GENESIS

Notes on Genesis 22

Genesis 22:1 And it came to pass after these things, that God did tempt Abraham, and said unto him, Abraham: and he said, Behold, here I am.
2 And he said, Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of.
3 And Abraham rose up early in the morning, and saddled his ass, and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son, and cleaved the wood for the burnt offering, and rose up, and went unto the place of which God had told him.

This was not a temptation like we think of as a temptation to sin because the New Testament states that God never tempts us. The word in verse one means to test, prove and see if Abraham was obedient to the word of God and trusted Him.

This was probably the hardest thing Abraham ever had to do. Yet we will see why God used this method to test Abraham. After Abraham waited for years for his promised son to finally come, God asks Abraham to take the son away.

This is what is said of this incident in the book of Hebrews:

Hebrews 11:17 By faith Abraham, being tried, offered up Isaac: yea, he that had gladly received the promises was offering up his only begotten son;
18 even he to whom it was said, In Isaac shall thy seed be called:
19 accounting that God is able to raise up, even from the dead; from whence he did also in a figure receive him back.

Abraham had to believe in the resurrection here and believed that God could raise his son from the dead. This showed the saving faith of Abraham. He believed and his faith was counted for righteousness. It didn't matter about his former mistakes and fears, Abraham was saved by faith and his faith pleased God. He believed the promise of the future resurrection of the dead. In a figurative sense, he did receive him back although the angel prevents him from actually slaying Isaac.

Before I go further, there are many voices, spirits and such, both false and real. We can't just hear any voice and suppose it is God. That is why we are told to try the spirits. Naturally we today cannot do this because it would break the law of God. However, Abraham was tested here long before the law was given. It was faith in the future death and resurrection of the Messiah, the trust in God to bring about His will and His love for God that was counted as righteousness for Abraham.

Abraham might not have understood everything about the coming Messiah that was to save the lost from eternal damnation and reconcile the lost back to God the creator of all life, but He believe what He knew. That was Abraham's saving faith even though he probably did not understand every single detail. He believed God. He didn't doubt that it was not God speaking.

There was a way that he knew for sure this was God and not his imagination for something so serious to be done. Remember Abraham loved this son that was given to him. He loved Ishmael. He sorrowed that he had to give up Ishmael but he allowed the separation because it was the will of God at the time. Now Abraham chose to believe God over the sorrow of his own heart. It is a picture of our future salvation when God chose to allow His own Son to be given as a sacrifice for the salvation of all who would just simply believe in the Messiah to come, that we know now is Jesus.

If Abraham secretly hated his son and wanted to get rid of him or if he was into a false religion that practiced child sacrifice that God never ordained as we will find out, or if he was hoping to better himself and appear to be super spiritual, then it wouldn't have been of God. This is something that in the flesh Abraham did not want to do and really was hoping God would provide another way which of course God did.

Genesis 22:4 Then on the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes, and saw the place afar off.
5 And Abraham said unto his young men, Abide ye here with the ass; and I and the lad will go yonder and worship, and come again to you.

Abraham could not allow anyone to go with him for they would probably have tried to stop him. He didn't need anyone to hinder his faith or his purpose. I wonder if Abraham thought he imagined the whole thing and had doubts during those three days.

Genesis 22:6 And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering, and laid it upon Isaac his son; and he took the fire in his hand, and a knife; and they went both of them together.
7 And Isaac spoke unto Abraham his father, and said, My father: and he said, Here am I, my son. And he said, Behold the fire and the wood: but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?
8 And Abraham said, My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering: so they went both of them together.

Notice also how Isaac was submissive and trusted his father at this point.

Genesis 22:9 And they came to the place which God had told him of; and Abraham built an altar there, and laid the wood in order, and bound Isaac his son, and laid him on the altar upon the wood.

There are many hints and prophecies in the Old Testament to the coming of one who would crush the head of Satan. The first prophecy of the seed of the woman coming was to Adam and Eve. Eve may have thought Cain was this promised one. They may have known that whoever it was would have to die but then be resurrected. Abraham knew that Isaac was special and chosen of God. Perhaps with his limited understanding, he may have known of the coming Messiah's death and resurrection but thought it was Isaac himself instead of one to come from his seed further down the lineage. It may be another explanation as to why Abraham went along with this sacrifice. Perhaps also he was just being obedient to God. Abraham in either case was willing to sacrifice his own son to God perhaps thinking that this sacrifice would make the way of salvation for the whole world.

