Lesson 50

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Bible Study 1 - Genesis 22

Series # 4: FOLLOWING IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF FAITH

Lesson 50: Genesis 22:1-14 A PICTURE OF MOUNT CALVARY ON MOUNT MORIAH

Genesis 22:1-14 (KJV) 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 clave the wood for the burnt offering, and rose up, and went unto the place of which God had told him. 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. 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 spake 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. 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. 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 anything unto him: for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son from me. 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. 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."

INTRODUCTION:

Breaking down the narrative considerably let me put this chapter to you in this way. Here are two mountaineers, Abraham and Isaac. They have spiritually climbed higher than any men upon this earth other than the Lord Jesus Christ. Abraham climbed the highest mountain of submission. Isaac climbed the highest mountain of sacrifice. Abraham was the friend of God, the man of faith. God had promised him a son, and God said to Abraham, through this son I am going to bless the entire world. I am going to make you a father of many nations. In Genesis 22 God comes to Abraham and tells him that He want Abraham to take his one and only son Isaac whom he loves so much and go to to the land of Moriah and offer him as a burnt offering on one of the mountains that God would show him. No doubt Abraham just could not understand it, but by this time in his life Abraham has learned to say "yes" to the commands to Jehovah God no matter what He said to do. Therefore, Abraham takes this son Isaac and they start up the side of that mountain. Isaac was a little puzzled because he sees Abraham with that knife in one hand and the fire in the other hand and Isaac told his father that he didn’t have a lamb for a burnt offering. All Abraham would say was that God would provide a lamb and so in obedience he followed he followed his father up the mountain. Once they got up there Abraham built the altar and laid the wood nicely and neatly in order and then proceeded to bind Isaac. I cannot imagine what was going through Isaac’s mind but he had complete trust and faith in his father as Abraham laid him on the altar upon the wood. Isaac could have resisted but he was completely compliant to his father’s wishes, even when Abraham took a knife and raised it to slay Isaac. Then all of a sudden there was a voice heard that came from the angel of the Lord that called out Abraham’s name and commanded him not to hurt Isaac in any way because it was now known that Abraham loved God so much that he would even give up his only son whom he loved more than anything in the world for God. Suddenly Abraham looked behind him and there was a ram all tangled up in the briars, so he took that ram and used it as a burnt offering instead of Isaac. So the ram is slain and Isaac is set free.

Now this is the basic story, but there are some rich lessons here for us in this study. There may be some of you who will get the idea that I am reading too much into this Old Testament Scripture. There may be some of you who will think that I am trying to see too much New Testament truth way back here in the Book of Genesis. However I don't think so because Jesus Christ said in John 8:56 "Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day: and he saw it, and was glad." That is, Abraham saw Jesus in the Old Testament, and he rejoiced to see Jesus' day. The Bible says that Paul said in Galatians 3:8, "And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed.” The Bible says that Paul said in Romans 4:3 that Abraham was justified by trusting in the Lord and by believing, "Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness." Isaac is a picture of the Lord Jesus Christ who died upon the cross. So with all of this as introduction, I hope you can see, as I see that the Bible uses Isaac as a type or a picture of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now having said all of that, I want you to see with me what I am calling: A PICTURE OF MOUNT CALVARY ON MOUNT MORIAH.

INTERPRETATION:

THE BOOK OF GENESIS IS THE SEED BED OF ALL CHRISTIAN THEOLOGY AND DOCTRINE THAT FOLLOWS.

The birth of Isaac was prophesied before he was born.
The birth of Jesus was prophesied before he was born.
There was a preset time that Isaac was to be born in Gen. 21.
There was a preset time that Jesus was to be born in Daniel.
Isaac was named before his birth in Genesis 17:19.
Jesus was named before his birth in Matthew 1:21.
Isaac was conceived by a miracle, Abraham was 100, and Sarah was 90.
Jesus was conceived by a miracle, Mary was a virgin, - she had never known a man.
When God told Sarah she was going to have a son, she asked the question in Genesis 18:13, "How can this happen?" and the angel answered and said, "Is anything too hard for the Lord?"
When God told Mary she was going to have a son, she asked the question in Luke 1, "How can this be?" the angel answered and said, "With God all things are possible."
Isaac was a son of promise and prophecy.
Jesus was a son of promise and prophecy.
In Genesis 22 when God told Abraham to sacrifice Isaac he said, "Take now thy son, thy only son Isaac whom thou lovest and get thee into the land of Moriah and offer him there for a burnt offering."
In John 3:16 it tells us of Jesus, the only begotten of the father who was offered up as the sacrifice when it says, "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life."
Isaac was received back to Abraham as though he had come back to life from the dead.
Jesus was resurrected back to life from the dead.

