First of all, we read our text,
verse 1, And it came to pass, after these things, that God
did tempt Abraham, and said unto him, Abraham, and he said, Behold,
here am I. And he said, Take now thy son,
thine only Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee unto 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, saddled his ass, 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. And Abraham said
unto his 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 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. 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 am 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 from me." And Abraham lifted up his eyes and looked,
and behold, behind him a ram caught in the thicket by its
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 place
that name of that place, Jehovah-Jireh. As it is said to this day, in
the mouth of the Lord it shall be seen. Now, we want to notice
the words of Abraham again in verse 8. My son, God will provide
himself a lamb for a burnt offering. Not only is there one of the
clearer types from the Old Testament found in this account. But there
also are two of the most important people with regard to the history
of Israel to be found as well in this account. Abraham is the
one. And was one of the most revered
names in all of the history of the Jew. They reckoned him to
be the father of their race. and they to be his children,
his offspring. They much treasured their descent
from Abraham, and often in the New Testament we hear them saying,
We be the seed of Abraham. Now the other personage here
that is so important is the man Isaac. Now Isaac was the promised
son of Abraham by Sarah. And he was not born until Abraham
and Sarah were old and well stricken in their years. And in several
ways we could point out that Isaac is one of the most blessed
types of the only begotten son of God there is to be found anywhere
in the Old Testament. Perhaps we'll look at that a
little bit later. Now, this man Abraham, is brought
before us back in Genesis chapter 11. He was the son of Terah. He was of the lineage of that
son of Noah by the name of Shem. His wife was Sarai. And we learn early that she was
a barren woman even as a young wife. Then the question is, how
did Abraham come to be a follower and a servant of the Most High
God." Was Abraham raised in a godly home and in a godly religion? No, Abraham is an example of
the sovereign election of God that is set forth in the Scripture. Not only the sovereign election
of God, but also the effectual grace of our God. So that Stephen
said of this, In his speech in Acts chapter 7 and verse 2, the
Lord of glory appeared unto our father Abraham when he was in
Mesopotamia before he dwelt in Turan. Now, in glory, God appeared
unto Abraham. The God of glory magnificently,
sovereignly appeared unto Abraham. And He called Abraham forth out
of his country and away from his kinsmen and family and such
like. And we read in Nehemiah 9, and
it is verse 7, You are the Lord, the God who chose Abraham, and
brought him forth out of the Ur of the Chaldee, and gave him
the name Abraham." God made covenant with this man Abraham, and He
gave Sarah and him the promise of a son in which his seed would
be called. In Isaac shall thy seed be called. But before that promise is fulfilled,
before that has come to pass, God puts Abraham, may I call
it to an awful test, He puts Abraham in a terrific test before
that is fulfilled, saying to him in our text, in Genesis chapter
22 and verse 1, God did tempt Abraham. We also read in Hebrews
chapter 11, And verse 17, "...when he was tried." That is, when
Abraham was tried by God. Now, we note the words, "...as
to the time when God did tempt, or try, or prove Abraham, as
well as the essence and the nature of the trial that God put upon
Abraham." The essence of the trial is this. Go and offer Isaac
as a burnt offering up on the mount that I will direct you
to." Genesis 22 and verse 2. The time was, in verse 1, after
these things. Now the most recent thing being
in chapter 21, the disinheriting of Ishmael and the casting out
of Ishmael and his mother Hagar, his son born after the flesh
with a handmaid. Once Abraham and Sarah had cherished
the hope that they might receive the promised seed that God had
promised them by means of the housemaid Hagar. You see that
in Genesis chapter 16. But him God commanded to be disinherited. or cast out of the house and
family. And that thing was very grievous
unto Abraham. Nevertheless, he was obedient,
and he sent away Hagar and Ishmael out of his house with the assurance