Whatever the case may have been, this is a picture of what was to come. God was going to send His own Son, Jesus (Yeshua) to die for the sins of the whole world. He chose Isaac as the line from which God Himself would send this promised Messiah to save all who believe in this promised one. Faith in Jesus saves us from sin. Sin is what condemns us to eternity in hell. Sin is what we need to be saved from. If we die without Christ, we die in sin. The sin will destroy our souls. That is why Jesus came to save us from sin.

Genesis 22:10 And Abraham stretched forth his hand, and took the knife to slay his son.
11 And the angel of the LORD called unto him out of heaven, and said, Abraham, Abraham: and he said, Here am I.
12 And he said, Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou any thing unto him: for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son from me.

God would not allow Isaac to be slain because He was going to use the seed of Isaac to send His own Son. Isaac and any other human being could not have been the sacrifice for our sins because they didn't live their whole lives without sin which would have polluted the offering. The offering for sin had to be someone who could reverse the curse that sin caused in Adam. It had to be a male because Adam was the one who sinned, not Eve. Eve was deceived. That doesn't mean women are without sin but she did not cause sin to enter the world. Adam did. A male sinless person had to reverse this.

It couldn't be an innocent baby either as some religions use to attempt to do. A man had to live among us and go through the same temptations as we go through and yet never break the law of God in any point. This Jesus did and only Jesus when He walked the earth doing the will of God. He was God who came into human flesh in order to become the sinless sacrifice that was to reverse the curse of sin on mankind that God created. The only drawback is that we must believe and receive Jesus the Messiah in order for that sacrifice to count on our behalf. Another point I will make here is the Jesus made this decision Himself. He could have backed out at any time and allowed the angels to deliver Him from the wicked men that crucified Him.

Genesis 22:13 And Abraham lifted up his eyes, and looked, and behold behind him a ram caught in a thicket by his horns: and Abraham went and took the ram, and offered him up for a burnt offering in the stead of his son.

This was a temporary offering until the time came when the perfect sinless sacrifice would be given at Calvary.

Genesis 22:14 And Abraham called the name of that place Jehovah-jireh: as it is said to this day, In the mount of the LORD it shall be seen.

Jehovah-jireh means that the Lord will provide. In the fullness of time, God did provide the way of salvation by sending His own Son instead of Isaac. God came into the flesh and became one of us to save us from sin. Isaac was a good man but he could not have been the a perfect sinless sacrifice. It had to be God Himself in the person of His own beloved Son. How awesome to think of this.

Genesis 22:15 And the angel of the LORD called unto Abraham out of heaven the second time,
16 And said, By myself have I sworn, saith the LORD, for because thou hast done this thing, and hast not withheld thy son, thine only son:
17 That in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies;

This is a promise that will be fulfilled after the times of the Gentiles and the gospel has gone forth into the entire world.

Genesis 22:18 And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice.

This promised seed of Abraham is none other than Jesus Christ who will bring salvation to other nations as well as Israel.

Genesis 22:19 So Abraham returned unto his young men, and they rose up and went together to Beer-sheba; and Abraham dwelt at Beer-sheba.
20 And it came to pass after these things, that it was told Abraham, saying, Behold, Milcah, she hath also born children unto thy brother Nahor;
21 Huz his firstborn, and Buz his brother, and Kemuel the father of Aram,
22 And Chesed, and Hazo, and Pildash, and Jidlaph, and Bethuel.
23 And Bethuel begot Rebekah: these eight Milcah did bear to Nahor, Abraham's brother.
24 And his concubine, whose name was Reumah, she bore also Tebah, and Gaham, and Thahash, and Maachah.

When Abraham hears this news he plans to provide a bride for Isaac among his kin. Thus is will fulfill the promise of the seed of Isaac blessing the whole world. DC

Genesis 23