Hebrews 11:17-19 says, "By faith Abraham, when he was tried, offered up Isaac: and he that had received the promises offered up his only begotten son. 18 Of whom it was said, That in Isaac shall thy seed be called: 19 Accounting that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead; from whence also he received him in a figure." That means that in a type, Isaac was raised from the dead figuratively. When Abraham went up that mountain to offer his son Isaac, he told his followers, "You stay here, we're going up to worship the Lord and the lad and I both are coming back down.” God had made a promise through Isaac to Abraham and Abraham knew that if God put Isaac to death then God would have to make him alive again. When Abraham came back down from that mountain with Isaac, figuratively Abraham had received him from the dead. Isaac died figuratively. Jesus died literally.

EXPLANATION:

THE WAY OF THE CROSS

Gen 22:3 "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 clave the wood for the burnt offering, and rose up, and went unto the [place] of which God had told him."

Gen 22:4 "Then on the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes and saw the [place] afar off."

Gen 22:9 "And they came to the [place] which God had told him of;"

He says, "the place" "the place" "the place" and the place he was talking about was Mount Moriah. The name "Moriah" means "Chosen of God" or "Foreseen of God." God had Moriah in his heart and in his mind and He had chosen Moriah beforehand. This place was not incidental, not accidental, but fundamental for the plan of almighty God. God had only one place in all of this earth in mind where he wanted Abraham to take Isaac. This was a place “foreseen of God,” this was a place “chosen of God,” because it was the same place where Jesus would later die. Jesus died on Mount Moriah, and from eternity past, God had that hill called Calvary in His heart and mind. From eternity past, Jesus walked the way of the cross. Jesus said “To this end was I born.” Jesus steadfastly set His face toward Jerusalem. Jesus came out of the Ivory Palaces into this world of woe to go to that place called Calvary. That's the reason the Bible says in Luke 23:33 "And when they were come to the [place], which is called Calvary, there they crucified him." That place called Calvary, and that place called Moriah is the same place. Isaac was offered upon Calvary. Jesus was offered upon Calvary. It was the place appointed of God, chosen of God, foreseen of God. IT IS THE WAY OF THE CROSS.

THE WOE OF THE CROSS

Genesis 22:4-5 "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."

The young men went with Abraham and Isaac as far as they could go. There was a point and place beyond which they couldn't go. So the young men stayed back and the father and the son went up that rugged hill together and alone.

THIS GREATLY PICTURES DARK GETHSEMANE. In Mark 14:34-36 we read that Jesus 34. "…saith unto them, My soul is exceeding sorrowful unto death: tarry ye here, and watch. 35. And he went forward a little, and fell on the ground, and prayed that, if it were possible, the hour might pass from him. 36. And he said, Abba, Father, all things are possible unto thee; take away this cup from me: nevertheless not what I will, but what thou wilt." Here is the Father and the Son going further than the rest and going alone. What happened here on Mount Moriah with Abraham and Isaac is a picture of dark Gethsemane when the Father and the Son trod that pathway of the Cross. Can you imagine what must have been going through Isaac's mind as he went up that mountain with his father? There is the aged father now over 100 years of age, with the fire in one hand and a knife in the other. Isaac says in verse 7. "Behold the fire and the wood: but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?" Then with a quivering chin Abraham says in verse 8. "God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering." Isaac looks into the face of his father Abraham and asks no more questions because he knows his father can say no more. Can you imagine what must have been going through Abraham's mind as he went up that mountain with his son?

GENESIS 22 IS THE CLOSET YOU WILL COME TO FINDING THE PULSE AND HEART BEAT OF GOD IF YOU WANT TO KNOW WHAT GOD FELT WHEN JESUS WENT UP THE HILL OF CALVARY. Just place your hand on the bosom of Abraham and feel what went through Abraham's heart as he went up that mountain with Isaac. Only God knows what he was feeling. In a personal sense, we loved God because of what Jesus did for us on the cross, but after we have children of our own we can understand more about Calvary. Then we can not only see the love that Jesus had for us when He died for us, but we can also see the love that the Father had when He gave His son. Only God knows what was going through the heart of Abraham as he said to those young men who were with him, "Abide ye here with the ass; and I and the lad will go yonder" When Jesus went into Gethsemane, Peter, James and John were there, but Jesus went a little further to prepare himself to go with the Father up that hill of Calvary. THAT IS THE WOE OF THE CROSS.

