Yesterday, I laid out that Jesus spoke of the Patriarchs as they literally existed. Jesus uses a hermeneutic which suggests we should also believe in their real existence and the literal nature of the narrative. But how do we handle these accounts when they present a picture of God we’re not expecting.
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Genesis 22 records Abraham offering up Isaac his son. Both James and the author of Hebrews reference this account as an evidence of Abraham’s faith, showing that other authors of Scripture affirm this account as well (post for another time). But even if you acknowledge the story as legit, how do you make sense of it? Would God really demand that man sacrifice his son? Doesn’t that make God just like Molech? The question becomes:
Does a Christ-centered hermeneutic make any more sense of this account?
First, we are told to keep the sequence of events in proper perspective. Abraham and God had a covenant relationship based upon God’s promises, not Abraham’s performance (Galatians 3:18). Unlike worshipers of Molech, Abraham’s sacrifice would not earn him salvation, but was in response to the salvation God had promised him.
Second, God did not make Abraham sacrifice his son. Unlike Molech, a god who was supposedly satisfied with the sacrifice, God was satisfied with Abraham’s faith. He did not require the sacrifice of Isaac.
[Also important to note, God went to great lengths to articulate that such sacrifice of children was not commendable. Many times, God spoke through the prophets to discourage any person from thinking that God had called them to sacrifice their child. (Lev 18:21; Lev 20:2-5; 1Kings 11:7; 2Kings 23:10; Jer 32:35) No one should mistakenly think they had received a similar commission by God.]
Now, how do we see Jesus in Genesis 22?
While Jesus and Isaac both carried wood, no one would ever carry the burden Jesus bore.
As our church discovered while preaching through Leviticus, you can not relegate Jesus to just one item in the text. The priests point to Jesus. The sacrifices point to Jesus. The temple furniture points to Jesus. Even the temple points to Jesus. We should not just look to one type and stop, but often we see foreshadowing in multiple places:
- Abraham is to sacrifice his only son.
- Abraham rides on a donkey on his way to making the sacrifice.
- Isaac carries the wood of the sacrifice on his back.
- Angel of the LORD is Christ, for He states, “You have not withheld your son, your only son, from Me.”
- The ram from the thicket is sacrificed in Isaac’s place.
- The location of the Mount: Jerusalem!
Are we to simply find comfort in the fact that their is some imagery to Calvary? Or do these types point us to Jesus so we can take a greater comfort?
Faith. While Abraham may not have known all the details of the sacrifice, he was fully trusting in the covenants already made to him. God has promised a nation would come from Isaac. Therefore, there is a lot of meaning packed into, “God will provide for Himself the lamb.” Perhaps Abraham trusted their would be a substitute (though he must have been wondering as he had the knife raised up!). More than likely, Abraham was trusting in the resurrection of Isaac, and that he truly would return with his son.
Empathy. It seems, however, that Abraham was at least left somewhat in the dark. So, is God cruel for creating all this stress upon Abraham when He knew He wasn’t really going to make him do it? And what of the emotional scaring that would come upon Isaac? It’s important we remember:
God knows what it is like to give your only Son. Rather than providing a substitute, He is the substitute. God was not requiring anything of Abraham which He was not actually going to do with His own Son. In fact, God does not require of anyone else what He would perform on our behalf.
As the Triune God looks down from heaven and calls out to Abraham, certainly They were pleased and glorified by his faith. However, when Jesus stops Abraham from sacrificing his son, He knows He will be that Son who comes down and does die as the substitute. He is the blessing–the Seed–by which Abraham was blessed.
danny wright 