Old Testament Studies
The Offering of Isaac
By Robert C. Crowder
Genesis; Chapter 22: The Offering
Part One
And it came to pass
When the Brothers Grimm started many of their fairy tales they began with, Once upon a time. With those words we were transformed into another time and another place. We could put ourselves in their world with that simple phrase.
In the Bible we have the phrase and it came to pass. It is interesting to note that phrase is used sixty-two times in Genesis, three hundred thirty-six times in the Old Testament and sixty times in the New Testament.
So and it came to pass is used more times in Genesis alone than in the whole New Testament. That is easily understood because there were so many beginnings. Genesis is the book of beginnings.
In this case the writer (Moses) is getting us prepared for a new story. The one in Genesis chapter 22 is one of those foundational sections of scripture that we need to understand. It is one of the building blocks if you will. As we study this section we will see five areas and they are:
The question from Isaac that people still ask today
The Abrahamic Covenant fulfilled by God
Communion with God
Genesis 22:1 begins with 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. 2And 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.
As we follow Abraham’s life we have found that he knew the voice of God. He was as familiar with his voice as we are our loved ones. The LORD spoke and Abraham simply said, Here I am.
We have seen Abraham and God converse many times. Abraham knew Gods voice because he communed with GOD.
Now God tempts Abraham. This word tempt is often used as proving. So God wanted to tempt Abraham to prove himself.
What a strange request from God. From the very first mentioning of Abraham in the Bible we see that God had something special planned for him. God promised Abraham “And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee,”
If God really meant what he had promised and re-promised, then why was he now tempting Abraham? Had not Abraham received the covenant in the birth of Isaac? Had Abraham not followed the commandments of God by circumcising Isaac on the eighth day? Had not Abraham force Hagar and Ishmael out of his camp with just a little food and water as commanded by God?
In the command from God, He left no room for doubt. Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest. This is as specific as it gets. He is talking about Isaac and reemphasizing that he is his only son, not Ishmael. Further defining Abraham’s relationship with Isaac with whom thou lovest.
Obedience to God
Sometimes while reading about the lives and events of men and women in the bible that God provides for us, I find myself asking, Could I have done that? Would I have without hesitation gathered everything I own and simply left my home? Would I have tried to bargain with God? How about next year after we gathered in the harvest or took the livestock to market? I am so thankful that we have the examples by which we can guide our lives!
The importance of the next phrase cannot be understated. 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.
In the past we might have seen the interaction between Abraham and Sarah to Gods command as they did upon the announcement that Isaac would be born to them. Or the bargaining as Abraham did when the angles approached him about Sodom and Gomorrah. The Bible does not tell us of any communication. Abraham did not drag his feet. He did not find excuses or try to haggle with God. He simply obeyed.
He rose early, chopped the wood for the offering, took two young men with him (for what reason we do not know) got Isaac out of bed and set off on the journey.
This was to be a burnt offering. A burnt offering is one that the whole is fully consumed by fire. The Law of Moses prescribed the occasions and the manner in which burnt sacrifices were to be offered. There were "the continual burnt offering" (Ex 29:38-42; Le 6:9-13), "the burnt offering of every sabbath," which was double the daily one (Nu 28:9-10), "the burnt offering of every month" (Nu 28:11-15), the offerings at the Passover (Nu 28:19-23), at Pentecost (Le 23:16), the feast of Trumpets (Le 23:23-25), and on the Day of Atonement (Le 16:1-34).
On other occasions special sacrifices were offered, as at the consecration of Aaron (Ex 29:1-46) and the dedication of the temple (1Ki 8:5,62-64).
These offerings signified the complete dedication of the offerer unto God. This is referred to in Romans 12:1; I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.
What was being required of Abraham was not an offering of his bullocks or lambs. Abraham knew that the taking of human life was not acceptable. He knew this but God was commanding him to offer his son.
As a father and grandfather, I have to tell you that this has been a very difficult passage for me to wrestle with. For 75 years Abraham had no children. God makes a covenant with him and promises that he would have a son in his old age. At ninety-nine years Isaac was born. Now God is saying to offer the child to him. No reason, no explanations just offer your only son whom thou lovest.
Was God going to far, I would have argued? Did I misunderstand what he asked? Would I search out others because Where no counsel is, the people fall: but in the multitude of counsellors there is safety. (Proverbs 11:14) Would I plead my case before God and man, there must be a mistake? Tell me what you think God is really saying?