THE WILLINGNESS OF THE CROSS.

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].”

Genesis 22:8 “And Abraham said, My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering: so [they went both of them together].”

No doubt, by this time Isaac has sensed what was going to happen, Isaac knows that he was going to be the sacrifice. No doubt, Isaac knew what was taking place when Abraham ask him to stretch out his hands and he was bound. I want you to think about this very closely for a moment. Abraham was well over 100 years old and he well could have been 133 years of age. I will not be one bit surprised when I get to heaven to find out that Isaac was 33 years of age when this happened. He is called a lad here, but the word lad is also referred to in the Bible as "strong men of war" and so forth. Isaac was a strong, young man; he was strong enough that they laid that bundle of wood upon his back to be taken up that mountain. He was not some little child, but he was a strong man! Here is a aged man over 133 years old and a strong and able 33 year old young man by his side and they go up that mountain willingly together. Isaac could have easily overpowered and outrun his father Abraham, but there was that willingness, that submission. There is a picture of Isaac saying to his father Abraham, "Not my will, but thine be done" as he goes with his aged father to fulfill God's will. Do you remember what the Lord Jesus said? He said, "No man taketh My life from Me, I lay it down of Myself." Jesus was willing to die. When Jesus was hanging upon that cross in agony and blood, they came by and wagged their heads and pointed their sinful finger at him and said, "Look at him, he saved other, himself he could not save" but oh how wrong they were. It was Himself, that he would not save. The only man that Jesus ever refused to save was himself. Jesus could have called 12 Legions of angels but he willingly went to the cross. I am so glad that in Genesis 22 the Bible says of Abraham and Isaac, "[they went both of them together]" because it speaks of THE WILLINGNESS OF THE CROSS.

THE WEIGHT OF THE CROSS.

Genesis 22:6 "And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering, and laid it upon Isaac his son;"

In the Bible, "Wood" is symbolic of humanity. A righteous man is spoken of in the Bible as "a tree planted by the rivers of water." Jesus is spoken of as "a root out of a dry ground, out of the stump of Jessie." The laying of the wood upon Isaac is symbolic of the laying of humanity upon the Lord Jesus Christ. As the old song goes, "Out of the Ivory Palaces into this world of woe, Only His great redeeming love made my Savior go." Jesus left the gold of His glory and took the wood of our wickedness. The Lord hath “laid on Him the iniquity of us all.” The Bible says in John 19:17, “And he bearing his cross went forth into a place called the place of a skull, which is called in the Hebrew Golgotha: Where they crucified him" With the cross upon His back, Jesus went up the very same hill that Isaac went up with that wood upon his back. Jesus went: to that same Mount Moriah “foreseen of God,” to that same place “chosen of God,” to that same hill that was in the heart and mind of God, bearing the burden of that cross, bearing the weight of the cross. That cross that got heavier with every step so that Jesus fell underneath the weight of the load, which speaks of the weight of our sins, speaks of the weight of our humanity, speaks of the weight of our weakness, speaks of the weight of our failures, all of that was laid upon the Lord Jesus. He laid aside the gold of his glory, took the wood of our wickedness, and bore it to Mount Calvary. THANK GOD FOR JESUS TAKING THE WEIGHT OF THE CROSS.

THE WORK OF THE CROSS.

Genesis 22:9-10 "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. 10. And Abraham stretched forth his hand, and took the knife to slay his son."

There are 3 elements mentioned there which speak of the work of the cross.

THERE IS A CORD WHICH IS FOR BINDING. It says that Abraham "bound Isaac his son."
THERE IS WOOD WHICH IS FOR BURNING. It says that Abraham "laid him on the altar upon the wood."
THERE IS A KNIFE WHICH IS FOR BLEEDING. It says that Abraham "took the knife to slay his son."

These elements symbolize the binding, bleeding, burning power, price, and penalty of sin. Sin has binding power. Sin has blood shedding power. Sin has burning power because the wicked will burn in hell forever. As they laid Jesus upon the wood of his cross and as they bound Him and the nails caused Him to bleed, He felt the binding, burning, and bleeding power of our sins.

