(Genesis) 37 - the Old Testament's Greatest Scene — S. Lewis Johnson

Reading Genesis 22: Abraham's Test of Faith

Will you turn with me to Genesis chapter 22 and listen as I read the 19 verses. Which open this chapter. Genesis chapter 22 verse 1 through verse 19 for our scripture reading. Now it came about after these things that God tested Abraham and said to him Abraham and he said here I am and and he said take now your son your only son whom you love Isaac and go to the land of Moriah and Offer him.

There is a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I will tell you. So Abraham rose early in the morning and saddled his donkey and took two of his young men with him and Isaac his son and He split wood for the burnt offering and arose and went to the place of which God had told him.

On the third day Abraham raised his eyes and saw the place from a distance and Abraham said to his young men Stay here with the donkey and I and the lab will go yonder and we will worship and return to you.

And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on Isaac his son and He took his hand took in his hand the fire and the knife. So the two of them walked on together and Isaac spoke to Abraham his father and said my father and he said here I am my son and he said behold the fire in the wood, but where is the lamb for the burnt offering.

And Abraham said God will provide for himself the lamb for the burnt offering my son. So the two of them walked on together. Then they came to the place of which God had told him and Abraham built the altar there and arranged the wood and Bound his son Isaac and laid him on the altar on top of the wood.

Incidentally, you will notice that in the opening part of this account there is a speed a celerity almost in the writers mind getting to this section, but now The account stops and we have it's slow-moving and the details are stressed.

This is the important part of the account verse 10. And Abraham stretched out his hand and took the knife to slay his son but the angel of the Lord called to him from heaven and said Abraham. Abraham and he said here I am and He said do not stretch out your hand against the lead and do nothing to him.

For now, I know that you fear God since you have not withheld your son your only son from me. Then Abraham raised his eyes and looked and behold behind him a 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 place of his son and Abraham called the name of that place.

The Lord will provide as It is said to this day in the mount of the Lord. It will be provided. Then the angel of the Lord called to Abraham a second time from heaven and said by myself. I have sworn declares the Lord Because you have done this thing and have not withheld your son your only son.

Indeed I will greatly bless you and I will greatly multiply your seed as the stars of the heavens and as the sand which is on the seashore and Your seed shall possess the gate of their enemies. You'll notice those of you that have been following very carefully the account of Abraham's life and the Abrahamic promises that in that last clause we have something new and Your seed shall possess the gate of their enemies.

That suggests that there will be a conflict and that the seed of Abraham shall overcome and Thus we have a continuation of the original Prot Evangelium the first preaching of the gospel the original promise made to Adam and to Eve in the Garden of Eden verse 16 and in your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed because you have obeyed my voice.

So Abraham returned to his young men and they arose and went together to Beersheba and Abraham lived at Beersheba. Close the reading here. May the Lord bless this reading of his word. The subject for this morning is the Old Testament's greatest scene.

Isaac's Sacrifice as a Type of Christ

Can there be any doubt at all that the sacrifice of Isaac by Abraham is one of the greatest scenes in the history of God's salvation. It is surpassed only by that of the Son of God when the greatest father Offered up his Isaac.

The story here finds its ultimate climax and antitype Christ's cross which is the fulfillment of the sufferings of Isaac surrounds the latter with reflected glory and Makes it one of the most famous types if not the most famous in all of the Bible of the sufferings of Christ.

Abraham was tested at the point of his love for God and that really is the ultimate test. It's remarkable that Abraham succeeded. One might think that it might have taught us more if he had failed. But we find here proof of the fact that a mortal man May actually make a decision that is ultimately for God.

Here is evidence of a childlike faith that must have thrilled the heart of our eternal father. Now I'm sure that if we were faced with a test like this We would like to say well, that's the kind of decision that we would make.

But for most of us the air upon heights like that is a little too rare to breathe with comfort. We remember that the Lord Jesus said He that loveth father or mother son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me of course.

We've listened to enough theology and believers Chapel to know that. The reason that Abraham was able to make this decision was not because of anything in Abraham's life or in Abraham naturally. Well as a matter of fact Abraham could not even stand up to a Pharaoh or to an Abimelech.