How could God ask that a man's only son, whom he lovest, to be sacrificed?
From the very beginning of time, GOD had already laid out the plan of salvation. He would offer up his only son, whom he lovest, to die for mankind. He was not asking Abraham to do anything that he was not willing to do. Halleluiah! Amen!
Since this type of offering was also used on special occasions was God showing us that in years to come, this would be the site of the temple and Abraham was actually consecrating the temple mount years ahead?
Yes God has a plan. Just get busy!
Genesis; Chapter 22: The Offering
Part Two
The Faith of Abraham
We start today’s lesson with Abraham, Isaac, the two young men, the wood, the fire and the ass on the way to the land of Moriah.
As I reviewed Part One I realized that I left off a couple of important things.
When reviewing words and thoughts in the bible, always look at how the word or concept was used the first time. This generally defines how that word or concept will be used in the future. Genesis is the first book of the Old Testament and so there are allot of firsts.
There are two firsts in this passage: We find the first use of the word tempt (as defined in Part One) and the other we see the word love. Isn’t it amazing that through all the incidents of man and God in the first twenty-one chapters of Genesis that it is not until chapter twenty-two that we see the word love? Is not it also interesting that the first time love is used, it is not between husband and wife or mother to her children, but instead a first time is a fathers love for his son?
There are times when I am studying the riches of the Bible that I just can not take it all in and this is one of those cases. Can you see the shadow of things to come? Can you see that this is the template for when God would send his Son to this earth and offer him up? His Only Begotten Son? The relevance of the love of the father to the son should not be lost here. This is a type of love that God shared with his Son, the promised Seed of Israel, the Author and Finisher of our faith. Jesus referred to us like this in John 17:24 Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am; that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me: for thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world.
As the band continued on their journey, we do not know what was discussed between Abraham and Isaac. We do not see any, Are we their yet? Or "How much further do we have to walk, my feet hurt?" The bible does not disclose any prayers of Abraham for his son’s safety. Nor do we have any statements about the conversations between Abraham and God. We just do not know. We can only imagine what transpired on the walk for those three days.
Through this passage we can surmise a few things about Isaac. First he was old enough to be walking on his own for the whole journey for he was not riding the ass. Josephus, the historian, puts Isaac as a young man. Now Isaac was twenty-five years old.[1] We do not know for sure, but he was old enough and strong enough to walk the three days distance. He was big enough to carry all the wood for the fire on the altar. He was old enough to reason that the sacrifice for the burnt offering was missing. And then he was mature enough to lay down his own life if that was what his father was requesting.
The story picks up in verse four of chapter 22. Then on the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes, and saw the place afar off. 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. 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. 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? And Abraham said, My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering: so they went both of them together. 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.
Like most journeys, there was a destination; the ultimate goal and the many hours spent traveling along the way. Abraham kept the small caravan plodding towards Moriah. For two days and two nights they walked, set up camp and ate. I wonder if as they traveled how many times Abraham watched his son and felt the sheer joy that a father feels for his son. Was there a cloud of doubt that he would accomplish his mission from God? I am convinced that he did not!
The writer of the book of Hebrews tells us that By faith Abraham, when he was tried, offered up Isaac: and he that had received the promises offered up his only begotten son, Of whom it was said, That in Isaac shall thy seed be called: Accounting that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead; from whence also he received him in a figure. (Hebrews 11:17-19)
The writer of Hebrews says that he knew that if he were to slay Isaac, that God would raise him up. He accounted God able to raise Isaac if he was slain. This leaves no doubt that Abraham already knew the outcome of this test.
Abraham; a man of faith! He truly belongs in the Hall of Faith In the Bible.
Finally on the third day after traveling so far, Abraham saw the place afar off where he was to erect the altar. He told the young men to stay there for I and the lad will go yonder and worship, and come again to you. (Emphasis mine) Halleluiah! There was no lack of faith here. He told them in essence, we would be back. You can understand his logic. If he could have a son in his old age as God kept his promise, then God can take care of raising his son from the dead. There is nothing too hard for the Lord!
Again Abraham shows his obedience to God. He fills Isaacs arms with wood then gathers the fire and knife and father and son complete the day’s journey to the site where the altar would be built, and the offering would be consumed with fire.
We will leave this study by reviewing Isaacs question. The question is still asked today by those searching for salvation, Where is the Lamb?
