If you would, turn to Genesis
chapter 22. Genesis chapter 22. I'm gonna
read the first eight verses and go from there. 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. And 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. 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 claved 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 and I and the
lad will go yonder and worship and come again unto you. I'm
gonna stop right there. I've entitled this, actually
I entitled it, God Will Provide Himself. And then I changed it. The title is The Burnt Offering. I've been mulling on The Burnt
Offering for about a year now and I would scribble some notes
and I'd lay them down and I'd Well, not scribble, I'd type
them into the computer and then I'd save them. But then I did scribble some
stuff down and put it in the computer and it just never quite
went together right. But I got to thinking about this
thing. There is a thing known in the,
I don't know, the Society of Biblical Scholarship, as they
call it. And it's called the law of first
mention in the scriptures. Now this has been noted by various
people who study the scriptures and there's truth to it. There
is. What it is, it means, is the
first time an important word or phrase is used in the Bible
usually gives that word its meaning throughout the scriptures. Now,
there are Other mentions of that after the first time, but those
other mentions never take away from the first mention. They
may add to it, but they do not ever take away from it. That's
the theory. And it works in a lot of ways. I say usually it works because
I have not and I probably will not endeavor to prove it to be
true. But A thought came to me as I was writing this yesterday
that, you know, the same God who's responsible for the later
scriptures is the same God that's responsible for the first mention.
The first mention is always true because God said it. The Bible is true and God does
not change. Now, Everything that comes after
the first mention should expand upon, expound upon what is mentioned
first. If it doesn't, there's usually
a problem with the preacher, not with the word. Now, there's a statement which
is attributed to Augustine that I like. I heard Earl quote it
on tape a little while ago. And what this statement is, the
Old Testament is the New Testament concealed. And the New Testament
is the Old Testament revealed. And there's a lot of truth in
that. Because this is one book. There are many, many chapters
in this book, but it has one author and there's one story.
It's the story of God. It's the story of his Christ.
It's the story of him. And that's a true statement to
me. The old Testament is the new Testament concealed and the
new Testament is the old Testament revealed to the world. It ain't
so. I read a thing online yesterday
where a guy said, He was commenting on that actual saying. And what
he said was, well, the Jewish scriptures are totally opposite
of the New Testament. He don't know. He don't know. I mean, that's just that's just
the truth of it. Because if you don't see the
New Testament, You can't see the Old Testament either. Anyhow, it starts off in verse one, and
I'm not going to do this the way I normally do with the exposition
because what I have here is about 11 things about the burnt offering. And that's a lot. And it ain't
all. But he does say, after it came
to pass that God did tempt Abraham and said unto him, Abraham, and
he said, behold, here am I. Here I am. And I wrote down,
when God calls you by name, you will answer, here I am. Whether
you want to or not, when God calls your name, he will. But
before I start on the burnt offering, I do want to say this also. I
will plainly state that the burnt offering is a type of the sacrifice
of the Son of God to the Father above. The burnt offering is
a type of Christ. Everything I say from this point
on will have that in mind, I hope. He is every one of the offerings. But what we're talking about
here, what I want to talk about here, is the first mention of this
burnt offering. He's everything in the tabernacle.
He's every priest and he's every high priest. Everything points to him in some
aspect or another. And the burn offering in particular
shows forth the sacrifice of the son to the father. Now, the first mention is in
verse two. This is where it starts. The burnt offering starts with
God. God said to Abraham, take your
son, take your only son, and what? Offer him therefore a burnt
offering. Now, I believe there have been
burnt offerings before this. But this is the very first mention
of this. And it's one word in the Hebrew. It's not two words. They've got
it broken into two words. They break it into two words.
It's one word in the Greek. But they break it into two words.
It's called a burnt offering. But the burnt offering starts
with God. You never forget that. The first
mention of it here in the scriptures is from a thus saith the Lord. And here in particular to Abraham.
The second thing is the burnt offering is a command from God. God was not asking Abraham to
do anything. I get tired of people asking
other people to do things for God. God's never asked anybody
for anything. God commands and it's so. That's the way God works. He's
not asking for our cooperation. He's going to give us our cooperation.
