Go back to Genesis chapter 22.
Genesis 22. It says in verse 1, And it came
to pass after these things, after Abraham had endured many trials. Abraham was probably about 120
now. Isaac, 120 to 130. Writers that I read said he was
between the age of 20 and 30. So Abraham is going to be around
120 plus years of age at this time. You would think at that
age that all the trials have been pretty much gone. That it would be smooth sailing
throughout the rest of your life at that age. You know, he'd been
tried many times and God proved his faith many times. And Abraham
believed God. We read that. Abraham believed
God. But here at this old age, he
has his most difficult trial. And I tell you, reading this
for the last few days, I look at that verse, I thought, man,
what a trial. What a trial. After all that
he had gone through, his hardest trial has now come. God did tempt,
and a better word to use is prove. God did prove Abraham. Faith
must be proved, and not just one time. Not just one time. It's a lifelong proving. A lifelong proving. But it has
to be tried. It's the only way we can be sure
that the faith that we have is genuine. And I want to know it
here. I don't want to find out in judgment
whether it's so or not. I want it to know here. And the
only way that we can know is for God to try. And then it's
the only way for faith to grow. Do you want to grow in faith?
Well, part of it is here, listening, sitting under the Word, being
instructed out of God's Word. But the other part is trials.
Trials. When faith is tried, it relies
on the Lord, it looks to the Lord, and when the Lord helps,
it just increases our faith. That's how it grows. Now, you
notice every time God called to Abraham. Abraham always answered,
Behold, here am I. He was always ready, always obedient
to the Lord's will. Now, as we go through this, we
will see Isaac as a type of Christ, Abraham as a type of the Father,
and then it switches. It will switch on us. We will
see Isaac as a type of the believer and the ram as a type of Christ
in substitution. So then in verse 2, now listen,
listen to these powerful words here. Take now thy son. Obey now. Do this immediately. Immediately. And take now thy
son. Thine only son. He had two sons. You know, the old Jewish writers
say that he had a conversation with God. I don't know that he
did or not, but the old Jewish writers say that there was a
conversation that went on. He said, take now thy son. Well,
which son? I have two sons. Thine only son.
Well, they are the son of their mother, the only son of their
mother. Thine only son Isaac. That's what he says. Abraham
had two sons. But now listen, he only had one
son by promise. He only had one son by promise.
And he's the one to be taken. Thine only son Isaac. Listen.
Whom thou lovest. Oh, God reached right into his
heart. He reached right into his heart. That's his only son.
The other one's been sent out. Take Isaac. Whom thou lovest. Not a servant. Not an animal. But a loved son. Because that's
what God did. This is the type of Christ. This
is what the Heavenly Father is going to do. He's going to give
us His Son. His only Son. His only begotten Son. Whom He
loves. This is my beloved Son. And whom
I'm well pleased. And Isaac being that type, He's
the one that God says to Abraham, you take him. You take him. And you take him into the land
of Moriah. This is about 40 miles from Beersheba. Three days journey. Abraham had
plenty of time to think about this. Plenty of time. Every day he traveled, night
he traveled. He thought about this. But he never wavered, did
he? He did not waver. And I'm sure
he did not tell Sarah. I'm sure when God told him to
do this, he didn't sit down and consult with Sarah at all. Not at all. We must obey God
without consulting this flesh, because if you consult the flesh,
if God lays something on your heart, if He calls you to do
something, don't consult the flesh. Because I'm telling you,
every time it'll be the opposite. Just do it. Just do it. And He says, you take him to
a mountain I'll show you. And that's Mount Moriah. You
know where Mount Moriah is at? It's where Jerusalem is built.
That's where Jerusalem is built. That's where Mount Moriah is.
And most believe, and I believe this, that's where Mount Calvary
is. That's where it was. Our Lord was offered up. Now
you take your Son, thine only Son, whom thou lovest, and offer
Him there for a burnt offering." Oh, Abraham knew what that meant. Offer Him there for a burnt offering.
The first time, the first mention of human sacrifices mentioned
right here. This is the first time A human
sacrifice is mentioned. This is the first time God reveals
even more clearly to Abraham, this is redemption. This is how
sinners are going to be saved. This is how satisfaction is going
to be made by human sacrifice. By a man, sin can enter the world.
And by a man, satisfaction must be made. And so for the first
time, we are given a glimpse of our Lord being sacrificed
for our sins. And this is one of the clearest
pictures of redemption, of substitution. God the Father offering up His
Son, His only Son, His only beloved Son, for our sins. This really happened. God offered
up His Son as a burnt offering. You know what that fire was for? After He slit His throat, it
was to burn Him up. to set Him on fire and burn Him
up. The Father called the Lord Jesus
Christ, the Son of God, to the work of redemption long before
this world began. He purposed it and now He's going
to execute it. The Father is going to execute
it. The Father went with His Son to Calvary to offer Him up
as a sacrifice for our sins. Can you imagine that? Can you
get a hold of what's going on here? And it says that Abraham rose
up early. Ready to do it. Ready to obey. God said, Abraham, do this. And
Abraham got up early. He got up early. Ready to do his Lord's will.