in Genesis 21 and verse 12, Let it not be grievous in your eyes,
for in Isaac will your seed be called. The casting out of this
son, Ishmael, makes no alteration at all in my purpose, for in
Isaac shall your seed be called." So now, only Isaac is left as
a son in the house of Abraham. Ishmael is gone and gone for
good. And Abraham's hope of being the
father of many and the father of many nations, and the establishing
of the covenant promise were now centered in or rested squarely
in the son Isaac. All this is bound in the life
of Isaac. He is the one through whom the
promise will be fulfilled. And he, as a young man, is dwelling
peacefully at home in the house of Abraham. But then comes a
bolt out of the blue, as we may say, when the God of heaven and
of earth comes and commands Abraham in verse 2, Take now thy son,
your only Isaac, whom you love, and offer him where I will show
you for a burnt offering. Again in verse 12, Isaac is referenced
as thy son, thine only, the blessed and beloved son, the son of his
love, and most important of all, the one in whom Abraham's seed
would be called. It is laid under a sentence of
death, that one in whom the promise is to be realized now is laid
under a sentence of death. And all I can say, what a death
it was that God instructed Abraham. It was as a burnt offering. It was not to be a natural death
like Moses died in the presence of the Lord, nor would it be
from the afflictions and trials and weaknesses of an old age. Nor would it be of a short duration
of sickness that he would die, but he would die as a burnt offering. As to its nature, it is seen
in two things which Abraham brought along. Number one, Abraham brought
a knife. Abraham brought with him his
knife, sufficient unto the slaying. Secondly, he brought the wood
for the fire. and with a knife and a wood in
his possession. The knife was not for protection,
but was that by which Abraham would lift it in the slaying
of his son, as in verse 10, either by plunging it in Isaac or by
slitting his throat, as was done with the beast at the tabernacle."
So Gill surmises that Abraham might intend to cut his son up
in quarters, as was done with the beastly sacrifices under
the old economy. And then the wood for the fire,
by which the sacrifice was burned and consumed to ashes upon the
altar. Consumed by the fire, thus a
burnt offering. Abraham was to do both. He was one, to slay, and two,
he was to offer his son as a burnt offering, as seen by the knife
to slay and the wood for the fire. And the victim was to be
his only beloved, blessed, promised son of his old age." Now we reject
the idea of some that Abraham is simply hallucinating through
all of this event that we have read about this morning. Some
have said that Abraham fell under some kind of a strong delusion,
under some kind of a deception, for he received the direct command
from God. So he was not hallucinating.
To slay his son, not an ox, not an ass, not a goat or a sheep
or a bullock or a red heifer. We notice in verse 7, that Isaac
expected the burnt offering would be a lamb, or as the margin has
it, a kid. Where is the kid for the burnt
offering? Father, here's the fire, here's
the knife, here's the wood. Where is the kid for the burnt
offering? This shows us that Isaac was
familiar with burnt offerings, that he had been and that he
had not been told as of yet that he was to be the one that would
be offered. He thinks it strange that there
is no lamb brought along to be slain. Now they are drawing near
to the place of the sacrifice. Now they stand at the mount where
the offering is to be made. And as they do, Abraham says
to the servant, You wait here." Now get this. Get this faith
of Abraham. You wait here, I and the lad
will go yonder and worship and return unto you again. There Abraham lays the wood for
the burnt offering upon his son Isaac. He binds it upon him in
verse 6. Abraham holds the fire and the
knife. And Gil says this is the first
mention of either fire or knife in the Scripture. As they ascended
to the place of sacrifice, at least in the Scripture, their
conversation was limited. It was something like this, the
recorded conversation between the two as they went. Isaac says,
Father? And Abraham says, Yes, my son,
here I am. What is it? And Isaac says to
his father, We have the fire, we have the wood and the knife,
but where is the lamb for the burnt offering? Abraham answers,
and answers only in pure faith, My son, God will provide Himself
a lamb for a burnt offering. Note, if you will, God will provide. God will provide Himself. God will provide Himself a lamb. God will provide himself a lamb
