All right, in Genesis chapter
22, we begin with verse 1, read down through verse 13. We have
a great incident here, greatly typical of our blessed Lord. So in Genesis 22, 1 through 13. And it came to pass after these
things, that is, after God had had Abraham to cast Ishmael out
of the house, after these things, that God did tempt Abraham and
said unto him, Abraham, and he said, Behold, here I am. And he said, Take now thy son,
thine only Isaac, whom thou lovest, get thee into the land of Moriah
and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains,
which I will tell you. 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 claimed the wood for the
burnt offering, and rose up, and went unto the place of which
God had told him. Then on the third day, Abraham
lifted up his eyes and saw the place afar off. Abraham said
unto the young men, Abide ye here with the ass. I and the
lad will go yonder and worship and come again to you. And Abraham took the wood of
the burnt offering, laid it upon Isaac his son, and he took a
fire in his hand and a knife, and they went both of them together. And Isaac spoke unto Abraham
his father and said, My father, and he said, here am I, my son. And he said, behold, here's the
fire and the wood. Where is the lamb for the 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, laid the
wood in order, and bound Isaac his son, and laid him on the
altar upon the wood. And Abraham stretched forth his
hand and took the knife to slay his son. And the angel of the
Lord called unto him out of heaven and said, Abraham, Abraham. And he said, here I. 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. Abraham lifted up his eyes and
looked, and behold, behind him a ram caught in the thicket by
the horns. And Abraham went and took the
ram and offered him up for a burnt offering in the stead of his
son. My son God will provide himself
a lamb. Verse 8. We know that there are
many wonderful types of our Lord that are to be found in the Old
Testament. In the preparatory age, we might
say, for the coming of the Lord, there were many types and shadows
that were set forth, showing forth our blessed Lord. Now, the types and the shadows
were basically of three sorts under the old economy. There
were animals that were types of our Lord, there were material
things that were types of our Lord, and there were human men
that were also blessed types of our Lord. The animals were
types of the Lord, like the Passover lamb in the land of Egypt. There were human types of our
Lord, and those like Isaac and those like Adam and Joseph and
David and others. And of course, there were material
things that were types of our Lord, the ark, the brazen serpent
in the wilderness and the mercy seed. and things like that. So as we come this morning, we
are in typology as we look at what has occurred in this chapter
of God's blessed and holy word. And Isaac is one of the great
types of our Lord in that He was the son of promise. He was the promised son, promised
to Abraham long before he was ever born. And when Sarah was
barren and passed the age of having children. So Isaac is
then a type of our blessed Lord that our God was pleased to set
forth in picture in this man, Isaac. And this is especially
blessed unto us because we see that he is spared by, not spared
by his father, but he puts him in the place of death, the fire
and the wood and the knife at ready, even in his hand. But the Lord brought it to an
end because types are only able to take us so far. Now notice
the opening verse of chapter 22. And it came to pass that
God did tempt Abraham. Now, tempt him not in the sense
of a solicitation that he might do evil, but as James writes,
God's tempted no man unto evil. But some understand the words
in Genesis 22 and verse 1 to mean that God tempted, he tested,
he tried, or he proved Abraham. Hebrews 11, 17 speaks of Abraham
when he was tried. When he was tried, he offered
up his only son. And it's said to come After these
things, Genesis 22 and verse 1, the most immediate thing was
the casting out of Ishmael and his mother out of the house of
Abraham. Now, in recent days here, in
Abraham's history, he had two great trials that the Lord brought
upon him, that tried him, or that proved him, or that tested
him, that he stood by faith on the word of God and the things
of God. First trial that I mentioned
was when God commanded, cast Ishmael out of the house. And with a bottle of water and
a little lunch, they were cast out of the house. But then, when
he is left with only young Isaac, he is commanded to take him and
to offer him as a burnt offering and to slay him in an appointed
mountain. Were Abraham alive today, I'm
sure he would be in a lot of legal trouble, failure to support
his child, and taking a knife to his only and blessed son. Now both of these, however, were
by the command of God. Cast Ishmael out, take thy son