THE WORK OF THE CROSS IS THIS: "He who knew no sin, God hath made to be sin for us." When Jesus became sin for us, when the wood of our wickedness was laid upon Him, He went up Mount Moriah and died upon Calvary's Cross and paid in full the penalty for our sins. Folks, God the Father knew that one day He would see His own Son stretched out upon the wood. God the Father knew that one day He must raise the great knife of His own fierce wrath against all sin which must fall upon His own Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. THE WORK OF THE CROSS IS THAT JESUS DIED FOR OUR SINS, TAKING THE BINDING, THE BLEEDING, THE BURNING FOR US.

APPLICATION:

THE WORD OF THE CROSS

Genesis 22:10-14 "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 anything unto him: for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son from me. 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. 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."

Think about Abraham with his quivering hands raised to the heavens about to plunge that knife into the heaving bosom of Isaac, his only begotten son. This was Isaac, the son of promise, the son of prophecy, the son of miracle birth, the son of love and hope! That knife was about to fall when the angel of the Lord says, "Abraham, Abraham: ... Lay not thine hand upon the lad." Now God is about to give us another great miracle lesson. God just pours illustration on top of illustration. Isaac is not to die, because one day death must fall upon Jesus. Up until this point, Isaac has been a type and illustration of the Lord Jesus but now God does something strange and wonderful. God said, "Abraham, don't do it. I know that I have your heart." Abraham looked and saw a ram caught in the thicket. By the way, God always knows what He's going to do way before we ever figure it out. When Abraham started up one side of that mountain, there is no doubt in my mind that ram started up the other side. If you think about it here is the strange thing, Abraham sees a ram whose horns are caught in a thicket, you see, that ram is wearing a crown of thorns. God says, "Take him and put him to death instead of Isaac!" I wonder what Isaac must have felt when he saw that Ram and when Abraham took the binding off of him. I wonder if he might have gone and embraced that Ram. I wonder if the tears might have streamed down his eyes as he looked into the eyes of that Ram dying upon that altar. I wonder what he thought when he saw the blood flowing from that sacrificial animal upon that altar. I wonder what he felt when he thought about that Ram dying in his place.

CONCLUSION

WHAT IS THE WORD OF THE CROSS?

THE WORD OF THE CROSS IS THAT GOD HAS PROVIDED A SUBSTITUTE FOR YOU AND ME.

Abraham called this place by a very special name in verse 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]." The name "Jehovah-jireh" means "THE LORD WILL PROVIDE." Abraham called Mount Moriah, "THE LORD WILL PROVIDE.” Why did Abraham call that Mount, upon which Jesus would one day die, "Jehovah-jireh"? Because the Gospel had been preached unto Abraham and He had seen how God the Father would provide a substitute. Jesus said "Abraham saw my day and was glad!" What did Abraham see? Why did he call that mountain Jehovah-jireh? Why did he call it "THE LORD WILL PROVIDE?” What was it that God was going to provide?

Genesis 22:8 says, "And Abraham said, My son, God will provide himself a lamb..." That's what Abraham saw, that's why he called it "THE LORD WILL PROVIDE" because Abraham had looked down through the tunnel of time and God had spoken to this friend of God and said "I WILL PROVIDE A LAMB."

However, there is something here I don't want you to miss. Genesis 22:8 says, “And Abraham said, My son, GOD WILL PROVIDE [HIMSELF] A LAMB..." It doesn't say "God will provide a lamb FOR HIMSELF." It says "God will provide [HIMSELF] A LAMB..." He is that Lamb, the Lord presents Himself, Jesus is that Lamb. Verse 14 tells us, "In the mount of the LORD it shall be seen."

On Mount Calvary, one day men would see God providing Himself as “The Lamb that takes away the sin of the world.” One day on this very place, this sacred place, God has provided Himself a Lamb. That's the reason when John the Baptist saw Jesus, who was God in the flesh come, he pointed to Jesus and said, "Behold the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world." The Lord "Jehovah-jireh" has provide Himself a Lamb. THAT'S THE WORD OF THE CROSS.

That's the reason I told you that Genesis 22 is a PICTURE OF MOUNT CALVARY ON MOUNT MORIAH

For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son. There was no substitute for the Son of God. There was for Isaac but not for Jesus. God knew that one day He would spare not His only begotten Son, because He loved you that much.

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