse 1 second chronicles 3:1 says this is hundreds of years later then solomon began to build the house of yahweh in jerusalem on mount moriah where Yahweh had appeared to his father David at the place that David had prepared on the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite so according to this parallel passage or this cross-reference where is Moriah well that’s where the temple is built it would have to be in Jerusalem even the Temple Mount now our passage seems to indicate there are multiple mountains in the land of Moriah so it is significant second Chronicles denotes specifically the mountain which the temple built as Mount Moriah so it’s very likely that the mountain to which Abraham journeys with Isaac is the same mountain or very close by the mountain on which the temple would be later built not receiving this work from God this astounding is surprising this even unthinkable command from God what is Abraham do in response he obeys and notice when he obeys it says he rose early the next morning got his stuff ready to go Bagon he takes Isaac he takes me to young men he cut some wood he gets donkey and he heads to Moriah journey takes three days verse four says that Abraham raised his eyes and saw he’s been with me the last couple of lessons you might remember what I said previously don’t look too much into this phrase about raising the eyes doesn’t mean that Abraham was looking down he was sad he was his eyes were on the ground huh this is just a Hebrew idiom Hebrew idiom that idiom that just means he looked he raised his eyes and sorry lifted his eyes and saw he looked it’s often used in the Old Testament usually describing a person noticing something that’s important it looks see something that’s important and what is Abraham see he sees the place he sees the place of sacrifice from a distance now once he does what does he tell his servants notice tells them to stay with the donkey and he tells them that Isaac and he would go worship and return we will worship and return to you he says now if you would mean that one lesson I did on that significance the helpfulness the importance of biblical languages and study might matter there’s something special about this phrase we will worship and return to you in Hebrew so like that doesn’t quite come across in the English translation I mean we still we still get that the essence of it but there’s a little nuance here the Hebrew verb used here also indicates a termination to accomplish something you will know the fancy term for it’s called a cohort ative of resolves doesn’t it sound fancy basically what it means is that when Abraham says to a servant who will worship and return he’s indicating I am resolved to do this I resolved that we will worship and return to you now that is quite significant that is a bold statement considering what God has commanded Abraham to do Abraham knows I’m going over there to sacrifice my son yet I am resolved that we will worship and return to you Abraham and Isaac they set out to the mountain carrying the necessary materials Isaac carries the wood that’s a somewhat significant burden Abraham carries the fire in the night what does Isaac notice is missing dad where’s the lamb how does Abraham responds in a somewhat significant phrase God will provide for himself the lamb for the burnt offering they arrive at the proper place in the mountain Abraham puts together the altar presumably from nearby stones it ranges the wood and then he binds his son Isaac on top of the wood and strangely the text doesn’t tell us how Isaac responded to this you know hear him say anything we don’t hear him question there’s no record of what Isaac said or did in response to this surprising move from his father he appears to be silent and maybe he did something he did say something maybe him explained it and we just don’t hear it recorded for the text it makes it seem like Isaac a silent thank you submits so everything set Isaac is about to be killed and this is when God intervenes right when Abraham takes the knife to kill Isaac God commands from heaven the angel of Yahweh who is God at least in this instance God commands Abraham not to harm Isaac at all and he gives the reason now what’s reason for now I know God says that you fear God since you did not withhold your precious son from me at this point what does Abraham notice after God halts the sacrifice of Isaac what do you know right behind them is a ram caught in the bushes by its horns what a coincidence what’s that’s no coincidence Abraham kills their hand and he offers it in place of his son and this providential provision it becomes the basis of a name for the place and even a phrase passed down to the Hebrews Abraham called the place Yahweh Jireh for Jehovah Jireh as we might also render it Yahweh will provide is the meaning the phrases later passed down to Israel in this way in the Mount of Yahweh it will be provided it’s like a like a proverb or a saying now after all of this notice what God reiterates to Abraham in verses 15 to 18 he repeats covenant promises he says because you’ve done this