God had revealed a bit more about His plan of the promised seed. He made a big promise about the Seed of Abraham.
"....in you all the families of the earth will be blessed."
Genesis 12:3
"...in your seed all the nations of the earth will be blessed." Genesis 22:18
"...in your seed all the nations of the earth will be blessed." Genesis 22:18
God makes this promise to Abraham, but then He asks Abraham to carry out what seems to be a terrible act......
When Isaac was a young man God told Abraham to do the following:
"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 shall tell you." Genesis 22:2
This is the first time the word "love" is used in the Bible....in a verse speaking of a father's love for his son. I can't imagine what Abraham, as a father, thought or felt when God requested this of him, but he did not hesitate or argue.
Abraham had complete faith in God because he had a true and personal relationship with his Maker. Abraham knew God could not lie and would do all He had promised. He had already witnessed this with the miracle birth of the very son God was now telling Abraham to sacrifice.....the same son God spoke words of promise about in Genesis 17:19 when He told Abraham He would establish and everlasting covenant with Isaac and with his seed after him. This would be kind of hard to do if that son is dead before God has made the covenant with him and before he has had children. Abraham had to know that either God would prevent the act of sacrifice, or He would raise Isaac from the dead. Abraham knew his God was faithful to His word and was all powerful. The problem of keeping Isaac alive was God's problem, not Abraham's. So Abraham set out in complete obedience.
"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 shall tell you." Genesis 22:2
This is the first time the word "love" is used in the Bible....in a verse speaking of a father's love for his son. I can't imagine what Abraham, as a father, thought or felt when God requested this of him, but he did not hesitate or argue.
Abraham had complete faith in God because he had a true and personal relationship with his Maker. Abraham knew God could not lie and would do all He had promised. He had already witnessed this with the miracle birth of the very son God was now telling Abraham to sacrifice.....the same son God spoke words of promise about in Genesis 17:19 when He told Abraham He would establish and everlasting covenant with Isaac and with his seed after him. This would be kind of hard to do if that son is dead before God has made the covenant with him and before he has had children. Abraham had to know that either God would prevent the act of sacrifice, or He would raise Isaac from the dead. Abraham knew his God was faithful to His word and was all powerful. The problem of keeping Isaac alive was God's problem, not Abraham's. So Abraham set out in complete obedience.
When they arrived at their destination three days later, Abraham tells the young men who are with them the following:
"....stay here with the donkey, and I and the lad will go over there; and we will worship and return to you." Genesis 22:5
Abraham expected to return to the young men with Isaac. Abraham then laid the wood for the sacrifice across Isaac's shoulders. Isaac carried the wood up the mountain to the place he was to be sacrificed. Does this sound familiar? When Isaac asked where the "Lamb" for the burnt offering was, Abraham answered with this...."My son, God will provide HIMSELF a LAMB for the burnt offering..." Genesis 22:8 KJV
There is something to keep in mind here, Abraham was no longer a young man. His son was 100 years younger than him. Isaac was not the little boy we picture in Bible story books. The term used for Isaac is "na'ar" most often used to indicate a young man of about twenty years of age or older. It is used to a lesser amount for a new-born infant, but Isaac was not an infant.
When Abraham stretches out his arm with the knife, God stops him with the following words,
"Do not stretch out your hand against the lad, and do nothing to him; for now I know you fear God. You have not withheld your son, your only son from me." Then Abraham raised his eyes and looked, and behold, behind him, a ram caught in the thicket by his horns. And Abraham went and took the ram and offered him up for a burnt offering in the place of his son. Genesis 22:12-13
When Abraham stretches out his arm with the knife, God stops him with the following words,
"Do not stretch out your hand against the lad, and do nothing to him; for now I know you fear God. You have not withheld your son, your only son from me." Then Abraham raised his eyes and looked, and behold, behind him, a ram caught in the thicket by his horns. And Abraham went and took the ram and offered him up for a burnt offering in the place of his son. Genesis 22:12-13
God's purpose for this event was twofold. One was to ensure that Abraham would withhold nothing from God. BUT there was another purpose....God wanted Abraham to be a type, a foreshadowing of something to come. God wanted Abraham to be a type of a father willing to make the ultimate sacrifice of his son, his only son whom he loved, on a mountaintop.
Remember God told Abraham He would show him where to sacrifice Isaac? Well, God didn't want this picture to be given on just any mountain. He had given Abraham instructions to go a three day journey to the land of Moriah where there are some mountains known as the Mountains of Moriah. Hundreds of years after this event, Solomon would build the Temple on one of the mountains of Moriah. But on another mountain nearby...on the mountain God showed Abraham...the mountain Isaac climbed with the wood across his back, this is the very same mountain that his descendant, our Lord and Savior, Messiah Jesus, would climb carrying the wood for his cross on His back to become the ultimate sacrifice. It was the place where a Father would give His Son, His only begotten Son Whom He loved, as the ultimate sacrifice.... It is the place where a Son would willingly provide HIMSELF as the LAMB to pay the penalty for our sins so that if we believe in Him we won't perish, but will have eternal life.
Abraham called the name of that place THE LORD WILL PROVIDE, as it is said to this day, "On the Lord's mountain, He will provide." Genesis 22:14
In the Hebrew text, "He will provide" translates to say "it will be seen".
On the Lord's mountain, it will be seen.
On the Lord's mountain, it will be seen.
As we enjoy all the fun and festivities of this Christmas season, may we thank our Heavenly Father for sending His Son, His only begotten Son as the Ultimate CHRISTmas gift. May we keep the focus of this season on Him.
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