26-0405p - Detailed Summary

The preacher, Jim, welcomed everyone back and continued the study on the land of Moriah. This is an ancient land that existed before Jerusalem, and it is the very location where Jerusalem was later built. A unique geographical feature of the area is its seven hills, which people from the Alps might call hills, but in Israel they are referred to as mountains. The sermon focused particularly on Mount Moriah and its rich biblical history, picking up where the previous session left off.

The message examined two of the most important and closely related stories in the Bible. One serves as a type or foreshadowing, while the other is the archetype or reality. These are the stories of two fathers who sacrificed their only begotten sons: one from the Old Testament and the other from the Gospel era. The Old Testament father is Abraham, who was commanded by God to offer his son as a burnt offering. This event foreshadowed what would occur approximately 2,000 years later in the Gospels. Jim noted that the text had been read through that morning and now turned to a verse-by-verse examination of Genesis 22, verses 1 through 19.

In Genesis 22:1, after these things, God tested Abraham and said to him, “Abraham.” Abraham replied, “Here I am.” Throughout Scripture, God tests His people. The Hebrew word for “test” means to prove, try, or test. God tests those who believe in Him to determine their level of fear of Him, faith in Him, and love and devotion to Him. Two supporting verses were cited: Exodus 20:20, where Moses told the people not to be afraid, for God had come to test them so that the fear of Him might remain with them and keep them from sinning; and Proverbs 17:3, which states that the crucible is for silver and the furnace for gold, but the Lord tests the heart. Abraham was about to enter God’s crucible.

In verse 2, God commanded Abraham to take his son, his only son whom he loved—Isaac—and go to the land of Moriah to offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains that God would show him. This laid out the test clearly: sacrifice your son as a burnt offering. At Passover, Israel roasted lambs over fire without breaking any bones, and that Passover lamb was a type of Christ. In this account, Isaac also served as a type. God emphasized the preciousness of the son by repeating: “your son, your only son, whom you love, Isaac.” This underscored the gravity of the command, mirroring what God Himself would later do with His own most precious Son. Thus, Abraham entered the crucible.

Isaac had a miraculous birth. God caused Sarah, who was barren and 90 years old—well beyond childbearing age—to conceive and bear a son. God put life in her womb, making Isaac a true miracle baby. Sarah and Isaac serve as types of Mary and Jesus. Jesus also had a miraculous birth, born to the virgin Mary who had known no man. It was impossible for her to conceive naturally, yet God placed life—Jesus—in her womb, resulting in Emmanuel, God with us in the flesh. Jesus and Mary are therefore the antitypes to Sarah and Isaac.

Both sons were only begotten and greatly loved. Abraham himself is a type, with God the Father serving not merely as the antitype but as the archetype or prototype—the original after which the type is patterned—as the Father who sacrificed His Son.

In Genesis 22:3, Abraham rose early in the morning, saddled his donkey, took two young men with him along with Isaac his son, split wood for the burnt offering, and set out for the place God had told him. This demonstrated Abraham’s immediate and complete obedience. He planned to go through with the command without objection or pleading for his son’s life. Jim asked listeners to imagine God commanding any of them to offer their son as a burnt offering—not only to slit the throat but to set the body on fire. Abraham had to prepare enough wood to burn a human body, which would have been a substantial amount, and then he set out with Isaac.

On the third day, Abraham lifted his eyes and saw the place from a distance (Genesis 22:4). Abraham endured three days of travel and mental agony over what was about to happen. Similarly, God the Father agonized for three days over the separation and death of His Son. Jesus remained in the earth for three days after His death, making this a three-days-of-agony type pointing to the archetype.

They began their journey from Beersheba, approximately 40 miles from Jerusalem—a three-day journey by animal. Abraham may have recognized the designated place because God’s Shekinah (cloud of glory) rested over the mountain, or due to a unique rock projection resembling a human skull, or because, as a prophet, the Spirit revealed it to him.

In verse 5, Abraham told his young men to stay with the donkey while he and the lad went ahead to worship and would return to them. This revealed Abraham’s total faith in God; he fully expected to return with his son alive. The New Testament explains Abraham’s reasoning in Hebrews 11: Abraham believed God could raise the dead, and figuratively speaking, he did receive Isaac back from death. Abraham was prepared to deliver the fatal blow with the knife, yet Isaac figuratively returned from the dead. This is a type of resurrection—figurative for Isaac, literal for Jesus, who actually died and rose on the third day.

In verse 6, Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and laid it on Isaac his son, while carrying the fire and the knife himself. The two of them walked on together. They likely left the donkeys due to the steep mountain terrain and proceeded on foot. Isaac carried a large bundle of wood sufficient to burn a human body, indicating he was no longer a small child but a mature young man strong enough to bear the load. This forms another powerful type: Isaac carried the wood for his own sacrifice, just as Christ the archetype carried His wooden cross to the place of sacrifice.