but multiply your seed he also says they’ll possess the gate of their enemies meaning that they’re gonna overcome their enemies are gonna be victorious he’s repeating some things that he’s said in hand before but you might notice something’s a little different you why does God say that these promises will come to Abraham you look at verse 18 God says these things will come upon you because you have a mate because you owe me now those just basic observations let’s now turn to interpretation ask a number of questions here first it’s the Bible in the air when God says to Abraham take your son your only son Abraham clearly had another son you’ve been reading about it in a previous chapter is Ishmael hello I’m gonna explain this statement your son your only Son no I don’t think it’s too hard Abraham had only one son of promise moreover the other son was sent away and disinherited but God’s not saying take your only biological son he says take your only real son your essential son another one he’s not chosen and he’s been sent away so take the only son that you have left the one who is to be your inheritor yes take him that precious not can offer him up to me this is no error here what do we make of this phrase after God commands Isaac to sacrifice or after God commanded Abraham to sacrifice Isaac as a test thank you obeys God later says now I know that you fear God because you’ve not withheld your son from wait a second God is omniscient he didn’t need to test Abraham to know what was in Abraham’s heart so what sense can God say now I know well you won’t be surprised that I answer here this is just like when we discussed with Sodom and Gomorrah remember when God said I’m gonna go investigate that city see if it’s really as bad as I’ve heard didn’t God already know of course he did but he wanted that knowledge to be displayed in a new way you see God knows all things before they happen because he’s sovereign he causes all things to happen moreover God is both in time in every moment of time but he’s also outside of time it’s not bound by time so God always sees always knows everything including Abraham’s of eating’s and Abraham’s heart but God wanted to display what was in Abraham’s heart historically he wanted to display but to Abraham into every witness to Abraham even us today what is in Abraham’s heart in a tangible away God is not done in my time but we are until something happens in history we can’t see the proof what what is in a person’s heart so God brings about this historical proof through this test this test really is hard evidence it’s tangible the tangible indication to everyone including God as to what Abraham really values Hebrews 4:12 says the Word of God judges every thought and intention of our hearts God will judge us for what is not manifest on the outside nevertheless this judgment of our hearts even the final judgment of God it will be based on the works that our hearts do manifest in our lives consider Revelation 20 verse 12 it says describing the final judgment the dead were judged according to the deeds written in God’s books by the deeds because the deeds prove what’s in the heart Jesus would say his speech out of the heart the mouth speaks and in another place he says God will bring every careless word into judgment it’s not that God doesn’t care about our hearts it’s that when God is giving the proof when he is judging and he says I’m gonna show I’m gonna show your sinfulness let me show you your works they prove what’s in your heart let me show you your words they prove what’s in your heart our works in a sense / let me say it this way our works are the way in which God knows and proves what we really are it’s the hard evidence but with now and in eternity so in testing Abraham God is giving manifesting the hard evidence of what he already knew and this was a testimony to God and it was a testimony to Abraham and it was a testimony to all of us so I guess it’s a long way of saying God already knew but he wanted it to be manifest this is always what God does when he tests right he shows us and he shows others what’s in our heart and he may even do this in his final judgment and here’s a bigger question what is going through Abraham’s mind and all the sword to heal and we could sympathize this was really hard truly he was in anguish we can’t infer some of these things we can imagine some of these things though the text doesn’t tell us directly what Abraham was thinking however discovering at least a little bit of what he is thinking is I think key to gaining the instruction of what this text is about we take note a number of details in this passage that give a some indication of what Abraham was thinking just to remind you after receiving this command Abraham immediately obeys because early the next morning to go to Moriah Abraham tells the servants was resolved that he and Isaac will worship and return Abraham tells Isaac the Lord will provide a lamb for the sacrifice once Abraham is ready to kill Isaac God says he sees and knows that Abraham fears God again that that looks and still hard and after