Genesis 21-23
Isaac, the son that God promised to give to Abraham, arrives on the scene when Abraham is 100 years old and Sarah is 90. Both Abraham and Sarah laugh at the thought, and so, God instructs them to name him accordingly. (“Isaac” means “he laughs” or “laughter”.) This is the heir. This is the son through whom God promises to raise up countless offspring. This is the son whose descendants are to inherit the land.
And this is the son that God tells Abraham to sacrifice as a burnt offering.
Abraham obeys. The text here offers us no hint of hesitation on Abraham’s part, no arguing with the Lord, no questioning of the plan. Yet it is hard not to imagine the emotional turmoil Abraham faces as he leads Isaac up the mountain, laying the wood for the fire on Isaac’s shoulder. For Abraham, this is the ultimate test of his faith in the Lord, and he proves that faith through obedience, fully expecting to kill his precious son, yet declaring, “God will provide for himself the lamb for a burnt offering, my son.” (Gen. 22:8)
Abraham knows His God. He knows that God keeps His promises, and he knows that Isaac is that promised son through whom the other promises are to be fulfilled. He cannot anticipate how, but he knows that, somehow, Isaac will walk back down the mountain with him. (See Heb. 11:19.) And he knows all that by faith.
Although we are walking through the Bible chronologically, let’s not miss the foreshadowing here of what happens 2,000 years later. Here Isaac carries the wood for the fire up the mountain. There Christ carries His own Cross up the hill of Calvary. Here Abraham offers up his beloved promised son. There God Himself offers up His own beloved promised Son to die for us. In both cases, the Lord provides the sacrifice.
John, I like what you said in the last paragraph of your comments. I have never thought about the comparison between Isaac carrying the wood to be sacrificed and Christ carrying the cross. Thanks for that insight!
There is one other connection between Isaac and Jesus that many believers like to mention. After His death and burial, Jesus rose from the dead. Likewise, Isaac was “as good as dead” and came back to life. It’s more a stretch than Isaac and Jesus carrying the wood up the hill, but interesting nonetheless.
One other item on Chapter 22. The site of Abraham’s sacrifice is commonly referred to as Mount Moriah. A thousand years later, in David’s time this mount became David’s capital, Jerusalem, and the site of Solomon’s Temple. See II Chronicles 3:1.
Wow, Mount Moriah is the Temple Mount. Mount Zion, Mount of Olives, Golgotha (mount shaped like a skull) in and around Jerusalem. And Bethlehem is higher in elevation than Jerusalem. Our God speaks to us and reveals Himself in, on, and around mountains, Sinai, Ararat, Horeb…. The Spirit leads us to holy mountains, but not to the “high places” for worshiping idols we’ll hear about throughout Kings.
The notion of “resurrection” for Isaac is more than just an interesting notion, and it is not a stretch. See Hebrews 11:19 (again).