Genesis 22 Confirmation of Abraham’s Faith. 1. Basic Facts. A. Abraham is believed to have been 125 to 135 years old. B. Isaac was believed to have been between 14 and 37 years old. C. Mount Moriah includes modern day Jerusalem, The Temple Mount, Mount of Olives, Mount Zion, and Mount Calvary. D. There are numerous foreshadows and parallels between Isaac and Jesus in this chapter. Make a list of them as you go along. E. This is Abraham’s final test of faith.

Genesis 22 New American Standard Bible (NASB) The Offering of Isaac 1 Now it came about after these things, that God tested Abraham, and said to him, "Abraham!" And he said, "Here I am. 2 He said, "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 will tell you. 1. In most versions of the Bible, the first time you find the word love is in Chapter 22: 2 of Genesis. 2 Then He said, "Take now your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, 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." 2. The first time in the New Testament it is used is Matthew 3:17. 17 And suddenly a voice came from heaven, saying, "This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." 3. God referred to Isaac as his only son. In Genesis 21, Sarah said to cast out Ismael, the son of the bondwoman Hagar (symbolized by the flesh) and God only recognized Isaac, the son of the free woman (symbolized by the Spirit). 4. Isaac was to be a burnt offering. Leviticus 1: 10-13. ‘But if his offering is from the flock, of the sheep or of the goats, for a burnt offering, he shall offer it a male without defect. 11 He shall slay it on the side of the altar northward before the LORD, and Aaron’s sons the priests shall sprinkle its blood around on the altar. 12 He shall then cut it into its pieces with its head and its suet, and the priest shall arrange them on the wood which is on the fire that is on the altar. 13 The entrails, however, and the legs he shall wash with water. And the priest shall offer all of it, and offer it up in smoke on the altar; it is a burnt offering, an offering by fire of a soothing aroma to the LORD.

5. God had promised in Genesis 21:12 that Isaac was the promised one. 12 But God said to Abraham, "Do not be distressed because of the lad and your maid; whatever Sarah tells you, listen to her, for through Isaac your descendants shall be named. 6. Keep in Mind: This is the first Jewish Father-Son tandem ever. God gave Jewish fathers and sons a bond that separates them from all other races on the earth. a. Deuteronomy 14:2 "For you are a holy people to the LORD your God, and the LORD has chosen you to be a people for His own possession out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth. b. 2 Samuel 7:23-24. "And what one nation on the earth is like Your people Israel, whom God went to redeem for Himself as a people and to make a name for Himself, and to do a great thing for You and awesome things for Your land, before Your people whom You have redeemed for Yourself from Egypt, from nations and their gods? "For You have established for Yourself Your people Israel as Your own people forever, and You, O LORD, have become their God. c. The marriage tradition in the Jewish family handed starting with Isaac has been handed down today. Story in Israel-Stucco and rebar. The significance of the Prodigal son. This was the greatest act of faith in the Bible. 1. John 14: 2-4. 2My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? 3And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. 4You know the way to the place where I am going.” 2. Matthew 24: 36. "But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone.

3 So Abraham rose early in the morning and saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him and Isaac his son; and he split wood for the burnt offering, and arose and went to the place of which God had told him. 4 On the third day Abraham raised his eyes and saw the place from a distance. 1. No hesitation or second thoughts for Abraham, showing he trusted God when he could not make sense of what God commanded him to do. 2. Faith vs. Reason. Abraham passed this test. He learned that all things are possible with God. 3. Hebrews 11:17-19. By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises offered up his only begotten son, of whom it was said, “In Isaac your seed shall be called,” concluding that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead, from which he also received him in a figurative sense. 4. John 11. This is similar to when Jesus came to raise Jesus from the dead, Martha said “Lord if you would have been hear my brother would not have died.

5 Abraham said to his young men, "Stay here with the donkey, and I and the lad will go over there; and we will worship and return to you. 1. The first time the word worship is used in the Bible. 2. Abraham said “we” would return to you showing his great faith.

" 6 Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on Isaac his son, and he took in his hand the fire and the knife. So the two of them walked on together. 1. Isaac carries the wood for sacrifice just as Jesus carried the cross for sacrifice. 2. Abraham took the knife that would kill his son. “That knife was cutting into his own heart all the while, yet he took it. Unbelief would have left the knife at home, but genuine faith takes it.” 3. We can’t fool God. Luke 15: 13-16 13“No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.” 14The Pharisees, who loved money, heard all this and were sneering at Jesus. 15He said to them, “You are the ones who justify yourselves in the eyes of others, but God knows your hearts. What people value highly is detestable in God’s sight. 7 Isaac spoke to Abraham his father and said, "My father!" And he said, "Here I am, my son." And he said, "Behold, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?" 8 Abraham said, "God will provide for Himself the lamb for the burnt offering, my son." So the two of them walked on together. 1. Abraham still did not know how God was going to accomplish it but he trusted God anyway. 2. Isaac still doesn’t know he is to be sacrificed. 3. This is not one act of faith. It is a series of acts of faith. But Abraham keeps on passing all the tests. 9 Then they came to the place of which God had told him; and Abraham built the altar there and arranged the wood, and bound his son Isaac and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. 1. Isaac did not resist or struggle but willingly laid his life down, as Jesus did. 2. Job: 13:15. Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him: but I will maintain mine own ways before him.

