CHAPTER 22

(1872 B.C.)

ISAAC

¹And it came to pass after these things, that God did tempt Abraham (the word tempt should have been translated test or prove, for thats what it means in the Hebrew; it is a high honor to be tested by God), and said unto him, Abraham: and he said, Behold, here I am.

²And He said, Take now your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love (the first mention of love in the Bible), and go into the land of Moriah (the name Moriah means Jehovah is Provider); and offer him there for a Burnt Offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell you of (human sacrifice was abhorrent to the nature of Jehovah, so the Patriarch must now prove to himself that what he is hearing is definitely from God; this abject lesson, perhaps the greatest in human history, would portray to Abraham the means by which God would redeem humanity by death, the death of His only Son, of which Isaac, as the only son of Abraham, was a Type).

³And Abraham rose up early in the morning (prompt obedience), and saddled his ass, and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son, and clave the wood for the Burnt Offering, and rose up, and went unto the place of which God had told him. (For the salvation of humanity, human sacrifice was demanded, because the blood of bulls and goats could not take away sins [Heb. 10:4]; however, it would have to be the sacrifice of One Who is Perfect, hence, the necessity of the Incarnation [Isa. 7:14].)

⁴Then on the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes, and saw the place afar off (this was no doubt the longest three days of Abrahams life).

⁵And Abraham said unto his young men, Abide you here with the ass; and I and the lad will go yonder and worship (praise is what we do, while worship is what we are; every part and particle of our life and living should be worship of the Lord; while all worship is not praise, all praise definitely is worship; this is the first time that the word worship is used in the Bible), and come again to you (he believed that God would raise the boy from the dead).

⁶And Abraham took the wood of the Burnt Offering, and laid it upon Isaac his son (symbolic of Christ carrying the Cross [Jn. 19:17]); and he took the fire in his hand (typical of the judgment of God which would fall upon Christ instead of upon sinful man), and a knife (symbolic of the death that Christ would die); and they went both of them together (God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto Himself [II Cor. 5:19]).

⁷And Isaac spoke unto Abraham his father, and said, My father (Isaac, as the unresisting Burnt Offering, is a striking Type of Him Who said, I delight to do Your Will, O My God): and he said, Here am I, my son. And he said, Behold the fire and the wood: but where is the lamb for a Burnt Offering? (John the Baptist would answer that question by saying, Behold the Lamb of God, Which takes away the sin of the world [Jn. 1:29].)

⁸And Abraham said, My son, God will provide Himself a lamb for a Burnt Offering: so they went both of them together. (Isaac was to be a Type of the Son of God, provided by the Lord, Who would redeem mankind by the giving of Himself in Sacrifice on the Cross.)

A RAM

⁹And they came to the place which God had told him of (this would be the place of the threshingfloor which David bought, and where Solomons Temple would be built); and Abraham built an Altar there (it is believed that the Holy of Holies, which contained the Ark of the Covenant in the Temple, was built over this exact spot), and laid the wood in order (signifying the Cross), and bound Isaac his son (typical of Jesus being nailed to the Cross), and laid him on the Altar upon the wood (typical of Jesus stretched on the Cross).

¹⁰And Abraham stretched forth his hand, and took the knife to slay his son (perhaps the Lord asked more of Abraham than He has ever asked of any man; when Abraham took the knife, his surrender was complete).

¹¹And the Angel of the LORD (this was the Lord Himself) called unto him out of heaven, and said, Abraham, Abraham (He Who said, Abraham, Abraham, was the same One Who said, Martha, Martha, Simon, Simon, and Saul, Saul; the repetition denotes urgency): and he said, Here am I. (It was the trial that God intended, not the act.)

¹²And He said, Lay not your hand upon the lad, neither do you anything unto him (Abraham didnt have to kill the boy to prove himself to God, but he had to fully intend to do so, and that he did!): for now I know that you fear God, seeing you have not withheld your son, your only son from Me (should have been translated, for I the knowing One knew that you feared God, and that you would not withhold your son, your only son, from Me).

¹³And Abraham lifted up his eyes, and looked, and behold behind him a ram caught in a thicket by his horns (this is the doctrine of Substitution plainly laid out; the ram was offered up in Sacrifice instead of his son; likewise, Jesus was offered up as our Substitute): and Abraham went and took the ram, and offered him up for a Burnt Offering in the stead of his son (even though the Doctrine of Substitution is clearly set forth here, its corresponding Doctrine of Identification is not so clearly stated, that awaiting Moses [Num. 21:9]; but still, we are seeing here the very heart of the Salvation Plan).

¹⁴And Abraham called the name of that place Jehovah-jireh (meaning the Lord will provide): as it is said to this day, In the mount of the LORD it shall be seen (should read in this mount Jehovah shall be seen; this was fulfilled in II Samuel 24:25; I Chronicles 21:26; II Chronicles 7:1-3).

THE COVENANT CONFIRMED

¹⁵And the Angel of the LORD called unto Abraham out of heaven the second time (this will involve Revelation; however, let the Reader understand that the Revelation is entirely dependent upon the Substitution; in other words, No Cross, no Revelation!),

¹⁶And said, By Myself have I sworn, says the LORD, for because you have done this thing, and have not withheld your son, your only son (while Isaac wasnt sacrificed, actually in a figure he was and, as well, in a figure raised from the dead [Heb. 11:18-19]; in essence, he was a figure of Christ):

¹⁷That in blessing I will bless you (blessing always refers to increase), and in multiplying I will multiply your seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore (this includes the Church as well, and for all time); and your seed shall possess the gate of his enemies (this speaks of Jesus Christ defeating Satan, and doing so by removing Satans legal right to hold man in bondage, which legal right is sin; Jesus did it at the Cross; there the gates of Hell were torn down [Mat. 16:18]);

¹⁸And in your seed shall all the nations of the Earth be blessed (the Seed is the Lord Jesus Christ [Gal. 3:16]); because you have obeyed My Voice (obedience to the Word of God is the requirement).

¹⁹So Abraham returned unto his young men, and they rose up and went together to Beer-sheba; and Abraham dwelt at Beer-sheba. (The return of Abraham to Beer-sheba with Isaac had to be the happiest journey that Abraham ever took. It was truly a journey of victory.)

²⁰And it came to pass after these things, that it was told Abraham, saying, Behold, Milcah, she has also born children unto your brother Nahor (this Chapter concludes with an account of Nahors family, who settle at Haran [Gen. 12:1-5]; none of this would have been given, but for the connection which it had with the Work of God on Earth; from these people mentioned here both Isaac and Jacob took wives, which had to do with the formation of the nation of Israel, and ultimately the birth of Christ);

²¹Huz his firstborn, and Buz his brother, and Kemuel the father of Aram,

²²And Chesed, and Hazo, and Pildash, and Jidlaph, and Bethuel.

²³And Bethuel begat Rebekah: these eight Milcah did bear to Nahor, Abrahams brother.

²⁴And his concubine, whose name was Reumah, she bore also Tebah, and Gaham, and Thahash, and Maachah.