Even then he would lie and say She's really my sister and not my wife. And so we know from the teaching of the Word of God that it is because of that which God had implanted in Abraham and The aid that he gave Abraham that Abraham was able to meet this test and pass it successfully.

The experiences of life bring us tests that are similar to Abrams. Most of us at one time or another Have faced tests like this and if we have not well, we are going to face them like that. A gifted preacher of a last generation used to tell the story of a woman who was broken by a great tragedy in her life.

She had been living under the crushing burden of this difficulty for a long time and as a result of it the praise that she used to give to God had now turned to complaint and Finally one time in great bitterness of soul over what had happened to her.

She said Oh would to God that I had never been made. And in response to her rebellious words a friend said why dear child you have not been made yet. You're only being made and what you are doing is quarreling with the processes of God by which he's making you what you are.

The experiences of life are designed to bring us to maturity and in Abrams case This is the final test the test at the point of the love of God. Will you give up Isaac for the love of God? Now there are other important things in this chapter.

The Biblical Theme of the Lamb of God

And it's said that we cannot spend a long time on this particular chapter because there are so many things in it for example. Here we have another link in one of the great themes of the Bible the theme of the Lamb of God we have seen from Genesis chapter 4 Abel making his offering of the firstlings of the flock and Here we have in Genesis chapter 22 another stage in the unfolding of the doctrine of the Lamb of God in the book of Exodus we will have still another in the Lamb of the Passover Supper and through the Old Testament on into the book of Isaiah where we will read about a lamb that is led as One who is led as a lamb to the slaughter and in the New Testament It is John the Baptist who says behold the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world.

And then in the climactic scene in Revelation chapter 5 John looks and sees not the lion of the tribe of Judah, but surprisingly One as it were a slain lamb in heaven. It is of course a reference to the Lord Jesus and that theme of the Lamb of God is one of the greatest of the themes Of the Bible and here in Genesis chapter 22 we have an important link in that doctrine.

The Law of First Mention in Biblical Interpretation

We also have another interesting thing that I've not made very much comment upon when we've as we've gone through the book of Genesis to this point and that is the hermeneutical principle of the law of first mention.

Many Bible students have noticed that when important words important doctrinal words are first mentioned in the book of Genesis. They are usually invested with a certain meaning which they have through the rest of the Bible and So it has been called the law of first mention.

And so if you will be on your guard and notice the first mention of important turn terms You'll probably find some help in the context With regard to their ultimate meaning for example. This is the first time that we have the word test in the Bible.

It is the first time that we have the word love in the Bible and that's rather interesting because the it is the love of a father for a son and When we turn to the New Testament and read Matthew Mark and Luke We notice that the first References to love in these Gospels is the reference of the love of the father.

For the son the Lord Jesus Christ and even in the book of John the first reference is John 3 16 for God So loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life.

In other words it would seem from this that we are to define true Love what love is by the love of the father for the son. There are other words that are mentioned for the first time for the first time God swears in Genesis chapter 22, and it's swearing with reference to the promises of God.

Reminding us of the inviolability of the promises that are given by him. Well, we won't have time to speak of those things, but I want you to be able to read the Bible and look For things like that and profit from them we turn now to Genesis chapter 22 and the preparation for the sacrifice.

God's Testing and Abraham's Instant Obedience

We read now it came about after these things. Well now we look in the preceding context and we have read in verse 34 Abraham sojourned in the land of the Philistines or Philistines for many days. Sarah was 93 to 95 years of age when Isaac was weaned.

Now Abraham stayed in Beersheba or in the land of the Philistines for many days. So a period of time has elapsed and it came to pass after these things. That the test regarding Isaac took place. Now we know Sarah's age incidentally.

She is the only woman in the Bible whose age is given. Isn't that interesting? Isn't that interesting ladies in other words? There is some scriptural justification for concealing the years it would seem.