Isaac, and offer him up. Then in Genesis 22 and verse
2, take Isaac, offer him there for a burnt offering, because
these things were not sin for God to command them and for God
to cause them to be. Just as the Jew, spoiling of
the gold and the treasures of Egypt was not sin or theft, because
God had commanded them to do it, able to suspend his own law
when it pleases him to do so. Abraham, we notice, is instantly
obedient unto the Lord. He sets out the next morning
with Isaac in tow and a couple of servants and the wood and
the necessity for the fire and for the altar. and particularly
in tow was his beloved son, Isaac. Now, we suppose maybe that Abraham
told neither Sarah nor Isaac the thing that was at hand, as
seen in the question of Isaac in chapter 22 and verse seven
that we read. Father, yes, my son, here's the
fire. Here's the wood. Where is the
lamb or the kid for the burnt offering? You have come well
prepared, Father, except where is that lamb that is to be offered? All things are here, the fire,
the knife, and such like. Where is the lamb? What will
you offer? Where is it? Isaac knew by experience
that a sacrificial lamb was to be sacrificed on occasions like
this and was usually the object of sacrificing. Could we wonder
that the question was not raised when leaving the home Why did
Isaac not ask the question when they left the home, when they
left without a lamb, without one for a sacrifice? Yes, the
fire and the wood, but no lamb, even as they left the house. So we can only wonder were the
words of Isaac's question like a dagger that would pierce into
his very own soul as it did that of Mary in Luke chapter 2 and
verse 35. His answer from the Father is
in Genesis 22 and verse 8. It speaks both of the faith of
Abraham, and by prophecy, the Lamb of God on Calvary. Look at it. My son, God will
provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering. And in verse 9 and
verse 10, they ascend the mount, just the father and his beloved
and his promised son, in whom the promise dwell, Isaac, bearing
the wood that would consume the sacrifice, even as our Lord bore
his very own cross on the way unto Calvary. Upon the mount,
Abraham built altar which is something he had done in Hebron
in another place in Genesis chapter 12 and 13 in verse 18 of which
we read of other patriarchs also offering a sacrifice Noah Jacob
at Bethel and such like But they all offered the proper animal
sacrifices upon their altar. Moses came to Rephidim, and in
Exodus 17 and 15, he built an altar. Joshua built one in Mount
Ebal in Joshua 8 and verse 30. But there is this difference
in this. Abraham lay and bound his very
own son upon that altar that he had made. He did it then and
took a knife in his hand. The fire and the wood also at
the ready. His purpose was to slay his beloved
and promised son and give him unto God as a burnt offering. And he would have, except that
he was restrained by doing so by the angel of the Lord out
of heaven. And Abraham then saw, as we read,
a ram, how providential, entangled by its horns in a thicket or
in a tree. And there he offered that up
instead of his son upon that altar. Now, there's a great commentary
on this in Hebrews chapter 11 and verse 17 through verse 19. You know, that is the chapter
that we call on faith. Faith is this and faith is that. In verse 17, he offered up Isaac
as his trial. In verse 17 and 18, even though
the promise of God to Abraham stood in Isaac and only in Isaac,
in Isaac shall the seed be called. And it was in him that the seed,
therefore, was to be established and was to be built up. And in
spite of this, by faith, Abraham would put his son to death because
God had commanded it. And he did so upon this ground
in Hebrews 11 and verse 19. Abraham counted or Abraham reckoned
that God was able to raise him up from the dead. And the apostle
said this in the end of Hebrews 11 and verse 19, from which he
also received him in a figure. He received Isaac back again
from the dead in type. or shadow or in figure. The point being that even Isaac
slain and dead upon the altar would not be a hindrance of the
purpose and the fulfillment of the promise that in him should
the promise of God be fulfilled. This is predicated upon the power
and the ability of God to raise even the dead to life again. In fact, says the apostle, Abraham
did receive Isaac from the dead, typically, or in a figure as
we have it there. Now, consider, if you might,
the prophetical words of the father of them that believe,
and I speak of Abraham, my son, God, will prepare or provide
himself a lamb. Abraham had earlier entertained
angels unaware, and so here he unwittingly prophesies. He addresses the great prophecy
of all time, the Lamb of God that would die and take away
the sins of the world. My son, God, will provide himself
a lamb for a burnt offering. Where's the lamb? God will provide,
notice, himself one. not us, but himself. Now fast