for a burnt offering. And they reach the summit. There
Abraham builds an altar, something he had done before in his worship
of God, whether of dirt or stones, I cannot tell. And he put the
wood in place and ready to ignite and to be burned. And the next
thing that we read in verse 9, is that he bound Isaac, his son,
and he laid him upon the altar of wood. Oh, that we could be
privy to that very time when Abraham told Isaac that he is
to be the one for the burnt offering. When for the first time he learns
that his own father is minded to put him to death. And it must
be that Isaac willingly laid down his life, freely submitted
to the bonds that Abraham put upon him. For young Isaac surely
might have been able to resist or overpower his father or flee
from that place. But he gives himself willingly
up to that altar, up to the death of that altar. He may have helped
build that altar Himself. He yields to the will of His
Father. He puts His hands in the cord,
gives His body to stretch upon the altar, bears His neck to
His Father for the cutting of the knife, as if to say, I am
now ready. The time of my departure is at
hand. The consuming fire of the altar
is but minutes away. We can only wonder at the answer
that Abraham gave to his son's question, where is the lamb or
the kid for the burnt offering? And the answer, God will provide
Himself a lamb for a burnt offering, my son. Up to this time, All
that Abraham has been told is to take your beloved son, offer
him there in that place for a burnt offering. Nor was he told any
different until the knife is in his hand and ready to plunge
into the son of his love. And yet he has no knowledge of
that ram caught yonder by his horns in the thicket. But still
the good man, faithful Abraham, answers, God will provide himself
a lamb for a burnt offering. Let's switch our focus to Hebrews
11 just for a moment. In the 11th chapter of the book
of Hebrews, verse 17 through verse 19, you have an account
of this put in the analogy of the faith of the Old Testament,
saying, that there is something typical and something solemn
in this event. But as we know, all types at
one time or one point break down. Still, Genesis 22 is highly typical
as we see the Father giving His only beloved Son up unto death. And we see the only Son laying
down his life in submission to the Father, offering himself
up by the Father's will. And how typical is Isaac, let
us now consider. He was a son beloved. A beloved son. Thine only, Isaac,
is how it is sometimes put here in Genesis 22. Greatly beloved
by his father. And look again. we see Isaac
carrying the wood for the burnt offering, even as Christ carried
the wood on His cross. In Genesis 22, in verse 9, they
came to the place. In Luke 23 and 33, they came
to the place which is called Calvary. There they crucified
Him. Isaac's death was to be by a
burnt offering. Christ's death was to be even
the death of the cross. In Philippians chapter 2, both
were exceeding gruesome deaths and set forth the awful punishment
that sin requires and that God insists that it must have. Fire
speaks of judgment in so many places, and cursed is everyone
that hangeth upon a tree. Fire is judgment, and the one
hanging on the tree is cursed of God." This was perhaps the
greatest trial of all of Abraham's trials during the course of his
life, to give his only beloved son a burnt offering upon an
altar. Not by casting him out, sending
him away with a jug of water, and knowing that he's out there
somewhere as Ishmael was, but Isaac was to be put unto death. Now, those three verses in Hebrews
11, 17 through verse 19, they give an account of Abraham's
trial or of Abraham's test when he was proved by God. And the trial consisted in Abraham
offering up His Son as a burnt offering. In Hebrews 11 and verse
17, and the last part of that verse says that, quote, He that
received the promise offered up His only begotten, unquote. And in verse 18, it expands upon
the strength of Abraham's faith. They not only offered His only
begotten Son, the Son of His love, but the very same One in
whom God said, in Isaac shall your seed be called. Now twice
in verse 17 of Hebrews 11, the offering up of Isaac is mentioned. Offered up Isaac. Offered up
His only begotten. But wait, for in the text in
Genesis chapter 22, We learn that Abraham's hand was stayed
at the last moment that he was about to slay Isaac. We learn
that Isaac did not really and actually die, that God accepted
Abraham's obedience, that God was both pleased and satisfied
with Abraham's reaction, his obedience, his ready compliance