Genesis; Chapter 22: The Offering
Part Three
The question from Isaac that people still ask today
We left off in the last lesson with Abraham and Isaac traveling for three days before Abraham lifted up his eyes and saw the place afar off, the final destination, as given by God, Moriah. Abraham was to build an altar and offer his son Isaac as a burnt offering at that place.
As Abraham and Isaac trudged up the hill Isaac still did not know what was up, but he followed his father. You remember that Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering, and laid it upon Isaac his son. Abraham carried the fire and the knife.
As they made their way up the mount, Isaac asks the question, Behold the fire and the wood: but where is the lamb for a burnt offering? Great question!
This question really details the fact that Isaac knew about offerings to God. He knew what the wood, fire and knife were for. He had seen Abraham offer to God before. So he was just a little confused when he did not see the offering. It is equally interesting that he did not say, Where is the heifer or goat or turtledove or young pigeon (Genesis 15:9) instead he asks, instead he asks about a lamb. You see a ram or lamb was for an offering of consecration.
Abraham responds to Isaacs question with a phrase that has been used by preachers and teachers for hundreds of years, "My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burn offering." You can almost hear Isaac respond with an Uh, OK. Question answered. If his dad says so, then it will happen.
Together they continue their journey until they come to the place that God had told him of. Together they built an altar. Together they laid the wood in order.
And then Abraham bound Isaac and laid him on the altar upon the wood. Hold it, this cannot be in the script. Stop the cameras! Stop the presses! Lets check this out. This cannot be happening!
Put yourself in Isaacs place. He carried the wood up the hill now he was bound up by his father and laid on the wood of the altar! Did Isaac struggle or fight when Abraham, very old, bound his son, in his prime of life? Did Abraham have to talk Isaac into complying with his father’s request? Again we just do not know. What we do know is that Isaac was laid on the altar and he stayed there!
I can remember sitting in a dentist’s chair knowing that I had some work to be done. Staring at the ceiling and the light just heightened my apprehension while waiting for the dentist to appear and begin work. I had been in the chair before and knew that the work to be performed will be just a slight discomfort. That did not really help the apprehension to leave.
Imagine Isaac looking up to the sky, seeing Abraham performing his duties. Like his father, Isaac was doing what was required of him and staying bound and lying on the altar. Isaac fully understood what a burnt offering was. He had seen the offering performed before. The offering has to be slain and then burned and wholly consumed by the fire.
Do you think he was apprehensive? You bet. What held him there? Why did he just lay there even when he saw his father raise the knife to plunge it into his body? I believe he was glued there by Abraham’s faith. Abraham’s calm assurance and love for his son kept Isaac there.
The altar was built. The wood was laid. Isaac was bound and placed on the altar. Abraham raised the knife to slay his son.
We pick up the story in Genesis 22:11-14:
And the angel of the LORD called unto him out of heaven, and said, Abraham, Abraham: and he said, Here am I. 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. 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. And Abraham called the name of that place Jehovahjireh: as it is said to this day, In the mount of the LORD it shall be seen.
The Abrahamic Covenant fulfilled by God
God had promised a son to Abraham in his old age. His covenant with Abraham was that this son would be the heir and that his seed would be as the stars in heaven..And he brought him forth abroad, and said, Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them: and he said unto him, So shall thy seed be.
Matthew Henry states, "Never was any gold tried in so hot a fire." Who but Abraham would not have argued with God? Such would have been the thought of a weak heart; but Abraham knew what he had to do. Faith had taught him not to argue, but to obey. He is sure that what God commands is good; that what he promises cannot be broken. In matters of God, whoever consults with flesh and blood, will never offer up his Isaac to God.[2]
Can you feel the collective sense of relief when the angle said, Stop? You have shown your faith! "Look over there, God has himself provided the offering." Unbind your son, whom you love, slay the ram. All is well.
We do not have the conversation between father and son as Abraham takes the knife and cuts the bindings. We do not know if Isaac said, "Whew, boy that was a close one, huh dad?" Did father and son embrace? Were tears of joy streaming down their faces as the relief flooded over them? What a wonderful and powerful lesson here. There is real joy in totally following God!
We do not know if the two of them joined together in a prayer meeting, topped off with praise to God. But we do know that here were two men who had faith. Two who put their whole trust in God.
I am so thankful that this story is in our Bible. It sets the standard of how faith should be. It also shows that while Abraham had not fully trusted God before, he did now. He did not waiver from this tempting that God set before him.