it all Abraham calls the place Yahweh Jireh yahweh will provide what does this indicate they might at first think that abraham was merely obeying out of some sort of dismal fear oh I don’t really want to do this but I can’t cross God after all he’s God I don’t know why this is happening to me Oh Isaac I’m so sorry I don’t know what’s gonna happen to you I don’t think I say there are enough details in this text to know that Abraham was actually acting out of faith out of faith not fear he was not fearful that God’s promises to him and about Isaac would be brought to nothing will be contradicted by Isaac’s death on the contrary Abraham was certain that even if Isaac died if he was burned up hey man what somehow still returned to his servants with Isaac thus we should not be surprised when the author of Hebrews offers the commentary on this passage that he does you probably knew where I was going with this Hebrews 11 Hebrews 11 verses 17 and 19 I ride her to Bruce he’s giving a context or in the context is giving a list of Old Testament persons who obeyed obey god for the sake of receiving a shore but unseen promise and this is what he says Hebrews 11:17 and 19 by faith Abraham when he was tested offered up Isaac and he who hadn’t received the promises was offering up his only begotten Son and it was he to whom it was said and Isaac your descendants shall be called he considered that God is able to raise people even from the dead from which he also received him back as a time or in a figure that’s profound even if we didn’t know the particular nuances of Hebrew the Hebrew language like I pointed out in Genesis 22 commentary in Hebrews 11 makes us so we don’t miss the point whatever sadness or perplexity Abraham may have felt initially hearing God’s command him did not offer his son up out of here but see abraham believed God trusted God he loved God so much that he was not willing to cling to Isaac or to his is a not being put to death he rather inferred that God would do something that no one had ever seen or witnessed before up to that time in history in resurrection from the dead now for us we see a number of resurrections in the Bible and so we say oh you know just another resurrection dead let’s wait a second first of all it’s really significant if anyone rises from the dead but it had never happened before it was never recorded as happening before and yet Abraham said you know what God promised it’s through Isaac I’ll have descendants I guess God will have to raise him from the dead so I don’t believe Abraham was being deceptive or uncertain when he told his sir when he told his other young men that Isaac would come back or when he told I think that the Lord would provide him land now abraham believed that God would do the seemingly impossible to keep his promises regarding the seed through Isaac it looked impossible but he had God’s promises and he believed now what do you know God vindicated Abraham’s faith in a sense Hebrews the writer keep you says Abraham son did die and in a sense God brought him back from the dead it’s exactly as maybe I’m supposed God had provided an unforeseen means for Isaac to be saved and spared and that was through this ran of course that was no coincidence God specifically provided for that RAM to be there therefore Abraham commemorate into place with an appropriate name a name that gives glory to the faithfulness of God Yahweh Jireh Yahweh will provide now let’s talk application for a second I know brothers and sisters this is written for our instruction to a spiritual heirs of Abraham we too are given promises sometimes we arrive in the situations where it seems that God has asked us to do something strange or even evil if we’re gonna bei his word seems but it might seem it’s an impossible for God to continue to provide for us sustain us protect us keep his promises to us if we obey but looking at what’s written here in Genesis 22 for our instruction we ought to remember and use the same phrase that the Israelites apparently once use themselves in the mount of Yahweh it will be provided don’t forget what God did on the mountain with Abraham and Isaac God will keep his promises whether it’s providing for your temporal needs whether it’s actually delivering salvation when you call upon him and repent or whether it’s providing for you to stand up under difficult circumstances or temptation God will keep his promises to you he is a covenant-keeping god and we see that testified in a very clear way with Abraham and the sacrifice of Isaac God will bring someone back from the dead before he breaks any of his promises to you do you believe that now of course you must be careful to know what God actually promised us it’s not promised to you good he’ll not promised you a spouse it’s not promised to you that your children will be saved now promised you the latest smartphone or other things not promised you a financial Barry’s not promised to you financial security what we would call financial security it’s not promised you out a big retirement it’s not promised you that you won’t ask have to ask