The question is do you want to be like Sarah or like the rest of the women of the Bible? Now a woman's age. I've mentioned to you before a woman's age can be divided into seven periods. There is the infant the little girl the miss the young woman the young woman the young woman and the young woman, so Sarah lived to be 127 years of age.

So there is approximately 35 years between the weaning of Isaac and her death. Now we would presume from this that Isaac and when he was offered up Was at least 15 17 years of age some have even suggested he was as old as 25 years of age.

Now it is true. He is called a lad and the term nair the Hebrew word nair is used with reference to him but that word is also very elastic in its meaning and it could refer to someone as old as 25 years of age, so Isaac was a man who had it within himself had within himself the strength and the power to resist Abraham.

If he had so willed. Now it came to pass after these things so many years after the weaning of Isaac that God tested Abraham. We have no reference incidentally to God speaking to Abraham in the intervening period of time so suddenly after many years of silence the blow fell and it fell like a bolt from the blue and it brought him to the climax of the testing of God it was the severest test of Abraham's life.

Abraham here I am take now your son your only son whom you love Isaac. Incidentally when we read here God tested Abraham. We're not to think of him testing Abraham to bring out the evil. He tested him to bring out the good that he had worked in.

Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. Paul told the Philippians for it is God that worketh in you both to will and To do of his good pleasure. So those decisions that we talk about so much are really decisions that are ultimately Determined by God himself.

It is God that worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure. So whenever we make a decision that is pleasing to the Lord it is because he has already worked in us. Now the tests of God are not designed to cause us to fail.

The tests of God are Designed to bring out that which he has worked in in order that he may be glorified. Putting this on the human level. This was the test of the trust in God versus human effect affection.

Incidentally also when God tests us. It's not because he's angry with us. We tend to think that he's testing us because he wants to discipline us. Well, it's true at times the things that happen to us are the disciplines of God.

If we refuse the tests of life. Well, then the disciplines of God will come and it will be necessary for us to pass through some very disagreeable experiences. If we are Disorderly at the Lord's table some will be weak some sickly some even may lose their lives.

But the tests of God are on the other hand as a general rule God's vote of confidence in us. They are in effect his approval of us because he feels that we are at the stage where we can meet the tests of God and his power and strength and.

So when you are suffering the trials of life and the tests of life Do not look at those things as evidences of the discipline of God always. Look at them as opportunities to Come to understand something of the sustaining power of God and the experiences of life.

Think of them as something that God wants to do in order to demonstrate what he has already done in you. I. From God to Abraham. Take now your son your only son whom you love Isaac. The order of these words is calculated to raise the if affection of Abraham for his son to the highest pitch.

Take now your son think of that. Your only son Ishmael is gone now your only son the son whom you love Isaac. Laughter. Mr. Spurgeon says if George Herbert were speaking of it He would say the words are all a case of knives cutting at Abraham's soul.

There is scarce a single address of. Scarce a single syllable of God's address to him in the opening of the trial. But seems intended to pierce the patriarch to the quick it is first take now your son a father slay a son.

Of all the possessions of Abraham and he had many why his son and then he adds your only son the word only takes on a special meaning for Ishmael has just recently been sent away to the wilderness and There follows the words whom you love.

He's reminded of the great love for his only begotten just at the moment when he is to lose him. Oh Stern word that seemeth To have no bowels of compassion in it. Was it not enough to take away the loved one without at the same instant awakening the affections which were so rudely to be shocked so I Think you can catch something of the force of this take now your son your only son whom you love Isaac.

And go to the land of morale. Now the love is designed to mirror the father's love but the place is interesting too. Why the land of morale? Morale is mentioned in one other place in second Chronicles chapter 3 in verse 1.

You learn from the Old Testament that Mount morale was the place Where Solomon's temple was later to be built and so consequently it is the place that is on the level with Calvary and from which Calvary may be seen and in addition it was the place where Thousands of animals were later to be sacrificed.

Someone has said hecatombs of animals were slain right on this spot. It was as if God were to say to him take Isaac. Offer him on Mount morale the very place where the animals of the Old Testament will be sacrificed in the temple.