Got his two servants. Saddled up his ass and got the
wood that they were going to use and took off. And they traveled for three days
and not one time do we read of Abraham faltering. Not one time. God the Father purposed the death
of his son and never, never altered that purpose. Never altered. Abraham had three days to think
about this. God the Father had eternity and
never changed. Never changed. And look at verses 5 and 7. And
Abraham said unto his young men, Abide ye here with the ass. They
had come to the place that God had spoke to him of and somehow
he had revealed to Abraham, this is the mountain. This is the
mountain. And he said, you abide here with the ass and I and the
lad will go yonder and worship and come again. That's the reason
I read Hebrews to you. Abraham had received in a figure
That God was going to raise Isaac up. That He was able to do it.
Even after He burned him up. That God was able to raise him
up. What a beautiful picture this is. The Father and the Son
going up the mountain together. One to die and the other to put
to death. The Father put His Son to death.
Delivered Him up. The Scripture says over in Acts.
Delivered Him up. Delivered Him up to death. His
own Son, His only begotten Son. What a beautiful picture that
is. And Abraham took, it says in verse 6, he took the wood
of the burnt offering and he laid it upon Isaac. I thought
of our Lord carrying that cross all the way up to Calvary. He
laid that up on Isaac and He took the fire. And He took the
knife. He's going to do the slaying.
He's going to execute justice. He's going to do it. And they
went, both of them, together. I can just see the willingness
of both of them here going to do this. He took the wood and
the fire. But Isaac had been well taught. And oh, that our children would
be taught so well. He said, Father, here's the wood,
here's the fire, but where is the lamb? Where is the Lamb? He knew that
there had to be a Lamb if God is to be worshipped. There has
to be bloodshed if God is to be worshipped. Has to be. God
cannot be worshipped with fire and wood only. There's got to be a sacrifice.
There's got to be a death. There's got to be bloodshed. Has to be. If God is to be worshipped,
where is the Lamb? Where is the Lamb? If God is to be worshipped, we
must have the Lamb. That is so clear throughout the
Old Testament. The Passover Lamb. We've got
to have the Lamb if God is to be worshipped. And Abraham makes
a profound statement and a prophetic statement. He said, My son, in
verse 8, My son. God will provide himself a land. He'll provide for a burnt offering. So they went, both of them together,
up that mountain. There they went. God will provide
the land. He'll choose the land. The land
will be of God's choosing. God will provide Himself a Lamb
for Himself, and God will provide Himself. I heard Andrew say this
a long time ago, and I've never forgot it. And God will provide
Himself as the Lamb. He is the Lamb. He is the Lamb. And then they
came to the place which God had told him of. He had revealed
it to him. And Abraham built an altar. There, and he laid
the wood in order. First thing that came to me today
as I was going back over my notes, our worship service must be in
order. It must have order to it. You
notice even here, two of them. Just two of them. And yet how
orderly this is. He builds the altar. He lays
the wood in order. He doesn't just throw it down.
He doesn't just throw it down and say, This will be alright.
So he builds an altar, as God said to, and he takes the wood
and he puts it in order. It's what he does. He gave attention
to detail. You know what this shows? You
know what this tells me and reveals to me about Abraham? Composure. I mean, I would. I would be tore
up. And you would, too. We would be. Except for God's
grace and enabling you to do that, I know. But I can see a
composed 120, 130-year-old man totally confident that God's
going to raise this boy up. Isaac doesn't know up to this
point. He doesn't really. He doesn't
know. Because he wouldn't say it. Where is the lamb? And he
said, God will provide us a lamb. And so he goes up there and builds
this altar, lays the wood in order, just composed, doing the will
of God. And this is the time, this is
the time I believe that Abraham told Isaac what God had
revealed to him. when they had gotten to the top
of that mountain. It may be after he asked where
is the land that he began to explain to him, tell him what
God had revealed to him. And Isaac, being an obedient
son, being a type of the Lord Jesus Christ, being an obedient
son, he believed Abraham. He believed what God revealed
to Abraham. And he willingly. This is another
marvel to me. Abraham offered up his son, but
here is a young man who could hightail it out of there. I mean,
he could be off that mountain. But this young man laid down
on that altar. Isaac willingly lays down on
that altar and lets Abraham bind him, just like our Lord willingly
went to the cross and was nailed to that cross, bound to that
cross, ready to die, willing to die. Isaac. Isaac was willing to lay
down on that altar, let his father cut his throat and set him on
fire. Isn't that amazing? Like our Lord, He gave up His
life willingly to save His sheep. Willingly to die. Willing to be a burnt offering
for our sins. Look what my sins did to Him. Look what He had to do to save
me. And He did it willingly with no regrets. No regrets. I tell you, our Lord bowed to His Father's
will. When He learned His Father's
will, because as a man, He learned. Let me read this over in Isaiah
50. Let me see if I can find the
verse. I didn't write it down. Let me see if I can find this
verse over here in Isaiah 50. Now look in verse 5. The Lord
God hath opened mine ear. He's instructed me. He's taught
me. He taught me. I'm the Redeemer. I'm the Messiah. I mean, at a young age, because
He was in the temple when He was twelve years old, but He
learned this. And I was what? I was not rebellious. Neither turned away back. Didn't
turn from it. That's our Lord. And then Abraham. He stretched forth his hand after
he had bound Isaac to that altar. He stretched forth his hand to
take the knife and to slit his throat. I mean, I believe he
had the knife right there on his throat. He was going to slit
his throat and he was going to let him bleed out. He was going
to watch his son bleed out. That man was doing it. It was
as good as done. He had purposed in his heart
that he was going to obey God's will and he was doing it. Here in verse 10. And Abraham
stretched forth his hand and took the knife to slay his son
Isaac. And the angel of the Lord called
unto him out of heaven and said, Abraham, Abraham! All the other
times. All the other times that God
called out to Abraham, He said, Abraham. One time. Abraham, leave your father's
house. We've been going through this.