He will put in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure,
if you're one of his. What did he say here? He said,
Take now thy son. He didn't say Abraham, if you
will. Or Abraham, I want you to do me a favor. Abraham, you
know, I want to teach you something here, so I would like for you
to do this. No, he just said take him. The third thing, the burnt offering
commanded by God here in the very first mention The burnt
offering commanded by God is a person. It's a person. There've been burnt offerings
before, I believe that, I do. There were lambs, there were
rams, there were bulls. That's not the point. The point
is here in the first mention from the word of God speaking
to Abraham, the first offering, the first burnt offering mentioned
is a person. The son of Abraham. Who's known as the seed of Abraham?
Jesus Christ is the seed. Singular. Singular. Isaac here is a type of Christ.
And guess what? The real burnt offering is gonna
be Jesus Christ. That's what we see here. This
is the first mention of it. I never paid any attention to
that before, Walter. That the first mention of the
burnt offering is a person. The real burnt offering is a
person. The real burnt offering. This
is a type. This is a shadow. This was a
reality. This actually happened. But it
foreshadowed what was going to come. And the real coming of
the burnt offering The anti-type of this type is the Lord Jesus
Christ. It is a person. And it says it
in the very first mention of it in the scripture. I just find
that amazing. Take thy son and offer him. Now I do understand, you know,
the latter part of this account, that doesn't happen. physically,
it did in Abraham's mind for three and a half days or so,
he considered that boy dead. And at the end, there is a ram,
a substitute that comes and that was caught there and that was
offered in the place of Isaac showing substitution. But here
is the first mention, it's a person. The fourth thing, The burnt offering
takes place when and where God commands. It's also in verse
two. He says, take now thy son. And you read it, I read it. Abraham
rose up early in the morning and went. Take now. The burnt offering happens when
God says it's going to happen. And the other thing is it happens
exactly where God says it's gonna happen. Get thee into the land
of Moriah. Okay. Now the land of Moriah
might be a big place, might be a small place. I didn't look
it up. I don't matter because he says this. Offer him there
for a burnt offering upon what? One of the mountains which I
will tell thee of. The burnt offering takes place
and will take place exactly when and exactly where it has been
determined by God and nowhere else. Walter went into that where
you offer at the central altar. You do it there. That's what
happens later. In Exodus and Leviticus you get
all these instructions but here it is right here It happens when
and it happens where God commands and nowhere else. And what happened
with our Lord Jesus Christ was what? According to the determinate
counsel and the foreknowledge of God. Those men with wicked
hands did crucify and slay him, but they did it when and where
they were supposed to do it. When God wanted it. He told them
when they went to grab him, but my hour has not yet come. My
time, or it'll say in the gospels, his time had not come and he
walked out of their midst. When they went to stone him or
throw him off a cliff. People were wanting to kill Jesus long
before the dead. But the burnt offering happens
when and where God commands and not before and not after. The fifth thing here. The burn offering here shows,
fourth, the faith of God's elect. That's in verse five. When 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. I understand and I agree wholeheartedly
this is a great statement of faith. I and the latter going
and I and the latter coming back. He was going there because the
substitution hadn't happened yet, he hadn't got there. He
was going there to kill that son, to kill Isaac. But he said,
I'm going and I'm coming back. And he's going and he's coming
back. That's faith. You don't have
to take my word for it. Hebrews chapter 11, I just want
to look at that because it's important. See, this is one of the beauties
of the Old Testament. Sometimes you don't have to interpret.