Those that point forward to the Lamb of God who will be offered in the centuries that are to come and So it's on Mount morale that Isaac is to be offered up all of this of course. Anticipating the sufferings of Christ.

It is a beautifully rich typical chapter of biblical teaching. Now Abraham's response is the response of quick obedience. So Abraham rose early in the morning. What a lesson for Christians when the Word of God has been given quick.

Instant obedience is the response that should be made. He rose early in the morning. He saddled his donkey took two of his young men. Notice that because we'll comment on that a moment. Two of the young men went with him and Isaac his son.

He split the wood for the burnt offering and he arose and went to the place of which God had told him. This quick obedience has been called the habit of instantaneity. That is the habit of doing things instantly.

What a tremendous thing it would be if when we read the Word of God and we see what God wants us to do. See his will we should instantly obey. Now they reach Mount Moriah and The two young men are left and Abraham and Isaac make their way toward the top.

We think of the ways in which our Lord went from The judge pallet to the cross of Calvary and we call it the we are Dolorosa. That is the sad way that our Lord traversed to Mount Calvary. Well, this was Isaac's we are Dolorosa as he and Abraham made their way to the top of the mountain.

But before they went Abram turned to the young men and he said stay here with the donkey and I and the lad will go yonder and we will worship. What is worship? Someone has defined worship as worth ship or Recognizing the worth of an individual.

Recognizing the worth ship of God. That's true worship to recognize his worth ship. So isn't it interesting that at the greatest test of Abram's life? He is occupied with the excellences of his God. I and the lad will go up to the top of the mountain and there we will worship.

Now, I think there's something important here. Right at the moment of the greatest test of Abraham's life He is undergirded by the knowledge that he has of the Holy One. That's important. It seems to say to me this that at the greatest of the experiences of life.

The times when we are most troubled and tested by God. The times of the tragedies the times of the trials the times of the difficulties. The things that help us in these experiences are. The knowledge of the excellences of our great God.

The Doctrines of God for Life's Trials

I know in my own family There are Christians in my family who have attended churches where the gospel is no longer preached. The gospel used to be preached in these churches, but they are it is no longer preached.

I Remember particularly one who was especially close to me a man who was a godly man in many ways. But at the same time he had unfortunately been exposed in the latter 30 or 40 years of his life to the ministry that came from a pulpit that was Christian.

But that is about all that could be said. There was no Exposition of the Word of God and I remember this person saying to me we just do not have the exposition of the Bible and when the time came to face up to the question of leaving this life and going to be with the Lord when Undergirded by the knowledge of biblical truth those that experience might be faced in the strength of God.

He was unable to do it. Let me say to you my dear friends that when you come to the final tests of life. The one thing that will age you more than anything else is the knowledge of the truth of God the knowledge of the excellences of our God.

Now it seems to me that if this is true, and I fully believe that it is true from my own limited experience. It is that that sustains a believer in the times of stress. How Important it is then that we learn the doctrines of the Word of God the truths.

Concerning the being and attributes of our God the truths concerning the saving work of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now you don't have any excuse in Believers Chapel. We have tried in the ministry of the Word of God all of us who are continually teaching you in the Sunday school.

In the ministry here in the Believers Bible Institute the Advanced Study Center our one goal has been to communicate the doctrines of the Word of God in order that you might be strengthened for the experiences of life and when they come.

It is these great truths that will strengthen you. We want you to understand. That's why we're doing it. It isn't simply an order that you may learn some things and become an intellectual Christian so that you're able to look down upon the superficiality which so abounds in evangelicalism.

That's not the purpose. The purpose is to build you up in the great truths so that when you face life You will be able to face it in the strength of the Word of God. So Abraham goes up to the top of Mount Moriah and the greatest stress of life talking about worship.

Praising the God who has asked him to offer the ultimate sacrifice. Now did you notice too that he said I? And the lead will go yonder and we will worship and return to you. What a magnificent manifestation of faith in what God was going to do.

You know there were many ways in which God might fulfill his own command. It was not Abraham's poor a part to figure out how God was going to do it. He had said suffer or he had said sacrifice Isaac, and he must obey.