your brothers and sisters for help or for counselor for encouragement but what has he promised he’s promised to meet every true need of yours both physical and spiritual and he’s promised to do so in the perfect timing and the perfect way until your time on earth is done and it brings you to be with himself just remind you some verses that say the same thing Matthew 6 32 and 33 it’s the second part of Matthew 6 32 and 33 Jesus says for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things but seek first his kingdom and his righteousness and all these things will be added to you it’s now what Abraham did you didn’t cling to anything in this world he offered it up freely to God because he loved God more than the things of this world believe that God didn’t indicate his trust God did Jesus says we can do the same because we too have a Heavenly Father Philippines for additionaly sentence flutings for 19 and my God will supply all your needs according to his riches and glory in Christ Jesus most importantly but those of us who in Christ God has promised us to be our God to bring us to be in happen with him and bring us into the new heavens and the new work she’s promised to give himself the Gloria that he is worthy of and that means that he’s promised to always do us true good revelation 21:7 just to get one more verse revelation 21:7 says he who overcomes sister jesus speaking he who overcomes will inherit these things all the blessings that have described there and I will be his God and he will be my son so are you believing in the promises of God like Abraham not saying that to make you feel guilty saying this to encourage you do you believe don’t you see that you can believe brothers sisters we can believe we can have the kind of faith that Abraham had in God he’s a man just like us but he had the same God that we do so do you believe is your life testify that you trust God like eight handed or have you concluded that God is not able to keep his promises to you do you believe that God will do the miraculous before he breaks his word or is the pain that being tested as to whether you really believe too much for you too much for you to waiter and see whether God will be faithful you’ve probably had the experience in your Christian life of wanting to believe God and then not believing and then God provided anyways and you say to yourself why did not move why was I so fearful why was I so anxious God is patient with us listen but he wants us to progress it wants us to move from that lack of faith that weak faith to a strong faith a joyful faith now walks and God walks with God and true trust we can do that by the Spirit of God don’t let testing scare you off from clinging to God it’s been observed that trials can be one of two things trials and testings they can drive you away from God or they can drive you to God just depends on your feet look at how abraham believed God he was vindicated he was blessed the same thing for others we’ve already looked at in descriptions job he believed God he was vindicated and he was blessed Noah same thing Abel same thing and then you know there’s in the text to come they’re all testimonies that we can believe in the Lord obey Him and we’ll receive his reward I’ll say one more thing when it comes to believing God waiting on God don’t wait until you feel like it you say I you know it’s feel feel like I can’t believe I remember the flesh is fighting against you don’t wait to obey God until you feel like it call on God trust God and to feel like you because the flesh never will our feelings need to be informed by the truth and we can believe in obey despite the feelings of the flesh because God will always provide now let’s turn to another question how do explain verse 18 I think I saw some hands there so hang on to your thoughts I’ll come back to the first 18 says that God blessed Abraham because Abraham is demonstrated righteousness Janna Genesis 15 God showed through a covenant ceremony that God was taking unilateral responsibility for keeping his promises of blessing to Abraham that is God promised to bless Abraham regardless and they were hams performance Abraham didn’t walk through it and say if you keep the cabinet of Abraham then I’ll bless you that’s not what Genesis 15 demonstrated but here God is quite clear he says because you’ve obeyed me I’ll bring on these blessings something about to you wait a second which is it God are you blessing Abraham because he is righteous or because you simply promised to bless him how do we reconcile these two truths in a previous lesson I already alluded to you I think is the explanation of this it’s not an either/or it’s opposed and in God taking unilateral responsibility to bless Abraham he also determined to make Abraham righteous therefore allowing God to bless him we actually see the same sort of thinking in Genesis 18 just turn back a couple of ages and your Bibles Genesis 18 look at verses 17 and 19 this is a passage we didn’t look at before specifically this is when God is on the way to Sodom to investigate and judge he says to Abraham