3. John 10:18 18 No one has taken it away from Me, but I lay it down on My own initiative. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This commandment I received from My Father. 10 Abraham stretched out his hand and took the knife to slay his son. 11 But the angel of the LORD called to him from heaven and said, "Abraham, Abraham!" And he said, "Here I am." 12 He said, "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." 1. When God calls His people’s name twice it is a significant event. a. Genesis 46:2. Jacob Jacob-Vision to go to Egypt setting up the Exodus. b. Exodus 3:4. Moses, Moses-Burning Bush. c. 1 Samuel 3:10-Samuel, Samuel-Eli’s Judgement. d. Acts 9:5- Saul, Saul. Saul’s Damascus Road Experience. 2. Someone might say it would have been a great deed if God allowed Abraham to slay his son and then raise him from the dead. 3. God often takes the will for the deed with his people. We have to surrender it in our heart. God always knows our heart. 4. Why did God ask for Isaac and not all of Abraham’s wealth? Abraham was a rich man. a. Rich Young Ruler. Luke 18. 18 A ruler questioned Him, saying, “Good Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” 19 And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good except God alone. 20 You know the commandments, ‘DO NOT COMMIT ADULTERY, DO NOT MURDER, DO NOT STEAL, DO NOT BEAR FALSE WITNESS, HONOR YOUR FATHER AND MOTHER.’” 21 And he said, “All these things I have kept from my youth.” 22 When Jesus heard this, He said to him, “One thing you still lack; sell all that you possess and distribute it to the poor, and you shall have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.” 23 But when he had heard these things, he became very sad, for he was extremely rich. 24 And Jesus looked at him and said, “How hard it is for those who are wealthy to enter the kingdom of God! 25 For it is easier for a camel to [g]go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.” 26 They who

heard it said, “Then who can be saved?” 27 But He said, “The things that are impossible with people are possible with God.” b. This why we can’t judge the idol in someone else’s life. We see Abraham and think he’s too rich. That was the case with the Rich Young Ruler. Jesus said it was hard for the wealthy to enter Heaven. 5. Wealth was not a problem with Abraham. It was his love for Isaac that God tested. 6. Jesus described the cost of discipleship, which is in essence His Lordship. Luke 14:25-33. 25 Now large crowds were going along with Him; and He turned and said to them, 26 “If anyone comes to Me, and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be My disciple. 27 Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple. 28 For which one of you, when he wants to build a tower, does not first sit down and calculate the cost to see if he has enough to complete it? 29 Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who observe it begin to ridicule him, 30 saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish.’ 31 Or what king, when he sets out to meet another king in battle, will not first sit down and consider whether he is strong enough with ten thousand men to encounter the one coming against him with twenty thousand? 32 Or else, while the other is still far away, he sends [c]a delegation and asks for terms of peace. 33 So then, none of you can be My disciple who does not give up all his own possessions. a. Hate in Hebrew means to love less.

13 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. 14 Abraham called the name of that place The LORD Will Provide, as it is said to this day, "In the mount of the LORD it will be provided." 1. 2. 3. 4.

The Ram was a substitute for Isaac as Jesus was a substitute for us. The thicket symbolizes the crown of thorns. As customary, the ram had to be without defect. Abraham exhibited his heart toward God in Isaac just as God exhibited His heart toward us in Jesus. 5. God wanted from Abraham the ultimate demonstration of his love, just as God displayed His ultimate demonstration of His love and commitment through the Cross. 15 Then the angel of the LORD called to Abraham a second time from heaven, 16 and said, "By Myself I have sworn, declares the LORD, because you have done this thing and have not withheld your son, your only son, 17 indeed I will greatly bless you, and I will greatly multiply your seed as the stars of the heavens and as the sand which is on the seashore; and your seed shall possess the gate of their enemies. 18"In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice." 1. This would be the last time Abraham would hear the voice of God. He died 40 to 50 years later. 2. Isaac’s depiction of Jesus was: 1. Both were loved by their father. 2. Both offered themselves willingly. 3. Both carried wood up the hill of their sacrifice. 4. Both were sacrificed on the same hill. 5 Both were delivered from death on the third day. 2. God’s Oath. Hebrews 6: 13-18. 13 For when God made the promise to Abraham, since He could swear by no one greater, He swore by

Himself, 14 saying, "I will surely bless you and I will surely multiply you."15 And so, having patiently waited, he obtained the promise.16 For men swear by one greater than themselves, and with them an oath given as confirmation is an end of every dispute.17 In the same way God, desiring even more to show to the heirs of the promise the unchangeableness of His purpose, interposed with an oath, 18 so that by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have taken refuge would have strong encouragement to take hold of the hope set before us. 3. In the rapturous hour of this revelation and promise, Abraham, doubtless, saw Messiah’s day, and was glad. John 8:54-56. 54Jesus replied, “If I glorify myself, my glory means nothing. My Father, whom you claim as your God, is the one who glorifies me. 55Though you do not know him, I know him. If I said I did not, I would be a liar like you, but I do know him and obey his word. 56Your father Abraham rejoiced at the thought of seeing my day; he saw it and was glad.” 4. James described this act by Abraham as follows: James 2: 18-25. 18But someone will say, “You have faith; I have deeds.” Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by my deeds. 19You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder. 20You foolish person, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is uselessd ? 21Was not our father Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? 22You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did. 23 And the scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness,” and he was called God’s friend. 24You see that a person is considered righteous by what they do and not by faith alone. 25In the same way, was not even Rahab the prostitute considered righteous for what she did when she gave lodging to the spies and sent them off in a different direction? 26As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.

5. In closing, God expects us to put him first in our life. This is why the Apostle Paul said in Galatians 2:20. "I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me. 6. What Paul means is that a man or woman who is attached to the Cross can’t be attached to anything else. Foreshadowing. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.

The birth of Isaac and Jesus were supernatural. Both were Sons of Promise. Both were bound to wood. Both were offered by their Fathers. Both were sacrificed on Mount Moriah. Both lived after the offering.