This shows how close he was to killing Isaac. Abraham, Abraham,
stop! I mean, it was that close. And
he said, Here am I. He said, Lay not thine hand upon
the lad, neither do thou anything unto him, for now I know that
thou fearest God. He knew that. Seeing thou hast not withheld
thy son, thine only son, from me. Hmm. The Father truly gave us His
Son. He withheld not His only Son
from us. From dying for us. Now the picture changes. In verse
13. And I have no doubt that this
is the time when the Lord said, Abraham saw my day. Abraham rejoiced
to see my day. He saw it and was glad. This is the time he saw that.
This is when he saw substitution. He saw how God saves sinners. How God justifies sinners. And
how He's going to do it through His Son. His Son. The Lord Jesus
Christ. So here we have a change now
of the picture and the type. And Abraham lifted up his eyes
and he looked and behold him and behind him a ram caught in
a thicket by his horns. Now Isaac is going to represent
the believer here and the ram caught in the thicket is going
to represent the Lord Jesus Christ as our substitute. Isaac is ready to die. The knife
is ready to plunge into his throat. And he stopped. Abraham has stopped
from doing this. And God shows Abraham a ram caught
in a thicket. I bet it was a thorn bush. I
thought today, I bet it was a thorn bush. Wrapped around its head. Caught in that thorn bush. Just
like our Lord wore that crown of thorns And he seized that
lamb, or that 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 stead of his son. We cannot have a clearer
picture of substitution. Christ taking our place. Christ
suffering the wrath of God being a burnt offering in our place. Can't do it. Isaac is set free and the ram
is slain. And Abraham called the name of
that place Jehovah-Jireh. Jehovah-Jireh. Let me give you three meanings
of that name and I'll wind this down. Jehovah-Jireh. The Lord will see. He sees all our needs. He sees all our needs. I like
this verse over in chapter 20. Let me see if I can find it over
here. Chapter 21. Let me see. I didn't have it marked. I'll
find it here. Look in verse 17. And God heard the voice of the
lad, and the angel of God called to Hagar out of heaven and said
unto her, What aileth thee, Hagar? Fear not, for God hath heard
the voice of the lad where he is." He sees our need. He sees where we are. I believe
it was Hagar that said, Thou God seest me. And then secondly, the Lord will
provide. He sees my need and He will provide
all that I need in His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. He's provided
for us all that we need in His Son. He has provided for us wisdom,
righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. What do I need
that I do not have in Christ? I have it all. The Lord will
be seen. The Lord will be seen. When we look into the face of
the Lord Jesus Christ, we see our Redeemer. We see the glory of God in the
face of Jesus Christ. The Lord will be seen. He will
be seen in redemption. He will be seen in grace. The Lord will be seen. He sees
our need. He will provide and He will be
seen. He will be revealed. Where is
the Lamb? Isaac said, Father, where is
the Lamb? Well, we know where He is now.
We know who He is. And we know where he is. Seated. Seated at God's right hand in
the heavenly space. Ruling and reigning over all
things. Where's the Lamb? Seated at God's
right hand. Now let me just point out just
a couple of things here and we'll close. In verse 17, I want you
to notice the latter part of that verse. He says here, and thy seed shall
possess the gate of his enemies. The Lord Jesus Christ, that seed
that Isaac represented, shall possess the gates of his enemy.
He rules over all. He rules over all. None rules
over him. He rules over all. The gates
of hell, he says, shall not prevail against thee. And in verse 18,
And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed.
We know that's Christ. We know that's the Lord Jesus
Christ. In Him, there have been people saved out of every kindred,
tongue, and nation under heaven. In Him. But there was something
also interesting here. So Abraham, it says, returned
unto his young men, and they rose up and went together to
Beersheba. Abraham dwelt at Beersheba. Don't
know me when I've read this. So Abraham returned unto his
young men. Where's Isaac? I can see here the ascension
of Christ. Abraham came back off that mountain. And he gets with these two young
men. And it doesn't mention Isaac. And I thought that is a beautiful
type of our Lord after His death, burial, and resurrection to send
Him back to glory. Where's the Lamb? Where's the
Lamb? He is seated at God's right hand.
And we have in Him all we need.