in Genesis 18 verses 17 and 19 shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do since Abraham will surely become a great and mighty nation and in him all the nations of the earth will be blessed so covenant promises fuller I have chosen him so that he may command his children and his household after him to keep the way of Yahweh by doing righteousness and justice so that Yahweh may bring upon Abraham what he has spoken about him hmm notice a very important sequence in these verses verse 19 says full or I’ll just mention covenant promises for how these things didn’t come about the reason I will make Abraham into a great nation and a blessing on the earth is because I have chosen in part one I’m gonna bless him because I’ve chosen him for what have I chosen him part two I have chosen him to obey me and to teach his descendants after me to keep my way and to do righteousness and justice now what is the point of causing him and his descendants to love and obey God part three today I may bring about the promise of my blessing you see the sequence God chooses and it chooses unto obedience and that it be insulted in blessing see God and his very nature is a rewarder of their righteous so for God to promise someone a reward without to promise unilaterally salvation level blessing God then must make that person righteous and isn’t this really just the doctrine of the perseverance of the saints you know you sometimes hear eternal security articulating in this way once saved always saved you believe that’s all that matters doesn’t really matter how you look here it doesn’t doesn’t matter how you live your life after that you can continue to live for God or you can fall into sin it doesn’t really matter oh a better articulation is to say remember God saves never God calls never gotten legs they are kept by God from turning against God and so they will continue to follow God not perfectly but generally their life will be one of obedience and seeking God that is they will persevere that is why their salvation is eternally secure and that is why their eternal reward does not fail truly salvation belongs to the Lord as Psalm 3:8 says in love he is responsible for every part of salvation and therefore must receive all of the glory so think for yourselves your righteousness is gaining for you a reward from God but the reason you are righteous is because God made you positionally righteous in Christ and because the Spirit is making you practically righteous in your life just like God was doing with Abraham we all know Ephesians 2:8 and 9 right these Twigg 9 such great verses to emphasize salvation is by faith by grace through faith this not of yourselves it’s a gift of gossip and no one may boast what is the next person Ephesians 2:10 it says for we are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus for what for good works which God prepared beforehand that we would want in them did you see the sequence you’re not chosen because of your works but you’re chosen unto works it’s all of God God’s the one his choice is what seems this is grace that sings but when he saves he draws you unto holiness and therefore he draws you onto blessing it’s not your righteous life it’s not your holy living that saves you it’s not your bully living net I’m teens for you salvation no it’s God’s gracious choice nevertheless his choice will result in you living a holy life so just by way of application ask yourself are you conforming to this design of God they say he’s chosen me and he’s chosen me to follow him to live a life of holiness to live a life of faith to live a life of obedience I’m doing that am i walking worthy of the salvation calling with which I’ve been called Ephesians 4:1 what do I resist the spirit as he directs me continually to war sanctification and obedience to his word I one other question before we finish up today actually let me pause here questions so far I saw some hands before I don’t see any hands now so okay well let’s ask one another question and it’s the one I alluded to at the beginning of this lesson how do we see a foreshadowing of the gospel saving Gospels of the the word of Jesus Christ how do I see a foreshadowing that in this episode with Abraham and Isaac now some say the answers in genesis will be included in this number that what we see in this passage is or with isaac specifically is a type of Christ Isaac is a foreshadowing even a direct foreshadowing of the person and work of Christ Isaac’s sacrifice by Abraham points to the father’s own sacrifice of his son Jesus in the future and it is notable there are some remarkable parallels between the two parts of history notice comparing Isaac and Jesus both were born miraculously both were considered the only sons of their fathers both were to be put to death by their fathers both desk were to be accomplished as sacrifices just like that in the land both of persons are responsible for carrying the wood to the place of their sacrifice but with deaths were apparently voluntary can we can we don’t get too much of what Isaac was thinking and both were offered as