How God was going to bring Isaac back and make him the seed that he had promised well that is God's responsibility. Isaac really had been dead for three days in Abraham's mind ever since the time that God had said offer him as a sacrifice.

Isaac was dead in the mind of Abraham. So this is the third day they have arrived. On the third day the likeness to the sufferings of Christ and the resurrection of Christ Is so obvious That there must be a point that point in it now.

We might have wondered whether this really was the expression of a faith in the resurrection. I and the lad will go yonder and worship and return again unto you. But in the New Testament We have the comments of the author of the epistle of the Hebrews always like to stand by the apostles and the writers of holy Scripture if you are going to have an interpretation and if they've got one, that's the one I want to have always.

In fact, I want to stand with the Apostles and everything as far as I'm concerned. That's good company because they're in the company of our Lord. Here's what the writer of the epistle of the Hebrews says by faith Abraham.

When he was tested offered up Isaac and he who had received the promises was offering up his only begotten son. It was he to whom it was said in Isaac your seed shall be called. He considered that God is able to raise men even from the dead from which he also received him back as a type and.

So the writer of the epistle to the Hebrews says that Abraham believed that God was able to raise him from the dead and furthermore, he affirms that in Isaac's return with Abraham. We have a type of the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ.

How do you like that interpretation? Well, I like it. Now we read that they walked on together. I read a comment a few days ago by one of the interpreters to the effect that If you say this little expression they walked on together, which is repeated twice.

Has anything to do with the harmony of the father and the son in the mediatorial work, that's not exegesis. Well, it may not be exegesis according to that particular interpreter. And of course when we're talking about illustrations from the Old Testament, we recognize these are illustrations.

And when we get to heaven, we may discover that there is a point or two that we've missed. But it seems to me that this statement which is repeated twice is not repeated without significance. So the two walked on together and when we turn to the Gospel of John, we'll find a number of places I don't have time to turn to them in which it is specifically said by our Lord Jesus.

That he is carrying out his ministry in close fellowship with the Lord. The Lord God his father. He says the things that I say are the things that he says to me the things that I do. They are the things that he tells me to do.

I'm not alone. The father is with me and the picture of Abraham and Isaac walking up Mount Moriah together in spite of what the commentator says is very reminiscent to me of The way in which our Lord Jesus Christ went to the cross at Calvary in beautiful harmony with the father in the performance of his mediatorial work of sacrifice.

Isaac, the Cross, and Penal Substitution

Now in the sixth verse we also read That he took in his hand the fire and the knife and He bound Isaac. Now I should also have said something about the two young men who were unable to ascend. But let me leave that for just a moment.

Notice in the sixth verse it says Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on Isaac his son. Now that can surely remind us of the statement made by the Apostle John in the 19th chapter of The gospel in which we read these words.

They took Jesus therefore and he went out bearing his own cross and So it is Isaac who must carry the wood for the burnt offering. But notice who has the fire and notice who has the knife. It is Abraham who has the fire and it is Abraham who has the knife.

We read in the Old Testament some very interesting things about The sufferings of the Messiah who is to come. We read for example that when the time comes for the sufferings of the cross. That there is no man there.

There is none to help. The Messiah speaks in that way too in places in the Old Testament. There was none to help at the point of the intense suffering as the Redeemer. There is no one to help the Redeemer and furthermore in the time of judgment when he comes again at his second advent.

There is no one to help there. Why are these references in the Old Testament? Well to let us know That only the father and the son Truly know the price that is paid for the redemption of our sins. Those two men who accompanied them to Mount Moriah are left at the bottom of the Mount and it is Abraham Who is the figure of the father and Isaac who is the figure of God the Son?

Who know what transpires in the atoning ministry that is to be accomplished? Ideally ultimately on Calvary's cross. It is only the father and it is only the Lord Jesus who really know How much it cost for our sins to be redeemed.

The prophets say things like this. Or we like sheep have gone astray. We've turned everyone to his own way and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. The Lord has caused to smite upon him. That's the fire and the knife the fire of divine judgment and the knife of divine judgment and.