forward to John chapter 1, the gospel of John, and you know
where we're going. And the words of John the Baptist
concerning the Lord Jesus Christ. as he evidently pointed him out,
and said to those that stood by, Behold the Lamb of God, the
Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world. Twice he said it. In John 1,
29, and again in verse 36, the Lamb of God, the Lamb of God
that bears away sin, the Lamb of God upon which our sins were
made to lie and He bore them away. never to be remembered
against us anymore. Yes, at long last, God has indeed
provided himself a lamb. Now, remember this, lamb. We
see several allusion or references in the New Testament of Christ
under the figure of a lamb, or the Lamb, the Lamb of God, beginning
with that one by his forerunner, John. John 1, 29, and again,
verse 36. In 1 Peter 1 and verse 19, he
is called a lamb without spot and without blemish. Hebrews
9, 14, without spot was this lamb of God as required under
the law. When they offered a lamb, it
was to be a proper age. young and tender in the prime
of its life, without any physical deformity whatsoever, not blind,
no broken bone, no scurvy, and no disease. It was to be without
spot and without blemish. And the Lord answers that by
His impeccability. Absolutely no moral deform in
our Lord whatsoever. In Revelation 13 and verse 8,
He's called the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. Revelation 5 and 6 and 7, there
are numerous missions of the Lamb. Of course, our Lord Jesus
Christ. Now, why is the Lord's Christ
so often referred to as lamb, a lamb or the lamb of God? Well, the answer is the similitude
of a lamb is applied unto our blessed Lord because the Old
Testament lambs which were slain were what? The old Puritan Thomas
Matten called, quote, a standing type of Christ, unquote. He's led as a lamb to the slaughter. That's the prophecy of Isaiah. Because they were a standing
type of Christ. In Exodus chapter 29 and verse
38, the priest was to offer upon the altar two lambs of the first
year day by day continually. Paul writes to the Corinthian
church This, Christ, our Passover, is sacrificed for us. 1 Corinthians
chapter 5 and verse 7, Christ, our Passover, has been sacrificed. Now, the Passover was given in
conjunction with the Egyptian deliverance of the people of
God. And then that memorial was kept
year by year throughout their history as a memorial of the
great deliverance out of the land of Egypt. And each year,
The Jews would meet, they would gather, and would observe that
time when they were set free and delivered from the bondage
of Pharaoh by the power of God. Now, says Paul, a Passover. That Passover has been sacrificed
for us, 1st Corinthians 5 and verse 7. He is our paschal lamb. We dare not bring a four-footed
Lamb of any sort as a sacrifice, but in connection with that and
as the fulfillment of it, the Lamb of God that taketh away
the sins of the world. And in connection with the first
Passover, in Exodus chapter 12, and Christ being the fulfillment
of the Passover lamb, and what is set forth, Christ on several
occasions in the New Testament is therefore called the Lamb
of God. And He's even called our Passover. Now there are some wonderful
extended types of the Passover lamb that are also seen in our
blessed Jesus, our blessed Lord and Savior. Many things that
were true of that lamb in Egypt that night, in Exodus chapter
12, also have their typology toward the Lord Jesus Christ. Here are some that I'd like to
share with you that are types of that lamb toward our blessed
lamb, the Lord Jesus. A, we notice in Exodus 12, their
lamb was chosen ahead of time. Before the time came, days before,
I think four days it was, they were to take their lamb, separate
it from the herd, bring it under their care, even into their houses,
and keep it and tend it there. And in Exodus chapter 12, verse
3 and verse 6, it was chosen four days before it was killed. It was chosen to die. When chosen from the herd, it
was marked for death. And that death, on that particular
day and time, chosen to die, appointed to be killed. For when they took it and brought
it from the herd, even so Christ is the Lamb of God, slain from
the foundation of the world. He was appointed to die before
the world ever began by the decree of the covenant of God Almighty. His death was not an afterthought. It was not devised after he was
in the flesh. It was not an unforeseen event
or a last-minute, last-ditch emergency solution. It was not
a thing to thwart the intentions of God. For this cause came he
into the world. He was the Lamb of God, appointed
ahead of time. The Son of Man goeth as it was
determined. Woe unto that man by whom he
is betrayed. Then B, we notice the Passover
lamb was to be an absolutely perfect specimen. Exodus chapter
12 and verse 5. Your lamb shall be without blemish
a male of the first year without any defect in the prime of its