Actually, most of the time you don't have to interpret. Hebrews chapter 11, beginning
in verse 17. Oh, let's get to Hebrews 11, not
10, sorry. By faith Abraham, when he was
tried, offered up Isaac. He did. He took his son, and
he was taking his son to kill him, just exactly as he'd been
commanded to do. just exactly when and where he
had been commanded to do it. Offered up Isaac, and he that
received the promises offered up his only begotten son, of
whom it was said that in Isaac thy sheep shall be called. There
were promises to Isaac that hadn't been happened yet. When he was
bringing him to be offered. Accounting, understanding, believing,
that God was able to raise him up even from the dead. From whence also he received
him in a figure. They don't have to interpret
that. That's what it is. The writer of Hebrews did it
for you. He offered him up. And he received
him as a figure. Guess what? That first burnt
offering was a person in Abraham's mind. The first burnt offering
was a person. It was Isaac, a type of Christ. I and the lad will go yonder
and worship and come again to you. That is a faithful saying. Full of faith. The sixth thing. The burnt offering
is the worship of God. Verse five. And Abraham said
unto his young men, abide ye here with the ass and I and the
lad will go yonder. What? And worship. And worship. and come again to you. Worship is only possible because
of the burnt offering. Worship starts with the burnt
offering. There is no worship without the
burnt offering. There is no worship without the
sacrifice. And that is what Abraham said
they were going to do with this burnt offering. They were going
to worship God. And this is where worship starts,
the burnt offering. Even in the tabernacle, in the
wilderness. This is Exodus 29 verse 38, you
don't have to turn there. I'm gonna read 38 and 39. It
says, now, this is that which thou shalt offer upon the altar. Two lambs of the first year,
day by day, continually. The one lamb you shall offer
in the morning and the other lamb you shall offer at even. These are both burnt offerings. The worship at the tabernacle,
the work at the tabernacle of the priests, every morning and
every evening, a lamb was offered as a burnt offering to God. Every morning when they started,
that's what they started with, the burnt offering. because that
is where worship starts. There is no worship of God without
a sacrifice, without the blood being shed, and without that
blood and that offering going to God. I can't worship God in spirit
and in truth without God. And God will not have my worship
without the blood without the sacrifice of the Son. It's not gonna happen. It never
has and it never will. The only way to approach the
Father is through the Son. And he that has seen the Son
has seen the Father. And there is no worship without
this burnt offering. The anti-type, not the type.
But here, this is all they had. And this is what Abraham was
doing, in the faith that Isaac was gonna come back with him
and fulfill the rest of the promises God had already given him. And
then Isaac, thy sheep shall be called. Every day, the service of the
tabernacle, the worship of God, began with the burnt offering,
day by day, continually. It was done, and it was done
continually. Now, no lamb sacrifice would
ever be enough. That's why you had to do it twice
a day. Once in the morning, once in
the evening. No one lamb sacrifice in the
Old Testament was enough. But, behold, the Lamb of God
came, which taketh away the sin of the world. This burnt offering,
speaking toward that burnt offering that was to come. And then one more thing, I'll
throw this in for free. Even here in the Old Testament, Genesis
chapter 22, worship is selective. What about them two guys holding
down there with the donkey? He says, you guys wait here.
I and the lad go to worship. I didn't stop, I didn't put that,
it's there. There's a separation between the people of God and
the people who aren't the people of God. Seventh thing. This is also,
this is gonna be in verse eight. The burnt offering is provided
by God. That's what Abraham said. And
Abraham said, well, the son asked him, he said, we got the fire,
we got the wood, where's the lamb? This ain't the first burnt
offering. This is the first mention of
the burnt offering. He said, but where's 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. God will provide himself a lamb. Now this is actually the next
three points, that statement. First of all, God will provide
himself a lamb. The literal translation of that
word provide is this, to see. Literally, God will see himself
a lamb. I can tell you this, if God sees
it, it's real. And if God sees it, it's there. Just as much as that first mention
of the word light. God said, what, let there be
light, and there was light. And God saw the light, and what,
it was good. And if you want to, you can take
that mention of the word light everywhere all through the scripture. Guess
what? Everywhere in the scripture, the light is good. Here, God sees himself a lamb.
He's going to provide it. What does he say later? Talking
about another lamb in Exodus? When I see the blood, I'll pass
over you. God will see himself a lamb.
That's a promise. And that's our hope. God will
provide and God will see a lamb. The providing here is actually
the figurative interpreting. And there's nothing wrong with
it because in essence, it's true in many ways. The burnt offering
is provided by God. In the fullness of time, God
sent forth His Son, made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem
them that were under the law. God provided the Lamb of God
for the burnt offering. He sent His only Son. And the Son came. And that is our only hope that
God will provide. In this case now, looking back,
that God has provided a lamb. He did. Now the second point from this,
this is actually the eighth thing about the burnt offering. The
burnt offering is God himself. God will provide Himself a lamb. And if you want to use that other
word, God will see Himself a lamb. The lamb is a person. Already
done that. Already said that. Can't forget
it. Well, that person is God. God will provide Himself a lamb. God will see himself a lamb. And the burnt offering is a person
and that person is God Almighty in human flesh. Jesus the Christ. Because only God could be the
true burnt offering. The Son of Man came to seek and
to save that which was lost. I'll say it next week on the
radio. Call his name Jesus. Why? For he shall save, for,
for, for, he shall save his people from their sin. He came and he did. That's the Christmas message.