sacrum sacrifices in the land of Jerusalem so is this a direct foreshadow well let me advise caution a few men in my class before you you know won’t be surprised by that it’s worth noting that no New Testament author ever makes the connection between Isaac and Christ even though they had ample opportunity to do so New Testament apostles the writers the New Testament they’ll talk about Jesus as the Passover lamb talk about Jesus that’s fulfillment of the Old Testament sacrificial system and will even talk about Abraham as a model of faith especially in this passage what do you have a base God’s command to sacrifice Isaac but they never discussed Isaac’s sacrifice as the type or foreshadowing of Jesus’s work on the cross I mean come on apostles isn’t it obvious didn’t you get the picture I think this fact should give us some pause before we say that God intended Genesis 22 to be a foreshadowing of Christ’s passion or at least a direct foreshadowing because we don’t want to say that God wasn’t ending to say something that he wasn’t actually saying however we should note there are some differences some important differences between what Isaac experience and what Christ would experience these are often overlooked when one is looking for types for example Isaac acted without full knowledge of what his father was doing and he’s asking on the way where’s the land the jesus knew perfectly from birth what his mission was he was always God he knew why he had come Isaac sacrifice moreover was not made with reference to sin any City how doesn’t say hey offer up your son Isaac as a sin offering or because of your sin there’s no mention of that here it’s an act of worship there’s no one mention of sin but clearly Jesus is sacrifice as much to do with sin but the biggest difference of all between Isaac and Christ is of course that Isaac wasn’t actually sacrificed at the last moment God intervenes what’s provided a nice extended I ran a male lamb doesn’t that sound like substitutionary atonement one dying in the place of another and isn’t that what Jesus did for us jesus is our substitute so if we’re looking for a parallel to Jesus’s work in Genesis 22 isn’t it the RAM not Isaac doesn’t Isaac actually represent maybe sinners but how could I seek in the Randi types at the same time so I would propose and there are other things I can say about this fact I propose that there’s a more indirect connection between genesis 22 and the cross how do believe there’s connection don’t get me wrong rather than seeing the offering of Isaac as a direct foreshadowing of Jesus’s work on the cross I think it’s better for us to see the offering of Isaac as an example of a basic the fundamental gospel principle that is Yahweh will provide what man needs now we will provide what man needs even if it’s a sacrifice in Abraham’s time he needed the provision for God to spare his son but all people sent Anna no need a provision that we might be spared from death from sin from the wrath of God that is due soon and since the fall God had promised to make such provision he remember what God said to the serpent genesis 3:15 from the seed of the woman will come one and will crush your head that’s an announcement of victory against the serpent and against what he did and to Abraham we’ve been seeing that God says through you all the families of the earth shall be blessed that promise is even we articulated in this passage not saying there is provision from man that I will make in the future we’re gonna keep seeing those types of promises as we moved from the Bible and even in the New Testament we know that Christmas passages of the New Testament somewhat well do you marijuana Zechariah says at the end of Luke chapter 1 I’ll just paraphrase basically when his mouth is open when he’s no longer miraculously mutes he declares God is fulfilling all the promises that he gave in the past even back to Abraham because look Messiah is coming God’s gonna redeem and save his people God’s gonna provide what man needs and John the Baptist described very well what man needs when he identified Jesus in John 1:29 behold the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world when Christ came he was a surprising fulfillment of that proverb passed down to the Hebrews in amount of Yahweh it will be provided in Abraham’s David didn’t know exactly what needed to be provided but God did needed to be provided was a sacrifice for sin even on a mountain of Jerusalem speaking a little bit thicker typically here on Mount Zion on Golgotha ‘s Hill God provided for man’s greatest need the payment of the sin but those belong to God and the opening of a way into his holy of Holy’s and this fulfill in a promise it didn’t require just one miracle but many God sent his son to become a man to be born of a virgin he lived a perfectly righteous life he died for every sin of his elect was buried for three days he rose again on the third and he forever secured for his own people freedom from God’s wrath and entrance into God’s intimate and an enjoyable presence that amazing provision that we know as those