life, the lamb that was chosen. So Christ was without sin. Our Lord was absolutely impeccable. He was without spot and without
blemish. He was, as it were, in the very
prime of his life, being about 33 years of age when he died. upon the cross and without sin. And then see, we notice the Passover
lamb. Lambs, plural, the ones that
were chosen, for there were many, they were calculated for a set
number of people. They were to be able to supply
a set number of people, a fixed, definite number. The lamb was
appointed for a set number. What's it? Exodus 12, 3, a lamb
for a house. Remember something? None was
to be left over till the morning. None was to be left over, and
if it was, it was to be burnt with fire. And then in verse
4 of Exodus 12, we read the number of souls. So there were a set
number for each one of those lambs, and according unto their
need, therefore was the lamb chosen. Our Passover, our blessed
lamb, was sacrificed also for a chosen and appointed number,
a set number of soul, no more and no less, those given unto
him by the Father. Then moving along deep, The Passover
lamb was to be killed at a set time. There was an appointed
time for him to be killed, not the same day it was chosen, not
the second or the third, but on the fourth day it was to be
killed, after it was chosen. And he was chosen, by the way,
on the 14th day of the month that they were in. On the 14th
day of the month was that lamb to be chosen from the herd and
set apart. John Gill was very knowledgeable
about the custom, the tradition, and the law of the Jews. And he says that this month was
at first known as Abib, Exodus 13 and verse 4, the month of
Abib, A-B-I-B. And later on, Gil said, it became
known as Nisan, the month Nisan, which name seemed to be a Chaldean
name that was given under that name. Gill said it corresponded
approximately with our March or April of our calendar and
year, be that as it may. The Lord also died at the appointed
time. He often said, my time is not
yet. My time has not come. They tried to take him and kill
him, but they could not because his time was not yet. The Passover lamb was to be killed
at a set time, and that time was in the evening. Exodus 12 and verse 6, not in
the morning, not in the midday, but in the evening. You might
notice in the margin in Exodus 12 and verse 6, the alternate
reading there, between the evenings was the lamb to be killed or
slain. Now the point is the conviction
of some good expositor that the Lord Jesus, our Passover, died
at the time of the evening sacrifice in Jerusalem, when the Paschal
Lamb was slain on that particular day for the Passover. Sharnock, very wise, I love to
read him, thinks that both the Passover and Christ died at three
in the afternoon, the hour of three. And by the time the lamb
was roasted and was ready for the table and the family to eat
it. And Christ, by the time he was
taken down, prepared for burial, it was in the evening of the
day, nearing dusk on that particular day. I think Charnot whacks kind
of poetical when he speaks of the Lord Jesus Christ dying in
the evening of the world and being manifested in these last
times for you. Yes, God has provided himself
a lamb, the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Now in that great prophecy,
in Isaiah chapter 53, the prophet likens Jehovah's suffering servant
to a lamb led to the slaughter. As a lamb done before her shearers,
so he opened not his mouth. He is led as a lamb unto the
slaughter, said the prophet in verse 7, Isaiah 53. He is brought
as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers
is dumb, so he opened not his mouth. You'll see that quoted
in Acts chapter 8 and verse 32. I have a good work by John Brown
on Isaiah chapter 53 called The Sufferings and Glories of Messiah. And John Brown wrote in that
good work, it indicates both his situation and his disposition. His situation is he's led to
the slaughter. His disposition is he yielded
up himself without protest or without anger or retaliation
at all. He would not, therefore, deliver
himself. And he would not, therefore,
kill his enemies, though he might have done so with the very word
of his mouth. And the high priest would unsheathe
his knife. When they made that sacrifice
in the evening, the high priest would bring that animal to the
altar, take his knife, slit his throat, catch his blood, you
know, the ordeal, and carry it in to the holy of holy. You know, Sharnach, again, I
read him a lot for this on the Passover. Sharnach said the Lord
was led out the same gate in Jerusalem that the Passover lamb
was led out. We do read in Hebrews chapter
13 verse 12 that he suffered without the gate. They took him
outside the gate, outside of the city, not on the Jewish altar,
not in the temple, which shows the difference between the Jewish
sacrifice and the Christian sacrifice, and the difference between their