He came and he did. I don't have to look forward
to it now. It's already been done. And the burnt offering is God
himself. Jesus is the Lamb of God which
taketh away the sin of the world. Actually, who taketh away the
sin of the world? Behold the Lamb of God. God will see himself a lamb. How about that? Because only
the Lamb of God could take away sin. The ninth thing, the burnt offering
is for God himself. The burnt offering is the offering
that is not shared. It is not shared with anyone. The burnt offering is to God. There are offerings. which sometimes
the priests partake of some of the meat for their dinner. As their due, God provided for
the priests. There are offerings that they
can partake of. There are offerings actually that the person who
makes the offering can get a little bit of. He can partake of it
and the priests partake of it, but not the burnt offering. The burnt offering is not shared.
The whole of the burnt offering is for God. Exodus 29 verse 18 puts it this
way. And thou shalt burn, what? The whole ram. The whole ram
upon the altar. And it tells you why. It is a
burnt offering unto the Lord. It is a sweet savor, an offering
made by fire unto the Lord. The burnt offering is not to
you. The burnt offering is not to
me. The burnt offering is to no man. The burnt offering is to God. And you can take that or not. Every bit of the burnt offering
goes to God. It talks about where you cut
some of it up and all that, but what does it say? You put it
on the altar. And none of this offering, and
this is a type in the Old Testament, but none of this offering is
shared with the one who brings it or with the one, the priest
who actually offers it up. They get nothing from this. The
burnt offering goes to God. It is a sweet savor to God, a
complete offering to God. I like that. I like that. He
is the only one. God is the only one who comprehends,
understands the real truth of the burnt offering. All we have
is bits and pieces. At best, right now, we see through
a glass darkly. But that offering was to God.
The offering of Jesus Christ was not to us. The offering of
Jesus Christ was to God. I'm going to my father, he told
his disciples. I'm going to my father. I'm gonna
prepare a place for you, but I'm going to my father. And guess
what? He offered himself to God. And God accepted him. The people
of God, even being people of God, do not partake in the burnt
offering. But, or actually am, the people
of God do partake of the benefits of the burnt offering. What does this mean? Well, one
thing it means is, I'm gonna tell you, and I believe this
wholeheartedly, there are things that went on with the sacrifice
of Christ that we just don't know. It was between, this covenant
started before we were ever made, before the world began, we were
chosen in Christ, but this covenant was between the Father and the
Son. We weren't even there. And this covenant, when it was
sealed with his body and his blood, that was to God, not to
us. And that means more to the father
than we know. He understands every single bit
of it and everything it costs. God condescending to come down
into a human flesh. and be God and man at the same
time, and to walk, to talk, to grow. When Jesus was 12 years
old, what an amazing thought that is, coming out of the womb
of a virgin. But then the death he suffered,
the torture before death, His blood being shed, Him being forsaken
by His Father on that tree. My God, my God. The Father knows
exactly what that means. That offering was to Him because
He was the offended party. We don't partake of that burnt
offering, but we do partake of the benefits. Man had no part in it, but man
reaps the benefits. We are given the benefits, we
don't reap them. Because in Leviticus 1 and 4,
talking about somebody bringing a freewill offering, a burnt
offering, and it says of the man who brings
it, He gives it to the priest, and Leviticus 1 and 4 says this,
and he shall put his hand upon the head of the burnt offering,
and it shall be accepted for him to make atonement for him. The offering is made to God because
it is for God, and God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering
and it shall be accepted by God as an atonement." Jesus Christ's
offering was accepted by God. I like that. I can't help it.
And guess what? The father was well pleased with
the son while he was here, and he was well pleased with the
son with his offering. The son was given by the father.
The son was sacrificed to the father. And the father is well
pleased with his son and has accepted the offering to be an
atonement for the people of God. The burnt offering, who is a
person, is God, is for God, and is accepted as an atonement. The burnt offerings to God, but
we get benefits. We get life, grace, mercy, peace,
love, joy. Everything comes from that burnt
offering. Tenth thing, I gotta get quick.