in going about to slay his beloved son was proof that Abraham feared
God and that he acted in faith. And Genesis 22 and 13 said that
a ram was caught by its horns in a thicket and that that was offered up
in the stead of Isaac. And Isaac was loosed, and Isaac
rose up off of the altar, and Isaac went home with his father. Now, how says Hebrews twice that
he was offered up? If he did not actually die, how
was he offered up? John Owen, the great Puritan
expositor, wrote on this passage in Hebrews 11, verse 17 through
verse 19, He, Abraham, actually and fully obeyed the command
of God. He did it in will, heart, and
affection, though it was not eventually done, and the will
is accepted for the deed." And Abraham did as much for the trial
of his faith as if his son had actually been put to death. And
the author of Hebrews imputes to Abraham faith, the ultimate
complement of all, that even if he should put Isaac to death,
God was able to raise him up again from the dead. would slay
his son with a full and firm belief and conviction that even
if dead, God is able to raise him up again. But that not even
the death of Isaac would frustrate God's purpose and promise unto
Abraham and to his seed. To raise him from the dead and
fulfill His promise, God was able to do because God is able
even to raise up the dead." And then in the end of verse 19 in
Hebrews chapter 11, a wonderful thing is said, "...from whence
also he, Abraham, received him, Isaac, in a figure." Here is
that tuple. Here is that type. Here is that
pattern. Here is that picture. He received
Isaac to life again in a type. Isaac was as good as dead in
the eyes of his father, and in type he was raised up and went
home with his father Abraham. Again, this quote from John Owen,
quote, had here the most illustrious immediate testimony from hearing
God's acceptance and approbation than ever any other had in this
world with the exception of the Lord Jesus Christ Himself." Now,
to focus on the words of Abraham, God will provide Himself a lamb
for a burnt offering. A lamb for Himself to be offered
as a sacrifice, a sin-bearer, one to die for the sins of others. And I submit to you that Christ
is that lamb that God has provided. Christ Himself is that lamb that
God has promised and that Abraham spoke about, consider, if you
will, how often Christ is referred to in the New Testament as the
Lamb, the Lamb of God, as of a Lamb without spot and blemish. How come Christ to be referred
to as a Lamb? For He is often mentioned under
the similitude Old and New Testament. The foundation of this is laid
in the Old Testament. Let's see the similitude that
applies to the Lord. In the lamb that was slain for
the Passover supper in Egypt, many sacrificial lambs that were
offered upon the altar, two were offered daily during the old
economy. And hear what Isaiah foretells
of Messiah. He is brought as a lamb to the
slaughter." Isaiah 53 and 7. It is quoted in Acts 8 and 32. He was led as a sheep to the
slaughter. In a sense, Isaac was led by
Abraham unto Mount Moriah, then led to the altar, and there bound
upon it. It is also likely that the beast
of sacrifice were led or brought unto or before the altar at the
door of the tabernacle where they were to be slain. They were
not slain at a distance or far off and then carried, dragged,
or brought unto the altar. They were brought there to the
altar before the door of the tabernacle, and there they were
sacrificed as offerings for sin. They were quartered and put upon
the coals of the altar and burned with fire. Yes, they were brought
before the Lord and they were slain before the tabernacle. And several times do we read
that Christ was led, L-E-D, led after His arrest. If Isaac was led to Mount Moriah,
then so was our Lord led. as a lamb to the slaughter. First
of all, he was led before Caiaphas, the high priest. Matthew 26 and
57, where were assembled all the chief priests and the scribes
and the elders. Also in Mark 14, 53. And Luke
22, 54 makes a record of this. He was led before the high priest
Caiaphas. Secondly, he was led away before
Pontius Pilate, who was the governor. Matthew 27 and 2. Mark 15 and 16. And Luke 23 and
verse 1. Led from Caiaphas, led to Pilate
the governor. Thirdly, he was led, and the
word is used in the Scripture, he was led to Calvary to be crucified
on the cross. Matthew 27-31, Mark 15-20, Luke
23-32, and John 19-16, all of them record He was led out to
Calvary. Thomas Goodwin, the Puritan,
believes that our Lord, in being led there, was led through the
very gate where the sacrifices were led to be sacrificed for
the sins of the people. He was led as a lamb or a sheep