altar and the cross where our Lord therefore delivered himself
up to die. His disposition, he not only
went willingly and without offering any resistance, but he opened
not his mouth. He made no complaints. He did
not protest the great injustice of being put to death, though
he had done nothing and committed no sin. When reviled, he reviled
not again, 1 Peter 2, verse 23. And he did not go protesting,
I'm innocent. I'm innocent, let me go, I'm
innocent," or protesting the injustices that were done to
him in all of that ordeal. Can we see the same two things
in Isaac, maybe, as Abraham took him? There's no record that Isaac
resisted the Father, or even that he complained, or even that
I'm too young to die, or any of that. But he submitted, evidently,
to Abraham, laying him on the altar and binding him. You remember the words of our
original text there in Genesis 22, 9 and 10? that tell an amazing thing that
took place upon the mount. We read there, and Abraham built
an altar, and there laid the wood in order, bound Isaac his
son, laid him on the altar upon the wood, and Abraham stretched
forth his hand and took the knife to slay his son. I wish we knew
more. I wish we knew the circumstances
when Isaac learned that his father intended to slay him, that the
fire and the knife were intended for him and not for a burnt offering
a lamb for sacrifice. I wonder how it went. Did Abraham
tell him, son, lay down, son, God commanded, Or did Abraham
explain it unto him? Or did he just simply lay him
down and bind him unto the altar? At any rate, it would seem that
Isaac might have resisted. Isaac might have overcome his
aged father. He might have fled. He might
have saved himself. but he yielded himself up to
the will of his father. Even so, Christ could have called
legions of angels. He could have slain his persecutors
and deliver him. Matthew 26, 53, at his disposal
were multitude of angels that could have come and fought for
him and delivered him. But then we see Abraham with
a knife drawn, what a picture, intended for his only and beloved
and promised son and the knife in his hand. Abraham prayed that
Ishmael might live. Oh, that Ishmael might live before
God, Genesis 17 and 18, and grieve that casting out Ishmael out
of the family, Genesis 21, 11, but he spared not his son of
his love, he delivered him up, even the son in whom it had been
said, in Isaac shall thy seed be called. Hebrews 11 and verse
18. He would take the life of the
son of promise. because God commanded it. And
what did the holy God do concerning his only begotten son? There's a passage in Zechariah
chapter 13 and verse 7. Amazing prophecy of our Lord. Awake, O sword, against my shepherd. And against the man that is my
fellow, smite the shepherd and the sheep shall be scattered."
A prophecy of the killing or the death of our blessed Lord.
Notice, my fellow, my nearest kin, a very close associate. Against him, God unsheathed the
sword of divine justice. God gave it a command. Away,
O sword, go forth and smite him that is my fellow." Now, that
sword had long lain idle. with regard unto Christ and the
great sacrifice for sin. Someone said it slumbered and
it scabbard. And in due time, it is given
the command from God, awaken, go and smite my fellow. And it smote and it pierced the
very body and the very soul of the Lord Jesus Christ, who unlike
Isaac was put to death. Isaac put to death and raised
only in type. The Lord was actually slain and
actually risen again from the dead. Who is this lamb that God
has provided himself? It's his own fellow. It is one
of His own nature. It is His only begotten Son,
the promised Son. This is the one in whom the covenant
stands, the covenant of eternal life, the one in whom many would
be called the Lord Jesus Christ, the very Son of God. And as Abraham
did not deputize another to slay his son, so too God did personally
put his son to grief, plunging that awakened sword up to the
haft or the handle of his blessed and only and beloved son. And his soul was made and offering
for sin, or his soul made an offering for sin in Isaiah chapter
53, and he delivered him up for us all. Yes, God has provided
himself a lamb, and he has made to meet upon that lamb the sin
and iniquity of us all. He lay our iniquity upon that
lamb. And there at Calvary, in his
own body, he bore our sin on the tree, as Peter tells us. And he bore them away like that
scapegoat taken yonder over the hill, over the horizon, out of
sight, never to return again. Our Lord bore away our sin that
they might never come against us anymore. And yet, He being
dead, yet liveth. And the death of Christ was absolutely
no obstacle to the fulfilling of the purpose of salvation.
In fact, it was a necessary part of it. He gave himself a sacrifice
to God for a sweet-smelling savor, a lamb which answered all the
types, particularly the Passover and the prophecy of Isaiah. God has provided himself a lamb.