The practical applications that we could draw from this are many. If we only take away just one gem, let it be that God is Faithful. Jehovahjireh in the mount of the LORD it shall be seen.
[1] Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews, Chapter XIII, 2
[2] Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on the Whole Bible Public Domain Moody Press, 28th printing, no Copyright displayed.
Genesis; Chapter 22: The Offering
Part Four
Conclusion
I have really enjoyed the study of The Offering of Isaac. It had been quite a while since I broke up the fallow ground in Genesis and it has been a blessing to me.
Through this study we have seen Abraham going about living. He was enjoying life with his wife and the promised son. And why shouldn’t he be enjoying life. His wife Sarah and he finally had a son from a miraculous birth. Remember that Abraham was 100 years old and Sarah was ten years younger.
The words from Genesis twenty-one are so beautiful, And the LORD visited Sarah as he had said, and the LORD did unto Sarah as he had spoken. For Sarah conceived, and bare Abraham a son in his old age, at the set time of which God had spoken to him. In Gods time the promised one was born!
Isaac was circumcised and upon his weaning Abraham threw a great feast.
The child grew in the shadow of his parent’s tent.
Then on just an ordinary day, Abraham was about his business when he heard the Lord call his name. Little did Abraham know that this short conversation would announce the tempting of him that would affect the child he loved, the promised one from God.
God told him to 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. And Abraham rose up early in the morning,
We see that Abraham rose up early gathered everything he would need, got two of his young men, knife, wood, an ass to carry the load and told his son they were going on a journey.
Abraham was prepared. He took the time to chop the wood for the altar. Isn’t that just a little strange? He chopped wood. He was taking no chances. God said go and Abraham left nothing to chance.
We know that the journey was not long, but they walked for three days until Abraham saw the mount in Moriah, which God had told him about.
Why that particular mount? How did he know? The scriptures do not tell us except that Abraham lifted up his eyes, and saw the place afar off. Abraham just knew.
What happened next can easily be missed. 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. These supporting actors were cast into the play and we really don’t know why. Could they have been asked to come along as companions for Isaac? Were they for protection along the way against wild animals or highwaymen? Whatever the reason their part was done. Abraham and Isaac were going on further, they were to wait. Or was it? Where they the witness of the events about to take place? We don’t see them until later and they followed Abraham and Isaac to Beersheba.
Abraham and Isaac prepare the altar (by the way this is the seventh time the word altar has been used so far), put the wood on the altar, bound Isaac and laid him on the altar and the sacrifice was stopped by an Angel of the LORD.
A ram is provided and the offering takes place.
Abraham is so astonished at the chain of events he names the place Jehovahjireh, The Lord will See or Provide.
The story concludes with a re-statement of the covenant.
Genesis 22:15 - 18 And the angel of the LORD called unto Abraham out of heaven the second time, 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: 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; and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice.
Abraham and Isaac go back to the two young men and head out.
Mission Accomplished
The tempting was finished and accomplished. Abraham, through his obedience came away from the experience with his son alive! Don’t you think that as Isaac and Abraham came down from Jehovahjireh that they had a smile on their faces and a story to tell? Can’t you imagine how ebullient they must have been? In my mind it had to be like the young man that was healed of his blindness by Jesus and when questioned he couldn’t wait to tell others what happened to him. He replied to the said:
A man that is called Jesus made clay, and anointed mine eyes, and said unto me, Go to the pool of Siloam, and wash: and I went and washed, and I received sight .He answered and said, Whether he be a sinner or no, I know not: one thing I know, that, whereas I was blind, now I see. Then said they to him again, What did he to thee? how opened he thine eyes? He answered them, I have told you already, and ye did not hear: wherefore would ye hear it again? will ye also be his disciples? John 9
He couldn’t wait to spread the good news. He had to tell somebody
I would like to leave you with a few thoughts for your own study.
-
The scriptures tell us that both Isaac and Jesus births were
promised.
-
The timing of both births was in the fullness of time
-
Just as Jesus was commanded to take up the wood of the cross to
carry up the mount, so Isaac was commanded to take up the wood
for the offering to carry.
-
Isaac asked the question, where is the lamb?
And as the scriptures foretold, the lamb was found, the
Messiah was offered on the cross on Mt. Calvary.
-
Both events had witnesses to what happened.
-
After both events on the mount, Father and Son communed
together.
I hope this study has been an inspiration to you. It certainly has been for me.
ã 2002 bobsbiblestudies