to the slaughter. And it is common in both the
Old and the New Testament to refer to Christ or Messiah as
a lamb, the Lamb of God, the Lamb of God that takes away the
sins of the world. The passage in Isaiah 53 and
verse 7, He is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, is personally
applied to Christ in Acts 8, 32-35, when Philip began at that
Scripture and preached unto the eunuch Jesus Christ out of Isaiah
chapter 53. He is that Lamb that God will
provide for Himself. And the Lamb was to be slaughtered,
or the Lamb was to be killed. It was to be cut off. It was
to be put to death. And for what reason? Why was
our Lord put upon the cross? The answer? God had ordained
His death in that He is the Lamb slain from the foundation of
the world, as we read in Revelation 13 and 8. The Lamb slain from
the foundation of the world. God has made to light upon Him
the iniquity of us all, as Isaiah said, upon Him all the sins of
all of the elect were made to light upon Him. God has provided
Himself a Lamb, and said, Lamb is not a stranger, but one His
very own Son, beloved and only begotten. The Son that God loved,
The Son that God has promised a numerous seed would live through
Him. And to justify and to save many
was He to die upon the cross. And then He will live again and
reign forever and forever. This One in whom the covenant
promises stand, who will save His people from their sins. Matthew 1 and verse 21. as with
Isaac in type, so with Christ in reality. While Isaac was the
type of the pattern, Christ is the reality. He is cut off. And as with Isaac's, it was his
own father that lifted the knife against his most precious son,
so it was the most holy God that exacted of his son at the cross
the due reward of our sin. It was Him that put him to grief. It pleased the Lord to bruise
him, Isaiah said in chapter 53, that commanded the sword of justice
to awaken and to go forth and to smite the son. Zechariah 13
and verse 7. He awakened that long, slumbering
sword and gave it a command to smite his fellow, the shepherd. Isaiah 53.10, His soul was made,
or did make in the margin, an offering for sin. John declared
Him to be the Lamb of God that bears away the sin of the world. John 1.29, John 1.36, Behold
the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world. Yes, in
the fullness of time, God revealed the Lamb that He had ordained
before the foundation of the world. He provided Himself a
Lamb for a burnt offering in that His own precious Son was
led out to Calvary, bound upon the cross with nails, and crucified
that He might redeem His elect from their bondage in sin. In 1 Peter 1 and verse 19, he
tells us, it is with the precious blood of Christ as of a lamb
without spot and without blemish. He made Him to be sin for us
who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of
God in Him. He was wounded for our transgressions,
Isaiah said. The chastisement of our peace
was upon him, the spotless, sinless Lamb of God was not spared by
God at the last minute as was Isaac, but was delivered up for
us all. He spared not his son, Paul says
in Romans chapter 8, while Isaac only typically and figuratively
died and was raised in a type or a figure. The Lamb of God's
providing did really and actually die, taken down, laid in a tomb
for three days and three nights, and lived then again. And behold, is alive forevermore. Death hath no more dominion over
Him." John Brown, a writer that I like, wrote, Salvation is not
amnesty. Now think about that for a moment.
Salvation is not amnesty, but redemption, atonement, and reconciliation
through Christ. It is not simply that God puts
our sins away without just recompense. Not amnesty, but redemption,
atonement, and reconciliation. The Lamb of God's providing. He has provided the Lamb. Christ
died for us. He saves us, not by dismissing
our sins, but by burying them in His own body on the tree. Thank God He has provided Himself
a lamb for a burnt offering. And my friend, this morning,
there is that one and only way of redemption Salvation from
sin. And that is by the cross of Christ,
the death that our Lord died, taking our sins which were imputed
to Him, bearing them away, answering their cost and paying their debt,
and bearing them away to be remembered against us no more. Not amnesty,
but redemption. Not amnesty at all. but redemption. He must bear our sins, and he
did as the Lamb of God. Bore them to the tree, suffered
and died until he said, It is finished. A Lamb of God's providing. Thank you for your attention.
Let's stand to our feet, please, for a word of prayer.