In Genesis 22:7, Isaac spoke to Abraham his father, saying, “My father,” and Abraham replied, “Here I am, my son.” Isaac then asked, “Behold, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?” Up to this point, Abraham had not fully disclosed the details of the sacrifice to Isaac. It was likely at this moment that Isaac began to suspect he himself might be the sacrifice, reflected in the affectionate yet possibly concerned address of “my father.” The affection between father and son remained evident. Isaac was not a child; Bible scholars estimate his age at 25 to 36 years old. Jim suggested, based on the deliberate typology throughout the story, that Isaac was likely the same age as Christ at the crucifixion—33 years old. This is supported by Sarah’s age at death (127), making Isaac 37 shortly after this event, which immediately precedes the account of her death. Isaac was therefore a mature man. Abraham, who lived to 175, could still refer to a 33-year-old as a “lad,” much as modern people might view a 30-year-old as still young.

In verse 8, Abraham replied, “God will provide for Himself the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.” Then the two continued walking together. This statement was more than faithful obedience; it was prophetic. God would indeed provide the lamb. In the fullness of time, 2,000 years later, God provided His own Son as the sacrificial lamb to take away sin. Thus, there are layered types and antitypes: Isaac as type and Christ as archetype, and the provided lamb as type with Christ again as the archetype.

They reached the place God had indicated (verse 9). Abraham built the altar, arranged the wood, bound his son Isaac, and laid him on the altar on top of the wood. This speaks volumes about Isaac’s faith and submission. A man in his early 30s at the peak of physical strength allowed his father to bind him and place him on the wood without resistance. Isaac submitted fully to his father’s authority and purpose.

Isaac, knowing he was Abraham’s son and heir to the divine promises, must have reasoned that he would somehow live again. The similarities between Isaac and Jesus are striking: both were willing to be offered as a sacrifice, showing no resistance or violence. Like a lamb silent before its shearers, both remained silent and offered no resistance. Both were bound upon the wood of their sacrifice.

In Genesis 22:10, Abraham stretched out his hand and took the knife to slay his son. Jim emphasized that Abraham surely had to steel himself mentally to carry out the act, reaching a point of no return in the downward strike of the knife. The angel of the Lord, who had been watching, knew the intent of Abraham’s heart and saw that he was truly prepared to complete the sacrifice.

In verse 11, the angel of the Lord called out from heaven, “Abraham, Abraham!” Abraham answered, “Here I am.” Jim clarified that this angel of the Lord was the pre-incarnate Christ—the second person of the Godhead, known as Yahweh. He is one of the ways Jesus revealed Himself to humanity and serves as the mediator between God the Father and man. Seeing what was about to happen, the angel intervened decisively and forcefully to stop the sacrifice.

God never intended for human sacrifice to be part of worship; such practices were characteristic of pagans and were detested by God. A primary example is the Baal worshipers who passed their children through the fire as sacrifices to Molech, an abomination in God’s sight. Through this test, God witnessed firsthand that Abraham—the man through whom He was forming His special people—was willing to give up his only begotten son whom he loved.

In Genesis 22:12, the angel declared, “Do not stretch out your hand against the lad, and do nothing to him; for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from Me.” Both Abraham and Isaac passed the test with flying colors, demonstrating fear of God, faith, submission, conviction, and obedience. In God’s eyes, the sacrifice was as good as completed. In Abraham’s eyes, he received his son back from the dead.

Abraham experienced the grace and salvation of God through this event. Jesus Himself referenced it in John 8:56, telling the Jews, “Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day, and he saw it and was glad.” Abraham saw Christ’s day through what he went through with Isaac, and he rejoiced because he understood that one day the angel of the Lord and God the Father would provide the ultimate sacrifice for all humanity.

In Genesis 22:13, Abraham lifted his eyes and saw a ram caught in the thicket by its horns. He took the ram and offered it up as a burnt offering in place of his son. The relief and joy Abraham and Isaac must have felt was immense; it was as though he had received Isaac back from the dead. Not only would God provide the lamb for the ultimate sacrifice 2,000 years later, but He immediately provided for their need by placing the ram in the thicket, caught by its horns. The ram was easily taken—no chase was required—and offered on the altar in Isaac’s place. God provided.

In verse 14, Abraham named the place “The Lord Will Provide” (Yahweh Yireh), and to this day it is said, “In the mount of the Lord it will be provided.” This confirms the location as the projection of rock on Mount Zion that resembles a human skull—Golgotha, better known as Calvary. Approximately 2,000 years later, on that same hill, Yahweh Himself would become the sacrifice for all mankind. God’s perfect sacrificial Lamb, without defect or spot, was offered on the cross, bearing the guilt, shame, and disgrace of sinful humanity. Jesus, the sinless and innocent Son of God, willingly died for sinful mankind. There is no greater love than this, as summed up in John 3:16: “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son.” Amen and amen.

Jim noted the significant pattern of 2,000-year intervals: from Adam to Abraham, from Abraham to Christ, and nearly 2,000 years from Christ until now. We may be only a handful of years—or perhaps within our lifetime—from the next major fulfillment. The only remaining events are Christ’s return for His church, the resurrection of believers, and the final judgment for those who reject the gospel and the perfect sacrificial Lamb, Jesus, God’s anointed Son.

The invitation was extended to anyone needing prayers from the church or desiring to become a saved member of the body of Christ. If anyone listening wished to be baptized into Christ and become a new creature and child of God, the church would meet them at the building to facilitate it. The congregation was then invited to stand and sing the invitation song.