who belong to Christ that provision that we know by faith it was even foreshadowed in Abraham’s day because God was testifying in that moment of interceding for Isaac and for Abraham who says I will provide I’ll provide to bring my promises to pass I’ll provide what you need I’ve got Iran you know you can you can see some parallels here I’ve got Iran it’s coming it will be offered we’re gonna keep seeing these things as we move to the Old Testament God saying I’m gonna provide so we’ve seen today that the kind that we’ve seen today two main things I hope just to reiterate to you we’ve seen today the kind of faith that passes even the ultimate test and is rewarded but I’ve also seen that promise of ultimate provision for mankind even testifying on Mount Moriah with Abraham and Isaac questions about what you’ve heard today yeah my or I’m sorry it is Mark Wright Twombly okay so wonder if you could maybe librarian a little bit and maybe I miss that you started to going on it in what ways would you say that Isaac was a tight and it says that very specifically in Hebrews 11 in what ways was he not okay good question very – I missed the first part of it but I think I got it so he was 11 says he is received back from the dead as a type so what sense is Isaac a type I think there we need to understand the word type a little bit differently actually a different translation doesn’t use the word type it says I believe the ESV says figuratively speaking so what the writer he was saying it’s not that Isaac is the type of Christ but he’s saying that in a way Isaac was brought back from the dead you say well isn’t that just like Christ doesn’t it make him like Christ ah I think there are enough differences between Isaac and Christ to say that Isaac and I wouldn’t identify Isaac as a type I think the writer teamers are just saying figuratively speaking Isaac did come back from the dead I should mention this too when it comes to types actually there’s a lot we could say when it comes to types people define types a little bit differently so that’s part of the issue but one thing I want to point out is that if you’re looking for parallels to Jesus in the lives of people in the Old Testament you’re gonna find him everywhere why because Jesus is a perfect example of righteousness and anybody who does anything arises in the Old Testament is gonna be like Jesus right I mean if you think about it we could do the reverse today are Christians types of Jesus well yeah because you’re followers of Jesus so we’re going to be doing a lot of the same things they can do or I like to talk about in our class the idea of gospel principles we see gospel principles throughout the Bible even the idea of sacrifice or the idea of of God providing why do we keep seeing these things throughout the Bible even before we get to Jesus oh because God is God because of who he is he does certain things and he’s news doesn’t change he’s a consistent guy so when we get to people like Isaac or we get to people like Joseph when we get to Joseph I’ll probably again mention like cost tons of parallels between Josephine Christ look at there are some differences too why are there so many parallels I don’t think it’s because Joseph was meant as a direct foreshadowing of Jesus Christ I think it’s just because Joseph was a man who lived righteously just as Jesus did and anybody who does that is gonna be like Jesus so that’s why I advise some caution when it comes to identifying types the other thing to keep in mind even if you if you do want to say a type you want to want to talk about people or things kneel testimony types that are not directly identified by the New Testament authors which is kind of the conservative position that I would take don’t or beware of letting that kind of analysis prevent you from seeing what the passage is actually about if we start thinking about oh you know is Isaac a type of Christ how is he a type of Christ and what does that say we kind of missed the whole point of what my business was writing which is look at the faith of Abraham look at the kind of faith that you aren’t had there’s that there’s a reason why the new tests and authors keep pointing back to Abraham and and what and the life of faith that he had you said look believers this is the way righteousness before God always is this is the way salvation always has been and this is the kind of faith that weird to live and if some of you might be familiar with something called the Christocentric hermeneutic it’s the idea of hey if all the Scriptures are about Christ shouldn’t we be finding Christ in the various passages of the Bible even ones that don’t mention him specifically now it’s true there are prophecies and there are three types of price in the Bible but one danger the Christocentric hermeneutic is that it caught it obscures the author’s original intent of a passage looking for instance you can go to david and goliath and say oh you know David is like Jesus and Goliath it’s like our sin and Jesus slays our sin and he gives us rescue well if you start thinking and interpreting according