So it is Abraham the father who must pierce Isaac the son just as it is the father Who must direct in the sufferings of the Redeemer the son the Lord Jesus Christ? What a beautiful picture of aspects of the suffering of the Lord Jesus hundreds of years before it actually took place.

He hath made him to be sin for us. Only the father knows what that means. And the son Who suffered that penalty? Well Isaac says as they reach. As they make their way. Where's the lamb and Abraham reprised?

God will provide for himself a lamb. That too is very significant. The way of salvation is a way of salvation provided by God. Isaac's question has its ultimate answer when John the Baptist sees the Lord Jesus Coming and says behold the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world.

Well, they reached the top and now the account slows down and the details are given. There Abraham built the altar. I Wish that I were able to see it. Maybe one of these days we shall actually have a kind of video account of what happened.

And I would like to see exactly what the old man did when he reached the top. He knows what he has to do. But he's a father who loves his son and I can imagine that he looks around first for those rocks.

And he sees some rocks nearby and some far away and he says I think those that are far away will do a whole lot better and so he Delays it he moves out and takes the farthest ones. He comes back. He piles them up and he says no it won't do to just pile them up indiscriminately.

They will have to be piled up symmetrically and so he spends time on the altar and Then finally the moment comes when he must speak in further detail to his son Isaac and Inspiration draws a kind of veil over this last tender scene.

The father's announcement of what he's going to do. The sobs the kisses the signs of affection between the father and the son and Then finally the binding of the young man and the placing him upon the altar and so Isaac the willing victim Is placed on the altar on top of the wood and Abraham reaches for the knife takes the knife and Just as he is about to plunge it into the heart of Isaac the angel of the Lord the Lord Jesus calls forth from heaven.

Abraham Abraham. My mind goes back to Calvary of course when our Lord was there and at the point at which he is bearing the Spiritual sufferings of our redemption Reflected in the my God my God. Why has thou forsaken me?

There is no angel of the Lord to call out to the father and Say Abraham Abraham then. But the knife must be plunged Figuratively in the to the heart of the Son of God in order that the sufferings might take place that we might have redemption.

The lamb led to the slaughter while Abraham passes his final exam and All the great truths of the Bible are suggested by this passage. I Want to mention something which I think is important. I Say all the great truths of the Bible are found right here for example.

There is the voluntary death of Isaac we have no evidence that Isaac resisted at all and in this he's the perfect example of the Lord Jesus who willingly offered himself up a sacrifice for us. There is the penal sacrifice suggested for there must be a death.

The wages of sin is death and in the slaying of the ram There is an acknowledgement of the need for a death in order that Redemption may take place and so the penal sacrifice is taught here and Then in the substitution of the ram for Isaac the son We have the doctrine of substitution and incidentally it is an effective substitution.

We read in verse 13 and offered him up for a burnt offering in the place of his son and Isaac went free by virtue of the Animal that was slain for him. It was an effective substitution. And I think we have a reflection of the fact that in the death of the Lord Jesus Christ We have individuals who are saved not all rendered savable, but certain ones who are saved.

It is an effective substitution. Substitution, which is not effective is not substitution. We have not defined that term correctly so often. We have the sufficiency of the work of God in salvation. It is God who provides the lamb.

We have nothing to do with it. Salvation is of the Lord and the deliverance of Isaac was a salvation that ultimately came from the Lord. Now there is a text. I want you to notice in in a statement in verse 12.

Notice he says do not stretch out your hand against the lead and do nothing to him. For now I know that you fear God since you have not withheld. Let me retranslate that since you have not spared your son your only son from me.

Definite Atonement and God's Sovereign Purpose

Now I say spared because we're all familiar with the text in Romans chapter 8 in which the Apostle Paul writes. He that spared not his own son, but delivered him up for us all how shall he not with him also.

Freely give us all things. He that spared not his son, but delivered him up for us all. Do you know where Paul got those words spare? Not why he got them right from this passage in the Septuagint or the Greek translation of the Old Testament.