The burnt offering brings us together. The end of verse eight. So they
went, both of them together. Now you understand, in this type,
you have Abraham and Isaac, you have a type of the father and
the son. They're always together. But
you also have a type of the one who's gonna offer the sacrifice,
and the sacrifice, and guess what? They're always together. That burnt offering of Jesus
Christ being acceptable to the Father has made us acceptable
to the Father in Him. And we are together in the family
of God. That's who we need. That's who
we need. And that's who the Father provided
for the burnt offering. The last thing, number 11, is
in verse 14, I didn't read it, but the place of the burnt offering
is called Jehovah-Jireh. And Abraham called the name of
that place Jehovah-Jireh, and it is said to this day in the
mount of the Lord, what? It shall be. seen as you look at Jehovah Jireh
people say oh that's God will provide well not technically
it's not technically it's not the literal translation of Jehovah
Jireh is Yahweh sees and if you want the figurative it does it
is sort of like God will provide is God sees to it and I like
that Because if something needs done, God sees to it. If there's a burnt offering needed,
and there is, there was, God sees to it. And if that burnt offering needs
to be God in order to satisfy a holy God who's been offended,
God sees to it. See, it's not only that he provides
it, He does it. He does it. He's the sacrifice
and the offering. He's the offering to the Father. The Father sent Him to be the
offering that would appease the Father. God sees to it. I like that,
I do. If His people need it, God sees
to it. Man has offended a holy God.
And the burnt offering is for God because his people, we need
a just God and a savior. And how do you get one of those?
You get one through the burnt offering. Where sin is punished
and man is forgiven. And the last instance where this
thing is, the words are translated burn offering in the Bible is
actually in Hebrews 10. And very quickly he says, above
when he said sacrifice and burn offerings and offering for sin,
thou wouldest not neither had pleasure therein, which are offered
by the law. Then he said, then said he, lo,
I come to do thy will, O God. He taketh away the first that
what he may establish the second. By the which will. We are sanctified
through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once. That says for all, but you can
leave that off. Through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once.
Now this is written in the Greek, but where it says burn offering,
it's translated burn offerings, that word translated means holy
consumed sacrifice. The burn offerings of the Old
Testament did not please God. Wait a minute, how can you say
that? They were ordered by God. Yes, they were. They were. Those
sacrifices were ordered to be done by God himself. Yes, they were. And those sacrifices
that were ordered, that burnt offering that was ordered here,
was a shadow of the one who was to come. Now, the shadow is a shadow of
something real. The reality came. Jesus Christ
the righteous. He is our burnt offering. And he offered himself to God. Those sacrifices in the Old Testament,
they were ordered, but they never pleased God in the manner that
the Son pleased God. Because remember, burnt offering.
Twice a day, once in the morning, once in the evening. Twice a
day, what? Day by day, continually. Now, we have here, he taketh
away the first, that he may establish the second. Those first ones
are taken away, why? Because the second one, the man
come down, God come down, the man God, Jesus Christ, has pleased
the Father. He took no pleasure in the death
of bulls and goats. But he took pleasure and he is
well pleased with the burnt offering of his son. By the which will
we are sanctified. What? Through the offering of
his body. He didn't offer his body to us. That went to God. We're sanctified by his work. Set apart. And he has obtained
eternal redemption for us. How? Through the burnt offering. He took away the first that he
may establish the second, because the fulfillment of the burn offering
has come. The reality of which the burn
offering was a shadow has been accomplished in the death and
resurrection of the Son of God. The scriptures have been fulfilled
concerning this. Redemption is accomplished. By His will, through the offering
of Jesus Christ, we are sanctified, set apart in Him. The burnt offering is God, is
for God, and is to God. But the children of God benefit
from that burnt offering. What he did was real. What he
did was true. And it always shall be true.
Our Heavenly Father, we are thankful again for this time, this place.
Most of all, thankful for you. You have done all for us. You have given all for us. And you have given to us all
things in Christ Jesus. Thank you, Lord. Be with Walter
as he comes to speak. Help us to hear and understand.
In Christ's name we pray.