that way you miss what God was actually demonstrating what God was really demonstrating and communicating in that passage which is that no no physical strength is too great for God overcome God will deliver God will bring the victory what is david testifying that passage when I defeat you they don’t know that there is a God in Israel and other passages say the battle belongs to the Lord he doesn’t need strength he doesn’t need a weapons and that’s it that’s a timeless gospel principle so those are just some of the thoughts that I have when it comes to types we want to be careful so just there’s summarize a little bit I said there’s going to be a reason why there are parallels between Christ and various people throughout the Bible because of the nature of what a righteous life looks like but also we want to be careful that we don’t miss the originally intended point of a passage as we look for foreshadowings or parallels of Christ’s I recognized yes the Bible is not just the Old Testament and we have a fuller view of Redemption now that we have a New Testament but I think that if we start looking for for too many parallels we can miss the original intent of the passage Roy it’s just incredible and I just thank you for pointing out the parallels of this this took me this to me is one of the these parallels and just the whole sweep of Abraham’s life the impact on the Gentile today is to me one of the great proofs that the scripture was not written by man no no committee of Man II could come or no committee of scribes could have come up with something like this I mean this could only have been written through meant by they by God they don’t in the mind of God wings had been pattern out the time going back to of Abraham’s it had been doing all of these things before he was circumcised before the law the idea so they would as we spread it in Romans 4 in Galatians 3 the in the way of the Gentiles we the Gentiles could be included in all of the salvation history here because Abraham did this by faith before the law before circumcision and you know so that it was not just including but bus – I mean if men had written this they would have shown Israel getting better and better Jews and the choices chosen people as men are want to do to make them so good in history they would never have shown themselves to be so evil and getting worse and worse to the point that an ultimate sacrifice would be needed men did not do that they would have written the Gentiles out of this that would have made God’s chosen people Israel the only ones in this picture you know Christ being the fulfillment of that of God’s chosen people yeah thanks for sharing that comment really I think that is true I think that’s another thing that makes this someone that makes I can see why why we see types and that is because there’s a remarkable consistency in unity to the Bible God does act a certain way through history because it all is tied together and I think you’re totally right way talking about salvation by faith and how Abraham was kind of righteous before circumcision all those things date they go right with what the New Testament says and you’re right that that just testifies to the supernatural nature of the word man would not be able to create that unity in books that are so separated from one another by time by place by author and certainly the Bible does not glorify man like the scriptures and many other religions do even all other religions and we’ll see see the same thing when it comes to Israel being made slaves in Egypt and this is not a glorious history at least for men but it is a glorious history for God he shows himself to be the Redeemer of man I mean you’re right that totally testifies to this being the Word of God and not the word of man well thank you that’s it for this week we have one more lesson on the life of Abraham we’re kind of transitioning out from Abraham next time we’re going to look at how a bride is secure for Isaac by Abraham and by Abraham survey that’ll be another great testing to the faithfulness of God and how he is continuing to work in history to bring about his promise provision that ultimate provision of Abraham seeds a saving Messiah so I look forward to talking about that with you next time let’s close in prayer or God we thank you for this work what a wonderful testimony of your faithfulness a wonderful testimony that you will provide you did provide our ultimate need in Jesus Christ a sacrificial lamb for sin our great Savior but you also provide for every need of our lives even when it looks impossible everyone looks like it can’t happen would you do that so help us to walk by faith I was I had the kind of faith that Abraham did he’s not special but Lord he and many others in the scriptures they show us that we can’t believe you God so we ask you God grants us that faith we know we were responsible to believe we’re responsible to obey but we ask you to bring about that belief and those works of righteousness which you’ve already attained for us to do in Jesus name Amen all right thank you all I’ll see you next time